Tag Archives: Destruction

February 17, 2020

Haughty or Humble?

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs  18:12

12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.

Haughty and in Hot Water

In the last several years there have been many high-profile stories out of politics. Granted, that sentence could have been written at any time in modern history.

What I am speaking of, specifically, are politicians who thought they were above reproach. Most called themselves committed Christians. Many of these were caught with prostitutes, girlfriends (other than their wives, of course), or sharing pictures (of their own body parts or other women/men).

They were caught for the very reason they thought they could get away with it: they thought too highly of themselves. Most these men lost their positions and even careers over these scandals. Most people could care less about these men today.

Humble and Honored

Now look at the other side.

Mother Teresa never held a public office. In fact, she spent the majority of her time with sick, injured, and societal rejects. She never considered anyone beneath her or less important. She put most people ahead of herself.

When she died in 1997, many millions of people mourned and remembered her. Many people called for her immediate beatification by the Catholic Church. She is still remembered well by over a billion people.

You and Me

Our pride can only lead to problems in our life. If left to continue unabated, our pride will lead to our separation from God after this life.

If we humble ourselves, confess our sinfulness and need for Jesus Christ, God is the One who will honor us.

every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)

Faithful Father, teach us true humility. Help us to seek You above ourselves.

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1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Reward, Value and Worth

February 11, 2020

Caught In the Lie

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 18:7

“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.”

As Anthony discussed yesterday, the things we say can lead to a good, old-fashioned punishment, such as soap in the mouth, a spanking, or other bad consequences.

When I was going through my later primary and early secondary education, up until about the start of my Junior year of high school, I had a penchant for stretching the truth or outright lying.

Here are some things I learned:

  • misrepresentations and lies only spread distrust, hatred, and problems.
  • relationships are damaged and/or lost.
  • eventually, you start to believe your own lies.
  • eventually, you must face the consequences in one way or another.

Our World

Our world is full of lies spread by any number of people. Whether it comes in the form of religion, science, or social constructs, we are bombarded daily with lies.

Some of these lies have immediate bad consequences: we may see church splits or new religions, increased taxes or restrictive laws, or fights or wars.

The most dangerous have eternal consequences. As we continue to spread lies, we not only hurt each other, but we may end up apart from God after we die.

That is hell, and it is not ever a good alternative.

Lord of Truth, help us to hear and speak Your words. Make us aware of the lies of this world and in our hearts. Save us from our own snares and destruction by Your grace and for Your glory.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in conversation/speech, Fools

December 19, 2019

… and in the darkness bind them

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 16:18

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

Fantastic

G. K. Chesterton once wrote in the book Heretics, “We all believe fairy-tales, and live in them.”1

Think about it: our lives are based on dreams we have of our future, movie theaters bring in billions of dollars every year, and even Jesus spoke with fictional stories. We call those stories parables.

One of the greatest parables of the Twentieth Century was written by a friend of Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, and is titled The Lord of the Rings.

Bound

The main antagonist of the book, though barely ever seen, is Sauron. He considered himself pretty important.

To attempt to control the world, known as Middle Earth, he created rings for each of the species that had power: Elves, Dwarfs, and Men.

He had one more for himself, The One Ring. Inscribed in magical letters on the ring was this:

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

Sauron used the one tool to control others that he possessed and that he knew the other races possessed: pride.

There was just one thing he never expected: two little creatures with no agenda other than to protect their comfortable lives. He expected great armies to attack him, because he is so great there is nothing less they could do.

He did not expect two little hobbits to walk quietly through the back door, destroying all of his hopes and dreams in one quick second.

His pride trapped him in a way he never expected.

Satan’s Trap

That old Devil, Satan, attempted to take the rightful place of God. It was his pride getting in his way that caused him to be cast out of God’s presence. Eventually he will be cast into the Lake of Fire of eternal destruction.

He realizes it is not enough to attack God, so he created rings to give the (seemingly) most powerful beings on Earth.

Each ring looks different, but they use the same trick as Sauron’s: our pride.

Every time we give in to our pride, we side with Satan. Every time we side with Satan, we guarantee our destruction.

Great God, help us overcome our pride. Teach us true humility, that we may not fall away from Your grace and forgiveness but into Your loving arms.

