Encouragement Ink

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It's Wise to Stop Pretending

MY CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD

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It's Wise to Stop Pretending Fon Strong James

Welcome to the OABG Daily Blog and Podcast!

God can’t bless who we pretend to be. The Holy Spirit reminded me of that this morning and it got me to thinking. What blessings have we missed out on due to pretending to be someone else? Are we missing out on blessings because we are walking around pretending in certain areas or spaces of our lives? Are we pretending in our homes, in our schools, in our churches, in our work spaces, in our relationships, even with strangers?

This got me to thinking. And I want to invite you to think with me. What area of my life am I pretending and why? This is a great assignment question and I urge you to spend intentional time with the Father to get it answered. Why do I lie? Why do we pretend? Why do we be phony? What is the root of that? Let’s spend some time reflecting because I believe once we uncover it, our blessings meant specifically for us will be released.

Now I have to admit something to you. I am writing this blog post on my daughter’s laptop because my computer just went out. But I was determined to get this Word out and I know even more that it’s necessary.

As I studied the 12th chapter of Proverbs for the Scriptural Bible Study this morning, I got excited! It has one of my favorite verses in it. I love verse 4 of this chapter because to me it means…wifey reloading! That’s right! This time around, I will be wiser and I will be WHO God created me to be. Let’s check out my favorite verse (and I found this verse while making a personal Proverbs 31 confession!! Look what it says:

A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown. Christian Standard Bible.

The integrity and strength of a virtuous wife transforms her husband into an honored king. The Passion Translation

Now you see why I said wifey reloading! This verse is so encouraging because it lets us know that as wives, we can transform our husbands into honored kings! Now that same verse also lets us know that if we do the opposite and disgrace our husbands, we can weaken the strength of his identity. We definitely don’t want to do that. We want to make sure we are being who God created us to be. We want to be wives of noble character. Wives with integrity and strength. Virtuous wives. God can’t bless a wife who is pretending!! Now that’s a word right there! And if I am honest, I was pretending in a few areas the first time around. But thanks be to God that I will one day get another opportunity to be a wise wife, like He created me to be.

Now I know y’all are like, is that all she got from reading Proverbs 12? Nope, I got quite a bit more!

  1. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but one who hates correction is stupid! Oooweee, I sure do hope and pray you love discipline and correction. I do. I can always appreciate when someone lovingly corrects me.

  2. When we become Christians, we receive the mind of Christ. Now what is that? It means we are are guided by Christ’s thoughts and purposes. Well what are His thoughts and purposes? They are revealed in His Word. So in order to keep from slipping into our old way of thinking we have to read the Word of God. Righteous living can only proceed from righteous thinking.

  3. Everything we do must be built on a foundation of trusting God’s view of things, as revealed in His Word. Again, we can’t build nothing without reading God’s blueprint first.

  4. Being a nobody and having a servant is better than pretending to be somebody important and having no food. We got to stop this pretending. We out here driving nice cars and don’t have any food in the house. The Passion Translation says just be who you are and work hard for a living verses pretending to be important and starving to death! This made me think of the song by the Williams Brothers. I’m just a nobody, trying to tell everybody, about somebody, who can save anybody. Come on noooooow Williams Brothers!!!

  5. We are judged by our own words. Jesus said that!

  6. A fool can’t see when his spiritual eyesight is blurry and therefore he ends up never listening to good counsel. He just listens to himself and tells himself he is okay. Fool, don’t listen to yourself! And we all know when we be out here acting a fool!

  7. Foolish people are easily upset, but wise people pay NO ATTENTION to hurtful words.

  8. Sharp words cut like a sword, but words of wisdom heal. We must engage our minds before we speak, especially if we out here saying we got the mind of Christ, which is what we should have as Christians.

  9. Lying is contrary to God’s own character and behavior.

  10. An easy way to love and bless one another is to offer an encouraging word that cheers up someone who is struggling . We all have been struggling at some point in our lives.

  11. Lazy people don’t even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find. Now, see, this right here just busted me up. Wifey reloading got to cook y’all. It says it right here that we can’t be lazy and not cook the food we catch (the food we buy). When you are wise and diligent, you make use of everything God allows you to be blessed to find.

And on that note, be encouraged y’all to be wise and stop pretending. Whatever area you’re pretending in, take it God so that He can uncover the root of the thing and restore you back to who He created you to be.


Grab your copy of MY FAVORITE BIBLE (the purple Tony Evans Study Bible here) or if you prefer the hardcover Tony Evans Study Bible grab it here! (Please note these links are Amazon Affiliate Links and when you purchase OABG will get a portion of the proceeds to help fund our efforts).

P..S. Be sure to press play above or listen on the Anchor app to each episode as I always go deeper on audio and do me a favor and check out the podcast on the Anchor app so that you can leave me a message!! I would love to hear from you!


YOUR ASSIGNMENTS

  1. What did the Lord God say to you in your conversation with Him this morning?

  2. What area(s) of your life are you lying to yourself or to others? Talk to God about it.

  3. Share this post and this message with someone who needs to hear it. Leave me a message on podcast.

    REMINDER: Don’t forget to read the Scriptural Bible Study below and see what the Lord says to you about it.


SALVATION PRAYER

If you’re not a believer and have a desire to be, openly confess and declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). When you pray that prayer out loud, you are saved. Get connected with a good, bible-based church in your community and start having a conversation through prayer with God every day. And let me be the first to welcome you to your new life with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. YAAAAY!!!!! You made the best decision you could ever make! Feel free to email me at info@onassignmentbyGod.com and let me know about your newfound life or if you need prayer for anything.

Check out today’s Scriptural Bible Study!!


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