#260 - How to Recognize the Noise!

DID YOU KNOW: You wondering why there are "#'s" in front of some blog posts and not others? Well... here's your answer. Today's blog, #260, will somewhat have reference back to the Proverbs 31 Woman. Any blog posts that do not have a number at the beginning of the title will just be a general devotion, not referring to a passage in Proverbs 31. Also, unless specified differently, the Amplified Version of the Bible is typically used. 

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Proverbs 31:16 -  She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties]; with her savings [of time and strength] she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard.

In referring to the Proverbs 31 woman, she is obviously an accomplished woman. She has done much, and is greatly to be modeled after. Though, most people have NO strength left, mental or physical because their productive time has been spent on things done in vain, activities that they should not have been doing in the first place. We can find ourselves not moving on to bearing fruit and having fruitful vines because our lack of strength never gets us to planting the vines! THE VINES ARE NEVER PLANTED BECAUSE WE ARE TOO BUSY WITH THE NOISE!!! We remain UNFRUITFUL in the areas God has called us to because of the noise.

Have you ever thought this: "There is so much noise, I cannot even hear myself think!" Noise around you. Noise in your head. Noise in your thoughts. Noise on your calendar, your phone, your computer. Noise. Noise. Noise! So much noise, you cannot hear.

Noise comes in many different formats. This morning while having my quiet time and thinking about a bit of a rushed morning schedule once we get started, I found myself asking the Lord this question. "Father, will you please guide me today? Teach me how to listen and obey even amongst the hustle and bustle, in all the noise. Help me Father. Shutting out noise. I know you knew noise would come. And I know they had their own kind of noise when Proverbs 31 was written."

The phrase, "Handling Noise in order to Hear" came to mind. With all of that said, I'd like to share with you some of the insights on noise that I received. EVALUATE YOURSELF. Are there any areas in the below noise categories that you need to eliminate, evaluate, tweak or even potentially focus on more?

Noise can be boiled down to two main categories. External Noise & Internal Noise. Let's look at the following list, not all is bad noise, but can be noise nonetheless.

External Noise

1. Having the TV on - needing noise in the background, often does not allow us to think, pray or hear from the Holy Spirit
2. Cell Phone - Can be an obvious distraction. Be it games, email, texting, etc. In the Roman times they entertained people to keep them from THINKING and revolting.  Hum.... could cell phones be a point of distraction to keep us from thinking?
3. Apps on your cell phone - Each app adds an additional element of noise...just one more thing to look at or do.
4. Music or audios - While your driving, do you ever have time to think? Or is there always noise in the background?
5. Children - Let's be honest, from the time they wake up, if they are toddler the idea of thinking quietly may be a far fetch from reality.
6. Activities - How many activities do you choose to be involved in and are they the right activities?
7. Schedules - What's on your schedule? Your husbands schedule? Your kids schedule? 
8. What you allow to GO on your schedule? - Like the Proverbs 31 woman in verse 16, do you expand prudently? Do you really evaluate and consider whether your time should be going to this area?
9. Facebook, twitter, Social Media - Need I say more? At the end of the day, minutes can easily turn into hours if we are not careful. 
10. Pictures - Constantly having to "capture the moment". (Often this causes us to miss the real "moments" because we are trying to capture them.)
11. Overcommitting
12. Disorganization - A mess. 
13. Lack of Systems in place - Constantly have to think, "Where am I going to put this?" because it doesn't have a place. 
14. Excessive Entertainment - Always a movie, Netflix, a show, a book. 
15. Work
16. The WRONG Work 

Internal Noise

1. Comparing - Allowing your mind to compare yourself to others
2. Busyness - No downtime to sit quietly and think or pray. 
3. Guilt - Guilt is a condemnation tool that takes your listening focus onto the negative.
4. Self-Talk - What do you SAY to yourself? What are you speaking into existence about your life? Family? Children? Your day? Your future?
5. Belief or Lack of Belief - Believing the wrong way. How or what are you believing from the Lord? Often our own belief is too low not allowing GOD to do His part. I heard the words, "BELIEVE ME WILDLY!"
6. Wandering thoughts - Thinking about nothing and meaningless things. That is noise and wasted time. 

