The wages of the righteous bring them life,

but the income of the wicked brings them punishment.

Proverbs 11:16

And:

The blessing of the Lord brings wealth,

and he adds no trouble to it.

Proverbs 11:22

A reminder today that there are many ways to obtain wealth. It can be honestly earned or wickedly obtained. It’s interesting to note in verse 16 that the income of the wicked will bring them punishment.

And yet in verse 22 it assures us that the Lord’s blessing will bring wealth and “he adds no trouble to it.”

I suppose everyone wrestles with the idea of having more wealth. We all have that desire. But that desire leads to different methods of obtaining the wealth. In my own personal quest for wealth (which isn’t the idea of being super rich, but just being able to take care of my family), I want to fall on the side of the Lord’s blessing that will bring wealth without trouble added to it.

Lazy hands make a man poor,

but diligent hands bring wealth.

Proverbs 10:4

Sometimes it feels really amazing to be lazy. To just take a day off and do nothing. I need those kind of days.

But I often find myself at the end of those lazy days wanting more. It’s an addiction of sorts. I know my lazy time is coming to an end and I have to get back to work and I just think, If I only had one more lazy day.

If I get that second lazy day, after day two I start thinking, If I only had one more lazy day.

I wasn’t put on earth to be lazy. God made me to work. I am in his presence when I’m working hard and doing my best. I can find his Spirit when I’m solving a problem at work. God didn’t put me here to be lazy. He put me here to work. Let me remember these verses at the end of those lazy days and become eager to get back to work and back in God’s desire for me to contribute, not just exist.

I love those who love me,

and those who seek me find me.

With me are riches and honor,

enduring wealth and prosperity.

My fruit is better than fine gold;

what I yield surpasses choice silver.

I walk in the way of righteousness,

along the paths of justice,

bestowing wealth on those who love me

and making their treasuries full.

Proverbs 8: 17-21

In my attempt to get my personal finances under control, pay off debt and earn more money in general, I need to be careful not to put wealth over wisdom.

When I first read these verses I started thinking, Great, with God are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. Perfect.

Of course once I read on I see these verses are talking about wisdom. Just a few verses earlier it says:

Choose  my instruction instead of silver,

knowledge rather than choice gold,

for wisdom is more precious than rubies,

and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Proverbs 8:10-11

I have started to pray for wisdom. Wisdom for myself. Wisdom for my family. Wisdom for my finances. Wisdom for my career. Isn’t that more important than wealth? I think so. I honestly believe this kind of desire for wisdom will bring it’s own source of wealth and it might not be silver or gold, but it will worth more than both combined.

I also love the beginning of these verses where it says “those who seek me, find me.” I want to do a better job seeking God and His wisdom in my life.

How long will lie you there, you sluggard?

When will you get up from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest -

and poverty will come on you like a bandit

and scarcity like an armed man.”

Proverbs 6:9-11

Funny these verses popped up in my studies last week because I have been battling with waking up each morning  early enough to read my Bible and write in my journal and do a few other study items before having to leave for work.

It wouldn’t be a problem if I couldn’t blame it on something other than myself so my excuse is the my kids are out of school for the summer. Huh? Well, when school is in session, they have to be up and ready to go by 7am. After they leave at 7, I have until 9am to read, write and get ready for work. But now that the summer is here, everyone is sleeping in, including me.

I’m not sleeping in late enough that I skip my reading and writing entirely, but I’m rushed and if I rush this process I don’t get much out of it. I need to make more time and get back to waking up early and having two hours to prepare for my day.

The verses above really made me think about the time I spend sleeping. I believe I have certain skills that I naturally excel at. One of those is sleeping. I can sleep anywhere for any length of time. And I have a very hard time waking up. I love my snooze button.

I want to get back in the habit of being awake early enough this summer to learn new things, read my Bible and write in my journal. If I don’t do these things then I’m not adequately prepared for my day.

I don’t want to be a sluggard. My prayer this summer is I’m up and at it each morning with the hope that I avoid that bandit above.

I’m proud to say I read Moby Dick but it wasn’t easy. Anyone who has read Moby Dick knows what I’m talking about.

