Tag Archives: God’s Word
Proverbs 15:5
“A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.”
The Nightmare
I have one little girl that I would do absolutely anything for. I love her to death, and I only want what is best for her. There are things that, because I am older, I can see that might happen down the road in her life that she is not able to see. These things are what I want to help her avoid. Any parent understand this statement!
A true nightmare for me would be if I were to pour God’s Word into her life, and she wanted nothing to do with it or HIM and to have no part in any of the advice or wisdom that His Word gives us. This would be a nightmare! There are many people in this world that are experiencing this exact thing in their lives. I can’t even begin to imagine what they are going through.
Don’t forget what Proverbs 10:1 says, “A wise son maketh a glad father; but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.” In other words, a wise son or daughter is going to listen to what their father has to say about God’s Word. A foolish son or daughter is going to bring much sorrow to their mother. That sorrow is what I am talking about being the nightmare that I hope none of us face.
Tomato Is A Fruit
There is an assumption in this verse. The assumption is that the son has heard the instructions that the father has given him. This verse does not mention anything about understanding the instructions, but it does talk about being prudent or wise with the instructions given.
There is an old saying that goes like this, “The difference between understanding and wisdom is this – Understanding is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad”.
A wise son may not always understand the “why’s” of the instructions given, but he is wise enough to listen to the words of his father and heed them.
Let me take this a step further. As children of God, we may not always understand why God is allowing something to happen in our lives or we may not understand what God is doing, but what we must do is have the wisdom to know that God is in control and he only wants what is best for us!
Lord, help us to listen to the instructions given to each of us, and whether we understand them or not, help us to obey your commands. Help us to be wise children of yours and listen to your counsel and advice on how we should live our lives.
Leave a comment | tags: Father, Fool, God's Word, instruction, Mother, Nightmare, Prudent, Reproof, Tomato, Understanding, Wisdom | posted in Fools, Warnings, Wisdom
Proverbs 12:1
“Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.”
Instruction
We see over and over again in the book of Proverbs how Solomon is giving us instructions on how we should live our lives. He deals with different topics from money to adultery, from the fear of the Lord to temptation, from pride and humility to the wicked that are in the world. Each time he discusses a topic, he gives us instructions on how we need to handle each situation.
Instructions are very important. Instructions will guide us and help us to complete the task that is set before us. The Bible is our instruction manual and will guide us with ever step we take.
BUT…we must be willing to heed the Word of God and the instructions it gives. If we are to be more and more like Christ, then we must follow the instructions that are given to us in God’s Word.
Reproof
Dictionary.com defines the word reproof as, “An expression of censure or rebuke”. II Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”. This is what the Bible is here for – to keep us on the right path (Psalm 119:105).
How we accept instructions from God and receive reproof for the things we have done wrong, says a lot about a person. Dr. Warren Wiersbe puts it this way, “How we receive reproof and counsel is a test of our relationship to the Lord and our willingness to live by His Word.” (1)
We can see from past “Proverbial Thoughts”, that wise men love reproof – Proverbs 9:8 | Proverbs 9:9. Reproof by God’s Word helps us to stay focused on Him and to accomplish His will for our lives. Reproof helps the godly to mature in Christ.
Don’t Be Stupid
No one wants to be stupid (or at least not be stupid on purpose). But there are many people today that are living a life that is, well, stupid. Why? Because they are not willing to take instructions or rebuke from God’s Word. The New Living Translation says our verse this way, “To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.”
When we are not willing to listen to the wisdom of God and apply it to our own lives, we are actually saying that we know better than God on how we need to run our lives. We are pretty much telling Him to not worry about anything – that we have everything under control – and we don’t need Him! How stupid is that?
We must be willing to let God mold us and make us into what He wants us to be. Without His instructions (God’s Word), there is no way we will ever be able to be more like Him.
God, help us to love your instructions and have a willingness to heed Your words. Help us not to hate it when you rebuke us when we have done wrong against You. Help us to be godly men and women who seek your face and want to be more and more like You.
Reference:
(1) Dr. Warren Wiersbe – (The Wiersbe Bible Commentary – page 539)
Leave a comment | tags: Dr. Warren Wiersbe, God's Will, God's Word, instruction, Knowledge, proverbs, Reproof, Solomon, Stupid | posted in Fear of the Lord, Knowledge, Paths of Life, pride/humility, Temptation, The Wicked, Wisdom, Word of the Lord
Proverbs 6:23-24
“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.”
