Posts Tagged ‘god’

Proverbs 4:10 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: June 3, 2014 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs 04, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command 

Proverbs 4:10 Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.

Would you like a long life? Many are obsessed with life extension, as shown by the money and time spent on vitamins, medication, surgery, and diet and exercise programs. This proverb offers a long life, but few will be interested, because it requires humility and obedience. Most people would rather pay for placebos and continue in sin and pride.

David taught Solomon to crave and value wisdom (Pr 4:3-9), and Solomon taught his son the same (Pr 4:1-2). By the emphasis of two generations – an exceptional father and grandfather – the importance of wisdom was made clear. Solomon then appealed to his son to hear and receive the fatherly advice he himself had been taught for a long life.

Solomon said, “Hear, O my son.” Men have trouble hearing advice, because their own feelings, thoughts, ideas, opinions, preferences, and goals race loudly through their foolish minds. Others are too busy chasing vanity and do not have the time to listen. Only a few have the wisdom to make the time and shut down their own ignorant thinking to learn knowledge from another, whom God has appointed as a teacher (Pr 18:1-2).

Solomon said, “Receive my sayings.” Men resent correction, instruction, and reproof, because their pride will not admit they are wrong. The bondage of arrogance and conceit dooms most men to a life of ignorance and failure (Pr 26:12,16). They cannot learn, because they will not reject their ideas to admit another is wiser. Only a few have wisdom to admit ignorance and learn from others (I Kgs 3:7; Ps 131:1-3; Jer 1:6; Matt 18:3-4).

God, parents, and pastors teach wisdom. He wrote the Bible, a divine library of 66 books filled with wisdom in various literary forms. God gives parents to children from their first moments to help them avoid the troubles of life. And Jesus Christ ordained true pastors to feed His people with knowledge and understanding (Jer 3:15). It is your duty to humble yourself and tremble before these ordained teachers (Is 66:2; Eph 6:1-3; I Thess 5:20).

Learning wisdom will extend your life, and it will enhance your life. There is safety in wisdom that secures you from life’s dangers and the judgment of God and men (Pr 2:18; 3:2,16; 5:5; 7:27; 8:36; 9:11,18; 10:2; 11:4,19; 12:28; 13:14; 14:12,27; 16:14,25; 18:21; 21:6). And there is a reward in wisdom that brings glory and honor (Pr 3:16; 4:8-9; 22:4). Do you fully appreciate the value in hearing and receiving the sayings of your teachers?

Wisdom will extend your life naturally, especially the sayings of this book of Proverbs. Here are warnings against life-shortening consequences of accidents, adultery, anger, bitterness, a broken heart, capital punishment, crime, depression, disease, divorce, drunkenness, envy, fear, gluttony, grief, guilt, hatred, marital dysfunction, murder, STDs, stress, strife, violence. It is wisdom to consider these sinful causes of premature death.

If you do not think the above things shorten physical life, you need to think again. Some will kill you directly; some will kill you indirectly. Consider just for starters the enormous power of psychosomatic illnesses – bodily breakdown from mental or spiritual problems (Pr 15:13; 17:22; 18:14). Modern medicine confirms that a content and happy person in a monogamous marriage will outlive a single whoremonger of either sex.

Wisdom will extend your life supernaturally by securing God’s blessings and/or avoiding His justice and judgment. The blessed God will cut off the lives of the wicked (Ps 55:23; Eccl 7:17), but He will extend the lives of the righteous (Pr 10:27; Ps 34:11-16; 91:14-16; 128:6; I Tim 4:8; I Pet 3:8-12). Remember the reward of long life for obeying parents (Eph 6:1-3). When God is on your side by obedience to His word and teachers, you have done more for your future health and longevity than any exercise or nutrition program.

Consider the shortened lives of the world’s inhabitants (Gen 7:21-24), Sodom’s fine citizens (Gen 19:24-25), Er and Onan (Gen 38:7-10), Eli’s sons (I Sam 2:25), Nabal (I Sam 25:38), Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), Herod (Acts 12:23), and many church members at Corinth (I Cor 11:30). This is no laughing matter, for you see it throughout the Old Testament; and you see it even among church members of the New Testament.

Solomon wrote elsewhere, “Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?” (Eccl 7:17.) It is a known fact that hard living – a sinful lifestyle – shortens life expectancy. What will you do with the sayings of the teachers in your life? Will you hear and receive them and live? Or reject them and die?

Son, do you hear and receive your father’s sayings? Do you gladly listen to your father and appreciate his correction, instruction, and warnings? Or do you resent him for ignoring your great experience and wisdom? Do you ignore him because he is out of touch with your foolish and vain world? Humble yourself, or die young (Eph 6:1-3).

Father, do you say wise things to your son regularly? Or do you just bring home the bacon, vegetate with the television, and become a couch potato. You must teach him the wisdom of God (Ps 34:11; Eph 6:4; Joel 1:3). Do it, or you will cost him years of his life! Why did you have him in the first place, if you are not going to teach him to be wise?

The God of heaven has spoken by His word. Will you hear and receive the sayings? He has sent pastors to feed His people from that word. Will you hear and receive their sayings? Natural and supernatural blessings depend on your choice. What will it be? Will you live a long and abundant life? Or will you be cut off early after living miserably?

Proverbs 28:26 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: May 27, 2014 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 28, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 28:26 – He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.    

