#231 - In Need of Some Confidence Today?

Proverbs 14:26 - In the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children shall always have a place of refuge.

Proverbs 31:30 - Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!

Today, are you in need of strength? Are you in need of strong confidence? Are you in need of just a knowing in your heart that everything is going to be OK? Maybe it's financial struggles, health challenges, relationship issues, marital struggles, tiredness, weariness, job challenges, lack of fulfillment, a family health challenge, a child who has gone astray from the Lord. Have you been doing things right and feel like it hasn't paid off? Have you been following the Lord, being faithful, and feel like it hasn't gotten you anywhere. You look at people who have done it "their own way" and feel like they have just catapulted in success and happiness. Do you need a strong confidence? Do you need that knowing that GOD is still GOD? That God is still on the throne and blesses HIS children for their faithfulness and obedience?  


Friend, God still is on the throne. And, God has a strength waiting for you that you've been desiring. He has that strong confidence available for you that you have been longing for. In 1 Chronicles 16, the chapter is filled with David directing the people to give praise to God... and HOW to give praise to God.  

1 Chronicles 16:7:12 - That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the LORD in this manner: ⁸ Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. ⁹ Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. ¹⁰ Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. ¹¹ Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. ¹² Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.....

As I write this, the song playing has these words ringing. "Shout out to God with a Voice of Triumph, Shout out to God with a Voice of Praise!" Are you waiting for that strong confidence? Choose today to receive it through reverent worship! Like in 1 Chronicles 16, Give praise to the Lord! Sing to him! Tell of His wonderful acts! Remind Him of what He has done for you! Give Him glory. Look to the Lord and HIS strength. 


Get alone. Allow yourself to have a time in reckless abandon to praising Him! Allow yourself to be taken away in worship. Allow yourself to get on your knees, to worship, to adore, to honor your Heavenly Father for all He has done and all He is doing. Maybe with your eyes, you do not see it. Maybe like Thomas, you want to put your fingers in the very holes of Jesus to know what He did was real. Maybe you want to SEE that God really is working.... but friend, allow your time in worship to SHOW God, to prove to Him that you CHOOSE to trust, even when you don't see. That you CHOOSE to trust, even when you can't touch the hole in his side, the holes in his feet & hands. Allow your worship to be a sacrifice of praise that says, "GOD, I trust you and what you are doing! I trust YOU and where you are taking me, even when I don't SEE the outcome yet. I surrender all to you."


As you praise Him, receive the peace and strong confidence that He has waiting there for you at the alter of praise. Everything IS going to be OK. Cast all of your cares upon Him, for He DOES care for you! Receive your confidence from His throne today!

#205 - Build Your House!

Good morning! I pray you have started off your day blessed?! My prayer for you today is that you would go out today with FAVOR! That everything you put your hands to would prosper and that today would be a day of fulfillment. That at the end of the day, you would be able to say, "I had a really good day." That is my prayer for you today! Now... let's get into the Word! :)

Proverbs 14:1 - EVERY WISE woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

Before diving into things, let's first take a look at the Hebrew definitions for a few words in Proverbs 14:1.

• Builds:  refers to building a family. 
• House: dwelling habitation, human body, house as containing a family. 

As we know that the Proverbs 31 woman is indeed a wise woman, let's take a look at how this "wise woman builds her house" and see what we can learn from her!

Physical House: 

Proverbs 31:13, 19, 22 - She seeks out wool and flax and works with willing hands [to develop it]. She lays her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She makes for herself coverlets, cushions, and rugs of tapestry. Her clothing is of linen, pure and fine, and of purple [such as that of which the clothing of the priests and the hallowed cloths of the temple were made].

Our Proverbs 31 friend is working on the area of developing her physical house. She may not do the actual construction, but we know that she does work with her hands to make this house a home. We know that all of the small things that make a home a "home", she is working on them. I'm sure you have been in places that you can tell a distinct difference. Those homes that feel warm, have cushions on the couches and tapestries hanging on the walls, it feels warm & cozy. It feels like a home. Versus a place that may not have the extra touches of a woman. No paintings on the wall, no warmth to the place, no elegant cushions lining the couch. My first thought goes to a "bachelor" pad. Often before a man gets married, the "extras" in his house are few. The walls are white, the furniture plain, minimal if any extra touches to make the house feel like a home. No flowers or plants, no candles, no "homey" extra features. This is what a Proverbs 31 woman brings to a home. She brings the "extras" that make a person want to get comfortable and stay. She has provided an environment of growth & peace.

