Proverbs

Friday, October 5, 2012 (7:02 a.m.)

Irvine, CA

♫... Jesus …♫

There's a song in my head. Is it ♫Tell Me the Stories of Jesus I love to hear♫ La, la, la, la, la, la la, la...? And me here without a hymnal.

I try to take cues from You. When a song pops into my head, seemingly without provocation, I like to follow to see where it leads. This morning Dearest Jesus, would You have me following words or melodies?

YOU? You'd have me follow You? That definitely makes sense!

So I'm confessing to You Jesus, I feel profoundly lost here this morning. No hymnal. No dictionary. Not my usual concordance. All the comforts that keep me distracted just enough to think I'm really studying Your Word and Your will for me. Tell me Jesus, this morning, right now, what would You have me looking at? To? Up?

So far I've tried provocation, prudence, prudent. And what do they all have in common? PROVERBS! Common sense and Godly wisdom. Yes. I need a truck full please!

Why? To “avoid many common destructive mistakes that flow so naturally from our ignorance, denial and pride” (The Life Recovery Bible Introduction to Proverbs).

“Ignorance, denial and pride? Oh my!” Blessed Jesus, You know me so well! You have me reading Solomon's words, impressing on young people their need “to develop proper priorities, boundaries, and behavior patterns” (TLRB).

And just when I was ready to ask about the word “young”, the sentences that follow answered my unformed query. “However, young people were not Solomon's only concern. His collection of wisdom is invaluable to people of all ages and occupations.” Even King Hezekiah used the wisdom and common sense found in Proverbs in “speaking to issues like honesty, limits, and healthy relationships.”

Are these not EXACTLY the issues we've been working toward dealing with these past many Y-E-A-R-S! Perfect Jesus, thank You! The “precious nuggets of life changing counsel are there for us to discover”!

“All of us, no matter how great our failures or hurts, can proceed far down the path of healing by following the God-given wisdom of Proverbs.”

Why? Because the purpose of this book was to offer that God-given wisdom “for protection against dysfunctional behaviors and ungodly practices.” How? The Protection of Wisdom,“How does a man become wise? The first step is to trust and reverence the Lord! Only fools refuse to be taught. Listen to your father and mother. What you learn from them will stand you in good stead; it will gain many honors” (chapter 1, verses 7-9).

The comment at the bottom of the page? “The purpose for writing down these proverbs was to teach people foundational principles about how to live a good life and how to deal with the various problems they would encounter in life. The first step to attaining this kind of wisdom is the hardest: trusting and showing reverence for God. This means admitting that we need help and then allowing God to guide and care for us.”

This is all so perfectly in tune with what's currently going on in our relationships. Jesus, thank You for guiding me to this book. Thank You for the titles found under the RECOVERY THEMES: “The Importance of Common Sense”, “The Power of Priorities”, “The Role of Boundaries” and “Building Healthy Relationships”.

Blessed, Blessed Jesus ~ I am so tired of working so hard and making SO many mistakes. How perfect of You to bring me to reading the preface to “the greatest book on recovery (The Bible) ever written.” To “watch as God sets out a plan [that would be YOU] for recovery of His broken people [this would be me] and creation.”

This particular preface encourages us to “set out together on a journey toward healing and newfound strength. Not strength found within ourselves, but strength found through trusting God and allowing Him to direct our decisions and plans.”

Thank You Jesus! All this because I asked. Thank You. I love You. Amen.

(675 words ~ 8:30 a.m.)