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December 21, 2018

Celebrating His Coming: Thoughts for the 3rd Week of Advent – Day 6

By Daniel M. Klem

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. -Hebrews 2:14-15, KJV

construction destruction power steel

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Through Mary came the first Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ – who, although He had the form of God, considered equality with God something to be grasped and therefore emptied Himself to take on the form of a servant (Philippians 2:6-7), took on flesh and blood to become one of us to take on our penalty for sin.

I will repeat it again, as I have in the past: the entire reason Jesus came was to die to remove our sin!

So, now we have a great joy, for we know that in His first coming Jesus overcame death and defeated the one who held the power to hold us in fear of death.

We have joy, because our enemies – death and the Devil – are defeated. The battles rage on, for now, but the war was won 2000 years ago, when Jesus smashed through Satan’s hold on us and made us children of God.

Lord of all, fill us with Your joy this season and all seasons as we remember what You have done for us.

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September 27, 2018

Playing or Getting Played by the Fool

By Daniel M. Klem

He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage. –Proverbs 26:6, KJV

The past two entries from Michael and me covered answering the fool in various ways. The next one after this from Dawn does a great job unifying Proverbs 26:4-5.

For this, I will look at how we can play the fool and be played by the fool with proverbs.

Playing the Fool

We may be very godly, have Scripture memorized (or be very quick looking up passages in our Bible apps on our phones 😉), and we have the right verse to respond to everyone.

But sometimes, people don’t need the Bible verse. Either they are adamantly opposed to our messageor they simply needed a hug and a listening ear, and our perfect verse led to a tantrum or to their brain shutting down and stop listening to us. Or worse, they lash out at others or injure themselves.

Played by the Fool

This second point is more prevalent in our world. This is the person who knows just enough about religion or academics or life in general to be dangerous.

This is the person who takes a Bibke verse out of context to prove you wrong, uses a blend of world religions’ teachings to show how much more about the world they know (but misapply much of it due to contradicting the Bible), or tries to help make the world better without accounting for human sin (while pointing out the sins of humanity).

This person speaks without knowledge and hurts others more by driving them away from God (see Jeremiah 10).

Avoiding the Cup of Wrath

What we all fail to realize – whether playing or getting played by the fool – is that we are setting each other up to drink damage, from the ultimate damage, God’s cup of wrath.

But there is a relief. We can allow the Holy Spirit to guide us (and help us keep our mouths shut).

But only if we repent and believe in the One who drank that cup for us (Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 25:15, Habakkuk 2:15–16, Matthew 20:20–23) are we able to receive the Holy Spirit.

Anyone who uses wise-sounding or even scriptural words to cause division or lead others away from Jesus Christ is only cutting them off at the feet so they stumble straight into eternal destruction.

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July 14, 2018

Fear That Brings Faith

By Daniel M. Klem

Hell and destruction are before the Lord : how much more then the hearts of the children of men? -Proverbs 15:11, KJV

Over and over again Solomon reminds us that the fear of the Lord brings wisdom and life.

Our world attempts to create a god that would never punish or discipline people. But what did Jesus say?

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”
Luke 12:4‭-‬5, ESV

It is not the Devil who controls the realm of fiery torment. It is God. We should begin with a fear of the one who can send us there.

But He loves us enough to save us.

But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”
Luke 18:16

Our fear should push us toward faith that He also made a way for us. His Son, Jesus, came and died for our sins and rose to life again to give us hope for the future.

We should have faith like a child who knows his father will not let him go when things get scary.

We can know that, although God created and maintains Hell, He cares more for those sons of Adam who hear His call to become born again sons of God.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Fear of the Lord

January 22, 2016

Haughty or Humble?

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs  18:12

12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.

Haughty and in Hot Water

In the last several years there have been many high-profile stories out of politics. Granted, that sentence could have been written at any time in modern history.

What I am speaking of, specifically, are politicians who thought they were above reproach. Most called themselves committed Christians. Many of these were caught with prostitutes, girlfriends (other than their wives, of course), or sharing pictures (of their own body parts or other women/men).

They were caught for the very reason they thought they could get away with it: they thought too highly of themselves. Most these men lost their positions and even careers over these scandals. Most people could care less about these men today.

Humble and Honored

Now look at the other side.

Mother Teresa never held a public office. In fact, she spent the majority of her time with sick, injured, and societal rejects. She never considered anyone beneath her or less important. She put most people ahead of herself.

When she died in 1997, many millions of people mourned and remembered her. Many people called for her immediate beatification by the Catholic Church. She is still remembered well by over a billion people.

You and Me

Our pride can only lead to problems in our life. If left to continue unabated, our pride will lead to our separation from God after this life.

