About Janet

I am a woman who stands in awe of her loving and Faithful God. I am the bride of Rich for 31 years, and the mother of four grown children. I recently retired from homeschooling all four of my kids for 21 years total. I am also the blessed grandmother of two. Currently I am a Bible teacher and weekly devotions writer for Women on Wednesdays Bible Study, a local women’s ministry. https://www.wowjcmo.com/ May God bless you and reveal to you His everlasting and faithful love!

The Way to Life- Reflections on Proverbs 6

Posted on January 6, 2024 by Janet

Good instruction and good teaching are priceless. Solomon admonishes his son to keep his command, and to “not forsake his mother’s teaching.” He encouraged his son to put them prominently before him at all times. Because his commands will illuminate his way showing the pathway to life.

”My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life.”  Proverbs 6:20-23 NIV

This verse is very similar to a Psalm Solomon’s father, David wrote:

”Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.“ Psalms 119:97-98, 105 NIV

God’s Word is the BEST instruction! It is wholly and completely tried and true. In order to live a life of success, His Word needs to be ever before us. We cannot make it without God’s Word illuminating our way. The Word is “the way to life!”

Danger!! Keep Away!! – Reflections on Proverbs 5

Posted on January 5, 2024 by Janet

Danger!! Warning!! Do Not Enter!! These road signs are put up for a reason. They are for the good of the individual driver, the passengers in their car, and everyone they pass by as the traverse from point A to point B.

Today’s chapter is a spiritual warning sign that Solomon posted for his son. “Keep Away From the Adulterous Woman!!” His advise makes perfect sense. Unfaithfulness in marriage wreaks all kinds of havoc in the lives of people: bitterness, death, aimless wandering, loss of honor and dignity are some of the listed consequences of today’s chapter.

However, there is a form of adultery that is not between a husband and wife. It is when we, as followers and lovers of God, choose to love something or someone more than God Himself. It is when we abandon the path of following God and His ways to follow another. It is spiritual adultery. Unfaithfulness to God is a path of destruction. The words of this Proverb declare this warning to us!

”For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.“
Proverbs 5:21-23 NIV

God sees our hearts. Our “ways are in full view of the Lord.” He wants our complete devotion to Him. This is all because He loves us and wants what is best for us.

Anything less than living a life of faithfulness to God and obedience to His Word is a life of spiritual adultery, sin. Sin wraps us in chains. Sin leads us astray from the path of life. Sin brings death into our lives.

God is declaring to us “Danger!! Keep Away!!” He wants for us to live free from the captivity of sin. He wants us to have lives of abundance in Him!

“Take Hold” the Pursuit of Jesus — Reflections on Proverbs 4

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Janet

Have you ever watched a sprinter in the Olympics? They are all in: eyes focused on the finish line, every muscle in their body working towards the goal at hand, every thought in their mind concentrating on the race. Today’s Proverb speaks of a pursuit similar to that:

”Then he taught me, and he said to me, “Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live.“

Proverbs 4:4 NIV

God has laid out His path to victory for our lives— the pursuit of God Himself. He tells us to “take hold of His Words with all our hearts.” We are to be “all in” in our pursuit of Him!

The spiritual heart is where our thoughts, our feelings, and our decisions originate from. It is that heart that we are to focus like a lazer beam on taking hold of God’s Words. Every bit of our thoughts, feelings and our decisions are to be set upon His Word. Why? Because God is His Word and His Word is God (John 1:1). He is to be the focus of our life.

Verse 7 states “Get Wisdom (truth in practice- Jesus the Wisdom of God) Though it cost you all you have…” Jesus is worthy of our most focused pursuit! He is worth giving up our own plans, our own desires, our own ways in order to attain! Why? Because He is life itself! All the things we prize that are not of him are only “deep darkness” that “makes us stumble.” Verse 19.

We are to be like the Olympic runner I mentioned at first. Focusing all we are on the race towards attaining Him. It is the only way to have life that is full of joy, peace, and contentment. Because joy, peace and contentment are only found in Jesus, the Wisdom that the book of Proverbs speaks of pursing.