For many people, the rugged individualist is a hero. We admire the bold, self-directed men and women who know what they want and fight for it. They are self-reliant, neither giving nor asking advice. What a contrast to God’s way. A person can’t know the future and can’t predict the consequences of his or her choices with certainty. And so the totally self-reliant person is doomed to failure. The wise person depends on God.

You are your own worst enemy. You have inside you a voice that is dearer than the voice of God or any angel or man. This voice can comfort and convince you against any teaching or warning. This voice is with you twenty-four hours a day, and it always tells you what you want to hear and believe. It helps you make most decisions. You are a fool!

Your heart has a strong opinion on most any topic, whether you know anything about that topic or not. Your heart reacts in an instant against criticism or reproofs, and it controls you with passionate desire for something it wants. Your heart can lull you to sleep about matters it says are unimportant, and it can keep you from sleeping out of envy or hate.

Solomon used heart in this proverb as a metonym for your affections, inclinations, and thoughts. It is your internal set of desires and needs that affects your decision-making. This is not your conscience. This is your anti-conscience! This is the set of passions that drives most men and women. God has spoken about your heart. He said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9).

If you listen to your heart, you are a fool! If you follow your heart, you are a fool! If you make decisions even partially influenced by your heart, you are a fool! You are submitting to the most deceitful, depraved, and dangerous source of information on earth. Your heart has gotten you into more trouble in the past than all your enemies combined. You are your own worst enemy. Wisdom is the power to choose truth against your heart.

Adam died in the Garden of Eden the day he ate the forbidden fruit, according to God’s promise and warning (Gen 2:17; 3:6-8). Since he physically died 930 years later, what happened to him the day he took the fruit from Eve and ate it (Gen 5:5)? What died? Not his intellect. He was as intelligent after sin as before sin. Not his power of observation. He could perceive naturally as well after sin as before sin. He was still mentally sane.

But his affections for God and spiritual inclinations died. He was then morally corrupted without any desire to seek God, please God, or obey God. Rather than beg for forgiveness, he made aprons of fig leaves. Rather than repent, he hid in the garden. Rather than confess his sin, he blamed God and Eve for the mess. He was now motivated by selfish impulses that were dead toward God and others (Ps 14:1-3; Rom 3:9-18).

Adam became totally depraved, as theologians call it. Though his brain still functioned intelligently with logical connections based on observations and perceived consequences, his affections and desires were totally different – they were anti-God, anti-truth, anti-wisdom. He hated God and godliness; he loved all the sinful lusts of body and mind now in him. He was now an eager follower of the devil – spiritually dead in sins (Eph 2:1-3).

You were conceived and born this way – dead in sins, hating God, loving the world, obeying the devil, and fulfilling your lusts in every choice. This is the reality of humanity. This is the truth about all men and women, boys and girls. Without a second birth, one by the Spirit of God, they remain in this state of spiritual death and enmity against God. You must be regenerated by God with a new spiritual life to do any good.

Any doctrine of salvation must deal with this fact. Evangelism must deal with this fact. There are no means to influence a person in this dead condition (John 8:43-47; Rom 8:7-8; I Cor 2:14; Luke 16:31). He or she must be given life first; they must be born again first; they must be regenerated before they can or will believe (John 1:13; 3:8; 5:24; 6:44,63; 17:3; Acts 16:14; I Cor 1:18,22-24). Any other doctrine of salvation is false.

Today it is totally acceptable to trust and follow your heart. In fact, you are taught that your heart can decide what is right for you. One man will leave a church and say, “I did not feel right in my heart there.” A man will leave his wife and children for a younger woman, saying, “My heart was not in my marriage any longer.” A man will quit his job and become a homeless loafer by saying, “I am going to follow my heart.” All are fools!

The primary method of teaching today, even at the university level, is to trust your heart. After the professor presents several contradictory views of capital punishment, he asks the bright-eyed little students, “What do you think?” This is not teaching! This is corrupting youth by flattering the idiocy and pride of their hearts. This is conditioning them to think that their opinions are worth considering. This leads to hating anyone that criticizes or opposes them, especially a Bible preacher without a university degree!

Teenagers defy parents because their wicked hearts tell them they are right and their parents are wrong. Adulterers pursue other women because their profane hearts tell them they deserve it and no one will be hurt. The self-righteous leave a church because their hearts tell them their pastor had no right to criticize them like that. Pornography addicts justify another look based on their hearts excusing such an innocent thing.

Where does following your heart lead? To destruction, which is understood in this proverb by comparison to the parallel clause. Fools will be hurt and punished, for their decisions are based on the feelings, lusts, and arrogance of their own hearts. What felt so good in the beginning becomes painfully destructive in the end (Pr 14:12; 16:2,25; 21:2). But the wise man, who follows God’s wisdom rather than his heart’s lies, will be saved.

True wisdom is learning to mistrust your heart, reject its voice, and make all decisions on the basis of absolute and objective truth. Where is the source for such fabulous decision-making? In the inspired words of the living God recorded in the Bible. It is by learning God’s words and training yourself to make decisions based on them that you can be wise and saved from the deceitful impulses of your depraved heart (Ps 19:7; 119:130).

The purpose for ministers is to make war against your heart. They are to cast down all your imaginations and thoughts and bring them into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ (II Cor 10:4-6). You do not have a right to your thoughts; you have a responsibility to right thoughts! But most contemporary Christians are obsessed with their hearts and thoughts. They measure everything by how well it matches up with their hearts. Fools!

