Kiss the Calf?

Proverbs 4:18

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Two paths the path of the Just  and there's light on that path. 

This lighted pathway of the just shines more and more. In the winter time when I leave Church there are some important things I do. I get into my car and put the key into the ignition, then I put my seatbelt on and if the headlights didn't come on as I turned the switch I then turn them on. Now those headlights are not powerful enough to shine all the way home, but what they do is shine out in front of me allowing me to see as I drive home. Although these headlights only shined a few feet in front of my car they allowed other drivers to see me so as I drive toward home I'm not unnoticed. These headlights  as I approach my home have given me light all the way home. Is that not what I need as I wake up get ready for the day? Don't you think it would be important that I allow God to give me  some light from His Word. Is it not just important that I hid light in my heart? Jesus said;

John 8:12

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Jesus is our headlights that light our pathway up as we head out each day. 

John 9:5

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

If I'm going to be different from everyone else them I'll have to have a different light that I'm following. 

The path of the Wicked and there's darkness on that path.

Proverbs 4:19

The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

This path of darkness will always take you further than you ever intended to go.

Hosea 13: 2 

And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

Downward progression "they sin more and more," sin never satisfies it always cries for more. They made molten images of THEIR silver. Idols according to THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING. They did the work themselves "the work of the craftsmen:" They sacrificed and KISSED THE CALVES. It gets darker and darker and requires more and more.

I'm afraid we live in a day and build idols to our own understanding by our on craftsmen. I heard one say last week "I'm glad the American people are moving in the right direction." I am an American people and if the path leads to darkness, count me out!

Correction Do We Really Need It?

Proverbs 3:11

My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:

12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

The phrase "MY SON" is used 23 times in the book of Proverbs. In verse 11 that phrase "MY SON" is used with CHASTENING "Correction; punishment for the purpose of reclaiming."

One does not correct a child that's not theirs as we read more of that verse we see the phrase "THE LORD." Now we understand it's the child of God who is being corrected by the Lord. We are taught that all have sinned, all have come short and as we live in this life we will no doubt fail. The child of God is instructed at the beginning of this chapter what to do to keep the correction and punishment down.

Proverbs 3:1

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

First don't forget God's law

2 Timothy 1:6

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

1 Corinthians 15:1

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Ok that sounds simple but how does one remember?  We remember what we want to remember. There are those who know all about sports, who's the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, who's the best pitcher in the National league? How do they know all that? Simple they read, watch, listen to others who know and they talk with those who are liked minded. Think, what do you remember from what your Pastor preached on Sunday? Anything? I heard a great message on yesterday from Pastor Micheal Soop about Stephen and how God opened Heaven and let him look in while he was being stoned to death. It's Monday and I'm still thinking and rejoicing on what happened at Church yesterday. So we should remember the preached word of God. Then we are instructed to "let thine heart keep my commandments:" David put it this way.

Psalms 119:11

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

I think if we turn off most of the junk that's going on in our life and start hiding God's Word in our heart then we will learn how to walk with and for our Lord. If we talk with those who know the Lord and discuss the things of the Lord we will learn more about our relationship with the Lord. The more I spent time with the Lord the stronger my relationship will be. What verse will I hid in my heart this week? Lamentations 3:24-26 I worked last week on 22 & 23 His compassions fail not and they are new every morning. Our God is Faithful and He's Fresh every morning . Well a Bless His Holy Name!

Vanish

Proverbs 30:3

I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.

The last part of this verse answers the first part. The reason there is no knowledge of the Holy is because there's no learning of wisdom.

At least 53 times this word "WISDOM" is used in the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 1:2

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.

5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

No hearing = No learning, No Learning = No understanding, No understanding = No counsel, No counsel = No receiving instruction of wisdom! 

Proverbs 2:1

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the Lord giveth wisdom:

Receive, Hide, Apply, Cry after Knowledge, Seek then thou shall understand and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom:

That's why there's no wisdom and knowledge of the Holy. In order to understand and know someone you must have a relationship with them. I know what color my wives eyes are because I've looked into them 100's of times. I know what she likes and dislikes because I talked with her and watched her reaction. I know about her because I've taken the time to learn about her. Same is true with my lord and savior I've spent time with Him in His Word and He has spoken from it to my heart. Never touch His Word (the Bible) then it's easy to understand why one would become ignorant of Him. When one realizes that "this is the day the Lord has made" and not what you have made, then understanding is coming your way.

James said:

James 4:14

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

My vapor is almost gone and only what I've done for Christ will last. Where am I spending most of my time? If  I made a pie chart cut it up into three sections, one section entitled my or me time, one Work time and one God time. Me or my time includes everything that's not work time or God time. How would that pie chart look?

The verse reads "he know not what shall be on the morrow." Then a question is asked? "For what is your life?" Then the answer is given. " It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time." Compared to eternity my life is but a flash in the pan. Then notice how sadly it ends. "and then vanisheth away." Oh my all these things I'm doing for self all the hard work I'm doing for others, doing a great  job, making great company profits and productivity that one day no one will even remember. Grave yards are never busy, few will run by your grave sight. I go by my dads 3 or 4 times a year and I have never seen anyone there at his grave sight in the last 30 years. Never had to wait in line, never seen more than 3-cars in the the whole graveyard where more than a 1000  are buried. So it is true "vanisheth away." After I'm gone no one will ever go by my hero's grave sight but the grounds keeper and he want care. So tell me again why we spend so much of our time on things that matter not?

