Posts Tagged ‘quotes’

Proverbs 15:05 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 5, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 15, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 5:15-21 – Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.

Love your wife! Make love to her only! Make your marriage the hottest in the world! You have no right to any other woman. You should not look on another woman, think about another woman, flirt with another woman, or ever touch another woman sexually.

Go for it! Today! This is God’s plan and will for your life. He wants you to have a great sex life with your great wife. “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Pr 5:19).

The true God knows life can be empty and frustrating, so He gave you one of His greatest gifts of creation: “Enjoy life with you wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun-all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun” (Eccl 9:9).

God created love, sex, and every aspect of the woman you need – your wife. He knows you need and want sex, so He chose the woman that is your wife to practice with until you are perfectly satisfied. All other women are off limits. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” (Heb 13:4).

The Bible is the perfect love, marriage, and sex manual. God invented sex, so He has perfect knowledge about it. Have you read the Bible and heard it preached to maximize your marriage? If you have read and heard it preached, have you submitted to God’s sovereign, providential choice of your wife and His orders for how you should treat her?

Water, a precious blessing in the dry climate of the Middle East, is here a metaphor for sexual pleasure with a woman. Water satisfies thirst, is necessary for survival, and is very pleasing to a thirsty soul (Pr 25:25). Men drew fresh water from wells; they stored extra water in cisterns. Every man needed his own supply to protect himself and his family.

Men need the water of sexual pleasure, for God put a great desire and need in them for it (Gen 2:18; Deut 21:11; I Cor 7:2,5,9). Any exceptions confirm this well-known rule rather than modify or nullify it (Matt 19:10-12; I Tim 4:3; I Cor 9:5). Men will have sex one way or another, but God condemns all other creatures but one – your wife.

Men also crave food by God’s design, and they desire and enjoy His blessing of wine (Ps 104:14-15; Eccl 9:7), but drinking and eating without limitation or discipline are sin and folly (Pr 23:20). Men must hate and reject drunkenness or gluttony, and they should never forget that breaking God’s rules for sexual water is sin and deserves judgment.

A man’s own wife is a great gift from God, for which he should be thankful (Pr 18:22; 19:14). Consider Jacob: “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her” (Gen 29:20). A man may drink deeply of sexual pleasure from his own wife only, not from any other woman, single or married.

No man should even consider the cisterns or wells of others, for the wife God picked for him is more than enough for his needs and happiness. To think upon the cisterns and wells of others is to sin and open the door for great folly (Pr 6:25; Job 31:1; Matt 5:28). Any woman is more than enough for any man, and God chose your wife for just you.

Are you disappointed or frustrated in your marriage? Do you agree with what has been written, but you personally are not experiencing it? Are you thirsty, and your wife seems to have run dry? Or you can see the water, but you seldom or never taste any of it? Is the water of your cistern and well now somewhat lukewarm and putrid, not appealing at all?

If the water supply at home is lacking in any way, maybe the pump needs priming. How do you prime the pump to bring forth running water? Treat your wife the way the Creator of love, sex, marriage, and women told you to treat her. It is that simple. God made her as perfect as a rose, but lack of sunshine, rain, soil, and nurture will cause her to close up.

God and Solomon order you to treat her as delicately and tenderly as a pet female deer, to be totally satisfied with her body, and to choose to greatly enjoy her lovemaking. “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Pr 5:19). God knows your wife. Try His way.

Paul told you to love your wife and to cherish and nourish her, like you do your own body (Eph 5:25-29). King Solomon wrote a love song that describes the passion and details of lovers and lovemaking. Have you read the Song of Solomon? Have you tried talking to your wife and treating her the way that this man treated his lover wife?

The strong warning intended by this proverb to limit yourself to your own wife includes use of pornography, which foolishly steals visual pleasure from another woman, causes discontentment with your woman, and hurts your woman’s confidence or desire to ever be the lover you need and want. Your wife will be as hot as you choose or help her to be.

Every Christian woman, every daughter of God, should be careful and faithful in making sure her husband drinks deeply, often, and pleasantly, lest she drive him to wells that are not his, due to bitterness or dryness in his own cistern and well (I Co 7:2-5). Let husbands and wives, with the husband leading the way in love, maximize the pleasure of marriage.