TO DO: Make a "THINK LIST" - When you have the down time, what are some things you need to think on? Have a list ready & THINK on these things. It may be an organized prayer time, it may be thinking on ways to organize and streamline your life, it may be thinking on your next steps towards accomplishing your dream, being productive, parenting, being healthy, preparing healthy meals, developing a schedule for YOURSELF, cleaning, etc. Develop a THINK LIST. When your mind is tempted to wander about nothing or spend countless hours drifting into Facebook, INSTEAD with a THINK LIST in place, you may find yourself creating valuable systems to put into place in your home that will help you have more peace and be more productive, and ultimately accomplish what GOD would have you accomplish on a daily basis! 

#202 - Don't Hurry!

Good morning! :) We are going to get right into the Word this morning...

Proverbs 7:21-23 - With much justifying and enticing argument she persuades him, with the allurements of her lips she leads him [to overcome his conscience and his fears] and forces him along. Suddenly he [yields and] follows her reluctantly like an ox moving to the slaughter, like one in fetters going to the correction [to be given] to a fool or like a dog enticed by food to the muzzle. Till a dart [of passion] pierces and inflames his vitals; then like a bird fluttering straight into the net [he hastens], not knowing that it will cost him his life.

Proverbs 31:16a - She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties] ...

Ok... I guess today is going to be "Transparent Thursday." Don't get me wrong... sometimes it's not fun to be transparent, but this morning I learned a lot from Proverbs 7. As you read through Proverbs 7, you see that like Proverbs 5, it discusses the "loose woman." The stage is set as an onlooker in verse 6 sees what is about to take place. The onlooker sees this young man coming "NEAR" danger, "NEAR" where the loose woman has set her trap. From verse 9 on, we see the loose woman beginning to work her "magic" on this man who has come by her house. She has begun to lure him in, persuade him, and get him to not "think" with his right mind. She is trying to get him to avoid his "consciousness" which may have otherwise led him away from her house.

Isn't it interesting, that at all levels of sin, this is what happens? In Proverbs 7:23, we see just a quick glimpse of it in two words, "he hastens." Haste or Hastens is defined as follows: to hurry, accelerate, speed, urgent need of quick action, thoughtless, rash, unnecessary quick action, rush. Let's just look at a simple example, the tray of brownies on the counter. Have you ever walked into the kitchen or break-room, see the yummy treat and in your mind you have a quick conversation with yourself something like this, "You know you shouldn't have any brownies. You are trying to drop 10 more pounds and that is not going to help at all...." And right as your "consciousness" is trying to get you away from the tray of brownies, you cut it off, grab 1, 2 or maybe even 3 (if they have carmel, chocolate AND pecans!) and eat them as quickly as you can so you can't be talked out of it. It's like you are running down the hall, trying to hide and enjoy them quickly. I must say, I have done things like that before. "Made haste." Done things that though my consciousness (aka: the Holy Spirit) is trying to get me away, I partake before I talk myself out of it because I know the temporary "goodness" that will be associated with it.

I just recently did this just a WEEK ago! I look back and think it was such a "kid" thing to do. I was part of a conversation with several other people online. I typed up this long message that I thought was very helpful for those involved. BUT.... here's the kicker.... it was late, Tyler was driving, and instead of doing what I knew I should do... I hit send right away because I figured Tyler would talk me out of sending it. "But it is so well spoken and so well written." I reasoned with myself. After hitting send, I decided to read it to Tyler. Like I assumed, his recommendation was for me NOT to send it. He played the other side of the coin, and everything he said was right. Everything he said was COMPLETELY right. After listening to him, like a dog with my tail between my legs, I knew I shouldn't have hit "send." At the time, I just wanted to QUICKLY HASTEN to send it because I KNEW I would otherwise be talked out of my well written rebuttal.

Here in Proverbs 7, we see because this young man HASTENS, though he doesn't know it, it is actually going to cost him his life. His quick decision to go down the wrong path is not a wise one. We can compare the difference between what the Proverbs 31 woman does, she acts in all situations with such wisdom. She considers before making a decision. She expands or acts prudently before moving forward with something. She is not in a hurry to just rush into something. When her gut says to hold off, she listens.

James 4:7 reminds us to resist the devil and he will FLEE from you! Sometimes that may mean, literally leaving your house, or escaping your thoughts and watching a good movie. The bottom line is this... don't run haste-fully into sin. Consider your ways. Be Prudent (wise, careful).

Enjoy your Thursday!

#177 - Complete Focus!

Good afternoon! :) We've had an eventful morning with one of Tyler Juniors little friends being over for awhile. They are like two peas in a pod! So funny to watch play together, tackle each other &... well... the occasional "toy snatching" has been a re-occurring theme. Nap time is officially upon us so the house is nice & quiet!

