Lot in Life

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

LOT IN LIFE

Prov 16:33

33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

NIV

This is casting of lots is not gambling, actually it is the farthest thing from it. This was the method used in the times the scriptures were written to determine the will of God in a matter. Josiah was told to divide the land up among the tribes of Israel by casting lots. It was understood there would be no disputes once the lot was cast as the providential hand of God was at work in the decision. There might be a lesson for us to learn here in that we might strive and struggle to become more then we should as determined by the providential hand of God. If we are not content with our lot in life could it be we are not content with the will of God for us? Are we concerned about others who have more or those who have less? Does envy or jealousy creep into our thoughts when we are around those whose lot is bigger than ours? If we believe God has a plan for our lives, and that he has directed us to where we are, and where we live and that he provides for the place he has determined us to be, then we should be living in complete satisfaction with our lot. When greed enters, it appears we no longer trust God. As those people of old knew that once the lot was cast, it was by the divine will of God and no disputes would be had between then, we need to see that the lot has been cast by God and we should learn to live where we are planted, seeing the decision is from God, and be content with our lot in life. 

The virtue of Patience

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

THE VIRTUE OF PATIENCE

Prov 16:32

32 Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

NIV

It would appear it is far easier to conquer an enemy without then one that is within. There are records of historic figures who conquered great lands, but who were men filled with such passions they were unable to control, killing even their best of friends in the process. Surely our uncontrolled passions do not result in the death of friends but they certainly can create a whole lot of hurt to them. If we cannot control our temper we have given up on the divine influence upon us and given in to self instead. It is good to have passion, to have spirit, to have an exuberant personality for the purpose of serving the Lord, but if we allow that personality to overpower us for the purpose of self-gain, self-satisfaction, or self-gratification, then we have lost everything. Our words and actions of passion are a result of the condition of our heart. What we say and do is a result of our ability to control of temper. Even in an external battle a warrior filled with passion who wheels his sword out of control will eventually be killed. A thinking warrior will control his blows and follow the training in the art of combat. A thinking person will control his temper, even with all the passion within and will wheel their words with control and follow their training in the art of righteous. A thinking person will consider carefully their words so not to harm their friends. It is far better to speak after then before thinking. In the heat of an argument if we are out of control we may say words we wish we had never spoken, so we must consider the virtue of patience, holding our passion in check, holding our tongue, slipping that bridle on it and thinking before engaging in a war of words, being patient rather than filled with outbursts of rage.  

Being Old

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

BEING OLD

Prov 16:31

31 Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.

NIV

There is enough within the scriptures to suggest that God honors a righteous life with old age, with living a long and in fellowship with him life. There is also enough within the scriptures to suggest that God will cut short the life of those who do not live a righteous life. But there is also a truth which shows that the one who have grey hair, an ancient one, one who is of old age, should be found still living in the ways of God. For the old of age death is coming and coming sooner than later and with death also is the judge coming, we who are older should be found living in a way that brings honor to God. We should not simply think that because we are old we should have the respect of the younger, but it should be because we continue to serve God. All too often those who reach the gray haired age think that because they served God, served in the church, did some sort of ministry, that now they should leave it for the younger ones to do and begin to simply sit and do nothing, resting on their past. But we should be found continuing to serve God as Noah, Moses, Abraham, Gideon, David and a host of others who served God in their old age. Living to a good old age should be our crown of splendor because we attain it by a righteous life, not one of self-indulgence, which sitting back doing nothing, like so many old people do. There is no crown for just being old, but for living a righteous life. 

