Posts Tagged ‘religion’


Under Gods Command
More than Conquerors

Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brothers.

God’s ultimate goal for us is to make us like Christ (1 John 3:2). As we become more and more like him, we discover our true selves, the persons we were created to be.

Lets Bring it Home: How can we be conformed to Christ’s likeness? Buy reading and heeding the Word, by studying his life on earth through the Gospels, by being filled with his Spirit, and by doing his work in the world.


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

What is a great life? A life well lived? A noble life with purpose and value? It is a man with this epitaph: “He loved God more than all others; he was a tree of life to all others.”

Why are you alive? What is your purpose? You have two goals – to love God and help others. Pleasure is not your goal, but fulfilling these callings brings the greatest pleasure.

Are you a tree of life? A righteous man affects the lives of others for good. Are you a soul winner? A wise man will work to save the lives of those around him. The second commandment in the Christian religion, after loving God, is to love others. The most loving thing you can do for another person is to help them to a godly and wise life.

Great persons are trees of life – winning souls from sin and folly to righteousness and truth. There is no higher calling, in your relationships with others, than to help them by providing correction and instruction to please their Creator and enjoy the abundant life of godliness and wisdom. The highest measure of love is perfecting others before God.

A tree of life bears all the fruit of godliness, truth, and wisdom. This helps men find the good and peaceful existence that pleases God and profits them. A soul winner has a life-changing effect on those around him. By example and counsel, he saves and improves the lives of those sick and dying in ignorance and folly. Jesus called it being fishers of men.

There are two clauses in this proverb. Are they merely repetitive, or is one slightly better than the other? Righteous men by their lives bear the fruit of godliness, which others are able to pick and have better lives because of them. But slightly better than that is the wise man who actively puts forth winsome efforts to attract and persuade others to godliness.

This proverb does not teach any man can save a soul from eternal hell to heaven. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can do that. The divine transaction that makes men accepted before God is only by His will, purpose, and grace and the singular obedience of Jesus Christ Himself (Jn 1:13; 5:21; Rom 5:12-19; 9:15-16,21-24; Eph 1:3-12; II Tim 1:9; Heb 1:3).

God chose His people to eternal life and will glorify every one of them in heaven soon (Ro 8:28-39; Tit 1:1-2). He assigned Jesus Christ to live a perfect life for them and to die a substitutionary death for them, and He will not lose a single one (Jn 6:37-39; 10:26-29; 17:2). But it is your gospel privilege to show this truth to God’s elect (II Tim 2:10; 1:10).

Solomon did not have any vain idea like modern soul winners that he could fill heaven by getting men to repeat the sinner’s prayer. He never spent one minute writing tracts to the Philistines to scare them to invite Jesus into their hearts. He wrote this inspired proverb to encourage God’s people to help each other advance in godliness, truth, and wisdom.

This proverb does teach you can save a soul from error and folly, which cost men their fellowship with God and lead them to trouble and destruction in this life. Wisdom leads to the good life (Pr 3:18; 4:13; 8:35), and righteous men help others find it. Folly causes men pain and death, and wise men will help others out of it (Pr 8:36; 11:19; 13:14-15).

James described soul winning, “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (Jas 5:19-20). True soul winning is of brethren, from error to truth, which is conversion. Only God can regenerate a man from death to life. Men need conversion many times, after God regenerates once.

Parents can save their children from death and hell by using the rod and reproof wisely (Pr 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 29:15). Though Solomon used the words death and hell, he did not mean you can save your child from the eternal lake of fire by child discipline. But you can save him from hell on earth and an untimely death by use of reproof and the rod.

Solomon, as a loving father, spent many proverbs seeking to save his son from the death and hell of a whore or adulteress (Pr 2:18-19; 5:5; 7:27; 9:18; 22:14; 23:27-28). Many lives have suffered the horrible pain of fornication and adultery, and it is death and hell in several respects. Good fathers save the souls of sons (and daughters) from this danger.

This loving father also warned his son about odious women, to save him from a painful marriage (Pr 12:4; 14:1; 19:13-14; 21:9,19; 25:24; 27:15-16; 30:23). King Lemuel’s mother lovingly gave her son a lengthy description of the virtuous woman to save his life with a great wife (Pr 31:1-3,10-31). Many parents shirk these clear duties (Pr 1:8; 6:20).

Think of your family! Men, you should be proactively leading (Gen 18:19; Deut 6:6-9; Josh 24:15; I Cor 14:34-35). Mothers, you have your role (II Tim 1:5; 3:15; Tit 2:3-5). Siblings, be like Andrew, who told his brother Peter about Jesus (Jn 1:40-42). Be like Philip, who found and told Nathaniel (Jn 1:43-46). Start first with your own family!

