LOCKET VERSES       WEEK 36

Perhaps you are more familiar with the most famous "commit" verse, Psalm 37:5: Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  The person of Psalm 37, is committing, or entrusting into God’s care, their way, or their life path.  They are trusting Him totally with every aspect of life.  And the promise is sure: He shall bring it to pass.  God will bring His will and way to pass in the life of a committed Christian.  Now the focus narrows to a specific area of life: our works.  Think of how that hits home to everyone of us in our relationship to the Lord.  It is often said that there are only two kinds of religions: the one based upon faith alone and the others based upon works.  All over the world there are people who are trying to please God with their works in hopes of earning salvation.  They will always fall short, because the only truly righteous work that was ever done, was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.  After salvation, we also need to be reminded of the purpose and motivation for our works.  All that we do should be done to bring glory to God!  If we would dare to think that we could continue to "earn" salvation or "maintain" salvation by our works, we are sorely mistaken.  The work of salvation is all of God.  Our works, even after we are saved, could never earn us entrance into Heaven.  But they can PLEASE God.  Think of your children.  They are yours by birth, not because they "earned it."  The good works they do towards you, please your heart and give you joy.  They add to their maturity and develop positive characteristics in the child.  But they do not change the relationship.  Even death can not sever what life began!  So it is true in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  If our works are indeed going to please Him and bring glory to His name, then we must commit them to the Lord.  Only when we are under the Holy Spirit’s control can our works be the type that will accomplish what God desires.  The wonderful plan of God brings a marvelous "side effect" when we commit our works to Him: our thoughts are established.  Have you ever felt like your mind was traveling in circles and you just could not get your thoughts together?  God has the cure.  Give Him your works.  The word established gives the idea of being freshly planted, immovable, and completely in focus!  Our thoughts will be established in the Lord, we will be that Christian who can not be swayed and is able to understand and accomplish more in life of value.  When Satan comes and tries to disrupt our thoughts and confuse us, we will not be tricked.  What a wonderful blessing!  Think of your life and the things you do everyday.  Is there any work that you have not given to the Lord, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.  Is it your housework?  Your mothering?  Your hobby?  Whatever it is, give it to the Lord today.  He will not only bless it, but allow you to center your thoughts upon Him in your work.  If anything is done just for self, it will cause our thoughts to wander from the Lord.  If anything is done just for the world, it will distract us from the blessings that could be ours.  Your works may be based on good intentions, but unless they are committed to the Lord, they cannot be all they should.  In committing our works, we need to use prayer and discernment in reviewing each work.  Make certain that work is desirable to the Lord and of His choosing.  You may be surprised which ones He will urge you to put aside, and which He will ask you to demonstrate more often.  In committing our lives, we never lose anything of value, we only gain more than we could ever have imagined!  Pause today and do that heart examination, give your works to God.

Throughout the Scriptures we are told of God’s desire towards us regarding our tempers.  It seems we do not always want to listen!  When we don’t listen to God, we certainly do not have great understanding!  By observation, we know it to be true that the person who cannot control their temper is not one whom we usually respect for wisdom.  In my own life, I know that when I quickly become angry that I am usually the loser!  Perhaps I react so quickly that I have not gotten the entire story, I am not operating with all the facts.  What looked like a bad situation, may not be that way at all.  Think back on the times when you have been embarrassed after losing your temper and then realizing you had not listened long enough to understand the true situation.  Also, quick anger breeds the same response in others.  The number of arguments that are caused because of this reaction is astounding.  Often the other person had not even intended for there to be an argument, but a hasty reaction and then a defensive response caused one.  How little wisdom we demonstrate when we react too quickly in anger!  It is interesting that we can never react too quickly in kindness or compassion.  It is only the negative responses that Satan can twist for his own devises.  