SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
2/17/2013 8:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Diligent
PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Proverbs
Message of the
verses studied: We will continue to
look at diligence in Today’s SD as we will first look at the how the Lord
blesses the diligent for their generosity.
“There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is
one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, And he
who waters will himself be watered (Pr. 11:24-25).” “He who is generous will be blessed, For he
gives some of his food to the poor (Pr. 22:0).”
Let’s now look at the difference between the diligent worker and the one
who is slothful. “25 ¶ The desire of the lazy man kills him, For his
hands refuse to labor. 26 He covets
greedily all day long, But the righteous gives and does not spare (Pr.
21:25-26).”
One of the huge problems in our country and for that
matter around the world is that people do not know how to live within their
means, and the same is true with governments around the world too. Diligent people know how to live within their
means and do not get in over their heads finically: “The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower
is servant to the lender (Pr. 22:7).” Dr.
Wiersbe writes “While a certain amount of honest debt is expected in today’s
world, and everybody wants to achieve a good credit rating, we must be careful
not to mistake presumption for faith. As
the familiar adage puts it ‘When your outgo exceeds your income, then your
upkeep is your downfall.” Too bad our
government does not understand this.
Dr. Wiersbe also writes the following which is something
that I believe is very true: “It’s a
dangerous thing for people to become greedy for more and more money and to
overextend themselves to acquire it.
Each of us must discover at what financial level God wants us to live
and be content with it. ‘7 Two things I
asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: 8
Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9
That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or
that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God (Pr.
30:7-9).”
We must understand that we do not have to have everything
that we desire. We must live within our
means. John Henry Jowett said “The real
measure of our wealth is how much we’d be worth if we lost all our money.” What he is saying is that our character is
more important than position, and also wisdom more important than
possessions. When we look at the Lord
Jesus Christ while upon the earth we find that He was born in a stable, His
parents gave the least expensive sacrifice after His birth, He never had a home
of His own after leaving His parents home.
All of the needs that He needed were provided for Him from outside
sources, (the woman cared for Him financially), and so He is an example of how
we are to live. Jesus said and He also
followed His own words “But seek first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” I am not saying that Jesus needed to seek
righteousness for He is and always has been righteous, but as believer we are
to seek this in the same way that Jesus sought to do His Father’s will.
We will have to pick up on this in the next SD as I am
running out of time now.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Not to ever live
above my means is something that I need and want to continue to do. Give more to those who are in need is also
something I want to do more of.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Seek first the kingdom of God.
Memory verses for this
week: Psalm 32:1-3
1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered. 2 How blessed is
the man in whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is
no deceit! 3 When I kept silent about my
sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
Turning Points Wisdom for
Today: “Keep away from people who
belittle your ambitions. Small people
always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” (Mark Twain)
“Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things
by which one may edify another.” (Romans
14:19)
2/17/2013 9:30 AM
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