His way is best

Keep it

"Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding" (Proverbs 23:23)

I read this verse in my time with the Lord this morning and decided to look up what each of those key words meant. The result was interesting...and challenging.

TRUTH - Actuality, a verified indisputable fact.

WISDOM- Knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action.

INSTRUCTION- A direction calling for compliance, an outline or manual of technical procedure.

UNDERSTANDING- The power to make experience intelligible by applying concepts and categories. An agreement of opinion or feeling; an adjustment of differences.

So to put it all together...

God wants us to know the TRUTH, what is actual and indisputable, about Him, about life, about relationships, about decisions, about everything!

And not only to know the truth, but to have WISDOM in order to know what we should do with what we know about the truth and to know how our knowledge of Him, etc., should change and affect our lives.

Which is where INSTRUCTION comes in. We are to have direction calling for compliance, an outline or manual of technical procedure. Certainly, we have God's Word which is a manual for our lives, but also, do we as christians make intentional, purposeful plans for which we can help to accomplish spiritual goals? (Side note- It is the Holy Spirit who ultimately brings us along and determines the speed with which we grow spiritually, but unless we are intentionally carving time out in our day for God, etc., our growth will indeed be hindered.)

And finally we are to have UNDERSTANDING- The power to make experience intelligible by applying concepts and categories. Learn the truth, have the wisdom to know what you should do with what you know and even come up with a battle plan for how to make it happen, but now go and apply it! It's an agreement of opinion or feeling; an adjustment of differences. Be willing to put into practice the changes that truth, wisdom and instruction have told you you need to make. Make it happen! God's Word says to buy these things and "sell it not."

Keep Truth, Wisdom, Instruction and Understanding. Keep it! Keep them! (And ask God for the strength to do so, because if you're like me, you're certainly going to need it!)

Stay in the Word

Stay in the Word.

Why?

Because it is one of our best defenses in a spiritual battle.

Ever felt confused? Ever felt weak? Ever felt too defeated to want to try again? Ever wondered what God was doing? Ever doubted? Ever struggled?

Yeah, me too.

And several recent struggles have led me to this conclusion; I must stay in the Word. Whenever I am out of it for any length of time, I forget the truths which I know to be true. I get overwhelmed with my own failures. I cannot see beyond my own defeats and I forget to recognize that Christ had the perfect faith. I doubt His goodness and I try to figure out what He is doing instead of learning about Who He is.

John 17:17 says - "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

I've realized that getting into His Word doesn't always mean that the struggle will immediately go away. Yet, I DO know that if I ever want answers to my questions, if I want victory, if I want to live the christian life to the fullest measure with which God intended for me to live it, then I must stay in the Word.

When I don't know what else to do, when my self-will and determination have waned, when my heart doubts, His Word is my defense for the battle. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

Charles Spurgeon, one of my favorite authors, said this, "Defeat awaits that man who forsakes the Word of the Lord" and "We are to take this sword that we may be able to stand and to withstand. If you want to stand, draw the sword and smite your doubts. How fiercely unbelief assails. Never let satan get you away from the solid ground of the Word of God. If he once gets you to think that the fact of Christ being the Savior of sinners can only be proved by what you see within yourself, he will plunge you into despair.

'It is written.' Stand upon it, and if the devil were fifty devils in one, he could not overcome you. On the other hand, if you leave 'It is written,' Satan knows more about reasoning than you do. He is far older, has studied mankind very thoroughly, and knows all our weak points. Therefore, the contest will be an unequal one. Do not argue with him but wave in his face the banner of God’s Word. Satan cannot endure the infallible truth, for it is death to the falsehood of which he is the father."

So my friends, along with Charles Spurgeon, can I encourage you? Stay in the Word!

From A Childs Point of View

- What exactly is marriage?

"Marriage is when you get to keep your girl and don't have to give her back to her parents."- Eric, AGE 6

- How does a person decide who to marry?

"My mother says to look for a man who is kind...that's what I'll do....I'll find somebody who's kinda tall and handsome." - Carolyn, AGE 8

- Concerning the proper age to get married-

"Eighty-four, because at that age you don't have to work anymore and can spend all your time loving each other." - Carolyn, AGE 8

"Once I'm done with kindergarten, I'm going to find me a wife." - Bert, AGE 5

- What do most people do on a date?

"On the first date, they just tell a bunch of lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date." - Martin, AGE 10

“Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.” Lynnette, AGE 8

- When is it ok to kiss someone?

“The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn’t want to mess with that.”
Curt, AGE 7

"You should never kiss a girl unless you have enough bucks to buy her a ring and her own VCR, 'cause she'll want to have videos of the wedding." Allen, AGE 10

Mikes Graduation

Yes, I know. He's tall.

=)

Proud Parents

Mike and my brother Jordan.

Mike and his sisters- Heather and Lindsey.

Us ;)

Excited to marry this guy on June 23rd!