Press the arrow to listen to Michael W. Smith sing “Awesome God” while reading today’s devotion.

Scripture
Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
Cease from your consideration of it.
When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. Proverbs 23:4-5

By wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
And by knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24

Observation
Wealth is elusive. When we pursue it we lose it.  It is like the pool of water on the road ahead that we speed towards only to find it to be a mirage on hot pavement.  Wealth is a backache to the body and a headache to the mind.

There is another path toward wealth that is indirect. Instead of pursuing wealth, we are told to deepen our relationship with the Lord. As a result of our relationship with him, our needs will be supplied. That relationship includes the Three Musketeers of the Book of Proverbs: wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.

Wisdom says, seek what pleases God instead of what pleases you.
Understanding advises, there is an economy you cannot see that supplies our needs even more than the economy we can see.
Knowledge counsels us in good choices not driven by fear or greed but God.

Knowledge is one of the most useful when it comes to bringing prosperity to our families. Not just information, knowledge is both the facts as well as a perception of what to do with them.  Like a financial adviser, the Holy Spirit can give to us perception that comes from the deep knowing of the Lord to make good choices with what he gives to us.

Application
Does a person need the Lord to become wealthy? No, but all wealth comes from the Lord.  A man who seeks riches may just get them, but only them. What he has is hallow and shallow because there is no relationship in it.

But if a man turns his back on wealth, and instead seeks first an ever deepening relationship with the Lord, he will find many happy surprises along the way. My call is to seek wisdom, understanding and knowledge and in them I will find many of the things I have desired. All of life must be held loosely as a gift for us to receive yet more. Only open hands can be given more.

Prayer
Father, I ask today for the riches of knowing you. Holy Spirit do life with me today and teach me moment by moment. Amen.

Scripture
My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” Psalm 27:8

Observation
More is recorded in the Old Testament about David than any other character and his name is the last name mentioned in the Bible. The reason why is condensed in this one verse: My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” What causes David to stand out among the three greats of the Old Testament was his relationship with the Lord and his ability to communicate that with others. Abraham had a friendship with God, but he related to God more like a business partner and we don’t see much of his heart. Moses saw God face to face, but we read more of the laws God gave him than their personal relationship.

David, however, left the windows and doors open to his most personal experiences of God so that we can enter into the same relationship ourselves.

It begins with God’s pursuit of David and of us. We are naive to think that we think of God first. The fact is, whenever we consider the Lord and desire him it is because he has been lonely for us. God desires conversation with us. He wants to talk with us.  He who is limitless wants to know about our finite lives; we who are bound are to be stretched into the boundless mind of God. God stoops low to meet with us and crouches into our existence because of his great love for us; we are carried further than the most distant star and deeper than the earth’s core when we enter into the mind of God.

What set David apart from most human beings is that he answered the call of God. He said, “Lord, I am coming.” He did not dismiss God with a yawn or place him on hold. He spontaneously bounded toward the Lord even as the Lord sprinted toward him. That is a relationship of love.  It was William Barclay who said, “The kingdom of God is not for the well intentioned but for the desperate.” There is one phrase that will keep us from knowing what David knew: “just a minute”. The presence of God is like a sunrise or sunset, for we have just a brief window to enjoy it. Often he will not linger to pander to our indifference.

Application
How many times in a day does the Lord nudge me with his presence? More than I consider. I cannot be passive; I must be active.  I must pursue him even as he pursues me.

Prayer
Father, today as I sense you playing tag with my soul, let me bound toward you. Amen.

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I love this picture of Leslie my wife laughing with her sister in the background. She hates it but she’s not posting this blog!

What the Bible Says

Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10

What My Mind Thinks

Moods can be like a frigid draft slithering under the front door on a chilly night. The icy fingers wrap themselves around the dangling sock feet of our emotions. Just like drafts are felt before the open door is seen, so too moods can take control of our thoughts before we really know why. A whole day can be spoiled by a mood that slipped through the door we left ajar to disappointment.

How can we caulk our soul to insulate it from moods? The answer is to warm ourselves in the emotions of God. The bright outlook of the Lord gives us permission to feel what our circumstances say we have no right to experience. God is immersed in joy and we are free to live in liberty no matter our mood.

For the first time in 70 years God’s people were ready to read the Bible. It was a great day. There had been a lifetime of national mourning. Now they were ready to obey. Ezra and Nehemiah had made a fiesta out of the first public reading of the ancient scrolls. But the party soon turned into a funeral as the people realized how right God’s word is and how wrong their lives were. Waves of regret swept over them. There is a difference between guilt and regret. Guilt is for sin unforgiven. Regret is for the day after forgiveness.

What Nehemiah did next was surprising. He stopped the people from feeling badly about their past. It was time to move forward. Guilt must be dealt with, but regret must be left behind. There are mood moments when we wish we could push the backspace button and delete days lived and words spoken. God gives us the freedom to experience feelings we have no right to feel. That’s grace. God feels joy so we can too.

Getting My Heart to Cooperate

Have I given myself permission to feel today what God feels? Mood adjustment was so important to Nehemiah that he and the leaders moved through the crowds insisting that God’s people go on with the party as planned. If it mattered that much to them, it should to me as well. If we reach into our heart there is an aquifer of joy that is just beneath the surface. The joy of the Lord is our strength…and our gift today.

What My Spirit Prays

Father, I open my heart to emotions that I don’t deserve today. Your joy is my reward. Help me not to live beneath my privileges of joy. Amen.