Proverbs 04:07 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 4, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 04, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 4:07 Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

Here is the key to Proverbs! Here is the key to life! These are King David’s words to his son Solomon (Pr 4:1-9). They explain the purpose of the book of Proverbs. They describe the greatest goal for your life – the important pursuit of wisdom and understanding.

Most men get distracted pursuing all kinds of other things. It is man’s folly and trouble that any other ambition ever competes with this goal. It is your duty and blessed privilege to consider the wonderful opportunity of wisdom and seek it with all your might.

Wisdom is the principal thing – the most important matter in life. What is wisdom? It is the power of right judgment – the ability to choose the correct solution for any situation. It is knowing how to think, speak, and act to please both God and men throughout life.

Wisdom is the basis for victorious living. Without wisdom, men make choices that bring pain, poverty, trouble, and even death. With it, men make choices that bring them health, peace, prosperity, success, and life. Your future depends on your degree of wisdom.

Understanding is connected to wisdom, and it also is an important goal. Understanding is the power of discernment – to see past what meets the eye and recognize the actual faults or merits of a thing. It is the ability to grasp a matter or situation and assess it correctly.

Without understanding, men are easily deceived and led astray. Without it, men are confused and perplexed. With it, men can see what others miss, and they can avoid the snares and traps of seducing sins. With it, life’s difficulties become quite simple.

Here is the road to success! What will you do with this axiom? If you neglect wisdom, you will bring pain and trouble upon you and your family. If you make it a priority to get wisdom and understanding, you will bask in pleasant prosperity. Finding wisdom brings life and God’s favor; neglecting it wrongs your own soul and brings death (Pr 8:35-36).

The world spends trillions on education, but neglect wisdom and understanding. Parents sacrifice for children to “get an education,” as if it were the noblest of human goals. They do not realize learning without wisdom or understanding is dangerous, for it gives false confidence in knowledge. An educated fool is worse than an ignorant fool (Pr 26:12)!

It matters little who discovered Bolivia, or if it was discovered. Unless you work for NASA, calculus has little use, though it does excuse a lower grade point average! Regurgitating facts you will never use in the real world is one of the greatest hoaxes ever sold. Paul warned of much learning that never leads to truth or wisdom (II Tim 3:6-7).

Wisdom is the principal thing, but it is not in the scope and sequence of any grade, of any state, of any nation. A bachelor’s degree in America takes 17 years of formal education, but the degree is granted without any evaluation of wisdom. Resumes formally list education and professional experience, but there is not a single line about wisdom.

Wisdom and understanding require knowing and fearing God (Pr 1:7; 9:10; Job 28:28; Ps 111:10). You cannot even start to be wise without fearing and loving the true Creator God – Jehovah of the Bible. But these vital prerequisites and their source document are forbidden and ridiculed in America and other nations’ institutions of “higher learning”!

What higher learning are educators talking about? Irrelevant facts and insane reasoning! Facts without the correct context and a productive purpose are irrelevant and distracting. Reasoning without the correct First Cause and moral absolutes is hallucination. These educators need to study, The Emperor’s New Clothes, by Hans Christian Andersen.

What are the main goals of so-called enlightened nations? Pleasure! Which is no better than the Epicurean madness of the Greeks (Acts 17:16-34). Money! Which is the root of all evil and drowns men in destruction (I Tim 6:6-10). Health! Which is quite worthless, if your stronger and longer life is used to extend your dysfunctional living (Pr 13:15).

Parent! What do you do with and for your children? Do you teach them the power of right judgment and right discernment? Do you have these abilities yourself? Or do you think you are a great parent by providing three squares a day, a few hours of restricted television, and picking them up from soccer practice after school? Life is so much more.

Parent! Wisdom is found in the Bible, and any thoughts contrary to it are dark ignorance (Ps 119:128; Is 8:20; I Tim 6:3-5,20). You must learn wisdom from the Bible, and you must teach it to your children (Deut 6:4-9; Eph 6:4; II Tim 3:15). Miss Huckleberry at the elementary school will not do it. Most pastors and churches do not even do it today.

Parent! Wisdom is a Bible worldview. Men are drunk on nihilism, naturalism, humanism, pantheism, etc. Your children must be convinced of a Creator God, Who revealed absolute truth in the Bible, which is perfect in every part, and contains the facts of Jesus Christ, the devil, the origin and future of man, eternal punishment, and rules for living.