How wise are you, reader? Ready for a test? Whom do you have a grudge against? Is it right in the light of God’s word? If not, what will you do about it? If you are a Christian woman, do you always dress in modest apparel with discreet accessories and conservative makeup? If not, what will you do about it? The degree of your wisdom is the degree to which you can crush your heart to submit to the words of God in the Bible.

If you learn to walk wisely by the directions of God’s commandments, He will deliver you from all the pitfalls and obstacles that clobber and confuse your heart-following neighbors. If you will trust Him and not lean toward your own understanding, He will direct your paths in good ways. Your future happiness, prosperity, and success depend on your efforts to hate your vain thoughts and love the truth of His words (Ps 119:113,128).

Spiritual Training 23 May 2014

Posted: May 23, 2014 in 1 Corinthians, Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

PAUL ADDRESSES CHURCH PROBLEMS (1:1-6:20)

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

Paul urged the Corinthians to think of him, Peter and Apollos not as leaders of factions, but as servants of Christ entrusted with the secret things of God. A servant does what his master tells him to do. We must do what God tells us to do in the Bible and through his Holy Spirit.

Lets Bring it Home: Each day God presents us with needs and opportunities that challenge us to do what we know is right. The question is, do we always do what we know is right?

Proverbs 21:16 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 21, 2014 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 21, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 21:16 A man who strays from the path of understanding comes to rest in the company of the dead.

There is only one way to live. If you wander from that way, you give up a life of joy and peace for a living death of misery and trouble. You can die more than one way. Sinners around you are functionally dead without the abundant life God planned for His children.

There is only one way to serve and worship the true God. If you wander from that strict way, you give up a church with spiritual life for one that is a lifeless carcass, no matter how much noise they create with amplifiers and light with strobes. You, as the dog and sow, have returned to the vomit and mire of human opinion and practice (II Pet 2:21-22).

The only way to live is the straight and narrow way that leads to life (Matt 7:13-14). It is not exciting to your lusts. It is not popular to the world. But it is right, and it rejoices the holy desires of a saved spirit. It is the way surveyed by the wisdom of Scripture and paved with the solid rock of God’s sayings. Any other way is a slippery slope to hell.

If you build the house of your life on the Bible’s teachings, you will have a life that easily stands amid the storms that batter others. It is the way of understanding. But if you build on the sands of human opinion, the storms will wash your house away (Matt 7:24-27). Heresies will blow in and show you never had a godly foundation (I Cor 11:19). You will never stand against the storm of God’s holy and just wrath in the Day of Judgment.

Of course, no man chooses to wander into the swamp named Death. He changes the name of the swamp to Right Way or My Way. He presumes his directions are better. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes (Pr 16:2,25; 21:2). To stay in the way of understanding, you must hate your opinions and love God’s precepts instead (Ps 119:128; II Cor 10:5).

Abram took his nephew Lot from pagan Chaldea to the land of Canaan. Lot saw firsthand the wonderful relationship between God and his uncle. But he moved his family toward wicked Sodom, and he ended up ruined in a cave with his two daughters pregnant with his children (Gen 13:12-13; 19:30-38). These five were the congregation of the dead!

The only way to serve and worship God is by the Bible. Men have tried everything from burning their children alive to worshipping crows, dogs, and bugs (II Kgs 17:17; Rom 1:23). All of it is repulsive and disgusting dung, no matter how sincere the blinded pagan doing it. If it is not according to Scripture, it is not good enough, no matter the character or conduct or popularity of the worshipper (Gen 4:3-5; Num 20:7-13; I Chr 15:13).

Of course, no church chooses to wander into a swamp named Death. They change the name of the swamp to Right Way, Our Way, or New Way. They presume they are more pleasing to God than the old way of doing things. They call it contemporary and casual and exciting worship. They want to improve on the Bible and help the Lord. Their thoughts and motives stink. God demands they seek for the old paths (Jer 6:16; Jude 1:3).

The church at Corinth thought spiritual gifts would cover their errors (I Cor 1:4-9). They allowed internal strife, preacher cliques, self-glorification, fornication, lawsuits, easy divorces, abuses of liberty, no giving, association with pagans, short hair on women, long hair on men, contentions, abuse of communion, pride in gifts, little real love, speaking in tongues, women preachers, rejection of the resurrection, and little care of the poor.

Many of these are common errors in many churches today. But God judged this apostolic church by striking its church members weak, sick, and dead (I Cor 11:30). And Paul unloaded on them with his first epistle, which Christians have read for near 2000 years. This was easily the worst church in the New Testament and nothing to glory about.

Never had a church made more noise for Jesus than the church at Corinth. Never had a church been more confident the Holy Spirit was working among them. Never had a church presented the gospel louder. And they were right. But the big and fatal danger was that their Jesus, spirit, and gospel could be the wrong ones, for the ministers urging them on were actually working for the devil as lying false teachers (II Cor 11:1-4,13-15).

The church at Rome that Paul commended in his epistle to them became the Great Whore of the Revelation, filled with every foul spirit and unclean and hateful bird (Rom 1:8; Rev 17:3-6; 18:1-8). It astonished John greatly. How did it happen? How could an apostolic church become the bloodthirsty, fornicating antichrist church and brothel of Rome?