The Pledge
Growing up in a Christian home, I went to a Christian school all my life. One of the things we did every morning was to say our pledges to the American Flag, the Christian Flag and to the Bible.
The Pledge to the Bible goes like this:
I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word, I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.
This pledge was written directly from the verse in Psalm 119:105 which says,
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Being in God’s Word is the only way we are going to be able to see things clearly around us as we live this life! Without the true “light” we would be forever in darkness. (John 1:1-10)
In The Word
As it has been noted the last several days –Proverbs 6:20 | Proverbs 6:21-22 – we MUST be in God’s Word! When we read God’s Word it gets into our minds and into our hearts and it guides us along a safe path and protects us from the “fiery darts of the wicked”. (Ephesians 6:16 KJV)
The Warning
Solomon is trying to warn his son (and us) against the “evil woman”. She is on the prowl and knows what to say so that men will be drawn to her. The words that are formed on her tongue are as smooth as silk and as the old saying goes – “she knows how to use them”. She is as cunning as they come!
Even though Solomon was the wisest man to have ever lived on the earth (besides Jesus), he was also a man, and he knew the mesmerizing affect that women can have on men. That is why Solomon starts out this chapter by telling his son to make sure that he stays in God’s Word, so that when the temptation of the “evil woman” comes his way, he will be able to stand.
There is temptation all around us in this world and the only way for us to stand is to be in “The Light”! Let’s get back to the words of the pledge to the Bible and hide it in our hearts so that it will be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path!
Lord, please help me to stay in your Word. To keep my eyes fixed on You and to continue to live my life in the Light and not in the darkness. Help us to commit ourselves to your Word and the power that it holds over sin and the devil.
Leave a comment | tags: Book of Proverbs, Evil Woman, God's Word, Lamp, Light, Path, Pledge, Warnings | posted in Temptation, The Wicked, Warnings, Wisdom
And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. -Luke 1:46-50, KJV
During Jesus’ first advent to among His people, we must remember that the God of all Creation came as a baby.
Contrary to recent ideas being offered, God did not force Himself on young Mary against her consent. In verse 38, we see her response to learning she would be mother to “the son of God”: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” She felt honored to be the one chosen for such an opportunity.
Do we feel this way about God’s plans, will, and expectations? Are we able to hear the call to serve, even when it will be inconvenient, potentially ruinous to our reputations, and possibly painful?
Can you reply like Mary? Can you say, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior?” Are you willing to to praise God and let Him do great things through you, especially sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to redeem lost souls?
Are you willing to help usher in Christ’s second advent?
Heavenly Father, give us a heart like Mary’s: willing to serve to and sacrifice for Your glory, even when it is inconvenient and painful, and praise You in the process.
1 Comment | tags: Advent, Christmas, Christmas Hope, Coming, Father, God, God the Father, God's Will, God's Word, Humble, Lord, Luke, Magnificat, Magnify, Mary, Mother, Rejoice, Rejoiced, Rejoicing, Second Coming, Servant, Son of God, Soul, spirit, Willing | posted in desire, Love
Here is a dangerous post for this day and age.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. -Proverbs 31:6-7, KJV
It certainly sounds as though Scripture is calling for helping the poor and needy to get drunk. So, when you see the panhandler and the homeless begging for money, just get them that drink you know they are just gonna buy, anyway!
Or …
We can remember that this passage is speaking of the wise ruler avoiding such things, to “Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.” (Titus 2:6)
As co-heirs with Christ, we are to remain sober and help others to come to sober-mindedness in all things, but we must not be judgmental of those who feel the need to drown their sorrows.
Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. . . . She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. -Proverbs 31:8-9, 20 KJV
Michael also spoke to this this week. It should be the job of the Christian man and woman to help those in need and “be a voice for the voiceless.” (And remember that the original meaning of dumb was “mute” or “voiceless”, not stupid.)
I am not one for going after “social justice” as it is called today. This modern movement has a tendency to forget the most important aspect in its desire to be all-inclusive, and a reason I like the King James translation of this passage: the Gospel.
