Proverbs 3 - Love and Faithfulness

3:3-4 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man
I love this scripture as this is not the only time that we are told to bind God's word around our necks and write them on our heart. Binding your neck is like having a harness, something you cannot forget it there. Writing God's word on the tablet of your heart means that it is engraved into your being. If you do this you will have God's favor and will alsway have a good name as it you will always be prepared to give testimony to God's goodness and to speak of where your joy comes from

3:5-6 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight
This is one my favorite verses in all the bible. Partly because I always remember this scripture and I truly live it. One thing I can say about myself is that I am always in communication with God. I talk to Him all day. I need to list more but I do lean on His words and understanding. My paths have sometimes seemed crooked to me but when I look back I see that God's is making my path straight toward Him

3:11-12 11 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father [b] the son he delights in
I guess I am wierd. I have always loved the Lord's discipline. I often feel that God is not present is things are going to good and expect some sort of his discipline. I need discipline. Without it I stray. I know He loves me when He corrects me and that gives me great pleasure to know HE delights in ME

3:27-28 27 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. 28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow"— when you now have it with you
This scripture is absolutely true but somehow seems to contradict what most churches do in the way of mission work, especially with the relief work that I am doing now. I feel that our church is not very discerning in those we are assisting. I understand that we need to reach out to those who don't know the Lord, to be His hands and feet in this time of extreme need. But we seem to be spending too much time helping our own and not reaching out to those that don't know the Lord and helping them. To me that is what we should be doing and we are. But we also need to be reaching the lost right now. That is what this scripture means about giving to your neighbor when he needs it. Our neighbor is everyone and most of our neighbors are lost. Just today was a prime example. We were using tractors with box blades and front end loaders to help some of our church members whose homes in Surfside have been enundated with sand, trash, shell, and brush from the storm surge. When a lady come over to ask our help (she was not in the group of members we were helping), they shunned her and I felt wrong. Had it been my tractor I would have stayed the night and helped her and I have vowed to go back somehow with a tractor and help this lady.