Pursuing My Bride

 Scripture:

“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountain crags, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” ‭‭Song of Solomon‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬ ‭NET‬‬

Observation:

In this passage, Solomon is pursuing his bride. There is a deep desire for the groom to hear the voice and see the face of his beloved. He is pursuing her passionately. 

Application:

As a man, we are the pursuers of our brides. They need to know that we love them, and desire them. They should never question our love for them. We should be pursuing them constantly. My wife should feel the desire within me to be with her. 

Prayer:

Father, help me to be a better husband to my wife. Show me how to pursue her appropriately. Teach me how to show her love and to let her know how much I love her. Help me to be the husband that Cheryl needs every day and in every way. Let her feel from me how special she is.

Yours,

Jeff

Exercise

 Scripture:

“For “physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.”” ‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭NET‬‬

Observation:

Paul tells Timothy here that physical exercise has value, but godliness has more value because it is good for mow and for life in heaven. He tells Timothy to focus more on things that will be eternal than things that will go away on earth. 

Application:

Physical exercise is good, but spiritual exercise is better. One makes us feel good now, the other works now and after we die as well. One is temporal and one is eternal. I like the fact that he doesn’t forbid exercise, he actually says it is valuable, but spiritual exercise is more valuable. We must take care of the temporal, while investing in the eternal part of us all the more. We need physical exercise, but we need spiritual exercise more.

Prayer:

Father, help me to be a balanced person. Help me to take care of the body You gave me to work with while on this earth. Help me to lose weight and get this physical body healthy so I can serve You better, stronger, and longer on earth. Teach me to prioritize the eternal in my life. I want to invest in my walk with You. I want to know You more.

Yours Always,

Jeff

Fear God and Follow Him

 Scripture:

“Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion: Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole duty of man. For God will evaluate every deed, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” ‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NET‬‬

Observation:

After much talk about everything in life being meaningless, Solomon closes his quotes with these verses. He summarizes everything he has pondered and tells us to fear God because He will evaluate every secret thing, whether good or evil. he tells us to keep God’s commands. After telling us how nothing really makes sense in this world, he tells us to fear God, because He keeps good records.

Application:

When life is at its end, we will stand before God. We will give an account for every idle word and every action in our lives. He knows every detail and we must live our lives knowing we will stand before Him one day. Our goal should be to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.” We should live for the approval of God and not the applause of man. 

Prayer:

Lord God, You are great and glorious. You are powerful and victorious. Help me to walk humbly before You and to fear You appropriately. Teach me Your ways and show me Your paths for my life. I need You and I ask You to help me navigate life in a way that is pleasing to You and that fears You.

Yours,

Jeff

Content or Craving More?

 Scripture:

“It is better to be content with what the eyes can see than for one’s heart always to crave more. This continual longing is futile – like chasing the wind.” ‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬ ‭NET‬‬

Observation:

Solomon declares here that contentment is better than having a heart that always craves more because following those cravings is like chasing the wind. Always craving more of something tells God and those around us that we are not happy with what God has provided for us. 

Application:

In America, we work super hard to get more and more stuff. We work hard to get positions, money, power, and prestige, but all of these are worthless in the scope of life. Paul said, “godliness with contentment is great gain.” We need to learn to be content where we are while being diligent at our work. There is a fine balance between working hard because we crave more, and working hard because we love God and want to represent Him well. Our hard work must come from a heart to please and honor God, not from a heart to increase ourselves.

Prayer:

Father, help me to be content with where I am while pursuing Your will and doing what You ask me to do with my life. Help me to be effective, yet without craving more and more. Teach me the balance of living a very disciplined life and being covetous of more things.

Your Son Forever,

Jeff

Wisdom, Knowledge, Joy, and Wealth

 Scripture:

“For to the one who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing wealth – only to give it to the one who pleases God. This task of the wicked is futile – like chasing the wind!” ‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2‬:‭26‬ ‭NET‬‬

Observation:

Solomon says here that God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to the one who pleases Him. He adds that the sinner has the task of amassing wealth, only to give it to the one who pleases God. I other words, God blesses His children with everything they need and the worldly work hard to get wealthy. 

Application:

In all of our getting, we must get wisdom and understanding. Following God has incredible benefits. We can expect unexpected blessings. We can expect to be the head and not the tail. We can expect to be the first and not the last, not on our merits, but because of the blood of Jesus Christ. We receive what we didn’t work for while the world works hard for everything they have, only to have it stripped away. As for me, I want to serve the Lord and walk in His blessings of wisdom, knowledge, joy, and wealth.

Prayer:

Father, let my life be fully surrendered to You at all times. Teach me to walk with You and to build Your kingdom. Give me wisdom, knowledge, joy, and wealth. Let me live in the place of Your blessing. I want to extend Your Kingdom more and more, but I need the resources to do it. 

Yours,

Jeff

Don’t Grow Weary in Doing Right

 Scripture:

 “But you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing what is right.” ‭‭2 Thessalonians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭NET‬‬

Observation:

This simple verse is so powerful for our daily lives. We should not grow weary in doing what is right. In other words, we need to keep on doing right things, even when we don’t see the results we were looking for. 

Application:

When we live our lives the right way and do what is right, rather than doing what is easy or convenient, we can expect the blessing of God. We should not grow weary in doing right, rather, we should continue to work hard, follow the voice of the Spirit, and the good seed we are sowing will eventually overtake the bad seed and we will be blessed. 

Prayer:

Lord God, help me not to grow weary in doing the right things. Help me to walk in confident obedience to You at all times. I want to serve You well and I want You to be able to count on me in every situation. I am tired, help me not keep weary, but to be refreshed in my spirit. 

Your Son,

Jeff

When the Righteous Become Numerous

Scripture:

“When the righteous become numerous, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭2‬ ‭NET‬‬

Observation:

I like this translation. Older translations tend to say “when the righteous rule”. This one says “when the righteous become numerous.” There is a big difference. In our political system, we have stood on electing righteous people based on this verse.

Application:

I have always addressed our politics by saying things like, “if we see revival in America and millions convert to Christ, the righteous will automatically get elected into office. Rather than focus on the position of one or two righteous people, our goal should be to see the righteous become more numerous than the unbeliever in our country. The way to see God’s blessing on our nation is through increasing the number of believers, not electing one person. We must see souls saved in increasing numbers, then we won’t need to worry about elections.

Prayer:

Father, let my life be used to bring in a harvest for You and Your kingdom. Help me to plunder hell and populate heaven. Teach me to reach more people. Help me to lead our church into being a disciple making church. Help me to lead well.

Yours,

Jeff