Under Gods Command
Proverbs 16:2 –All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
All a man’s ways seem innocent to him. People can rationalize anything if they have no standards for judging right and wrong. We can always prove that we are right. Before putting any plan into action, ask yourself these three questions: (1) Is this plan in harmony with God’s truth? (2) Will it work under real-life conditions? (3) Is my attitude pleasing to God?
Under Gods Command
Most of the People Do Not Believe in Jesus
John 12:37-38 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet. “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Jesus had performed many miracles, but most people still didn’t believe in him. Likewise, many today won’t believe despite all God does. Don’t be discouraged if your witness for Christ doesn’t turn as many to him as you’d like. Your job is to continue as a faithful witness. You are responsible to reach out to others, but they are responsible for their own decisions.
Proverbs 3:5-6 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
Under Gods Command
Jesus Explains Why He Must Die
John 12:35-36 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” When he had finished speaking Jesus left and hid himself from them.
Jesus said he would be with them in person for only a short time, and they should take advantage of his presence while they had it. Like a light shining in a dark place, he would point out the way they should walk. If they walked in his light, they would become “sons of light” revealing the truth and pointing people to God. As Christians, we are to be Christ’s light bearers, letting his light shine through us. How brightly is your light shining? Can others see Christ in your actions?
Proverbs 3:5-6 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.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 15:10 Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.
Prove the character of your soul! Can you take correction? Can you take it gladly? Do you appreciate reproof (Criticism)? Do you appreciate the reprover? Your attitude toward correction and reproof says more about your heart than any other measure. Fools and scorners hate correction and reproof, but both are going to die in their folly.
You arrived in this world ignorant and depraved. Your heart was dead to God and righteousness, and it was alive to rebellion and sin. You were given parents, who corrected your childish antics and prepared you to survive life. They reproved your youthful folly. If you rebelled against them, then they and a harsh world punished you.
If God has graciously changed your heart, the only way you can learn the way of righteousness is by correction and reproof. You need teachers to rebuke your folly and direct you to wisdom. God has chosen to do this primarily by parents and preachers. It is by warnings and instruction from the Word of God that you are prepared for success.
Your evil heart does not like to be corrected. You resent being reproved. You do not like to be told you are wrong and need to change. You want to keep your sins. You hate those who examine and condemn your conduct. But these are the very means by which you acquire wisdom and are saved from life’s pitfalls! Why do you resent what was ordained for your blessing and salvation? Because your depraved heart loves its own folly!
Two rules are taught in this proverb. First, if you dislike correction, it proves you have forsaken the way of righteousness and wisdom. A man seeking knowledge and truth does not have such a rebellious spirit. Second, if you hate reproof, you will die. Ignorance will trap you, and rebellion will condemn you. Folly and sin will certainly destroy you.
How do ignorant men obtain truth and wisdom? Obviously, they need warnings and rebuke. If you resent these means for obtaining wisdom, then you are going to die in your stupidity and stubbornness. The snares of wicked men will deceive you; the various authorities in life will condemn you; and the blessed God of heaven will destroy you.
Examine your heart! Do you love correction and reproof? Do you love the parents and pastors who correct and reprove you? This is the measure of your character and wisdom. If you have a problem with being told you are wrong or resenting those who rebuke you, humble yourself before God and beg for His mercy before it is too late. Death is coming!
Sleepless nights
In Bible Study tonight, it was mentioned about a mother who could not sleep due to worrying about her daughter who is going through something. How many of us had that same issue of not sleeping behind worrying about someone else’s burden, or even your own? He is a piece of scripture that can help you find rest when issues are keeping you up all night.
Matthew 12:28-30 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
A yoke is heavy wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of an ox or oxen. It is attached to a piece of equipment the oxen are to pull. A person may be carrying heavy burdens of (1) sin, (2) excessive demands of religious leaders (23:4 Acts 15:10), (3) oppression and persecution, or (4) weariness in the search for God.
Jesus frees people from all these burdens. The rest that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the end of all labor. A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose.
In what sense was Jesus yoke easy? The yoke emphasizes the challenges, work, and difficulties of partnering with Christ in life. Responsibilities weigh us down, even the effort of staying true to God. But Jesus yoke remains easy compared to the crushing alternative.
Jesus doesn’t offer a life of luxurious ease, the yoke is still an oxen’s tool for working hard. But it’s a shared yoke, with weight falling on bigger shoulders than yours. Someone with more pulling power is up front helping. Suddenly you are participating in life’s responsibilities with a great Partner and now that frown can turn into a smile, and that gripe into a song.
So the next time you run into a situation where you cannot find rest at night. Turn to this Scripture and Pray to the Lord Jesus Christ and asked him to take this burden from you so you can rest.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 14:29 -A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.
A quick temper can be like a fire out of control. It can burn us and everyone else in its path. Anger divides people. It pushes us into hasty decisions that only cause bitterness and guilt. Yet anger, in itself, is not wrong. Anger can be a legitimate reaction to injustice and sin. When you feel yourself getting angry, look for the cause. Are you reacting to an evil situation that you are going to set right? Or are you responding selfishly to a personal insult? Pray that God will help you control your quick temper, channeling your feelings into effective action and conquering selfish anger through humility and repentance.
