Day of Praise

Mo, Jan 14, "Day of Praise"

A few verses from Proverbs 11:
2 - "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."
11 - "Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed."
17 - "Those who are kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves."
24 - "One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty."
25 - "A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." - Proverbs 11:2,11,17,24,25

I've got so many stories from this weekend, I can't make up my mind. Sorry. It's just as well because one of this weekend's pastoral ministry stories led me to Proverbs 11. And Proverbs 11 has five very practIcal ways for us to live with faith in God's grace on this Monday morning:

1 - Be humble. In Proverbs 11:2, God promises that the humble will get wisdom, and who doesn't need wisdom on Monday?
2 - Speak a blessing on your city. In Proverbs 11:11, God promises that a word of blessing from a believer onto a city will lift up that city, and who doesn't want to live in a city that's growing closer to God?
3 - Be kind. In Proverbs 11:17, God promises that the one who is kind to another actually also benefits oneself, and who doesn't want more divine benefits?
4 - Give freely. In Proverbs 11:24, God promises that, well, you can't outgive God. Period!
5 - Be refreshing. In Proverbs 11:25, God promises that "whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." I'm not sure how to describe "refreshing" succinctly, so let's try this: we all know someone who's refreshing; act like them, and the same will come back to you. So says God, so I say let's take it to the bank. Ahhh, refreshing!

So, come what may, there's your formula for a happy Monday. May God's blessings rain abundantly on you, your peeps, and your city!

Praise God!




Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson