Proverbs 22 - Riches, Honor, & Life

I'd like to take a moment to welcome you to today's post. We're blessed to have guest bloggers and devotionalists (I made that word up - what do you think?) Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles of www.ChristianDevotions.us with us today! Please welcome them with your warm comments below! Thanks for joining us, Eddie and Cindy!

"By humility and fear of the Lord

 Are riches and honor and life."

 ~Proverbs 22:4
  
My Wig Is Not That Big – He Said

By Christian Devotions Editor - Last updated: Friday, April 15, 2011

My Wig Is Not That Big

Jabez called out to the God of Israel: “If only You would bless me, extend my border, let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not cause any pain.”  And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
Listen to My Wig Is Not That Big – He Said
Agnes Bojaxhiu never went to college, never married and never owned a car. Her father died when she was eight years old. Ten years later she left home and never saw her mother or sister again. When she was thirty-six she received a “call within the call.” “I was to leave and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith.” Agnes wasn’t a big wig, but through her faith in a big God Mother Teresa’s work continues to extend far beyond the borders of her humble beginnings.
His mother died when he was nine years old. In 1832, he ran for state legislature and finished eighth in a field of thirteen candidates. The following year he and a partner opened a general store but the business failed. He sought to become speaker of the state legislature and lost. He applied for the job of land officer but was denied. In 1858 he missed a seat in the U.S. Senate when his party failed to win control of the state legislature. In 1860, however, he became the 16^th president of the United States and God’s shepherd for a divided nation. “I am almost ready to say that this is probably true, that God wills this contest.” “This contest”—the American Civil War—cost Abraham Lincoln his life. He wasn’t a big wig, but through his obedience he united a nation and extended the borders of freedom to an enslaved people.
Four years ago the desk clerk asked if I was a minister. “If so, you get the minister’s rate.”  Though I had helped found a small ministry I didn’t consider myself a minister. I refused. The next year, she asked again. Our ministry had grown so I reluctantly agreed to accept the discount. A short time later we launched a kid’s ministry, a book publishing division, a radio show, created a web site for teens, added another radio show and began teaching and speaking. This year we’ll host a creative arts festival aimed at kids ages seven-to-seventeen. Our goal is give youth the necessary tools to change the media and our culture. My wig is not that big but I serve a big God.
What borders are you bumping against? How is God challenging you to expand your area of influence? You may not be a big wig, but the size of your hair matters less than the size of your heart. Ask for God’s blessing. Then seek ways to expand your area of influence for Him.

Filed in He Said, She Said • Tags: Eddie, Encouragement, Example • Save & Share • 

 

Growing Pains – She Said

By Editor Cindy - Last updated: Friday, April 15, 2011

Bob the Fish

Jabez called out to the God of Israel: “If only You would bless me, extend my border, let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not cause any pain.”  And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10
Listen to Growing Pains – She Said
It’s a myth, but I question the validity of the science. The issue concerns Bob the fish. Folks say a fish will grow to fit its reservoir. I have to wonder if that’s a myth. When we dumped good ole’ Bob in our pond he was the size of a quarter. Now, he’s huge.
Oh, he’s not a monster fish by any means but when you consider this little fish’s size when we bought him and now he’s ten inches long and chunky (Is it okay to say chunky about a fish? I mean we’re not talking about tuna here), then I have to say Bob is an exception. Science teaches a fish’s growth is genetic. Bob will grow to the size his little DNA says and the worse I can do is stunt his growth by keeping him in a small bowl. (If you really must know, it has to do with waste in the water stunting the growth of the fish.) Still, Bob’s a big boy. He had all that space, and when you consider his original size, he’s certainly filled the area.
God must look at me like Bob the fish. He gives me this huge space to grow in Him spiritually and I stunt my growth by staying in the small bowl. There’s God and all He is, all He has…all I could ever need. Yet I hunker in one corner of my spiritual life never sticking my fins into deeper waters. That has to disappoint God. He’s given me such potential. He’s instilled His attributes and gifts so I can grow to fill His expectations of me.
Imagine being BIG in God! Getting to know Him better and better, allowing Him to stretch us and grow us, to expand our horizons. That’s why Jabez said, If only You would bless me, extend my border, let Your hand be with me…
Though there are some who will, most of us aren’t brazen enough to ask God to expand our territory. We anticipate the hardships and work that go along with an expanded vision. It’s not easy, but when we prove our worth and accept the growth God offers… wow, talk about doubling in size.
Are you happy being small in God when there is a huge reservoir you could fill? Be brave, step out. Experience growing pains. Ask God to extend your border and then bask in the blessing of abundance.

