28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Well as we begin a new week i hope you got to here a word from the Lord yesterday and if you did I hope you responded. Verse 28 tells us that God is not going to answer your call if you continue saying I plenty of time to straighten my life out. When he does not answer and you begin to seek Him you will not find him. Because so many are saying today that so many things are ok that are contrary to what God’s word teaches. It shows their lack of knowledge and also shows they have no fear of God. It does not matter how many times people are told the right ways to live it does not matter.They continue to ignore the warnings of God until it is too late. if God’s spirit is dealing with you now do not wait to act on it because His word says that His spirit will not strive with man always.
Proverbs 1:24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Verse 24 and 25 seem to be talking about the people in our world today. So many have refused to listen to what the word of God says and feel they can live their life any way they want to. Even when God brings judgement today on sin people disregard it and go right back to what they were doing. Even though they can be told what they need to do they reject it and could care less that what they are doing is wrong.
Verse 26 and 27 gives us a little about what God will do for this rejection.We know that the fear these verses talk about are not the same as the fear we have in God. This fear is when everything is falling down around them God will laugh at their ignorance and mock them. It continues to say when this fear takes over your life because of desolation and destruction and your life is filled with with distress and anguish, God will not heed their call because you have not listen to Him. I ask again today if you are not in church find one today and start learning what God can do for you. Do not worry about how you look or how little you know or what you have done wrong a true Church that worships God will accept you as you are. My home church is Luverne First Assembly of God where everyone is welcome, my wife and I will be attending God Speed Biker Ministries in Milbrook today where everyone is welcome and you do not have to ride a bike.
Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
It is God’s desire that all have wisdom so it is available to to anyone who will listen.The wisdom of God can be found by anyone who willing to listen. Verse 22 helps us see 3 classes of people , the simple or naïve who are ignorant of the wisdom, the scorners who push it a little further to not accepting the wisdom, and the fools who just totally defy the knowledge of wisdom. Proverbs aims its wisdom primarily at the first group. God is telling the people to learn by His reproof. God is offering to pour out His Spirit. God the Holy Spirit will reveal the meaning of the word to us if we will accept His Spirit into us. God’s wisdom brings to bear against the sinner indictments for sin that demand repentance. To the one who does repent, God promises the spirit or essence of true wisdom linked to divine revelation.
Proverbs 1:17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
As a person sins they never think of getting caught but just like a bird that flies into a net if a sinner continues in his ways he will eventually get caught. As they continue on they are only setting themselves up for their own destruction. When people are greedy for what other people have this is where the sin begins for them and against their fellowman.You know too many times when we know we have done something wrong, number one we do not usually think of it as a sin, and number two do not consider who this wrong might have affected. Most of the time the consequences of sin affects more people than we think and not just ourselves. It is hard to live each day and not sin in some way that is why we need to stay focused on God in everything we do and always be ready to ask for forgiveness from God and whoever we might offend.
Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
This scripture is one that really applies to us all in that we all make the choices in our lives that affects how we spend our life. The sinner mentioned here is the one who has hardened their heat to point that they only know how to entice people to stray from
God. The force of peer pressure is often the most enticing way to get people to sin. These scriptures seems to focus on murder but it is really about the “little” sins that get us started. These sins can if we continue to listen to those that try to lead us astray cause us to get caught up in almost anything to the point of murder. They will entice to the to show how great the rewards can be, that all can share in the bounty. Then verse 15 tells us to avoid sin at the onset, do all you can to never take that first temptation. Because in verse 16 it shows us again they are only there to keep us from having what has been promised by God, Eternal life in heaven with Him.
Proverbs 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
These verses help us to see that the best instruction anyone can get is from a loving father and mother. These two people , and it should be a man and a woman, only want the best for their children and if they are following the Lord they will give only the best instructions. Most of what parents try to teach their kids is to help them not make the same mistakes. If children listen the parents instruction they will have a lot less headaches to deal with. The greatest gift a parent can give to a child is the gift of good moral teaching, this grace above, I believe, is just that. These parents have set high moral standards and passed them on to their children. The chains about thy neck: are talking about a thing of beauty in one’s life. This helps to see that parents only want to give the best to their children.
Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
When we are young we do not like to listen to older people but as we grow older we learn if we listen more and talk less then we learn more. The more we listen we tend to listen to people with wise counsel rather than just anybody. The best way to learn also is to listen to someone who has experienced what you trying to learn about. Jesus said that now we look through a dark glass. We cannot understand the secrets of proverbs and parables now. We understand them to the extent that the Holy Spirit reveals them to us. Even the disciples had Jesus interpret his parables. The Holy Spirit, working as a teacher, helps us interpret the hidden meanings. Proverbs seeks to sharpen the mind to things that need reflection and interpretation. Verse 7, this verse we all have heard more than once so there is very little left to say about this statement. We know the fear of anything other than God is lack of faith. This type of fear of God will cause reverent worship of him. When we fear the Lord it means we submit ourselves to Him.This fear is a healthy fear. And even though it states the beginning of knowledge does not mean we stop fearing as we get older because it is a continuing process to obtain wisdom. Those who do not fear the Lord need to be careful even though they may be a knowledgeable person if they do not have the wisdom of the Lord they will fail.
Proverbs 1:1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
Well I think it is time we we get a little wisdom from God through the book of Proverbs. I will not say that this is going to be a complete study on Proverbs but we will see how it goes. Of course we begin knowing that this is written by Solomon, son of David, and he is king of Israel. A proverb is considered to be a comparison but with a definite message that is strait and to the point, and usually not what we want here. Verses 2 through 4 are dealing basically with obtaining wisdom. Wisdom also gives us the skills to live. Instruction refers to moral discipline of one’s life and understanding means the capability to distinguish between true and false, good and bad, what matters most, and what does not matter at all. Verse 3 expands on wisdom which means discreet counsel or the ability to govern oneself by choice, justice, the ability to conform to the will and standard of God, judgment, the application of true righteousness in dealing with others, and equity, the living of life in a fair, pleasing way. Verse 4 the purpose is to give to the simple, or to someone who is an open door, discernment of what to keep in or out of their minds. Also to the young, knowledge and discretion, to make one ponder before sinning, thus to make a responsible choice.
Again I will ask at anytime if someone would like to comment or even disagree we me I welcome your remarks. I do hope anyone who reads these posts while we are Proverbs gains the knowledge and wisdom you desire from God.
Psalms 150:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
This scripture is all about how we are to praise God. Where should we praise Him? Everywhere, not just in church but everywhere we go even all the way to heaven. Why should we praise Him? For everything He has done for us and for His mighty greatness, also for giving us the greatest gift of all and that is eternal life though His son Jesus Christ. How should we praise Him? With any and everything that makes a sound, musical and by your own mouth and by your own kind of physical movements. Who should praise the Lord? The scripture says everything that that has breath, that means everybody and all creatures on the earth, yes I believe even animals have their own way of praising God. So today I again ask you to find a church where you can praise God to your fullest ability, if you can not make it to church praise Him where you are at but not just today but everyday. You will be welcomed and loved if you like to come and worship with us today at Luverne First Assembly of God, we our celebrating our Homecoming service today with lunch to follow.
Philippians 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
We see now that after we found out we are responsible for our own salvation we are not to complain or question why some things happen. When the children of Israel were freed from Egypt one of the main problems God had with them was their complaining. This raises the question why do we complain about anything since God set us free with His son Jesus. We still have a battle to fight with the world we live in today but because we are sons of God we should be able to live blameless and harmless without rebuke. If we can live the life Christ ask of us we can give what we have to others helping us to rejoice in the day Christ returns and know that our work has not been in vain. Sometimes we feel we are beating our head up against a wall and that is when we want to murmur and complain but we should be praising God for the trials He puts us through because they help to make us stronger.
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." I John 5:7
