Life Ministries

I have been sharing thoughts from Proverbs 3 and today Principle #4 is “Honor the Lord with your wealth” (vs. 9-10 )

    Because Proverbs is the book of Wisdom, I would say it is wise (for many reasons) to honor the Lord with your wealth. Because this is a blog, I will refrain from writing a six week sermon series on the subject. I will simply direct you to 1st Corinthians 9:7 which says, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” I am a believer in the fact that God does not bless the amount, He blesses the attitude!
Now Principle #5 (we are at vs. 11-12)…“Do not despise the Lords’s discipline”
    These are the chastisements of a father, in which he deals with his children, and uses discipline for the correction, instruction, and teaching. We are not to look at those times as if they were unnecessary and unprofitable, or unworthy without considering from whence they come and for what reason they are sent. On the contrary, those times should be regarded as useful and serviceable. 2^nd Timothy 3:10-17 tells us - “ You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecu-tions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
    Right in the very first verse of Proverbs we read “for attaining wisdom and discipline.” There are two different kinds of “discipline”…one is the consequence of an action; The other is an action that develops character. The later discipline is something that must become part of our character if we are to have the “abundant life” that Jesus talked about in (John 10:10) It must become a part of our life if we are to develop a “Christ-like” character, which is God’s desire for us according to (Romans 8:29) “For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.”…This is God’s purpose, his reason for saving us!
    What we are really talking about is “self-discipline.” Laziness seeks short term pleasure, while self-discipline seeks long term results.  Self- discipline applied to the Bible will make us wise; Self-discipline applied to Prayer will make us powerful and effective; Self-discipline applied to our character will make us Christ-like. Developmental discipline must become intentional. It is not a “take it or leave it” part of God’s desire for us.
    Discipline is necessary in our lives because of our fallen human nature and our tendency toward laziness and sin. It’s true! We are like water in most cases we will find the path of least resistance! Discipline is not confining, but in fact, brings freedom. Think of the discipline it takes for daily exercise for instance. Most of us (because we are like water) will simply say we don’t have time…really?
    A life of regret can change simply by choosing the discipline of God’s Word over the path of human desire.  One of the things I remember from High School Physics is that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”  (Daily decisions = reaction)
    Ultimately, this is telling us that the Lord will discipline those who are not willing to discipline themselves in order to achieve the desired results.