Proverbs 6:12-14 ESV
“A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord.”
We, in our own flesh, should never define another human as
worthless and of no value. We should value all human life and treat all people
with love and kindness, but kindness includes speaking the truth in love to
people. Love is not lying to them so that they will feel good about themselves
and about you. For we who profess faith in Jesus Christ are to love others as
Christ loved us, and he definitely spoke the truth to people. So lies are never
kind.
Nonetheless, a holy God, who is fully righteous, has quite
the right to call any human worthless if that human is wicked and crooked in
speech (a liar), and if he is a lazy glutton who thinks only of himself and who
habitually sins against other humans without conscience and without remorse.
For such a person is useless to God, for he is void of God. His life is empty, fruitless,
and pointless, for he lives only to himself and to his own good pleasure.
There are plenty of people in this world of ours just like
this describes, but the sad reality is that many of them profess faith Jesus
Christ. And some are pastors and elders of church congregations, and some are
moms and dads raising young children to be just like them. And some are
teachers and some are people of great influence in the world and in the
Christian community. And people by the masses, even Christians, are following
these people.
And someone who winks with his eye is someone who is not
honest, and usually is someone who is not sincere in his words. This describes
those who are charlatans and manipulators, users, and abusers, and those who
take advantage of the weak and vulnerable for their own sinful pleasure. Their
words cannot be trusted. Their hearts are perverted and they are continually
devising evil and sowing discord. This sounds like the definition of a narcissist.
But this is not a sickness. This is sin, and God will judge them.
Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV
“There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.”
Now, I know we are reading in the Old Testament, but the New
Testament teaches the same thing, just perhaps with different wording. For, in
the book of Revelation we read “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the
detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and
all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur,
which is the second death.” “But nothing unclean will ever enter it” (the new
Jerusalem), “nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those
who are written in the Lamb's book of life.” (Revelation 21:8,27; cf. Rev
22:14-15)
So, don’t be someone who practices telling lies, not even
what some people call “white lies.” God hates lying for lies hurt other people,
so they are not kind no matter how some people dress them up. And deceiving
people is lying, i.e. it is leading them to believe something is true that is
not true. And withholding truth from people to whom it is due or required is
also lying. And skirting around issues so as to not have to tell the truth is a
form of lying where the truth is required. But not all truth is kind, either.
Just blurting out hateful and mean words, even if they are the truth, is not
loving or kind.
For God hates not just lies but the pride of humans that
leads them to continue in sin and to not humbly surrender their lives over to
the Lord Jesus. And he hates the shedding of innocent blood and hearts that
devise wicked plans, and feet that make haste to run to evil, and those who sow
discord among other Christians. And why does God hate all these things? Because
these things hurt humans who he loves. And this is why Jesus died on that cross
to deliver us out of slavery to these kinds of sins so that we can now walk
righteously and treat others with love and kindness.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom
2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2
Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal
5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col
3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb
3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Proverbs 6:23-25,32 ESV
“For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
to preserve you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes.”
“He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.”
And this is one of the reasons that the Lord disciplines
(chastises, rebukes) those he loves, to keep us on that narrow path, and to
keep us from doing evil, and to help us to do what is right in the eyes of God
and toward other humans. So, he takes us through hardships and times of testing
in order to prune and to purify us and to make us holy – that we might share in
his holiness and righteousness and bear fruit for his eternal kingdom in keeping
with repentance. For he has called us to be his holy people, and Jesus died on
that cross to deliver us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25;
Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; John
15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11;
1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12]
So, he disciplines us for our good so that we will not go
the way of the adulterer or the adulteress, so that we will not get caught up
in sensuality and sexual immorality and idolatry, and so that our desire will
be for him and for his holiness and righteousness and not for the sinful
pleasures this world has to offer us. And please know that Jesus defined
adultery as lusting after another person, which can even be oneself. So
adultery is viewing porn and sensual material, and it is lusting after people
to whom you are not married, and it is light flirtations or any sexual activity
outside of marriage.
So, please, if you are still walking in the ways of the flesh,
and not in the ways of the Spirit of God, and if sin is what you practice, and
if righteousness and obedience to our Lord Jesus are not what you practice, turn
from your lives of living in sin and to self, and now follow Jesus Christ in
obedience to his commands (New Covenant). For, if you do not, you will not
inherit eternal life with God regardless of what faith you have confessed with
your lips. Yet, it is only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ that those
who are walking according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh
have the hope of eternal life with God (see all noted verses above).
For
Our Nation
An
Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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