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Something has my mind contemplating the change of seasons. It’s cold outside and leaves are dropping. It finally feels as if summer has left us and we are now into fall.

Living in Sacramento we experience very distinct seasons. Summer is hot and dry, fall is cool and breezy, winter is cold and rainy, and spring starts the cycle all over again with mild, sunny days and blooming flowers everywhere. I’ve talked to people about how I enjoyed my brief period living in the Los Angeles area. I spent about 6 months in Redondo Beach and loved it. It was generally around 70 degrees in the day, about 50 degrees at night and very little rain. I lived one block from the beach and used to walk there almost daily. No smog, no traffic, no glaring displays of wealth…for me it was great! Many people I talk to though have a different experience. They hate it because everyday is like the same to them. They need to experience changes in season. As I think about this I wonder how these people feel when they experience changes of season in their own personal lives. Not changes in weather, but changes in their lifestyle, finances, relationships, etc. It seems that many want to go through changing seasons of the weather, but not of their lives. We are creatures of habit and don’t like being made to feel uncomfortable.

As it gets colder outside, I have the luxury of being able to add another blanket to the bed or turning the heater on rather than feeling cold. I don’t need to complain as I have things I can do. What about in life though? When things get uncomfortable do we seek to change the situation for the better or do we complain about the situation? Think about it.

As fall is here I sense a season about to change in my life as well. Actually, this year has been filled with changes. Some things are being forced upon me that I’m not happy about, but through my faith I know that God has a solution if I open my eyes and ears and seek it rather than sit around and complain about it. Even with some potentially uncomfortable things about to happen and even with the weather turning colder and rain about to come I am having a positive outlook on the future. I’m willing to face the challenges and deal with them knowing that it will make for a brighter future and renew me and prepare me to blossom in much the same way the rain comes to prepare the flowers to be renewed when the spring sun comes and invites them to shine brightly under the warm skies.

Seasons change. This time I’m gonna be ready.

This is probably one of the most beautiful and relevant scriptures for our daily lives because it stands the test of time and offers wisdom that cannot be denied. Christian or not, these words will help empower women and cause husbands to lift up their wives as precious and lovely and serving equally within the household. There is a certain independence that comes from reading and truly understanding this chapter of Proverbs.

I am going to cite the entire chapter and ask you to find those words that God has for you today and call upon you to pray and meditate on those words. I am sharing with you the Amplified Bible version which expounds upon the definition of the original language using brackets where appropriate. Follow the footnotes that are explained at biblegateway.com though this link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=pro%2031;&version=45;
and get an in-depth perspective on some of these verses which have been taken out of context.

May you come to know the full beauty of knowing Christ within you as God reveals to you the ways of the Lord for your home and family. May this time with God bring your family closer together in understanding how each member of the house should help unite the other so that God’s glory may be revealed and that your family be leave a legacy of the kingdom of heaven for all to see. May you truly come to know and live the life of being a Proverbs 31 woman:

Proverbs 31 AMP-

1THE WORDS of Lemuel king of Massa, which his mother taught him:

2What, my [a]son? What, son of my womb? What [shall I advise you], son of my vows and dedication to God?

3Give not your strength to [loose] women, nor your ways to those who and that which ruin and destroy kings.

4It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink,(A)

5Lest they drink and forget the law and what it decrees, and pervert the justice due any of the afflicted.

6Give strong drink [as medicine] to him who is ready to pass away, and wine to him in bitter distress of heart.

7Let him drink and forget his poverty and [seriously] remember his want and misery no more.

8Open your mouth for the dumb [those unable to speak for themselves], for the rights of all who are left desolate and defenseless;(B)

9Open your mouth, judge righteously, and administer justice for the poor and needy.(C)

10A capable, intelligent, and [b]virtuous woman–who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.(D)

11The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of [honest] gain or need of [dishonest] spoil.

12She comforts, encourages, and does him only good as long as there is life within her.

13She seeks out wool and flax and works with willing hands [to develop it].

14She is like the merchant ships loaded with foodstuffs; she brings her household’s food from a far [country].

15She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks.(E)

16She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties]; with her savings [of time and strength] she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard. [S. of Sol. 8:12.]

17She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.

18She tastes and sees that her gain from work [with and for God] is good; her lamp goes not out, but it burns on continually through the night [of trouble, privation, or sorrow, warning away fear, doubt, and distrust].

19She lays her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

20She opens her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her filled hands to the needy [whether in body, mind, or spirit].

21She fears not the snow for her family, for all her household are doubly clothed in scarlet.(F)

22She makes for herself coverlets, cushions, and rugs of tapestry. Her clothing is of linen, pure and fine, and of purple [such as that of which the clothing of the priests and the hallowed cloths of the temple were made].(G)

23Her husband is known in the [city's] gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.(H)

24She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them; she delivers to the merchants girdles [or sashes that free one up for service].

25Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]!

26She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction].

27She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.(I)

28Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied); and her husband boasts of and praises her, [saying],

29[c]Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], but you excel them all.

30Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!

31Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates [of the city]!(J)

There is something that we as Christians must always heed. No man on this earth has the authority to alter the Word of God. Yes, I know that the Bible as we know it today was written through the hands of men. However, my emphasis is on adding words to the scripture, not interpretation.

There are people out there that claim they are the embodiment of Jesus coming back to claim his bride. There are signs that will follow so that we may know the real Christ. There are people out there that will call upon you to dig down deep into your pockets so that they can expand their ministry with a new jet aircraft. They say it is God’s will for them to travel in such an elaborate style, but with Jesus not even knowing where he would rest his head at night when he came upon some cities, does a personal jet really become God’s will for an evangelist?

I’m not criticizing or being judgmental. I am merely asking you to really look for confirmation of what someone tells you by God’s own Word first. Be in prayer and seek wisdom. Don’t just believe that because someone looks like a pastor or has a title or serves within a particular capacity within ministry that they always speak God’s truth.

Proverbs 30:6 Do not add to his words,
or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

As we are about to conclude our 31 days of prayer and mediation in Proverbs this week, I ask that you will prayerfully seek the Lord’s will as you read the devotions and pray. Always uphold my words against the living word of God and follow God’s Word over my words always! May you do the same for everything that is presented to you through man that is credited to be from God.

Proverbs 29:19 A servant cannot be corrected by mere words;
though he understands, he will not respond.

This is something that I believe all of us understand in theory, but don’t always put into practice. Too many times I have heard stories from teens where their parents will punish them for their language, but their parents use worse language and that is okay. It gets even deeper. Parents will tell their children not to have sex before they are married or not to take drugs or drink alcohol, yet the kids know their parents have done these exact things. Then, the parents will say that just because they did it does not make it right and it is their hope that the kids will learn from the mistakes of the parents and benefit from their wisdom. ERRRRRRRRR! Just stop it right there! This tactic just doesn’t work. Do as I say, not as I do has no credibility in anyone’s world!

If we aren’t willing to be examples of what we teach, how can we expect others to follow our ways? That is the awesome thing about Jesus. Not only does he give us wisdom through his teaching, but he lived the life in the flesh for the world to see. He never stumbled or compromised. When Jesus teaches something we can know that he lived it himself.

What can you eliminate from your life that sets a bad example for others? Especially if you’re a parent, I would hope you would take this verse to heart. Could you give up drinking to avoid putting yourself in compromising positions? If you think taking out your co-workers for drinks after work and then saying some dumb things will help them respect your authority in the workplace, you are totally wrong. if you tell your girlfriend to be more responsible in staying in touch with you, shouldn’t you do the same thing? There are so many things we do, consciously and sub-consciously that reveal us to be somewhat hypocritical. Let’s seek the Lord, ask His forgiveness, and start being better examples of what we say. Respect cannot be demanded, but it must be earned.

It’s rare to find someone that isn’t a professing Christian that really understands this idea, but lying, stealing, cheating, and being deceitful to cover up your mistakes really doesn’t gain you anything. It has nothing to do with whether only Christians can be moral. When I was an atheist I felt I had a strong moral compass. However, when one is not a Christian it’s easy to rationalize taking advantage of others for our own personal gain or to do some things we can get away with because they aren’t smart enough to figure it out and it’s not your place to educate them. In reality, this mindset is just wrong!

Proverbs 28:13 tells us:

If you hide your sins, you will not succeed. If you confess and reject them, you will receive mercy.

If you’re an unbeliever reading this, it probably seems like it’s false. There are people that hide things and yet they are very successful, right? However, the context of this verse has to do with being successful from a heavenly perspective, not a worldly one.

Not only is confessing our mistakes to God a continual process in humbling ourselves before God, but it removes a tremendous burden from our shoulders always! We’re better off confessing our mistakes to others and taking what happens as a result than we are by trying to continually keep lying to cover it up. God doesn’t want anyone to feel guilty, yet without God we can find plenty in our lives that cause us to feel guilty.

If you’re feeling guilty about something, stop it! Confess it to God and He will offer forgiveness and remove it from his memory as if it never happened. He will never use it against you in the future or cause you to feel guilt or shame. Whatever is causing your guilt, won’t you connect with the person you were dishonest to or took advantage of and just let them know you’re sorry and ask their forgiveness? Isn’t it about time? Take the opportunity to let go of that burden and start enjoying the life God wants you to experience. Let the guilt be replaced with peace and joy.

One of the things that we tend to struggle with is giving in to anger or emotion or retribution because we are provoked by another. It’s easy to make excuses and blame others, but with Christ in us, can we really say, “Tom made me do it?” or whoever it is that you believe caused your mis-step? If we are to be a reflection of Jesus, can someone else’s words really make us look bad? Should we really stand on our own pride and ego if we are to be Christ-like in our ways?

This is one of the most difficult things to do as Satan knows we are sinful in nature and therefore we are going to be prone to be temporarily blinded when someone gets in our face and calls us out and we respond by lashing out verbally or physically as we sense a threat or damage to our pride. As Jesus told us in Matthew 5, it’s not eye for an eye, but turn the other cheek. It’s almost impossible to comprehend when someone is trying to get us riled up, but the one thing that ends this is to let them have their stupid way and eventually they leave to go pick on someone else, or they come to realize how stupid they are acting and just stop. It goes much farther than giving into their way and trying to fight back.

Just know that Proverbs 27:3 really is true:

Stone is heavy and sand a burden,
but provocation by a fool is heavier than both.

The weight of publicly feeling like we are being made to look like a fool or the butt of someone’s jokes or being asked to respond to the idiotic question, “What are you gonna do about it?” is really heavy. However, the weight of giving into the provoking from another is an even bigger burden and it sets a never-ending trap to always respond the same way. Be above the urge to play Satan’s game and just stop. Let them have their fun or appear to have the upper hand. In reality, as you have Christ on your side and his love in your heart, you will prevail. It’s a matter of trusting in God or trusting in the greatest liar Satan. The choice is yours.

Have you ever had a time–maybe even now–where things seem to be closing in on you and you don’t know what to do? You question why you of all people should have to deal with such a thing? After everything you’ve been through, you ask, “When will it all end?”

As difficult as it is going to sound, I’d ask you to just step back and believe that you are going to get through it. Whether it is a threat of something due to not having enough money or losing a job while you have debt or struggling with temptations…whatever it is, just pause and give it all to the Lord. Tell him that you’re believing this isn’t for you and that you will rise above it by trusting that God has bigger and better plans for you and that he intends to prosper you rather than harm you just like it is revealed in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV):

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Don’t let the deceit of Satan the liar get the best of you. All sorts of calamity may appear to be raining down upon your head or your house, but do not fear. Stuff is always going to happen around you, but you have been given faith in order to have hope and know that there is always a positive outcome in the works of the Lord.

