Our Christian Duty

If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.  Proverbs, Chapter 25, verses 21-22.

The United States has been involved in trying to deal with the terrorist actions that took place on September 11, 2001.  When they were trying to find the terrorists, many were compassionate to the starving people of that country.  I heard that they sent food for approximately 6,000 people on a daily basis.

At first when I heard this, I was really frustrated.  I thought we are helping the enemy who tried to devastate our country through terrorist acts of violence.  Then I realized that I was being very self-centered and decided that it’s our Christian duty to take care of all those starving people.  Sometimes the human side of me sneaks in and undermines my Christian ethics.

Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.




This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections. 
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie

You Might Wonder What Pie Has to Do With the Bible

Hast thou found honey?  eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.  Proverbs, Chapter 25, verse 16.

I really like this because it hits home.  When I used to eat sweets, I would think a particular pie or other delicacy was desirable.  I didn’t think I would get it again for a long time, so I would “sleece” my way around the pie and end up eating almost the whole thing.

Now, if you’re wondering what a “sleece” is, it’s a word I made up to describe taking a little sliver of pie, cake, etc.  It tasted so good that I would take another and another until almost the whole thing was gone.  I would feel so guilty for eating that much, I would put my hand on the top crust of the pie and try to push it down so some of the filling would go out the sides.  I tried to make it look like there was more pie than there actually was.  I thought this would keep my family from knowing what I had done.  I used to eat things that were special treats to the point that I made my stomach sick.  I’m so fortunate that God has taken care of my compulsive overeating.

Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.




This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections. 
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie

God Has Advice for Children, As Well

Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.  Proverbs, Chapter 23, verse 22.

God doesn’t only have advice for parents in the Bible; He has advice for children, as well.  He wants children to listen to their parents.  We aren’t to resent our parents or ignore them when they get older when they aren’t as convenient to take care of.  I don’t think He’s saying we’ve done our bit to put our parents away in a nursing home somewhere as long as we pay the bills.  I don’t have the perfect answer but I’ve seen the elderly in nursing homes, starved for attention because they haven’t seen their children in months or years.

I admired the way my family pitched together to try to keep my grandfather at home where he felt comfortable as long as they possibly could.  My great-aunt would take him shopping for groceries.  My uncle would come mow his yard and clean around the house and my aunt would look after his legal issues that he was oblivious to.  My other uncle took care of his finances.  My mother would balance his checkbook, trying to locate the necessary paperwork.  Many family members were involved, some living closer and some far away.  Everyone helped in whichever capacity they felt able.  His aging presented a situation that seemed to pull the family together.

Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.




This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections. 
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie

Selling Out for the Opportunity to Be Popular

Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.  Proverbs, Chapter 23, verse 17.

I realize that as human beings we sometimes envy all the attention people get in the popular groups.  I have found myself thinking that if I were to wear certain clothes or behave in certain ways, then I would get all the same attention.  It really isn’t worth lowering our standards to lead that type of lifestyle.  I don’t want to be a “Sell-out Christian,” selling out my Salvation for the opportunity to be popular.

Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.




This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections. 
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie

For Times When More Serious Consequences Are Necessary

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.  Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.  Proverbs, Chapter 23, verses 13 and 14.

The Bible doesn’t mean it’s acceptable to beat your child when you’ve had a hard day at work or you’ve lost your temper.  I think this Bible verse is referring to them getting a branch and swatting their child’s bottom when they have made significant mistakes to warrant it.  I think this was done to motivate them to not make that severe of a mistake again.  (My parents used a paddle which used to have a rubber ball attached.  My uncle drew a “frownie face” on it, which worked as a deterrent for more serious infractions.  My parents didn’t do this in a fit of rage.  Time out and logical consequences seemed to work for most situations, but there are times when more serious consequences are necessary.)
I think of talk shows that have mothers and fathers as guests who can’t control their kids.  Their kids seem to control the adults and their household climate.  Their children are hateful and self-willed and bully other students at school.  The police are now holding the parents responsible for not controlling these children.  This Bible verse makes me think it’s better to reprimand the children when they are younger than to have to deal with the police later.
Of course, there are children who get into the wrong groups and get involved in drugs and other vices that change the child’s whole personality.  That’s why it’s vitally important that parents take an active role in their child’s life.  It can be difficult when parents work and the child has time to hang around with friends after school.  Raising our children by taking them to Sunday school and Church on a regular basis can prove to be beneficial.  It is better that children grow up with positive Christian values, rules and consequences.  This may give them a better sense of right and wrong that could keep them from being so vulnerable to negative influences.  It sure beats having to go to court to explain why your child is unruly.

