The sluggard’s failure not only leaves a sour taste in our mouths; they also paralyze our progress. Ever get a face full of smoke? You are blinded until the smoke goes away and your eyes stop burning.
Daily Devotion
Road Rules
Road Rules: Go to the Ant
Laziness puts a person and all their dependents at risk. Idleness will not provide for the needs of today. Working half-heartedly will jeopardize the wherewithal to meet the needs of tomorrow.
Road Rules: Laziness
Laziness produces poverty—in all areas of life. It keeps us from being all God intended us to be, whether at home, work, or worship. Laziness is a lack of discipline that will keep us out of shape physically and spiritually. Poverty, in all forms, will come upon us “like a robber” and steal the blessings of God.
Road Rules: Stiff-Necked
Scripture describes those who refuse repeated warnings as “stiff-necked.” Their pride will not allow them to “bend” to others. They will live life in their time frame and on their terms. It will seem to them, for a while at least, that they were right and everybody else was wrong.
Road Rules: Prudence
We can’t always control how our children will respond. Sometimes they will need to learn life’s lessons through their own failures. But, parents, never give up on them even when it seems like they are not listening. The older they get, the smarter you get.
Road Rules: Decision of Confrontation
We are all “prone to wander,” and the decision we make when confronted is multi-layered. The decision not only impacts us but those around us. When we heed instruction, we show the “path to life” for others. When we ignore reproof, we lead “others astray.” It’s a pretty big decision, isn’t it?
Road Rules: Listen to Wisdom
In today’s passage, wisdom (personified) cries out in the noisy streets and reminds all who will listen that she is willing and ready to pour out her spirit to all who will listen and respond to her correction. But to those who reject her, terror will strike them “like a storm” and calamity will sweep over them “like a whirlwind” (Proverbs 1:27).
Road Rules: Reproof
So, for all those who “know it all,” there is still a lot of learning to do. When you desire obedience, you will love attaining knowledge even when the truth hurts and demands a change in your life.
Road Rules: Ditch the Angry Person
A “man of wrath” is controlled by anger. You know the type. They are constantly railing about something. The government. The educational system. Their business partners. The neighbors. How someone treated them at a particular restaurant.
Road Rules: Controlling Anger Part 2
I do not and cannot live in a bubble. This is the real world. Things will occur that make me angry. But here is the question: Will I control my anger, or will my anger control me?
Road Rules: Controlling Anger
Scripture is profound. It describes the eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God who sent his Son as a substitutionary atonement for our sin, imputes our sin on him, and imputes his righteousness on us. And Scripture is profoundly practical. When you see a hot-tempered person, for goodness sakes, keep your distance from them whatever you do.
Road Rules: Dealing with Anger (Part 2)
Anger produces strife, but it doesn’t have to. Instead of pressing anger, surrender it to God. Place your emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit that lives within every believer. He is more than capable of turning your swirling emotions into Spirit-controlled peace.