Proverbs 14:2, 3, 5,
6 ESV
Whoever walks in
uprightness fears the Lord,
but he who is devious in his ways despises
him.
By the mouth of a fool
comes a rod for his back,
but the lips of the wise will preserve
them.
A faithful witness
does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
A scoffer seeks wisdom
in vain,
but knowledge is easy for a man of
understanding.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to all walk in
uprightness in the fear of the Lord. We are to honor God with our lives, and we
are to treat our Lord with full respect and reverence, walking in obedience to
him, and following him in his ways and in his truth. We should be those who
walk in integrity, in all honesty, in trustworthiness, and in purity of
devotion to our Lord.
For, if we truly love God, we will walk in obedience to him.
Those who choose not to obey him, as a matter of course (practice, lifestyle),
do not love him, but they despise him. They have chosen their own path to
follow rather than to follow the way of holiness and righteousness. So, instead
of being truth tellers, they are liars and deceivers. And, instead of honoring
God with their lives, they scoff at him and his Word, instead.
Yet, those of us who love the Lord our God should speak
words of wisdom and discernment – the words of life and of love for God and for
our fellow humans. Our speech should be truthful and never mixed with lies or
deceit. We should always show faithfulness and honesty in all our speech, and false
testimonies should never be on our tongues. Our tongues should reflect Christ
and not our flesh, and definitely not our culture, because we love God.
Proverbs 14:7, 8, 11,
12 ESV
Leave the presence of
a fool,
for there you do not meet words of
knowledge.
The wisdom of the
prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.
The house of the
wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.
There is a way that
seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
Scripture teaches us that bad company corrupts good
character. So, it is wise for us not to become companions of fools. And, fools
are people who do not act wisely, but who make it their practice to behave recklessly,
irrationally, and thoughtlessly, for they are lacking in good sense, judgment
and discretion. So, it is better for us to make close friends with those who
will influence us in ways that are good, upright, godly and wise, too.
It is foolishness to follow after our own flesh, to do what
our flesh desires, rather than to walk in obedience to our Lord. It is
foolishness to go the way of worldly wisdom rather than to make the Lord our
counsel. The foolish are not in the practice of following good counsel or
discernment, but they tend to let their feelings and their flesh rule their
hearts, minds and actions. And, in the end, it will not go well for them, for
if we walk according to our flesh, scripture says we will die in our sins, not
live with Christ for eternity.
Nonetheless, if we walk in the ways of the Lord, and we do
not follow after the ways of the foolish, then we are wise, and we are
discerning. And, we will be blessed in what we do. Our lives will have purpose
and direction, we will be at peace with God, and we will have the joy and the
presence of the Lord in our daily walks of faith. And, in the end, we will have
eternal life with God, and we will have no fear of death, for we will be with
our Lord forever.
Proverbs 14:15, 16,
22, 23 ESV
The simple believes
everything,
but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
One who is wise is
cautious and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless.
Do they not go astray
who devise evil?
Those who devise good meet steadfast love
and faithfulness.
In all toil there is
profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
Another word for “simple” is “naïve.” In some ways, it is
good to be those who are trusting and childlike, when it comes to trusting in
God our Lord. But, it is not good if it means we remain immature spiritually
and we lack in discernment, and therefore we are easily tossed here and there
by every wind of teaching by those who are deceitful and wicked, and who would
lead us astray from our pure devotion to Christ to follow after them, instead.
So, we should believe God, and we should believe his Word,
but even there we must give thought to our steps, for many are led astray by
taking scriptures out of context to make them mean what will support their
sinful lifestyles. So, when it comes to believing the Word of God, we need to
make certain that we are reading the Word in context, and that we are comparing
scripture with scripture, so that we get its full meaning, rather than making
it say what tickles itching ears. For, the wise turn away from evil. They don’t
excuse it away and coddle themselves in their sin.
If we truly are followers of Jesus Christ, not in name only,
but in practice, then we will seek to do good and not evil. For, we understand
that when Jesus Christ died on that cross, he did not die merely to forgive us
our sins and to promise us heaven when we die, but he died that we might die
with him to sin, and he lives that we might live with him to righteousness. Therefore,
we will follow our Lord in obedience, and we will not live for the flesh, but
we will live for God to do what he has called us to do and to be.
Proverbs 14:25, 32,
33, 34 ESV
A truthful witness
saves lives,
but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.
The wicked is
overthrown through his evildoing,
but the righteous finds refuge in his
death.
Wisdom rests in the
heart of a man of understanding,
but it makes itself known even in the midst
of fools.
Righteousness exalts a
nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
So many people today are teaching a false grace gospel which
does not save lives from sin or from hell, because it does not require death to
sin or living to righteousness. Rather it teaches a profession of faith that
does not have to be accompanied by action. It says you can “believe” in Jesus
and have heaven secured as your eternal destiny, but that God does not require
you to leave your lives of sin behind you or to follow him in obedience.
So, someone who tells the truth, and who teaches the whole counsel
of God, and who does not teach a half-truth gospel, is one who saves lives,
because he or she is teaching the truth which sets people free. He or she is
teaching that we must leave our lives of sin behind us to follow our Lord in
obedience if we want to have eternal life with God, because that is what God’s Word
teaches (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal.
5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Tit. 2:11-14).
Yet, those who are teaching the truth which saves lives also
understand that teaching the truth will bring upon them much rejection,
persecution and even death for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake
of the gospel of our salvation. For, many are following after the lies, and
they are denying the truth, and they are excusing away their sin, and they are
rejecting righteousness, so they don’t want to hear or to believe the truth
that sets people free from their slavery to sin. And, some of them will, thus, attack
those of us who are telling the truth. Yet, we are not to fear them or what
they may do to us, but we are to keep on telling the truth that sets people
free. Amen!
Fully
Ready!
An
Original Work / June 19, 2013
Based
off Acts 20-22, 26; Mt. 28:18-20; Ac. 1:8
Why are you weeping and breaking my heart?
I’m fully ready to suffer for Christ.
If I must die for the sake of His name,
I am convinced it will not be in vain.
Glory to God and to His Son Jesus,
Who has redeemed us; bought with His blood.
May I speak to you? Jesus came to me;
Asked of me, “Why do you persecute me?”
He said, “Now get up and stand on your feet.
Go, and you’ll be told all I have for you.
I have appointed you as a servant,
And as a witness; you have been sent.”
“Go into the world and preach the gospel.
Open the blind eyes. They will receive sight.
Turn them from darkness to the light of Christ;
From power of the evil one to God,
So they may receive forgiveness of sins,
And a place among those who’re in heav’n.”
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
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