Doug’s Place: Dedicated to Deepening your Spiritual Life

This final chapter of Proverbs gives wisdom for those in authority and do the children of godly mothers. May God write His word on our hearts.

“For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so STIRRING UP ANGER PRODUCES STRIFE.”

Learn from ancient wisdom that wicked rulers will be punished while the righteous rulers prosper and build a lasting inheritance!

This chapter is full of wisdom authority. Let us be humble before the wisdom of the Holy One.

“Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.”

Solomon teaches that God's glory is experienced in that He conceals a matter so that the “king's “ glory is revealed by searching out what God has concealed.

We read together Sayings of the wise 20-30. May God once again write His words of wisdom upon our hearts.

Solomon continues with the Thirty Sayings of the Wise. We reflect on sayings 7 through 19 in Proverbs 23. Allow the Holy Spirit to write these words upon the heart so that our lips will speak wisdom and we will act wisely.

There is wisdom in the world, and yet we will be wise to pay focus on the wisdom of our LORD.

In facing the events of Holy Week, Jesus the Lamb of God shows us how to face trials. Let us spend a few moments to reflect on what He teaches us in the cross. We must learn this because each must bear their own “cross.”

May God breathe into our hearts the Holy Scripture that is God Breathed. Let us apply our hearts to WISDOM.

“The fear of the Lord leads to LIFE; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”

Notice that Proverbs 18 begins and ends with words about friendship and loyalty!

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”

Do not try to speed read Proverbs 16. Let us take pleasure in Scripture and find the wisdom that brings healing to the bones.

The words of the righteous bring joy to the heart of God. Guard your heart by the Spirit, and your words will bring healing and correction.

“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snare of death.” “Righteousness exults a nation, but sin condemns any people.”

The Messiah came to convict of sin, call us to repentance, to cleansing, and to transformation. He came to restore us to the JOY OF SALVATION.

“Whoever fears the Lord has a secure FORTRESS, and for their children it will be a refuge.”

Proverbs 13 teaches that the longings of the righteous are fulfilled while the desires of the fools leave them empty.

“In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.”

We are created to be fruitful all the days of our lives. The righteous must never retire from bearing this spiritual fruit. “The righteous will thrive like a green leaf.”

Let reflect and meditate this morning on the spiritual wisdom of Solomon. “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisors.”

When the way of the Lord is the foundation of our lives, we flourish in the storm and we bear fruit in the drought.

We must pay attention to the spiritual health of the heart because words originate in the heart.

Satan desires your life. Greater is the Holy One in you than the evil one in the world.

Solomon is gifted with wisdom and here contrasts the righteous with the wicked; the wise and the foolish.

Rather than take responsibility for our sin, we often wallow in shame or in denial; we often blame others-even God—and we attempt to hide our sin and to hide ourselves from God and the other.

Wisdom and Folly are beautifully and powerfully compared and contrasted.

Wisdom is contrasted with the call of immorality in chapter 7. Who's call will we heed—one leads to death and the other to life.

Through Easter I will lead out in meditations on sin, guilt, shame, and forgiveness/restoration.

We must not be deceived to think that any sin we do goes without consequence. However I praise God for His grace that brings forgiveness and restoration to our lives. Truly His love is seen both in the consequence and the forgiveness for any sin.

In sacred wisdom it is important for us to know what the Lord detests so that those things will be far from us.

Both God's wisdom and worldly “wisdom” are spoken of as feminine. Listen as Solomon contrasts wisdom and folly; life and destruction.

Wisdom from heaven is a tree of life for us upon the earth. She is more valuable than the purest gold and refines us like silver is refined in fire.

Those who seek wisdom and understanding as they seek treasures, will find the fear of the Lord.

In our modern times of high tech, we need still to be nourished in our souls by the ancient wisdom of the Ancient One. This reading is dedicated to my mother Sylvia Moore Shoaff.

Paul speaks of the God of all comfort in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5. GOD is the ultimate Healer whom the Pastors represent. Come with me as I suggest that spiritual healing is the greatest healing.

Sin and guilt and even shame threatens to overwhelm the child of God. Even as Jesus calmed the overwhelming storm at sea, so He calms our guilty soul by forgiving our sins. Come with me to Psalm 65.

We must never give up hoping for love to be given to us and in hoping for a mature love developing in us. Let us be HOPEFUL ppl.

We tend to treat others as we are treated. Because of this truth, or this spiritual tendency, there is an overwhelming hatred in our world. However, we embrace every act of love we find. This love originated from God. Lord of love, I ask that you implant this live within us this very day, week, month, and year. Amen

When we are confronted with opposing views held passionately by the other side, how can we know what is right and what is Wrong? How can we KNOW that? I will reflect on this today.

Love is from God. What is mot of love is not of God but is of the evil one. Let us overcome fear with Love: love for God and love for one another and love even for the enemy.

In a time when we need so much wisdom and strength and guidance—even a moral and spiritual compass—we need to either develop a love for His word, or to deepen such love.

Zion in the Hebrew Scriptures refers to Jerusalem. But the fulfillment of Zion is the Church of the Living God. The Church is the City of God. As we close out 2020, I encourage each of us to reflect on the glories of the City of God.

Of all the things for which we long perhaps we long most of all for NORMAL to return. Let us wait PATIENTLY for normal to return as God directs and at the proper time.

In order to keep a tradition many Christians will put God to the test by keeping traditions of large gatherings for Christmas and New Years. Be safe and sacrifice the tradition for other wise ways to celebrate.

All ppl of faith go through storms that reveal what kind of faith we have and give us the opportunity to strengthen and mature our faith.

Governing our nation, or any nation, is a daunting task. We are to pray for our leaders. With this in mind, let us pray for President Elect Biden and VP Elect Harris that they leas well this divided and troubled and great people.

December 7th, a day that will live in infamy. On this day we touch our own grief. We give ourselves permission to grieve we grieve as children of God and not as the world grieves.

When we are old, our vulnerability may cause us a bit of anxiety. However, during this vulnerability we must see God's hand at work in our lives. In our old age, we may feel that life is over all but dying, but that is not God's plan for our lives.