datethewordtest

Tag: January 10th

  • Ask For Wisdom

    2 Chronicles 1:10 “Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”

    As Solomon becomes King he has a dream in which God tells him that he can ask for anything.  (2 Chronicles 1:7 On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” WOW!! God tells Solomon to ask Him for ANYTHING.  Think about that.  What would you ask?  

    I don’t know how long Solomon thought about what to ask but what he did ask is found in our verse.  He asked God for “wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?” 

    Solomon was not wise enough to do what he was supposed to do but was wise enough to recognize that he was not wise enough and he was wise enough to ask for wisdom.  

    Are you feeling overwhelmed with life’s responsibilities?  Maybe you are overwhelmed with your family responsibilities.  You are finding you just don’t know how to be a husband or a father, a wife or a mother.  Maybe it is with a job responsibility.  Maybe it is with a leadership role at church.  Whatever you are facing that is bringing forth feelings of insecurity and fear I encourage you to follow the example of Solomon and ask God for wisdom.  Humbly acknowledge your weakness and ASK for WISDOM.

    If you are wondering if the invitation Solomon received is extended to you the answer is YES.  James 1:5 says, “If anyone lacks wisdom let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” 

    So, what are you waiting for?

    As you ask God for wisdom many times His answers are found in the Bible.  Thus reading the wisdom books is a wise thing to do.  I recommend one chapter a day from the book of Proverbs, reading the chapter that matches the date of the month.

    Continue Strong asking God for WISDOM, 
    And Remember to Date the Word  

  • Resisting Peer Pressure

    Proverbs 1:10 “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.”

    The opening chapter of Proverbs gets straight to the point regarding choices a person has to make.  There is no middle ground.  For example, with our choices, one will either be a wise person or a fool.  One will be a righteous person or a wicked person.  One will be diligent or one will be lazy.  One is going to listen and learn, or one will be stubborn and stupid. 

    In getting to the point about making wise decisions that will lead to life and not destruction, Solomon calls on the reader to consider their purpose for their life in verse 7.  He calls on the reader to consider carefully the principles a parent teaches and pleas with the young person to put them into practice.  He then pleads with the reader to be careful of the people they are around and to resist the pressure to say yes to temptations.  A few verses later, he will tell his young reader to avoid certain places as those places are full of temptations that will be hard to resist. 

    It is as if Solomon tells his son that if you are in the wrong places with the wrong people, you will have wrong practices or bad behavior.  

    I have summed up the early verses of Proverbs 1 like this:
    A person who has the right purpose will have right practices
    A person who has the right principles will have right practices
    A person who has the right people around them will have right practices
    A person who is in the right place will have right practices. 

    Now the opposite is true 
    Wrong purpose = wrong practices
    Wrong principles = wrong practices
    Wrong people = wrong practices
    Wrong places = wrong practices

    In learning and then teaching others how to get victory over temptations, Proverbs 1 has always been one of the starting places.  I had to learn to avoid places where I was prone to fall.  I had to learn that some people were just not good for me to be around anymore.  Psalm 1:1 told me to take precautions in associating with the wicked.  As a reminder, it says, “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;”  Proverbs 12:26 tells me to be careful of whom my friends would be.  It states. “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.”  Proverbs 13:20 revealed how my choices of friends would play out, stating, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.”

    In resisting temptations and saying no to sinners who entice you it is worth first being careful of who you will be around.  Wrong people lead to wrong practices.  

    Continue Strong and be proactive in who you are with,
    And remember to DATE the Word