Papa Pat Tiny Devotionals

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, today we remember. Do not give your strength to women, Or your ways to that which destroys kings. Proverbs 31:3, NASB That's CONCUBINES. Not PORCUPINES The title of this post might be “The Best Advice Ever Ignored.” Or if not ignored, at least not followed. The sting in this verse is that it specifically addresses the cause of Solomon’s fall. I Kings 11 says that when he was old, his wives turned his heart away from following the Lord. I want to point out a couple of things. First, although Solomon entered into his marriages for political purposes, the Bible explicitly states that he loved his wives. Love is good, right? Second, although his kingdom was benefited in the short term, after Solomon died, it all vanished. Why? We use a phrase today: “the smartest guy in the room.” That’s ALWAYS going to be Solomon. He was smart enough to get the best craftsmen,  using the b

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, have a sandwich or two. The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the pronouncement. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: Proverbs 30:1, NASB Not “Hear the pronouncement of the king!” Not “Listen to the word of the Lord!” Not “Behold, I bring you tidings!” or even “Warning! To avoid serious injury!” Nope. The words that follow are going to have to stand on their own. (And they do.) There is no appeal to authority here, at least, not one that we can recognize. Of the names mentioned, only ONE (Ithiel) is mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, and that’s a passing reference in the genealogy of Benjamin. Any other significance attached to those names is speculative. And yet, this chapter (and Proverbs 31, which has a  similar lack of appeal to authority) were found to be worthy of inclusion in the Bible. Their authority was internal. It’s a bold move, isn’t it, to explici

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by,  cold-brew coffee, and Alicia Ann made oatmeal. A person often rebuked who becomes obstinate Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. Proverbs 29:1, NASB I don’t play golf. It requires specialized equipment, which I don’t have, and assorted muscle memory I have never acquired. Which rather begs the question: WHY did I never acquire the muscle memory? You see, my father WAS a golfer. He had trophies; I remember them from an early age. He had equipment, too.  So, why were those skills not passed down? It’s partially related to being often rebuked and becoming obstinate. You see, I can only recall one period of golf instruction from my father, and that was on a driving range, when I was 30 years old. It’s not a pleasant memory. Evidently, I had faults with the way I held my feet, to the way I held my head, and everything in between. My father’s method of correction was to tell

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, R emember E veryone D eployed. The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion. Proverbs 28:1, NASB One of the first Bible puns I learned as a lad: Q: What’s the scariest animal in the Bible? A: The wicked flea. Although cheap humor, it does provide a reference point for memorizing the verse, at least the first half of it. Sad to say, at the time, it was about the only verse I had any familiarity with.  But let us not focus on that, this morning. Instead, why do the wicked flee when no one is chasing them? And why are the righteous as bold as a lion? The answer to both questions is, I suppose, the same:  It’s an inside job, with outside help.  In the case of the wicked, they have some understanding of their own nature. They know what they would do to others; they assume that others would do the same to them. Since they tend to surround themsel

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by,  dealer’s choice for breakfast. Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring. Proverbs 27:1, NASB I’m reasonably certain that I will see tomorrow, because I have air to breathe, I’m not ill, and the drums of war are quiet in my neighborhood. So, if I need to go to the grocery store, I’ll be buying a gallon of milk, and not a pint. If there are bills to pay, I’ll pay them. And, I’ll make sure that Kenneth and Alicia get off to school. None of that is boasting about tomorrow; it’s just planning for tomorrow.  I’m making an investment that I believe will pay off; I’m engaging my environment, inviting it to join with me in accomplishing my goals.  Boasting about tomorrow is throwing a victory celebration before playing the game. It issues a challenge that is both utterly unnecessary, and self-defeating. It aggravates and provokes the rest of the univer

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Tortas Combinada from Tentaciones Heladeria. A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the back of fools. Proverbs 26:3, NASB This verse is about management, not punishment. To the best of my recollection, I’ve never spent time in the company of a donkey, although I have met a mule. I’ve been on a horse as recently as 1972, but I certainly was not entrusted with a whip. And, while I have wished for one, and the authority to wield it, no fools ever felt a rod on their backs at my hand. Not that they didn’t need it. Oh, my, they certainly did! Fledgling fools are just aggravating, but fools who have been placed in positions of authority can damage the morale and operation of an organization faster than a plague. A well-run, motivated organization can handle just about any external challenge. It’s what they are designed for, after all, whether the challen

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, peanut butter remains a good choice. Take away the impurities from the silver, And there comes out a vessel for the smith; Take away the wicked before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness. Proverbs 25:4-5, NASB I thought today’s verse was going to be 25:3, and reacted, “Oh, no! How am I going to write about that?” But then I realized that I HAD written about that, in January , and did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. Maybe I was inspired. Removing impurities from silver is not accomplished with ease. There seem to be two methods, one primarily relying on high temperature, the second on temperature plus nitric acid, which wasn’t available at the time this proverb was written. Both methods will kill you dead, if you get careless. Remember that! Why? Because trying to take the wicked away from before the king is just as lethal as fooling aroun

