Tiny Devotional for RED Friday, 07-09-2021

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, bacon and cheese, grilled.

Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you;
Rebuke a wise person and he will love you.
Proverbs 9:8, NASB


I drag myself to my office, cold brew coffee in hand, and set up the windows on my screen while breakfast is in the toaster oven. 

The scoffer in me says, “I don’t know if this coffee has the power to get a devotional written today.”

The wise person replies, “You better not skip a day! It will turn into a month before you know it!”

I check my records to see which verse is the topic, and listen to my creaking joints (figuratively) as I flip over to the Book, and SHAZAM! What the coffee could not do, what the scoffer warned about, God’s Word makes happen!

Because THAT’S where the power comes from, not from the delicious caffeine, not from the breakfast sizzling away.

I did not rebuke the scoffer this morning, even though it was me. 

Now, I’ve done that MANY times in the past: kicked myself in the pants for failing to be highly motivated. What happens when I rebuke myself, while in scoffer mode? 

Anything that results is a self-accusation, highly critical. It tears down; it does not motivate. Unless I take strong action against it, it results in self-hate.  And since no one knows my weaknesses better than I do, no criticism is more bitter and cutting.

Look, let’s just try this for the next four hours, and see what it’s like: let’s not rebuke the scoffer living  in our skin. Let’s work with the wise person instead. Okay?

Peace be on your household.


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