The “social justice movement” has a tendency to meet physical needs yet ignore the underlying problems or blow those problems out of proportion. To “open thy mouth for the dumb . . . as are appointed for destruction” reminds us that we need to tell a fallen and messed up world that they are headed for Hell without faith in Christ.
Should we stand up for the poor? Absolutely.
The drunk and drug addicted? Without question.
The “minority” of non-whites (as well as mistreated whites) around the world? Undeniably.
Even the homosexual, transgender, and queer? Yes, yes, and yes.
But we do so while remembering that they are all poor in righteousness, hopelessly sinful in their natural state, and in need of a Savior.
We are to be peacemakers and show this world love and charity.
And we are to share the Gospel.
To do otherwise (on both counts) is to play God and condemn their souls to destruction. To have social justice without revealing God’s justice is unloving and cruel.
4 Comments | tags: Addiction, Book of Proverbs, charity, Drunkenness, Drunks, Dumb, Giving, God's Word, Good works, Gospel, Help, hope, Hopeless, justice, love, Peace, Peacemakers, Poor, Social Justice | posted in giving/charity, Justice
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. -Proverbs 30:5, KJV
Scripture reminds us time and again that it is the very word of God, and He does not lie nor change. Therefore, we can know that what we read (when faithfully translated for us!) is trustworthy and true.
If it is not pure, it is not true. You may come across passages and verses that are difficult to understand or seem contradictory. We must remember a few things:
- We typically are separated by culture and thousands of years of time from when they were written. There may be:
- euphamisms and figures of speech we no longer use,
- historical references that seem out of place, or are practices that only make sense when seen/experienced, or
- descriptions that seem odd to us;
- Concepts are beyond our understanding (like the Trinity or free will with God’s sovereignty);
- Authors frequently seemed to play loose with details, but it was to make a specific point (such as the gospel writers putting orders of events in slightly different ways to highlight different details);
- Other portions of Scripture help fill in details not apparent in other portions (Why does God say “we/us/our” in Genesis? Jesus helps us see the unity of the Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit).
Jesus helps us see the truth and reliability of Scripture, because His life, death, and resurrection verify it. If any part is untrue, the entire thing falls apart. But He has shown us that He and His Word are trustworthy for the salvation of our souls.
Leave a comment | tags: Book of Proverbs, God, God's Word, Jesus, salvation, trust, Trust the Lord, truth, Word of the Lord | posted in Trust the Lord, Truth, Word of the Lord
Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. -Proverbs 29:18, ESV
A prophet declares the word of the Lord. In that sense, pastors and evangelists are prophets!
But we tend to hear the word “prophetic” and think “telling the future.” There certainly is an element of this, but we must remember the the other part of prophecy: revealing what is hidden … not just the future, but in our lives.
Most importantly, prophecy reveals God’s expectations.
Therefore, a good pastor and evangelist remind people that God has set His expectation for how we are to live (summed up in the Ten Commandments, which are summed up as “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself”), and that we will one day be judged by how we have done. More specifically, we will be judged by whether or not we followed God’s Son, Jesus.
The prophetic vision we have is that God has a standard, as modeled in Jssus, and He will be coming back to the earth in judgment.
If we neglect to teach and remind this world of this, people will throw off restraint and wantonly sin, either because they see no need for a Savior (“We’re basically good!”), or because they see grace giving them license (“We can do whatever we want, because God forgives!”)
We are either going to be judged guilty by how we rejected Christ or how we defiled Christ.
Only by believing in and emulating Christ’s sacrificial work – allowing His cleansing blood to cover us with forgiveness and grace to live a life of forgiveness, grace, and love – will we be ready for His imminent return.
Leave a comment | tags: Book of Proverbs, God's Word, Judge, judgement, judgment, justice, Knowledge, Law, paths of life, prophecy, Prophetic, Prophets, Second Coming, Ten Commandments, truth, Vision, Warning | posted in Justice, Knowledge, Paths of Life, Warnings
Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. -Proverbs 27:1, KJV
As I write this, it is the day before this posts online.
That seems rather presumptuous of me to assume that you are reading this the next day (or farther in the future).
The thing is, I am not sure anyone is reading this. For all I know, before anyone gets the chance, the Lord has returned and brought the world as we know it to an end.
However, this is scheduled for a Sunday. Therefore I continue this by encouraging you to get to your local church and worship God through song, hearing the preached and taught Word, and enjoying fellowship with other Christians. (If you went on Saturday, cool.)