Parent! Wisdom may be seen clearly by comparing it to folly, as many of Solomon’s proverbs do. You have daily opportunities in this confused and profane world to identify the foolishness of man and show the answer of wisdom – straight from the Word of God. It is the blessed privilege of the righteous to mock and ridicule the ignorance of fools!

Parent! God did not leave you without tools. He gave you an inspired library of sixty-six books covering the entire scope of wisdom and understanding. He inspired David and Solomon to give you the proverb before you. The book of Proverbs should be required learning for every child. He also gifted and ordained pastors and teachers to help you.

Wisdom takes a commitment (Pr 18:1) to reject your thoughts (Pr 3:5; 17:16; 18:2). It cannot be a part-time pursuit, for it requires the careful diligence that hunting for hidden treasure requires (Pr 2:1-9). You must redeem your time for the pursuit (Eph 5:15-17). Yet it is easy for those who love it and seek it with humble readiness (Pr 8:17; 14:6).

May God bless His children to simplify their lives – getting rid of unnecessary noise and distraction – to focus on the principal things – wisdom and understanding. Do not let the world or devil distract you with frivolous and worthless pursuits. Do not join most co-called Christians today as they turn from the truth to fables as Paul warned (II Tim 4:3-4).

Jesus grew in wisdom and in favor with God and man (Lu 2:52), the perfect goals for you and your family. In Him are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). God put His elect in Christ Jesus and made Him wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for them (I Cor 1:30). The greatest wisdom is to believe this and live like it.

Proverbs 01:07 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 1, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs 01, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

One of the most annoying types of people is a know-it all, a person who has a dogmatic opinion about everything, is closed to anything new, resents discipline, and refuses to learn. Solomon calls this kind of person a fool. Don’t be a know-it-all. Instead, be open to the advice of others, especially those who know you well and can give valuable insight and counsel. Learn how to learn from others. Remember, only God knows it all.

 

Proverbs 27:12 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: February 27, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 27, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 27:12 The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it

Be careful! Be cautious! Do not get surprised! What could happen that might hurt you? Optimism is risky; pessimism is safe. Learn wisdom. Prudent men look ahead and adjust their lives to avoid loss, pain, or trouble. Wise men are vigilant to spot changes coming that could cost them, and so they avoid them. Foolish men live day by day without regard to the future and get caught by life’s frequent changes, and so they are hurt by them.

Some get laid off with savings, a transferable skill, and another job waiting. Others lose their jobs, have no financial cushion, are untrained, and hurt their families and do not know what to do. Some manage the number and timing of their children to be excellent parents. Others reproduce like rabbits not considering the cost, effort, time, or wisdom to get them all to adulthood with character, careers, clothing, cars, and noble spouses!

Do you believe most of what you hear or read? Are you decisive and opinionated? Be careful! Wise men are cautious, critical, pessimistic, and skeptical about unproven assertions or situations. They do not believe all they hear or read, and they do not make decisions without carefully analyzing possible danger (Pr 14:15). Only foolish simpletons naively view the future and rush forward optimistically. And they get punished for it.

Prudence is the power of discernment. It is the discretion or practical wisdom to detect problems or dangers in any situation and avoid them by altering actions to find the most profitable course. Obviously, prudent men move more slowly than fools, because they know that hasty or heady decisions are risky (Pr 14:29; 19:2; 21:5; 25:8; 29:20; II Tim 3:4). This rule for wise living is so important that Solomon repeated it for you (Pr 22:3).

A prudent man – one with cautious discretion – looks ahead and sees fallacies or risks. He hides himself from their danger by altering his beliefs or his actions. He will never be caught believing lies or walking into a trap. On the other hand, simpletons blithely let life happen to them. They do not question what they believe or what they are doing. They keep going forward and get clobbered repeatedly by dangers and risks they overlooked.

Of course, your foolish spirit wants to do what it wants to do, and it wants to do it now! Foolish companions and peer pressure further encourage this insane approach to life. It is prudence – a component of wisdom – that slows men down to consider what they are doing. Only wise men look at every angle in a complete circle – circumspection – before making decisions (Eph 5:15-17). Fools rush ahead in blind zeal and ignorant confidence.

