Proverbs 28

Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.  

Proverbs 28:14

How much do you respect God? Christians are so used to lip-service holiness that they don't question their true devotion to God. Pretending to care about biblical living isn't the same as fearing the Lord. It's easy to give an impression by acting, but no acting gets past God because he knows us. In this world we are constantly distracted. Who even has time to stop and seriously consider how he's doing spiritually? Living busily contents Christians while their symptoms of spiritual disorders get ignored. How often do you get alone in a quiet place, no noise, no distractions, and check with God to see what he thinks of your spiritual health? I've noticed people get too busy being concerned with the thoughts of others while underestimating and ignoring the wisdom that comes from fearing the Lord. 

Is your heart fearing God or being hardened? Do you like how your life is going in the Lord? Are you a growing Christian? If not, you probably need to fall on your face before God and ask him to forgive you for being a stagnate Christian, then start making changes.  Ever since the beginning we have been involved in this battle that includes yielding our wills to God's will. When people lack respect for God, it shows up in their lives as self- centered choices. Then when lost people watch our lives, they don't respect God either because they view the 'Christian' as hypocritical, saying one thing but living differently. That's confusing.  Instead of respect, they chalk it up to another one of those 'religions.' The Pharisees were hypocrites. They maintained an outward sense of 'holiness' but that's as far as it went.  In fact, Jesus called them not only hypocrites but likened them to whited sepulchers which appear beautiful outwardly but inwardly are full of uncleanness and dead men's bones.  The Jews would whitewash these sepulchers so people could view them from afar and be careful not to touch them so as to not make them unclean for the holy days. And this is what Jesus likened the pharisees to. Do you know people like this today? I do, and it's sad because I've talked to unsaved people who watch these so-called Christians live opposite of the name. Unfortunately, these unsaved people don't have a good opinion of God. This is the saddest thing to me, and friend, we need to be on high guard against becoming this kind of person. How does we prevent it? Start by getting your heart right with God and letting go of your pride. Fear God. Submit to his will and way. Stop focusing on pleasing others while forgetting about pleasing God. Remember that if you truly desire to change, God will help you. 

Proverbs 8:13 ~ "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride and arrogancy and the evil way and the froward mouth do I hate."

Proverbs 27

 Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

Proverbs 27:1

Why do we live as if life is going to stay the same forever? Because we forget that we don't know what the next day will bring. God never changes but life surely does. 

We humans love to plan, don't we? We plan for the future, for rainy days, for tomorrow, and for the next hour. Some cultures plan more than others (America practically runs on plans), but every person does so to some extent. This brings us to the word boast. Boast often brings to mind the word brag but it also means "to exult in confident expectation." What are you planning in confident expectation? You know that you can schedule things all you want, but make sure to keep a big eraser handy because God might have other plans.  James 4:13-16 says, "Go to now, ye that say, To day or tomorrow 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. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil."

Notice the word 'boasting' appears here again.  Bragging about future plans without consulting God's thoughts or submitting your plans to him reflects prideful independence from God. If we call ourselves Christians, why don't we want God's guidance and blessing on our lives by following him? Why do we desire so badly to control our own lives? It's human nature to want to know the future. We crave security. But planning with open hands allows God to lead us in his path and this is how we learn to live by faith. 

I've seen pictures, decor, and pictures with the saying "I will walk by faith even when I cannot see" stamped on them. Even the 3 simple words "Walk by faith" are quite popular. But they're more than a feel-good saying or inspiration for a painting. Saying words are easy. But how many people do you know that actually live this out? To live it is not easy. It requires that we let go of our carefully detailed plans and submit fully to God. (Side note here: I'm all for planning for the future, for retirement, for savings, etc. But we need to do so with an understanding that God is ultimately in control and be fully submitted to him so we can adjust our plans to his.) 

The good news is that God continues on with us into our tomorrow so there is NO reason for fear. Even when God leads somewhere totally unexpected to us, remember that he's already there and never leaves despite the circumstance. 

James reminds us that our lives are like a vapor. Understanding this ought to inspire us to live differently. 

🎆Build treasures in heaven - not earth. Don't live for the here and now. Live with heaven in mind.  Money is only temporary. Work hard, make as much as you can, but don't treasure it as if it's going with you in death. Souls are the only thing you can take into eternity. How many souls will you bring?

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ~ Matt. 6:19-21

🎆Remember that it's our job to plant seeds or water. Every single day people all around us die and go to either heaven or hell. Yet we're so singularly focused and concerned about what others think of us, who's better than who, how much money we can make.... all while ignoring the stranger we passed on the sidewalk or interacted with at the store. Live holy so God's name is glorified. Unbelievers watch closely. If they see a Christian who's just like the gossiper down the street with a dirty mouth and who acts just like their unsaved friends, they'll see a hypocrite. Pass out tracts and share Jesus with people. It's our job to plant seeds and water seeds others have planted. Praise God it's his job to give the increase and save them. That takes a huge burden off our shoulders because we can't save anyone. We can only share. 

🎆Live with open eyes. This world is full of hurting people. This presents Christians with abundant opportunities to show compassion, empathy, and hope.  