Forget foreign missions until you have been a missionary at home. You do not need to plant a church in another country until you have planted seeds of truth and wisdom with those around you. There are people right now that you could seek to save today from pain or trouble caused by error, folly, or sin. Do not look for greener pastures. Start at home.

Have you helped those deluded by Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism? Have you helped others get free from Sabbatarianism, the superstition that Saturday for Israel still applies? Have you corrected the damning delusions of Mariolatry and other heresies of Roman Catholicism? Have you protected family and friends from Benny Hinn and Joseph Smith?

Have you helped others have a better marriage by example, instruction, or warning? How about better finances by the same three means? How many have you helped with child training, career progression, getting along with others, submitting to government and avoiding rabble rousers, altering speech habits, honoring parents, and knowing the Bible?

You are to warn others about sin, which is true love (Lev 19:17). Read it. This is serious business. If you have opportunity, speak up about backbiting, bitterness, complaining, cremation, drunkenness, envy, evil surmising, foolish talking, fornication, gluttony, grudges, horoscopes, jesting, malice, mode of baptism, pagan holidays, pride, purloining, scorn, sedition, self-love, slander, sodomy, talebearing, temperance, witchcraft, etc., etc.

Reader, are you a tree of life? Are others thankful for you helping them please God? Do you win souls? How many have you turned to the truth? Are you known for wisdom hanging from your branches? Are you a lighthouse from life’s storms for those in need? Do you help others acquire wisdom and its benefits? You must answer these questions.

When you are with others, what do you talk about? Do you gently bring all conversations back to profitable purposes for their good and God’s glory? You should be conscientious on the phone as well. What is the content of your emails like? What do you text to others – the weather or a sports score? What could you text? What could you tweet? Get busy!

Are you ready to win others? There are two basics. First, you must set a godly example by total submission to God and good works (I Pet 3:15; Matt 5:16; Tit 2:1-10). Second, you need to learn God’s truth and wisdom to be able to give certain words of truth to those asking due to your successful life (I Pet 3:15; Pr 22:17-21). Will you win others?

It takes only a little knowledge to believe something. It takes more knowledge to be able to teach something – to be a soul winner like this proverb. Are you ready? It takes a great deal of knowledge to defend the truth against fools and scorners. Paul had to rebuke Hebrew Christians for not being ready for even level two soul winning (Heb 5:12-14).

The more you know by study and preparation, the less likely you will lose control and graciousness in a discussion (Pr 15:2,28; 13:16; 16:23; 29:11; I Pet 3:15). A godly man is gracious from a pure heart (Pr 22:11; Eccl 10:12; Col 4:6). His words are health and kindness (Pr 15:4; 12:18). He is never hasty but hears out a person first (Pr 18:13; 29:20).

How much have you truly helped those who have known you? Are they pleasing God with their lives, and much of that is due to your efforts toward them? Are they enjoying the abundant and prosperous life of a person walking with God? Are they thankful for the enriching effect you have had on their lives by showing them the truth in word and deed?

How many have you helped among your acquaintances? Ten? A hundred? How many are further leveraging your life by being trees of life to yet others? Many adore multi-level marketing for overpriced candles or cosmetics, but here is the best use of the concept. How big is your downline of those who know God’s truth and wisdom because of you?

God has great delight in those who turn others to righteousness. Daniel praised the coming ministers of the New Testament, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever” (Dan 12:3). Is this a chief goal for your life? How well are you meeting it?

Earn your epitaph, “He loved God more than all others; he was a tree of life to all others.”


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 8:01-03 (1) Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? (2) On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand, (3) beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud

A woman wants you! A fabulous woman! She wants to help you! She cries for you today. She is easy to find; she is right before you. You cannot miss her. She offers you wisdom and an understanding heart; she will tell you excellent and right things (Pr 8:1-6).

You are incredibly blessed today! Greetings! Lady Wisdom introduces herself as you read this sentence! She offers you pure truth, instruction, knowledge, and wisdom, which are better than silver, gold, rubies, and all the things you might desire (Pr 8:7-11).

She cries for your attention. If you two do not become close friends and companions, she will not lose – you will lose! You were born foolish and ignorant, and you will stay that way; she wants to save you from a dysfunctional and painful life and eternity.

Do not resent this proverb. Are the words boring and appear meaningless? God inspired each one of those words, and they are designed to discourage and offend foolish men, but wise men will rejoice that He sent Lady Wisdom to them today, and they will read on.

Solomon used various means in Proverbs to get your attention and teach you wisdom. He used threats, promises, pain, reward, short proverbs, long parables, observations, rules, illustrations, analogies, comparisons, social phenomena, lessons from animals, his father’s advice, the teachings of Agur, and even a letter from a royal mother to her son.