They left the precepts of Scripture for the opinions of the so-called church fathers. She started down a road to the swamp that now includes every abomination known to man. What does God say to any saints left in her or her daughter churches? “Come out of her, my people” (Rev 18:4). They should leave the congregation of the dead to find the abundant spiritual life of righteousness and truth in a local church of Jesus Christ.

What happened? How did it get started? Did the pastor seek prestige because his church was in the empire’s capital city? Did calling himself a priest comfort pagans? Did the title Pontifex Maximus make Caesar-worshipping Romans happy? Did a trial infant baptism comfort some mothers? Did pretending the bread was the literal body and blood of Christ increase attendance at communion? Did praying to Mary one Sunday morning bring tears to a few mothers’ eyes? Did a beautiful statue bring craftsmen as members? Did asking the women to confess to their priest bring voyeuristic pleasure? Did keeping the pagan holidays of Rome with Christian names bring in even more pagans? Did sprinkling for baptism save some embarrassment when he forgot to fill the baptistery? Did an organ bring the musically inclined? What happened? They compromised themselves to death.

The wanderer ends up in the swamp of Death by a single, wrong, first step. All sin starts with just one wrong thought. All heresy is by incremental compromise. All cults begin with one lie. All false arguments begin with one lying premise. Dear reader, where have you taken one or more steps from the right way? Repent! Where has your church compromised one precept of Scripture? Repent! For it is the only way back on the right way. If you do not correct it, you are lost. Off one degree of angle in the beginning may only be inches of error, but the farther you travel that false line, it becomes miles of error!

Only Scripture can make the man of God, a pastor, perfect in every good work (II Tim 3:16-17). All the inventions today are without truth (II Tim 3:7), for men have left sound doctrine for fables (II Tim 4:3-4). They have left off loving God to love the pleasures of life (II Tim 3:4). They have a form of godliness by meeting on Sundays, but they have no clue of His jealous authority (II Tim 3:5) and demanded reverence (Heb 12:28-29). These loud, obnoxious, arrogant so-called Christians fulfill Paul’s warning of perilous times!

These churches are congregations of the dead, no matter how many fill their complexes to foam out their shame with Christian rap. The church at Ephesus had many things to commend it, but they had lost their first love and were about to lose the Spirit, which would leave them a dead carcass (Rev 2:1-5; 3:1; Jas 2:26). These modern mega-churches never had the good things Ephesus did, so they are deader and longer so!

The new way they have found is the way to dead religion, no matter how lively it appears. The high they obtain from their ear-crushing rock-n-roll, jump-up-and-shout services does not last. They are joyless shells chasing carnal pleasures; they do not even know the God of the Bible. God measures by doctrine, practice, and purity; they measure by decibels, popularity, and pleasure. They went out from apostolic Christianity, because they were never truly part of it (I John 2:19), and the unregenerate fill their membership.

If a man leaves the way of Christ’s wholesome sayings at all, he does not know what he is talking about. He knows nothing at all (I Tim 6:3-5; Is 8:20). What are all wise persons to do with either a wandering man or a wandering church? Get away from him or it! Read II Timothy 3:5 for the words, “from such turn away.” Read I Timothy 6:5 for the words, “from such withdraw thyself.” They are living among the tombs. Get away from them.

They have good words and fair speeches to deceive the simple, but they are mere belly worshippers (Rom 16:18). How can you know? If they do anything contrary to the teaching of the New Testament (Rom 16:17). What should you do about them? Mark and avoid them (Rom 16:17). God’s few true saints must stand fast and hold the traditions taught by the apostles (II Thess 2:15; Jude 1:3). This is the way of understanding.

Ah, faithful reader, should you gloat pompously that you have the truth and are secure in the way of understanding? God forbid. Your brother Paul would tell you not to be high-minded, but rather to fear (Rom 11:20). He would tell you to fear lest you should come short of God’s promises as well (Heb 4:1). He would tell you that too much confidence in yourself will bring your own failure and fall (I Cor 10:12). Humble yourself before God.

The whole world has wandered out of the way of understanding since the Garden of Eden, and they shall congregate with the hordes in hell for an eternal death. While God made man upright and good, he has sought out many inventions to corrupt God’s ways (Eccl 7:29). Almighty God destroyed them all with a flood in Noah’s time, and it will be with unquenchable fire and fervent heat the next time (II Pet 3:1-14; II Thess 1:7-9).

America has wandered out of the way of godliness, righteousness, and justice into the fatal swamp of abortion, child rebellion, divorce for any cause, euthanasia, evolution, labor unions, prohibition of prayer, prohibition of the Ten Commandments, sodomy, wicked entertainment, and witchcraft. The death knell is sounding, unless the nation repents, and God has mercy to forgive America for her many and heinous sins.

Many so-called Christians are finding comfort and assurance in their exploding mega-churches, where the light shows, loud music, crowd manipulation, large numbers, social activities, community projects, volunteer ministries, and rock-star pastors tell them all is well. They have no more basis for their confidence than Judas Iscariot. These who have wandered out of the way of understanding will appeal to all their religious activity and numbers, but the Lord Jesus Christ will declare that He never knew them (Matt 7:21-23).

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, is the only way back to the Father. Cast yourself upon His mercy today! There is another congregation in heaven. It is the congregation of the living. It has a membership no man can number. It has countless angels serving it. It is the mega-church of Almighty God! It is the bride and kingdom of Jesus Christ. All the saints are there. Will you join them by falling before the Lord Jesus Christ in humble obedience to follow His strait and narrow way?

