Daily Devotional - 8/31/15 (10/31/09)

Prayer Focus - Strangers


Day 3
Pray for:
One person you admire or look up to
One person you met/meet today
One person that is in the entertainment industry


Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs


Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.


Proverbs 31


"A  wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies...Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." ( vs. 10, 30-31 ) 

"But the Lord said to Samuel. 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." ( I Samuel 16: 7)

There are more important things than money, looks, and possessions.  The world runs after all of these things but they will not matter when we are gone and are awaiting final judgment.  What will matter is what is in our hearts.  Were we people of integrity?  Integrity is being true inside and out.  Doing what you say and standing firm no matter what.  It is saying "I'm sorry" and admitting when we were the ones who did something.  It is standing up for people who can not stand up for themselves.   It is having character.

Character is not taught too much anymore.  It is surprising to me when I see the disregard for manners that is so predominant now.  Our society is too often teaching and focusing on the wrong things.  We run our children all over town to activities but we fail to talk to them and teach them right from wrong.  We are so distracted by the phone and the Internet that we fail to do so many things.  I look at all the time I have wasted in my life focusing on the wrong things and I am so sad.  My children are no longer little and that time is gone now.  I wish I had valued the things of the heart sooner.

This was brought home to me one day when my oldest daughter was about twelve.  I had been promising to do so many things with her.  "I will go running with you" - later.  "I will sit down and talk" - later.  Always later, later, later.  I felt I had so much time.  Then one day I said, "Let's go running." and she said no.  She was no longer interested.  Just like that, the window was closed.  How I regretted being too busy then!  I was heartbroken for a long time but thankfully, I made changes.  And thankfully, over time, I have been able to rebuild the bridge that I tore down with my daughter due to my lack of focus.  Now, I strive to make time for each of my daughters.  I am not perfect but I am better.  I am striving now to be a woman of noble character.  I am striving to value what is most important - the people in my life; and not money, possessions, career, or anything else.

It doesn't matter if I am not keeping step with the world; doesn't matter if I don't have the huge TV or the best designer clothes.  If I have relationships with my three precious daughters, then I am rich.  It doesn't matter if I have a lot of money or a huge house.  What matters is if I can live with my head held high because I am doing what is right; I am treating people right, and if I have nothing I am hiding or ashamed of.  Then, I have what matters.  God always seems to take care of me and provide what I need when I am walking with Him and being a loving person; a person with integrity.  Let's rearrange our priorities and get our values right.  Let's be people of noble character so that we can receive the praise and reward of a person who fears the Lord.  And then, we just might change the world as well.




Prayer for the Day


Dear Lord,

Help us to become women and men of noble characters. Help us to value what is most important and not get caught up running after the world.  The world has no idea what is truly important.  It glorifies what is wrong and puts down what is right.  It has strayed so far away from love.  It has become consumed with the temporal and the fleeting.  Help us to look at the heart and not the outward appearance. Help us to be different.  Help us to have integrity and make a difference by our lives.  This is beyond us, Father, but it is not beyond You. 

In Jesus' Name,
Amen



QFT


1. How do I define "noble character"?  Why?  Do I have a noble character?  Why or why not? 

2. Which do I look at and value more, the outward appearance of people and things or the internal or intrinsic value of them?  How do I know this?  Do I want to change how I view life?

3. Do I have integrity?  Do I lie?  Do I do what I say I will?  Am I the same whether people are watching me or not?  What can I do to increase my integrity?

4. Am I valuing the people God has placed in my life?  Do I spend time with my children, spouse, siblings, parents?  If I am with people, am I focused on giving to them or am I on my phone or distracted by my thoughts or worries?

5.  Do I need to apologize to anyone for not treating them right or valuing them?  Do I need to contact someone that I have been neglecting?  How can I spend better time with my children or significant others?  How can I show more love to those around me?