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, I’m SUPPOSED to write like Moses. Do not be envious of evil people, Nor desire to be with them; For their minds plot violence, And their lips talk of trouble. Proverbs 24:1-2, NASB The Slough of Despond Stay out of the swamp; why be envious of evil people? They certainly seem to hold a lot of power.  Think about bad times in school: who seemed to have power? The gender differences aren’t perfect, but for boys, there were those who used the threat (and delivery) of physical violence to dominate. For girls, relationship aggression was the mode, although we didn’t have the right language to define it until around thirty years ago.  There are plenty of examples to show that a pattern of aggression continues into the world of work and government. Read the history of Big Oil, the railroads, the Communist and Nazi parties, the Klan (both Reconstruction and the national version in

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, hope of a spam and egg sandwich. Do not eat the bread of a selfish person; Or desire his delicacies; For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten And waste your compliments. Proverbs 23:6-8, NASV It’s not just food, of course. A selfish person doesn’t want to share ANY resources. For them, any benefit you receive means that they will lose something. It’s called a “zero-sum game,” meaning that the net increase of any interaction, or set of interactions, is zero. Question: is that understanding valid? It all depends on how the system is defined. The more narrowly you look at things, the more likely it is to be accurate. In a small, closed system, the selfish person is correct: Vanessa has two spam-and-egg sandwiches; if I eat one, she loses one. That’s zero-sum. But, we

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Alicia Ann made scrambled eggs. The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches, honor, and life. Proverbs 22:4, NASB There are two kinds of people who don’t understand the meaning of “fear of the Lord”: tyrants, and the arrogant. Tyrants are always looking for ways to inspire terror into others. They exaggerate the dangers that we all face, so that they can control the weak. When the natural dangers aren’t enough, they invent something.  In a religious context, they preach terror of the Almighty, and terror of the Enemy, and screech that the only path from oblivion is through their particular practice. They place a heavy emphasis on all the things you CANNOT do.  It’s NOT the gospel message. The arrogant speak slightly differently. They say, “I reject a God we have to be afraid of. Why should we have to fear? I believe in a god of love, who accepts us, just as

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Remember Everyone Deployed. The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He pleases . Proverbs 21:1, NASB A difficult verse for me. Difficult, because I don’t find it easy to see evidence of the Lord’s hand turning the hearts of rulers (kings, presidents, prime ministers) of the nations.  Still, I believe that all earthly rulers hold their positions only by the sufferance of God (whether they know it or not). That’s not the same thing as saying all rulers are godly; they will, however, have to account for their actions before God (as will I). Difficult, because I don’t know much about channels of water. I have no experience with irrigation, only with drainage. My recent experience with channeling water has been to scrape out a trench along the edge of my driveway to keep my garage from flooding, during some heavy rains.  Before t

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, have some donuts. The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion; One who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life. Proverb 20:2, NASB I don’t have any experience with kings. I met a few high ranking officers when I was in the Army, and I had my picture taken with Zell Miller when he was Lieutenant Governor, but that’s as high as I’ve gone. Those were all pleasant interactions, though. Meeting a Colonel (1975) Now, I DID spend some time in the offices of various principals in my school days. I suppose getting paddled is about as close to forfeiting my life as I have gotten.  This is NOT to imply that I have lived a blameless life; I just didn’t get caught, for one, and for two, I never moved in the circles of the mighty. Therefore, I can only take the advice given in this verse on faith, concerning provoking the anger of a king. I’ve READ about kings; in fact, at th

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, spilled coffee is inevitable, and no big thing. Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And one who hurries his footsteps errs. Proverb 19:2 NASB “Let’s hurry up, and get past this place.” They tell me that’s not the perfect advice if you happen to be walking through a dangerous part of town; the predators are aware of those who move like a victim. If in your hurrying you look fearful, you broadcast ‘VICTIM!’ Instead, walk with confidence, and maintain situational awareness.  “Let’s hurry up and get there!” Whether it’s a short trip or a long one, operating a motor vehicle requires awareness, and total commitment to the task. Trying to be elsewhere quickly by speeding, or BEING elsewhere via texting; both produce tragic results. “I just want to get through this part of my life, so I can do what I really want to do.” It’s all too easy to have this attitude

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, toasted bagels. When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes, And with dishonor comes taunting. Proverb 18:3, NASV I’m struggling with this verse. Maybe that’s because I have encountered very few wicked people in my life; at least, since I stopped having to ride the bus to school. That’s the last time I can recall active engagement with truly wicked behavior, at the hands of a bully on a school bus.  I got brushed, mildly, with some awful-acting people in the first few months I was in training in the Army, but the rather rigorous supervision we were under prevented the worst kind of acting out. In my adult life, I’ve caught a lot more grief from incompetent people than from wicked people. Narrow-minded stupidity, actively applied, causes a lot more damage than the fictional super-villain with a plan to conquer the world. And, over the long term, a healthy institution dis

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Alma Coffee’s cold brew . Wisdom is in the presence of one who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. (Proverb 17:24, NASB) First week in November, I got Tony Evans’ book, “Oneness Embraced,” about racial reconciliation. Studying it has been one of the top spiritual challenges I’ve ever faced, along with recovery and salvation. I just couldn’t DO it on my own! I begged my pastor for help, and he came through.  For the past several weeks, it’s Wednesday at 1:00 at the Waffle House, with Brother Charles from church who has been mentoring me.  We set the standard the first week:  We shared our hearts;  We wept;  We occupied the booth a LONG time;  So we gave Heather the waitress a BIG tip.  We don’t cry EVERY week, but everything else is the same. And no matter WHAT I bring to share with Charles, he asks me the same two questions: 1. What is M