The book of Proverbs opens with a call to those that would be wise.  It gives an introduction to the material that will be found therein, and invites the reader to “increase in learning and to obtain guidance.”

The first actual proverb is found in verse 7:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

This passage is making a general statement.  If one wants to begin to understand knowledge, then they must start by fearing the Lord.

This fear isn’t necessarily the fear of “what will He do to me” but instead the fear of reverence and position.  God, as the Creator of all things, knows all things.  Therefore, whatever He says is true.

The opposite is then stated:  Those that would refuse to gain knowledge from the Lord are fools—for fool despise wisdom and instruction.

It is from this framework and with this in mind that the writer of the following Proverbs is going to expound wisdom to the reader.  Though many of the things he will say are innately wise, only a mind that considers what the Lord has as valuable and true will be able to attest to it all.

Marriage is not a contract. It is a covenant, made before God and witnesses. Marriage is not a fuzzy feeling of love. It is a commitment. It is a commitment to build a godly marriage that is a picture to the world of Christ and His bride. It is a commitment to build a family and raise a godly seed. It won’t always be easy. It’s hard work. But we are committed to the task. We take no notice of difficulties. We are not daunted by problems. We keep on with the task, because we are committed to a vision of building a godly generation. We are not concerned only with the present, but with the future, and the generations to come. We have no thought of quitting because we know that it would affect not only our children now, but also the generations to follow. We keep pressing on toward the goal, pushing through the mountains of difficulties, as we trust in our God.

Got any rivers you think are uncrossible?
Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through?
God specializes in things thought impossible!
He can do what no other can do!

God is for your marriage. He will be with you to make it strong and precious. There may be times when the tide goes out on your marriage. When the tide goes out, you see all the ugly things on the beach. When the tide goes out on your marriage, the ugly things loom large. But don’t despair. Don’t look at the rubbish. Look to the Lord. There is a divine law I want to remind you about. The tide ALWAYS COMES IN AGAIN! If you are going through a tough time, hang on to God. The tide will come in again with love and blessing and reconciliation.

~Nancy Campbell~

None of us are exempt from trials. We all face hard times in our marriages. What do you do? Grumble and groan? Complain and criticize? Talk negatively and nastily. Oh it is so easy to do this, because this is how we feel. But here’s the secret. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Thank Him. Trust Him. All your groaning and blaming one another will not solve the problem. God is your Deliverer! You can trust Him. Learn to hang on to God and look to Him as your source. Don’t trust in your husband’s ability alone, but in the Lord.

Make it your habit to pray and praise the Lord together daily. If you pray daily together, you’ll keep free from “the little foxes that spoil the vines” that eat away at your marriage. Make your home a house of prayer and thanksgiving. Matthew 18:19 is a wonderful promise for married couples. “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” Notice these words – “If two of you…” The two of you together can claim great power and miracles in your relationship and in your home as you faithfully pray together.

And never forget the exhortation in Ephesians 4:26, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” If you have an argument or get upset with one another, don’t act like a baby and put on the silent treatment. Sort it out. Say “I’m sorry.” Forgive one another. Never go to sleep until you have restored the relationship. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

~Nancy Campbell~

Ouch! This is a challenge to me. If I start to get a little harsh, Colin will say, “Come on, Darling, be sweet to me.” And I do have to be reminded! But he never lets me get away with sharp words. He always pulls me up to be gentle and sweet.

How do you sweeten your marriage? With words – sweet words, soft words, encouraging words, cheerful words, positive words, helpful words, supportive words, kind words, wise words, forgiving words, loving words, pleasant words and life-giving words. You can’t miss having a successful marriage if you put this secret into practice!

I am always challenged by Song of Solomon 4:11 where the Bridegroom speaks to the bride and says, “Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue.” What drips from the honeycomb? Sweetness! What kind of words drip from your tongue?

A dear friend called in this morning and shared this quote with me: “People turn their best side out: they are delightful in company, but snarly at home. There they give vent to their dissatisfaction, their temper, their grouch. They are scent-bottles abroad, vinegar-bottles at home… To be a Christian at home one must learn to ‘keep sweet’.”

Your words will gradually kill your marriage or they can keep it alive with love. It’s your choice. Proverbs 18:21.

~Nancy Campbell~

And yet, on the horizon is something big– something God-sized that is going on, but I’m not quite sure what it all means yet.  Let’s just say that I see the hand of the Lord on my family again, and that He is already at work preparing something for us to do.

How do I know it’s Him?  Part of it is intuition– the intuition that told me to return to my hometown, to join this current church at this time, and that told me who to marry.  Part of it is circumstance– I couldn’t begin to detail all that I’ve seen and that I’m seeing at work.  Maybe as it comes closer to fulfillment I can talk about all the marvelous ways I’m seeing Him at work.

And lastly, part of it is because He’s answering our prayers.  We long to be part of something that we can point to and say “that was not me, that was God.”  “That was not of me or my church’s strength, that was of God’s strength.”

