It Is Catching

September 11, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 22:22-25 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them. Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

  AWCHEW!!! That sneezing, coughing, hacking sound usually comes from a person with a cold. No matter how much we try not to, eventually we catch it. There are antibacterial hand sanitizers and special soaps to help us keep our hands clean and free from germs that might cause this sickness. Nevertheless, stay around someone with the cold virus long enough, and you will get it, A COLD!

    Oh, and how bad you feel when you do catch that nasty old cold. You cannot seem to think straight, you feel tired and achy, your head feels stuffy, and you just don’t feel right. Doesn’t it make you somewhat weary just thinking about it?

    Solomon was trying to warn us of very much the same thing, but on a more personal level. I’ve heard the phrase, “You are who you hang around with.” Simply stated; if you want to see the kind of person you are, just look at who your closest friends are, that’s you! Crazy people act crazy. Do you know why they act crazy? They act crazy because they have lost their mind! If you hang around with them long enough, you will lose yours too. Anger is the same way. Sit around with angry people long enough and you begin to become angry as well.

    Solomon was saying do not hang around with angry, bad mouthed people. If you do, you will learn their ways and it will become a habit and a trap in your life. This too will make you tired, achy, and unable to think straight. You’ll just not feel right.

THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    Maybe you are wondering how to get out of this trap? First, get away from the sickness, the crowd. You cannot get rid of a cold hanging around people with colds. Next, drink plenty of fluids. The Bible says it is the spring of Living Water. Finally, it’s nice to have someone comfort you. You will be safe in the arms of Jesus. There is no greater physician than God.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  September 11, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Hosea 1 – 6     /   Proverbs 22:22-25

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Pro. 16-17    /   2 Co. 2-3

Living In His Word Ministries

A More Sure Word

September 10, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 22:18-21 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

  Solomon, in writing to his son, says; “Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge.” His statement is one we would do well to think over.

  Are the words of Solomon that are written in the book of Proverbs really that of sound counsel and real knowledge to us all? Or are they simply the writings of a father only to his son. Are they actually words which are meant for all ages, or simply the written historical record of a father’s wishes for his family? Interestingly enough, you will find reference to the Book of Proverbs used throughout the remainder of the Old Testament. However, is that enough to hold them as time-honored truths?

    Well consider if you will that four of the writers of the New Testament also found them to be of great value and used them in their writings as well. Paul uses them in Romans 12:19-20. James used these writings in Chapter 4 verse 6 of his book. Peter quoted these time-honored texts in 1 Peter 4:8, 17 & 18 and 2 Peter 2:22. In the book of Jude, verse twelve these great words of wisdom are once again recalled. I guess most important of all, Jesus Himself used a reference to Proverbs 25:6-8 when he addressed the Pharisees in Luke 14:7-11.

    We have five witnesses, one of them Jesus Himself, who says these are very good words to live by indeed. We can trust them to be just what Solomon said they were; words of wisdom, knowledge, and as wise counsel to live by, even today.

     
THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    We should not ever have to prove the Word of God. Nevertheless, it’s comforting to know we can, and that we have sure words with which to guide our daily lives.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  September 10, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Daniel 8 – 12     /   Proverbs 22:18-21

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Pro. 14-15           /     2 Co. 1

Living In His Word Ministries

Give A Penny To A Millionaire

September 9, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 22:15-17 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want. Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

    How foolish would it to be to watch someone with obvious wealth go up to a man who is clearly homeless and living on the street, and ask him if he had an extra room and bed where they could stay for a few days? Then, when the homeless man replies, “I don’t have a place of my own to stay,” the wealthy person begins to cry and beg, “come on, please, let me stay at your place. It will only be a few days! I just need to save a little more money.” The homeless man might very well point to the sky and say, “Hey buddy, you’re standing in my living room right now!” To watch such a thing would seem ridiculous. Today’s text calls it oppressing the poor to increase riches.

    How about if you were to see a limousine, pull up to a stop light next to a man in an old rusty pick-up truck. The driver of the pick-up blows the horn and motions for the limo to roll down the window. When they do, he asks, “Hey you need a ride? I have plenty of room in the box of my truck if you do.” Again, that would be silly. Giving to the rich what they do not need.

    That is what is meant by “He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.” In both situations, no one is being helped.

