Devotion for Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Back to School: Spirit Night tonight!
It’s tonight! It will be awesome! Wear your school colors, bring a friend and expect God to show up!
Here is a preview of tonight’s message graphic…
Today’s Passage:
My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. (Proverbs 3:1-10)
Application Questions:
1. What does he mean when he says “let thine heart keep my commandments”?
2. How does law and commandments add length of days, long life and peace?
3. What does “leaning on your own understanding” look like? What does it look like to acknowledge God in all your ways?
4. “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”. What does this mean and how does it apply to you?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
1. “let thine heart keep my commandments” means… I’m too long winded to do this in the morning before school. I’ll answer after! & wow that graphic look nice! Wonder who made it? 😉
Go Melanie!! 🙂
lol… at least you admit it. I’ll never admit that I’m long winded.
You write well, and I like your long comments 🙂
Thanks Pastor Ben! 🙂 glad someone enjoys my comments!
As do I….btw what does “long winded” mean? I’ve never heard of that before!! 😉
Lol John.. I think you know very well what it mean… Cause your the human dictionary of course! 😛
1. If i keep gods word in my heart than it will be easier for me to remember and obey his commandments.
2. Well if i obey the law and commandments it will make me happy and put peace in not only my life but in the other people around and makes my day longer and happier.
3.Leaning on your understanding means we believe and trust in the things we think and say but this is not what god wants. He wants me to look to him for his will for me.
4. The first verse means that if we love and give praise to our god he will bless us with many things and the second verse says that you will be blessed with many things that he will give you out of the kindness of his heart.
Dude- I’m watching you grow, online… good stuff…
You nailed #2 like a nail with a hammer….
Good Job Andrew Miguel!! You really are growing in the Lord through this devotional process. Please stay at it; it’s cool to watch and it’s really working!
To me, let thine heart keep my condmanments means like in ur heart if u love me u will do what I ask u to do. U will listen ti everything I have to say! 🙂 hey guys I think Ezra might come tonite cuz I’ve been really working on him. That this is really important and everything! 🙂 thanks for ur prayers about me getting the guts to ask and tell Ezra about god! This has really helped thank u all!! <333
That is awesome Tristian! I’ll be praying!
Praying too. Very cool.
1. I think “let thine heart keep my commandments” means that they aren’t just something we are commanded to do in our heads but that we are to keep them in our hearts. The Bible says, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”… or the feet go, or the body does. I think knowing we should stop at a stop sign is basic law but when we know stopping at a stop sign is really there for our protection and safety it means so much more. I guess what I am saying is that its not a head knowledge but a heart knowledge which takes them to a whole new level of obedience.
2. When we follow what God says it is ultimately for our own good. Typically the things that are for our good won’t harm us or shorten our days and that adds up to long life.
3. Leaning on my own understanding means to be unwise and live based on what I already know. Its a risky and unwise place to live since I am not wise in many areas of life. It could end up harming my life and shorten my days. Awknowledge God in all my ways is to include Him in what is going on in my everyday life. Seek His Word for wisdom and to pray to Him about all things which will ultimately look like “He will direct your path”.
4. I think that honoring the Lord is to give Him back the gifts, talents, finances, and desires He has given to you. Everything we have comes from Him and we are to honor and thank Him for these things by giving back portions of what He has given to us. It applies to me by way of giving back finances to the church when I get paid and also giving of my time and talents to help the church and to further the Gospel.
BTW I am totally stoked about tonight and am looking forward to meeting everyone’s friends and having a great time growing together!!
1. I think “let thine heart keep my commandments” means that we shouldn’t make it look like we’re keeping the commandments on the outside, and not really mean it. We should keep these commandments in our hearts too!
2. I don’t really know about this one! But I agree with Megan! 🙂
3.“leaning on your own understanding” means that I shouldn’t just trust in myself to make decisions and stuff like that! If I’m leaning on my own understanding that’s bad! Cause I know like NOTHING compared to God! Why lean on yourself when you have Him to lean on?! & I think acknowledging Him in all our ways means in everything we do, we should be doing it to glorify God. cause He’s our Creator, and the reason we’re here!!
4. I think this means to honor God with what we have and He’ll bless us! How this applies to me is probably not to worry about what I have or how much stuff I have. Cause none of it really matters, I mean besides stuff like food that we actually do need, most of the time I take everything I have for granted. And that’s not good!! I think todays devo has opened my eyes that I really should be more thankful, cause I am truly blessed 🙂
1. Like “thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee”, remember it always even in tough situations.
2. By keeping Gods commandments and obeying Him, I think like Andrew said that he will give you a long and happy life.
3. Putting your faith in God that He will help you and guide you, not yourself.
4. Take care and give back what God has given you and He will reward you with more.
1. “Let thine heart keep my commandments” to me means that if we understand that the commandments God has given us in important then we will have a good understanding and will want to not want to do right because it’s what we’re supposed to do, but because we love God and in our hearts its what we want to do! We will want to do what God asks of us because our heart is in it and we will be honoring and glorifying our savior!