Eddie Jones and Cindy Sproles are friends and cofounders of ChristianDevotions.us. They cowrite the popular He Said, She Said devotions and host Blog Talk Radio’s Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! along with Scott McCausey. And now you can catch them each Friday evening at their new time, 6 p.m. on He Said, She Said Radio. (Call in number, 646-929-0706 ).

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Buy a Boy a Book on Valentine's Day!

Participate in our "Buy A Boy A Book On Valentine’s Day!" campaign and spur their imagination. Create within them a desire to read and set sail for a life of adventure, wherever that journey may take them.

Eddie Jones

Eddie Jones is a full time freelance writer and author of five non-fiction books, one young adult novel, and an adult romantic comedy. He has written over one hundred articles that have appeared in 20 different publications. He serves as Acquisition Editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and is a contributing writer for CBN.com, Christian Devotions Ministries, Living Aboard Magazine, The Ocracoke Observer, and Carolina Currents.

He has taught writing classes from Pennsylvania and the Carolinas to Colorado. As a book consultant, he has helped clients place completed projects with literary agents, book publishers, and magazine editors. Eddie has a keen eye for evaluating manuscripts and can advise clients on the marketability of their work.

Telling Tidal Tales

I'm a boat swab at heart, and a thief and liar when honest work proves unprofitable. This is why when my boys were little (and by this I mean we could still feed them without maxing-out our credit cards at the grocery store or causing a world-wide food shortage) I’d tell them pirate stories on our sailboat. I no longer have a sailboat. What I have instead are two boys in college. This is way better than a boat because unlike owning a boat, college tuition payments end—if not upon graduation then when the free frat parties stop. Boat alimony, on the other hand, goes on forever. I’m sure in some way, Noah is still paying on the Ark. B.O.A.T., by the way, means: “Break Out Another Thousand.” But if you’ve ever owned a boat you know this.

Anyway, at night, before I’d tuck my small boys into their bunks (a storage locker where we kept the anchor), we’d sit on the bow of our sailboat and I’d make up stuff. Today I do this as a writer but editors have shorter attention spans than my tiny tots. At least that’s what my agent says. So I’d tell these tidal tales and the hero of the story was this guy named Captain Stinky Foot. Captain Stinky Foot was named after my youngest son. If you’ve ever spent any time on a boat in August with a crew of unwashed young males then this needs no further explanation.

Telling pirate stories came naturally to me. I've always been fascinated by the stories of boys snatched away from London and Bristol and forced to serve before the mast. Seems to me life at sea was more fun than peeling potatoes. And more dangerous.

I’d use whatever props I could spy from the bow—a channel marker, boat fender, or crab pot—and I’d work it into the story. A few times every year my boy’s school would invite me in to tell pirate stories. My talks followed a predictable pattern. The teacher would ask everyone to sit quietly and listen, but know how it is with kids. There’s always some smart aleck who insists on cutting up. The teacher would interrupt, scowl and eventually nod for me to continue. Almost immediately, she’d have to stop me again: this time raising her voice. By the third time I knew she meant business. I also knew I’d get sent to the principle's office if I didn’t straighten up.

Now, when I’m asked to describe The Curse of Captain LaFoote, I explain that it’s a pirate tale awash in buried treasure, romance and dead men's bones. The truth is, this book and the ones that follow in the Caribbean Chronicle series are love stories. Ricky Bradshaw, the hero of the book, the story is a quest to find his soul mate and manhood. There are a lot of other deep and important themes explored in the book too.

There are a lot of other deep and important themes explored in The Curse of Captain LaFoote. Things like what the poop deck is and why cruise ships no longer use them, the secrets inside Davy Jones' locker, and why you shouldn't walk downwind of a pirate who's just eaten turtle soup.

Seriously, my main goals in writing this book was to spur the imagination of young readers. Boys especially.

According to KidSay Market Researchers, teen and tween online video and virtual gaming increased from 65% in 2007 to 91% in 2010. I'm a writer, not a math whiz, so I have no idea what those numbers mean but they sound really scary. So part of my goal is to give boys a compelling story they can fall into. I want to create within them a desire to read and set sail for a life of adventure, wherever that journey may take them. Even now I can see Ricky standing on the sugar-white sands of that island just south of Hispaniola. I am that boy. And so are a lot of other boys.

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