    Often people will live their lives, beating their heads against a wall, doing ridiculous things over and over, expecting different results. Then, when someone points out that what they are doing isn’t helping anyone, they’re told to mind their own business. The words of wisdom meant to help are not taken as a gift, but rather are seen as an intrusion into an already troubled life.

    The same often happens in witnessing. A lost soul will do the same sinful things over and over and finds no peace in them. Yet, when someone presents them with the gospel, they are told to mind their own business as they continue down a path of no hope. However, occasionally, someone will listen, and God gloriously changes his or her lives.

THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    We are not going to win them all to Christ with the gospel. Nevertheless, for the few who will listen its worth repeating.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  September 9, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Daniel 4 – 7     /     Proverbs 22:15-17

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Pro. 12-13  / 1 Co. 16

I Saw A LION

September 8, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 22:11-14 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets. The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

     I remember a story of a young boy who came running into the house yelling “There’s a Lion in the yard, come see, there’s a lion out here.” The frightened and nervous parents jumped up and ran to the porch only to see a mangy old dog out in the yard. The father told his boy; “son, go to your room. You have scared your mother and me to death with your tall tales. I have told you that lying will get you in serious trouble some day. You go upstairs and pray. Ask God to forgive you for your lying. When you think you are forgiven, you may come down.”

     The boy had been upstairs in his room for a couple of hours when his mother called up and said, “It’s time for dinner.” As the boy quietly sat at the dinner table the father asked him, “Son do you think God has forgiven you for telling us there was a lion outside?” The boy said, “Yes I do, but dad, while I was praying, God told me when he first saw that dog, He thought it was lion too.”

     The slothful, or today we might say a lazy person in today’s passage says, “There is a lion without.” The reason he says this is simple. He is lazy, and this is just another excuse not to go out into the world and do his part. The excuses of the lazy are many. Where there is no real danger, obstacles are made up. Where any little hindrance appears, they exaggerate it to enormous proportion.

     It’s easy to look at people who are not willing to work for physical gain and say, “Yup, that’s them, the slothful.” However, what about those who will not work for the Kingdom of God to do their part to win souls? I wonder if they see lions too.

THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

     Satan is like a roaring lion the Bible says. It also says greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. Oh, dear Lord; open our eyes to see that you have defeated the roaring lion of Satan, and that we need to be busy in your harvest fields today. Amen.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  September 8, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Daniel 1 – 3     /     Proverbs 22:11-14

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Pro. 10-11  / 1 Co. 15

Learn To Discern

September 7, 2020

DAILY PROVERBS:

Proverbs 22:8-10 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

OUTLOOK ON THE IN BOOK:

  Every Christian, I believe, really wants to help people if they can. It’s born into us at our new birth. We desire to be like Christ who desired to help those in real need. “He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed.”

    The key however to really helping someone is the ability to discern his or her real need. Let’s look at three types of people considered in our verses today.

• First, “He that soweth iniquity.” Often the generous heart of a well-meaning saint is taken advantage of by those who have only themselves in mind. Our desire to show the love of Christ to the hurting may get in the way of God’s dealing in their life and His desire to bring them to repentance. Sometimes blindly helping is not really helping at all. It may just provide aid to a sinful lifestyle.

• Next, you have the poor. Those who are truly in need of help and rightfully deserve it. It may be a Church member, another Christian, or an unsaved family that you have been working with and you know their true need. To refuse to help someone in this situation with what God has entrusted you with is just not right. Remember the old phrase “what goes around comes around.” To give to the truly needy out of a kind and loving heart will only result in God’s blessings poured out upon your life.

• The third type of person mentioned is the scorner. Helping someone because you think by doing so, he or she will quit gossiping or stop acting ungodly, is nothing more than a bribe. This almost never works out. Paying someone not to do or say something is a perversion of justice. There is a reason the police do not usually make deals with hostage takers. It’s only a pacifier, not a solution. God is the only solution to every real sin problem.

THE WORD WALKING IN ME:

    Being a good steward is doing what’s right with God’s provisions that He has given to you. Let’s help when possible. However, let’s pray first and try to be sure we are helping.

GOD TALKING TO ME:  September 7, 2020

THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH DAILY PROVERBS
  Ezekiel 44 – 48     /   Proverbs 22:8-10

THROUGH THE BIBLE OLD & NEW TESTAMENT DAILY
  Pro. 8-9    /   1 Co. 14

Living In His Word Ministries