Here he used personification – the literary tool of representing an abstract thing by a person – to present wisdom to you as a noble and wonderful woman, Lady Wisdom. She introduced herself and appealed to you to hear her (Pr 8:1-10); she described her benefits for you (Pr 8:11-21); she described how God used her in creating the universe (Pr 8:22-31); and she concluded by begging you to receive her or be punished (Pr 8:32-36).

You are blessed today! The Creator has sent a written offer for you to share knowledge, truth, understanding, and wisdom that He has? His is no vain religion of ceremonies, chantings, ritual prayers, superstitions, manmade traditions, dark mysteries, offering buffalo entrails to the Great Spirit, bathing in the filthy Ganges, kissing a meteorite in Mecca, or praying the Rosary to God’s mother. Here is eternal truth and wisdom!

Lady Wisdom is before you! She wants you to see her! She cries for your attention at the city entrance, where you travel every day. She pleads to help you (Pr 8:1-5). She offers excellent and right things – the only such things you will find in this foolish, blinded world (Pr 8:6). Her every word is truth and righteousness (Pr 8:7-8). Her instruction is easy to learn (Pr 8:9), and it is better than wealth and anything else desirable (Pr 8:10-11).

Nature plainly teaches truth in every language to all people (Ps 19:1-6)! But man rejected the Creator for his own hallucination – that you and everything else came from an explosion of cosmic gases in a purposeless universe; ocean slime became tree frogs; and baboons became your grandparents! From total ignorance at birth, man rushes downward to the institutionalized insanity of evolution. So God judges them (Rom 1:18-32)!

God sent much more truth by the Bible about Himself, man’s origin and future, and how to prosper in life and eternity (Ps 19:7-11; II Tim 3:16-17). But rebel man has burned it, burned its publishers, chained it in churches, read it in Latin, outlawed it in schools, ridiculed it for public office, removed it from courthouses, confused it by new versions, and relegated it to the shelf! So God judges them (John 12:47-48; II Thess 2:9-12)!

God sent His pastors to teach you His words and their right sense (Jer 3:15; 23:28-32; Acts 8:30-35; Eph 4:11-14). But the world fed them to lions, pulled them apart on the rack, burned them at the stake in Catholic inquisitions, banished them, and still scorns them today! Most Christians today have rejected them for popular and smooth operators that feed them entertainment and fables instead of sound doctrine (II Tim 3:1-7; 4:1-4).

Most men reject Lady Wisdom, whom they meet in creation, Scripture, and the ministry! And she is being rejected today. Do you tremble and rejoice at creation, knowing it is the handiwork of a Creator with eternal power and Godhead? Do you love and study the precious and true words of God in the Bible? Do you attend and support a church faithfully where a sober man preaches God’s words without compromise or distraction?

You are blessed today! Lady Wisdom met you at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Love her; she will bless you in time and eternity with incredible advantages and blessings (Pr 8:17-21). Reject her; she will mock as your life implodes on you. The choice is yours; the consequences are God’s! He has promised. If you neglect her offer of truth, she will laugh at your cries when your calamities come (Pr 1:20-33).

Is the proverb too boring? Its commentary too simple? You are not moved to repent of your foolishness and sinfulness, thank God for Lady Wisdom, and ask Him to show you His truth? It is better to be broken by repentance than to be ground to powder due to rebellion. Jesus Christ said about Himself, “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” (Matt 21:44).

You cannot endure the sound doctrine of this commentary? Your church has replaced the pulpit with a praise band (II Tim 4:3-4)? What happens if you reject God’s offer of truth? What happens if you walk away from Lady Wisdom? “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thess 2:10-12).


Under Gods Command
More than Conquerors

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the goo of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

God works in “all things” not just isolated incidents-for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good. Evil is prevalent in our fallen world, but God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long-range good. Note that God is not working to make us happy, but to fulfill his purpose. Note also that this promise is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Those who are “called” are those Holy Spirit convinces and enables to receive Christ. Such people have a new perspective, a new mind-set on life. They trust in God, not life’s treasures; they look for their security in heaven, not on earth; they learn to accept, not resent, pain and persecution because God is with them.

Lets Bring it Home: We always here that God works out everything for the good. But, remember, you have to love him. A lot of times I hear people leave that out. In order to love someone, don’t you have to get to know him do build trust (Faith) in the person? Don’t be like me when I first got save, shouting I love you Lord in Church when I really did not know him. Its when I told God “I don’t love you, but help me to get to know you” is when I started a real relationship with Him, when God directed me to read the 4 Gospels about his son Jesus. The more I read, the more I became in Love with Jesus Christ.


Under Gods Command
Future Glory

Romans 8:26-27 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

As a believer, you are not left to your own resources to cope with problems. Even when you don’t know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays with and for you, and God answers. With God helping you pray, you don’t need to be afraid to come before him. Ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for you “in accordance with God’s will.” Then, when you bring your request to God, trust that he will always do what is best.

