verseoftheday

Friday! Proverbs! One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge and puts up security for a neighbor. Proverbs 17:18 NIV A bit of personal financial management advice from thousands of years ago... There's a sense of immediacy here...sure I will guarantee your loan, that seems like a good thing to do, it's what friends and neighbours do for one another... Be careful Slow down Think When it comes to money people do strange things, so be wise. When committing to guarantee a loan for someone, it may get called up and you may have to pay. Would that be OK? Be careful Slow down Think Even when it's a good thing you are doing (helping someone else) is it actually a good thing, or the best way forward for them? Be careful Slow down Think #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon #think

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right...think about such things. Philippians 4:8 NIV Whatever is right. Paul's letter to the church is full of encouragement and hope. Why is that? Because we need it. We stuff up, make mistakes, get stuck in sin. All of us. And the key thing Paul calls us to use here is our mind. What we think about, what we fix our minds on. It's not about what pops into our mind but what we encourage to stay there. To dwell on. Today it's what is "right". This is about what is just. Fair. Impartial. My natural bias is to what I think is fair for me! Hardly impartial. So this forces me to try & think from the only just/right perspective. God's. Hard to do, but He has revealed himself in his word, in the person of Jesus so we have some clues. Will I try to think like Jesus? #thinkonthese #truth #honour #right #jesusatthecentre

Friday! Proverbs! There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, But its end is the way of death. Proverbs14:12 AMP Thats an attractive offer /option /person... This proverb is all about thinking. Thinking beyond the immediate, what Edward de Bono calls CAF Consider All Factors. Take a step back and CAF because the path may not be good for you - we have a bias in our decision making that stops us thinking too hard when what's in front of us is attractive...we discount the risk, the downside, what could go wrong, how it might affect other people...what we believe is right & wrong... #discernment #think #choosewisely #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon

Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews... ...When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, "You are charging your own people interest!" Nehemiah 5:1, 6-7 NIV They're charging interest! So what? Isn't that the way our world works? But God had already given them clear instructions on how to deal with all that was going on here in Deut 15 & 23. When the pressure came on Nehe from within his own team he did 2 things: 1. He had a good think. 2. He went back to what God had to say about how they should live. And that's what we need to do...slow down, have a think, look at what the law of love has to say... #think #love

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Philippians 4:8 NIV What a list of good things to focus on...and that's the point here - what we choose to think about - so easy to let the opposite things in from what we read, see, hear...the false, the dirty, the negative, the hurtful...it's not hard to find and so easy to let into our thinking...the comparing, jealousy, the wanting...so Paul says think about the good. Actively fill our minds with this list of goodness... choose to fix our minds here... #choose #think #whatwefixourmindonisimportant

Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered, "How..." Matthew 9:14-15 NIV It must've been a bit annoying that Jesus answered questions with questions...but it was all about getting people to think. Was it about fasting? Or had they forgotten the reason why they were fasting... Why do we take communion? Why not every Sunday? Why do you say grace before a meal? And others don't? If we've lost sight of the reason why we do things then they can just become religious activities that may be nice to do, but end up just rules to follow, something we think we have to do to be right with God... Jesus answers with a question because he wants us to think... #think