Scripture Union Daily Discovery 17th October 2020 Today Message
TODAY’S TOPIC: YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND?
Opening Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, friend of sinners, that You chose me for a loving relationship with You while I was lost in unlovely sin.
Read Proverbs 27:1–17
27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips.
3 Stone is heavy and sand a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?
5 Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.
7 One who is full loathes honey from the comb,
but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
8 Like a bird that flees its nest
is anyone who flees from home.
Scripture Union Daily Discovery 17th October 2020
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of a friend
springs from their heartfelt advice.
10 Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family,
and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you—
better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.
11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart;
then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.
12 The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.
14 If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse.
15 A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping
of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
16 restraining her is like restraining the wind
or grasping oil with the hand.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect: Scripture Union Daily Discovery 17th October 2020
Is it easy for you to share your struggles with others? With God?
Recently I met with a man whose midlife crisis had cost him his marriage and involvement in church leadership. What saddened me most was that he’d not felt able to trust anyone sufficiently to ask for help during the five years he’d been feeling tormented. It’s tragic when Christians are afraid to be vulnerable in church. How safe is it to be authentic in your fellowship? How have you experienced what it is to “carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) and to “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32)?
“Heartfelt advice” (9) is pleasant for it comes from a place of loving compassion towards the person to whom it’s offered. If our speaking the truth in love could wound someone, we’d better demonstrate that we’re their faithful friend who’ll be there to help them walk through the implications of it (6). Metal scraping against metal (17) does not suggest a comfortable process of refinement, but represents God’s discipline, which comes from a heart that longs to see us free and flourishing. Ultimately, it’s so the metal produced in us is gold!
Apply: To whom could you become a spiritual brother, sister, mother or father? Your wisdom could be vital to help the less mature and they might sharpen you up too (12, 17)!
Closing Prayer: Even as I think of speaking into someone else’s life, Lord, speak to my heart and transform me with Your truth today.
THROUGH THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
Jeremiah 27, 28; John 10
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