Proverbs 23: 22-23

Proverbs 23:22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding
 
We see here this first verse tells us that what a father and mother have for their children is only to help them to grow up to be responsible adults trusting and obeying them and the Lord. Also to respect their parents when they are on up in age. The next verse urges us to obtain and hold on to the truth at what ever cost. Everything in this world will pass away but the truth will stand forever. It also says we to to hold on to the wisdom and knowledge we gain with the same determination.

Proverbs 23:19-21

Proverbs 23:19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
 
These verse are good instructions for our children. As we teach them the wisdom of God we hope that their heart is open to receive what God has has for them. This will help them to defeat the lures of the temptation of the drinkers and those that live riotous lifestyles. Those that live these lifestyles usually wind up in poverty because of their drinking and over eating. The drunk can not keep a job and the glutton is too big to work so they will wind up with nothing, not even the promise of going to heaven unless they repent and change their lifestyle. Let us always strive to teach our children the right ways so they will grow up to be responsible adults.

Proverbs 23:17-18

Proverbs 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
 
These two verses reassure us of the promise from God that we will spend eternity in Heaven with Him. We are not to desire the things that sinners have but remember that in the end they will lose everything. Just remember to keep our focus on the Lord what He has ask of us and do it. It winds up telling us that which we already know that there will be an end to all the chaos in the world but we will not lose the hope that we have in salvation.

Proverbs 23:15-16

Proverbs 23:15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
 
These verses show us what the rewards are when we raise our children in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. When we see our children making the right choices it makes us rejoice even more because it is a good reflection on both. This also comes from the results of discipline and brings the parents joy. We know when righteous words come from our children that righteousness is in their hearts. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. It says In Psalms 37:30 “The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.” Today is the Lord’s day honor Him by attending church and if you have children they should be with you. I pray that God pours out His blessings on everyone that worships Him today.

Monsters in the Yard! A Note from Hope

Ya’ll are not going to believe this! There were monsters in our yard this last week. But let me start at the beginning.

First, Dad told Mom that the air unit outside wasn’t working, so we just threw all the windows up and turned on the fans ’til Dad figured out the best thing to do. This gave Scout and me lots more stuff to watch outside- in fact, one day we got so excited about something outside that we pushed the storm window loose and Mom had to fix it.

Then Dad bought a air conditioner and put it in the window in our bedroom (we are very nice and let Mom and Dad share it with us) – boy it feels nice and cool, but it blocks the window.

So Scout and I have to get up on the bed and watch that way. Which is exactly how we found out about those monsters. Yeah, they looked like regular people, but they kept walking around in our yard, and digging holes and sticking little flags in the grass. What real person does that?  I knew we had to keep a close eye on them – they even parked their truck across the road – and I don’t care what anybody says, that is still my yard because I can see it.

We kept a close watch til Mom started laughing at us – she even took that picture to show Ms Leah and Ms Kimmie and Ms Jamalyn and my BFF, Jordan.

They’re laughing now, but just wait til somebody tries to eat them all up while they’re sleeping – then I guess they’ll believe us.

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For thus the Lord says to me, “Go, station the lookout, let him report what he sees. Isaiah 21:6

 

PS- thank ya’ll for praying for our buddy Carl- he’s doing great and should be coming back home before too long!

Proverbs 23:12-14

Proverbs 23:12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
 
These verses begin by telling us that we need to get as knowledge and understanding of the word of God and apply it from our heart. With that we see we are not to withhold correction from our children even if it means spanking them. As the scripture says it will not kill them to get spanked for doing wrong. The last verse lets us know that by doing this we helping to save our children from the pits of Hell. If they are disciplined when they young you run the risk of them being bad people when they grow up. Discipline is part of the knowledge they gain when they are young.

Proverbs 23:9-11

Proverbs 23:9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
 
This starts off telling us that when we try to talk to a person who is determined not to listen to the wisdom of God we are wasting our time . Anything we say they will not pay attention to it and will probably not care to speak to you again.Again we see that God is telling not to defraud someone or take something that is not ours .God will fight for those that are mistreated. This winds up letting us know that our redeemer is mighty and He will defend us to the ends of the earth. He will especially defend those that have no one else to defend them. Let us ever be mindful of those that are in need and be ready to help in any possible.

Proverbs 23:6-8

Proverbs 23:6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
 
Well theses verse let us know that we need to be careful when ask to join someone for fellowship. Whether it be for food or a good time we need to be aware that they could have a motive for entertaining us. This person is one who hoards what he gets and could care less about helping anyone much less the poor.He is full of jealousy and spite and cannot bear to see anyone happy. Last this person will offer you a fine meal but it really is not very good because it was done for wrong motives and you cannot wait to get away and forget about this experience. When you get this feeling at someone’s table, it is hard to find nice things to say.

Proverbs 23:4-5

Proverbs 23:4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
 
These two verse help to understand that we do not need to labor constantly trying to get more riches on this earth. We came into this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing of this world. When people come into a lot of money at one time it is usually gone just as fast and they are in worst shape before they had what they received. We should be more concentrated on gaining wisdom and knowledge from God and let Him supply our needs as He can from His riches and also wait for greatest riches which is eternity in Heaven with Him.

Proverbs 23:1-3

Proverbs 23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
 
When ever you are invited to eat in the presence of those that are wealthy do not act like you are starving to death and have never had such delicious food. When it says to put a knife to your throat it means to not make a glutton of yourself and subdue yourself so you can make a good impression. Last we should not lust after the delicacies or appear as we have not ever had such food. These delicacies could be to lure us away from what we know is right. From these verses we can see that we need to use the wisdom and knowledge we have learned to asses the situation we in and act accordingly so we do not get led in wrong direction.