Here are some related passages:
*The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.  Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.  Proverbs, Chapter 23, verses 24-25.

*Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.  Proverbs, Chapter 29, verse 17.

Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.




This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections. 
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie

Sometimes We Waste Our Time

Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.  Proverbs, Chapter 23, verse 9.

Sometimes we waste our time trying to explain our beliefs to people who just like to be contrary.  They could argue with us all day, on any issue.  We are just wasting our breath on people like this.  They aren’t going to be open to any of the things we have to tell them about our love for Jesus.
There are people from a particular religion that comes to my door to talk about God, but they don’t believe that Jesus is our Savior.  I could stand there all day and talk to them about how the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is Savior of all, but they won’t be open to listening.  As a Christian, it’s better for me not to debate my religion with people like that.
For one reason, these people may be more persuasive than we are and we may get confused.  That happened to me one time.  People from this religion were able to quote Bible verses to support the things they were saying, and I started wondering if they were right and I had misinterpreted things.

Later, I got my Bible and read the whole chapter that they had pulled these verses from.  That helped me realize that the verses they mentioned were really talking about a totally different issue.  Those adults pulled verses from the Bible out of context, making them sound like they supported their argument.  If I could get confused by trying to defend my beliefs, then it could possibly happen to you.  It’s easier to not get into a debate in the first place. 

Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.




This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections. 
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie

Some Cater to a Child's Every Wish

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  Proverbs, Chapter 22, verse 6.


If we take the time and are consistent in raising our children with rules and appropriate consequences, our children will be the better for it, even in their adult lives.  For one thing, it helps them have parenting skills when they are raising their own children.  
As a teacher, I’ve seen the product of the opposite.  There was a period of time, when some parents seemed to think that it was important to cater to a child’s every wish and didn’t have any consequences for breaking rules.  When some of those kids grew up, they didn’t know how to raise their own children or how to appropriately discipline them, because those skills were never really modeled for them as they grew up.


Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.




This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections. 
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie

You Can't Fool God!

It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry.  Proverbs, Chapter 20, verse 25.

I can’t explain what this passage actually means, only how this relates to me.
I’m not supposed to have sugar because Hypoglycemia runs in my family.  It also makes me cranky with those I care about.  Anyway, there have been times when someone brought a treat into the Teacher’s Lounge to share.  I knew it probably had too much sugar in it.  I tried to block it out of my mind and eat it as fast as I could.  Then I would say something like, “Oh, that was really good.  I bet it had sugar in it and I shouldn’t have eaten it.”
I knew full-well it had too much sugar in it to begin with, trying to fool the people sitting around me.  I may have fooled the people that I work with, but you can’t fool God!
He and I both knew I was aware of what I was doing all along.  Well, I think this Bible verse is saying something similar.  You can’t fool God by doing something that’s against His rules, and then play innocent after the fact, when you really knew you shouldn’t have done it.

Here is a related passage:

*For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me.  Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.  Isaiah, Chapter 47, verse 10.

Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.




This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections. 
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie

Those Who Should Not Get a Chance to Return

A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.  Proverbs, Chapter 19:19.

This reminds me of how the police will go to the house of a man beating his wife and just give him a warning.  That really doesn’t do much.  He’s going to keep beating her, if not that time, some other time when the stress gets to be too much for him. 

It also, reminds me of how the court system lets rapists, killers and child molesters out into the public after they have served some time, only to find out that the person raped, killed or molested someone else.  A person who could have been saved, if the system had not let that rapist, killer or molester back out.


Because this is an example of how I’ve applied this Bible passage to my life, it doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passage.




This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please share your connections. 
Please click on comments below to share your suggestions. Thanks! Debbie