2. An example of this, God said that if we love and honor our parents then we will live a long life here on earth. I believe that if we keep God’s law and commandments we will be doing what God wants us to, we will be happy and enjoy our lives because we are doing the things God wants us to, not what we want!
3. Leaning on your own understanding means to think that you’re thoughts or instincts about things are right instead of leaning on God’s understanding! Leaning on my own understanding is a huge mistake because I can’t direct my own paths and have it to where I’m supposed to, that’s why I need to acknowledge God in everything I do! Everything, not just small things because God directs everything. Thinking about what God wants me to do in every decision will put me in the right place and I will make the right decisions!
4. These verses mean that if we honor God with all of our heart and soul, He will bless us! It says He will bless us so much!! Honoring God is so important. God is our heavenly father. If we can’t even honor our parents how are we supposed to honor God? Honoring God comes first and is so important! Honoring Him is a huge reward in more ways then one! 🙂
I feel so weird waiting until before bed to do my devos! My goal for this school year is to have God before everything. I’m trying really hard, but today was hectic! So please pray for that, cause i’m really trying to grow and be in God’s word everyday & on here growing with you guys! I don’t want school work to get in the way (even though its important too). 🙂
1) I think when it says “Let thine heart keep my commandments”, it is saying that we should have God’s commandments in our hearts, and not just in our minds. We have so much going through our minds everyday at every minute, and to have something like God’s rules and guidelines in our hearts is amazing! That means His commandments are always with us, so we can follow them.
2) Law and commandments add length of days, long life, and peace because by having these commandments given to us by God, is gives us reassurance. Reassurance means we can live peacefully, and have days where we can live happy! Sometimes i have days where i’m like “Wow.. nothing can make this day better!” But that is NOT true! So many things can improve our days, especially by having God there with us to guide us through our lives. It helps us live longer happier lives 🙂
3) Leaning on your own understanding looks like relying on yourself for everything. Idk about you guys, but sometimes i make stupid mistakes! If i were to rely on myself all the time for answers, I would not be very smart or happy at all. By acknowledging God in all ways, it gives me a feeling of security. Like I feel that God is always with me, and helping me make decisions all throughout my life. That is so awesome to know that I have the creator of the universe with me at all times, and He actually cares about everything I go through! Now why wouldn’t i want to rely on Him?! 🙂
4) I think these verses mean to honor God with everything, because He has given me everything I could ever think of. The life I live is from Him, and I should be giving Him the honor and glory for everything He has done in my life! Whether we are rich or poor, God gave us life, and Jesus died for our sins! I know I should be thanking Him for everything, and sometimes i feel like i don’t do it enough. But God deserves more than I could ever give Him!
I lean on mine own understandings more than I should. When I do this it is insulting to the Lord. i am saying I know better than He does. It isn’t enough to know the commandments intellectually, we must want to keep them because of our relationship with the Lord. Again it is a heart issue. We must really mean it from our hearts. If I just honor the Lord in my giving, and if I am grateful for how He takes care of me, I won’t need to worry. We are safer when we live in God’s will and not our own. Obedience is safer for us than disobedience.
Great night tonight!! tired
1. What does he mean when he says “let thine heart keep my commandments”?
As Lindsey pointed out there is a difference between doing something because you “think” it is what you’re supposed to do, or what you have to do in order to “make points”, and doing it because it’s what you desire to do. In the heart is where our love and desire springs from, and from the heart is where we can tell a person’s passion, and what is most important.
2. How does law and commandments add length of days, long life and peace?
We call it “quality of life” these days… a long, peaceful life, with the sense of plenty of time (length of days) to get things done and enjoy them along the way…that’s a “life of quality”.
3. What does “leaning on your own understanding” look like? What does it look like to acknowledge God in all your ways?
Every decision we make is a spiritual decision. Knowing God’s word, and praying for the leading of the Holy Spirit acknowledges God. “Thinking” we have things under control is delusional, and potentially self-destructive, (so why do I do it?).
4. “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”. What does this mean and how does it apply to you?
God is the source for every good and complete thing I receive, so it is the least thing (a nice start) to tithe (my firstfruits). God provides, and even when it seems “tight” financially, God always come through in some unexpected way to meet all my needs, that’s what my experience with God tells me!