November 4, 2026 -- Proverbs 16:7 -- Light that pierces the darkness of your circumstances

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

When a man’s ways please the LORD,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Proverbs 16:7 ESV
 
What you do matters. When you have been rescued from the present evil age through the cross of Jesus Christ, you respond with your whole life. You live in gratitude to the Living God. The commandments become for you the pathway of thankful living. Since we are in Christ, His righteousness is ours. Since we are in Christ, the Spirit of God sanctifies us, that is, the Spirit of God is showing us our lingering sin and causing us to hate it and turn from it so we can with wholehearted love, and pure joy, serve Jesus.
 
Look at Ecclesiastes “For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy” (Ecclesiastes 2:26a). Those are wonderful blessings our Father in heaven is giving to those whom He loves: wisdom, knowledge and joy. Now think of how today’s text and this one from Ecclesiastes form the backdrop of one of the beatitudes.
 
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” Matthew 5:9 ESV. I know, there will be readers who howl and say, but what about persecution? If we love God and serve Jesus then the enemies of God will mock, imprison, hurt and work against the child of God. True, but even then, look at the mercy of God. When Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph, and because of her lies he was put into prison, even the prison officials recognized that Joseph was a man of integrity and promoted him in the prison. When the apostle Paul was in prison, the prison guards realized his imprisonment was for Christ and the whole imperial guard learned who Jesus is.
 
Dear fellow Christ, wherever you are, know this: God the Father loves you. Wherever you are, devote yourself to serving Him mind and words, plans and actions. The Spirit of God has placed you in a community, no matter where that is, so that you can witness to the work of Jesus. People are watching you, waiting to see if what you profess to be true matches your actions, especially when the times are tough. They are waiting to see do you really believe what you say, or do you fold like a house of cards at the first sign of trouble? When our ways please the LORD in good times and hard times, in busy times and in boredom, people notice. They want to know, how is it you have holy joy even in the hardest of circumstances. It is Jesus. He is our lasting treasure, the soul’s deep reward. Pleasing the LORD is not burdensome to us because we walk in fellowship with Jesus, His Son, our Savior, the light of our life.
 
Holy Father, we rejoice in the Great Light of Christ. We’d once walked in the darkness of our sins and were rushing headlong to death and hell. But in Your great mercy and love You rescued us and the light of salvation dawned on us. The longer we know you, the greater is that light growing ever closer to noon day brilliance. Thank You for the Holy Spirit Who gives us all we need for life and godliness, no matter the circumstances of our lives. By the power of Your indwelling Spirit, show us everything that is blocking our relationship with You; reveal our sins so we can hate them and having confessed them, repent and turn to You. With the Psalmist we pray, let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O LORD, my God. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/zrF5r7umyeU?si=If0SMBWFFL7mUaZo
 

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