Archives for February 2013

Pro 8:18  Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

 

I love that word durable. Durable riches aren’t those that we work for here on earth. These durable riches have everything to do with God through Christ.

Php_4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Some of His riches are his goodness, forbearance and longsuffering to us. (Thank goodness for the longsuffering of God)  Rom_2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?  We also find those riches in His grace (which is never ending). Eph_1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;. We are strengthened by His riches. Eph_3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;. These are just a few of those durable riches. Durable, what a great word.

Pro 7:24-26  Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

 

When we stray from God’s will and Word, we are subject to the consequences of those actions. We may think that we can handle those consequences, but these verses are telling us many have been wounded and even strong men have been slain. How devastating our actions can be when not guided by God. We can do nothing without God or His protecting hand. Even Michael the archangel didn’t try to fight Satan on his own but said the Lord rebuke thee. (Jude 1:9).

Pro 6:2  Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken

with the words of thy mouth.

 

One of the things that really stood out to me was the words “thou art snared with

the  words of thy mouth”. We need to be careful with our words. Often times we

speak before we think and this gets us in trouble and our words come back to

haunt us, this verse says that we are snared by the words of our mouth. Snared,

caught, trapped. By our own words!! But the flip side is if we are careful with our

words they have the opposite effect.  Pro_18:20  A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.

 

Pro 5:7  Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

 

When I read this verse I was reminded of when I was little and my Mom or Dad

would say listen to what I’m telling you and do it. It was usually said when I was

about to do something on my own and out of their sight. As a teenager I hated to

hear those words, I thought they were meant as more rules or them trying to ruin

my fun. Now I realize they were words of concern and protection. This verse is the

same thing, words of concern and protection. He tells us to listen to His words

and do exactly what He says. In context He gives the reason why He’s telling

us these things. Pro 5:3-5  For the lips of a strange woman drop as an

honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as

wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps

take hold on hell. God doesn’t just say things to be saying them they will always

be to our benefit and His glory.

Pro 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

 

Reading today I asked myself do I really ponder the path that I’m taking, do I pray

before making decisions or just jump in and hope for the best. I’m sorry to say

that to often I’ve jumped in and hoped for the best. There’s a good reason God

wants us to ponder the path our feet is taking we can very easily take the wrong

path and end up where we don’t want to be. Pro 5:6 Lest thou shouldest ponder

the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. We

only see what’s in front of us, we can’t see “down the road”. We (I) need to let

God establish my way. 2Th 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you,

and keep you from evil.

 

Pro 3:3-4 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write

them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good

understanding in the sight of God and man.

The things that stood out in these verses were how we were supposed to use mercy and truth. First we are to bind them around our neck, that’s something others can see. When we wear qualities like mercy and truth around our necks (like a necklace), others can see it.  Mat_5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. That should be our goal in life, to bring glory to God. The next part of this verse is to write them on the table of thine heart. This speaks to God looking on the inward man. It can sometimes be easy to fool those around you, but God who looks on the inward man can’t be fooled.  There’s a reason we are to write them on the table of our heart. Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. His word keeps us from sin and God will always know what’s in the heart of man.

 

Pro.2:6-8 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and

understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to

them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth

the way of his saints.

 

When I read these verses I got so excited! These verses say that everything is His.

He said out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding, He layeth up sound wisdom, He is a buckler, He  keepeth the paths of judgment and preserveth the way of His saints. It’s all HIM!!! It’s nothing dependent on what I do (thank goodness). I just kept reading these verses over and over and thinking about how much God loves us that  He does all of these things for us, not because we deserve them but out of His great love for us. He is the all in all and is worthy to be praised!!!

 

Proverbs 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

 

There is an order to the way God does things. This verse says to turn at my reproof, before God can do a work in our lives we first have to turn from the way we were going and go the God wants us to go. I’m reminded of this verse in  2Ch 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Here again God is giving us an order of how things have to be in order to be in His will. He says to turn at his reproof, He says to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn our wicked ways  and then He will pour out His spirit and make known His words to us, then He will hear from heaven and forgive us  and will heal our land. We can’t skip any of these steps to jump ahead; God has given us clear instructions on how He wants things done. I am thankful that God is not a god of confusion!