Under Gods Command
Jesus Explains Why He Must Die
John 12:27-31 – Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world,” now the prince of this world will be driven out.
The prince of this would is Satan, an angel who rebelled against God, Satan is real, not symbolic, and is constantly working against God and those who obey him. Satan tempted Eve in the Garden and persuaded her to sin; he tempted Jesus in the desert and did not persuade him to fall. Satan has great power, but people can be delivered from his reign of spiritual darkness because of Christ’s victory on the cross. Satan is powerful, but Jesus is much more powerful. Jesus resurrection shattered Satan’s deathly power. To overcome Satan we need faithful allegiance to God’s Word, determination to stay away from sin, and the support of other believers.
Proverbs 3:5-6 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.
Under Gods Command
Jesus Explains Why He Must Die
John 12:27 – Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
Jesus knew his crucifixion lay ahead, and because he was human he dreaded it. He knew he would have to take the sins of the world on himself, and he knew this would separate him from his Father. He wanted to be delivered from this horrible death, but he knew that God sent him into the world to die for our sins, in our place. Jesus said no to his human desires in order to obey his Father and glorify him. Although we will never have to face such a difficult and awesome task, we are still called to obedience. Whatever the Father asks, we should do his will and bring glory to his name.
Proverbs 3:5-6 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.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 13:18 He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.
Failure or success? Poverty or riches? Shame or honor? Which do you prefer? Of course, you want success, riches, and honor! But it is far easier to desire them than to get them. There is a basic requirement to get them, and the vast majority of men will not meet this condition. They must humble themselves to regard criticism and accept instruction.
You are making a decision right now about your future. Some will presume they know the lesson, so they stop reading and go back to their little games. Others will read a little further and stop when the author implies they are likely a fool or scorner. Only a few will be thrilled to see an offer of honor and devour each word to gain the prize.
Most men are too proud, rebellious, and stubborn to take reproofs or accept instruction. They want to do things their way. They do not like to be told they are wrong. They love their own opinions.
There is a simple technique for success in a world doomed to failure. Find teachers that have the truth and wisdom of God and submit to their reproofs and instruction. It is that simple. God has revealed the wisdom of heaven to men. If you will find them and accept their correction and teaching, you can deliver yourself from failure, poverty, and shame.
Once you have a teacher, there is another obstacle in the way of success – your own thoughts, imaginations, and opinions. A man that arrogantly presumes he is right is worse than a fool. He is a scorner, and God will blind and punish that man. A fool is too lazy and distracted to learn, but a scorner refuses to be taught.
Learning requires change: either you must correct errors you have learned, or you must add new knowledge to your inventory. The first requires accepting reproofs, and the second requires accepting new ideas through instruction. Pride, rebellion, and stubbornness will not allow a man to do either of these two things. He is a certain loser!
A true teacher is an enemy of your thoughts and imaginations. He must destroy and pull down the strongholds of your mind, where you are holding false ideas and concepts. He must replace them with truth and wisdom, which you have not heard or accepted before. While the relationship is affectionate, the process is definitely conflict.
What keeps you from listening to your teachers – your parents and pastor? Are you too proud to accept correction? Too stubborn to admit you are wrong? Too rebellious to change by another’s order? These are marks of a scorner! You are doomed to poverty and shame, unless you repent immediately and humble yourself before God’s word.
Do you sleep in church? Do you resent being taught by a man younger than you? Do you attend the fastest-growing church in town to avoid preaching? These are marks of a fool! You are doomed to poverty and shame, unless you repent immediately and humble yourself before God’s word.
Jesus made the lesson very plain as He concluded the Sermon on the Mount. He said that hearing His doctrine and not doing it was like building your life on sand. The storms of time and eternity will wash you away! But a wise man will hear His sayings and build his life upon them. He will stand sure in both time and eternity!
Examine yourself in the light of this proverb. If you hear instruction and forget it before applying it to your life, you are a fool. You are heading for certain poverty and shame. If you hear correction and resent it, you are a scorner. You are heading for certain poverty and shame even faster. Wisdom is submitting to reproofs and accepting instruction, for that is the means of learning and growth. God and all good men will honor such a man.
Under Gods Command
Jesus Explains Why He Must Die
John 12:23-26 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But it if dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
This is a beautiful picture of the necessary sacrifice of Jesus. Unless a kernel of wheat is buried in the ground, it will not become a blade of wheat producing many more seeds. Jesus had to die to pay the penalty for our sin, but also to show his power over death. His resurrection proves he has eternal life. Because Jesus is God, Jesus can give this same eternal life to all who believe in him.
We must be so committed to living for Christ that we “hate” our lives by comparison. This does not mean that we long to die or that we are careless or destructive with the life God has given, but that we are willing to die if doing so will glorify Christ. We must disown the tyrannical rule of our own self-centeredness. By laying aside our striving for advantage, security, and pleasure, we can serve God lovingly and freely. Releasing control our lives and transferring control to Christ bring eternal life and genuine joy.
Many believed that Jesus came for the Jews only. But when Jesus said, “Whoever serves me must follow me,” he was talking to these Greeks as well. No matter who the sincere seekers are, Jesus welcomes them. His message is for everyone. Don’t allow social or racial differences to become barriers to the gospel. Take the Good news to all people.
Proverbs 3:5-6 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.
Under Gods command 