JMD Devotional 152 Proverbs 27:7-8,19-21 Despicable Illusions
He who is satiated [with sensual pleasures] loathes and treads underfoot a honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
I remember a news report of a man caught breaking into single women's homes to steal their shoes while they were away at work. The odd behavior makes most of us laugh; how someone can so eroticize an object that they would risk their life, reputation and liberty for something that cannot possibly satisfy. It has something to do with the psychology of displacement: the primary desire is out of reach, so that craving is moved to something else that becomes magnified and given false attributes (a god). We can laugh at another's folly; but that is how Satan gets most of us. Sexual addicts get trapped into a cycle of seeking phantom fulfillment and when it doesn't pan out they drown in self-loathing. The pit of remorse leads them to medicate their pain, and the fantasy is cultivated again and again.
Vs 8 Like a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who strays from his home.
Vs 19 As in water face answers to and reflects face, so the heart of man to man. (Do you REALLY want to know yourself? It might not be pretty. The self-directed life is retched and ugly; submission to God makes us beautiful).
Vs 20 Sheol (the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the place of destruction) are never satisfied; so [the lust of] the eyes of man is never satisfied.
God has established eternal principles of cause and effect; His Word will not be broken, rather we will make or break ourselves on how we regard or disregard His Word. Pain, struggle and trials can be an enormous BLESSING if we respond to them by examining our ways and repent and get on board with God's program of redemption. Be certain of this, He will chastise His children!
Vs 21 As the refining pot for silver and the furnace for gold [bring forth all the impurities of the metal], so let a man be in his trial of praise [ridding himself of all that is base or insincere; for a man is judged by what he praises and of what he boasts].
This verse convicts because it so aptly describes the addictive cycle of sinful indulgence. The only way to break the cycle is to die to self and live as a daily sacrifice. Sin has no power over a dead person.
Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.
Dear God,
I don't want Proverbs 26:11 to be my epitaph! Please help me completely apprehend the freedom You give to those who truly follow Jesus Christ. May my old life be left in the tomb; may all of my energies be invested into MY resurrected life. May I identify myself as a Saint and not a dog. Help me to see sin for what is really is and to despise the illusion. May I seek all of my fulfillment in You, my Lord and my God.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
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http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
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http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
I remember a news report of a man caught breaking into single women's homes to steal their shoes while they were away at work. The odd behavior makes most of us laugh; how someone can so eroticize an object that they would risk their life, reputation and liberty for something that cannot possibly satisfy. It has something to do with the psychology of displacement: the primary desire is out of reach, so that craving is moved to something else that becomes magnified and given false attributes (a god). We can laugh at another's folly; but that is how Satan gets most of us. Sexual addicts get trapped into a cycle of seeking phantom fulfillment and when it doesn't pan out they drown in self-loathing. The pit of remorse leads them to medicate their pain, and the fantasy is cultivated again and again.
Vs 8 Like a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who strays from his home.
Vs 19 As in water face answers to and reflects face, so the heart of man to man. (Do you REALLY want to know yourself? It might not be pretty. The self-directed life is retched and ugly; submission to God makes us beautiful).
Vs 20 Sheol (the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the place of destruction) are never satisfied; so [the lust of] the eyes of man is never satisfied.
God has established eternal principles of cause and effect; His Word will not be broken, rather we will make or break ourselves on how we regard or disregard His Word. Pain, struggle and trials can be an enormous BLESSING if we respond to them by examining our ways and repent and get on board with God's program of redemption. Be certain of this, He will chastise His children!
Vs 21 As the refining pot for silver and the furnace for gold [bring forth all the impurities of the metal], so let a man be in his trial of praise [ridding himself of all that is base or insincere; for a man is judged by what he praises and of what he boasts].
This verse convicts because it so aptly describes the addictive cycle of sinful indulgence. The only way to break the cycle is to die to self and live as a daily sacrifice. Sin has no power over a dead person.
Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.
Dear God,
I don't want Proverbs 26:11 to be my epitaph! Please help me completely apprehend the freedom You give to those who truly follow Jesus Christ. May my old life be left in the tomb; may all of my energies be invested into MY resurrected life. May I identify myself as a Saint and not a dog. Help me to see sin for what is really is and to despise the illusion. May I seek all of my fulfillment in You, my Lord and my God.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
http://SaintJamesPoetry.blogspot.com
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
http://jamesezadventures.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 7:20 PM
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