Reflect today on the words of Proverbs 26:2 this time from The Message translation:

You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse
as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow.

Believe the curse is undeserved because God would not cause you harm! Treat it as if you were being descended upon by a tiny little sparrow. Obviously, the much-smaller sparrow would not intend you to be its target so you would not be concerned. In Christ, you are bigger than anything any devil would throw at you. It’s time to take a stand and profess in the name of Christ that you are not going to give in to the lies and fear and the stress of this world. Trust in God and he will see you through anything. Even though the sky is dark and the clouds look ominous, you may see the light of day before you see any rain.

Have you ever noticed that there are some traits of people you associate with that have become of your own personality? Like if you are around people that have no patience you tend to start losing patience too? Unfortunately, who we keep company with will ultimately influence us. Sometimes it can influence us negatively in that we begin emulating their negative traits, but sometimes it can influence us positively in that after observing their negative behavior we commit not to do the same things.

Verses 24 & 25 (New Living Translation):

24Don’t befriend angry people
or associate with hot-tempered people,
25or you will learn to be like them
and endanger your soul.

It’s really hard to know that if we are around people that can influence us negatively that we will have the wisdom and resolve to not start acting out their negative behavior. Therefore, please be careful when you are around others frequently that do the wrong things. Please be in prayer for yourself constantly and also pray for them to have the Lord breakthrough the negative behaviors.

Is there someone you know that needs to be broken of being hot-tempered or is there someone you know that you probably shouldn’t be around so much because of their hot-tempered nature? Won’t you take the time to pray about these relationships and seek higher ground from the Lord?

Many of us desire to be leaders, yet we simply aren’t equipped to do so at this moment. I think that we all can lead if we seek to lead from the right perspective. Many times we want to lead because we really don’t want to follow. I’ve actually been in situations where even though I didn’t want to lead, I was forced into it because everyone else wanted to follow, but that is a very situation. It’s funny though as once someone takes on a leadership role because no one else would do it, then most everyone else finds some reason to complain. Some days it seems like one can’t win for trying.

What is a simple way of looking at the qualities of a leader? Well, the Bible gives us a brief, yet to-the-point description in Proverbs 20:28:

Love and truth form a good leader;
sound leadership is founded on loving integrity.

Integrity is so important when it comes to leadership! If one doesn’t have integrity, how can they expect anyone to follow them for very long? This is something Jesus always had during his 3-year ministry here on earth. He never compromised and was absolutely true to his word always. In fact, he always spoke truth and did so in the name of love.

As leaders, we must love those we lead and be true to who we represent ourselves to be. We must always speak truth as well. Whether we are leaders, managers, or followers we should all apply the principles of Proverbs 20:28. Loving integrity will provide a solid foundation as a character trait for any person and for any task.

Proverbs 19:15:

Lazy people sleep a lot,
and idle people will go hungry.

So often we are asleep to all that is going on around us. We see things happening in the lives of others and not in our own and we get resentful and jealous. Come on now, we’ve all done it! In reality, if we would just take action and actively pursue what we are believing God for, we could see our miracles happen. When we are idle, we go hungry.

A lot of us believe that if we pray for something that God is obligated to answer. Well, he’s not. However, rather than sit back and watch for God to respond, many times he is already moving in answer to prayer, but we won’t initiate the response through our action. Sometimes he wants to bless us as a fruit from our own cultivation. We need to invest some effort in order to reap a harvest. He won’t just drop fruit into our laps without helping in the work of growing it.

Is there something you’re believing God to do on your behalf, but are still waiting on the response? Know that God may be waiting on you to take action believing he is moving already in order to see the blessing be revealed. Don’t give up and don’t give in. Stand firm and take steps towards your blessing today…God will meet you there!