Practice And Protect

0:00 You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1362. Today's Devo is called Practice and Protect. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Happy Tuesday everyone. Stephanie here and I'm very excited to continue on in our series Reading the Proverbs. I love this book of the Bible. We need it in our everyday in every season.

0:43 So as I read one small portion of it, continue on afterwards and just read one chapter a day this month, I promise you it will start to open up your brain in ways that you could not even fathom. And those verses are going to like, nestle themselves in your heart. And when you need it most, it will come out of you and it's going to bless you and help you. So today I'm reading from 1 8 and I'm not going to read the entire chapter so you can continue on without me. But I just want to narrow down on these few verses. It says, when you sit to dine with the ruler, note well what is before for you and put a knife to your throat. If you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. Do not wear yourself out to get rich. Do not trust your own cleverness.

1:32 Cast but a glance at riches and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Do not eat the food of the begrudging host. Do not crave his delicacies, for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. Eat and drink, he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments. So this is very interesting, this little segment of Bible verses. And what I like about it is that these verses, first of all, they clearly say, do not do this. And then they all point to the theme of self control. You know, there's a lot of fun things that we can do in this life. I love enjoying an awesome dinner with my family and night with friends. It's a lot of fun to enjoy the fruits of our labors. However, if we don't practice self control, those fun things can eventually rule over us. What's interesting about these verses is that it mentions things that you can do in an instant. Self control takes days and weeks and years to practice and years to master. But it's funny how one second, only one moment can destroy it all. All the self control that you practice with drinking, with overeating, with being lazy, how you practiced holding your tongue, all of it can be reversed in the matter of seconds. The Bible says that self control is a fruit of the Spirit. It's the evidence that the Holy Spirit is within us. It's one of the greatest ways to stick out today because you won't find a lot of people with self control. In fact, you're going to hear people encourage you to just let go, follow your heart, do what you feel is right.

3:29 No one is promoting self control. And if you practice self control, I promise you you will stick out. And I also promise you that it is a great way to be a testimony of Jesus to others. Self control just isn't a practical lesson for business owners. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is the evidence of Jesus in your heart. So here's my advice for self control. Practice it and protect it. Do everything you can to keep your self control. And something I know about someone who has good self control control, the Lord tends to use those who've mastered it. So practice self control. Don't let those things rule over you, you rule over them. And watch how God uses it to be a testimony to others. Let's pray. God, we thank you for wisdom. We thank you for guiding us through wisdom.

4:23 We thank you for the proverbs, for allowing us to dive into the wisdom that is of heaven Jesus. I pray that if anything is out there to distract us, to get us off our game, I pray that it will be gone from our life right now. Jesus. And that today we will be a testimony of you because of our self control. That the fruit of the Spirit that is self control will glorify you in our day today. And God let us see the value in self control. Let us see the blessings that it can bring to our lives. And God give us the grace to pursue it. And in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend. Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.