Wisdom is Wealth

I was talking just yesterday about the need for Wisdom, and was led to Proverbs 8 in my morning devotion time.  This verse stood out: "for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." - Proverbs 8:11

Are you chasing a dream?  It could be your dream job, a dream companion, a dream home... Whatever it is, it won't work out if we don't make wise choices. Sometimes we get just want we want, only to watch it slip through our fingers.  Unwise choices will make us mess up.  It's possible to pray for the thing but never seek the ability to manage the thing we desire.  God in His Divine Wisdom often witholds from us what He knows we will mis-use.  If we're not ready, why give us what we cannot handle in the right way?  Sometimes we feel God is cruel.  But in every situation He is wise.  A child may need to learn to write, but you don't give a pencil to a 2-week-old baby. They won't know what to do with it, so you wait until they show signs that they are ready.  Often when we hear "no" God is saying "Not yet...you aren't ready."  So get ready.  Get Wisdom.

In Proberbs 8 Wisdom is portrayed as a woman speaking, saying that she was present when the world was made.  God made everything to work in harmony.  Things that seem unrelated working together to create the universe.  He had to think of every detail.  That took Wisdom.

Wisdom isn't found in books.  It is found within our spirits when we align ourselves to God's Will.  One of my pastors defines Wisdom as the practical application of God's principles to daily Life (I'm paraphrasing).  Wisdom doesn't come with gray hair and a long beard.  It's not a shimmering purple mist that sits over our heads.  It's not for "certain" people.  It's for those who ask for and seek it out.  It comes from sitting at God's feet, paying attention to the movements of His Spirit and acting on what He deposits within us.  God downloads all the directions we need for Life.  We just have to keep the connection open.

So what happens when we get this Wisdom?  I will let her tell you: "With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity." Proverbs 8:18  Did you hear that?  Those things come when we seek Wisdom.  It's a package deal!  But instead we seek the things and work ourselves into the ground to get them.  Wisdom will show us not only what is right for us but how to manage it well.

If we want more than we have now, we have to be more than we are now.  Challenge yourself today to find Wisdom and keep her close.  She will prove to be a good friend.

Check Your Heart

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." - Proverbs 4:23

Have you ever done or said something that hurt someone and then wondered how you could have done it?  You think of yourself as a good person but your actions did not reflect the same.  You think, " That wasn't like me."  Or was it?

The truth is, we can only do and say what is in our hearts.  Proverbs 23:7 tells us that we are as we think in our hearts.  Our actions are the results of our thoughts, and it is in our thoughts that the battle for Life and death take place.

If "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21), we must  fiercely guard the hearts that influence what our tongues will speak.

Think of your physical heart.  Everything that enters your body affects it.  In the same way, everything that enters your spiritual "heart" affects it and will influence how it functions in a positive or negative way.  Your physical heart flows within your body, but because we are spiritual beings, or spiritual "heart" flows not only within us, but also to God and to those we come into contact with.  The spiritual circulatory system is much more complex than the physical, and much more delicate.  What you eat physically affects you physically, but what you eat spiritually affects everyone.

In the same way that a healthy physical heart needs certain nutrients in order to work properly, a healthy spiritual "heart" needs a steady diet of good spiritual food.  If you consistently eat an improper diet, you risk heart disease, stroke, and even death.  Diet alone can influence so much, both physically and spiritually. 

In the same way that a healthy physical heart needs to be exercised through vigorous activity, the spiritual "heart" needs to be exercised through constant prayer and meditation on spiritual things.  Keep your spiritual heart rate high!

If you want to not only survive, but thrive, check your heart.  How are you feeding your heart? Is it getting enough exercise?  Many of us are suffering from spiritual heart attacks - our spiritual hearts are failing and we are dying inside.  But God is a mighty healer, both physically and spiritually, and He can repair or replace a faulty heart.  All we have to do is check ourselves in to His Heavenly Hospital.  He also makes house calls, and all treatments have been prepaid.

