July 17, 2024 – Keeping A Lid On Life

Keeping A Lid On Life
July 17, 2024

DAILY PROVERB:

Proverbs 17:13-15
Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.

 

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

    Have you ever tried to put toothpaste back in the tube once it has been squeezed out? I guess it can be done, but it’s never easy. However, the question might be raised, “Why did you squeeze so much out that you feel you need to put any back?” It may have just been carelessness. Possibly, you left the lid off after its last use and then accidentally leaned on it and…Oops. Maybe you were about to squeeze a small amount out, and someone scared you. You lost control for a split second and…splat. Could it be you were in a hurry and didn’t realize how hard you squished the tube’s sides and… Plop…out it came.

 

    Life can often be like that sometimes. Carelessness will cause us to say or do something that causes just a little trouble at first, but if not properly dealt with (if we don’t put a lid on it), it may cause years of problems. It could be that people come into our life and distract us from the calling God has for us. We get out of God’s perfect will, and life seems to be one struggle after another. Then again, it may be that we pressed ourselves too hard and pushed ahead of God, and now the struggles of life seem to be piled on our plates all at once. Oh, how we would like to put things back in order. However, rewinding life’s “Oops” moments are often like putting toothpaste back in the tube.

 

    We may not always be able to redo those things in life; nevertheless, we can always learn from them. Sometimes if we’re careful, we can scoop up that spilled toothpaste and still use it. In the same way, we may have to live with the results of our actions in life, but God will forgive us from the penalty of sin if we only ask Him to. He will scoop up what’s left of our lives and use it for His glory if we let Him.

 

THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    Sin is a trap. It entices you toward itself and then lies, telling you there is no hope of escape now that you’re here. Sin is a problem in life, but God has a solution to sin’s grip on us. The solution is belief in Jesus Christ and living by His Word. It helps us keep a lid on life to avoid the oops, splats, and plops.

 

What may be a oops, splat, or plop in your life
that you need God to Clean up today ?

IF YOU ARE JOURNALING:

Ask yourself, what are MY THOUGHTS concerning this Passage, and todays Devotion?

 

Do I find within this reading a CHALLENGE for my life?

 

What are one or two things I WILL DO today or this week to accept that CHALLENGE?

  

GOD TALKING TO ME: July 17, 2024

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH A DAILY PROVERBS
  Ecclesiastes 7 – Ecclesiastes 12
  Proverbs 17:13 – 15

 

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Esther 1-4
  Acts 16:25-40