Bragging On Jesus

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 18:9 Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. Who Is Your Brother? R Aylor Who then is your brother, metaphorically speaking? Who do you favor? Who are you creeping? Who is your spouse, Where are you sleeping? What makes you smile? With whom are you weeping? If in life you show little production, you take after your older brother destruction Or maybe you work to be selfishly wealthy, while your sister’s obsessed to be pretty and healthy With whom do you share the same style of walk, the same inflections in how you talk Outside we may seem full of skizms, but inside have similar mannerisms. If you walk with the wise, that shows what you’ll be But what if you prefer hanging with those who don’t believe You like how they speak, what they watch on tv When you look in the mirror then that's what you’ll see So who is your brother, your closest kinship? Jesus said: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the wo

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 18:3 When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace. He Removes the "Dis" from Disgrace R Aylor Here in this verse, first Solomon mentions wickedness. My definition of wickedness is common sense… It is this: To be wicked is to be disobedient of the one true Judge. It is living our life with attributes and a character that goes against Gods attributes and character. And so as we live out a life of wickedness as this text indicates, we are found to be in contempt of our Creator. We are contemptible. When a person is found in contempt in a courtroom in means they have dismissed the Judges courtroom rules. They have disobeyed the Judge. They have acted in a wicked manner towards the one in charge. Wickedness and being found in contempt then naturally leads to dishonor. Even a corrupt society holds those in contempt some thieves, murderers and sex offenders… even some who are prejudice… so yes these people try

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 18:6 A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. 7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. 8 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. To Invite A Beating R Aylor Here we see Solomon referring to people who get into trouble in two ways... through their mouth and through their ears. I love the colorful images Solomon uses. Like lips walking into a fight or a mouth that says come on… hit me right here on the chin. It’s like someone is so aggressive that they walk up to you and stick out their chest and put their face up against yours and say “go ahead… if you think you’re man enough”. Their mouth invites a beating... especially if they are smaller and weaker than you. And for a fool… even if they do get in the best punch on that day it will likely come back to them for initiating the situation… and at the very least their life will s

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Listen With Love R Aylor I sense conviction as I read this verse because I know I have not listened while others speak but have only been thinking of what I would say next and at times I have even interrupted others or spoken over them. If you have children then you surly know how sometimes they can get louder and louder trying to make their case over another sibling… or maybe better yet… If you’ve ever watched an interview on a news channel where people of different parties are asked questions… and the interviewer is trying to be respectful and orderly and they ask them questions separately but they don’t have the discipline to wait their turn and talk over one another including the interviewer… When a person of another faith comes to my door and expresses their religious world view I am tempted to talk over them at every turn… or even not listen much

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. Don't Hide With Reclusive Pride R Aylor Can it be prideful for someone to withdraw or isolate themselves from others? According to this verse it can. Whether we put ourselves in the spotlight to make ourselves look good or withdraw from the spotlight to keep from looking bad… either way it is all about us. When it is all about us our world view is going to be distorted. When a believer has this kind of solitary lone wolf vanity they hurt themselves as well as the kingdom of God. Those with reclusive pride refuse to participate in small groups or other functions that involve fellowship with other believers because of how they might be perceived as socially inept. You see their spotlight is on themselves when it should be on loving the Lord with their all and their neighbor as themselves. They refuse to step up and serve in the church through vi

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. The Dice Will Glorify God Robin Aylor Is life on earth a happenstance; an accident… a fluke… a coincidence what?… Did it evolve from a big bang that stemmed from nothingness? Were we born on the continents and in the nations and towns and households to parents all by accident or is there a Mater plan far above our ability to fully comprehend that comes from o good and just Creator? Many in the world believe in a God… a Creator even… some think that after creation that he stepped back and just left us alone preceding to do whatever he does. Some may believe the earth was a failed experiment by God. Others believe the Creator just doesn’t care about the earth, others say he is dead. The Bible teaches us that God loves us more than we can imagine… So much that he gave his only Son and whoever delights in him as good news with joy is given life. We don't deserve

