Proverbs - Wicked Sacrifices

Proverbs 21:27

The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination:

how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?

The Lord is not impressed with our system of balance.  Religious acts or charitable deeds done to compensate for a life not submitted to the Lord are an abomination.  What we do in private, before the eyes of the Lord, is what blesses or repulses Him.  Many a wicked person has made large financial contributions even from revenues gain through wicked devices.  This is an abomination to the Lord.  He doesn't need our money.  He doesn't need our works.  He doesn't desire our rituals.  He is looking for people whose hearts are turned towards Him, seeking to please Him in their day to day dealings and meditations.  Our minds can think quite corruptly and come to conclusions we may think God should be impressed with.  This is not good and we are to be sensitive to the fact that our minds can think wickedly and wrongly.  

Knowing God - ALL Things Were Made for Him

Prov 16:4

 The Lord hath made all things for himself: ….

This is quite the truth.  The Lord has made ALL things for Himself.  He created colors, people, animals, abstract concepts, seasons, planets, air, and microscopic entities, all for Himself.  This means that if we want to make sense out of our existence we need to be in a place of instruction from Him.  He has purposes for everything and we are to be in a place where we look to Him for His leading in order to cooperate with His purposes for all we see and don’t see.  Did you know He wants to use your house, your clothes, your marriage and your trials for Himself?  Did you realize that all you see and experience is meant to be used by the Lord for His purposes?  This should help you embrace your life if you are under His Lordship knowing that He is in all you see and experience.

Proverbs - Slothfulness and Deisres

Proverbs 21:25-26

The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.

He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.

When we are being slothful we are not working as we should. This leaves time to consider in our minds what we wish we had or how we wish things should go.  The scriptures are clear that a godly woman should work willingly with her hands.  When we are slothful our minds are much more vulnerable to the flesh’s suggestions and the old man’s covetous ways.  When we work hard there is a sense of satisfaction with what we have.  We may look at our kitchen and instead of imagining what it would look like remodeled, we will find that is shiny and smells so clean.  When we wash our cars and clean them out, they feel fresh and we are grateful for them.  When our clothes are hung neatly and pressed, a new outfit seems to be waiting for us at all times in our closet.  If you or I find ourselves coveting, let us examine whether, in fact, we have been slothful lately.

Another part of this instruction deals with giving to others.  When we work hard and find ourselves content, we may find ourselves more open to others’ needs and desires.  We may even discover things in our closet or kitchen we don’t want to maintain anymore and can bless someone else with these things.  When we get our eyes off of our own desires, put our hands to work and remain open to those who have less than we have, we will be in a great place!

The Lord Ignored the Devil's "If's"

Luke 4:4

 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

                                                         

The Lord spoke to the devil’s challenge of his identity.  The devil told Him that if He was the Son of God He should do what the devil told him to do in order to prove it.  The Lord showed us a great truth.  He never let the devil define conditions that He would obey.  The Lord’s Word is the only word that any of us are to submit to in absolute obedience.  It is His “if” statements that should lead us.  If we are risen with Christ we should seek those things which are above.  If we live in the Spirit, we should walk in the Spirit.  If any of us lacks wisdom, let us ask for it.  If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.  It is every Word of God that should illicit response.  The challenges of our adversary are rooted in the destroyer’s intent.  We can escape these things IF we follow the Lord’s example and ignore the devil’s challenges and take heed to God’s commands.              

Proverbs - Are You a Scorner?

Proverbs 21:24

Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.

As moms, we can end up having proud wrath, not just wrath, but proud wrath.  This kind of wrath produces scorn and disdain.  We must not cooperate with such attitudes.  We will end up saying things to our husbands or children that are scornful. A scornful woman is looking down at someone and frustrated due to her being inconvenienced or bothered.  We read in Proverbs 22 verse 19 that if we “Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.”  We need to cast the scorner out of our hearts or physically remove ourselves from the situation. It is probably best to walk out of the room or move away from the situation if we are becoming scornful women.  Proud wrath leaves us having to say we are sorry.   Next time we find ourselves angry because of how something affects us, let us just realize that our name at that time is ‘Proud and Haughty Scorner’.  Let us cast this old man off and approach the situation seeking to have the Lord’s purposes in mind much more than our own kingdoms.

Knowing God - God Blesses Obedience

Gen 22:18

 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Abram was being told that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his descendents.  It wasn’t some sort of mystical, genetic blessing but a blessing based upon obedience.  The Lord was going to bless all the nations because of one man’s obedience.  We should never underestimate the power and influence of obedience.  It is the Lord’s voice we are to obey and He has shown Himself to bless obedience.  We often want blessings but don’t focus on obedience.  The Lord is blessed by and blesses obedience.  It is something we can give Him.  Let’s give Him obedience today and trust that He knows who and how to bless.

Proverbs - Guarding Our Mouths

Proverbs 21:23

Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

This verse tells us that we can keep or guard our mouths.  We must consider our mouths like a large dam that needs to be guarded at all times.  In the United States, dams are guarded due to possible terrorist activity that could occur.  There are also regularly scheduled check ups to determine the safety and conditions of the structure.  There are also personnel who carefully determine how much water to let out in order to produce energy or supply water to those who need it.  We must handle our mouths the same way.  At anytime the floods of wrong words could come out and cause destruction and death.  Our adversary, the devil, like the terrorist, will try to sabotage our words and tempt us to let loose with our lips.  If we are not before the Lord on a regular basis having Him inspect the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart, we could compromise the integrity of our self control and release words or be unable to release words in the way the water of our words is meant to accomplish.  If we want to avoid some unnecessary troubles in our lives, we must guard our mouths.  Maintain a soberness about the power of death and life in the tongue and watch your life avoid much trouble.