Proverbs 27:1 ESV
“Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.”
We should always make our plans lightly, always with the
thought that what we have planned could be undone in an instant. For not one of
us knows what tomorrow will bring us. We may have our tentative plans, for we
do need to plan ahead for some things, but we must maintain the perspective of,
“If God wills we will do this or that.” For, it may not be his will. He
may alter our plans, even good plans, and we may not understand why, but
sometimes understanding comes later, after the fact, though not always.
Proverbs 27:3-4 ESV
“A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?”
I don’t usually do this, but I am going to quote from the
Pulpit Commentary here, for it expresses this so well:
“The ill temper and anger of a headstrong fool, which he vents on those about him, are harder to endure than any material weight is to carry.”
If you have ever faced the wrath (anger) of someone who is
foolish and who is headstrong, then you know what this is talking about. My
father was such a man. And we never knew when his anger was going to hit,
either. Everything could have appeared to be calm and quiet and then, “BAM!”,
you got hit on the head. I got hit on the head many times. And such wrath is
definitely cruel, and it is overwhelming. I know from experience.
Now this second verse is a little difficult to comprehend
its meaning, so again I am relying somewhat on old commentaries to assist me.
So, this is what Gill’s Exposition of the Bible says:
“But who is able to stand before envy? Which is secret in a man’s heart, and privately contrives and works the ruin of another, and against which there no guarding.” “Abel could not stand before the envy of Cain; nor Joseph before the envy of his brethren; nor Christ before the envy of the Jews, his bitter enemies; and, where it is, there is confusion and every evil work, James 3:14. An envious man is worse than an angry and wrathful man; his wrath and anger may be soon over, or there may be ways and means of appeasing him; but envy continues and abides and works insensibly.”
This is absolutely the truth! Fits of anger are expressed
outwardly where you can deal with them somewhat. But if someone is jealous of
you, and if that person lets that jealousy seethe within him, he may secretly
plot all kinds of evil against you, and some of it will not even be provable,
like gas lighting someone, for example. Some people’s rage is expressed in ways
which are sneaky and underhanded and they can do far more damage than any
outward expression of the emotion of rage.
Proverbs 27:5-6 ESV
“Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”
I wish that most people understood this and that they
accepted this, for I feel that most people reject this. For if you speak the
truth in love to a person or to a group of people or out in a public forum on
the internet you are the one who is usually rebuked in return. And they will
accuse you of being judgmental, and intolerant, and unloving, etc. But what
they don’t get is that speaking the truth in love is true love, not lying to people.
It appears that most people prefer the kisses of an enemy to
the faithful wounds of a friend. I don’t know how many of you reading this are
on social media, and perhaps not many of you, but if you dare to speak the
truth in love to another Christian, you may find yourself either quickly “unfriended,”
or on the chopping block (likely to be removed or eliminated, etc.). Or they
may want you dead, and even say so publicly. I had that happen to me.
Proverbs 27:8,12,19,20 ESV
“Like a bird that strays from its nest
is a man who strays from his home.”
“The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.”
“As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.
Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and never satisfied are the eyes of man.”
Adultery is skyrocketing (increasing rapidly) here in
America. And, although I realize that this is a condition of the human heart,
there are other factors which have contributed to it skyrocketing. And one of
the big ones is the fact that so much of the church (or what is called church)
here in America has diluted the gospel of our salvation and they are leading
their adherents to believe that they can keep on in deliberate and habitual sin
and still have the hope of heaven when they die. But that is contrary to
Scripture.
Another huge factor is the media, such as television, the
internet, and social media which provide so many doors into pornography or
sexually charged movies and videos or into private chats with people outside of
marriage which then turn into romantic and/or sexual affairs. And it is that so
many people now, even children, have these media sources in their pockets and
that they can access a whole world of evil at the touch of their fingertips.
And another factor is that the church is not dealing with
sin in people’s lives in a biblical manner, but they are doing much to coddle
people in their sins so as not to offend anyone and so as to make them feel
good about themselves, even in their addictive sin. And so adultery is rampant
within the church because so many people are addicted to viewing videos and
pictures which stir up lust within them and often then lead them to acting out
that lust either in self-gratification or with another person.
And the Scriptures do teach that it is out of the human
heart that all these evils come, such as evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander (Luke 6:45;
Matthew 15:17-20). And then we read in James 1 where it talks about a man who
is a hearer of the word but not a doer, that he is like a man who looks at
himself in a mirror and then goes away and at once forgets what he was like
(James 1:22-25).
So, adultery comes from what is stored up inside one’s heart,
which gets stored up there through continued use of the things and images and
thoughts and behaviors of the sexually addicted. They are those who stray from
their marriages, and who see danger, but stubbornly go headstrong right into
it. And their eyes are full of lust and are never satisfied. And since their
hearts do not change, they continue to follow the lusts of the flesh and they
do not give way to sound judgment or genuine love for others.
So, don’t let yourselves get caught up in all of what the
flesh has to offer for it will be the death of you. For the Scriptures teach
that if we live in sin, and if sin is what we practice, that we will not enter
into the kingdom of heaven regardless of what lip service we give to God. It is
only those who are believing in Jesus and who are daily putting sin to death
and who are walking in obedience to the Lord, in his power and strength, who
have the hope of eternal life with God. And this is what the Scriptures teach
us.
Do
Your Best
An Original Work / November 7, 2011
Based
off of 2 Timothy 2
Love You, Father, love You, Lord.
Be strong in the grace of Christ.
Endure hardship for your Lord.
Your commander, live to please.
You’ll receive the victor’s crown.
By the rules, run in the race.
Your Lord, you’ll see face to face.
Jesus Christ, raised from the dead;
Of your life, He is the head.
Endure all for the elect.
Love You, Father, love You, Lord.
If we died, we live with Him.
If we last, with Him we’ll reign.
If we disown Him today,
He will have to look away.
Even if we faithless be,
Faithful He’ll remain always.
He cannot disown Himself.
He’s our Lord and Savior, King.
He will reign o’er ev’rything.
Love You, Father, love You, Lord.
Do your best; present yourself
As one who’s approved by God.
Work as one who’s not ashamed;
Rightly share the Word of Truth.
Wander not from what you know.
Destroy not the faith of some.
God’s foundation; it stands firm.
The Lord knows those who are His:
Those who turn from wickedness.
Love You, Father, love You, Lord.
In a house are wood and clay,
Gold and silver, all array.
Some are noble, some are bad –
Cleanse your life, and you’ll be glad;
Useful to the Master’s work.
A pure heart – in righteousness,
Pursue faith and love and peace.
Bad desires you want to flee.
Gentle servant you must be.
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