Wise men will not believe anything or do anything, until they prove God’s truth or will in the matter. The Bereans were commended for testing even Paul’s preaching, and the Thessalonians were commanded to do it (Acts 17:11; I Thess 5:21). It is fools that believe the evening news, Ben Spock’s childcare hallucinations, testimonials of any kind, think tanks of the left and the right, or any man because he calls himself a reverend or a doctor!

If it is not a matter of religion or morality, they practice the wisdom of Solomon’s proverbs (Pr 1:1-4), they seek safety in a multitude of counselors (Pr 11:14; 24:6), and they hide like the coney from risk (Pr 30:26; 6:1-5). They do not trust their own opinions (Pr 26:12; 16:2,25; 21:2). They could not care less what everyone else is doing (Ex 23:2). They do not believe anything without strong and tested evidence (Pr 14:15; 13:16).

The best way to become prudent is to learn the Bible (Ps 19:7-11; 119:98-100; II Tim 3:16-17). It contains the truth of God and His will for successful living. The book of Proverbs is Solomon’s inspired rules for a prosperous life. Without God’s truth and precepts, you will be vulnerable to the folly of feelings and vain ideas of men. Without instruction from God’s ministers, you will be tossed to and fro by crafty deceivers (Eph 4:14). You need to be in a Bible-preaching church to fully grow in prudence and wisdom.

Are you prudent to save some of all income, so future financial difficulties can be avoided (Pr 30:25)? Do you insure major assets against catastrophic loss, so you cannot be wiped out (Pr 22:26-27)? Are you very cautious about marriage, either your own or your children’s, to prudently avoid the odious woman (Pr 30:21-23; 31:30)? Have you looked ahead to see if your job, profession, or business will be needed in the future (Pr 27:23-24)? Have you trained your children to avoid them ruining your future (Pr 29:15)?

Have you acquired a transferable skill, or are you unskilled and subject to layoffs (Pr 24:27)? Do you invest in high-yield opportunities, or do you question deals that sound too good to be true? Have you been reading some new version of the Bible without examining its origin, text, and fruit? Do you prove everything you hear at church, or do you assume it to be right? Have you vigorously examined the training of your children to maximize its potential? Do you treat your spouse God’s way to build a lasting marriage?

Did you fall for Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” or did you recognize it as an animated crucifix for Roman Catholicism? Are you a purpose-driven Christian, or do you see the horrible compromise of seeker sensitive Rick Warren (II Tim 4:3-4)? Have you read the “Left Behind” novels, or do you know the antichrist comes before Jesus Christ’s return (II Thess 2:3)? Do you endorse Jim Dobson’s permissive child training, or do you stick with the old paths of inspired Scripture (Pr 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; Jer 6:16)?

The book of Proverbs was inspired by God and written by Solomon to teach you wisdom. The rule of wisdom in this proverb is to be prudently cautious about everything you believe and do, lest you believe a lie or expose yourself to danger. Only fools press forward without critical and skeptical analysis. The Lord is offering safety from frauds and risk, if you will slow down and prove all things (I Thess 5:21). If you continue to let life happen to you without cautious inspection, you will be repeatedly punished.

The greatest future danger you face is the judgment throne of Jesus Christ, when He will examine everything you have done in life (Eccl 12:13-14; Rom 14:10-12; II Cor 5:10-11; Heb 9:27; Rev 20:11-15). It is time to wake up from sleeping and began living a holy life to hide from that day (Rom 13:11-14; Eph 5:3-7; I Tim 6:17-19). Only a wicked fool eats, drinks, and makes merry without regard for the Day of Judgment that is fast approaching. Those obsessed with the foolish pleasures of this life will soon be punished for eternity.

Proverbs 12:3 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: February 12, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 12, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 12:3 A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted.   

To be established means to be successful.  Real success comes only to those who do what is right.  Their efforts stand the test of time.  Then, what kind of success does wickedness bring?  We all know people who cheated to pass the course or to get a larger tax refund-is this not success?  And what about the person who ignores his family commitments and mistreats his workers but gets ahead in business?

These apparent successes are only temporary.  They are bought at the expense of character. Cheaters grow more and more dishonest, and those who hurt others become callous and cruel.  In the long run, evil behavior does not lead to success; it leads only to more evil.  Real success maintains personal integrity.  If you are not a success by God’s standards, you have not achieved true success.

Life is full of change. Little is fixed and stable. Change can be disruptive and fearful. But godly men have deep roots to secure their family tree for the future. Wicked living is popular, but it will not work for long, since God will destroy such men and their families.