A hasty response means that we not acting in self control, and could mean that we are behaving under the influence of evil control!  Proverbs 16:32 tells us: He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.  God always looks at the inward responses of the heart rather than outward appearances.  He will reward the person who shows self control with the blessings of peace and joy.  In the important list in II Peter 1, dealing with godly characteristics that need to be developed in our lives, we find temperance and patience, both components of self control: ...giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness...  When we react quickly in anger, we are showing a proud self spirit, which is always displeasing to the Lord: Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Ecclesiastes 7:8  In your patience possess ye your souls. Luke 21:19  The end of our verse for today states the alarming difference between the person who is slow to anger and he who is not: ...but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. Proverbs 14:29b  The next time that you are tempted to be quick in anger, remember what you will be exhibiting: folly.  That word is very closely related to the word fool.  I would rather be a woman of great understanding than a fool.  How pleasing it is to have a friend who is "easily entreated," one of the characteristics of real love.  Lord, next time I am confronted with a situation where I could easily give way to a quick temper, help me to pause in my spirit and turn the situation over to You.  Lord, help me to be one who is easily entreated to listen and then give a correct heart response.  I know that quick anger is almost always a demonstration of my own self pride.  Lord, I want to react in such a way that will make You proud of me.  Develop in me a patient and calm spirit, so that I can learn to give You control of my emotions.  When You have control, Lord, I know that instead of strife, there will be peace and victory.  If others confront me, even to provoke me to anger, help me to remember that often they have a deep heart need that is crying out for someone to listen and understand.  Help me to be slow to wrath so that the seeds of compassion can take root and bear fruit in my life and in the lives of others.  Remind me of my prayer next time I feel the anger rising.  Teach me, and control me, for Your honor and glory.

Not very many verses in the Bible contain two exclamation points!  We have studied verses before that talked of the exceeding value of God’s riches as opposed to earthly wealth, and here is another one!  Wisdom and understanding can not even be compared to gold and silver.  In the Old West, there were many prospectors who spent all their lives looking for gold and silver yet never found anything.  Not only did they not stumble across a mine that would have given them riches in the bank, but in the search they lost things of even greater value.  Have you ever seen a prospector portrayed as having a wife and family with him?  Was he able to develop friendships and participate in building up a local church assembly?  No, he is always shown as being a loner and dying that way.  The love of gold and silver had clouded his judgment.  The old movie classic, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, was based upon this fact.  In the movie, the men that discovered gold together became totally distrustful of each other.  Instead of sharing the treasure and finding happiness in their gain, they turned on one another.  In the end, one was dead, the gold dust was dropped to the ground, and it was blown away in a wind storm.  Instead of developing life long friendships and rejoicing together in victory, they lost all sense of judgment because of the lust for gold.  And in doing so, they lost even that which they had thought would bring success.  If our priorities are wrong, the Lord will also blow away that which is of no eternal value: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Matthew 3:12  Gold and silver not only can be lost to us, but they can cause a change in our hearts if our motivations are not godly.  It IS better to get wisdom and understanding, which can only enrich us with eternal values.  The wisdom of God will even give us the ability to handle earthly riches if they come our way.  The next time Satan tempts you to be jealous, envious, covetous or just depressed as you compare your physical riches to others in the world, take stock of your spiritual riches.  Available to you at any moment of the day or night are all the rich treasures of wisdom and knowledge hid in Christ Jesus the Lord.  It will not take a week of mountain climbing through rough and dangerous terrain, to find the riches.  You can go all alone to your closet of prayer and God will reveal His wisdom to you.  Coming down the mountain side will not be fret with distress, but filled with peace, because you will bring a little of Heaven to life below.  It is better to be rich in Christ than to own all the glittery palaces of earth!