And of course, I believe He’s trying to use me here on the web as well— though I’m sure that He’s shaking His head sometimes at what I choose to write, post, and how I respond in comments!  But praise be to Him that He loves me and is choosing to use me.

Very quickly I went from the new deacon to the deacon’s spokesman to the Deacon Chairman.  My understanding of Biblical passages and my untaintedness meant that I was the logical choice in a polarized atmosphere.  I also ended up being the Pulpit Committee Chairman in a rather uncomfortable twist of events.

God placed me in my current church at the right time to accomplish His purpose.  I was placed there to help my church through this rough time, to help bring in the new pastor, and I started to wonder if my task here was done.

I stopped being a deacon when my term was up.  It was months of sometimes weekly meetings, highly charged emotional atmospheres, and I believed that I had become to jaded and calculating to the point where I needed to heal.

However, it is in this time away that my wife and I began to wonder whether this is where the Lord wants us to stay.

However, I blended right in.  I was able to become pseudo-popular… Popular in my own circles.

It was here that God first got a hold of me.  It was my second semester there, and I had a roommate that had just been saved and was on fire for the Lord.  He had come to BJU to be a evangelist.  If you think I’m passionate about what I believe, this guy would get in your face, and he did loading for RPS.  He could probably bench press two or three of me.

It was one night in our nightly devotional time where he looked straight at me and my roommate and challenged us on our faith.  Here I was, going to a Christian University, but I wasn’t really doing anything for the Lord.  That, coupled with my first review on campus where the review showed I wasn’t doing any personal devotions.

Here I was, the guy that was so sure of himself and his faith in high school, that was always doing the right thing, and it sunk in.  It was all about me.  It was then that I found an extension ministry– and stuck to it.  I started a daily devotional study and I began to absorb what I was being taught.

Fast forward to me as a Senior.  I have a lot of Bible training, and the ability to choose.  My skills have landed me an interview on campus staff doing computer work for them  Or I could return to my home town, to my home church, to try to make a difference.

I chose my hometown.  I knew that I wanted to use what God had given me to reach those that were in my home, to try to help cut through some of the apathy I believed that I saw.  So, I got a job with the company my father worked for and headed home.

It’s easy, while you’re caught up in the day to day activities of life to miss God’s plan, to lose site of Him and to start focusing on yourself.  Each and every day I get up to do basically the same thing, with little variety, attempting to take comfort in the knowledge that God works even in the mundane, and yet the Holy Spirit has been at work in my heart to want more.

How do I know it’s Him?  Because God always comes first.  This is one of the first truths that I came face to face with in my devotional study.  We want more of God because He is at work in our hearts.

I say this because I believe that God is currently working a plan out that I have yet to see the end of– but I know it’s Him.

To understand my walk with God, you have to look back over my life, and so– as boring as it will probably be, I want to take some time of reflection, time to show you God at work, and point the way to where I see God at work right now.

When I first read this I knew that I must share it.  This list of questions from the ladies of Beauty of the Heart hits right to the core and exposes us for who we truly are…

• Do you act out of obedience to Christ and a passion for His glory–or your own?
• How do you spend your time?
• How much of your time per day is spent chatting with friends (online, on the phone or in person)?
• How much of your time per day is spent daily in conversation with family members?
• How much of your time is spent daily speaking to God?
• How often do you meditate on the Cross? (Once a day? Once a week? Once a year?)
• Do you set time aside every day for prayer and Bible study?
• Do you try to faithfully obey God in public and at home?
• Do you ask God for the grace to help you obey consistently?
• What people, books, movies, etc. influence you the most?
• Do you read books, watch movies, or listen to music that does not encourage your walk with Christ? Do you think this is wise?
• Are your friends fellow Christians who are seeking after godliness? Or do they encourage you in gossip and ungodly thoughts?
• If so, do you also join in that gossip and allow those thoughts to dominate your mind?
• What are your main spheres of influence?
• What steps could you take to become a stronger influence of a Christ-like attitude to friends, siblings, neighbors, relatives, etc.?
• Do you actively serve in your community?
• When making decisions, do you consider how they affect others?

Wow, talk about a lot of questions, but they’re terribly accurate.  I would add one of A.W. Tozer’s questions where he asks “Where does your mind go when you have nothing else pertinent to think about?”

I was reminded, reading Anna’s post on Daily Devotions, just how important it is to get into a routine, not just because I want to do it in a wrote way, but because I need my relationship with Him to be more important than any other relationship in my life:

Reading the Bible and praying are two of the most important disciplines in a Christian’s life. They are difficult for a lot of us to maintain regularly, I know. Yet they are so important. If I want to build my life on a foundation of the Word, then I have to read the Word. And if I am going to build my life on a foundation of prayer, then I have to make time to actually pray.

My wife and I have been (off and on) working through the Experiencing God workbook, though I did read through Hebrews 3 times (I have to get back to that!) which I know some of you were doing with me though my other blog.

How about you?  What do you do for devotions?  If you’re doing Hebrews with me, how far are you?