You need to find a local church of Jesus Christ that follows the Bible’s rules for New Testament doctrine, practice, worship, and private lifestyle without compromise or invention of any kind. There are only a few of these churches, and they will be few in membership compared to the worldly monstrosities of carnal Christianity now sweeping the religious world. But you will be in close union to those martyrs and others that kept the commandments of God and stayed in the way of understanding (Rev 12:17; 14:12).

 

Proverbs 17:15 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 17, 2014 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 17, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 17:15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent-the Lord detest them both.

The world has created the Age of Compromise. Human society has made every effort to get rid of all absolutes. Wicked men are excused and exonerated, and even protected; just men are criticized and condemned. But the LORD Jehovah hates both kinds of compromisers – those who justify the wicked, and those who condemn the just.

The living and true God of heaven has absolutes, and He expects men to abide by them and enforce them. When He commanded judges to be appointed in Israel, He ordered, “If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked” (Deut 25:1).

The Bible is a collection of God’s absolutes, though it does require proper interpretation and application of those absolutes (II Chron 19:10; Neh 8:8; II Tim 2:15). Jesus declared that violating even the Bible’s least commandment was unacceptable (Matt 5:19). Breaking one commandment is equivalent to breaking them all in God’s sight (Jas 2:10).

God makes differences. Ask those that did not believe or obey Noah. Ask Sodom’s city council about their LGBT population. Ask Pharaoh or his army what happened to Egypt for disrespecting God’s prophet. Ask the Canaanites about God’s opinion of their creative sexual practices. These examples could be multiplied indefinitely. But you cannot ask these many millions, because God annihilated them. He had condemned the wicked.

God cares about details. Ask Cain about his sacrifice to the LORD at the right time and place. Ask Moses about his fit of anger when he smote a rock instead of speaking to it. Ask Nadab and Abihu about their strange fire. Ask David about moving the ark on a new ox cart. Ask Ananias and Sapphira about fudging their giving. Ask Corinth about having a little fun at the Lord’s Supper. Ask Peter about compromise with Jews at Antioch.

In matters of judgment and relationships, the wicked are to be despised and rejected, and the righteous are to be loved and received. David hated the wicked like God does (Ps 5:5; 11:5; 139:21-22). And David loved the righteous like God does (Ps 119:163; 146:8). The animosity and conflict between the righteous and wicked will never end (Pr 29:10).

Judgment is vindication of good and condemnation of evil. It takes place in courts, of course. But it also takes place in the home, where children’s conduct is judged. And it takes place in the workplace, in churches, in schools, and even among friends. In these and other situations, just men are to be honored, and wicked men are to be condemned.

America’s legal system is no longer the paragon of justice it was. From low to high courts, the wicked are excused and the just punished. Judges are chosen and approved, not for their perfect integrity but for political ties. For example, abortion was legalized to justify cruel and wicked women and to condemn their innocent unborn children to death. The profane murderers are given so-called rights, the murdered innocent are given none.

Criminals now have more rights than do victims. Employers have fewer rights than do employees. Landlords must submit to renters; husbands must bow to wives; and magistrates must jump through hoops before prosecuting obvious criminals. Lawsuits are filed and upheld for the most inane reasons, brought by the most insane consumers. Sodomites are protected, but authoritative husbands are despised and undermined.

Murderers pleading insanity are excused for taking a life. How absurd! If a man commits murder by reason of insanity, he has an aggravated reason to die – he is not only a murderer, he is an insane murderer. Why not keep and protect rabid dogs, for that would be comparable, except that the rabid dogs never murdered anyone? Get real, world!

But you must look much closer to home than the legal system in your nation. For it is in the churches where much of the compromise is taking place, just as Paul prophesied and warned to Timothy (II Tim 3:1 – 4:4). False doctrine and teachers must be named and condemned; true doctrine and faithful teachers must be defended and honored.

Many say, “Let’s agree to disagree.” But the fact is that God does not have such a loose and compromising approach to truth. Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and every moral issue has one right and many wrong positions. David said, “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Ps 119:128).

Eli rebuked his sons, but did not condemn them; he lost everything for his compromise. Corinth was puffed up about fornication in their church, instead of mourning and judging the wicked man. But the sweet psalmist of Israel on his deathbed told Solomon to kill his nephew and long-term chief of staff, Joab. And John the Baptist let King Herod have it.

Many say, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt 7:1), missing the Lord’s command, in context, to judge some men as dogs and swine, unworthy of truth (Matt 7:6), and to judge righteous judgment (John 7:24). They value peace over truth, though God puts truth over peace (Am 3:3; I Tim 6:3-5). They have rebelled against Bible judgment (Ro 16:17-18).

Carnal Christians of today fulfill the abominable sins of this proverb. Paul described the rise of an effeminate brand of Christianity that would despise those that are good and flatter lustful and sinful women (II Tim 3:1-7). They would have a form of godliness – a religious ritual – but they would have no authority or judgment in their gospel or lifestyle. They would love pleasures more than God, and it would show by coddling of sinners.

The political and religious situation today is the same as in first century Palestine. The conservative religious leaders and the political appointee of the greatest nation on earth cooperated to justify the seditious murderer Barabbas and condemn the innocent and just Jesus of Nazareth. Live and speak like Jesus Christ today, and they will crucify you as well, while they excuse evildoers in court and promote them via the entertainment media.