This is another verse that I have underlined and starred in my Bible.  The principles found in this verse are vital to our success.  No matter how much talent we may possess, or what wonderful opportunities are given to us, unless we know how to handle a matter wisely, we will fail.  The key word chosen for the cross references to this verse, found in the marginal notes of my Bible, is discretion: the ability to calmly and wisely choose a course of action or use the proper conversation; a quality that weighs all the evidence and possibility of outcome for the glory of the Lord.  Handling a matter wisely will always involve a great deal of prayer.  It may also result in giving up some things in order to gain others, if those to be gained are of the greatest spiritual value.  Trusting in the Lord and making wise decisions always goes hand in hand.  Without trust, we will lean to our own understanding, instead of gaining the Lord’s wisdom.  Without trust, our decisions will either be hasty or delayed out of fear of the outcome.  Trust will dictate our actions and our speech.  It will establish our minds and enable us to think clearly in the face of important life decisions that we must make.  The Scriptures promise: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee, because he trusteth in thee. Jeremiah 17:7  Every time that I have seen a Christian handle an important life decision in the wrong way, it was because of two things: lack of trust in the Lord and lack of knowledge of His Word.  I can remember a particular instance when a couple was counseled with four direct commands of Scripture, but refused to obey them in relationship to their decision.  Before the pastor came, they had already made up their minds on the course of action to be taken.  All the advise they had received had been of the world.  Someone had even cautioned them that the Bible did say to take a different course of action, but this was modern day life and that the biblical commands no longer applied.  No matter what was shared from the Scripture, their minds were already made up.  In truth, what they were saying was: "I don’t trust the Lord in this area of life."  The decision was made, but it was not handled wisely.  The only true wisdom comes from the Lord.  Any time that we have a decision to make, a matter to be handled, we need to search the Word of God for His directives.  A good concordance or reference guide for our Bible can greatly help in this matter.  Look up all the verses that relate to your situation, write them down and study them.  A pattern should emerge.  Many times looking at the list of verses will bring an understanding of the Lord’s will in the course of action.  As the understanding is gained, pause and personalize the verses in prayer.  Choose at least one or two key verses and commit them to memory.  Ask for the Lord’s strength to have the courage to step out in informed faith and to perform His will.  Don’t wait until you have a crisis situation confronting you, use this principle in the decisions of everyday.  One of the graces of a Christian woman is discretion.  The heart of her husband should be able to trust her judgment implicitly.  God wants to teach each one of His children to handle matters wisely.  When we learn that lesson, we will have found a good thing.  The more times we make wise decisions, the easier it will be to handle the next matter.  We will become disciplined and practiced in doing the will of the Lord.  Trust is more than saying you believe God will take you to Heaven one day.  It involves entrusting Him with every aspect of your life.  Have you thought something was too hard for the Lord?  Have you been relying on worldly wisdom in a certain area, instead of God’s leading?  Then the decision will not be wise.  Let God show you how to handle a matter wisely today, remembering that He holds you responsible to act on your knowledge of His will and trust Him enough to perform it.  David told his son Solomon, to know God’s will and then to "do it."  I once defined the word "do" as: Determined Obedience.  Determine to obey, gain the knowledge of His Word and then step out on faith.  Your decision will always be wise, and you will always gain His good for your life.  Satan will try to dissuade you and tell you it can not work, but God is the mighty victor!  Trust Him today.  Gain the grace of discretion in your life.

