Lessons from Proverbs

Proverbs 10

20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver,

but the heart of the wicked is of little value.

21 The lips of the righteous nourish many,

but fools die for lack of judgment.

22 The blessing of the LORD brings wealth,

and he adds no trouble to it.

23 A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct,

but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.

24 What the wicked dreads will overtake him;

what the righteous desire will be granted.

25 When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone,

but the righteous stand firm forever.

27 The fear of the LORD adds length to life,

but the years of the wicked are cut short.

28 The prospect of the righteous is joy,

but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.

29 The way of the LORD is a refuge for the righteous,

but it is the ruin of those who do evil.

30 The righteous will never be uprooted,

but the wicked will not remain in the land.

31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,

but a perverse tongue will be cut out.

32 The lips of the righteous know what is fitting,

but the mouth of the wicked only what is pervers

Proverb 12

1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

but he who hates correction is stupid.

2 A good man obtains favor from the LORD,

but the LORD condemns a crafty man.

3 A man cannot be established through wickedness,

but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

15 The way of a fool seems right to him,

but a wise man listens to advice.

26 A righteous man is cautious in friendship, ^[a]

but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

28 In the way of righteousness there is life;

along that path is immortality.

Proverbs 13

The righteous hate what is false,

but the wicked bring shame and disgrace.

6 Righteousness guards the man of integrity,

but wickedness overthrows the sinner.

13 He who scorns instruction will pay for it,

but he who respects a command is rewarded.

14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,

turning a man from the snares of death.

15 Good understanding wins favor,

but the way of the unfaithful is hard. 16 Every prudent man acts out of knowledge,

but a fool exposes his folly.

24 He who spares the rod hates his son,

but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.

Blessings,

#kent

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Our Guide

Psalms 48:14
For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.

Our Guide

Running the course of this life encounters many obstacles and challenges. Each one of our lives are different, with different circumstances and different challenges. How do we navigate life successfully and gain from it the results that are everlasting? Psalms 48:14 reveals that to us. There is One that we can lean upon, trust in and rely upon to guide us through the maze of our lives.
Isn’t it a peace and reassurance to know that our God holds our destiny and purpose in His hand. If we are willing to fully trust and obey Him, He will lead and guide us into it. God’s Word lays the foundation and principles that order our steps and imparts His wisdom to us that we might know the way of life and walk therein. Even when we have departed from His ways He does not cast us off or judge us as unfit. His grace is not to be abused, but isn’t it wonderful to know that even in our mistakes and disobedience we can be forgiven and restored. We may change and be moved, but He isn’t. His Word never fails or changes and He stands true to all that He has promised to be to us.
If we want true success in our lives, If we want true fulfillment. If we want righteousness, peace and joy to pervade our lives then we must hold fast to God as our guide. There are many gods in this world. People worship and serve many different objects and deities in their lives, but there is and always will be the one and only true God, creator and redeemer, who can impart to us spiritual life that supercedes all that is passing away. He is our Rock, our Fortress, our Shield and our Defender. He will guide us through the darkness. His Word is a light unto our path and lamp unto our feet. He will direct us and keep us where others fail. He is our steadfast hope, the anchor of our souls; “for this God is our God for ever; He will be our guide even to the end.

Blessings,
#kent

His Touch

His Touch

Job 5:17-19
“But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin. 18 For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal. 19 He will rescue you again and again so that no evil can touch you. “

No evil will befall the man that is touched by God, for God’s hand is there to perform what works to a man’s righteousness and salvation. As a surgeon who cuts with a knife, so is the hand of the Lord. For He is not willful to destruction, but every incision is perfect and precise.
There is pain. The pain is a reminder of our sickness and disease. It is that which has attached itself to us and would destroy if it were not for His touch. Our sickness of sin is unto death, but the hand of the Lord delivers unto life.
We have cried out in our pain, “God deliver me, heal me, touch me.” It may well be His touch that pains you and yet it is a pain unto deliverance and salvation and not unto death. Often the removal of a disease is more painful than the disease.
There are many things that men can do, but there are certain areas that only God can touch. The pain that touches our lives will cause us to either run away from God or it will cause us to run into Him. The hand and touch of the Lord is both severe and gentle, both kind and ruthless. It can wound, but it can also bind up. There are many areas that God can put His finger upon in our lives and sometimes more than one. There are areas in many of us that He is touching today. It may be in our health, our finances, our relationships, our job, but all these avenues are leading to our heart and the work He wants to do in each one of us. If He destroys, it is that He might recreate. If He afflicts the body, it is so that He can heal the soul. If He takes our gold, it is so that He might replace it with gold tried in the fire. There are areas in each one of our lives that only God can touch, only He can make them right, only He can deliver and only He can heal.
We all need God’s touch. It was Adam’s touch and taste of the forbidden things that brings us to where we are now. We have had the same heart, the same nature and partaken of the same fruit, but God is doing something so that we might partake of another tree, the tree of life and another fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. God doesn’t sadistically hurt us. His pain is for our correction and for our salvation. We need not despise Him for it, but run into Him with a contrite spirit and a heart of repentance.
Job was the most righteous of men and yet the Lord allowed a great affliction to bring forth His man into His priesthood. He would be a man of not only great integrity, but also a man that would stand in the place of intercession for the sins of others. Are we such men and women? Are we willing to maintain our integrity before God in the face of great pain and affliction or will we curse God and turn from Him? He bought us with a price. We belong to Him. Are we willing to allow Him to have His perfect work to be done in us, so that out of that pain can come healing, deliverance and life? In order to enter into the fullness of what God has for us, we must be willing to pass through the fire, whatever form that takes. We only need look at those in the Word who went before us to know that it was not an easy way, but it’s path was the way of life.
When we cry out for a touch from God, understand it doesn’t often come with instant solutions and gratification. It is a process that leads us into life.

Blessings,
kent