Our days are numbered. No matter how physically healthy someone is or how rich, tomorrow doesn't arrive with a guarantee. In fact, the next hour doesn't either. If today you entered into eternity, would you be ashamed to stand before God with how you've lived? Or would you be ready and unashamed? 

Proverbs 26

As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife.

 ~ Proverbs 26:21     

When you add coals to burning coals, the fire continues and grows. This analogy provides a vivid picture. Contentious people have mastered starting fires, and they'll often try to do or say something just to ignite a reaction from the other person. This adds hot coal on top of hot coal. They fuel the fire on purpose. They focus on being right. 

But how much is winning an argument/discussion worth to you? Is it worth losing a relationship? 

Contention like this alienates others and the contentious person earns a reputation as someone who is known for stirring up strife. God can absolutely change this hostile spirit in us if we humbly confess our sin and yield to God. The change happens by the renewing of our minds daily. How do we renew our minds? By remembering what God says. How do we remember what God says? By being in communication with him and in the Word every day. Prov. 26:21 offers a warning to stay clear of contentious people, observation, and an implication to not be a contentious person. Look at what else Proverbs says about this issue.

"He that passeth by and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears." ~ Proverbs 26:17

"The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore, leave off contention before it be meddled with." ~ Proverbs 17:14

"It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling." ~ Proverbs 20:3

When a person acts contentious, you can be sure he is filled with pride because Prov. 13:10 states that "only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom."

Happy Birthday America!!!

Happy 4th of July!!! 

🎉🥳🎆🎇🥳

 

4th of July ranks as either my 1st or 2nd favorite holiday. I love American patriotism, patriotic holidays, and patriotic songs. But as much as I love living in this land of the free and the home of the brave, I can't wait to go to the land of the free and the home of the saved. 😊 I've listed a few great songs below for you to enjoy today on this 249th year of America's existence :) 

Statue of Liberty song

I Won't Apologize 

This song brings out the patriotism for sure. In this day we live in, where so many people twist truth and say everyone can believe and do what they want, remember that Truth does exist. People try to stop and shame others for standing up and speaking Truth, but we as Christians should not be ashamed. Know what God says and don't apologize for it.

God Bless the USA

This Land Is Your Land

God Bless America

America the Beautiful

How are you celebrating today? 

Proverbs 25

 DO YOUR EMOTIONS CONTROL YOU??????

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” Proverbs 25:28

 Self-control. It's part of the fruit of the spirit. Temperance. It's a sign of spiritual maturity and something we all need but takes a whole lot of work to get. The internal impulses, emotions, thoughts, desires, moods, tempers all need to be controlled before the outside can be. The spirit is the inner self and to rule it means to not just resist sin but have mastery over oneself. Think about your own life. Are you governed by reason and wisdom or by impulse and emotions? 

The verse uses a simile to compare a person who lacks self-control/mastery over his spirit to a broken-down city. A city's walls are its defense system. Walls are boundaries. They keep enemies out and keep people safe within. They preserve peace. When the walls are broken, however, the city turns defenseless, exposed, and vulnerable to attack. Same concept for the spiritual life. Someone who has not disciplined himself in the area of self-control is an easy target for temptation, sin, and manipulation. Satan can overrun an undisciplined life. 

The point of the verse is not weakness. The writer paints a picture of the danger of not building spiritual and emotional defenses. 

True strength is internal - not external.  If you observe someone who flies into anger quickly, who allows anxiety to control, who turns offended at the drop of a hat, etc. you know by this behavior that his "walls" are broken down and he hasn't done any work to fix them. Controlling oneself is a greater victory than conquering others. Learn to manage emotions. In my work dealing with kids, I teach them to dig to the root. Why do they feel the way they do? What is the reason they are expressing themselves that certain way? Let's name the emotion and talk through the problem instead of cry, scream, hit, etc. Treating the surface will never fix the issue. Helping people understand emotions and teaching them proper ways to express themselves allows the process of learning self-control to start. 

There's another avenue of self-control I quickly want to touch on, and this deals with women and emotions. We, as women, should not accept the saying that women are more emotional than men because the truth is, God created BOTH men and women with the same emotions and BOTH need to learn mastery over them. It's just that society has conditioned men to suppress many of their emotions and has produced messages such as "don't cry like a girl" and "be a man" to train boys from a young age that for the most part, emotions associated with vulnerability (like crying, fear, etc.) belong to women. And because of this conditioning, women have gone along with it for centuries, and now it has turned into people using these 'vulnerable' emotions as excuses.  

(Let me just add here that I am not advocating that men should start displaying these 'vulnerable' emotions to everyone. I'm all for promoting bravery and strength and teaching boys how to be masculine men. But I also don't think girls should be conditioned to get used to crying at everything either. I'm also all for promoting bravery and strength in girls. These are not just masculine traits, nor should they, along with many other emotions, be gender stereotyped.)