In terms of being confident you are reading these words, though, I explain my presumption.
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
James 4:13-15, KJV
Do you not see that James and Solomon were in agreement? But James explains Proverbs 27:1 in more detail.
To explain, I presume people are reading these words because I trust that God is in control. At the very least, I have obeyed His command to expound on scripture. At best, I have done so to your benefit in Christ.
Maybe no one is reading these words, but, if the Lord will, you are.
I do not boast in any skill I have or that I know you are reading this.
No, I boast that the Lord has spoken, has sacrificed Himself for me and for you, and He has risen to glory. And He is in control.
And I shall continue as long as it is called Today. For Tomorrow (capital “T”) shall be with the Lord, and all boasting shall cease, for He is fully present with us and all sin and rebellion and fear is gone.
Lord willing, you are there, too.
Leave a comment | tags: Boasting, Book of Proverbs, faith, Faithful Witness, Faithfulness, God's Will, God's Word, Knowledge, Lord, Lord Willing, Presume, Presumption, Promise, promises, Return, Today, Tomorrow, Will, Willing | posted in Faithfulness, Knowledge, Promises, Word of the Lord
Many readers of Proverbial Thought may enjoy the thoughts we share each day.
Maybe you do not understand some our thought process.
I for one do enjoy writing out these devotional thoughts for others to enjoy, but it weighs heavy on my heart.
For starters, read Proverbs 26. It will only take a few minutes. What really strikes me is the number of verses about the wastefulness, follies, and even dangers of fools speaking proverbs.
We are basically putting it put there that we are responsible for affecting the way people think!
In fact, when I was a new believer of Jesus Christ, I knew I should “do my part” and read at least something in the Bible. I chose James, for “not being too long and possibly boring me, nor too short and making me look lazy.”
Ouch. This was the first thing that stood out to me (in my NIV Bible at the time):
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
James 3:1
I understood that to teach others means I would be scrutinized myself, both by other people and by God.
That terrified little 16-year-old me! (Even at six feet tall at that time …)
Honestly, it should be intimidating to all of us.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
God has an expectation. If you teach others about the Word of God – which all believers should in some way – you are expected to know what it says and how to explain it adequately.
This is the struggle we deal with every day for Proverbial Thought, and for many of us, who are pastors and ministry leaders, as a daily concern.
Therefore, we write to help others (you, dear reader!) to be better equipped to share your faith, even if mostly about the Proverbs.
If you are a follower of the Lord, you should be able to share the reason for your faith. Use any tool available to you to grow, starting with regular Bible study, researching what others have said, and meeting with fellow believers (by going to church, attending Bible studies, meeting together just to talk, and serving togwther).
Hopefully, we have played a role in your growth and not written foolishly.
Leave a comment | tags: advice, Believer, Christian, Conversation, Fear of the Lord, fools, God's Word, instruction, Speech, teachers, Teaching | posted in advice, conversation/speech, Fear of the Lord, Instruction, Word of the Lord
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. -Proverbs 25:2, KJV
We are wise to remember that Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore He is God.
Jesus spoke in parables so that those who are willing to listen and see can find the truth, but those who are unwilling to listen and see the truth will ignore and even hate truth. (Matthew 13:10-17)
We are co-heirs with Christ, our King. (Romans 8:17) We are called priests – servants of God – but even a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2)
As Audio Adrenaline put it, “boys become kings, girls will be queens,” so we are tasked with the honor of searching out the truths of God as revealed through Scripture.
Do not neglect your royal priestly duties as a Christian. Study the Word of God for yourself. Rely on those saints on whom we have the labors of faithful study that divulge the deep truths of the Bible. Go to church and be fed by your local shepherd and brothers and sisters in Christ.
Do not merely say a prayer and attend a church. Make your Christianity your own, and seek Christ with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
And then love your neighbor by sharing that truth. (Matthew 28:18-20)
1 Comment | tags: Bible study, Body of Christ, Book of Proverbs, Christ, Co-heirs, Conceal, Disciple, discipline, Faithful Witness, Faithfulness, God's Word, Great Commision, Greatest Commandment, King, kings, queens, Reveal, Secret, Seek, Share, truth | posted in discipline, Faithfulness, Truth, Word of the Lord
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Proverbial Thought 