C.T Studd had it right when he made this quote.

“Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Come to Poverty

Proverbs 23:21

For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

Here we read of one who drinks to the point of drunkenness. 

Webster has this to say about the word DRUNK  "Intoxicated; inebriated; overwhelmed or overpowered by spirituous liquor; stupefied or inflamed by the action of spirit on the stomach and brain. " 

A few words jumped out at me.

1- OVERPOWERED 

2- INFLAMED

Here we read of a product that will OVERPOWER you and keep you from making good decisions. Something that is INFLAMED; out of control. I understand how alcohol makes one become out of control but Solomon adds one that's an over eater in the same category. One would quickly say "one who over indulges with alcohol I understand but with food, is it not different?" One would think so, but wait if that be true how in the world does one come to weigh 500 pounds? Same way one becomes INFLAMED, over indulging. We must have food to live and we could say we use alcohol for many other reasons than sitting down and drinking a half gallon of liquor. There's alcohol in mouthwash,flavoring we use in baking or cooking, in medicine we take, and when used properly they are of great help. When missed used they will cloth us in rags. Can't work and make a living for yourself or your family when you inebriated. In the same way one can't work weighting 500 pounds. So both drunkenness as well as gluttony will without doubt cause poverty and laziness so that one becomes clothed with rags. 

Rich or Poor!

Proverbs 22:2

The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.

There's no difference Rich, Poor they meet together. Now think about that for a minute, we live in a proud country. What I mean  by that is the rich spend little or no time with the poor. The rich type of people live with the rich and the poor the same. The rich have nicer houses, cars, clothes, eat different types of food and so on. But you know what when you pull the riches off we are all just people. In Luke 16 we read of a rich man and a poor man they both had the same basic needs. The rich man ate from a table of fine foods he had, had prepared. The poor man eats crumbs from the ground which he begged for while his body was full of sores. To different types of people, one had plenty and one had very little. In this life it may seem important to have riches or live comfortable but as Clarence Sullivan who was a muli millionaire told me one day, God doesn't give many lots of money because they don't know how to handle it, it handles them. How true those words are! Who is most respected at Church? The one who gives much or the one who gives little? God has blessed one that they are able to give much and they do. But if  they do it for any other reason than just to give to the work of God then they missed Gods purpose. Why? Because the Lord is the maker of them both. If we have great riches or we don't  no matter what we do with them the real basic need in our life is all the same, Christ Jesus.

The beggar DIED! The rich man DIED! You and I rich or poor will DIED! And the only thing that will matter is did we except Christ Jesus as our savior.

Luke 16:22

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,

Riches make no difference in eternity unless our riches were in Christ.

Ephesians 1:7

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

That's the only riches that count. 

Late for Work

Late for Work:

Wisdom begins withe FEAR 

Knowledge begins with UNDERSTANDING of the HOLY.

Proverbs 9:10- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:

and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Then we are told that our days can be MULTIPLIED but not just our days but the years of our life with INCREASE.  

11- For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

And we thought we could do that by eating right, running around the block every afternoon after work! I have heard people say "going by the GYM on the way home to workout." Never heard anyone say the were going by the Church on their way to talk with The Lord so I can better get to know Him.

Long days start not with eating fruits and veggies with a side order of lettuce; oh there's nothing wrong with eating health foods. But wisdom comes from fear of The Lord and understanding comes from being knowledgable of the Holy. Which brings on the added bonus of more days which become more years. 

The battles on what do we want? To look like Arnold Schwarzenegger which takes a lot of work or to be like David a man after God's on heart? Both take work, one makes you LOOK physically healthy the others increases your life; and you spent how much time in your Bible this morning? Oh that's right you had to get by the GYM first thing so you wouldn't be late for work.

Crying

Christ, who is the Wisdom of God; CRIES

Isaiah 58:1- Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

John 7:37- In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

It's hear and understand; the only way one can understand what is being said to them is know the language in which they are being taught.

Proverbs 8:6- Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.

Proverbs 8:7- For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

I have had the opportunity to go to different places. When I was in Nicaragua I heard many people speaking but understood very little of what was said. The reason was I knew very little Spanish. When I was in Brazil I could not understand anything at all, the reason was I knew no. Could this be the reason many are not hearing God? They just don't understand the language!
Maybe the voices of this world are crying so loud that the small still voice of God is being drowned out. If this be true then we are not understanding instruction, we are not finding out knowledge, getting counsel, we are not being lead in the way of righteous. The baby cries in the next room but the cry is foreign so we pay little attention to its cry. But then another baby cries down the hall and our ears perk up as our body gets up. What's the difference? One cry is foreign because we don't know the baby the other cry is not foreign because that baby is our son or daughter. Our walk in this life is determined by what our ears are tuned into.

1 John 2:16- For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

If our life is consumed with the Lust of our flesh, the Lust of our eyes and the Pridefulness of our life then how does one expect to hear about walking in the paths of Righteousness?

The voice is crying, but it's foreign.