All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.
They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.
Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.
For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord.
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
“Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.” Last week we ended our devotional with this verse. My profession as a landscaper allows me to met with a wide range of people. Most are stable financially, for a landscape is not an inexpensive endeavor. Their occupations vary, some are business owners, others have been with their companies for years and are now in key positions, others have invested wisely etc. However I have observed that financial gain does not mean “sound wisdom…understanding or strenght.” With a good mind to understand their profession they have prospered, but some have hearts that do not understand life or how to live it outside of their field. Wealth without a wise heart has many pitfalls, causing us to value things over people. The result of that is pretty bad. Broken relationships and numerous bad decisions often are the result. How much better to have sound wisdom (which begins with reverencing the Lord) and understanding and thereby governing/valuing all our relationships and discerning justly. Blessed many times over will be the man or woman who so orders their life as such – way beyond what wealth can give.
“I am understanding;” not I have understanding, but I am understanding – I am the source. To have the Holy Spirit abiding within is to possess the source of all understanding. To not abide in Him daily and sense His presence is to forfeit the greatest privilege a man can have. It is sad to me that many of us live compromised lives. Because of the tensions and stresses life has we feel compelled to turn our attention away from the Lord and address the problems. We prioritize the tensions, struggles and even the good things before Him, yet He is understanding. Via His wisdom all things can be resolved with less stress and less mistakes. It takes a step of faith to trust, to change the course of always fretting and worrying. Without taking a step of faith to trust God and seek Him first, our lives will never change. If all the enemy has to do is keep you busy with problems and that keeps you from your devotions, then I already know your future.
” I have strength.” The word is used to describe the delivering power of God’s right hand; power to save His anointed ones (us). I am sure there are some of us that have been in impossible situations only to see things come to order by simply praying and waiting on the Lord. That is so cool. However the opposite can be true as well. There are times that faith requires action and at the end of what seemed an impossible day or a season in our life, it all worked out and we are the stronger for it. He has all the strenght we need; for today, for tomorrow and for as many tomorrow’s as we need. By abiding in Him, strenght is imparted,
“For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord.”
There is nothing that I am saying that is profound. It’s practical, practical things of the Spirit that if we lived as such, everyday would be a day to know God’s presence and see His hand in our life. The biggest blessing I have in life has nothing to do with my day to day circumstances. It is His presence that signals that I am right with Him, my Lord and Father. I am secure in Him and in that my life consists. That my( our) life brings Him joy is also amazing. This then is my biggest blessing. Good days, hard days etc., they go and come but the heart beat of my soul is knowing His presence – nothing more. To live day in and day out abiding in Him gives you a victors attitude, as opposed to a victims attitude that unfortunately too many of us have. We must learn that we truly “can do all things in Christ” ( Philipians 4:13). A great place to find the Lord is through the study of the scriptures. They ( the verses) have been my principle teachers as the Holy Spirit has taken the written Word and made it living inside of me. There are many that seek to reinterpret the scriptures claiming that the text does not say what it says. Or they criticize that the current translations have been maligned by man. Yet I believe that God is “God Enough” to preserve it from the corrupt hands of man. There are renderings that are a little too loose for my taste, however the translation from which it was rendered is accurate.
Yahweh, the Hebrew name of God, implies an all powerful Being, very capable, very ,very God; nothing can thwart, change or interfere with His will. I pay very little attention to statements about the Bible being corrupted. I can read someone’s attempt to downgrade the Bible by sighting historical occurrences as much as I can read someone sighting the same historical occurrences and yet note the respect they have for the scriptures. If you are seeking The Lord by your way and the Holy Spirit is absent from your life, you have to ask yourself why? He died to be able to have a relationship with you. What in your belief system is preventing Him from having that with you?
“But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.”
If obedience to God brings life, then disobedience to God brings death. And there are two deaths and unfortunately this is were some of us check out. We want to hear all the nice warm and fuzzy stuff about following Christ – about mercy and forgiveness. However we do not want to hear about the consequences of living a life that is not in submission to the Holy Spirit, hence disobedient. Can a person be a good person and yet be in disobedience to Christ? Of course, tons of people fit this category. And some are exceptionally good people. Jesus said that all sin committed against Him could be forgiven,but whoever sins against the Holy Spirit could not be, “And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matt. 12:31).
This is a very interesting verse. The role of the Holy Spirit is to testify of Christ to the world. To reject His message is to reject your very own salvation. To speak ill of Christ, but then to hear the testimony of Holy Spirit about Christ through a message or a friend and receive the message by repenting, all is forgiven and salvation Is granted.
When we chose to disobey the Lord, we never think it is because we love death. However spiritually speaking, which is how The Lord evaluates every action, disobedience is sin and sin left unchecked equals death. And spiritual death occurs while we are still alive, it means we are separated from God. To love death is parallel to loving sin, which is the same as hating God. And again we don’t conscientiously think ” I am going to sin because I hate God.” However Jesus said that we are either for him or against him, we either gather or scatter. There is no middle ground with him. Even the term “lukewarm” does not imply a middle ground, it implies and unregenerate state that BELIEVES it is saved, ” Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:(Revalations 3:17). Therefore the state of being lukewarm is not a marginalized believer, it’s a non believer who believes he is saved because of his or her church activities or good deeds.
To ignore this warning and to remain in this state is to be part of “all they that hate me love death.” Another definition of the word to hate also could mean “to be unwilling.”
Super strong warning( I hope that no one receiving Vida fines themselves here. Please call me if you want to talk).
Father God,
We end on a super strong note, but it does note compare to how You ended your life here on The Cross. Sin, disobedience, pride, self – will all these are traits that tear us down and stumble us in our attempt to find life. Help us to humble ourselves and stop trying to make You fit into our definition of God, it’s not worth the cost. Thank you and Amen
Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur