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Tiny Devotional for Tuesday, 08-09-2024

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family who might drop by, I ate the last of the leftovers for breakfast. For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread, but another man’s wife preys on your very life. Proverbs 6:26, NIV The New International Version effectively makes the point that sexual immorality alone is of lesser consequence than the violation of a covenant relationship. Prostitution is no small thing; Jesus listed prostitutes with tax collectors!  The verse points out that it's the choice of your companion in sexual immorality that changes the offense (figuratively speaking) from a misdemeanor to a felony. Why should this be the case? The next several verses make it clear that it's not God who exacts retribution on the covenant-breaker, but man; specifically, the spouse of the person involved in adultery.  This passage speaks to the reactions of an injured husband, but my observations convince me that an injured wife can hav
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Tiny Devotional for Thursday, 05-16-2024

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 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family who might drop by, breakfast is a non-starter today; sorry. It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, For a throne is established on righteousness. Proverbs 16:12, NASB Six wives, by Divine Right There is a standard higher than kings; otherwise it would not be possible for kings to commit wicked acts. At other times in history, the principle of Divine Right held that since kings were put into their positions by God, anything they did was the right thing. That didn't work out so well. Actually, our country decided the the whole of monarchy wasn't going to work, and so we went with elected representation. Now, the responsibility for who we have in government falls on us, We the People. What should we do, if we believe our leaders are committing wicked acts? It's a non-trivial question. Some say that only the acts of government should be considered in evaluating an authority, that
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Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 05-15-2024

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 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family who might drop by, plain bran flakes are better with honey. Grievous punishment is for him who forsakes the way; He who hates reproof will die. Proverbs 15:10, NASB I'm not sure why the translators of the New American Standard Bible chose the word 'punishment' in the first line of this verse. The Hebrew word is מוּסָר (mu-sar), and it's mostly translated as 'instruction'; sometimes 'correction.' The reason it's important is that punishment implies a punisher, one who takes some aversive action on an offender; as given in the NASB, this sounds like “if you mess up, God is gonna GET you!” I don't think that's the correct message at all. I think that rather than say God will get you if you do wrong, this entire verse is talking about the logical consequences to someone who abandons the way of righteousness. That interpretation is strongly supported by the seco
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Tiny Devotional for Tuesday, 05-14-2024

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 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family who might drop by, peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may be grief. Proverbs 14:13, NASB I was an 18-year-old college freshman the first time someone told me the face they wore in public wasn't really the way they felt on the inside. It was a shocking experience, because the public face was an arrogant know-it-all, and I didn't like them. What they revealed to me was someone as lost and afraid as I was,  maybe more; a person I could befriend.  So, why would someone present laughter, if they are in pain? I think it's mostly because it's easier for the public to deal with laughter; the people who go around telling others how awful they feel don't get a good reception from most people. There MAY be some goodness in that; the things that are painful are usually best dealt with between a few people, or even just two. (A help
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Tiny Devotional for Monday, 05-13-2024

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 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family who might drop by, Monday is no excuse. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12, NASB Yesterday, I discovered an item I wanted was going on sale in about 100 minutes from now. It's priced above the level where I make purchases on my own advice, and so I asked Vanessa, knowing she would be less than enthusiastic. I was right; she told me I didn't need that, and I agreed with her wholeheartedly. I don't NEED it; I WANTED it, though. After we had talked about it for a bit, and discussed the things that we do, in fact, really need, she told me I could go ahead and buy it.  (NOTE: I wasn't badgering her; we don't negotiate that way. I didn't wear down her arguments, this was a decision she made of her own free will. Just ask her!) I spent much of the afternoon and evening researching, and drooling over the prospect of making the pur
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Tiny Devotional for RED Friday, 05-10-2024: Remember Everyone Deployed

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 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family who might drop by, we're running a few hours late. Wise men store up knowledge, But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand. Proverbs 10:14, NASB Think of a dammed up river. The water in the reservoir is like the knowledge stored up by the wise. I'm NOT an outdoorsy-type, however, I have been to a dam on Lake Lanier, and here's what I know about the stored-up water, and how it applies to the knowledge store of the wise: It's a very calm surface; the knowledge of the wise (KOTW) brings peace, and not turmoil. It goes DEEP; the KOTW is much more than a few facts useful only in a trivia game.  Boaters and swimmers only use the surface; casual researchers of the KOTW are entertained and strengthened by exposure. Fish live in the deep parts; the  KOTW provides those who seek knowledge with useful tools for life. Even though I'm NOT an outdoorsy-type, my friend is, and he persuade
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Tiny Devotional for Thursday, 05-09-2024

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 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family who might drop by, the cats will ignore you. The last words of, and warning against, the Woman of Folly: “Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of Sheol. Proverbs 9:17-18, NASB I'm glad these are the last words of the Woman of Folly; I'm sick of her. That's because I know something that the naive youth does not, which is that all her promises are lies, and that destruction is on her path. How do I know? Well, unfortunately, I have made a mistake or two in my youth, when my body made so much noise that my brain couldn't listen. It's not entirely to my credit that I survived; you might call what I had good luck, or heavenly provision, or even say it was an angel watching over me. If it's important to me when I get to heaven, I can probably find out then.  I can imagine a scene
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