You cannot be neutral, for neutrality is rejection of the Bible and rebellion against God, for He and the Bible are not neutral. Folly and wickedness are condemned, and wisdom and righteousness are exalted. Sinners are to be despised, and good men are to be honored (Ps 15:4; 31:6; 101:3-8). Reject this effeminate generation and its compromise. Take a stand and earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).

Reject the seeker-sensitive and emerging churches of today, for they are a reason for this proverb in this generation. They have watered down Biblical standards to where most anything is allowed and tolerated, or even defended and protected. Pulpits are used for a mushy concept of love and peace rather than God’s truth of holiness and judgment.

The day is coming in which all judgment will be according to truth in the most absolute sense. The books will be opened, and there will be no mistrials, plea-bargaining, hung juries, pardons, or acquittals. The righteous will be given eternal life in heaven, and the wicked will be cast into hell forever (Matt 13:41-43; John 5:28-29; Rev 20:11-15).

How will any be judged righteous, since all are sinners (Rom 3:23)? How can the Bible say God justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5)? By Jesus Christ (Rom 3:26)! Jesus obeyed for the elect (Rom 5:19) and died in their place (Rom 4:25). It is the punishment God poured out on Jesus Christ that most clearly shows His condemnation of sinners (Is 53:5-11).

Proverbs 16:09 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: January 16, 2014 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs 16, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. 

Men have intelligence. They set goals and plan the means to achieve them. Irrational creatures cannot do this; they only react by instincts to stimulus. But the sovereign God manages the details of men’s plans, so that you are dependent upon Him, for He may bless the good man with a favorable outcome and turn the evil man’s plans upside down.

This proverb of Solomon is important. God rules your life. Man proposes; God disposes. Man freely devises; God powerfully directs. Man creatively plans; God masterfully dictates. Man acts as he pleases; God is pleased by how He uses man’s actions. God is the LORD! Your life and its plans are in His hands. Learn how to utilize this knowledge.

Many wander and wonder through life, wishing they knew God’s will for them. But His will is not a mystery, and much of the answer is in this proverb. Commit your works to the LORD (Pr 16:3; Ps 37:4-5); devise a way to achieve your desired godly objectives (Pr 16:1; 15:22; 20:18); believe that He will take care of the details (Ps 37:23; 84:11).

Obedient Christian reader, these words are for you: the LORD gave you a heart, so follow your affections for what you prefer. He gave you a mind, so think of how you might achieve your goals. Once you commit it to God and follow the rules of Scriptural wisdom, go for it! No matter what it is! Simply submit it to God’s will (James 4:13-15).

There is no “perfect” anything, so do not look for it. You live in a sinful world; everything is imperfect. God has not revealed perfect choices. You cannot see even the outcome of the next five minutes. You will waste your life searching, and you will always be frustrated. Most any job will do, if the Lord directs your steps. And this is the same with marriage, house hunting, business deals, family size, and so forth and so on.

Ruth was a poor widow in a foreign land. She devised in her heart to glean fields – pick up scraps after the reapers – a lowly job with little future potential (Ruth 2:2). But the LORD directed her steps to the field of Boaz, a rich, single man who ended up marrying her, and they had David as their great-grandson (Ruth 2:3; 4:17). Give God the glory!

The Jews were condemned by the Persian Empire to genocide! Esther devised in her heart to have King Ahasuerus and Haman to lunch, though she feared for her life to even ask for the meeting (Esth 4:16-17). But the LORD turned the king’s heart toward her with great affection and responsiveness. After she told him of Haman’s evil plans, the King found Haman begging on her bed, and that was that (Esth 7:7-8)! Give God the glory!

Abraham devised a way to find a wife for Isaac, and the servant met Rebekah first. Jacob devised a way to flee from Esau, and the Lord blessed him to become rich with a large family. Joseph chose to be righteous, and the Lord directed his steps to Egypt’s throne. Jesse devised a way to send food to his sons in the army by his youngest son David, not knowing that God was directing David’s steps for a showdown with Goliath.

But look carefully at Esther in reverse. Haman devised a way in his heart to annihilate the Jews, and he manipulated King Ahasuerus into signing the decree (Esth 3:1-15). But the Lord directed him to total humility and ruin by building a gallows, meeting the king at a time that resulted in honoring Mordecai, and falling on Esther’s bed (Esth 5:1 – 7:10)!

Consider Joseph in reverse. His brothers devised a way to get rid of “the dreamer,” who tormented them by his divine revelations, but the Lord directed their steps to sell him into Egypt, where he saved them all from starvation some years later (Gen 45:4-8; 50:19-21). They eventually fulfilled every dream Joseph had about them bowing low before him.

The Jews devised in their hearts to rid themselves of Jesus of Nazareth, but the glorious LORD turned their devices upside down. His crucifixion was God’s choice for the salvation of the very people they hated and hoped to ruin, and He returned in holy revenge to destroy their temple, city, and nation. Every step they took in this most heinous crime was according to God’s eternal purpose (Acts 2:23; 3:18; 4:28; 15:18).

When hearing about plans of wicked men, do not worry. They can bring nothing to pass that God has not already planned from eternity to overrule for His own glory, purposes, and people. The wicked are His pawns or puppets – His sword and His hand (Ps 17:13-14). Remember, He may even allow prosperity to deceive them (Pr 1:32). Remember, He may allow them to be successful for a while to heap up riches for you (Pr 13:22).