No Winking

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

NO WINKING

Prov 16:30

30 He who winks with his eye is plotting perversity; he who purses his lips is bent on evil.

NIV

This is the last of four proverbs aimed at those who would do harm to others. Some scholars would suggest they are aimed directly at an evil person of the time of Solomon, but then they would not be eternal words for all mankind to take heed of. So we must understand there are still people who would shut their eyes to anything on the outside to mediate inwardly on their plot to do some kind of self-gratifying pleasure that may well bring harm to others in the process. That is the suggestion here and that they mutter to themselves in their plotting evil. Closed off from all ideas, closed off from what is right, closed off from God, scheming within as to how to achieve their plans, their goals, their own gain even at the cost of others. But in another sense this winking of the eye could also be seen as one who would tell a lie in plotting their scheme. As this person tells some story, they turn toward their comrade and wink, as to indicate their intent of evil is working. Whatever the sense we look at this, we need to be aware of this kind and once again avoid them at all costs. There are those who would endeavor to share the gospel with such and try to bring them to righteousness, but this may well be casting our pearls before the swine. There is evil in this world, and it is present in certain people who have given themselves over to Satan. Nothing, but the power of the Holy Spirit can break his spell upon them. But at the same time we should be careful that we do not become so inwardly focused that we pay more attention to our own heart then to the heart of God. We know that our heart is deceitfully wicked, if we refused to admit that we may have already closed our eyes to the truth of God and have begun to plot our own evil ways, speaking our own brand of truth to ourselves. We must never wink.

Users of Enticement

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

USERS OF ENTICEMENT

Prov 16:29

29 A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good.

NIV

Surely we should not have anything to do with violent people, but here we see that it may not be so easy to recognize every violent person in order to avoid them. They are enticers, which indicate they may well be wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are masters of disguise, not permitting others to see their real purpose, their evil intents. This is where we believers need to imply the gifts of discernment and wisdom in order to see through the enticements. Another concept to think about is, if the violent man uses enticements or is an enticer a violent man. That is like saying which came first, the chicken or the egg. If the violent man is the only one who entices his neighbor down the wrong path, then we merely have to avoid him. But if it is possible that one who entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good is a violent man, then it is possible we believers could end up being what is considered here as a violent person. If we imply any methods to entice our neighbors to believe anything but the absolute truth of God, then could we be in danger of being this violent man? Is it possible there are those wolves in sheep’s clothing right in the midst of the body of Christ, preaching their false doctrines, enticing others to believe something that is not good.  We must be careful we do not fall into that trap of trying to entice others. Yes we should instruct, encourage, correct one another in the ways of God, but enticement almost sounds or seems like a form of enchantment, casting a spell over others to lead them astray. This is the fine art of perfect persuasion used by some of those famous wolves in sheep’s clothing. We should be careful, be watchful, and be wise and discerning in order not to fall prey to those users of enticement.  

Any Dissension Please

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

ANY DISSENSION PLEASE

Prov 16:28

28 A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.

NIV

We are in the midst of a few negative aimed sayings and this one hits straight at the heart of mankind. Are we stirring up dissension when we complain about things? It seems that it is alright, actually patriotic to complain about the government or a particular politician. It seems alright to complain about a certain law that prohibits something we would rather be allowed to do. But it may not be alright to complain about the Pastor, or the church or something that is going on in the church. It may not be alright to complain about the color of the sanctuary, or the music, or the lights or the way something was presented or a whole bunch of other things in the church. This would include the latest scoop about what someone did. Any form of conversation which might in any way create even just a little dissension is nothing more that coming from a perverse person. It would seem the only reason someone would complain or say something negative about the something would be to persuade another to think negatively as well, or create within them an anger or disagreeable attitude toward the same thing. The same result is desired by those who gossip about another person. Gossip, in addition to making the gossiper feel better about themselves as they should, it creates a negative or a better than attitude in the hearer as well. Gossip is never about sharing a good report, but always about what is consider to be a bad action of another and that certainly stirs up dissension too. We need to be careful what we say about everything so that we are not guilty of spreading negativity within the body of Christ, as well as in the community we live. 

Words

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

WORDS

Prov 16:27

27 A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

NIV

Is there anything we can add to this? We know people who plot evil are more than scoundrels, but we should also know that we should avoid such people. It would be a good thing for us to guard our own tongues so that we would never be mistaken for a scoundrel. We have been warned about the tongue, that it is difficult to control, and that we say things we should not. But even when we let loose with some wrong words from time to time that doesn’t make us a scoundrel plotting evil. Yet we should be aware of what we say, and make our best efforts to keep our words in the realm of kindness and goodness, words that encourage and built up, rather than tear down such as they do when they are words of gossip. So we should guard our won tongue and be on guard against those who would plot evil. We should not be so naive to think evil does not exist, living with our head in the sand, in the church, thinking all is well as long as I am well. Evil lurks at every corner seeking whom he will devour. We need to be aware, be on guard against every kind of attack, even if they are just words. 