The lesson is simple: godly men and their families will outlast the wicked and theirs. It may not seem so for a time, but it will soon be true. God and Solomon gave you a rule as true as gravity, and they repeated it for emphasis (Pr 2:21-22; 10:25,30; 12:19; 24:3).

Every man, woman, and family wants to be settled and successful. They want to be securely planted and prosperous into the future. They want to increase and improve over time. But wickedness of any kind, continued in, will cause a person or family to decay and disappear. Only godliness can preserve and establish a man or family permanently.

Solomon saw it firsthand. Israel’s first king was Saul of Benjamin. Though a giant among men, with the nation behind him, and successful in war, God ripped the kingdom from him for disobedience and gave it to David of Judah. Saul and his family, even the princely Jonathan, disappeared forever. What about David’s family? His Son Jesus sits on David’s throne today, 3000 years after David died! Grasp this proverb and rejoice in it!

What is the outlook for you and your family? If there is sin in either, the Lord will root one or both out and destroy it. The righteous Lord blesses and honors righteousness, but He will be forward (Difficult to deal with) and terrible to the froward (Ps 18:20-26). The choice is yours, and it is a choice you make each day. What is your future? Your choices today determine it!

Abraham and Lot made choices. Lot chose financial advantage over holiness by pitching his tent toward Sodom. Abraham chose peace and the leftovers. But what happened? Lot lost everything and ended up in a cave with two profane and pregnant daughters; Abraham ended up the rich father of Israel and Jesus Christ! What a difference!

Eli was Israel’s high priest. His family could have been priests forever. But he would not stop his perverse sons. What did the Lord say? “For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not” (I Sam 3:13). See also I Samuel 2:27-36 and I Samuel 3:1-18. If you are not a proactive and strong father to command your family, you are going down.

David was the neglected eighth son, but the Lord rooted Saul out and established David and his sons as the dynasty in Israel. His Son sits on the throne of the universe today! God said to David, “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” (II Sam 7:16). Read II Samuel 7.

David wrote, “I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil, but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found” (Ps 37:35-36). Alexander the Great thought he was invincible, but he died at 32; in a few years every relative and descendant was dead. God rooted him out of the earth! Joseph Kennedy imagined a powerful political dynasty for his family. Where is it today?

The wicked do estate planning, but God will destroy them. The righteous seems weak, but God will preserve his house and seed forever. Do you believe this law of life? “Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies” (Ps 112:6-8).

 

 

Proverbs 4:13-17 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: February 4, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 04, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 4:13-17  Hold on to instruction; do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked, or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it, turn from it and go on your way. For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

Even friends can make you fall. It is difficult for people to accept the fact that friends and acquaintances might be luring them to do wrong. Young people who want to be accepted would never want to confront or criticize a friend for wrong plans or actions. Many other people can’t even see how their friend’s actions could lead to trouble. While we should be accepting of others, we need a healthy skepticism about human behavior. When you feel yourself being heavily influenced, proceed with caution. Don’t let your friends cause you to fall into sin

Proverbs 24:33-34 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: January 24, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 24, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 24:33-34 (33) A little sleep, a little slumber, and little folding of the hands to rest (34) and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. 

Laziness has a certain result. You cannot avoid it. Just as traveling surely gets you to your destination and an armed man can defeat an unarmed one, poverty will take you down. It is a lie to think that not doing what you should today will not have painful consequences.

You cannot stop poverty, if you do not work hard. It is coming for sure. It is not a matter of if it will come, but rather when it will come. You are going down – this is the judgment of economics and perfect punishment from heaven. Because God knew you might doubt or resent this certain fact, He inspired Solomon to write it twice (Pr 6:11).

Solomon knew a man’s work character can be known by the condition of his business (Pr 24:30-34). If not in tip-top shape, he knew the man slept too much. Since you do not have fields or vineyards, measure your income. A quick rule of thumb says an American should make $1.5k – $2k per year of age, reflecting how others value your efforts.

Real Christians work hard (Rom 12:11; I Cor 15:10). Diligence helps men get ahead (Pr 22:29; Eccl 9:10), and it identifies virtuous women (Pr 31:10-31). Only such hardworking men and women deserve the honor and riches that come from diligence (Pr 10:4; 12:24).

