Read the Bible in a Year (15JUL19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, July 15’s Bible reading is Proverbs 7-9.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, July 16’s Bible reading is Proverbs 10-12. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

PROVERBS MOMENT – (15JUL19) “Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1). A house that does not have a good foundation cannot withstand challenging weather for long. Also, if the house is poorly constructed where its beams do not hold properly, it can cause great injury and harm to those who reside in it. Similarly, Lady Wisdom has her house built on a firm foundation that comprise of seven pillars for those who wish to sit at her table for instruction. Let’s go over these seven pillars that distinguishes her house from that of Lady Folly. “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To far the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power” (Proverbs 8:12-14).    

Prudence – Cautiousness and common sense is something that does not seem to be in an abundance these days. People take all kinds of unnecessary risks and often put the lives of others at stake. Married spouse cheat where they run the risk of not only ruining their marriage, but bringing their spouse an untreatable STD. Sadly, common sense is not so common anymore and too many people listen to Lady Folly by not expressing caution with the decisions they make. Nevertheless, this is one of the pillars that is at Lady Wisdom’s home, for she helps her guests to know that using caution in life can avoid many pitfalls. Jesus said, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).   

Knowledge – Many people attend colleges, universities, trade schools, and other higher institutions of learning so that they may work in the field of their choice. They pay to obtain knowledge to work effectively in their chosen careers. Yet, to obtain knowledge without wisdom is like having a car that does not have gas. You can look at it, but will not be able to go anywhere. The Lord rebuked the children of Israel because of their lacking knowledge even though He had made it available for the. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame” (Hosea 4:6-7). God wants His people to have knowledge, but with that knowledge requires the wisdom of the Lord to use it properly for His glory and edification.

Discretion – One of the dictionary’s definitions of this word involves judgment, or one can say that discernment is a close sibling. We live in an age where things cannot always be taken at face-value. This is why the Bible tells us to test the spirits. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Lady Folly is very deceptive in her ways and she entraps many by making things appear as what they are not. For example, it appears that people want to be loving, but when “love” is outside of the laws of God, then it’s not love at all, but lust, selfishness, debauchery, pride, and other sins that God hates. We must test all things by using discretion and discernment to see if they are of God.

Counsel – It is wise to seek the advice of others who may have more wisdom than you. The Bible actually encourages it, but one must be careful as to where the advice is obtained. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction” (Psalms 1:1-6). Lady Folly loves to give people the wrong advice. Whatever counsel she holds is one that will lead many down the path of destruction. Godly counsel, however, should always be well-received as it will align itself with the Word.

Sound Judgment – Many Christians and those of the world like to throw around the verse “Judge not less ye be judged…” but they fail to keep reading where Jesus was speaking about hypocrisy. The Bible says, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.  “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you” (Matthew 7:1-6). To understand this scripture in its proper context requires careful instruction from Lady Wisdom. Jesus was teaching a lesson about hypocrites who were quick to point out the faults of others while they were guilty of committing similar or the same sins. If we were never to tell a person in error of their ways, then how would we be able to evangelize to them? So, let’s use the example…if a person who is committing fornication tries to point out the sins of a homosexual, that would be considered as hypocrisy and judging. Both fornication and homosexuality are sexual sins that will cause a person to be lost. Therefore, Jesus would tell the fornicator to “go and sin no more” before that person would be able to point out the sin of the homosexual. We are to test the fruits to see if they are of God and in this sense, we are applying righteous judgment. So, when one listens to the instructions of Lady Wisdom then they would be able to righteously judge all things. 

Insight – Back in the day, teachers used to give students tests that would measure their insight or understanding concerning a subject. They wanted to ensure that the student did not just memorize their work, but had a full working knowledge of the subject matter. One would hope that this practice is still being applied in today’s educational system. Similarly, many people know about God but they do not know God. To know God requires spiritual insight that is only gained from Lady Wisdom. The Bible says, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12). The Lord wants us to not only memorize His Word, but He wants us to have insight and understanding of it so that we may live in accordance to it. Therefore, it is not good enough just to know the scripture, but we must have insight to apply it. “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves” (James 1:22).