Work or Starve, or starving to death

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

WORK OR STARVE

Prov 16:26

26 The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on.

NIV

There is a great truth here regarding our life and that if we want to eat, to have food for our stomach, to sustain our lives, we must work for it. In our great society of this country that truth does not hold true as humanism has rep laced the truth of God and create a subcultural of people who have taken their rest from work and have become dependent on those who have created their condition and give them their food, clothing and shelter from the labor of others. The truth here is twofold. First it is right for a person to work for self, to support the needs of self; it is that hunger for the things of life, food, clothing and shelter which drive the righteous man to work. The second is the appetite for the things of God. There is a hunger for within for that which sustains life, eternal life, to be free from death that drives a person to seek after the word of God, the truths of God. That appetite works for the good of the person, it drives us forward. If we labor, if we hunger for God then we will have the things of eternal life, a dwelling place, a white robe and a wedding feast fit for the children of God. Yes, we need to labor for those temporal things of this world, but we truly need to labor for the eternal things of heaven. Those who labor much in the world gain much of the material things, but if they do not labor, if they have no appetite for the things of God, then they will truly starve to death. We will not starve for our appetite is for God. 

What is Right

PROVERBS

WHAT IS RIGHT

Prov 16:25

25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

NIV

It cannot be much clearer than this. We can say all we want as to how good we are, that we don’t kill or steal or harm other people in any way, and that basically we are a good person, but none of that counts toward the final outcome of our lives, for if we live according to what we think is right, we will surely experience death, and that is meaning eternal death. We cannot live by what we think is right and gain entrance to the kingdom of God and have eternal life. The only way to escape death is by accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That and that alone is the only right thing to do according to God in order to be saved. Now of course we cannot simply accept Jesus and then go about living according to what we think is right. We do have to adjust our thinking so that is agrees with the word of God as to what is the right way we should go, or live. Our human thoughts of what is right are completely void of righteousness. God declares that to be so when he said that our hearts are deceitfully wicked. How is it possible that our wicked hearts could lead us in the right way? We need to surrender our heart to God, always his divine influence guide them. We will ever be free of thoughts that do not please him? It is doubtful but the point is that we cannot ever think that we in our human minds can determine the right way to live. We must think that God’s way is the true right way to live, otherwise we will experience death. So we know who knows what is right. 

The Sweetest Taste

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

THE SWEETEST TASTE

Prov 16:24

24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

NIV

Solomon might have learned this truth from his father David as he wrote a few songs that included words about how the ordinances of God sure and altogether righteous, they are more precious than gold, much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, then honey from the comb. He also wrote, how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. So it may well have been these songs of his father which instilled within his soul the thirst for the sweet words of God. There is no doubt that words from God are the sweetest words a man will ever hear. Life for us mortal beings has a beginning and an end, birth and death are a part of every life. During those between years we all have choices to make. One of those is to live alone without God or to live together with him. Those who choose to live without God live without the sweetness in their soul and do not experience a healing in their bones; they live an empty life void of hearing those pleasant words of God, “You are sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ”. They never hear those sweetest words of God, “Whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. What better healing to our bones then to be transformed from mortal to immortal, from corruptible to incorruptible. The words of God bring us life and life everlasting, how sweet is that? God’s word brings us forgiveness of sin; it sets us right with him. Even in our imperfect state in which we cannot escape sin, God’s word still brings forgiveness because we are in Christ, his blood covers our sin, atones for it. Yes we should make every effort to remain free of sin, but the fact remains we cannot, and so those sweet words of God assure us of his grace, his mercy, and his continued love for us. To live with God is the sweetest taste to our souls. 