Lets Bring it Home: Don’t allow yourself not to pray because you don’t sound like someone else, or you don’t know what to say. God is telling you right here that Holy Spirit intercedes for us. So, there is no excuse not to pray more. We got to trust the Holy Spirit and Gods word. Just drop your head and go into your secret place and talk to the Lord.


Under Gods Command
Future Glory

Romans 8:22-23 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits, of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

24-25 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

It is natural for children to trust their parents, even though parents sometimes fail to keep their promises, Our heavenly Father, however, never makes promises he won’t keep. Nevertheless, his plan may take more time than we expect. What are we waiting for? New bodies, a new heaven and new earth, rest and rewards, our eternal family and home, the absence of sin and suffering, and being face to face with Jesus! Rather than acting like impatient children as we wait for God’s will to unfold, we should place our confidence in God’s goodness and wisdom.

In Romans, Paul presents the idea that salvation is past, present, and future. It is past because we were saved the moment we believed in Jesus Christ as Savior (3:21-26; 5:1-11; 6:1-11, 22,23); our new life (eternal life)) begins at that moment. And it is present because we are being saved; this is the process of sanctification. But at the same time, we have not fully received all the benefits and blessings of salvation that will be ours when Christ’s new Kingdom is completely established. That’s our future salvation.

Lets Bring it Home: While we can be confident of our salvation, we still look ahead with hope and trust toward that complete change of body and personality that lies beyond this life, when we will be like Christ (1 John 3:2).


Under Gods Command

Proverbs 6:34 For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

God knows men. He knows their minds and emotions. He knows the jealous rage of men against an adulterer that steals their wives for love or sex. God inspired Solomon to teach men against committing adultery by warning them about a husband’s fury (Pr 6:27-35).

Marriage is an intimate and sacred relationship. Adultery is a horrible violation of it. Jealous rage and unmerciful vengeance are natural consequences of this heinous sin. Solomon soberly warned all men of this further trouble for touching another man’s wife.

He is at the end of a long warning to his son about adultery (Pr 6:20-35). He added a practical argument that the husband of the woman will be outraged by the offence. Not only does divine justice condemn the horrible sin, so do the fair laws of men and nature.

Marriage is a very personal, intimate, and possessive relationship. A violation of it causes enormous pain and loss. For this reason, the blessed God made capital punishment the judgment for this sin. Both the adulterer and adulteress were put to death (Lev 20:10).

Marital jealousy is not sin; it is part of love and possession. Marriage is based on love and possession. Love includes jealousy. Solomon said about his wife, “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame” (Song 8:6).

Envy is horrible. It is worse than anger or wrath (Pr 27:4). A man does not want to share his wife’s body or heart. When another man takes either, the envy is outrageous. A thief may find mercy from men, but not the adulterer (Pr 6:30-33). To steal to satisfy hunger is understandable, but to touch another man’s wife is inexcusable. Young man, Flee! Now!

God’s laws for Israel provided for jealous husbands (Num 5:11-31). If a man was jealous about his wife, with or without evidence, he could take her to the priests for the test of jealousy. If she were guilty, the curse would cause her to rot immediately, starting at her genitals. If she were innocent, she would be cleared by divine revelation and conceive.

A woman’s jealousy toward her husband is not the same, so God did not have the same protection in Moses’ Law. Since he was not made for her, like she was for him (I Cor 11:9), a husband owes his sexual fidelity more to God than to her. God deals with husbands directly, as He did with David and Israel (II Sam 11:27; Mal 2:10-16).

The LORD, choosing Israel to be His wife, declared His name was Jealous, and He was a jealous God (Ex 34:14). The first commandment was for her to love God with all her heart, soul, and might (Deut 6:4-5). Any infatuation with other things caused His jealousy to burn, for He would not share her affections with another (Deut 32:16; Ps 78:58).

For Christians, Jesus Christ is the bridegroom, and He demands total affection (Luke 14:26). All other relationships must be sacrificed, if they conflict with your love for Him. He considers any friendship with the world as spiritual adultery against Him (Jas 4:4). Are you loving Him and living for Him as devotedly and carefully as you should be?


Under Gods Command
Future Glory

Romans 8:22-23 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits, of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

We will be resurrected with glorified bodies like the body Christ now has in heaven (See 1 Corinthians 15:25-58). We have the “firstfuits,” the first installment or down payment of the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our resurrection life (see 2 Corintians 1:222; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14).

Lets Bring it Home: Have you receive the first installment or down payment of the Holy Spirit? Has the Holy Spirit set up camp inside of you? If not, get save now, and believe with Heart and confess with mouth that Jesus is Lord to receive your down payment.


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.


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.