The opposite trait of laziness marks men and women that should be thrown out of the churches of Christ after they are deprived of food (II Thess 3:6-15). If you think this is too harsh a judgment, you do not know the Bible or proper incentive (Pr 20:4; 16:26).

In God’s plan for men, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer (Matt 25:29). Socialist minds in an effeminate generation resent it, but it is due to the effort put forth by the two categories. God rewards the diligent and punishes the slothful. This makes perfectly good sense to a righteous mind, and you should bless the God of heaven and love His Bible.

Of course, if you sleep in one morning, you cannot see it having any real consequences, but such a choice makes it much easier to sleep in the next day! If you take a day off work because you do not feel very good (unless ill with a doctor’s note), you are likely lazy. Everyone has aches and pains, and many have more than you, yet they work!

You should observe that those who are the busiest get the most done and volunteer for more. It is quite amazing! Those who have nothing to do actually do nothing and seldom volunteer. They want those who work all the time not only to feed them but to also do the other projects that come up. The diligent do more, and the slothful do less. Amazing!

How much do you believe God’s word? Here is wisdom. Some parents and governments intend to overthrow this proverb’s rule by supporting lazy children or citizens. It may be called an allowance, welfare, disability, unemployment, or other names. The intent is the same – God and Solomon in the Bible are too hard, so let us tax workers to feed sleepers.

God’s word is true. Poverty will come for leeches that take handouts without desperate needs. Poverty will also come for nations that legislate such handouts, as America and Europe in 2013. The rule is certain: it will take down sluggards and their governments, unless hard work is encouraged by rewarding the diligent and starving the lazy.

The lesson of the proverb is the certainty of poverty for those who do not work hard. It is God’s law. Solomon saw it and warned about it several times (Pr 6:6-11; 19:15; 20:13; 24:30-34). Do not deceive yourself by thinking you can get away with taking it easy and working less than others. Repent. Get up. Start working hard right now on a needed thing.

There is another form of poverty far worse than financial – spiritual poverty. It also is the certain result of laziness. You cannot avoid it. Those who skip church services or other duties because they are tired are pitiful church members. Their value and productivity in the kingdom of heaven amount to very little, when it could amount to much.

But another certainty awaits the faithful, who year in and year out seek first the kingdom of God and work diligently to serve Him and others any way they can – they get richer with improving spiritual discernment and greater strength for victorious living (Luke 8:18; 16:10-12; 19:11-27; II Tim 4:7-8). They bear fruit into old age (Ps 92:12-14).

Proverbs 22:13 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: January 22, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 22, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 22:13 – The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!” or, “I will be murdered in the streets!”

 This proverb refers to an excuse a lazy person might use to avoid going to work.  The excuse sounds silly to us, but that’s often how our excuses sound to others.  Don’t rationalize laziness.  Take your responsibilities seriously and get to work.

Lazy people always have excuses! They see difficulty in any job. They arrogantly reject good explanations of successful men that a task can be done (Pr 26:16). They are lazy, and they use their conceited minds to convince themselves and others to avoid the work.

Challenges are opportunities! They mean the lazy will not be competing, so there is more for you. They mean the wages or profit will be more. They mean the honor for finishing will be higher. They mean the skill and experience acquired will be greater. Consider it!

Difficulties are challenges to the diligent, but excuses to the slothful. Adversity means a little more effort to the diligent, but it quickly defeats the slothful. Any difficulty is enough for him to cancel his plans and quit, for the lion in the streets might slay him!

He wants the good things of life, but his hands refuse to labor (Pr 19:24; 21:25), so he makes up ridiculous excuses to justify himself. He prefers his bed or toys (Pr 6:9-10). He dreads the thought of exertion, persistence, or pain. Though he and all wise men know that lions prefer the hills and woods, he makes up preposterous pretenses to avoid work.

These are the words of a lazy person. He knows the city streets are not this bad, but he uses his wild excuse to justify himself to others. The excuses lazy people use are Legion. As long as sluggards exist, lions and other dangerous beasts will roam cities and threaten lives! Such excuses are so common, the LORD left a twin for this proverb (Pr 26:13)!

Seven successful men might prove there is no lion, but a man that hates work will still argue that there is danger (Pr 26:16). He has convinced himself of difficulty in order to keep from making an effort; the sound reasoning of diligent men is easily brushed aside! Lazy men can explain away their responsibilities with a thousand ridiculous excuses.

