Wednesday, May 13, 2009

DAY 31

God Bless You People of God

Today we end our journey together and continue our journey with the lord. I pray that you have been blessed. I pray that you have learned the value of devotion a portion of your day to God. I pray the truth of God's word has penetrated hardened hearts and negligent minds. I pray that wisdom is to be desired in all of our lives

Reminder: Finish reading the proverbs

Focus Text

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Reflection: I leave you with some thoughts about superficial values. Our Focus Text says that charm and beauty are not supposed to be objects of admiration. What a thought. How often do we make charm King and beauty the queen. A person has to be beautiful before we will look their way. Charm makes us smile therefore we find it pleasant for purposes of entertainment. Beauty is fine and charm is entertaining but they are superficial. They provide temporary forms of pleasure to communication and vision. They don't however ever imply permanent value. They should not be the main reasons for developing relationships

The truth is that external beauty fades away.....I will say it again...beauty, especially outside beauty, begins to fade and sag as the years go by. That is what the scripture means when it says beauty is fleeting so...let me leave you with this

Fearing the lord is better than superficial characteristics. Fearing the lord enhances a persons image like you would never believe. A beautiful person who does not fear God is destined for trouble. A handsome man with excellent charm but no Jesus will lead one into sin. A beautiful woman without a reverence for God will yield unto temptation.Value the fear of the lord over other things that your actions might undergo God's screening process. We should fear being out of God's will because distance from God is distance from destiny. We should fear not doing what Gods wants us to do. We should not be hell-bent on grace...so much that we take advantage of the goodness of God. We should know that in an instant God can do what God chooses. Let us move fearfully and wonderfully toward the goal God has set for our lives.This is the wise thing to do. Be not deceived by charm, be not infatuated with beauty, but fall in love with the fear of the lord.

be Blessed

-- Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. he is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 3:13-15Minister Charles DorseyYouth PastorChoir DirectorChrist Our Redeemer AME Church46 Maxwell Irvine, CA 92618949-955-0014charles.dorsey@gmail.com

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

DAY 30

God Bless You People Of God

We are near the end of the journey or should i say the beginning.
God has been so good and i hope that we have all developed a habit of getting in our word daily.

Tomorrow will be our last formal day of study together. Spread the word about what God has done for you

Reminder: Read Proverb 30

Focus Text:


7 "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:

8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

Reflection: The danger of being blessed. So many of us pray for God to bless us without an idea of what we are praying for. We ask God to grant us all the desires of our hearts, even materials ones that we might dwell in our blessings and happiness. Well there is some danger that comes along with being blessed. It seems that the more you have the more you are tempted not to have. I am not sure if this happens with you but I seem to do less of what i need to do when i have all that i want. I seem to find new ways to avoid what i need to be doing when I get all that i want. This is the sentiment of the proverb for today. It is a prayer asking God to grant just enough; no more no less. It even states the fears associated with the prayer. He said, if you give me too much i might disown you....that's powerful and there is some truth to that. He said don't give me too little because then i might misbehave. He simply asked, Lord give me my daily bread, my daily portion.

What a humble idea. God give me what i need to make it through the day. I know o lord what i want, but give me what i need for the day, that might understand how to manage what i have more so than what i want. So much wisdom in there passages but today, consider your prayers. Are you praying for more when you have enough? Are you prayer for more than enough when you don't have anything? What are we praying for? Hopefully we are asking God to grants us what we NEED that God might gain glory from our lives through the way we manage our necessities.

Be Blessed
C

Monday, May 11, 2009

DAY 29

God bless you people of God

we are drawing toward the end of our journey.. God bless each of you who have joined us on this journey (whether completed, missed, or not). We pray that we all take these final days serious and that we have all be blessed thru the study of Gods word

Reminder: Read proverb 29

Focus text:

1 a man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly ve destoyed without remedy,

11 a fool gives full vent to his anger but a wise man keeps himself under control

20 do you see a man who speaks with haste? there is more hope for a fool that for him


Reflection: Today's reflection is going to be short and sweet. I am certain that the focus text offer enough to think about. These three text offer great insight to our relationship with God and the management of our reactions. We can choose to be stubborn, angry, and out control or we can choose to heed the rebuke and calm down. This is the thought of the day. What are you going to do? Are you going to wait for destruction to change habits? Are you going to create a situation that demands a miracle before you heed the instructions of the lord? Are you going to continue to act out of rage and choose not to control your tongue? Are you going to speak without first considering the words you utter?


THE CHOICE IS YOURS. We now know the destiny of those who do these things

Just food for thought

God Bless


C-- Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. he is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 3:13-15Minister Charles DorseyYouth PastorChoir DirectorChrist Our Redeemer AME Church46 Maxwell Irvine, CA 92618949-955-0014charles.dorsey@gmail.com

Sunday, May 10, 2009

DAY 28

God Bless you People of God

We are almost there!!! The journey is almost completed. Again I urge you to visit www.30daywisdomjourney.blogspot.com if you have missed any of these days.
Reminder: Read Proverb 28 pray and meditate

Focus Text:

1 The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
14 Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
Reflection: Here is my Sunday morning prayer for us: Lord i pray that we would trust in you. I pray that we would be confident enough that our faults and sins are not greater than your grace and mercy. Lord, I pray that we work toward being more confident and faithful Christians that you might gain the glory from our lives. Lord, I pray that we repent and turn away from our secret sinful lives that our words and actions might be united. So today God, forgive us and help us to grow more toward you.

