Under Gods Command
Proverbs 23:12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
The people most likely to gain knowledge are those who are willing to listen. It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to pay attention to what others have to say. People who are eager to listen continue to learn and grow throughout their lives. If we refuse to become set in our ways, we can always expand the limits of our knowledge.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 20:06 Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?
Talk is cheap. Your boasting is worthless. Your history is irrelevant. True character is measured by present actions and results, not by self-praise, past events, explanations, or excuses (20:11). Yet fools talk more than wise men (14:33;29:11), and sluggards talk more than hard workers (26:16). Most men love themselves and will quickly tell you how gifted and faithful they are, but real performers as measured by the Bible are very rare.
Talk is cheap. What you think about yourself is deceiving and destructive (12:15; 14:12; 16:2,25; 21:2; Jer 17:9). But what you say about yourself is worse. Neither God nor men care about your opinion in general, and especially when it is about yourself. If you must tell others you are good at something, then there must be lack of evidence to prove it, or why would you say it? Testimonials are stupid enough for promoting new products, but they are ridiculous about yourself!
Yet today there are few faithful men that will do what they should (Ps 12:1; II Tim 3:13). Athletes brag about abilities and accomplishments, and politicians claim to be near divine in what they promise to do. Great men do not need to promote themselves, because others will do it for them. Great men never stoop to self-praise; their praise comes from others (27:2). If other men do not praise you for greatness, there is an obvious reason!
Where is the humility of Solomon? As king of Israel and the well-favored son of David, he admitted he was a little child in understanding (I Kgs 3:5-9). God loved this confession, and so do wise men reading it. Where is the humility of Paul? Though the greatest of the apostles, he admitted he was less than the least of all saints (Eph 3:8). Where is the humility of Agur? As the author of Proverbs chapter 30, he admitted his ignorance (30:1-4). These three great men did not praise themselves, but wepraise them.
Don’t tell about your job performance. Let a promotion tell it! Don’t brag about your great marriage. Let your spouse spread it! Don’t tell about your personal holiness. Let your fruits and persecution prove it! Don’t tell about your charity and kindness to others. Let your number of devoted friends be the measure! Don’t tell how much you can be trusted. Let your credit score tell the truth. Don’t tell how much you fear and love God. Let your changed life and the testimony of others prove it (I Thess 1:6-10; I John 2:4)!
Reader, stop talking about yourself! Show your great character to God and men by your actions! James ridiculed Christianity based on mere faith, which is more than the carnal decisions most evangelists solicit today (Jas 2:14-26)! He exalted works as being superior to faith as the evidence of knowing God and obtaining His approval. Jesus, Paul, and Peter taught the same conduct-based doctrine (Matt 7:21; II Cor 5:9-11; II Pet 1:5-12).
Self-righteousness is one of the most damning sins of all. Once infected, how will you be healed? You do not know you are diseased. Whose rebuke would you accept? You have assured yourself thatyour standing before God is excellent (Luke 18:9-14). Listen to Jesus Christ! He said to the most conservative and respected religious leaders of His day, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).
You will soon give an account of your life to God, and then the truth will be known. Your words of self-praise and self-justification will be just more marks against you. Prepare to meet thyGod! Jesus Christ, the Blessed and Only Potentate will judge you for your words and actions (Matt 12:34-37). He gave you warning that it would be better tohave bad words and good performance than good words and bad performance (Matt 21:28-33).
Many ministers promote themselves more than they promote Jesus Christ. They call their ministries after their own names, and they cultivate sycophants to keep their respective personality cults thriving. Just read the dust jackets of the books they write! But the Lord Jesus Christ will humble them in an instant of time, just before they are cast into hell. He will say to these self-praising success stories, “I never knew you,” (Matt 7:21-23).
Reader, are you well known for faithful actions and results that match God’s word? Or do you have to help people out by giving them verbal hints or explanations as to how faithful you are? Forget the talk! Measure yourself only by action, performance, consistency, and results; focus on the actions God’s word makes important; and do them only for the glory of God. May the Lord bless you to be one of the rare faithful ones in this generation.
Under Gods Command
Luke 12:47-48 The servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Jesus has told us how to live until he comes: we must watch for him, work diligently, and obey his commands. Such attitudes are especially necessary for leaders. Watchful and faithful leaders will be given increased opportunities and responsibilities. The more resources, talents, and understanding we have, the more we are responsible to use them effectively. God will not hold us responsibly for gifts he has not given us, but all of us have enough gifts and duties to keep us busy until Jesus returns.
Under Gods Command
John the Baptist had prepared the way for Jesus by preaching repentance. The apostle’s message of salvation also included the call to repentance-acknowledging personal sin and turning away from it. Many people want the benefits of being identified with Christ without admitting their own disobedience and turning from sin. The key to forgiveness is confessing your sin and turning from it.
When we repent, God promises not only to wipe out our sins, but also to bring spiritual refreshment. Repentance may at first seem painful because it is hard to give up certain sins. But God will give you a better way. As Hosea promised, “Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth” (Hosea 6:3) Do you feel a need to be refreshed?
The time when God will “restore everything” refers to the second coming, the Last Judgment, and the removal of sin from the world.
Acts: 3:19-21 Repent, then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you-even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 19:05 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free.