In all my work with kids over the past year, I can tell you I've seen boys explode with anger, yell until the roof lifted from the house (figurative), fight, punch, break things, and hurt others out of anger, but never once have I seen a girl respond the same way. Girls get angry but they're more likely to start strongly crying or say unkind words. Interesting how boys are taught that crying is 'bad' or somehow 'unmanly' but then yelling and bursting with anger is okay???? That doesn't make any sense. Anger needs to be controlled just as much as crying does. This is partly why I love my job because I help people learn responsibility, accountability, and respect by instilling in them good morals and behaviors that will benefit society and their future families. Each person, child and adult, is responsible for his/her own emotions. That's why self-control needs to start being taught at an early age so kids will become emotionally stable and mentally mature adults.  

A baby doesn't know self-control. It cries easily, hits, and throws fits. Adults should not act the same. If you can't hold a conversation with another adult because he/she is "too emotional" or "cries easily" or can't talk without getting angry, what does that leave you thinking? Proverbs 25:28 tells us that he has never learned the strength of self-control and his spirit is vulnerable and open to attack. Plainly speaking, he has no walls. 

I was also thinking about how we can use our inner strength for God's glory. When unbelievers or even other believers see a person who calls himself a Christian but does not possess any temperance or self-control, what do they think? Does that "Chrisian" bring a good name to God? Most likely not. Others might view him as a hypocrite or Pharisee. Whether you eat, drink, work on your inner strength, crucify the old man, add to your faith, or WHATEVER you do, do it for God so he can be glorified. When we learn to master ourselves, we look a little more like Jesus and that promotes him to others. 😊

It'd do us all so much good to glare into our own loves and see where we need to work on self-control. Maybe it's an emotion, maybe it's an action. And if you have kids or grandkids, I'd encourage you to teach them how to handle emotions properly. Teach them to speak truth in their heart to build up the broken-down walls and guide them on how to rule their own spirits. Self-control is protection and a lack thereof can give Satan a foothold. Remember that the greatest battles are first fought within. Control your own emotions. Don't let them control you. 

Women with inner strength: 

May we be them.

May we know them.

May we raise them. 

Proverbs 16:32 - "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."

Proverbs 24

 "Through wisdom is a house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small."

~Proverbs 24:3-5, 10

Wow. These verses are gold and it would help us to apply them directly into our lives. Let's dig a little deeper. 

A house is built through wisdom. It's constructive. For any house to be built correctly, the foundation must be wisdom. This involves planning and skill and with such a foundation, it will endure - not just exist. 

In Matthew 7:24-25 Jesus says, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock."

 We've seen in previous chapters of Prov. that wisdom is the principal thing, it comes from God, and happy is the person who finds it. If wisdom comes from God, then you must know what God says. But how can you know what God says if you don't read the Bible??? Many Christians rely on traditions or what they've been taught. They don't want to change their mind on anything because they think they've been taught right. But I think if we started searching the Scriptures for ourselves to see if those things are so, we'd find that some of the things we believe aren't truly biblical. The Bible is our rock - not words or traditions passed down. 

Next, we see understanding. Understanding establishes; it brings structure, strength, and durability.  This important quality involves many things: 

↪ noticing connections, 

↪ grasping concepts,

↪ actively listening

↪ knowing why not just how, 

↪ preparing for the future,

↪ seeking to understand motives, not just behaviors.

A person with understanding doesn't build a marriage, business, ministry, or character without foresight. Foresight allows for time, conflict, growth, seasons of life, etc.  Knowledge is the means by which family and society are enriched. 

Verse 4 shows the results of wisdom. The house can be beautifully filled with precious and pleasant riches. Note the word 'chambers.' Chambers represent inner rooms in the heart and mind. Precious and pleasant riches refer to not just material wealth, because how many people have you met who worked all their life for money but were still miserable? There's a lot. Peace, joy, wisdom are extremely precious things to have, even more valuable than money. 

Verse 5 teaches us that strength does not lie in the physical alone, though most people focus on that only. The mental, emotional, and spiritual strength or weakness of a person affects the whole body. What good is it for a person to be physically strong but mentally weak? Any area of life where weakness reigns needs to be worked on because weakness exposes a vulnerability which means predators can easily attack. We have this adversary, the devil, whose goal is to kill, steal, and destroy, and he uses our weaknesses to try to knock us down. Weakness also disrupts stability. Think of a house. If part of the foundation of the house is weak, the whole thing will be unstable. 

Staying emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and/or physically weak can actually hurt relationships or create separation. This is why working on all parts must be prioritized. Work on becoming a wise person who grows stronger in influence, clarity, and stability. 

Finally, we end at verse 10. How we respond under pressure reveals the reality of our strength. In the day of adversity, oppression, persecution, temptation, suffering, do we easily give up, fall apart, or retreat? If so, that displays small, insufficient strength. Dear friend, we need to work on our inner strength. The verse says it so plainly, that if we do faint, our strength is small. But don't think this is negative. It actually invites reflection and examination. Ask yourself - are you prepared for hardship? Do you have emotional and spiritual and mental strength? It takes work. It takes time. Sometimes it takes rewiring of the brain. But it's so worth it. And in the day of adversity? You'll be glad you worked on it beforehand so that you will not faint.