The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs (48 page)

June 29

Life-Giving Water

     
A person’s words can be life-giving water;

          
words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.

As I read this, it stirs my heart with a deep desire to have such a refreshing stream flow from my life. How about you? What is the source? How do we become filled with refreshing words? According to John 7:37-39, Jesus said, “‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, . . . streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit” (
NIV
). That’s the secret. Let’s look at three steps to take.

1. Come to Jesus. Spend time with him privately, unhurriedly, allowing his Spirit to fill and refresh you. Many Christians settle for only an occasional sip of Jesus. Developing a personal quiet time with the Lord can be the most wonderful, life-changing thing you will ever do. If you don’t have this, I’d love to help. Go to my website, BibleBusStop.com. I’ve posted a message that will walk you through some practical steps.
   
2. Feed your faith! As you spend time with the Lord, your confidence builds. Learn his promises. The Holy Spirit will then prompt you to trust his promises. If there’s a commandment, do it! Where there’s instruction, obey it. Put feet to your faith.
   
3. Lastly, there is the flow. This is what Jesus promised would happen. When you have come to him, listened to his Word, are walking in the Spirit and truth, you are filled. Then you will be God’s vessel ready to pour out. That’s when you’ll see his wisdom, love, and refreshing words flow life-giving refreshment through you to others.
   

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Let’s look at this promise in John 7:37-39 again. Jesus said, “‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, . . . streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit” (
NIV
). Are you thirsty, truly wanting to live differently, fully, and richly? God is ready, if you are.

Let’s Pray

Lord, I realize I have often come to you for merely material things and physical help. Forgive me. I come to you now eager and thirsty. Please fill and overflow me with your refreshing, living water.

One Year Bible Reading

2 Kings 15:1–16:20; Acts 19:13-41; Psalm 147:1-20; Proverbs 18:4-5

June 30

Asking for Trouble

     
Fools get into constant quarrels;

          
they are asking for a beating.

     
The mouths of fools are their ruin;

          
their lips get them into trouble.

When we were kids we used to say, “He’s cruisin’ for a bruisin’,” “He’s shooting off his mouth,” or, “He’s asking for trouble.”

The bottom line here is that this type of fool is someone who causes others to get agitated. He riles them up, picks on them, offends them, and over all is hard to be around. Now before we start thinking of all the people we know who do that, let’s try the shoe on ourselves first.

Moms, are there times when you ride one of your kids’ cases? This means for some reason you’re frustrated with them. Maybe you’ve had a few heated discussions, and now they just can’t do anything right. Mom, you’ve got a chip on your shoulder. This wedge is just going to get deeper if you don’t make peace with this. Would you go to the Cross? Would you go in your room, shut your door, and talk it out with God? Pray it out and lay it down.

Are you argumentative? Maybe it’s with your husband, arguing over money or past hurts or who’s supposed to take out the garbage; or with your mother, still arguing, bristling over little things she says; or it’s someone at work and you argue over religion. Just log these words in one more time in your mind: “Fools get into constant quarrels. Their lips get them into trouble.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Abraham Lincoln said, “No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention.” In our marriages, friendships, and with our kids, we have to pick our battles. Remember: some hills are not worth fighting over. Are you at odds with your teen about the style of her hair or your sister about who inherits Mom’s pearl earrings? If they get their way, no one is going to die. These things involve no moral compromise or serious damage. Reserve your resolve for things that will affect bigger issues. And when you do need to stand your ground, do it for love’s sake, honoring God and showing grace in the process.

One Year Bible Reading

2 Kings 17:1–18:12; Acts 20:1-38; Psalm 148:1-14; Proverbs 18:6-7

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July 1

Ms. Gossip

     
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;

          
they go down to a man’s inmost parts.

Listen to what Matthew Henry had to say about gossips: “They pretend to be very much affected with the misfortunes of such and such, and to be in pain for them, and pretend that it is with the greatest grief and reluctance imaginable that they speak of them. They look as if they themselves were wounded by it, whereas really they rejoice in iniquity, are proud of the story, and tell it with pride and pleasure. Thus their words seem; but they go down as poison into the innermost parts of the belly.”

How interesting. Matthew Henry lived three hundred years ago, and yet as I read his comments, he seems to describe the very same woman I know—the one who loves to share her juicy stories of other people’s troubles. She has such a sympathetic look, you would almost think she cared, but in reality she only cares that she has the inside scoop. If you have been a victim of this Ms. Gossip, don’t you wish you could tell her how much this hurts?

I need to use my final words to talk to those who have been hurt by gossip. Don’t let the gossiper’s poison become your poison. I need to admit to you that two years ago, I did. I have been angry at someone who wounded me with her gossip words. Now I am the one who is wrong. So if that’s you, too, will you join me? I confess that bitterness is just as wrong. “Lord, please forgive us. Forgive the ones who wounded us and forgive us for being mad at them.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Have you been the victim of someone’s unkind words? I have the perfect story for you. According to 2 Kings 18, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, sent a hateful message to King Hezekiah, the king of Israel. He made sure all the people heard it. In chapter 19 we read that King Hezekiah did a remarkable thing. He didn’t threaten or cower or defend himself. He simply took the letter to the temple, spread it out before the Lord, and prayed for God to see and hear. He basically said, “Lord, you read it.” God did see and hear, and he did act.

One Year Bible Reading

2 Kings 18:13–19:37; Acts 21:1-17; Psalm 149:1-9; Proverbs 18:8