Reading the entire Bible wasn’t easy either. There are parts that are hard to understand and overall it can be very intimidating to even start reading because of the sheer size of the book.  Most people take a quick glance and think, Impossible, before even trying to begin.

The photo above is the Bible I bought specifically for reading the entire book in a year. The translation is The Message Bible which is an updated translation that doesn’t contain any verse numbers. I grew up in church so reading a Bible without verse numbers was odd at first, but I found after a few pages it actually made the reading easier and I came to really enjoy it.

When I purchased the Bible I thought, How am I going to read this entire book? as it seemed so large. I had an idea. I flipped to the final page of the Bible, page 1,451. I then divided that number by 365 – the number of days in a year – and came up with 3.97, the average number of pages I needed to read each day to read the entire Bible in a year.

It occurred to me, I only have to read 4 pages each day to read the entire Bible in a year. I don’t know about you, but I can find time to read 4 pages a day. When I first began I read in the morning and evenings…whenever I had a chance (even on my lunch hour!). I would read those 4 pages no matter what to stay on track.

And every day, every week, every month, I would see my progress. I could see the amount I had read and what was left but it was never overwhelming. I was able to break it down into something I could handle and that changed everything for me.

I believe this could work for any Bible you might own. Just see how many pages from Genesis to Revelation and divide that number by 365. You will have a number that will represent how many pages per day you need to read to complete the Bible in a year. Then find time each morning or evening to read those pages and stick with it.

One excuse I’ve heard a lot from others is that the Bible is hard to understand and it frustrates people enough that they avoid reading it completely. I have felt this way many times.

People will tell you it’s hard to understand because of your heart or because you’re not in tune with God and even though there is some truth there, I’m going to tell you what my philosophy is:

The Bible is hard to understand and it always will be, but that shouldn’t stop you from reading it.

In Charles Stanley’s book, 10 Principles for Studying Your Bible, he suggests a simple prayer to recite before reading, “God, teach me more about Yourself.”

He backs this up perfectly with the following verse from Jeremiah 33:3 – “Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you don’t know.”

God knows that we won’t understand everything we read in His word. If we did, we wouldn’t have to rely on Him to show us certain things or teach us His ways.

I decided to not worry about understanding anything I read. I just wanted to make it through and I did. And as I continued to read, often I would pick up on something I had never noticed before. Some days the reading offered me nothing at all, but just knowing that I had accomplished my goal for that day was fulfilling enough for me.

One other quick tip…I purchased a copy of Halley’s Bible Handbook which gives explanations on each book of the Bible and even each chapter within the book. Actually, it does a lot more than just those two things, providing a wealth of information on Biblical timelines, facts, people and so much more. At times when I was reading and found myself confused or lost, I would reference Halley’s to get me back on track.

Today I noticed the following verses:

“Keep falsehood and lies from from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise I may have too much and disown you

and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’

Or I may become poor and steal,

and so dishonor the name of my God.” – Proverbs 30:8-9

I’ve absolutely geeked out about my personal finances. I’m trying to pay off debt and I have been motivated before in the past but after reading The Simple Dollar by Trent Hamm (also, Start Late, Finish Rich by David Bach and while I’m at it, I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi) I really got started chipping away at debt and put a plan in action to save money.

I’m also addicted to the following personal finance blogs:

• The Simple Dollar
• Get Rich Slowly
• Man Vs Debt

The verses above jumped out at me this morning because in my quest for getting my finances in order I need to remember why I am doing so. For me it’s protection for my family and to allow us to eventually have room in our financial life to be more spontaneous and make unique life decisions.

But my goal should also be what is listed above…to pray for neither poverty NOR riches, but only my daily needs. Riches will cause me to turn away from the Lord while being poor will cause me to make desperate decisions that will distort His reputation.

So as I dig more and more into personal finance, I aim to remember this prayer and not lose focus on God while dealing with my financial progress in life.

My #1 excuse was always that I never had enough time to read my Bible every day.

But in reality, I did have enough time, I just never set it aside to read my Bible.

Out of all my excuses, this is the hardest to overcome because it involves will power. It involves making the decision to actually show up every day and be there to read, whether I feel like it or not.