This verse is probably familiar to all of us.  We have heard it many times.  But the question is, how often have we stopped to think of how it applies to our lives?  Have we made it personal.  If I am to be a true Christian friend, then I must make up my mind to be a person who will love at all times.  In dealing with teenagers, as a Youth Pastor’s wife, I had to deal with this often.  One of the most common questions a teen asked was whether or not to tell on a friend if they were involved with something that was harmful to them.  The question they needed to ask themselves was: "Do I really love my friend."  Love will always dictate our actions.  Love will cause us to speak the truth to and about our friend.  Love will cause us to pray for them, to protect them properly and to stand beside them, no matter what.  Yes, love for the teenager, may involve some hard decisions of gaining help for a friend and telling them "like it is."  But a real friend is like that.  Two of the best friends I have ever had are my husband and my friend, Linda.  I know that each of them would stand beside me no matter what.  Once I was very ill from withdrawal of a powerful medication.  Even though I had a hard battle to fight to gain the victory, I did not have to fight it alone.  God had given me those two friends to be there for me.  For two weeks, they gave up every personal pleasure or comfort to be with me.  Whenever I needed them, they were there.  It did not matter that I was ill, or my makeup was not on.  It did not matter that I was having a hard time and that others did not understand.  They loved me.  They were my friends.  I knew I had the Lord with me, as my Comfort and Guide, but He in all His wisdom, also knew that I needed earthly friends to stand with me.  I know that I can tell Jesus alone about all my trials, but what a comfort to know that He has given me earthly friends that I can share my troubles and joys with.  Linda and I used to go to a deserted lighthouse by the sea shore about once a month.  There in the quietness of that place, we shared together our thoughts, burdens and plans.  Then we committed them to the Lord in prayer.  Sometimes we would stay all day.  What a tremendous blessing that was.  What love it involved for each other and for the Lord!  Is there a friend that God has brought into your life that needs your love today.  Pray about it for a moment, I am certain God will bring them to mind.  No matter what is happening in their life, God has chosen you for a special ministry, the ministry of brotherly love.  In the list in II Peter 1 of godly characteristics, verse seven states: And [add] to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (love).  In the list of growth for our life, brotherly and sisterly friendship and care comes after godliness.  What a wonderful goal.  I was an only child.  For years I thought about the joy it would be to have a brother or sister.  I was always surprised when someone I knew did not seem to get along with their own siblings.  It was such a precious relationship in my eyes.  I even told my husband-to-be, that I would not have just one child, that I wanted our children to have the pleasure of having a brother or sister.  After my first child was born, I began to pray for a brother for him.  I was not at all surprised when that brother was born two years later.  I had asked the Lord for him, to be that brother born for adversity and friendship for my first son.  To each other they have always been just that.  I once heard a preacher say that this verse means that brothers are always trouble.  I do not agree (!!!)  I believe it means just what it says, that a brother or sister is given to us to stand by us in the times of deepest trial.  What a blessing it is from the Lord when we have someone that completely understands us and loves us unconditionally.  It is like that in families.  And it should be like that in our Christian family.  We should be able to be the brother or sister to others in Christ that would bespeak the truth of this verse.  We should be willing to stand by our Christian brethren in trials and adversity.  We should not feel uncomfortable in letting others know we will love them, no matter what.  Families are like that, especially the family of God.

While one of my sons was in college, he called home one day, very encouraged that he had done well in his second semester of Physics, after doing poorly in Physics I.  I asked him what he thought the difference was and, without hesitation, he answered, "The teacher."  The same subject, taught at a higher level, was more understandable to him because of the manner in which the second teacher imparted learning to his students.  Each one of us in our lives is called to be a teacher of important truths and life values, especially to our children.  We want them to be "increased in learning" in these important areas, and part of that process resides with us as the teacher.  Our verse for today contains a very important hint for success: our lips must be sweet!  If the way that we speak is easy to be listened to and sweet as honey to someone’s soul, they will be more likely to want to take that teaching to heart.  I can remember teachers in school whose tone of voice and manner of speech told my heart that they really cared for me and the other students.  The immediate response on my part was to want to please them more, to do better in my studies, even to excel.  I can also remember others, especially some preachers, who were always so stern and harsh in their manner of speech, that my heart began to build invisible walls of defense to protect myself.  The same material could have been taught, but I was not as receptive to the teaching, and my learning did not increase.  As parents, we must be very cautious in this area.  When something is of great importance and our spiritual warning lights are going off as we view the need of our child to learn an important lesson, we must be careful not to develop a "drill sergeant’s voice."  The taste will be bitter to the listeners and the walls of defense will go up.  