Proverbs 4

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life...
Let your eyes look straight ahead fix your gaze directly before you.
Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm
Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

You want to close the gap between who you are and who God says you can be?

So much of the struggle we each have with living the way we want to live is the Path we are walking. Have you ever noticed that people trying to lose weight have a hard time at buffets? People trying to keep their eyes pure sure do struggle when they subscribe to cable.

I don't know about you, but I'm not strong enough to have Cheetos in the cabinet and not eventually eat them. Sure maybe a day or two, but as soon I get tired, angry, frustrated, or depressed the Cheetos are going to pay the price.

What it seems Solomon is saying doesn't really have to do with Cheetos. He is talking about the much more serious issue of evil. If you and I are going to overcome the temptations to be evil, then we must not walk down the path that leads to evil.

Keep your eyes pure. Make level paths for you feet. Do not swerve.

We know how to do this, we may just not want too.

Keep my eyes pure. Well figure out what your eyes are tempted to look at. Is it a woman you're not married too? Is it another woman's features or body that you wish yours looked more like? Is it a car you can't afford, a house, clothes, the corner office, or those really athletic kids your friends all seem to have?
Keep your eyes pure...because our eyes don't see reality they only see the surface or outside of things. Next time your eyes are wandering bounce them back to the incredible things God has done in your life. Make your eyes look for those in our world that are in need of Him, instead of focusing on what you feel is lacking in my life.

Make level paths. How do you complicate or manipulate the relationships you have? Be honest with people. Tell them the truth, use candor. Your path will be more level or true, if you tell the people around you the truth. It is much more difficult to hike around all the boulders of our mis-representations of our life and our own feelings. I believe we all suffer from a fear of rejection so we constantly look for ways to impress those around us. We tell lies...little white lies sometimes, but lies nonetheless. Do your closest friends know when you feel dead on the inside? If not you are a liar. Does your spouse know when you are frustrated or do you keep it deep inside to become a land mine later down the path?

Do not swerve. We all know deep down in our hearts that the ways of God are better than our ways. My problem is that I get impatient with God's timing and start to look at alternative paths and trying those for a mile or two to see if I know better than He does. Do not swerve. Many things in this life want our attention. The only thing worthy of my heart is the adventure God has for me- His Mission. Success, significance, and sizzle all distract me. (Sizzle is the noise bacon makes, it’s very distracting, and you get the point)

What are ways you can make your eyes pure, level your path, or avoid swerving?

Still Can't fix ourselves

This re-post has been edited from the original.

This lesson I'm learning about the inability to manage my sin is powerful.





It is confusing as well. Paul in Colossians 2 says human regulations have an appearance of wisdom "with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." 2:23


Does "self-imposed" mean I'm making myself worship or does it mean I worship myself? What do you think?


I have long understood this model of religion. I grew up in the Bible belt and the typical church wants it members to behave a certain way not be a certain kind of person. If you cuss, smoke, drink, fornicate, or run at church you may go straight to hell if Jesus comes back and catches you. No wonder we are leaving the church in droves after high school, what a happy message.

Think about it this way. Why do we need grace? Because we fall short of God's glory, right? Right. Well if I fall short of God's glory (which I do) then I don't just need grace once, I need it continually. Because the falling, it keeps happening.

Read the book Bo's Cafe, its a great story about how we can't fix ourselves.

http://www.boscafe.com/site/


Behavior modification does hold some value, yes I understand that. But we have to understand it is a tool not the goal. I have to learn this lesson over and over again. Remember if you could fix yourself then you wouldn't need Jesus and his work on the Cross.