• The foolish woman puts little time in creating an environment of peace. Her household is NOT a place that the family wants to be. It is messy, cold & breeds chaos. The foolish woman's husband most likely does not want to come home from work, because he knows it will just be an environment of stress and disharmony. 

Spiritual House (spiritual growth): 

Proverbs 31:15 - She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household..

We have discussed this verse several times. Our Proverbs 31 friend puts a priority on growing spiritually. Her spiritual "house" is important and she takes time to develop her relationship and walk with the Lord. She spends time in the Word. She girds herself up with strength, spiritual strength. She is a picture of stability. Her consistency in the Word grounds her, and that is what also gives people confidence in her. She is stable. She is not swayed or wavering. When people are around her, that aura that she puts off is one of peace. Have you been around people, or in someones home and you immediately feel the presence of stress? The mom always seems stressed or in a hurry, always frazzled or yelling, the whole environment just lacks peace? Sure, everyone has their "days" that may be challenging, but when it is on a daily or a consistent basis, I would anticipate that this woman has not invested into her daily spiritual growth.... "spiritual house." The "wise woman" as talked about in Proverbs 14:1, puts a priority in establishing her own spiritual growth, and it in turn spills into the whole environment and warmth of her household.

• The foolish woman does not spend daily time developing her spirit. She allows herself to remain B.U.S.Y. - Being Under Satan's Yoke. Though she may recognize that maybe at one time she spent daily time in the Word, she does not make a change to come back to that discipline. The foolish woman may be doing things that appear good, running kids to and from soccer practice, making dinner, going to work, but the most important aspect of her house, her spiritual growth, goes unattended too. 

Physical House (as physical body):

Proverbs 31:17 - She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.

Our Proverbs 31 friend treats her body, "house", as a temple. She strengthens herself in her physical body. She is strong. She does not need to make a "New Years Resolution" to go to the gym because physical fitness is a part of her life. It is a priority. It's not just a short-term goal to loose 20 pounds, physical fitness is her lifestyle, it is part of her regular schedule. Not only does this allow her to have energy and accomplish more, but because she is fit, it also makes her more attractive to her husband. Because she is fit, her innermost parts of her body are healthy & she is able to live a LONG, healthy life because she invests in her fitness! She dies at an old age, and is even physically strong then.

• The foolish woman neglects her physical body. Her physical "house" may be the home of junk food and processed foods. She spends little time focusing on putting good wholesome food in her body, fruits & vegetables, good proteins, whole grains, etc. Due to her unhealthy eating lifestyle, her vitals are most likely also poor resulting in high blood pressure, being overweight, and higher risk factors for disease. The foolish woman also tears down her body by NOT remaining physically fit. Due to extra weight she carries around, it puts pressure on other aspects of her physical body (organs, ankles, knees, etc). The foolish woman does not remain physically fit causing her to feel sluggish & tired, overall less productive in what she is called to do. 

Household (family): 

Proverbs 31:27 - She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.

The Proverbs 31 woman builds her family up. With her words and encouragement she establishes a home that breeds growth and success. Her children grow up truly believing that, "Yes! I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" She sets such a standard of godliness, that her children desire to duplicate her. In her prayer life, her children desire to follow. Because the prayers of the "righteous are powerful and effective" and this Proverbs 31 woman sees results & fruit, her children don't desire to go the ways of the world. They see that they ways of the Word come with blessings! Come with favor! Just like the old "Life" cereal commercial with the tag-line, "Mikey likes it!" You see the little boy copying everything his father does, that is the life of the Proverbs 31 woman's children. They see she is blessed, therefore, they copy what she does leading to a life of godliness and a new generation of believers.

• The foolish woman unfortunately tears down her family with her words and actions. She may call her children "stupid" or tell them "you can't do anything right." She does the same to her husband. Instead of building up and encouraging, she does just the opposite. She tears down those around her, tends to wallow in discontentment, and enjoys spreading negative about other people. 

