Proverbs 10:19

"When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise." This is something to take to heart. If you talk way to much eventually there will be something said that brings conflict. Once you get someone talking they will eventually share something that they probably should not have shared. Time and again we are asked to restrain our lips in scripture and told that even a fool is thought wise if he keeps his mouth shut. What we say matters in this life and we will be called into account for all that has come out of our mouths. Sometimes it is better to bite your tongue and be thought wise than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Proverbs 14:3

"In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will protect them." What the fool speaks will eventually bring a rob to his back. Some sort of discipline will come upon a fool because of what he says to others. It will come back and beat him at some point. But, the lips of the wise will protect them. The wise one uses words as a shield to protect themselves from needing a rod of discipline. Are our mouths the mouths of fools or of the wise?

Proverbs 29:25

"The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted." I don't know about you, but I don't want to be caught in a snare. I have some knowledge of trapping animals and a snare was not about catching an animal alive. It was about killing it. Fearing men can lead you into a trap that could bring about death, maybe not death right now, but eternal death as you decide not to follow Jesus Christ because you fear man. But this proverb doesn't end with a snare. It goes on to show what happens to those who trust in God. They don't fear man, they fear God who is the one who has ultimate control and God will exalt those whose trust is in Him. Maybe not in this life, but throughout all eternity we will experience the riches of His grace. Trust in Him today and everyday and leave the trap that fearing man brings behind.

Proverbs 29:7

"The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor, the wicked does not understand such concern."
One of the ways we can show God how much we love Him is to be concerned about the things He is concerned about. He looks out for those in need and so should we. We should be aware of how we can help those in need around us and in the global economy we live in around the world. Items we purchase may be used to keep others down and don't pay them enough to live on. Be a well informed shopper who knows what items you purchase only support the large corporation and not the person who actually does the work. If you don't care about the poor, then you need to examine your heart and find out why. Ask God to change you and make you desire the things that He desires.

Blessings

We do need to be reminded from time to time how much God has blessed us. In Sunday's sermon, Dave Mannon shared about how God has blessed us for a reason. He hasn't blessed us just because. He has blessed us so that we can make His salvation known to all the world. We have many opportunities to do this. We can pray for people all over the world to come to know Christ. We can give and support missionary work both local and international. We can go and serve in a mission field or stay home and serve in a mission field. God has blessed you in many ways for a purpose. Make sure you are living your life for His purpose which is to make His salvation known in all the earth.

Interruptions

Have you ever prayed that God would work through you and then all your plans go out the window? How do you respond? This happened to me this week and at first I was really annoyed that what I had planned to do wasn't working out. But God is good and He reminded me that I had asked Him to be in charge of my life and it is about what He wants to do in me and through me that is important. I shouldn't look at interruptions as bad things but as God changing my plans to fit His. How will you look at interruptions in your life? Pray that God would use you and then look to see how He does it. He will use you if you let Him.

Proverbs 26:20-21

"For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down. Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife."
I have experienced this many times both inside churches and in the workplace. All it takes is one person sowing the seeds of discontent to fan something in a large fire that is very destructive. But when that contentious person isn't there things move along fine. There may be embers of discontent about but without the fuel to get the fire going the embers die out. We need to be on the lookout in our lives that we are not influenced by someone who is contentious into starting a fire but also that we are not that person who adds fuel to the embers and fans it into flames.

Proverbs 25:4

"Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith;" Until the dross or impurities are removed from silver it cannot be used by the smith to make anything useful. Our lives are like the silver and we contain a lot of impurities that need to be removed for us to be used effectively in God's service. God uses many things to bring this about. We experience trials and suffering so that we can be refined into a useful piece of silver in God's hands. He is not content for us to be only 80% pure or even 99% pure. His desire is to make us into the image of His son and He will continue to leads us through the refining process until we get there. Just remember that whatever you face each day, whatever challenges or struggles are all part of the process to remove the junk from your life. Everything we face in life is an opportunity for God to work out some impurities that we sometimes don't even realize are there.

Proverbs 24:1

"Do not be envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; for their minds devise violence and their lips talk of trouble."
This proverb is good warning for everyone to take into account in their daily lives. We see things on tv and in the media that show people in a way that encourages us to envy what they have and instills the desire to be with them. We put forth people as heroes that never would have merited that moniker before. Yet at their heart, they are evil because they are enemies of God just as we were at one time until we experienced the grace of God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Our culture constantly puts for evil as good and seems to make good things evil. We have gotten things so upside down. We need to keep this in mind, that evil men devise violence (which is all over tv and movies) and their lips constantly talk of trouble. Be on guard against envy of evil men because in the end they are still under the judgment of God because of their sin. Pray for them and guard your mind.

Proverbs 23:17

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the Lord always. As I read this verse, God brought to mind how I have done this in my life. From looking at others "things" that I could have if I worked more or didn't tithe. I have been guilty of looking at what others have and wanting it for myself. I have also seen the other side of things. I see how they have stumbled into work because of a late night out involving lots of alcohol. I see how their relationships crumble so easily without the bedrock of Christ. I see the downside of how sinners lead their lives and yet because I am still a sinner in need of a savior I am still pulled in their direction. But the verse doesn't just end with do not let your heart envy sinners, it has a but in there. But live in the fear of the Lord always. This is how I counteract the draw of sin in my life. I live in the fear of God always. Each and every day I live in the fear of God. This makes me take stock of the future and realize that the life of a sinner leads to death. I am on the road to life and need to live like it.

Proverbs 23:12

Proverbs 23:12 says this, "Apply your heart to discipline and your ears to words of knowledge." Sometimes verses jump out at me as I read them and this was one of them. I have been contemplating how I can apply my heart to discipline. To begin with, I need to remind myself that discipline is not a bad thing in my life. I actually need discipline if I want to live a successful life in God's eyes. I can't do anything without discipline except sit on the couch and watch tv. So I need to change my thinking about how discipline works in my life to be a positive good thing for me and not a negative thing to avoid. The verse also say to apply your ears to words of knowledge. I should be listening to things that increase my knowledge. I have been working on this for a while to be listening to things that challenge me and help me understand God better. I have tried to avoid those things that don't increase my knowledge and are in a sense only empty calories for my brain. I should also listen to those people in my life who have knowledge in areas that I lack so that I may gain insight and understanding.

King Saul and the witch of Endor

This past Sunday we spent time looking at an episode at the end of King Saul's life where he faced an army and when he went to God for help all he received was silence. Instead of taking time to examine his life and see if there was unconfessed sin in his own life, Saul went to get direction from someone else. He sought out a medium to find out what he was to do next. He gave up on getting direction from God and went to other sources. No one else know the future but God. He is the only one who knows what is going to happen so when we go somewhere else for direction we are saying to God that we don't trust Him. We don't believe in our hearts that He really knows what He is doing and that we know better. We set ourselves or others up at a god, or idol, to us when we do this. We say that someone or something else knows things that God does not know. This even applies when we go to someone for direction who doesn't follow Jesus Christ. When we read a self help book that isn't based on Biblical principles we are saying the human wisdom is better than God's wisdom. When we listen to a someone on a tv show because they are famous we put their wisdom ahead of God's. We need to be very careful who we seek guidance and direction from so that we don't fall into the same trap Saul did which led to his death.