With the Humble is Wisdom

“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,

    but a just weight is his delight.

When pride comes, then comes disgrace,

    but with the humble is wisdom.

The integrity of the upright guides them,

    but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,

    but righteousness delivers from death.

The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight,

    but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

The righteousness of the upright delivers them,

    but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.

When the wicked dies, his hope will perish,

    and the expectation of wealth perishes too.

The righteous is delivered from trouble,

    and the wicked walks into it instead.

With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,

    but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.” (Proverbs 11:1-9 ESV)

This passage of Scripture is contrasting wickedness and righteousness. The wicked are those who lie, cheat, steal, murder, commit adultery, and are sexually immoral, prideful, self-indulgent and unfaithful. They are also the rebellious and the disobedient to God. The righteous are the opposite of that, for they are godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, kind, thoughtful, compassionate, caring, submissive and obedient to God.

But this is not a demand for absolute and total perfection or you are out. This is about our walks of faith, our conduct, our practices, our lifestyles, our habits. How do we live and what do we live for day in and day out consistently and repeatedly? Do we live for the sinful pleasures of the flesh? Or do we live for the Lord in submission to his will in surrender of our lives to him to do his will and to obey his commandments (New Covenant)?

As we read a few chapters back, our God hates lies. He hates all that is false and pretentious and deceptive and manipulative. He hates trickery and the leading of people away from the truth to follow after the lies through the means of trickery and manipulation. He hates betrayal and treachery and all that is mean-spirited and hateful and spiteful and that has the intent to do evil against others with the full purpose to cause them harm.

But some people, in their pride, and in their hate, and in their resentment, bitterness, and unforgiveness, will plot out evil against others, especially those who they feel did them wrong in some way, even if they did not. And many of them will know no bounds when it comes to the evil that they will commit in order to “get even” with those who they hate, or with those they want to conquer in order to rule over them and to consume them.

But in reality they are the ones being ruled over by the lusts of their own flesh and by the pride of their lives and by the lusts of their eyes. So they aren’t as free as they think they are. For they are also being ruled by Satan who has them firmly in his grasp. And so they are slaves to sin, and they are the addicted to alcoholic beverages and to sexual immorality and to consuming way more food than their bodies require and to gossip, etc.

And when they die, they will perish, along with all their selfish ambitions and all their wealth and all their pride and all the things they believed they gained in this world. All that will perish with them. Because they preferred their sinful flesh over God, and their wickedness in place of godliness, they will spend eternity in the fires of hell, even if they profess the name of Jesus as their Savior. For those who practice sin will not inherit eternal life.

But for the righteous, the picture is so much better! Now they may be those who are not wealthy, who even live in poverty. But they are richer than all the people of this world who have material wealth, because they are rich in faith, and they are rich in God and in his grace and in his salvation and in his giftings and callings on their lives, and in the fruit that they are able to bear for the kingdom of God because of what God has done in and through them.

For, the integrity of the upright guides them in the ways and in the wisdom of the Lord, by the grace of God, in his power. And those who are truly righteous are those for whom righteousness is their practice, but not a false righteousness, and not self-righteousness, but the righteousness of God being lived in and out through their lives. And those who live righteously, by the grace of God, in obedience to God, they will inherit eternal life with God.

[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] 

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.

https://vimeo.com/379406352