That was part of the prayer that was inspired by our focus text. One of the main differences between the wicked and the righteous is knowledge of who is in charge and who is in control. The wicked are afraid because they have lost sight of the fact that God is the protect. They have not been able to find refuge in the name of the lord and find themselves afraid of the things of this world and furthermore find themselves trying to fight with the weapons of this world.

The righteous however understand that it is better to fear the lord that the things of this world. It is better to have God that all the weapons this world can yield. Here is a wisdom nuggets: One of the most powerful weapons we have is the weapon called confession. Yes, confession is a weapon. The enemy wants us to believe that we are guilt stained and unworthy of being in God's presence. Well, we combat this by confessing our sins to the lord. You see, Confession liberates us from the burden of hiding and being fake before the lord. It is also helps us to acknowledge God's grace and mercy. The more you confess the more you want to get better and the more you realize the truth in God's word that says "for a righteous man falls seven times but gets back up again" (proverbs 24:16) We can get up because we know whose side we are on.

Today let us confess and be made whole. Moreover, let us believe God is on our side and move toward the greatness we have been called to.Happy Mothers Day to you all. Tell your mom/wife/female family members you love them...not just today but everyday


God Bless

Saturday, May 9, 2009

DAY 27

God Bless You people of God

I am sure that by now you have learned your proverb and it is resounding in your spirit. I pray that God shows you new things as you meditate on your one proverb

Reminder: read proverb 27 and pray

Focus Text:

19 As water reflects a face,
so a man's heart reflects the man.

Reflection: Today's proverb was full of heavy hitting statements. The focus text caught my attention the most. Life is filled with opportunity to understand who we are. When we look at our reflection do we see who we really are or who we are not? Do we look for what society says is beautiful or acceptable or do we blame God for not making us who we think we should be.

The wonderful part about the metaphor is that when you look at your reflection in water you see yourself clearly. If we think about it really hard there is nothing that we can do to water to change our reflection. You can throw a rock at it and do other thing to disturb the reflection but when the water settles you are still left with your reflection. Who God has made us to be is, sort of, the same way. there is nothing that we can do to avoid being who God made us to be. We can try to alter the image, we can try to put ripple in the water and disturb the reflection but when the water settles it is still you, exactly how God made us to be.

Now the catch is that the metaphor compares the reflect off the water to one's heart. That means that the root of a person is found in there heart. We spend lots of time looking for superficial outer images as if the outer image gives us an accurate idea of who people are. The reality is that many of us are professional disguise men and women. We do the best job at hiding the reality revealed in our hearts. We act happy when we are sad, we act unaffected when we are affected, we act rich when we are broke, we act arrogant when we need to be humble.

This is why the proverb paints the image of our hearts being a place that does not change. if you really want to know a person look at their hearts. They might be short in person but tall in the heart. The might look timid initially but they may be might people of God on the inside.Let us move from our superficial ideas into the great intimacy found in God and that is found in the hearts of Gods people. Who have you misjudge, written off, ostracized without taking a look at their heart?
Consider these words

Charles

Friday, May 8, 2009

DAY 26

God Bless you people of God

We are almost there we are on DAY 26. Kind of catchy huh, maybe some group should name themselves that and read this proverb. Anywho, be reminded to read proverb 26. Also reflect on and remember the verse (the proverb) you chose yesterday. God will open up new windows of understanding, just take the time to think and pray.


FOCUS TEXT:

6 Like cutting off one's feet or drinking violence
is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

7 Like a lame man's legs that hang limp
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

9 Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

Reflection: Have you ever been called a fool or done something foolish? If someone called you a fool would you be offended? We have been journeying through these proverbs and fools have been mentioned more than not. Today it caught my attention as i read the attributes and metaphors for a fools actions.

The texts above caught my attentions. Listen to the discription: A fool is irresponsible with a positive and wise message. In other words, we can't depend on a fool to deliver or spread a message. This really hits home in our lives because God has given us a timeless message. God has given us a message of hope and salvation. God has given us a message, especially through the tough times in our life, that God will always be there. The interesting part is that many of us still act foolish with this message. We don't spread the message. The message begins and ends with us. No one knows about what God is doing in our life, no one knows about what God is saying to us through our churches, no one knows about the grace God has given; all because we act foolish with the message

The proverb compares a fool with a message to a man with lame legs or cutting off ones feet, implying that the message is not going to move and certainly will not be delivered. To get this message one would have to come to the messenger verses the messenger carrying to message to others. It also compares a fool with a message to a thornbush in a drunkards hand, implying (at least on the surface) that this messenger sticks himself, probably drops the messages, and forgets that they have the message.