When facing a decision and not knowing what to do, here is wisdom. Submit your life and works to the LORD, choose that course that pleases you best within the limits of godly wisdom, obtain the approval of many wise counselors, and move ahead trusting the Lord to take care of the details out of your control. Do not fret about perfect goals or strategies, for you are not capable of picking them. Your Heavenly Father cares for you, and He can more than compensate for any “mistake” you make with an inferior choice.

Learn the additional wisdom of Psalm 127:1-2, where David explained that your best efforts are vain without God’s blessing. Though God expects you to apply yourself diligently to achieve your goals, the outcome truly depends on His favor, not your ability or genius in planning or executing your desire. He wants you to back off unreasonable worries or effort and go to sleep, because He loves you and will provide what you need.

Spiritual Training 12 December 2013

Posted: December 12, 2013 in 2 Timothy, Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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2nd Timothy 2:8-10  (8) Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.  This is my gospel, (9) for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.  But God’s word is not chained.  (10) Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 

False teachers were a problem in Ephesus.  At the heart of false teaching is an incorrect view of Christ.  In Timothy’s day many asserted that Christ was divine but not human-God but not man.  These days we often hear that Jesus was human but not divine-man but not God.  Either view destroys the good news that Jesus Christ has taken our sins on himself and has reconciled us to God.  In this verse, Paul firmly states that Jesus is fully man (“descended from David”) and fully God (“raised from the dead”). This is an important doctrine for all Christians.

Philippians 2:5-7 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross!

The incarnation was the act of the preexistent Son of God voluntarily assuming a human body and human nature.  Without ceasing to be God, he became a human being, the man called Jesus.  He did not give up his deity to become human, but he set aside the right to his glory and power.  In submission to the Father’s will, Christ limited his power and knowledge, Jesus of Nazareth was subject to place, time and many other human limitations.  What made his humanity unique was his freedom form sin.  In his full humanity, Jesus showed us everything about God’s character that can be conveyed in human terms.

Paul was in chains in prison because of the gospel he preached.  The truth about Jesus is no more popular in our day than in Paul’s, but it still reaches receptive hearts.  When Paul said that Jesus was God, he angered the Jews who had condemned Jesus for blasphemy; many Jews, however, became followers of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:24).  He angered the Romans who worshiped the emperor as god; but even some in Caesar’s household turned to Jesus (Philippians 4:22).  When Paul said Jesus was human, he angered the Greeks who thought divinity was soiled if it had any contact with humanity; still many Greeks accepted the faith (Acts 11:20,21).  The truth that Jesus is one person with two united natures has never been easy to understand, but that doesn’t make it untrue.

Lets Bring it Home: The truth of God’s Word is being believed by people every day and changing their lives for eternity.  Despite the opposition, continue to proclaim Christ.  Some will listen and believe.

Spiritual Training 11 December 2013

Posted: December 11, 2013 in 2 Timothy, Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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2nd Timothy 2:7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. 

Paul told Timothy to reflect on his words, and God would give him insight. God speaks through the Bible, his Word, but we need to be open and receptive to him.

Lets Bring it Home: As you read the Bible, ask God to show you his timeless truths and the application to your life. Then consider what you have read by thinking it through and meditating on it. God will give you understanding.

Proverbs 5:22 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: November 4, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 05, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Proverbs 5:22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.

Solomon warned about sexual addiction 3000 years ago. Psychologists have only recently stumbled on it. Having warned his son about sexual sins and God’s punishment of them (Pr 5:1-21), Solomon added the sober warning of being bound by those sins for total destruction (Pr 5:22-23). Pleasures of sexual sins for a season may imprison you for life!

The context is plain and simple – sexual intimacy with anyone but your legitimate spouse (Pr 5:1-21). The man of this proverb is a fool that rejected the warnings and proceeded to sin with another woman. His sexual iniquities will take hold of his body and spirit, and he will be held in the chain-like shackles of his sexual sins. They will capture his very soul.

Sexual sins captivate a person’s soul more than others. Alcohol may lead to drunkenness and a chemical addiction, but fornication can lead to obsession with immoral thoughts and activity. Men who sin sexually are seldom recovered (Pr 2:18-19; 5:5-13; 6:26-35; 7:22-27; 9:17-18). Only God’s glorious grace can deliver a man from this bondage.

Sexual sins are also addictive in how they demand more and more stimulus to provide the original thrill. A voyeur seldom remains a voyeur. Few men are content with moderate pornography; they progressively seek more extreme and graphic images in order to feel the same level of sexual and sinful thrill of their first experiences with it.

Pornography itself is a case study in this progressive degeneration. What was called pornography 40-60 years ago is vastly different from pornography today. The difference is remarkable! Fools who began with female nudity in their teens must explore sodomy, bestiality, and pedophilia in their forties to get the same kick! And instead of improving marital pleasure, as their hearts lie to them, it destroys marital ability and satisfaction.

Young man! Older man! This proverb is as true as gravity. If you play with fantasies, pornography, fornication, or sodomy, you will destroy yourself. Your own sins will capture and imprison your soul. You will be unable to free yourself. You will never again love God, your wife, or godly living without a miracle from heaven. And God has not promised you or any other fornicator such a gracious and undeserved deliverance.