Let's jump into some Word today:

Proverbs 4:25-26 - Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright.

Proverbs 31:16, 24, - She considers a new field before she buys it...  she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard.... She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them... 

The power of focus. As I think about our Proverbs 31 friend, I can't help to think about the many accomplishments that follow her. In today's time, if she had a "Bio Sheet" it would surely be a long list of success', business' she owns, and lives she has impacted. Listing off just a few of the areas that she proactively worked in, I can only imagine that to accomplish all she accomplished took a skill of discipline & focus. In the few verses:

• She CONSIDERS purchasing a new field.... so she weighs her options. Like Proverbs 4:26, she CONSIDERED the path of her feet before she took that path. She was most likely well informed about the property, educated about the sales process, knew the amount of money she was willing to spend, & well prayed up. 
• She BUYS the field. With her business skills and savvy, with money she has earned most likely in other successful endeavors, SHE decides the investment is a good one and takes the plunge. 
• She PLANTS the field. Let the work begin, and the income to follow. This woman is an entrepreneur. 
• She MAKES garments. She has something she believes in, something that she believes will be a benefit, help and serve other people, and she makes a FINE product. Her skills as a seamstress, her creativity, her pursuit for excellence shine through with yet another endeavor of success. 
• She SELLS garments. She saw a need & filled it. Now, her fine quality product that she has made is being sold, marketed & bought. People see the use & benefits of what she has produced & she sells it! Like any business person, I'm SURE she has made a profit with her talent of sewing & with her idea of this helpful piece of clothing. She is PROSPERING! 

This is only covering TWO verses of this Proverbs 31 woman! But, with the power of focus, she is able to be productive AND fruitful in her endeavors! It took focus for her to find success. It took diligence & consistency to succeed. 

Success takes focus. Like Proverbs 4 discusses, success requires a fixed gaze ahead, a fixed gaze on the destination. What is YOUR destination? Are you working on one area to accomplish success? Do you have a few areas that you are working on? Reading Proverbs 31, you get the feeling that her life is full, that she is succeeding in all areas. I would anticipate when she was sewing, her COMPLETE focus was there. When she was planting a field, her complete focus was there. What are YOU working towards? PLAN it. Put it in your calendar. Add CONSISTENCY, and when you work at it, give it your COMPLETE FOCUS. That includes your rest time. When it's time to rest, allow your complete focus to just rest!

Now, put your mind to where you want to succeed & apply COMPLETE FOCUS!

#73 - Stay On GUARD!

Good morning! Wow! I feel a little bit overwhelmed. Did you feel like that when you read today's chapters? Wow. It is so full. It just filled my heart with a heaviness... but filled it with goodness also. A goodness for direction. A goodness for safe-guards. This morning, let's dive in and look a bit into the life of King David. 


Today's Daily Reading: Proverbs 21, Psalms 21, 51, 81, 111, 141, Proverbs 31:10-31

Proverbs 21:29 - A wicked man puts on the bold, unfeeling face [of guilt], but as for the upright, he considers, directs, and establishes his way [with the confidence of integrity].

Psalm 51:1a,2-3, 7b, 16-17 - HAVE MERCY upon me, O God ... Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin! For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me....wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow. For You delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; You find no pleasure in burnt offering. My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

Psalm 81:11a, 12a, 14a, 15-16 - But My people would not hearken to My voice... So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust and let them go after their own stubborn will... Speedily then I would subdue their enemies...[Had Israel listened to Me in Egypt, then] those who hated the Lord would have come cringing before Him, and their defeat would have lasted forever. [God] would feed [Israel now] also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock would I satisfy you.

Psalm 141:2, 4, 5 - Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips. Incline my heart not to submit or consent to any evil thing or to be occupied in deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties. Let the righteous man smite and correct me--it is a kindness.

Proverbs 31:16a - She considers ...

Man! Let me just say... today is loaded! I don't feel I will have a chance to cover everything that I received from the Word today... but it is full. I pray you will have time to meditate on today's Word and see what the Lord is speaking to you about. Revel, marvel, soak in what it says. 


