Tag Archives: wisdom

Finish What You Start

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Finish What You Start

We’ve been talking about time management lately. A good time management strategy is being able to manage your time well enough to be able to actually finish what you start.

Sometimes I’m kind of bad at starting several small tasks and getting sidetracked which then causes me not to finish any of them. For example, I might set out to dust the living room. As I’m dusting I start straightening up and picking up items (thus I stop my dusting before I’m finished). I notice a couple of my son’s things that he’s left lying in the living room so I take them to his room. Then as I drop of the items in his room I see some dishes that he’s left in there. Next, I decide to take those dishes up to the kitchen.

Once I’m in the kitchen I see the sink full of dishes that need to be loaded into the dishwasher so obviously I have to start working on that! As I’m loading dishes I remember that need to send an email. I decide that I better go ahead and do that before I forget. So open my email and before I write my email I see several unopened emails that I decide to go ahead and check. I think you can see where I’m going here! 🙂 I’ve started several tasks but have unfinished dusting, straightening, dishes, and an email never sent.

It kind of reminds me of this funny video on procrastination and getting stuff done…

Spiritual laws of progression

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Prayer for Your Finances

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Prayer for your finances...

Prayer for Your Finances

For some, Christmas can be a time of excitement, fun, and generosity. Unfortunately though, for others it can be a time of worry and anxiety due to finances. Sometimes the end of the year, corresponding with Christmastime, comes with extra expenses. Then on top of that, purchasing gifts can add up…especially if you have numerous events like family celebrations, work parties, church events, Secret Santa gift exchanges, outreaches or charitable giving that requires some of our finances, etc. Sometimes it can be stressful figuring out where the money is going to come from for all of that.

The wise thing to do would be to budget for the end-of-year expenses and Christmas giving. It’s a good idea to allocate or set aside a little bit of money each week or each month for this purpose. Regrettably, many of us haven’t exercised this kind of wisdom (or unexpected events and expenses have prohibited us from doing so). Because of this, when we don’t use wisdom sometimes we have to pay the consequences of poor decision making. That being said though, God still cares about our finances. He cares about the details. Additionally, even when we mess up He still cares about helping us.

Several years ago, I learned a few strategies for praying over finances. With Christmastime being a stressful time for finances for many people, I thought this might be a good opportunity to share some of those strategies and a Prayer for Your Finances. These strategies and prayer work anytime though–they don’t just apply at Christmas!

Remind God of His promise provision

God is our provider. We can approach God boldly with His promise of provision. Philippians 4:19 promises us that God will supply all of our needs. Jesus also gives us an example to pray for our needs in the Lord’s Prayer. Moreover, one of God’s names is Jehovah Jireh, which means “the Lord will provide”. All throughout scripture you will see countless examples of the Lord’s provision. When praying over your finances, remind God (put Him in remembrance) of His promise of provision.

“Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.” Isaiah 43:26 (ESV)

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (KJV)

“Give us this day our daily bread” Matthew 6:11 (KJV)

“Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the LORD will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”” Genesis 22:13-14 (NLT)

“God is my helper! The Lord is the provider for my life.” Psalm 54:4 (GW)

Take a look at this hilarious short video clip of Joe McGee when he was at a point in his life where he was frustrated financially and decided to put God in remembrance of His promise of provision.

Pray for wisdom over your finances

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Proverbs 31…It’s Not Just For Women

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Men should possess the Proverbs 31 characteristics too. These same character traits this passage praises the Proverbs 31 woman for having are also desirable for men. They are not gender-specific. ALL people, men and women alike, should strive to have this type of character.

Proverbs 31…It’s Not Just For Women

Proverbs 31 is one of those chapters that I think a lot of women sometimes read and then feel deficient. It’s almost like we can never measure up to her. I mean, really, who can do and be proficient at ALL of the things that she does? Talk about a Renaissance Woman!

However, recently I had some different insights while reading Proverbs 31 in The Message translation. As I read through the verses about the Proverbs 31 woman, I jotted down her characteristics in my journal. It dawned on me that it’s not necessarily the activities that she does that matter, but the character and traits she possesses are what are truly important. That should be our primary takeaway from the reading. Thank goodness because I don’t think I’ll EVER be proficient at sewing!

In Proverbs 31, verses 10-31 form an alphabetic acrostic, used here as a type of Hebrew poem about a woman who exemplifies godly character and wisdom from A to Z. J.A. Motyer says, “In the common form of acrostic found in Old Testament Poetry, each line or stanza begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order. This literary form may have been intended as an aid to memory, but more likely it was a poetic way of saying that a total coverage of the subject was being offered — as we would say, ‘from A to Z.‘”[1] So in this case, the Proverbs 31 woman exemplifies godly traits and wisdom throughout and completely. She’s the full package.

Proverbs 31 is not just for women

In part of my recent study of the Proverbs 31 passages, I came across a really good article by Rachel Held Evans. In her post, she mentions that the “target audience” of Proverbs 31 is actually men. I did not know this! Rachel mentioned that she learned from a Jewish friend of hers that in the Jewish culture, it’s the men who memorize the passage, not the women.

In fact, the men actually sing or recite it to the women as a way of praising and blessing them! This special “Eshet Chayil” song is typically done each Friday night before the Sabbath or Shabbat meal.

Here is a video of a traditional Eschet Chayil song with the Hebrew lyrics and English translation shown:

I LOVE this English rendition by Ari Lesser as he sings to his wife:

I also realized these are NOT just characteristics that a woman should possess. Men should possess the Proverbs 31 characteristics too. These same character traits this passage praises the Proverbs 31 woman for having are also desirable for men. They are not gender-specific. ALL people, men and women alike, should strive to have this type of character. 

Men should possess the Proverbs 31 characteristics too. They are not gender-specific.

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Proverbs 31:10-31 in The Message Translation

Below is a look at my takeaways about character from the passages. I use the feminine pronouns “she” and “her” when describing her characteristics, but read through them keeping in mind that we should all endeavor to display this type of character in our lives. Continue reading →