July 29, 2012 ~ Our choice: trouble or happiness

Blessed is the one who always has respect for the Lord.
      But anyone who is stubborn will get into trouble. Proverbs 28:14 (NIRV)

Thoughts~

The amplified Bible goes a little deeper in explanation of this verse:  

^“Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is the man who reverently and worshipfully fears [the Lord] at all times [regardless of circumstances], but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”

Proverbs is an Old Testament book chock full of wisdom. There are many who read it daily, matching the chapter to the day of the month. I began this “exercise of the heart” many years ago and even though I’ve read the proverbs over and over again, they speak new truths to me all the time.

Proverbs 28:14 seems to boil life decisions down to just a few words. Be happy or be troubled. We are happy or blessed when we reverently worship the Lord. Or we live our lives in stubbornness, hardening our hearts, calamity will follows us around. It’s so simple, isn’t it? Love and obey the Lord and you’ll find happiness or don’t and you’ll find calamity.

I like that word calamity.  Other words in the thesaurus are disaster, catastrophe, mishap, misfortune and tragedy. WOW, this paints a great word image of a troubled person who is seeking happiness in all the wrong ways.

We can fill our lives with people, bottles of booze, drugs, work, material things, politics and even church activities.  But where Jesus does not reside, we will continue searching for that something to fill us. We may pretend we love Jesus because we can often fool people with our exterior facades of the right words and attendance at church. But we never fool the Lord.

God sees into every single nook and cranny of our heart.  He knows a true believer and He is aware of those people who follow His lead, use His standard of love in our lives and obey Him.  Sure it’s difficult. No one ever has said the life of a believer is easy. If I simply believed in the universe as the new age followers do, I could pretty much do my own thing as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. But it would sure hurt me and tear me away from the God of my life. I know that God alone is the only fulfillment that will flood my soul with happiness. Believing in Jesus as my Savior is what brings me completeness.

Action~

Think about the verse today and imagine in your right hand is a heart full of love for the Lord.  In your left is a hard heart, searching for happiness but it is not found. This is why we share Jesus with others.

We want to show others how simple the choice is. It can be in such easy, casual ways, sharing how you replaced Jesus for your love for ____ (fill in the blank) and how His love brought you happiness even when life is tough.

Pray~

God, I love Proverbs and thank You so much for sharing so much wisdom in this book of Yours. You have all the answers and I thank You for crating the void in my heart that made me seek You.

Trusting in Him,

Becky