Check your heart.  Your Life depends on it.

Be Good-Looking

Are you good-looking? 

Most people would look in a mirror, check themselves out and answer, "yes", but that's not what I'm talking about here.

Good-looking people are those who look for good things in Life.  They do good and expect good to surround them.  They encourage posititivy, they seek peace, they love openly and completely. They don't kill dreams, or destroy reputations.  They don't envy the success of others, but support and learn from their achievements.

Good-looking people don't ignore the bad things; they just don't dwell on them.

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."  - Philippians 4:8

So, are you good-looking?

Do-over

I love to create, but I realized that there were some things in my physical and mental spaces that had to go.  They were holding me back.  Moving forward is harder if you are carring what you don't need.

I'd love to say, "push through and make things happen", but the truth is that, while there is a time for that, there is also a time when we have to stop, regroup, adjust our direction when we've gone off track, and then move forward.

Don't be afraid to start over or change your plan. Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to. You are not a failure if you've learned from your mistakes and you don't repeat them. You only fail if you give up.

If you Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail

People often tell me I am organized, but I'm really not.  I am a huge procrastinator and I'm very forgetful.  I've tried so many planning systems over the years, from Palm Pilot to Microsoft Outlook to Franklin Covey to my smartphone, and now, my Mead spiral-bound planner I got for a few dollars at Target.  It's okay, but I recently found out about Erin Condren planners, and I want to give that system a try.  You can get more information about the planners here.  Unlike my current planner, the days are set up vertically, with a week's view on two pages, and each day is divided into three parts.  My days are broken up this way.  Morning and evening are more family time, where I am getting my family ready for the day in the morning and helping with homework and winding down in the evening.  I like the separation of the day so I can prioritize tasks.  It reminds me that I need to wrap up "me time" and get back into family mode.

With all the advances in technology, I still work best with a paper planner.  I hardly note appointments in my phone any more.  Good old pen and paper seem to work for me.  Towards the end of last year I started planning on paper again and it's reduced my stress level a lot.  I try to stay on top of managing my household (and I still forget stuff!) but I've been more successful when I wrote tasks down than when I didn't.

I just ordered my Erin Condren planner.  There's currently a 40% off sale, so you know I am thinking about this one!  

Let Them Do Their Job!

It's frustrating when someone won't do what they are supposed to do.  If you're like me, you'd probably want to get the job done so you'd do it yourself.  Sometimes that's fine, but most of the time it isn't.

Doing someone else's job distracts you from yours, wears you out and prevents the other person from ever mastering their job.  This applies to the office, the family and any other relationship.

The Bible describes the church as a body with many parts, each having a specific design and function.  If the elbow doesn't work, and you're an eye, who will do the seeing while you're trying to bend the arm?

If you want them to get it together, remind them of their responsibilities and give them the support and opportunity to function in their capacity.  If someone has fallen short in the past, give them a chance to do better.  We often don't perform because of lack of confidence, lack of encouragement or a lot of guilt. Let them know, "You can do this" - and let them know you believe it.

In our desire to do and be better, we need to help others do the same.

Stop Pushing the Stone

"Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
- Mark 16:2-4

There are some dead things in our Lives that need to be resurrected, but we are worried about moving the stone from the tomb where we buried them.  It could be a dream, a relationship, a talent, or our faith that has died, and we want God to move on our behalf and bring it back to Life.  But instead of believing in God's Power and leaving it in His hands, we worry, or try to move the stone in our own strength.

It is not our place to move the stone.  Stop wearing yourself out and let God do the heavy lifting in your Life (His yoke is easy and His burden is light).  If He has work for you to do, He will remove every obstacle in the way.  Don't let your own doubt or fear be one of those obstacles.  It is often us blocking our own blessings, blinded by doubt.  God can do anything if you let Him.

Stop pushing on that stone.  Step back, believe, and watch God move it.