Power – Many people desire power for the wrong reason. In various countries, including the United States, power can either work for the good or manifest itself by evil practices to take advantage of the weak. Lady Wisdom, however, helps the wise to use the power that the Lord gives them through the Holy Spirit to do great wonders for the kingdom so that souls will be saved. The Bible says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The apostles would not have been as effective as they were during a time that there was no cars, airplanes, cell phones, internet, or other sources of modern technology if they had not been given the power of the Holy Spirit which enabled them to witness to the whole world. These were men who did not go to school to earn degrees, but were able to speak in every language necessary to teach people about Jesus. How much more can God do in our lives with the modern conveniences we have been afforded at our fingertips if we allow Him to bestow the power of the Holy Spirit on us. Lady Wisdom calls for us to submit to the Holy Spirit’s influence, so that the power we receive is not used for self-edification, but it will be for God’s glorification to fulfill the Great Commission.

FINALLY, the foundation of Lady Wisdom’s house is the Fear of the LORD. This is not fear in the sense of being afraid of a threat, but honor for who the Lord is. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Psalms 9:10). We must reverence the Lord so that we can have an understanding for Him as we dine at Lady Wisdom’s table. There is a lack of fear for the Lord in today’s society, and many are listening to the calls of Lady Folly as she sings to them a lullaby of dismissal towards the things of God. Let us pray that souls will awaken from their coma induced state before the great Day of the Lord. Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (15JUL19) “Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,’ and to insight, “You are my relative” (Proverbs 7:4). You may ask, “Why did the father use this metaphor when speaking to his son about wisdom?” Most people understand the dynamics of family relationships and the bonds that form from them. For example, parents are normally closer to a child than friends, and cousins are often closer to each other than coworkers. As a lesson, the father in Proverbs was helping his son to understand the importance of having wisdom and insight by using the relationship of a brother towards his sister, and a relative over a stranger. Wisdom and insight needed to be closely bonded to him so that he could have a life free from destruction. Many people fail to keep wisdom and insight tied at their hip. They make foolish decisions without weighing out the consequences. It has caused many to have lifelong undesired regrets that were irreversible. We can all, at some point in our lives, relate to making unwise decisions. For many of us, it was during our younger years when we thought that we knew it all. Unfortunately for some, they never learned from their youthful ignorance, and keep reliving the same mistakes throughout their lifetime. Everyone will make mistakes, but the wise will learn from them. God gives wisdom to all who ask, but it first begins with having a reverence for Him. Something to ponder….

PROVERBS MOMENT – (15JUL19) Adultery, fornication, pornography, sex trafficking, pedophilia, homosexuality, bestiality and other sexual perversions are on the rise. There are dating apps where people can hook up to have their sexual fantasies fulfilled and websites that cater to only married people where they can cheat on their spouses. Some people may think that they do not participate in such things, but they will watch the yearly Victoria Secrets show on television that models attire that should only be for the eyes of one’s spouse. In other words, they are watching soft porn. In an article written by Christian Today, an online magazine, a survey done in 2016 by the Barna Group showed that 57% of all pastors and 64% of youth pastors struggle with porn addiction. These leaders are up preaching, teaching, facilitating marriage counseling and conferences, while their personal lives are falling apart at the seams.  Lady Folly has invited many to her home as a guest where they come in broken and leave totally destroyed. She says, “Come, let’s drink deeply of a love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with a love! My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon’ (Proverbs 7:18-20). Although the father in Proverbs is warning his son against all of Lady Folly’s ways, these words are often used to entice men and women of the cloth as well as other believers to forsake the ordinances of God. This is why there are more single-parent homes than ever before, young males filling up the prisons, young ladies with the ideology that sex can keep a man, and 50% of all marriages ending in divorce. Lady Folly is the enemy’s tool to tear up the family and destroy what God ordained from the very beginning. Did you think that what was just mentioned was only taking place in the world? Unfortunately, that is not the case. All of these things are happening right in the CHURCH. So, what are we to do? We must be mindful of who we are in Christ. We are in the world, but not to be a part of the world.

We must separate ourselves from the enticement of Lady Folly and allow Lady Wisdom to give her instruction. She says, “Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse” (Proverbs 8:6-8). Jesus did not leave us to fall on our own swords. In fact, He let us know that He was going to send the Comforter who would continue the work after He left. The Bible says, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). The Comforter, our Advocate, gives us wisdom in the matters of God, so that we can know His ways and honor Him. All we have to do is to be open to His leading and guidance in our lives, so that we will not fall prey to Lady Folly. Nothing good comes from the seduction of Lady Folly and she always destroys those who embraces her. The Lord, however, favors those who desire wisdom just as He favored Solomon and granted his request. Wisdom helps us to walk in obedience for those who desire to be faithful to Christ. Something to ponder….