Scriptures: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or does not stand in the way of sinners or does not sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1:1-3)
When I was a little boy I remember my grandmother saying to me, "God helps those who help themselves" and for years I believed this so much that it motivated me, in part, to work very hard at everything I did. (most of the time ;-) And to this day these words are a part of me. However, I have never been able to find these words in the Bible.
For example, I put these two words; help themselves, into a Bible search website that will search all the versions it has online and only found one verse that had these two words together and this verse has the very opposite meaning. "Your enemies will help themselves to your wealth and merchandise." (Ezekiel 26:12) There were other verses with these two words but none with the meaning intended in this cliche.
This morning, on the way to work, I was listening to a bible teacher who was talking about how faith and was very simple but how we complicate it with doubt and don't use what God has given us. Then she said what she did was quote Psalm 1:1-3 and her point was that a man blessed by God was one that avoided sin and delighted in God's word and "whatever he does prospers."
I am very greatful that God has given me this job at Avery and I work hard at doing my job and giving honor to God, but I still need to keep focusing on God's Word as my principle delight. I want the faith that God has given me to flourish. I want to be like a "tree planted by streams of water, which bears much fruit and does not wither." Don't you?
The URL I used for the above word search was http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?word=help+themselves§ion=0&version=all&new=1&showtools=1&oq=help+themselves
Prayer Request: That we as children of God would believe in the faith that God has given us and commit more of our time to reading God's Word and walking in His ways.
Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank you for giving us all the faith that we need. We know that we do not use it and get confused with what the world tries to tell us and what the enemy lies to us about.
Help us dear Lord to walk in you ways,
And fully delight in your Word.
So that we might prosper in all that we do,
And give all the glory to you.
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2 comments:
I've heard that saying, too! I think it's motivational, but unbiblical, right? Thanks for the reminder that it's not what we do, but whom we choose to please, that determines the blessings God has for us.
How wonderful it would be to "bear much fruits and not wither!"
Peter, I am taking the advice of the preacher and have printed up Psalm 1:1-3 and placed it in front of me so that I can be continually reminded ff the promise, "whatever he does prospers." Of course that also means that I am going to make sure that I spend time in the Word both morning and night. My personal goal is to "tithe" my hours awake.
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