Under Gods Command
Proverbs 12:21 No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble.
This is a general, but not universal, truth. Although harm does happen to the righteous, they are able to see opportunities in their problems and move ahead. The wicked, without God’s wisdom are ill-equipped to handle their problems.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 7:1-5 My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “you are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.
Sons often neglect their father’s instructions and warnings. If they forget them, they will not be ready, when temptation is in their eyes, ears, heart, and loins. And the temptation here is dangerous and powerful – a beautiful and skilled adulteress (7:5-27). The same lesson applies to young women, when they are infatuated with a handsome man. Solomon begins and ends his warning with appeals to remember his advice (7:1-4,24).
The dangers of not remembering are great. How will a young man resist, when his eyes are full of her beauty, his ears full of her flattery, his heart full of her offered love and submission, and his loins full of desire (5:3;6:24-25; 7:13-21)? How will a young woman resist, when her eyes are full of his manliness, her ears full of his flattery, her heart full of his attention and affection, and her body craves his full embrace (Gen 34:1-3)?
By nature, a son does not value his father’s warnings. He deceives himself to believe that his father is out of touch with the world, that his father overstates the danger, that his father wants to deprive him of pleasure, that his father never met a desirable woman, that his father did not have sexual lusts, or that he can escape the consequences his father describes. All these are damnable lies from a foolish youthful heart and the father of lies.
Sons must trust fathers and esteem their advice and warnings. Every father was once a young man with the same desires and temptations. But a father has survived youth and reflected much on what is best for his son. He has long-term success in mind, not short-term pleasures that will ruin his life! Fathers love their sons more than any woman will ever love them, even a virtuous wife! Young man, keep your father’s commandments!
Young men must resist the attraction and temptation of a whorish woman by having their minds firmly established in their fathers’ commandments long before they encounter this very dangerous creature. Once they are even slightly captivated by the appearance, flattery, or offers of a seductress, it becomes almost impossible to recall any warnings.
But what will a young man do, whose father does not teach or warn him about such a woman? He will be helpless before the drawing power of her body and wiles. Such fathers are accomplices in the destruction of their sons! Though he may have advised and warned about many dangers, he neglected the most harmful. Fathers, save your sons!
Reader! God your Father has given His commandments and law to you. Do you keep them as the apple of your eye? Do you read them daily? Do you meditate upon them? Do you tremble before their warnings and rejoice at their instruction? Or do you deceive yourself that you can forget or neglect them and survive? Do not be a fool!
This is very serious. We wonder why we have hardships. Well, some of them we brought on ourselves. Please read Joe Quatrone blog on Consequences
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows (Galatians 6:7).
Very few things motivate us to give God our undivided attention like being faced with the negative consequences of our decisions. Regardless of our guilt, we find the courage (or nerve) to turn to God for help and oftentimes a miracle. We make promises to Him as if this would change His mind about our situation. Suddenly, we’re concerned for the welfare of others. We look for whatever leverage we can find to get God to do something on our behalf.
Many of us experience tension because we live daily with the painful consequences of sin. Mistakenly, we thought, hoped, or were told that once we accepted Christ, God would miraculously erase our consequences. With the daily evidence He has not taken away our consequences, some of us conclude we have not…
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Under Gods Command
Proverbs 6:1-5 My son, if you have put security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, If you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
These verses are not a plea against generosity, but against overextending one’s financial resources and acting in irresponsible ways that could lead to poverty. It is important to maintain a balance between generosity and good stewardship. God wants us to help our friends and the needy, but he does not promise to cover the costs of every unwise commitment we make. We should also act responsibly so that our families do not suffer.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 27:18 He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.
With all the problems and concerns a leader has, it can be easy to overlook the very people who most deserve attention-faithful employees or volunteers (those who tend the fig trees). The people who stand behind you, who work hard and help you get the job done, deserve to share in your success. Be sure that in all your worrying, planning, and organizing, you don’t forget the people who are helping you the most.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 24:08 He who plots evil will be known as a schemer.
Plotting to do evil can be as wrong as doing it because what you think determines what you will do. Left unchecked, wrong desires will lead us to sin. God wants pure lives, free from sin, and planning evil spoils the purity even if the evil action has not yet been committed. Should you say, “Then I might as well go ahead and do it because I’ve already planned it”? No. You have sinned in your attitude, but you have not yet damaged other people. Stop in your tracks and ask in Jesus name for God to forgive you and put you on a different path.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 23:29-30
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. “They hit me, “ you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”
The soothing comfort of alcohol is only temporary. Real relief comes from dealing with the cause of the anguish and sorrow and turning to God for peace. Don’t lose yourself in alcohol; find yourself in God.