Jesus the Wisdom of God: Reflections on Proverbs 3

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Janet

Proverbs is a book of Wisdom or applied truth. In scripture, wisdom is knowing God, seeing Him for who He is, loving Him, and obeying Him fully. Paul refers to Jesus as being the wisdom from God. (1 Corinthians 1:30) When we see Jesus for who He is, God, we love Him and desire to obey Him. We will experience Him as the one “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.“ (Colossians 2:3 NIV)

Today’s Proverb describes the benefits of wisdom: long life, riches and honor, pleasant ways, peace, the tree of life to all who take hold of her, a blessed life… Solomon admonished his son to “not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight…” Proverbs 3:21. This admonition applies to us today. We come to God in need of wisdom. We need to know how to apply the truth in our lives. We apply the truth when we receive it and act upon what it says. The most practical way we can experience wisdom in our lives is to see Jesus for who He is, accept Him into our lives, and act upon what He says.

We are told in Proverbs 3:13 that we are “Blessed” when we find wisdom. To be blessed is to be happy and prosperous. Simply put the way to true happiness and true prosperity is to seek God’s Wisdom from above, Jesus! He promises to be found by us when we seek Him with all our hearts. (Jeremiah 29:13)

Once we experience God’s Wisdom from above, we must not let Him out of our sight. Our focus must be Jesus! As Solomon told His son, wisdom and understanding are life to us. (Verse 21). We cannot truly live happy and fulfilled (i.e. blessed) lives unless Jesus is the center!

Passivity vrs Pursuit – Reflections on Proverbs 2

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Janet

Knowing someone doesn’t just happen. Today my husband and I celebrate 31 years of marriage. I can confidently say that he knows me better than anyone else on this planet, and I know him as well. But our knowing each other has taken time, commitment, and pursuit. We have to be intentional in our relationship.

Today’s Proverb talks about how we must be intentional with God if we truly want or know Him and to be intimate with Him. It says we must: “accept” His words; “Store up” His commands; “apply” our hearts to understanding; “call out”; “cry aloud”; “ look for it as silver”; “search for it as for hidden treasure”. In short, We Must Pursue!!

If we truly want or understand the fear of the Lord- reverential awe of God because we see Him rightly giving us the desire to Love Him with everything we have and to Hate sin; If we want to “find the knowledge of God” i.e. Know Him…We Must Pursue Him!

We must take time to seek Him and commit ourselves to Him. The benefits of knowing God are endless. In verse 7 and 8 He describes a couple of them, Godly success in our lives and His protection.

”He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.“
Proverbs 2:7-8 NIV

May we commit in this New Year to pursue God and knowing Him!

The Fear of the Lord – Reflections on Proverbs 1

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Janet

Success… we all desire to have it.

King Solomon was the most successful King of the Bible. He amassed wealth and had great wisdom. God gave these to him because he had a heart that desired wisdom above all. Proverbs is a book full of wisdom that Solomon wrote about. The principles within are principles of success.

Solomon begins his book of Proverbs with the key ingredient to a successful life, “the fear of the Lord.”

The fear of the Lord is defined as a reverential awe of God that springs from a just view and genuine love for Him. The fear of the Lord leads us to hate/ shun evil. It leads us to aim for perfect obedience of God. Solomon writes:

”The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.“
Proverbs 1:7 NIV

When we see God rightly, (He is all powerful, all knowing, always present. He is Holy. He is just…) we want to love Him and obey Him. When we see God rightly, we want to run from sin.

Proverbs 1 says “fools despise” this wisdom. They “hate knowledge” and they do not “choose to fear the Lord.” (Verse 1:29)

We have started a New Year. Newness always brings about hope for success. The recipe for success is spelled out clearly in Proverbs 1:

CHOOSE TO FEAR THE LORD. See God for who He is. Love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And Hate Sin —have nothing to do with it. Run from it! Repent of it! Ask God to set you free from it!

Success in the New Year will only come as you choose to Fear the Lord!

