I was meeting with the Master of the universe this morning, and He told me/us to do the following:

  1. Be generous. Give & give …don’t crave & crave (#Prov.21:26) …(see also Proverbs 22:9, “Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed for he shares his bread with the poor.”).
  2. Take risks. Don’t be ruled by fear. (#Prov.22:13, “The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!”)
  3. Make no friendship with a person given to hysteria, chronic discontent, incessant scorn & a critical and demanding spirit, fretfulness, and anger; lest you learn their ways and entangle yourself in a snare (#Prov.22:24-25). Who do you know who is always complaining about being the victim? Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? (#Prov.23:29).
  4. Work hard as the joy set before you, and embrace the satisfaction and liberty of becoming VERY SKILLFUL in your work (#Prov.22:29, “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings.”).
  5. Be content with what you have. Do not desire delicacies, for they are deceptive food. Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. (#Prov.23:3-4). In other words, be like Samuel Hamilton [from Salinas Valley California], or David [son of Jesse, from Bethlehem in the central West Bank of Palestine], or Saul of Tarsus [a.k.a. Paul the church planter and author of the letter 2 Corinthians] …these dudes who worked 60 – 80 hours a week …not for wealth, but because work is good for you, and when you’re joyfully working you don’t have nearly as much time to pummel people with your groanings, quarrelsome opinions, scoffings, contemptuous critical comments, and complaints.
  6. Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die (#Prov.23:13). …If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol (#Prov.23:14).
  7. Apply your heart to instruction (#Prov.23:12). This is what it means to SUBMIT. …so if you are a member of an organization where you cannot (in clear conscience, as the joy set before you) apply your heart to the instruction of the leaders of that organization, then you need to radically repent or leave.
  8. Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease.(#Prov.22:10). Who do you know who’s always being critical, and wielding their opinion with inordinate aggression and scorn? Drive that person out, and abuse and quarreling will cease. Imagine the relief!