Proverbs In 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 16:26 A worker’s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on.  Hunger That Urges Us On Robin Aylor Starvation is of course a horrible thing in many parts of the world. Many places have little food to eat. However, today’s text shows us a context in which being hungry can actually be a good thing. Our cravings for food can keep us from getting lazy and weak and feeble because if we want to eat it is only proper and right that we get a job that provides income so we can buy food and satisfy our appetite.  However; for mankind who is made in the image of God there is an appetite that no food can satisfy. This yearning is known as Spiritual hunger. CS Lewis said: “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” Spiritual starvation is of course a horrible thing throughout the world. Many places have little or no access to Gods word. But a h

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.  At Our Core R Aylor What is that way that seems right?… It’s my way… Frank Sinatra and Elvis both sang about it… We learn early on how to get our own way… don’t we? And most of us pursue our own way all the way to our own demise. We learn right out of the womb that when we cried our Mother picked us up… and when we cried again she would feed us… so we keep doing what works and it just progressed from there. Even as adults when there are times we might not be immediately getting our way, even then we are weighing the consequences of how we can still get our way by taking some other route. So how do human beings discern what is the right path for their life? Clearly it depends on what is at our core. It’s what drives us… what gets us out of bed in the morning and keeps us going… As stated, it starts the same for all men. It’s our attraction to getting our

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 13:5 The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace. 6 Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked. Righteous Rabbit Hole What do you take with you when you leave your home? Your money, your clothes? Don’t forget your smart phone! Theres something else that we take each day… A heart that’s synced up to the words we say. A heart thats connected to all that we do, Its the charge that we take, it’s our own world view What are you takin? What are you givin? Tell me your vision, What is your mission? What are you makin? Who are you kissing? What’s your ambition, your reason for livin? What are you breakin? To whom do you listen? And for what are you wishing? Whats your treasure that glistens? Someone once said “never hate”, they must have loved the food they ate I say hate lies… abhor and despise vinegar, onion and peanut butter pickle pies Falsehood wears a mask to hide his t

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 16:23 The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. 24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. Hitler's Wisdom R Aylor Is there such a thing as a type of wisdom that is not godly… but of this world? I believe there is. James 3 talks about people with hearts of jealousy and selfish ambition and in verse 15 he says this: James 3:15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. Consider Adolf Hitler… Was he a wise man? He was judicious and persuasive… that's pretty clear… He formulated his thoughts and words to make his personal goals for Germany make perfect sense to the hearers. His oration and articulation flowed building argument on top of argument creating a case that supported itself. He also spoke passionately about what he believed which could be seen in his body language and heard in his voice inflecti

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 15:22 Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. Counsel Outside Of Broken Self R Aylor We all make plans everyday… we go to bed at night with plans to get up… we have preexisting plans to shower, get ready and go to work and then to come home and do it all over again. All these plans have been tried and found to be good. We have the counsel of the history of mankind to support what we do every day and we have followed their lead with good results. But what about everything else that lies in between those plans? You see there are other choices every day where we much discern if and how we should face our dreams… What are our goals and what plan should we follow to accomplish them? As I read today's text again I think what might have been going through Solomon's mind as he wrote them… What plans are you thinking of Solomon? As a king he might have been thinking about how one should get counsel before committing to

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 15:21 Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense, but a man of understanding walks straight ahead. The Man Who Left The Path R Aylor Let’s see… In this verse we have one man who is walking straight ahead… We don’t know much about him except that he is a man of understanding and he is not distracted by the things along his path. He does not turn to the side and follow a trail that leads him away from what he is walking toward. There is something he understands about walking this path… maybe he has learned some hard lessons from experience or it could be that his own father taught him how to walk through this jungle of life. The other person in the proverb is a man who lacks sense. It is implied that he is not like the man of understanding and so he does not walk straight ahead. This one looks down a curving side path and sees a brightly colored fruit hanging over the trail that he thinks he can reach. Then up ahead there is a monkey that sw

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 15:20 A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. A Glad Father R Aylor You know… wisdom and foolishness have something in common… They both affect the lives of others don’t they? Growing up I can remember a few times my foolishness made an angry father… and also my foolishness was witness to prove the fact that I disrespected my mother. If we have stray from good teachings of our parents which also conflict with the laws of the land… There are systems in place where governments hope to execute justice. I read a paper where a number of male criminals in prison were given an opportunity to write a card to their mothers on Mothers Day and also their fathers on Fathers Day… a great percentage wrote to their mothers but few if any to their fathers.. Why is that? Could it be that no matter what kind of father they had; even if their Dad was a failure to them they know they too are a disappointment to to their fa

