A Faithful Man will Abound with Blessings

  "A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent." Proverbs 28:20 KJV

The Benefit of Pictures

The Benefit of Pictures

      Pictures are great inventions that allow us to remember special events in our past. Wedding pictures help you to remember the day that you said I do . . . and realize just how young you both were. Pictures document your child’s changes from before birth and the rest of their life. In short, pictures are awesome and are definitely an invention to be thankful that God allowed man to make. I mean, pictures preserve memories, moments, a landscape, a person. Yes, we should be careful that we don’t worship pictures like graven images (it is possible to do so). Yet we can record our history in another form than print—one that many words just cannot fully describe.

      The smile of your bride when she held your first child, the birthday where you were so blessed to have great family and friends with you, the excitement of your daughter when she gets engaged—all these moments can be “frozen” and preserved in a picture. Let’s pause and thank the Lord for the gift of pictures and for the inexpensive technology to do so.

Thought 298: Humility from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 298

Humility

“The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.”

Psalms 25:9-15 KJV

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines Meek as: …humble, in an evangelical sense ; submissive to the divine will ; not proud, self-sufficient or refractory ; not peevish and apt to complain of divine dispensations. Christ says, “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and he shall find rest for your souls.” Matt. xi

    A mentor of mine has said, “humility is the key.” In life, being humble is an important key to everything: right standing with God, proper relationships with people, and most importantly, being in the right place and season that God has for you. A few years later, the same man told me that humility and the fear of the Lord when you study them out are synomomous.

     From our text, we learn that the Lord guides the humble, instructs them, and teaches them His way. As we go on we see the characteristics of the humble: keeping the demands of covenant of the Lord; and repentance, crying out: forgive my iniquity, Lord! By the Spirit, we can also see the Lord reveal through this Scripture that the fear of the Lord and humility are synonymous because the man that fears the Lord is instructed in the way chosen for him, in the path that God has anointed him for; and that the Lord guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

     Fearing the Lord brings prosperity and inheritance, but more than all that, the Lord confides in those who fear him! He makes his covenant known to them! Like David wrote, may we cry out and proclaim, my eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare! Let’s be humble, let’s Fear the Lord!

 

Thought 287: You've always been told.... from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 287

You’ve always been told….

  I have been told since I was very young that I am a leader. As I grew older, I heard the same type of thing. The words of those people have been a blessing to me during some discouraging times. What have you always been told? Some things that others tell us are lies and curses, while others are blessings and truth. First, ask the Holy Spirit to help you determine whether blessings of curses have been spoken over you. Remember the blessings, and forgive those who cursed you—pray that they may experience Christ’s love and forgiveness and as far much as you can, try to share Christ’s love and truth with them if you come in contact with them.

“But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister (servant).”

Matthew 20:26 and Mark 10:43 KJV parenthesis added

 That verse that tells us that whoever wants to be the greatest among men has to be a servant. Did you catch that? The “greatest leaders” in the world today often miss it.  The way to be a great leader is to throw away your own pride and embrace humility—begin to serve. True leadership is humbly following God in whatever and wherever He leads you. Even if it looks impossible and all your men, friends, family, and colleagues say that you’re crazy. Jesus’ mission seemed crazy to His own brothers (John 7)!

What God tells me to do has often made me ‘shake-in-my-boots;’ I am attacked fiercely by the Enemy. But God allows me to be tempted by the Enemy as a test. By that test God teaches me something. Unlike earthly tests, this test is all for me, not one ounce of the test is for God because He already knows all of the results, but nevertheless, He lets me go through it so that I might see sometime later what He has taught me.

What are you being called to do? Be a doctor? A scientist? Entrepreneurship? A Mother instead of just a Mom? A Father instead of just a Dad? Be what you were called to be, it may be tough, but GOD IS WITH YOU!

Thought 246: Scripture from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 246

Scripture

“He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.” Proverbs 28:19 KJV

Thought 221: Obey from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

Thought 221

Obey

 “If only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.” Deuteronomy 15:5 (NIV1984)

   When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, f you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Deuteronomy 30 (NIV1984)

God blesses when we are obedient.

       We have just nailed one of the very important studs of Biblical truth into the spiritual building of our lives. Obedience is so important. This is why the child who cursed his father or mother was to be stoned under the law, this is why Christ died (in obedience to the Father’s plan), and this is why we go to Hell without Christ (refusing to acknowledge of out sin and receive Christ as Savior and Lord). 

  Pray about what areas God wants you to be obedient in.

Thought 220: Benefits of Blessing from Ryan's devotional series Thoughts

Thought 220

Benefits of Blessing

        You can either bless, or you can curse. Think of it in these terms: building up or tearing down. It takes time to build, but hardly any time to tear down. The foundation of the Bible, of Jesus Christ (the chief cornerstone, the capstone) must be laid down first, because it “will not be shaken” (Isaiah 54:10, Psalm 62:6, Psalm 16:8, Acts 2:25).

Daily Devotion from Ryan's devotional series, Thoughts

Thought 159

Why God Punishes

   God is just, therefore He must punish sin. Take a look at what Deuteronomy 28 in the New International Version says:

Deuteronomy 28

 ¹ If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. ² All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

 ³ You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

 ⁴ The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

 ⁵ Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

 ⁶ You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

 ⁷ The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

 ⁸ The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

 ⁹ The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. ¹⁰ Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. ¹¹ The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

 ¹² The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. ¹³ The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. ¹⁴ Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

 ¹⁵ However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

 ¹⁶ You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

 ¹⁷ Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

 ¹⁸ The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

 ¹⁹ You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

 ²⁰ The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. ^{[a] 21} The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. ²² The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. ²³ The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. ²⁴ The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

 ²⁵ The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. ²⁶ Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. ²⁷ The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. ²⁸ The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. ²⁹ At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

 ³⁰ You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and ravish her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not even begin to enjoy its fruit. ³¹ Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will eat none of it. Your donkey will be forcibly taken from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. ³² Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand. ³³ A people that you do not know will eat what your land and labor produce, and you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. ³⁴ The sights you see will drive you mad. ³⁵ The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

 ³⁶ The LORD will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone. ³⁷ You will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will drive you.

 ³⁸ You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. ³⁹ You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. ⁴⁰ You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. ⁴¹ You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. ⁴² Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.

 ⁴³ The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. ⁴⁴ He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.

 ⁴⁵ All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. ⁴⁶ They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever. ⁴⁷ Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, ⁴⁸ therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

 ⁴⁹ The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰ a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. ⁵¹ They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. ⁵² They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the LORD your God is giving you.

 ⁵³ Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you. ⁵⁴ Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, ⁵⁵ and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities. ⁵⁶ The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter ⁵⁷ the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For she intends to eat them secretly during the siege and in the distress that your enemy will inflict on you in your cities.

 ⁵⁸ If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God- ⁵⁹ the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. ⁶⁰ He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. ⁶¹ The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed. ⁶² You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the LORD your God. ⁶³ Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.

 ⁶⁴ Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. ⁶⁵ Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. ⁶⁶ You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. ⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"-because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see. ⁶⁸ The LORD will send you back in ships to Egypt on a journey I said you should never make again. There you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.