To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

Proverbs 8

To fear the Lord is to hate evil;
    I hate pride and arrogance,
    evil behavior and perverse speech. v13

I am a prideful person - I need transformation in this area of my life.

My Prayer: Lord, Your wisdom and glory is enough for, my abilities cannot compare.   Those abilities I do have are from You and can only shine through when I humble myself and dampen my own pride.  I am deeply sorry for my pride.  I thank You Jesus that You love me anyway.  Please forgive me.  Transform my heart and my life and help me humble myself so that more of You is visible in my life and less of me.
 

Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold...

Proverbs 8

1Does not wisdom call out?
    Does not understanding raise her voice?
² At the highest point along the way,
    where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
³ beside the gate leading into the city,
    at the entrance, she cries aloud:
⁴ “To you, O people, I call out;
    I raise my voice to all mankind.
⁵ You who are simple, gain prudence;
    you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.^[a]
6 Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;
    I open my lips to speak what is right.
⁷ My mouth speaks what is true,
    for my lips detest wickedness.
⁸ All the words of my mouth are just;
    none of them is crooked or perverse.
⁹ To the discerning all of them are right;
    they are upright to those who have found knowledge.
¹⁰ Choose my instruction instead of silver,
    knowledge rather than choice gold,
¹¹ for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
    and nothing you desire can compare with her. 

For me the relevance is that daily I should go to God FIRST and not be distracted by earthly or worldly matters.  I often say these matters are more important than God...again sin!

My Prayer: Lord, You are Truth and You are the Way.  I need to go to You first and foremost above all other pursuits.  I confess to You however that I don't and I worry too much about these worldly pursuits.  Please forgive me Jesus.  Help me strengthen my faith.

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him

Proverbs 6

¹⁶ There are six things the Lord hates,
    seven that are detestable to him:¹⁷         haughty eyes,
        a lying tongue,
        hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸         a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹         a false witness who pours out lies
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. 

Haughty is defined in the dictionary as "blatantly and disdainfully proud".  I know I am prideful and I am more so than I care to admit.  I was prideful yesterday and I am likely to be today if I cannot guard and protect my heart.  I am sometimes concerned about what others think of me and so I puff myself up to appear bigger than I am - how sinful!!

My Prayer: Lord, there is NONE more great than You, more magnificent than You.  You are great and magnificent for so many reasons I cannot begin to describe.  You don't need to be haughty.  Yet I confess that I am full of pride and I act out my pride, including yesterday.  I thank You that You love me anyway.  Please forgive me for my pride and strengthen my faith and love of You and Your ways.  Help me delight You and glorify You with my life.

May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

Proverbs 5

¹⁸ May your fountain be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
¹⁹ A loving doe, a graceful deer —
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
²⁰ Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

I have never physically been unfaithful to Lisa and I never expect to be...yet from time to time I do become intoxicated with other women either because of their beauty or qualities they have - and this is clearly sin!  I do believe also that God is growing in my heart and yesterday's reading demonstrates that drawing near to God is the only way to protect yourself.  Fix your eyes on Jesus to protect your heart and all else will flow from there, including other tactics you can use to protect yourself from sin.

My Prayer: Lord, You are SO patient with me....that my growth in You is sometimes non existent (either because I choose not to come to You or because I am not obedient in other ways) or very slow to grow.  I have become intoxicated with other women - including yesterday!  I thank You that You love me anyway and for Your patience with me.  Please forgive me and also help me grow in Christ.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4

How things are written are of course clues to message that is being delivered...in today's case it starts out with the words "above all else". 

²³ Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it. ²⁴ Keep your mouth free of perversity;
    keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead;
    fix your gaze directly before you.

 There are other clues today, specifically, repetition or saying the same thing over and over again although using different words:

⁵ Get wisdom, get understanding;
    do not forget my words or turn away from them.

...

²¹ Do not let them out of your sight,
    keep them within your heart;

 ...

²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead;
    fix your gaze directly before you.

 In the case of above - the message is about FOCUS.  Where should we focus - and the answer is of course Jesus.  This is amplified elsewhere throughout scripture, including here:

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  Hebrews 12:1-3

Perseverance is something that means several things....I must continue to study hard in the program where I am at right now; most importantly it is about staying focused on Jesus over a lifetime.  We will endure much and the "race" will be painful as any endurance race is but we should focus on the finish line....

My Prayer: Lord - what an awesome God you are!  You know our lives our difficult in many ways and you use all of our lives to build our faith and for Your glory - how You are able to use someone as ordinary as I am is incredible! I am weak however and my faith is weak...I am weak in prayer time and this is yet another aspect of my faith where even though I am weak, You love me anyway.  Thank You that You love me anyway.  Please forgive me for my weak prayer  life and help me with this.  Build up my faith and help me have a strong faith in all areas so that I can be fully used for Your delight and glory.
  

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

Proverbs 4

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.  Though it cost all you have, get understanding.  (v7)

As I go back to school it is interesting to note how my listening skills need great improvement.   My poor listening skills reveal much, including:

Pride: I speak often to try to show others my knowledge or intelligence - SIN!
Selfishness: I speak over others - SIN!.

Yesterday's sermon on supernatural (or uncommon) kindness was also revealing in that Pastor Scott spoke about Jesus' kindness that he demonstrated to others - even to his own detriment (i.e. dying on the cross).

I need God's help to listen - as this will help me gain wisdom.  But first I must be willing to deny myself the prideful and selfish habits I have that get in the way.  I must humbly accept that listening is a way of putting others first.

My Prayer: Lord, You are available any time I am to listen to anything I have to say - that You are so available and so patient is amazing.  I need You because I am broken Lord in that I am full of both pride and selfishness.  I thank You that You love me anyway but please forgive me for this sin.  Refine me and purify me Lord Jesus and make me more like You.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.

Proverbs 3

²⁷ Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
    when it is in your power to act.
²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor,
    “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—
    when you already have it with you.  

God has blessed me I believe with a heart to encourage...yet I decide too often that I don't want to use my gifts because I don't feel like it or I don't feel like I have time.  I think about relationships in my life where I can be more encouraging - even with Lisa.  I am too critical when I should be encouraging.  

My Prayer: Lord, You encourage me every day and all the time - the beauty of Your creation, Your word, song, prayer, fellowship of a friend/family, etc.  That You do all of this for me is amazing.  More amazing to me because my faith is weak and I am selfish and sinful.  I continue to be weak in prayer - I am supposed to pray often for others but I don't.  Thank You for all of Your grace and love despite who I am and what I do.  Please forgive me and help build my faith and my prayer life.  Help me be more like You.