Consider Samson. He had good parents, was a Nazarite for life, was fearless of other men, and judged Israel twenty years. Samson lusted after Philistine women for their looks (Judges 14:1-3; 16:1), until he was helpless with Delilah. In spite of obvious intentions to destroy him, she was his omnipotent master (Judges 16:4-21). Why did he not catch on? Was he insane? He was a slave to sexual obsession. He ended up blind and a suicide.

Consider Amnon. He had good parents, was the firstborn son of King David, had the true religion of Jehovah, and could have had any eligible woman in Israel. But he sexually fantasized about his sister Tamar until he was sick with obsession for her. His addiction to this fantasy led to violently raping her, consequently hating her, and justifiably being killed by her brother Absalom (II Sam 13:1-39). He was a bond slave to fantasies.

Consider Solomon. He wrote Proverbs. He wrote this proverb. But women destroyed his life (I Kgs 11:4-13). How did it happen? He first married out of the Lord, against God’s command (Deut 7:1-6; I Kgs 3:1). He then became polygamous, also against God’s command (Deut 17:17; I Kings 11:1-3). His love of female variety became his sexual obsession, until he had 1000 women, which destroyed his life (Eccl 7:26-29).

Man! If you play with fantasies, pornography, fornication, or friendship with a woman not wholly the Lord’s, you are a flattering fool. You are a fool, because you have rejected God’s warnings. You are a flattering fool, because you have lied to yourself that you can get away with it. You will soon hate your pet sin, which will destroy you (Ps 36:2).

You are a fool to think you can escape your sin and its punishment by repenting later, for you are in perfect bondage to your lusts; you will neither be able nor willing to set yourself free. If you do escape sexual diseases, the rage of a jealous husband, or the sentence of the judge, you will be infallibly overtaken by the righteous judgment of God.

There is no greater bondage than a child of God who cannot repent and find joy and peace with his Lord. Do you hear me, sinner? He cannot repent! Why can he not repent? Because he has become a slave to his lusts, and his own heart is in the death throes of sinful thoughts and actions. Every time you allow a sinful thought or action in your life, you twist another sinful strand into the cords that will bind you in your sexual sins.

If you are playing with fantasies, pornography, or a sinful relationship, get away now. Flee youthful lusts, Paul would say (II Tim 2:22). Do not go near any place or thing that tempts you to sin sexually (Pr 4:15; 5:8; Ps 101:3; Rom 13:11). Pluck out your right eye or cut off your right hand rather than play with sexual sin, Jesus would say (Mat 5:28-30).

If you are addicted to a sexual sin, your case is not hopeless, but you will never free yourself by your means or strength. You must cut off the sin violently, totally, now! Repent with these words (Job 33:27-28). Beg God’s power in Jesus’ name to deliver you from sin, sex, and Satan. Humble yourself to a spouse, a parent, or a pastor with every condemning detail. Pursue God’s worship in public and private with your whole heart.

Nothing is too hard for the Lord Christ! You can read that harlots went into the kingdom of God before religious Pharisees (Matt 21:31). Paul told of many sexual sinners at Corinth, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (I Cor 6:11).

Proverbs 22:17-18 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: October 22, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs 17, Proverbs 18, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 22:17-18 Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise, apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. 

The words of God are wonderful things! It is your duty to bow down your ears and hear them (Pr 22:17). It is your duty to apply your heart to love them (Pr 22:17). They will bring great pleasure to your soul, and you will be prepared to share them with others.

Keeping God’s words in your heart will be pleasant to your soul. They will be sweeter than honey (Ps 119:103), the rejoicing of your heart (Ps 119:111), and like finding great spoil (Ps 119:162). Jeremiah said they were the joy and rejoicing of his heart (Jer 15:16).

Do you crave God’s words? Job said, “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). How long do you go without food? Do you crave God’s words like you do food?

Is the preaching of God’s words the best part of your week? Or is it going out to eat? Do you go to hear His very words explained? Does your pastor even believe He has God’s words? Does he present them as individual jewels from God’s mouth? Demand them!

Do you have the words of God? There are so many Bibles today, all proclaiming to be the word (singular) of God. But which Bible has the words (plural) of God? Jesus Christ and His apostles had Scripture from which they argued important doctrine from single words (Matt 22:31-33,41-46; John 8:58; 10:33-36; Gal 3:16; 4:9; Heb 8:13; 12:26-27).

Do you love and appreciate the divine library God has given you? Is it as precious to you as much fine gold and as sweet to you as honeycomb (Ps 19:10)? Do you open its pages with awe and reverence, begging God to reveal new things to you (Ps 119:18)? There are 66 books of all kinds in this library, 1189 chapters, 31,102 verses, and 788,280 words!

Only by knowing the certain words of God can we use them to answer others, for Solomon said, “That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?” (Pr 22:21). It is only the certain words of truth that we want to hear, and it only them we want to speak to others.

If you keep these precious words within you, meditating upon them and applying them to your own life and the world around you, they will become fitted in your lips. You will have ready words on the tip of your tongue for those seeking the truth. You will be able to answer their hard questions, for the words of truth will be very familiar to your mind.

God’s true saints have His words fitted in their lips, and they feed many (Pr 10:21; 15:7). They exalt Jesus Christ as the sovereign Lord of all in their hearts, and they are always ready to give an answer to those asking for reasons for their faith (I Pet 3:15). If this is not true of you, reader, where have you failed? Do you need a better teacher, to listen more attentively, to read more often, or to meditate more carefully? Do whatever it takes!

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