Christmas — God’s Invitation to Experience Him — Luke 24

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Janet

There is something about a newborn baby being held upon your chest— the sweet smell, the warm cuddles, the tiny cries. The experience of holding your own is like none other.

At Christmas we celebrate the arrival of Jesus the newly born King and the experience of Him as He walked upon the earth 2000 — miraculous touch upon those He healed, the sound of His voice speaking the truth on a hillside, His laughter, His compassionate tears. Yes, Jesus was God’s invitation for us to experience Him!

Even in Jesus’s death we were invited to experience God — a voice crying it is finished, darkness, the earth shook, the temple veil torn. Then Jesus defeats death by His resurrection and once again the disciples were invited to experience Him.

“While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”“ 
Luke 24:36-39 NIV

Look at me, touch me, and see! Experience Me as the Risen King!

Jesus is still inviting us to experience God! This is the very essence of the story of Jesus we read in the Bible. It is what we celebrate at Christmas, Jesus our Emmanuel — God with us!

His invitation has been sent to us — Come, see, feel my touch, experience and know Me!

This Man Has Done Nothing Wrong — Reflections on Luke 23

Posted on December 23, 2023 by Janet

We are familiar with the account of Jesus’ birth. We are also familiar with the accounts of Jesus’ death. The familiarity sometimes produces a carelessness in our approach to God. It is very true that Jesus loves us. This is why He came. Sin had separated us from God, who loves us so very much.

Jesus takes sin very seriously. He knows that our sin is what keeps us from experiencing Him and His love. It keeps us from being close and connected to Him. Jesus took sin so seriously that He was willing to suffer and die a horrendous death on the cross. He took upon Himself the punishment we all deserve for the sin in our lives. As the thief on the cross pointed out.

”We (himself and the other thief) are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man (Jesus) has done nothing wrong.”“
Luke 23:41 NIV

Jesus had done nothing wrong… He knew the only way we could be free of sin and it’s destruction was His sacrifice.

Jesus took sin seriously, but do we? We come to Him desiring for our lives to be bettered by Him, but freedom from sin comes through the cross. When we receive Jesus’ forgiveness and cleansing we then need to follow Him further to the cross. At the cross we die to ourselves, we die to sin so we can be alive in Him. Sin destroys! I ask you as Paul did, “How can we who are dead to sin live any longer there in?” Romans 6:2.

The Baby we celebrate this time of year came with a mission to destroy the power of sin. He lived His life on earth to fulfill the mission of the cross. As we receive the gift of Christmas— Jesus’ salvation, may we continue to follow Him from the manger to the cross where sin must die.

The God of the Living – Reflections on Luke 20

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Janet

Christmas is about HOPE. Hope is the confident expectation of good. Jesus came as a baby to bring hope into a world that was darkened by sin and filled with death and separation.

The baby born at Christmas, Jesus, is the victor over death, and in today’s passage He proclaimed truth about who God is.

”He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”“

Luke 20:38 NIV

God is the God of the living. This year these words mean a lot to me. The older I get the more people I love have died. I suppose this trend will continue until I join them or Jesus comes. But for those who are in Jesus, death is not the end. Jesus proclaimed “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” John 11:25 NIV.

Because of Jesus, I can confidently expect good even when faced with death. Because even though the ones around me die or I die, death is not the end. Jesus came so I could truly live!

Praise God who is the God of the living!

Hanging on Every Word He Says — Reflections on Luke 19

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Janet

“All the people hung on his words.”
Luke 19:48

Can you imagine what it would have been like to sit and listen to the very words of Jesus coming from His mouth? Can you picture His eyes as they would meet your own eyes as you sat in the crowd?

It must have been amazing to be there during the days He ministered in Jerusalem. Crowds followed Him everywhere He went. Perhaps they desired to just to hear His voice, or it could have been to experience His healing touch. Whatever the reason was Luke wrote that the people “hung on His words.” They simply could not get enough.

Jesus is the same today as He was then.

He longs to be the desire of our hearts and for us to “hang on every word” He says. He still speaks and He still invites us to come.

We can still experience Him!

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