I read each morning before I begin my day. I used to just jump out of bed, eat, shower and go to work. Now I take time to read and study each morning. At first this was hard, now it’s a habit. If I don’t read my Bible in the morning my day feels wrong right from the beginning.

Here is my best tip for beginning the habit of reading your Bible daily: All you need to do is start and then finish.

That might seem too simple but people tend to approach Bible reading with the idea that they need to be sitting on the top of a mountain with their legs uncomfortably crossed and experiencing divine intervention and insight while reading every single word.

This is not to belittle the idea of reading the Word of God. It is very important. But sometimes that sense of importance frustrates us because we don’t immediately feel good about ourselves or even understand what we read.

Waking up early to read was not easy for me at first. I’m not a morning person. To be honest, there were mornings where I wouldn’t even get out out of bed, I would just roll over, grab my Bible, read my pages and sometimes fall back asleep immediately after. Was it the most productive way to read the Bible? No. But it was part of the process for me and the more interested I became in what I was reading the easier it became to roll out of bed for my reading time.

My goal was to just read the Bible, that was it. I didn’t expect anything profound, I just wanted to read it completely.

Honestly, my daily readings probably take between 20 and 30 minutes total. I make it a point to read my scheduled pages from start to finish, straight through and then revisit anything I didn’t understand or make a note of anything I want to study more in depth later.

Tips:

• Just start, then finish – Sounds simple, right? It is. Just find where you left off the day before and read your daily page limit.
• Don’t over think the process – Focus on the goal of reading the entire Bible, not how or where you read it. At first, this will be the only thing to get you through when you feel like quitting.
• Don’t feel guilty if you didn’t have a miraculous experience – There are plenty of times when I read the Bible and g0t very little from what I read. Is that wrong? I don’t think so. Again, my goal was to read the entire Bible and let it speak to me from beginning to end. If I quiet my inner worries about not feeling spiritual while reading my daily pages and just work my way through I will almost always stumble upon a passage that will speak to me. In years past, I just opened the Bible and hoped it would speak to me. I learned more working my way through each day than I ever did with blindly opening and picking a random passage.

My next post will give specifics tips on how to not worry about understanding what you read the first time through.

Actually it only took one year to read it from cover to cover, but it wasn’t until I turned 32 that I actually read the entire Bible.

You can read the Bible easily in one year. Many plans exist to help you with this task, but you will fail at most of them. I should know, I failed at them for 32  years.

Here are the top 5 excuses I told myself to avoid the inevitable guilt that came along with not reading my Bible daily:

• I Don’t Have Enough Time - Guess what? I actually did have enough time and you do too. I’ll show you were to find the time.

• I Don’t Understand It - Congratulations, you’re normal. There are things about the Bible that are hard to understand and yet there are so many things worth learning outside of the confusing issues. I will explain how I decided to stick with my plan despite the parts that confused or even frustrated me.

• I Can’t Possibly Read a Book That Big – I thought the same thing and then I read Moby Dick. Trust me, if I can read Moby Dick AND The Bible, you can too (I’d still suggest The Bible before Moby Dick though).

• The Bible Makes Me Feel Guilty – This one was my favorite…and still is. I will show you how I overcame my Bible reading as a guilt ridden experience and came to love the process instead.

• I Know I Won’t Succeed – Why Bother? - I failed at all of the other programs, why will this time be any different? I will explain how I set myself a goal to achieve this task and followed through with it easily.

Over the next few posts I will list why these excuses were actually pretty lame and how I defeated each one while reading my Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

What’s your excuse?

I’m curious how the magicians were able to produce the same results in three separate instances: staffs turning to snakes, water turning into blood and producing frogs like Moses and Aaron did.

Later in Chapter 8 though we see that they are not able to produce gnats and told Pharaoh that God was behind this. Pharaoh still remained stubborn and wouldn’t let the Israelites leave.

I find it interesting that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and made him stubborn. I understand this was an attempt to show his glory to both the Egyptian and Israelite people. Looking back, I wonder if there are times in my life when God has shown me something but hardened my heart in order for His glory to be seen in greater ways?