Daily Devotional
               Betty Miller shares her daily devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible.   

  The Wisdom of God

Verses for the Day:

Proverbs 19:22(KJV):
22 The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.

Proverbs 19:22(AMP):
22 That which is desired in man is loyalty and kindness, and his glory and delight are his giving, but a poor man is better than a liar.

Thoughts for the Day:

This verse tells us what men expect of other men, and that God considers our character more important to Him than our circumstances.  It tells us that we, as men, desire that other men would be kind and loyal to us.  No one wants to be treated in a wrong manner by others. We all like to be treated kindly and fairly.  The way that we can attain this kind of treatment is for us to give others this kind of treatment, as the Bible tells us what we sow, we shall reap.  If we are receiving harsh treatment from anyone, the way to overcome this kind of treatment is to sow good things back to that person no matter what wrongs they have done to us. If we cannot sow actual deeds to them, we can sow kind prayers and thoughts toward them. It is not possible for us to do this in our own selves, as we must have the power of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome evil with good. However, when we choose to pursue this path, the Lord will move on the hearts of others to respond to us differently. 

Galatians 6:7-10
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Romans 12:21: "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

We are also commanded of Jesus, our Lord, to love one another and do unto others as we would have them to unto us.

Luke 7:31-34:
31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

If we are children of the Lord on High, then we must act like Him and reflect His nature in our dealings with others. He then will deal with our enemies.   We do not have to.  God is interested in changing our natures and character to reflect His.  The circumstances we go through, give Him the opportunity to do this.   When we choose to act like our Lord, then He empowers and changes us in each negative circumstance we face, so that we can overcome in it and become more like Him.

The last half of this scripture in Proverbs states that "a poor man is better than than a liar." This just confirms that the Lord is more interested in our character changing, than our circumstances changing.   He can change our circumstances in a moment of time, but it takes longer for our character to change. This scripture says it is better to be poor (have trying circumstances) than to be a liar (have a bad character). We must all ask God for the grace to change the things in our nature that are not like Him.

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, I am thankful for Your love and patience toward me.  Help me to extend that same love and patience to others.  Help me to be a kind and loyal person in all of my circumstances. Open my eyes to see my own faults so that I might present them to You for the needed changes.  Forgive me for wrong attitudes and change my heart to be like Yours.  I release all those who have caused me pain and trouble to Your care.   Be merciful to them and help them to change also.  Lord, give us all Your grace and mercy in this hour that there is so much evil in the world.  I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.