Tag Archives: Proverb study

Friday Proverb – Godly Honor and Riches

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It is very distressing to see the continual corruption of the Laodicean church of today.  The Word of God speaks to us on every aspect of how we should live in this sinful, fallen world – while being in the world – but not of it.  This is Biblical separation – it is sanctification.  And by living and walking with the Lord – our lives give testimony to His majesty and power.  Full surrender to Him is the only means  to true prosperity. 

Proverbs 11:16

A gracious woman retaineth honour:

GRA’CIOUS – Favorable; kind; benevolent; merciful; disposed to forgive offenses and impart unmerited blessings.

Thinking of truly gracious women from the Bible, we have to acknowledge Abigail.  She was 1 Samuel 25:3 – “a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance.”  This does not mean she was a cover girl model – but that her inner beauty expressed itself in her countenance and behavior.   Despite the fact that she was married to a churlish man, she kept her honor in every situation.  For this reason – she was blessed by God.  She became the bride of King David – who is an Old Testament “type” of Jesus Christ.

This same Biblical principle applies not only to Christian women – but to the Bride of Christ as a whole.  We are to appear to the world, as Abigail did.  With good understanding, and a beautiful countenance.  The unsaved will judge Our Holy God by how the church  behaves, and how we appear.  If we act with wisdom and the kind of serenity that Abigail exhibited, we will testify of our King.  She was not passive, but her positive actions were done in such a way, that they earned the favor of the King.

and strong men retain riches.

scales from the bible

Ahh – money, money, money.  That is not the kind of riches the Bible is talking about.  Laodicea says God wants you to be rich.  This is true – but only half true.  When Solomon’s kingdom began to crumble, it was because of his personal weakness.  Your home and family are your kingdom.  Resisting temptation is the kind of strength the Lord is talking about here.  And the riches?  Well, such riches that we can only get a glimpse now.

Romans 11:33-36

33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!

34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?

35 Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again?

36 For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.

sage

Friday Proverb – Truth vs. the Hypocrite

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Such a sad, sad reality for the Laodicean church age.   The Body of Christ is teeming with hypocrisy.  You would be very hard pressed – no – let’s go further and say it would be impossible to find a New Testament church that was free of gossip . . .

Proverbs 11:9

An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour:

gossiping

This picture shows girls gabbing, but we all know that men are just as guilty of gossiping.  What is most troubling about this activity, is the lack of church discipline for such a serious offense.   Damage done by gossip is tangible and far-reaching.

Do you realize – ladies and gentlemen – that when you are disparaging your spouse to others in your church family, that you are guilty of this kind of hypocrisy?  That  when you confide everything that your teenager does to your  neighbor, coworkers, “friends” at Bible study – you are gossiping?  Yes – Christians gossip about their families.  Parents  say terrible things about their spouses to their own children!  And if your family is not your neighbor – I don’t know who is!  How utterly shameful.

WE ALL NEED TO BE VIGILANT ABOUT EVERY WORD

THAT COMES OUT OF OUR MOUTHS.

but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.

Never fear beloveds.  If you are being maligned by family members, church family, coworkers, neighbors . . .the truth will prevail if you are a child of God.  His Truth is eternal, and  completely just.  As a child of God, you are covered by His righteousness, and are justified by your faith in His finished work on the cross.  You will be delivered in truth, and justice. 

1 Peter 4:16-19

16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

sage

Friday Proverb – Holding the Line

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Proverbs 10:29   

The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

Once again, the Proverbs make a clear demarcation between the saved and the lost.  The pagan world is stymied when Christians repeatedly stand tall in the face of adversity.  They would prefer, if when faced with calamity, that we collapse and fall into the abyss of sinful behaviors that they are mired in.  But – the Proverb states that the Lord is our strength.  We do not need to resort to the world’s accepted methods – we have the Word of God.  Nothing more is required to see us through life’s darkest hours.

Psalm 1:6
For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Proverbs 10:30

The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

That’s right all you Mother Earth worshipers, you do NOT inherit the earth.  No matter how much you do to “save the planet,” it won’t help – because it’s not yours to save.  The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it – and He will give it to whom He chooses.  It will not be given to the unrepentant, that is a fact.

Psalm 37:29

 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

Revelation 21:6-8

6 And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

sage

Friday Proverb – Our Life and Hope

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The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. 

Proverbs 10:27

While the Word of God does not guarantee a long  earthly life to truly born again believers, it does follow reason that those who fear Him, and forsake sinful lifestyles will have better health and greater joy in life.  While we are in our flesh – we long to be with Him, and  having the knowledge of His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence will prevent us from taking a detour into the dark side. 

Living the Holy Spirit filled life is a matter of surrendering our wills to His will.  It is a matter of getting rid of our household gods and fleshly desires,  and allowing the Holy Spirit to completely fill us.  And while it seems that the wicked are holding sway at this moment in time – remember – that to God – there is no time!  Time only exists here on earth – it is not a part of the heavenly realm. 

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. 

Proverbs 10:28

Yes – we must fear our Creator – but we must also hope in Him.  One need only see the hard, brittle, look in the eyes of the abrasive atheists when they are attacking the Bible and Bible believers.  It is a cold, dead expression – void of hope.  And if the eyes truly are the window to the soul – what does that tell us?   There is death where there is no hope – spiritual death.  And then in the not so far off future – eternal death in the Lake of Fire. 

We can be truly glad of heart, and take joy in the fact that our futures are already secure, and written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  There is no reason to fret over evil doers – because their future is already determined if they remain unrepentant.  What a terrible thought. 

The next time you hear news of murders, corruptions, and all the sundry evils that satan has in his arsenal, it would be wise to think where your hope is.  It is not here! not in America, not in anything other than our blessed savior – Jesus Christ. 

James 4:14

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.

[Forgive me.  I so wanted to post a video with the classic hymn – “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand,” but was unable to find one without a sensuous back-beat.]

sage