Daily Inspiration

Daily

Inspirational Thoughts

to bless your life.

Daily Thoughts

to bring wisdom to your life.

Monday through Friday Devotional

by your host Beth McLendon

This week's topic:

Wisdom for a brighter future

~

Monday June 27, 2016

Winking at sin leads to sorrow

Bold reproof leads to peace.

Proverbs 10:10 TLB

Monday thoughts:

"Winking at sin" indicates

that someone is dealing with sin in a

 casual way.

God is saying that those who deal with sin

in a casual way

will find sorrow.

Most people try to live as close to sin
as they can get
without actually sinning.

Take note that living as close to sin as you can get is actually a sin in itself.

Jesus is supposed to be our Lord. If we are seeking to get as close to sin as we can get then we are not making Jesus our Lord.

If we follow Jesus, we will move away from sin.

Jesus tells us to "follow him" in our daily life.

Jesus is not leading us
to walk as close to sin as we can get.

Dear Lord,

I want to respect you and your commands to me.

You were not careless in how you drew the lines of morality.

May I not be careless in how I interpret your commands.

Amen

Copyright ©2006 Beth McLendon of Inspirational-Prayers.com

Families get in a mess
because of winking at sin.

Which is a better choice?

Trying to get out of a big family mess?

or

Making wise choices and never getting into a big mess?

I am working with several families that are being torn apart by many things including addictions, marital strife, and offspring who are in jail.

My heart is full of compassion for these families.

My heart is full of compassion for every family that finds itself in a mess.

As I have talked to these families and observed their interactions, I have found that these families are not obeying important scriptures.

Some scriptures may seem unimportant

BUT - 

small deviations from the Word of God

lead to BIG problems.

On this page I am going to point out some of the things that are causing great harm in these families.

If your family is not in a mess,

please consider that

if

you do not observe these

wisdom scriptures,

you are leaving yourself and your family

vulnerable to later ending up in a BIG mess.

Dear Lord,

I will yield myself to you

and

make the changes

that will bring godliness and blessing

to my home and my family.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen

Tuesday June 28, 2016

Families get in a mess

because they do not teach the Bible stories to their children

and they do not read the Bible themselves.

The Bible clearly tells us that parents are given a

responsibility to teach their children Bible stories

and Bible verses.

Your children cannot follow God if they are not taught.

Your children will not follow wisdom

if they are not taught

the Bible.

We cannot ignore

Deuteronomy 11:19 (scroll down to read)

without

sad consequences

in our children's lives.

This website has lots of great pages to help parents.

Consider visiting our

Family Devotions page.

Proverbs 13:13 says:

Despise God's word and find yourself in trouble.

Obey it and succeed.

Teach your children how to have success!

Your children don't care if you know

much of anything about the Bible.

-

Don't let your pride

stop you from obeying God

and helping your children learn the Bible.

More Family Devotionals

Consider buying a children's Bible.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 11:

18Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way,
when you lie down, and when you rise up.

20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21

Wednesday March 18, 2015

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Many families TRAIN their children

in negative ways.

For example,

Many families train their children

to disrespect the laws of the land.

Such as

when they go through red stop lights

when no one is around,

or

when they disregard speed limits.

cheat on taxes, etc.

This teaches children

that each person

gets to decide

what laws to obey and when to obey them.

This makes children (later in their life) vulnerable to

deciding what laws they want to obey.

(As I said, I am working with families with offspring in jail.)

Families get in a mess
because of disrespecting the laws of the land.

The only time we can disobey the laws of the land is when the laws of the land come against what the Bible says.

However, at this time,

I know of no laws that force me to disobey the Bible.

NEXT

Another example of

Training Children

Many families TRAIN their children

to lie.

Children learn by imitation.

Are you training your children and grandchildren to lie?

Families get in a mess
because of lying and practicing deception.

Are you training your children and grandchildren to lie?

OR

Are you training your children and grandchildren

to always speak the truth,

to obey authority,

to be honest in every way?

Most parents and grandparents raise children

with a dual morality.

Many parents say lying is wrong,

but they tell white lies and even laugh about it.

If you do that,
you are telling your children
that each person can decide if a lie is o.k. and justified.

That is telling children
that there is no real standard against lying.

Then the child grows up

and

gets in trouble

because he or she lies.

People always think the lies THEY tell are justified.

Some Reasons People Lie

• People lie to look better than they are.
• People lie to keep from having conflict.
• People lie to get out of consequences for behavior
  
• People lie to get what they want sooner.
• People lie so they won't have to tell the truth and be embarrassed.
• People lie to manipulate others.
  

Reflection:

Can any of those reasons lead you to tell a lie?

Some people think you have to lie in certain situations.

But the truth is the right choice.

For example, instead of lying, you can say:

"I don't want to talk about that right now."

or

"I do not want to share that with you right now."

or

"I do not want to discuss that right now."

or

"I'm not going to deal with that right now."

or when the phone rings -

"I didn't answer the phone because it was not a good time for me to talk on the phone."

Consider reading

The Belt of Truth

Thursday June 29, 2016

Wisdom is knowing and doing right.

Proverbs 3:21 TLB

We gain wisdom from reading the Bible and following it.