If we humble ourselves, confess our sinfulness and need for Jesus Christ, God is the One who will honor us.

every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)

Faithful Father, teach us true humility. Help us to seek You above ourselves.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Reward, Value and Worth

January 18, 2016

Caught In the Lie

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 18:7

“A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.”

As Anthony discussed yesterday, the things we say can lead to a good, old-fashioned punishment, such as soap in the mouth, a spanking, or other bad consequences.

When I was going through my later primary and early secondary education, up until about the start of my Junior year of high school, I had a penchant for stretching the truth or outright lying.

Here are some things I learned:

  • misrepresentations and lies only spread distrust, hatred, and problems.
  • relationships are damaged and/or lost.
  • eventually, you start to believe your own lies.
  • eventually, you must face the consequences in one way or another.

Our World

Our world is full of lies spread by any number of people. Whether it comes in the form of religion, science, or social constructs, we are bombarded daily with lies.

Some of these lies have immediate bad consequences: we may see church splits or new religions, increased taxes or restrictive laws, or fights or wars.

The most dangerous have eternal consequences. As we continue to spread lies, we not only hurt each other, but we may end up apart from God after we die.

That is hell, and it is not ever a good alternative.

Lord of Truth, help us to hear and speak Your words. Make us aware of the lies of this world and in our hearts. Save us from our own snares and destruction by Your grace and for Your glory.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in conversation/speech, Fools

October 29, 2015

… and in the darkness bind them

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 16:18

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

Fantastic

G. K. Chesterton once wrote in the book Heretics, “We all believe fairy-tales, and live in them.”1

Think about it: our lives are based on dreams we have of our future, movie theaters bring in billions of dollars every year, and even Jesus spoke with fictional stories. We call those stories parables.

One of the greatest parables of the Twentieth Century was written by a friend of Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, and is titled The Lord of the Rings.

Bound

The main antagonist of the book, though barely ever seen, is Sauron. He considered himself pretty important.

To attempt to control the world, known as Middle Earth, he created rings for each of the species that had power: Elves, Dwarfs, and Men.

He had one more for himself, The One Ring. Inscribed in magical letters on the ring was this:

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

Sauron used the one tool to control others that he possessed and that he knew the other races possessed: pride.

There was just one thing he never expected: two little creatures with no agenda other than to protect their comfortable lives. He expected great armies to attack him, because he is so great there is nothing less they could do.

He did not expect two little hobbits to walk quietly through the back door, destroying all of his hopes and dreams in one quick second.

His pride trapped him in a way he never expected.

Satan’s Trap

That old Devil, Satan, attempted to take the rightful place of God. It was his pride getting in his way that caused him to be cast out of God’s presence. Eventually he will be cast into the Lake of Fire of eternal destruction.

He realizes it is not enough to attack God, so he created rings to give the (seemingly) most powerful beings on Earth.

Each ring looks different, but they use the same trick as Sauron’s: our pride.

Every time we give in to our pride, we side with Satan. Every time we side with Satan, we guarantee our destruction.

Great God, help us overcome our pride. Teach us true humility, that we may not fall away from Your grace and forgiveness but into Your loving arms.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in pride/humility

April 5, 2013

Haughty or Humble?

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs  18:12

12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.

Haughty and in Hot Water

In the last several years there have been many high-profile stories out of politics. Granted, that sentence could have been written at any time in modern history.

What I am speaking of, specifically, are politicians who thought they were above reproach. Most called themselves committed Christians. Many of these were caught with prostitutes, girlfriends (other than their wives, of course), or sharing pictures (of their own body parts or other women/men).

They were caught for the very reason they thought they could get away with it: they thought too highly of themselves. Most these men lost their positions and even careers over these scandals. Most people could care less about these men today.

Humble and Honored

Now look at the other side.

Mother Teresa never held a public office. In fact, she spent the majority of her time with sick, injured, and societal rejects. She never considered anyone beneath her or less important. She put most people ahead of herself.

When she died in 1997, many millions of people mourned and remembered her. Many people called for her immediate beatification by the Catholic Church. She is still remembered well by over a billion people.

You and Me

Our pride can only lead to problems in our life. If left to continue unabated, our pride will lead to our separation from God after this life.

If we humble ourselves, confess our sinfulness and need for Jesus Christ, God is the One who will honor us.

every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)

Faithful Father, teach us true humility. Help us to seek You above ourselves.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Reward, Value and Worth