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Proverbs Chapter 14
A wise woman will work to make sure her household is a place of stability. It would not be a place of confusion and disorder. She would make sure it was a place of refuge, peace and godliness. A foolish woman would destroy all this and cause trouble in the household. There would be no place of peace and refuge from the cares of the world but only confusion and strife.
We live in a society today where there is very little fear of God. It is getting to the place that evil is called good and good is called evil. To live by the bible is looked down on and some consider it wrong to interpret the bible literally. Those that live by the word are called either a literalist or fundamentalist and they are looked at with disapproval. Yet we who believe must obey God rather than man.
Pride is the ugly motive we will find behind most foolishness.
In the past, much oxen was a sign of wealth because they depended on them to plow the fields. The crib is clean if there are no oxen of course but it would be a sign of poverty.
How blessed it is to associate with people of truth. We can rely on them and are not afraid of deception. Those that speak one thing in our presence and speak another behind our backs are those that are not trustworthy. They may seem friendly and outgoing using much flattery to make us think they like us but it is what they say behind our backs that show their real thoughts.
If we desire to have wisdom and knowledge, the bible is the place to start. There is no other place to find it. Yet it is the most neglected study. We emphasize education so much and neglect the source of all knowledge and wisdom. Go figure.
It is best not to hang around those that speak foolishness constantly and just throw everything back in your face.
I am reminded of many things I've heard said which kind of mock at sin:
"We're only human" Many of these are not completely untrue and some of them are not actually wrong to say but in many cases, it is said as a copout to avoid repenting of sin. Some are said to excuse sin and ignore the need of repentance. To be guaranteed a place with God in eternity we must get our sins under the blood of Jesus by coming to Him with genuine repentance. If one studies the scriptures, we will see that yes, God does forgive sin, we cannot save ourselves and God does have mercy but we also see that God never once condones continuing in sin once we have come to Jesus Christ. While it is true, "we are only human," it is also true that since we are only human we need a savior from sin. To be saved from sin, one must first look to Jesus as savior and repent or turn away from sin and turn to Christ Jesus. We can read the book of Jude and the first three chapters of Revelation to see how Christ Himself views sin in the church.
We see this fulfilled in the last few chapters of Revelation when all evil is done away with forever.
Our ways and God's ways do not agree most of the time. We may think something is right until we study the word and seek God. We then will get a different picture of holiness.
Notice how jokes, comedy and funny things disappear once trouble comes.
It is the saddest thing to see one who once knew God and lived for Him only to turn away and go back to the sin he or she was saved from.
How many of us assume everything we hear on the news is true? Do we believe everything we are told by our friends or co-workers? We must be prudent and realize that most of our friends may not deliberately lie but they can hear wrong, hear a lie from someone else or be mistaken. We took a test in school once, where the teacher whispered something to the first student and that student passed it on to the next. By the time it got to the last student, the message had changed tremendously. This is what happens in real life. A prudent person will check out facts before passing on a message.
Not all fear is bad. Many times we fear things that we should not fear if we are truly trusting in God but there are some things to be fearful of. That is the fear of doing evil or being part of something evil. To avoid, pass by and reject evil is a good fear to have.
I don't know how many times I've been thankful that I didn't act at a time when I was angry.
This word for simple means those that do not examine things in the light of God's word but act according to their own desires, wants or in anger.
In the long run this will prove true in every case.
The parable of the good Samaritan should be read here. It can be read in Luke 10. We are not to despise the poor. The prosperity gospel teaches us to despise those that are poor. The poor are told that they have no faith, that they are not in favor with God and that we should give to those who do not have anything. This is not the gospel Jesus taught. I believe God allows the poor to be among us to see how we treat them.
Idleness and foolish talk brings us to poverty.
Some are poor because of the situation they were born with but others get that way by foolish wasteful living. When we spend wisely and give cheerfully, we should not be poor as far as the being poverty stricken. Most of the time we get ourselves in trouble financially. This is not a license to despise the poor and neglect those that cannot help themselves. Like I said previously, I believe God allows the poor among us to see how we are going to treat them. We are not to have respect of persons and despise the poor
It is not politically correct to tell the truth and warn the sinner of his ways but we must speak and teach the truth and deliver souls from eternal punishment and into eternal life. If we speak lies that tell them that they are okay in their sins, we will destroy their souls. They will die in sin and not be saved. They may think we are their friends in this life but in hell they will curse us for not telling them the truth. We are to do this in the spirit of meekness though, not with a holier than thou attitude.
We cannot stress this enough. The lack of this fear is what is wrong with our nation and many other nations. Look at countries where they do not believe in Jesus Christ and where they worship other gods. The poverty level is tremendous. If you look at places where there is high population, high poverty, starving children, it is usually a place where the truth is lacking in every way. If you look at places with false religion, you will see oppression. If you look at countries that once knew the truth but have lost the fear of God, you will see high crime, sexual immorality, families breaking up, confused children and trouble. If we keep on going this way, we will become like third world countries that I described previously. The lack of the fear of God will cause poverty, oppression, tyranny, sexual disease, high crime, and even no protection in times of natural disasters such at earthquakes and hurricanes. Why should God protect us when we reject Him? Why should He save us from these disasters when we ignore Him most of the time? I don't think God's spirit will dwell in a place where He is not wanted.
When people do not have enough food, shelter and clothing, they hate whoever is in charge. We tend to blame the president if the economy is bad.
The saying, "Count to ten before losing one's temper," comes into play here. Being short tempered gets us in plenty of trouble.
Envy is what caused the first murder ever to be committed in the history of mankind. Cain envied God's approval of his brother, Abel.
Again I repeat, I believe God allows the poor to remain among us to see how we treat them.
There is hope of eternal life in those that are righteous. How can we be righteous?
God knows we are weak by trying to do right in our own strength or will power. He sent us help through Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit given to those that come to Jesus in faith and obedience.
The law was a school master to lead us to a savior. The law itself condemns instead of saving. We need a savior.
Through Jesus, God made a way that the vilest sinner could become righteous and inherit eternal life. To ignore this is to die in our own sins and lose our souls.
We only need to read a truthful history book to confirm this truth.
Even kings that do not fear or honor God prefers a faithful servant and one that tells the truth. -Dorna Chambers
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