His lazy lie may be self-fulfilling, for the slothful have a rough time with easy projects (Pr 15:19). The more a slothful man considers the difficulty of a job, the more difficult it will be. His half-hearted efforts make anthills seem like mountains! He claims fear of the lion, but forgets that men are the masters of lions and may hunt them for mere sport.

It has been said, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. These words did not originate with a lazy man, for tough going is his reason to quit and look for easier work. Diligent men believe and practice them, and they find great reward in their own souls and from one another for their zealous and persistent efforts in business (Pr 14:14; 22:29).

 

Procrastination and hypochondria are sins. They are excuses of cowardly and lazy men (Rom 12:11). Ask a lazy man why he is not happy, and he will fill your ears with his aches and pains. You would think Job exists in every generation! Ask a lazy man why he did not finish the job today, and he will fill your ears with how tomorrow is better and a sure thing. The problem is, he will say similar things tomorrow about the next day!

 

Distraction is a sin. If you have a job or business, diligence is God’s order (Rom 12:11). Faithfulness is a virtue (Pr 13:17; 25:13; 28:20). It is your God-given duty to apply effort as wisely as possible to make the most possible. In America, is your annual salary or net profit twice your age? It is an indicator. If you are behind, why? What has you distracted?

 

Dereliction is a sin. If you have a diligent and faithful spouse, that does not relieve you at all of your duties before God, unless it is by full mutual agreement after consulting with God’s word and wise counselors. Get up and get out – there is no lion! But the Lion of the tribe of Judah will stalk slothful men, for only diligent producers are in His kingdom.

 

What is the cure for fear and sloth? Get out in the street! Charge your duties with zeal! It will amaze you how empty the streets are of opposition, when you face them head on. The morning is only dark and cold while you cuddle in a warm bed with the light off. Get out of the bed and turn the light on, and you will be surprised at things are better already!

 

Ten fearful and slothful spies forgot God’s great works in saving them from Egypt and told Israel that Canaan would be too difficult for them to take (Num 13:26-33). Instead of the lion in the streets, they used the giants and grasshoppers excuse. “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Num 13:33). Poor boys! They died like dogs in the wilderness for their lack of faith and diligence to take the promise land!

 

Jesus gave varied funds to three men (Matt 25:14-30). Two invested theirs and earned a nice return and the high praise of their Lord. The other was a slothful loser, who buried his talent in the ground, out of intimidation and slothfulness. His excuse was that his Lord was too severe in His expectations. Poor boy! His talent was taken away and given to the man with ten. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus Christ has called you to carry your cross daily (Luke 9:23). How will you respond? Will you dread the effort and shrink from your profession into carnal backsliding (Phil 3:18-19; Heb 10:38-39)? Or will you count up the cost and labor to pay it in full for the glory of your beloved paymaster (Luke 14:25-33)? Will you take it up today, reader?

 

If you see a lion in the way of either natural or spiritual projects, remember His precious promise, “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet” (Ps 91:13). Let it never be said of you, “The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle” (Ps 78:9).

 

When it comes to spiritual duties and pleasing God in heaven, there is indeed a lion in the streets that seeks to devour you – the devil himself (I Pet 5:8). But if you will resist him, he will flee from you (Jas 4:7). If you will get out of bed and take the whole armor of God that He has provided, you can stand against his wiles (Eph 6:10-18; 5:14-16; 4:27).

 

The promises of God are obtained by the zealous, not the slothful (Heb 6:9-12). Jesus obtained His crown by facing and enduring the lion in several encounters (Ps 22:11-21; Matt 4:1-11; Heb 12:1-3). Rejoice, reader, that Jesus did not hide from the lion without, or you would die in your sins. Consider His holy example and follow it in all your duties!

 

 

Proverbs 15:10 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: January 15, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 15, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

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!

Proverbs 11:09 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: January 11, 2013 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Proverbs, Proverbs 11, Spiritual Training, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
Tags: , , , , ,
0

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 11:09 With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous escape.   

The mouth can be used either as a weapon or a tool, hurting relationships or building them up.  Sadly, it is often easier to destroy than to build, and most people have received more destructive comments than those that build up.  Every person you meet today is either a demolition site or a construction opportunity. Your words will make a difference.  Will they be weapons for destruction or tool for construction?

Older Entries
Newer Entries