Families get in a mess
because they do not value wisdom and
seek wisdom from God.

We need wisdom in order to make good choices.
Good choices bring a brighter future.

The Word of God

will lead you

if you let it.

The whole Bible is full of Wisdom.

The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and
to make us realize what is wrong in our lives;
it straightens us out
and helps us do what is right.

2 Timothy 3:16 TLB

 

Nevertheless, I want to emphasize
one book today.

The book of Proverbs

 

Proverbs 1:4-8 TLB says:

“I want to make the simpleminded wise!” he said.
“I want to warn young men about some problems they will face.

I want those already wise to become wiser and become leaders by exploring the depths of meaning in these nuggets of truth.”

How does a man become wise?

The first step is to trust and reverence the Lord!
Only fools refuse to be taught.

My Story:

 

In my early 20’s I felt the need to read the book of Proverbs. I do not remember all the details of that decision.

As I began to read Proverbs, I found that over and over it essentially says, “The wise man does this and the fool does that.”

I began to get uncomfortable.

As I read, I realized that I was always the fool according to the verses in Proverbs.

I had a decision to make.

Was I going to stop reading Proverbs and make myself comfortable – and thus be the fool?

OR

Was I going to allow myself to be uncomfortable and learn to be wise?

Fortunately I choose the right one.

And after all these years, I am still pursuing wisdom.

I haven’t arrived, but I have made a commitment that I will not stop reading the Bible just because it steps on my toes.

In fact, I have learned from the Bible that reading the Bible is supposed to step on my toes.

God wants us to grow our character and learn to be more like him by reading the Bible.

Jesus said:

It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Matthew 4:4 NKJV

 
Prayer for Wisdom

Dear God,

I need to seek wisdom.

Help me to be teachable.

Lord, give me the determination to do what it takes to grow.

And God, give me the wisdom to see trouble coming from far away and give me the determination to do something wise about it before it gets to me.

Amen

Copyright © 2012 Beth McLendon of Inspirational-Prayers.com

Taken from our Bible Wisdom page.

Friday July 1, 2016

Families get in a mess
because they will not admit their mistakes and sins
to other family members.

Children need a model of how to be wrong. They need adults around them that show them how to be wrong. For example: how to display a proper attitude about being wrong and how to ask for forgiveness.

Actually there is a children's show that can teach adults how to live a genuine life in front of their children.

It is called Gospel Bill. Most of us didn't grow up knowing how to parent. Most of us do not know how to live out Bible principles in front of our children. This show gives us a vision of how to parent and how to be a godly adult.

I probably haven't watched all the shows, but I gained a lot of information years ago when I did watch lots of them.
I humbled myself and watched and learned.

Gospel Bill episodes can be seen  on Youtube.

It saddens me to think that someone will have too much pride to reach out and change their life and bless their family.

I hope each of us will listen to God and humble ourselves and seek to bless our families more than we worry about making ourselves comfortable.

Your children and your spouse

do not need a perfect person.

They just need a real person who will talk to them.

They need someone who will let them inside their private world.

They need someone who will be kind to them.

(Kind doesn't mean you neglect to discipline your children. Discipline can be loving AND firm. Discipline shouldn't be harsh but it sometimes needs to be firm.)

Some parents are too hard on their children and some are too soft on their children. Be honest with yourself about which you are. (My book Praying for your Child can help you with that.)

Dysfunctional homes generally have three rules:

1, Don't talk (about problems or family secrets)

2. Don't feel (stuff your feelings in a dark closet in your heart)

3. Don't trust (because no one is trustworthy)

Families that have those rules are usually
filled with shame and poor self-worth issues.

If your family has these three "rules",
then the next section will probably be helpful.

Families get in a mess
because of emotional pain.

Emotional pain can lead to addictions and/or withdrawal from the warm closeness that God intended families to share.

Note that we have pages on this site that specifically deal with addictions. For example, prayers for addictions.

Sometimes emotional pain is caused by shame issues in childhood.

Sometimes shame comes from something we did, and sometimes it comes from something someone did to us.

God wants to heal us of all shame issues and all emotional pain.

I suggest that people listen to a Christian man named Jack Frost who is very good at helping people heal their emotional pain issues.

Jack is also good at showing us how to draw closer to God.  His teachings are amazing.

We have a page featuring teaching by Jack Frost.

Click here: Jack Frost

One of the greatest things to help me in my life was learning about the DISC personality styles.

I wrote a book that explains the styles to parents and grandparents. In fact, reading the book will also help you understand your spouse and all other adults in your life. It is called Praying for your Child. I urge you to get a copy.  Scroll up this page and look on the right side for more information.

It takes a humble person

to listen to a children's show.

God tells us he expects us to come to him as a little child.

Will you come as a little child?

If you need help with your marriage, we have lots of prayers  (including this one: Prayer for Restoration ) and lots of teaching on that subject. See our
Bible Devotion page and look for the
"family" section.

The mission of this website:

1. To encourage and inspire people to gain more revelation of how much God's loves each of us

2. To give insights into how we can follow him more closely.

Note

I cannot guarantee that if you do certain things
your family will not get into a mess.

I can say with certainty that choosing wisdom
will always create a better future.

Originally presented - March 16, 2015