What are we doing with the messages God has placed in our hearts and on our lips? Are we so caught up in our own lives that we have become foolish with these messages? I know i was convicted upon considering some of my foolish ways. How about you?

Today, and for the rest of our days, let us be responsible with the messages (because we are messengers for the lord). If God has given you something to say (and God has) avoid the temptation to be foolish and find some one to tell about the goodness of the lord
Be Blessed
Charles

Thursday, May 7, 2009

DAY 25

God Bless You People Of God

We have six more days until we reach the end of our journey. Please know that I am still praying for God's miraculous working in your life. God is the only one that truly liberates Gods people. Continue to pursue.

Honestly, guys i am beginning to experience the tug of remembering a proverb a day so....let us change
FOR THE NEXT 6 DAYS...TAKE ONE VERSE (OR SET OF VERSES) MEMORIZE IT AND, AFTER DAILY MEDITATION, JOURNAL EACH DAY WHAT YOU TAKE FROM YOUR MEDITATION.
Here is an example:
I am going to memorize proverb 21: 13 if a man shuts his ear to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered

this will be my verse to memorize for the rest of the wisdom journey. Each day i will meditate and journal on this verse (on top of reading the proverb of the day) I hope this makes sense

okay and now to today's focus text

FOCUS TEXT:

28 Like a city whose walls are broken down
is a man who lacks self-control.

Reflection: Today's focus text offers us imagery of a city that is safe from harm due to its walls (sort of like Jericho). Jericho was a city whose walls kept them safe from the attacks of their enemies. They had never lost a battle when the wall was erect. Foes attempted to penetrate the city and defeat the Jericho citizen but we unsuccessful due to secure surrounding wall.

This is what the life of a Christian should feel like. Look at Job 1:10. The enemy/Satan complained saying "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land." A hedge is a wall. As Christians we expect God to cover and surround us in all that we do. It is not a wise decision to step out of the hedge at any moment because it is not safe.

I am sure that we all prefer to stay inside the walls that we might be protected as we do God's work, but we must realize that when we lack self control our wall is broken. We become vulnerable and susceptible to attack when we lack self control. We don't think straight and don't make wise decisions during these moments.

I agree that some situations are worthy of getting angry and acting out of character but we must wisely decide to stay under the control of God and the Holy Spirit. We must decide to do what we need to do to keep our walls of safety up. We must do our best NOT TO use profanity, act like we don't know Christ, make quick decision, speak without thinking, give in the desire of the flesh, or do anything that would break down the walls meant to protect us. WE MUST REMEMBER THAT GODS HEDGE OF PROTECTION CAN WITHSTAND THE CHALLENGES WE FACE. Even Satan knows that.

I pray we be self controlled because it is the wise thing to do.

Be Blessed
Charles

DAY 25

God Bless You People Of God

We have six more days until we reach the end of our journey. Please know that I am still praying for God's miraculous working in your life. God is the only one that truly liberates Gods people. Continue to pursue.

Honestly, guys i am beginning to experience the tug of remembering a proverb a day so....let us change
FOR THE NEXT 6 DAYS...TAKE ONE VERSE (OR SET OF VERSES) MEMORIZE IT AND, AFTER DAILY MEDITATION, JOURNAL EACH DAY WHAT YOU TAKE FROM YOUR MEDITATION.
Here is an example:
I am going to memorize proverb 21: 13 if a man shuts his ear to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered

this will be my verse to memorize for the rest of the wisdom journey. Each day i will meditate and journal on this verse (on top of reading the proverb of the day) I hope this makes sense

okay and now to today's focus text

FOCUS TEXT:

28 Like a city whose walls are broken down
is a man who lacks self-control.

Reflection: Today's focus text offers us imagery of a city that is safe from harm due to its walls (sort of like Jericho). Jericho was a city whose walls kept them safe from the attacks of their enemies. They had never lost a battle when the wall was erect. Foes attempted to penetrate the city and defeat the Jericho citizen but we unsuccessful due to secure surrounding wall.

This is what the life of a Christian should feel like. Look at Job 1:10. The enemy/Satan complained saying "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land." A hedge is a wall. As Christians we expect God to cover and surround us in all that we do. It is not a wise decision to step out of the hedge at any moment because it is not safe.

I am sure that we all prefer to stay inside the walls that we might be protected as we do God's work, but we must realize that when we lack self control our wall is broken. We become vulnerable and susceptible to attack when we lack self control. We don't think straight and don't make wise decisions during these moments.

I agree that some situations are worthy of getting angry and acting out of character but we must wisely decide to stay under the control of God and the Holy Spirit. We must decide to do what we need to do to keep our walls of safety up. We must do our best NOT TO use profanity, act like we don't know Christ, make quick decision, speak without thinking, give in the desire of the flesh, or do anything that would break down the walls meant to protect us. WE MUST REMEMBER THAT GODS HEDGE OF PROTECTION CAN WITHSTAND THE CHALLENGES WE FACE. Even Satan knows that.

I pray we be self controlled because it is the wise thing to do.

Be Blessed
Charles