Teach Us How To Love RA(Song) by Podcast startup by Robin Aylor

Proverbs In 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 13:3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. Buckingham Palace R Aylor Yes we need to guard our mouth. I can imagine two soldiers in uniform… one at each corner of my mouth; and like the ones at Buckingham Palace… when people from the outside try to make them flench or talk back or laugh at things they don’t… I too must keep my mouth closed and not speak things that don’t have the proper clearance. Of course the guards of my palace also guard the things that no one prods me to say… These are things that are already in my heart… They didn’t get there through the guards on my mouth but my heart let them in. And that is the problem… You see, what ever is in the heart has a way of getting through the guards of the mouth and making their way out. Jesus said this in Luke 6:45: The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produ

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 13:17 A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful envoy brings healing. Wolf! Wolf! by R Aylor You may remember the old children’s story how a young shepherd boy out in the field with his flock cried out: “wolf! wolf!”. Many people from the village heard his cry echo down into the town and they rushed to help him. I can just see this young punk sitting on a rock and laughing as the townsfolk run out to help him with their shovels and hey forks. You see… it was only a prank. Later on… that bored mischievous boy played the same joke on the people again. Not long after that, a true wolf appeared but this time when the boy cries out for real he was ignored by the townsfolk. According to Wikipedia the earliest version of the fable says the flock of sheep were eaten by the wolf but the mischievous boy survived. The moral of this story is: nobody believes a liar after they learn his character… even when he is telling the truth!.

Proverbs in 365 Devotions
 For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 13:15 Good sense wins favor, but the way of the treacherous is their ruin. 16 In everything the prudent acts with knowledge, but a fool flaunts his folly. 
 Blinded By The Darkness by R Aylor I don’t know why anyone would want to show off their stupidity? But that's what I tend to do quite often. It should be no surprise to us how it happens because a treacherous heart like the text describes loves wrong doing to such an extent that it causes a kind of blindness to the ruin the outcome of what we are doing. We all have to fight against this treachery of pride in our life. Whenever a person is treasuring the things of the world over the Lord, they loose focus on the things of God including the apparent destruction that their folly will bring not only to others but themselves. Our heart is deceptive for sure and we may even be deceiving ourselves more than we deceive others. Jeremiah 17:9 says: The heart is deceitful above all things, and

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 13:13 Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded. 14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death. Trust God Word R Aylor Sometimes we may forget that Gods commandments are not only for his glory, but he has also set them up for our benefit.

 From a distance we can easily see this truth in some of the more obvious sins like committing adultery, murder, theft, gossip,… keeping them is not only a good idea for others but its a good plan for our life as well. However… at the time, up close we seem to center in on ourselves and say something like but the circumstances are different for me. What I’m going through is a little different; I deserve the right to act this way. It's then that we begin rationalizing all these things like stealing, lying, even adultery and murder as being something good for us. James 1:14 But each p

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Earnest Guarantee Of Hope R Aylor We can all likely identify with hope being delayed in this life. Whether waiting on marriage or a job or waiting on the winter to be over and spring to come. But in the bigger picture, here we are... strangers wandering through this broken world waiting for our hope to be fulfilled. But is our soul weary beyond measure? Is our heart sick? If our hope has been deferred like this text says can happen, and points somewhere in the future that we cannot even taste, experience or know, then why are we not depressed and downcast? Why do we not despair?

 If you have ever sold a house the buyer may have given you what is called “earnest money” to guarantee the purchase until funds are transferred and the transaction is fully finalized. Even though the undertaking is not altogether finished, the earnest money has given your hope

Proverbs in 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 13:11 Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Increasing Riches In Christ R Aylor Get rich schemes have made many a person excessively rich beyond their wildest imaginations; however their newly acquired wealth have frequently been followed with bankruptcy, divorce and or long prison sentences… even murder.
 And it’s not just with get rich schemes but this same principal of "Instant Everything" applies across the board. For example: a starvation type diet without daily lifestyle changes usually comes back along with compounded interest. If you've ever considered politics, you know quick fixes don't solve the long term problems; i.e. the National Debt; need I say more? Even in churches, rapidly growing congregations can sometimes implode from within because they settled back into the same old self centered mindsets that had always kept them from their mission attentiveness before.