I am certain that you have seen a child stiffen their back and close their minds when they are approached in too strong a manner.  Then someone else will come along and tell them to do the same thing, but in a kind but firm voice, and the child will respond correctly.  The sweetness of the lips had increased learning.  This is not always an easy lesson to put into practice.  I usually say that I am a "compulsive mother," meaning that every instinct inside of me tends towards mothering.  God made me that way.  But I have to make certain that I do not become overly stern and directive, but kind and consistent, in my manner of instruction.  This does not mean that we become "wishy-washy."  God’s Word is often called sweet as honey and the honeycomb, but it does not lose its power or convictions on sin and judgment.  No, its sweetness is in the fact that it is perfect, nourishing and correct.  We can never develop a bitter after taste when we ingest it and take it into our lives.  So it should be with our manner of speech and instruction.  It should be sweet and inviting to the listener.  A bear will do just about anything to get to the honey tree and lap up all the honey.  We should have the kind of relationship with our children that they will desire to come to us for learning and advice, and "lap" it up, as they joyfully take it into their life store of knowledge and discernment.  The first part of the verse for today says that the wise in heart shall be called prudent.  When we use God’s wisdom, He will help our actions to be prudent, meaning: "Judicious and cautious in managing practical affairs; circumspect... shrewd in planning for the future."  For women, these are all important qualities.  Prudence will help us to act, not just for the moment, but with eternity’s values in view.  The two parts of the verse go together perfectly.  If we are interested in imparting important lessons to our children, sharing things of value with our husband, friends and others, we will be thinking of more than immediate responses, we will be considering life changing values.  Years ago the humanists advised mothers not to use discipline, but just to "redirect" a child when he was doing inappropriate behavior.  It might have solved the immediate problem for the mother, but taught nothing of value to the child.  The lessons we are to teach are to bring direction and desire for sweetness in the lives of those who are given as our "pupils."  This takes more work and more thought and more prayer, for we are dealing with eternal values in the lives of others.  We need godly prudence as mothers and as Christian women.  Prudence will require diligence and patience, but it will be worth it all.

The term hoary head refers to the gray hair of age.  Our verse says that when our hair turns gray, it is a crown of glory if we are found to be in the way of righteousness!  What an important little word if is.  The verse does not say that all people are to be seen as having a crown of glory, just because they are older.  "Older and wiser" is not always a true statement.  Many times it is "older and crankier," or "older and more set in their ways."  If a person persists in resisting the gospel and the admonitions to righteousness into their mature years, they will not have the type of life or advice that would denote them as befitting the royalty of God, wearing Heavenly crowns.  God’s princes on earth were supposed to be ones that would be able to rule in a just manner, make wise decisions for their subjects and give compassionate council.  In our families and churches, the older people are supposed to be the ones that we can rely on to give wise council.  They are to "wear the crowns of glory" given by the Lord in reward for following the way of righteousness.  My husband and I have also found that the percentage of elderly Christian people who are senile is much less than the general population, unless it is caused by disease.  It is as if God has preserved their minds.  Of course, not all gray haired people are elderly!  That is a comfort to me, as the gray hairs started to show amongst the brown on my head about age 42.  I certainly do not consider myself elderly, but the emergence of the gray hairs should cause me to reflect on my life.  Am I being the example I should be to those in my family and church who are younger?  Will I meet the qualification of being someone they can look up to in my conduct and manner of life?  Will the advice I give be seasoned with more salt of grace and maturity than it was when I was 30?  Am I following in the way of righteousness with such a clear shining light, that others can follow after me on that path, and their way be made easier to tread?  Will God grant me a crown of glory in my older days, because I have pleased Him?  God gives to each one of us important responsibilities at each stage of our life.  And for each stage, He gives us sign posts.  As we pass from childhood to early maturity, He gives the sign posts of physical development, and, with it, increased responsibility for self control and Godward activity.  With young adulthood, comes the sign posts of family and career beginnings with their added responsibilities.  With middle age comes grandchildren, added maturity and gray hair.  In America, we are so often told to hide our age, to color our hair, have cosmetic surgery, resist aging.  But God tells us to accept it with rejoicing, as a sign of His crowning us with glory!  With the maturity comes great responsibilities.  I have seen people think that they can drop out of life’s responsibilities because of age.  Many are the stories of middle aged men doing foolish things to try to prove that they are still young; of women going into depression at the sign of the first gray hair.  How abhorrent those reactions must be to the Wise God and our Savior who is seen in Revelation as One whose head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow... (Revelation 1.14)  He is certainly One who is crowned with glory and honor!  Oh to be like Thee, Blessed Redeemer!