Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 4:20-27.

“20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your sight;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
26 Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.
27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.”    Proverbs 4:20-27.

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“…  Incline your ear to my sayings.  …  Keep them in the midst of your heart.”  Verses 20-21.

“22 For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.”  Verses 22-23.

Do we incline our ear to TV or internet or cell phone?

Or, do we incline our ear to God’s Word, the Bible?

Do we fill our heart with entertainment, news, and gossip?

Or, do we fill our heart with God’s words?

“You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good?  For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.  The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good;  and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”  Matthew 12:34-35.

But, there is hope!

““For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”  Hebrews 8:10.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 3:27-35.  Please excuse the brevity and unpolished look of this devotion.  I am on a 3 day vacation in Orlando and am using a laptop computer which is very different than the desktop computer that I almost always use.

“27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in your power to do it.
28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.
29 Do not devise harm against your neighbor,
While he lives securely beside you.
30 Do not contend with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.
31 Do not envy a man of violence
And do not choose any of his ways.
32 For the devious are an abomination to the Lord;
But He is intimate with the upright.
33 The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
34 Though He scoffs at the scoffers,
Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.
35 The wise will inherit honor,
But fools display dishonor.”  Proverbs 3:27-35.

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“27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
When it is in your power to do it.
28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.”  Verses 27-28.

I originally intended on not writing this devotion.  I had good excuses.  I am on vacation.  I do not have my own computer to produce it.  I can not produce as long or polished devotion as I normally produce.

But then I meditated on the Scripture above, and I immediately thought:  “I can still do good to my readers to whom it is due.  I should not say to them:  “Come back on Monday for a devotion.”  I have a devotion for them today.”

We all face difficulties which make it more difficult to do the good to others.  But we still can do the good to others to whom it is due.  We should do that good to others now and not make them wait.  Through God’s grace we can and should do it.

“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.” Galatians 6:10.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 3:9-26.

“9 Honor the Lord from your wealth
And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord
Or loathe His reproof,
12 For whom the Lord loves He reproves,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

13 How blessed is the man who finds wisdom
And the man who gains understanding.
14 For her profit is better than the profit of silver
And her gain better than fine gold.
15 She is more precious than jewels;
And nothing you desire compares with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways
And all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who hold her fast.
19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth,
By understanding He established the heavens.
20 By His knowledge the deeps were broken up
And the skies drip with dew.
21 My son, let them not vanish from your sight;
Keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 So they will be life to your soul
And adornment to your neck.
23 Then you will walk in your way securely
And your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;
26 For the Lord will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.”  Proverbs 3:9-26.

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Other doctrine is content to rest on its feelings of what is wise.

But. Reformed Doctrine wakes up in the middle of night to read God’s Word.

Reformed Doctrine starts the day to meditate and write on God’s Word.

Reformed Doctrine eagerly seeks that wisdom and understanding.

“2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”  Psalm 1:2-3.

“15 She (Wisdom) is more precious than jewels;
And nothing you desire compares with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
In her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways
And all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who hold her fast.”  Verses 15-18.

“18 “Riches and honor are with me (Wisdom),
Enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 “My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold,
And my yield better than choicest silver.
20 “I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
21 To endow those who love me with wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.”  Proverbs 6:18-21.

“21 My son, let them not vanish from your sight;
Keep sound wisdom and discretion,
22 So they will be life to your soul
And adornment to your neck.
23 Then you will walk in your way securely
And your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;
26 For the Lord will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.”  Verses 21-26.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 2:10-22.

“10 For wisdom will enter your heart
And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;
11 Discretion will guard you,
Understanding will watch over you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things;
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who delight in doing evil
And rejoice in the perversity of evil;
15 Whose paths are crooked,
And who are devious in their ways;
16 To deliver you from the strange woman,
From the adulteress who flatters with her words;
17 That leaves the companion of her youth
And forgets the covenant of her God;
18 For her house sinks down to death
And her tracks lead to the dead;
19 None who go to her return again,
Nor do they reach the paths of life.
20 So you will walk in the way of good men
And keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land
And the blameless will remain in it;
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land
And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.”  Proverbs 2:10-22.

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“11 Discretion will guard you,
Understanding will watch over you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil, …”  Verses 11-12.

“5 Acquire wisdom!  Acquire understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 “Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.”  Proverbs 4:5-6.

“How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.
2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
Who seek Him with all their heart.
3 They also do no unrighteousness;
They walk in His ways.”  Psalm 119:1-3.

“Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:24-26.

Christ is our wisdom.  “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, …”  1 Corinthians 1:30.

“… our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Corinthians 1:8.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  …”  Ephesians 1:3-4.

“Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing;  but that she would be holy and blameless.”  Ephesians 5:25-27.

“… He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—”  Colossians 1:22.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever.  Amen.”  Jude 24-25.

Today’s devotion comes from Proverbs 2:1-9.

“My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
3 For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will discern the fear of the Lord
And discover the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 Guarding the paths of justice,
And He preserves the way of His godly ones.
9 Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.”   Proverbs 2:1-9.

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“5 A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
6 To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles.”  Proverbs 1:5-6.T

Today’s Scripture is like a riddle in the sense of the foregoing Proverbs 1:6.

One of the definitions of a riddle is “something or someone difficult to understand”.  Merriam-Webster Dictionary –  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riddle

On the one hand, it is true that wisdom is valuable as silver or hidden treasure, worthy of diligent search.  Verse 4.

On the other hand, it is also true that the LORD gives wisdom, even stores up wisdom for the upright.  Verses 6-7.

Other doctrine may work hard for wisdom.  Other doctrine may have zeal.  Other doctrine may search the Scriptures as if searching for silver or hidden treasure.  But, other doctrine fails to come to Christ.

“Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;  but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth;  for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life;  it is these that testify about Me;  and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”  John 5:39-40.

But, Reformed Doctrine recognizes and teaches what God has done for us, including what Christ has done for us, from “Unconditional Election” to “Limited Atonement” to “Irresistible Grace” to “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

“… He preserves the way of His godly ones.”  Verse 8.

Our treasure is Christ.  Our wisdom is Christ.

“… Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  Colossians 2:2-3.

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 1:30-31.