How important is telling the truth? Extremely! A false witness is someone who tells lies against or for another person, especially when that person is on trial for a crime. But this proverb also condemns all lying. Liars will not escape punishment, for all good men, and officials and leaders, and the LORD God of heaven will all pursue them to judgment.
Brothers and Sisters let this short sentence reflecting the LORD’s hatred of lying cause your heart to tremble with fear about misrepresenting a matter or telling a lie. Only those who love death will rush over this proverb and enter into their day without checking carefully for honesty blemishes in the mirror of God’s word
God hates lies and liars and all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire every time a person lies, he claims and proves the devil is his father. The blessed God made it the ninth commandment, and His New Testament apostles blasted it also
Lying will bring certain judgment. One lie leads to another to keep the previous one covered, until a liar is caught in a web of deceit that destroys his soul and reputation. Men depend upon truth for survival and success, so a liar will be avoided and punished. Civil authority depends upon truth, so they will punish liars. And God will judge liars severely.
This proverb is weighty with a sober warning – and it is repeated just four proverbs later (19:9)! Do you get the message? God and all good men hate lying! You should hate it! The Bible is filled with a variety of warnings against lying. Be sure your sin will find you out – especially lying!
Do you embellish facts, exaggerate events, polish stories, or round numbers in your favor? Do you allow incorrect facts to stand, when they are in your favor? Ah reader! Speak the truth openly and plainly at all times. Hate lying and any of its subtle forms! Love honesty and truth! Pray for deliverance from this curse of the devil!
Parents! Demand truth from your children from their earliest days, as babies begin lying before they begin talking. Emphasize total honesty in all family dealings and at all times, and punish lying more severely than most or all other infractions. Especially focus on lying to avoid punishment, for telling the truth then is learning the fear of God. If you do not punish them early and teach them to hate lying, they will be punished later!
Is it ever right to lie? Yes, when innocent life is at stake! Rahab was justified before God by lying to protect the two spies (James 2:25). God blessed two midwives for lying to Pharaoh to protect Israel’s babies (Ex 1:15-21). David, the man after God’s own heart, lied on numerous occasions (1 Sam 19:11-17; 21:10-15; II Sam 15:31-37) And God sent a lying spirit to King Ahab, who neither desired nor deserved truth (Kings 22:19-22). These are just a few of the examples in the Bible of lying that are not condemned.
Our blessed Lord is the Faithful and True Witness. The reason others did not believe Him was because He told the truth (John 8:45)! Natural man prefers lies, and nothing has changed today! Evolution? What a ridiculous, insane lie! Churches preaching lies will always have larger crowds than those teaching truth (1st Tim 4:1-3; 2nd Tim 4:1-3;). Wise men will not measure godliness by growth or success, but by truth (1 Tim 6:3-6).
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 17:9 – He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
This proverb is saying that we should be willing to forgive others’ sins against us. Covering over offenses is necessary to any relationship. It is tempting, especially in an argument, to bring up all the mistakes the other person has ever made. Love however, keeps its mouth shut-difficult though that may be. Try never to bring anything into an argument that is unrelated to the topic being discussed. As we grow to be like Christ, we will acquire God’s ability to forget the confessed sins of the past.
Under Gods Command
Forgiving Others
Matthew 6:14 – For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Why? Those who are unwilling to forgive have not become one with Christ who was willing to forgive even those who crucified him Luke 23:34 – Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. We are also denying our common ground as sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. God’s forgiveness of sin is not the direct result of our forgiving others, but it is based on our realizing what forgiveness means. We cannot live as Children of Light walking around with sin and hate towards others.
Ephesians 4:28-32 – He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
We can grieve the Holy Spirit by the way we live. Paul warns us against unwholesome language, bitterness, improper use of anger, brawling, slander, and bad attitudes toward others. Instead of acting that way, we should be forgiving, just as God has forgiven us. Are you grieving or pleasing God with your attitudes and actions? Act in love toward your brothers and sisters in Christ, just as God acted in love by sending his Son to die for our sins.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 16:2 –All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
All a man’s ways seem innocent to him. People can rationalize anything if they have no standards for judging right and wrong. We can always prove that we are right. Before putting any plan into action, ask yourself these three questions:
(1) Is this plan in harmony with God’s truth?
(2) Will it work under real-life conditions?
(3) Is my attitude pleasing to God?
Under Gods Command
James 1:2-4 States consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James doesn’t say if you face trials, but whenever you face them. He assumes that we will have trials and that it is possible to profit from them. The point is not to pretend to be happy when we face pain, but to have a positive outlook (consider it pure joy) because of what trials can produce in our lives, James tells us to turn our hardships into times of learning. Tough times can teach us perseverance. We can’t really know the depth of our character until we see how we react under pressure. It is easy to be kind to others when everything is going well, but can we still be kind when others are treating us unfairly? God wants to make us mature and complete. Not to keep us from all pain. Instead of complaining about our struggles, we should see them as opportunities for growth. Thank God for promising to be with us in our rough times. Ask him to help us solve our problems or to give us the strength to endure them. Than be patient. God will not leave us alone with our problems; he will stay close and help us grow.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 12:13 – An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble.
Sinful talk is twisting the facts to support your claims. Those who do this are likely to be trapped by their own lies. But for someone who always tells the truth, the facts-plain and unvarnished give an unshakable defense. If you find that you always have to defend yourself to others, maybe your honesty is less than it should be.
Under Gods command 