Under Gods Command
Proverbs 10:18 He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
By hating another person you may become a liar or a fool. If you try to conceal your hatred, you end up lying. If you slander the other person and are proven wrong, you are a fool. The only way out is to admit your hateful feelings to God. Ask him to change your heart, to help you love instead of hate.
Under Gods Command
John 16:31-33 “You believe at last!” Jesus answered. “But a time is coming and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
As Christians, we should expect continuing tension with an unbelieving world that is “out of sync” with Christ, his gospel, and his people. At the same time, we can expect our relationship with Christ to produce peace and comfort because we are “in sync” with him.
The disciples scattered after Jesus was arrested. Jesus accepted their statement of faith even though he knew their weakness. He knew they would have to grow into people whose words and lives matched even to the point of death. He takes us through the same process. How well are you living out what you say you believe about Jesus?
Jesus summed up all he had told them this night. With these words he told his disciples to take courage. In spite of the inevitable struggles they would face, they would not be alone. Jesus does not abandon us to our struggles either. If we remember that the ultimate victory has already been won, we can claim the peace of Christ in the most troublesome times.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 9:1-5 Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city. Let all who are simple come in here! She says to those who lack judgment. Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
The banquet described in this chapter has some interesting parallels to the banquet Jesus described in one of his parables(Luke 14:15-24). Many may intend to go, but they never make it because they get sidetracked by other activities that seem more important at the time. Don’t let anything become more important than your search for God’s wisdom.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 8:32-36 “Now then, my sons listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”
God approves of those who listen to wisdom’s counsel. Those who hate wisdom love death. Wisdom should affect every aspect of one’s life, from beginning to end. Be sure to open all corners of your life to God’s direction and guidance.
Under Gods Command
John 16:28-30 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.
The disciples believed Jesus’ words because they were convinced that he knew everything. But their belief was only a first step toward the great faith they would receive when the Holy Spirit came to live in them.
Under Gods Command
John 16:22-27 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth; my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
Jesus said that no one would take away your joy, so the only way we can loose our joy if we give it away behind issues of this world.
Jesus is talking about a new relationship between the believer and God. Previously, people approached God through priests. After Jesus resurrection, any believer could approach God directly. A new day has dawned and now all believers are priests. Talking with God personally and directly (see Hebrews 10:19-23). We approach God, not because of our own merit, but because Jesus, our great high priest, has made us acceptable to God.
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!
Under Gods Command
John 16:19-20 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me”? I tell you the truth; you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
What a contrast between the disciples and the world! The world rejoiced as the disciples wept, but the disciples would see him again (in three days) and rejoice. The world’s values are often the opposite of God’s values. This can cause Christians to feel like misfits. But even if life is difficult now, one day we will rejoice. Keep your eye on the future and on God’s promises!
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 06:6-11 – Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
Those last few moments of sleep are delicious-we savor them as we resist beginning another workday. But Proverbs warns against giving into the temptation of laziness, of sleeping instead of working. This does not mean we should never rest: God gave the Jews the Sabbath, a weekly day of rest and restoration. But we should not rest when we should be working. The ant is used as an example because it utilizes its energy and resources economically. If laziness turns us from our responsibilities, poverty may soon bar us from the legitimate rest we should enjoy.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 3:27-28 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow” when you now have it with you.
Delaying to do good is inconsiderate and unfair whether it is repaying a loan, returning a tool, or fulfilling a promise. Withholding destroys trust and creates a great inconvenience. Be as eager to do good as you are to have good done to you.
Under Gods command 