Tiny Devotional for Monday, 09-18-2023

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Vanessa is back home!

Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,
But humility goes before honor.
Proverbs 18:12, NASB

Prescriptive, or descriptive? Correlation, or causation?

If it’s prescriptive, we conclude that the haughty heart PRODUCES destruction, and humility PRODUCES honor. That’s causation.

If it’s descriptive, then this verse sheds no light on the relationship between attitudes and end states, just that they are both seen together. That’s correlation.

Some people don’t seem to believe in causation. I once heard a man boast of the amount of alcohol, drugs, and violence in his life, and then say that his family was cursed. As far as he was concerned, his family’s outlaw behavior was just correlated (he didn’t use that word) with the graveyard and prisons. He seemed to think that bad stuff was going to happen to him anyway, so he might as well get drunk and stab his cousin. He saw himself as a helpless victim of bad luck.

When I was a new believer, I ascribed just about EVERYTHING to a direct act of God; I guess I thought that was what we were supposed to do. Not everybody was as extreme as I was in those early days; I couldn’t just say “I’m not going to church, because I overslept;” instead, I’d say “I think God wants me to stay here this morning.”

Note: eventually, I DID learn that I shouldn’t tell lies.

Here’s what I think is the wonderful promise in this verse: 
There are things that you and I can do that will have earthly and heavenly benefits.
Thank You, Lord, for that privilege.

Peace be on your household.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 06-21-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, the Fairmount Pattersons are Papa-sitting this morning! It is better to live in a corner of a roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Proverbs 21:9, NASB Today is the 21st of the month; so, Proverbs 21. I have written about verses 1-8;  it’s verse 9’s turn. Thus, my selection of this verse has NOTHING to do with my wife, mother, sisters, or daughters! All of them are intelligent, confident, and assertive; they are NOT contentious. ‘Contentious’ does NOT mean ‘has a different opinion’!  A man who has lived with a contentious woman gives the definition by example: I was 20 years old, and stupid (those might be the same thing).  I thought our marriage would work because she was beautiful, and I was, too. It didn’t take long before I realized I was wrong about that. Most of the time, it didn’t matter what I did; I couldn’t please her. We were married for 3 years,
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 08-20-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Piper doesn’t like her food. Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the Lord. Proverbs 20:10, NASB If this verse weren’t so important, I’d skip it, because I discovered it in a painful time. Others were involved, and their stories are not mine to tell. So, you get a parable: Stockman Bubba ran a cattle station, in partnership with his horse, Nancy. They worked hard together, and although they were not rich, they had achieved a degree of success. One day, a platypus stung Bubba, incapacitating him. Bubba tried to continue running the station, but after two years had passed, he realized it was time to retire. Nancy couldn’t adjust to this, and she left for life on her own. Three years later, Bubba realized Nancy was never coming back, and considered getting another horse. However, he was concerned that the other station owners would think bad
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 07-23-2023

Image
 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, reach for the sky. Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18, NASB Today’s verse is 18, but I included 17, because I THINK they are a couplet. I wrote about verse 17 last month, and will try not to repeat myself. Our senses describe the present, our memory describes the past; the future is described by our hopes and our fears. In this little verse, we are given one of the strongest foundations for peace: yes, you DO have a future, and it’s a good one. Under most circumstances, we take the future for granted. If you have ever been forced to doubt that a future exists, you know how chilling that is. ‘No future’ is MUCH worse than ‘bad future.’ This verse draws us back away from the abyss of nothingness, and back into reality: yes, you DO have a future.  (If that
Read more