We are familiar with King David being called, "a man after God's own heart." Psalm 51 shows us the heart of David after being called out by the man of God, prophet Nathan. Nathan has just busted David for his sin with Bathsheba. David looked upon her, naked as she bathed on a roof-top, took her as his own, and since she was married, King David had her husband positioned strategically in battle so that he would be killed. The prophet of God, Nathan, approaches David and in rebuke confronts his sin. In Psalm 51, if you read the whole Psalm again, you may read it completely different when you know the heart that is going into the words. David immediately is filled with remorse. He cries, "HAVE MERCY ON ME, O GOD!" David does not try to justify his sin, but he embraces it, he takes it as his own, which it is. David holds it out before God, repentant and cries out for forgiveness. David recognizes that sacrifice is not what God is looking for here. That offering up a burnt offering, or slaying a ram to place on an alter is not what the Lord wants here. The Lords GREATEST desire is for David's HEART! Is for a heart that cries out, "LORD! FORGIVE ME! LORD I HAVE SINNED! FORGIVE ME LORD!" The Lord's desire was for a heart that would cry out for forgiveness, full of repentance and awareness of the sin that was committed. Like it says in Psalm 51, David offers "...a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent]..." Not that we need to remain with a broken and contrite heart, because we can RECEIVE forgiveness because of what Christ did on the cross. But here, David here is penitent. Penitent - feeling or expressing sorrow for sin. David expresses his brokeness here. He is truly repentant. 


When we sin, I believe that is where God wants us to be. He wants the sin to cause our hearts to be broken. That the sin so greatly weighs on our hearts, the sin, so heavy, the feeling of remorse so great, that we FALL ON OUR FACES before the LORD. We CRY out to the LORD, "O LORD! HAVE MERCY ON ME LORD! FORGIVE ME LORD! FORGIVE MY SIN!" That our guilt, our remorse would cause us to RUN FROM SIN the next time it approaches us. RUN FROM SIN the next time we are up against temptation. That the remembrance of the remorse would be so real to us in a time of sin, that it would keep us from sinning again. That our desire to PLEASE THE LORD would be greater than our desire to please ourselves and our flesh. 


Then when we look at what the prophet Nathan really did, we can see where Psalm 141:5 REALLY does play a HUGE part here!! "Let the righteous man smite and correct me--it is a kindness." King David KNEW that Nathan was a RIGHTEOUS MAN! He did not throw Nathan out! He did not REBUKE Nathan. He counted it as KINDNESS! He accepted it as TRUTH. HE accepted the rebuke, and I believe deep down, David was GREATLY THANKFUL to have been rebuked. For his error, his sin to be brought into the light. With his sin being brought into the light, it allows him the opportunity to FULLY RESTORE his relationship with the Lord. It allows him to come back into the FULL blessing of the Lord. And, to this day, we still know David, a man who sinned greatly as "A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART." 


Look at the RISK in Psalm 141 if WE as Christians, as believers don't take SIN seriously... But My people would not hearken to My voice... So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust and let them go after their own stubborn will. The prompting of the Lord will not be forever. If WE, Christians continue to sin, and run from righteousness, as it says in Romans 6, sin will lead to death. So much for the whole promise of "a long life" if we continue, relentlessly on a path of sin, not hearkening to the voice of the Lord. 


Further in Psalm 141, it says what the Lord WOULD HAVE done if the people would have turned from their sin. The Lord WOULD HAVE SPEEDILY defeated their enemies, and permanently. He WOULD HAVE filled their mouths with the BEST wheat (aka, the best food!), and He WOULD HAVE filled their mouths with honey from a rock. The Lord DID HAVE GREAT things in store, but the people would not HEARKEN unto His Voice. They remained stubborn, they continued to chase their lust. 


In our Proverbs verses, it talks about how the righteous man, or in the case of our Proverbs 31 friend, the righteous woman, CONSIDERS their ways. The RIGHTEOUS do their very best to keep their hearts sensitive to prompting of the Holy Spirit. The hearkening of the Holy Spirit. Even the rebuke of the righteous man or woman of God. The righteous count REBUKE from a RIGHTEOUS man or woman of God, they count that as KINDNESS! WHY is it KINDNESS? Why is REBUKE kindness? Because it is keeping them from DEATH! It is keeping them on the road to life! 


May you walk forth, as it says in Psalms 141 - Lifting up of YOUR hands as the evening sacrifice. May YOU Set a guard, before YOUR mouth; may the Lord help to keep watch at the door of YOUR lips. May YOU incline YOUR heart not to submit or consent to any evil thing. 


A CONSISTENT, DAILY, ROUTINE time with the Lord is so important. The Enemy is out there to STEAL, KILL AND DESTROY... like a ROARING LION seeking whom he can destroy. As a brother or sister reading this, my prayer is that you would STAY ON GUARD. I pray a hedge of protection around you today in Jesus Name, that you would STAY ON GUARD. 


Bless you. Bless you today.