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Proverbs Devotional 10.7.20

By October 7, 2020Daily Devotional

I. Prayer to enter the Lord’s presence:

Be still for a moment. “Lord, I give the day that is now past to you.  It is yours.  I give the day that is to come to you; help me to see where you are working and to join you there.  Speak to me during these moments.  I commit them and myself to you.”

 II. Prayer of Confession:

“Lord, you are faithful to forgive me and cleanse me of my sin when I confess it to you.  I confess my sin(s) of ______________.  Thank you for forgiveness.” (1 John 1:9)

III. Prayer of Thanksgiving:

Choose to be thankful, speak out loud of what God has done.
“Thank you, Father, for _________________.  Fill my heart and my mouth with gratitude throughout this day.”

IV. Scripture Reflection

Read: Proverbs Chapter 7

Reflect:

For October, I’d like you to simply read slowly through the entire proverb each day. Think about the verses that have stood out to you over this year, the things God has spoken to you about, and the wisdom that was revealed to you. Use this time as a summary review of our time together over the last nine months.

As you read the Proverbs, you’ll notice that they are comprised of different translations. My hope is that doing this will help you to read Proverbs afresh. Following the reading is a short prayer that sums up the proverb. God Bless!

 Proverbs 7 (The Passion Translation)
Wis­dom, Your True Love
Stick close to my in­struc­tion, my son,
and fol­low all my ad­vice.
2 If you do what I say you will live well.
Guard your life with my rev­e­la­tion-truth,
for my teach­ing is as pre­cious as your eye­ sight.
3 Trea­sure my in­struc­tions, and cher­ish them within your heart.
4 Say to wis­dom, “I love you,”
and to un­der­stand­ing, “You’re my sweet­heart.”
5 “May the two of you pro­tect me, and may we never be apart!”
For they will keep you from the adul­ter­ess,
with her smooth words meant to se­duce your heart.
6 Look­ing out the win­dow of my house one day
7 I no­ticed among the mind­less crowd
a sim­ple, naïve young man who was about to go astray.
8 There he was, walk­ing down the street.
Then he turned the cor­ner,
going on his way as he hur­ried on to the house of the har­lot—
the woman he had planned to meet.
9 There he was in the twi­light as dark­ness fell,
con­vinced no one was watch­ing
as he en­tered the black shad­ows of hell.
10 That’s when their ren­dezvous began.
A woman of the night ap­peared,
dressed to kill the strength of any man.
She was decked out as a har­lot, pur­su­ing her amorous plan.
11 Her voice was se­duc­tive, re­bel­lious, and bois­ter­ous
as she wan­dered far from what’s right.
12 Her type can be found so­lic­it­ing on street cor­ners
on just about any night.
13 She wrapped her arms around the sense­less young man
and held him tight—
she en­ticed him with kisses that seemed so right.
Then, with in­so­lence, she whis­pered in his ear,
14 “Come with me. It’ll be all right.
I’ve got every­thing we need for a feast.
I’ll cook you a won­der­ful din­ner.
So here I am—I’m all yours!
15 You’re the very one I’ve looked for,
the one I knew I wanted from the mo­ment I saw you.
That’s why I’ve come out here tonight,
so I could meet a man just like you.
16 I’ve spread my canopy bed with cov­er­ings,
lovely mul­ti­col­ored Egypt­ian linens spread
and ready for you to lie down on.
17 I’ve sprin­kled the sheets with in­tox­i­cat­ing per­fume
made from myrrh, aloes, and sweet cin­na­mon.
18 Come, let’s get com­fort­able and take plea­sure in each other
and make love all night!
19 There’s no one home, for my hus­band’s away on busi­ness.
20 He left home loaded with money to spend,
so don’t worry.
He won’t be back until an­other month ends.”
21–22 He was swayed by her so­phis­ti­ca­tion,
en­ticed by her long­ing em­brace.
She led him down the way­ward path right into sin and dis­grace.
Quickly he went astray, with no clue
where he was truly headed,
taken like a dumb ox along­side of the butcher.
She was like a ven­omous snake coiled to strike,
so she set her fangs into him!
23 He’s like a man about to be ex­e­cuted with an arrow
right through his heart—
like a bird that flies into the net,
un­aware of what’s about to hap­pen.
24 So lis­ten to me, you young men.
You’d bet­ter take my words se­ri­ously!
25 Con­trol your sex­ual urges and guard your hearts from lust.
Don’t let your pas­sions get out of hand
and don’t lock your eyes onto a beau­ti­ful woman.
Why would you want to even get close
to temp­ta­tion and se­duc­tion,
to have an af­fair with her?
26 She has pierced the souls of mul­ti­tudes of men—
many mighty ones have fallen
and have been brought down by her.
27 If you’re look­ing for the road to hell,
just go look­ing for her house!

Respond:

Heavenly Father, thank You for the love and mercy You’ve shown me over the years. I’m grateful for Your protection, even the ways You protected me that I’m not even aware of. Thank You for this story of seduction. It reminds me of how easy it is to be enticed by sin. Help me to see it for what it is and to flee from it. I want to be like Joseph fleeing the embrace of Potiphar’s wife. I want to run from sin which, in all of its shapes and forms, does nothing but separate us from Your love found in Christ Jesus. I choose today to embrace You and to run to You with all of my being. Amen.

 V. Prayer for others:

Pray specifically for the concerns of your life and the lives of others. 

VI. Prayer of commitment:

Lord God, I commit to love you with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength and with all my mind and to love my neighbor as myself.  Empower me today to love you and others with everything that I am.”  (Luke 10:27)

This Week’s Scripture Memory:
Proverbs 24:10

If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!

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