So many ways to build our house! My goal is to model the life of the Wise Woman and the Proverbs 31 woman. Sure.... I'm not perfect, and surely do make mistakes.... but my goal is to stay on the path of LIFE. Life that leads to godliness. What about you? Does your life model that of the Wise Woman or the Foolish Woman? What adjustments could be made? 

#193 - WORK IT!

Good morning! It seems like quite the active morning here on my porch! Birds have been playfully and loudly playing and dancing in our backyard and I have shooed 2 lizards off of the screened in porch where I am sitting. I'm not "scared" of lizards or anything, but one of them sat on the screen just a few feet from where I am sitting, and that was just weird. He didn't make for a good "working companion" so I helped him out. :)

On another note.... it's a BEAUTIFUL morning! There's a nice breeze coming through the screen, and Tyler Junior is officially 19 months old today! Wow! He's just months away from being a big brother and turning 2 years old! How fun!

Well... let's get rolling into some Word this morning! :)

Proverbs 14:30 - A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.

Proverbs 31:17 - She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.

Spiritual fitness. Mental fitness. Physical fitness. All areas of fitness that we should aspire to attain. One thing that I feel tremendously helps in the areas of spiritual & mental fitness is having a regular quiet time. Taking specific, set apart time to read the Word, meditate on the Word, and quiet ourselves long enough to listen to the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord that Jesus knew what He was doing when He said that He was leaving us to be with the Father, BUT that He would leave something better for us, He would leave the Holy Spirit. What a blessing and honor that we are NEVER alone as believers, but are always just a question away from receiving direction from the Holy Spirit. What a blessing that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, always available, always there, always willing to direct us if we are willing to listen. How exciting that the "hidden secrets" are not indefinitely hidden, just hidden for those who are willing to seek after them and find and receive them. They are there for US to have! Amen!

Spiritual and mental fitness. Available if we are willing to consistently pursue it.

Physical fitness. Eich.... Yikes. Well, I like maybe some of you have a bag of excuses I sometimes carry for my lack of consistency in this area. My most recent excuse in my bag has been "pregnancy." OK... it may be a good excuse, but really, at any time, any excuse will do. Right? Maybe you've been pretty consistent in this area. Well, at 24 weeks pregnant (around 6 months for those of you who don't speak the 'pregnancy' language), I officially stopped running about 2 weeks ago. It had gotten sporadic at best, and my last run left me kind of sore. I ambitiously thought I would go buy a running belt, but never got around to it. Then on Friday morning, I decided to swim laps for 20 minutes. I also did some push-ups and dips. I was quite proud of myself. (I also woke up and did that this morning! Whoop! Go me! haha!) Over the last 2-3 years, having knowledge about a 10 minute fitness program called "4321" has really changed my life in the area of my weight and fitness. It also extremely reduced some of the risk factors that I had for Type 2 Diabetes, results in blood work proved I had made some awesome improvements just by changing a few things in my life. One of those things was 10 minutes of working out just four days per week.

Recently, I have noticed that the firmness of my arms that I had developed over the last 2 years had been getting a bit "weak." My once small, but bulging bicep wasn't quite so perky. I knew that I hadn't really done a done to give myself toned muscles, but what I had done was consistently applied effort to have strong and firm arms. What is consistent effort? Where my arms were concerned, it was only 3 minutes, 4 days per week! That was it! 3 MINUTES! The key was, it was consistent. Over a period of time, the flab that hung onto my arms began to turn into muscle. It was quite exciting to see. In the mirror, I noticed that my shoulders were looking nice in a tank top. That was enough to continue the small but daily steps I had began.

So today... can you implement something small for your fitness? You may not care to look like the cover model on today's "Health & Fitness" magazine, and that is OK! But.... maybe take a few minutes to reflect on this question.... What is your responsibility in the area of fitness? Like me, you may have some excuses in your bag as well, but at the end of the day that is all they are, excuses. It may not mean getting a gym membership, but can you do three minutes a day just to tone your arms? Can you do squats or sit-ups to tone your legs and abs? Simple things that will allow you to live a much longer & energetic life.

The "Fitness" tab will give you some ideas on 10 minutes that WILL really work for you, if you consistently work it! The Proverbs 31 woman is working it, will you?