Be alerted to the dangers of wine (drinking) It dulls the senses, it limits clear judgment, it lowers the capacity for control and it destroys a person’s efficiency. To make wine an end result in itself, a means of self-indulgence, or as an escape from life is to misuse it and invite the consequences of the drunkard.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 22:06 – Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Child training works! A properly trained child will fear God and live a wise and righteous life as an adult. An untrained child will not fear God or live a wise and righteous life as an adult. Only a miracle of grace can undo poor child training. God is faithful. His Word is true. Do not question this promise. Exceptions do not alter the rule. Believe it! Do it!
There is no secret or mystery here. Slothful parents hunt for special methods to train their children. They are always looking, reading, buying books, and attending seminars, but they are hardly ever training. Action is more important than technique. Consistency is more important than intensity. Stop looking for an easier or smarter way. Get busy!
This proverb is a commandment, not a suggestion. It is a promise, not a possibility. Bible believers trust this rule as much as any other verse. They are not intimidated by the task before them. They put their trust in the precious Scripture, and they get to work, today!
Solomon said, “Train.” He did not say raise. We raise vegetables, but we train children. Feeding a child nutritious meals, providing warm clothing, giving him his own bedroom, and kissing him good night is not training. Most every species of animals does these things for their young. Training a child is calculated instruction and discipline to form long-term character and wisdom in the fear of the Lord and knowledge of Scripture.
We train them “up.” This describes the period from birth to maturity. Training can begin immediately, as infants can be taught a feeding schedule and that not all crying gets immediate attention. It progresses from a control stage to an instruction stage, then to a counseling stage. It continues through puberty and a whole new set of issues. It continues to maturity, when a young adult creates a new home and starts the process again.
We train them up “in the way.” Parents cannot train every step, but they can train the way (Gen 18:19). God gives them to us with a blank slate for a mind. We fill that mind with godly knowledge and wisdom. As Scripture does not dictate every step of our lives, allowing us much individual liberty, so we train them in the way of godliness.
They are to be trained up in the way “they should go.” It cannot be the way they want to go. Each child defaults to foolishness and sin from our first parents. Without training against that default instinct, they will grow into committed and hardened sinners. No training is default training – you will have a fool for a child (29-15). The way they should go is the way of righteousness laid out plainly in Scripture (Duet 6:4-9; Eph 6:4)
When they are “old,” they will follow the training. Here is a promise to be believed, but it also allows for possible difficulties during adolescence, or the teenage years, before they are “old.” Properly trained as a child, the teenage years do not have to be difficult. If trained consistently, they will revert to that training as an adult. Believe it! Count on it!
What is child training? It is a consistent example of righteous living that the child can first feel and then observe as they grow up. It is teaching the existence of God and the absolute authority of the Bible. It is enforcing God’s rules and parental authority strictly and severely. It is teaching by reproof and the rod. It is teaching by repetition throughout the day. It is using both positive and negative reinforcement for behavior. It is a very open relationship with children, allowing them to know you and learning them well.
What is not child training? Yelling is not child training. Sending them to a Christian school is only a part of child training. Browbeating or nagging them is not child training. Spurts of rules and punishment are not child training. “Time out” is not child training. Playing catch in the yard is not child training. Sesame Street is not child training. Putting the mother in charge is not child training. Rocking them tenderly is not child training. Giving them an allowance without hard labor is not child training.
Previous generations grew up on farms observing the training of animals. If they did not train certain animals, they would either starve or be severely handicapped. Child training was easy after watching colts broken and mules trained for the plow. There is no rocket science here, and the search for new or creative techniques misses the boat. Any parent can train their children, if they will flush their selfishness and slothfulness and get busy! It is shame that seeing-eye dogs can be trained, but children cannot!
The children of this generation are a mess. They are arrogant, foolish, ignorant, immature, lazy, profane, rebellious, selfish, and wasteful. There is an obvious cause for their personal and social dysfunction. Their parents were too busy, selfish, and lazy to train them. The consequences are a generation of fools, which will beget more fools. Our nation’s future is bleak, not because of Washington, but because of foolish parents.
Let the righteous arise! Every godly parent should seize this proverb as his own and get to work. Godly and wise descendants are one sentence away (with a little regular effort)! Give a reasonable and consistent effort, and trust the Lord for the rest (Palms 127:1-2). He can multiply a few loaves and fishes to feed a great multitude with much left over. He can bless your efforts to bear the fruit of righteous children, who will rejoice your heart. There is no reason to be defeated! There is every reason to be elated! Lord, help us!
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 21:03 – To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.”
Sacrifices and offerings are not bribes to make God over-look our character faults. We can’t exchange good behavior in one area for bad behavior in another. If our personal and business dealings are not characterized by justice, no amount of generosity when the offering plate is passed will make up for it.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 20:24 A man’s steps are directed by the LORD, How then can anyone understand his own way?
We are often confused by the events around us. Many things we will never understand; others will fall into place in years to come as we look back and see how God was working. This proverb counsels us not to worry if we don’t understand everything as it happens. Instead, we should trust that God knows what he’s doing, even if his timing or design is not clear to us.
Under Gods command 