Watch Your Mouth

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

WATCH YOUR MOUTH

Prov 16:23

23 A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction.  

NIV

There is a saying that goes something like, “it is a good thing to engage your brain before your mouth” or something like that and it appears it may have been taken from this truth here. So often some people make so many words without ever engaging their brains. Some would babble on and on perhaps just to hear the sound of their own voices. It seems there are so many, even believers, who spend an enormous amount of words on the mundane things of life,  such as sports teams, and their super heroes, television programs and their super stars, our homes, our cars, our vacations, our new this or that, our favorite singing group or super gospel singer, even our own hobbies, and we should not forget our favorite, talking about others, known by some as gossip, but the one thing which seems to be missing is the hearts guidance of the mouth in order that the lips, our words spoken promote instruction. We must be careful not to engage in such babbling on and on. We must be careful not to practice the art of nonsense. Each of us has things in our life which we like to talk about, perhaps to promote ourselves more than instruction, of course the only thing worthy of instruction, is about God. Perhaps when we believers gather we should be spending more time talking about the things of God than about all the other stuff. Could we be as so bold as to think that if we do not allow our heart to guide the words of our mouth so they promote instruction, that we are not wise but rather foolish? Of course the words of our mouth must depend on where are heart is. The scripture tells us that where our treasure is there also is our heart. That is whatever we place value on, whatever we put importance on that is our treasure and if we talk about all the stuff of life mentioned more than about God, than we must ask if that is where our heart is? But if we are wise than our heart, our treasure is in Christ, and therefore our lips should promote instruction regarding him. Does that mean we should never talk about all the other stuff? No, but we should certainly not ignore Christ in our conversations. We really need to watch out mouth. 

Understand or Punishment

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

UNDERSTAND OR PUNISHMENT

Prov 16:22

22 Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools.

NIV

We could see this in regards to life in the human realm but it seems to have a greater meaning than being about our human life. To understand the importance of God, to understand the truth of God, the fact that he is and that he created everything, including us and that he redeemed us from death through his sending his Son to die for us brings a fountain of life for it brings us eternal life. It is those in the world who think themselves wise, but are actually fools, for they do not understand the importance of God and having him in their lives. Those who understand that God is know they are sinners which separates them from God, and that the only way to return to the rightful relationship is through Jesus Christ. If people think they can live totally for their own self-interests, their own self pleasures while saying they believe in God, simply are mocking God, giving him lip service, and are by his definition foolish and they reward will be punishment, for all their life is but folly. To gain understanding is the greatest reward of life for is reveals God in all his glory, all his power and all his truth. What greater thing in life could there be? To live with the understanding of God which brings eternal life, but to live without, it is folly. Who wants to be punished? Why bring that upon self? Why would a person live for the short moment of human life and forgo eternal life? That is just foolish. 

Gracious Speech

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

GRACIOUS SPEECH

Prov 16:21

21 The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction.  

NIV

Surely we are not seeing about the wisdom of the world being elevated, but rather the wisdom of God. Those who have divine wisdom such as Solomon received are the people who will have a good reputation of being discerning concerning the things of God. One cannot preach the wrongs of others, that is the wrongs of the church, the aliments that beseech the human race with condemnation. Although it may be true that a particular person might think themselves to be wise, but may only be intelligent and does not have the divine wisdom needed to be called discerning. Intelligence cannot be confused with wisdom and nor can many high words can be confused with pleasant words that promote people to learn about the things and ways of God. Only fools think more highly of themselves than they should and the instruction given by them does not promote instruction as it usually promotes themselves instead. We need to be careful as to how we approach life with others, making sure we seek the wisdom of God, not men and when we speak we do so with kindness and compassion toward our listeners, having that sense of responsibility that will promote their learning truth in the greatest sense. Words that cannot be comprehended are meaningless, words that confuse or confound are dangerous, but words that are pleasant bring growth. Let us seek wisdom and gracious speech. 

Listen to Who?

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

LISTEN TO WHO?

Prov 16:20

20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

NIV

It is one thing to be able to take note of advice, accept it and put that advice into practice. The point here is as to whose advice or instruction are we listening to. The Psalmist wrote “Blessed is the man who does not take advice from the ungodly”. This always leads us to the question as to who is the ungodly. It would seem according to the Lord’s own definition or standard that anyone who has not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior would be an ungodly person. So this leaves us with but one source of instructions that we should heed in order to prosper. Again the Psalmist continues and points out that if we do not heed the instruction, or advice of the ungodly and do not walk or live in the same manner as ungodly people do, not that we will be sinless but that we do not live according to the same standards, or morality as those of the world do, and that if we do not mock, or give God lip service but delight in his law, in his instruction, and meditate on it day and night we will be as a tree planted by the stream of waters that bring bears fruit and whose leaf does not wither and whatsoever we do will prosper. So the point here is that it is only the instruction of the Lord that we should heed and in doing so we show our trust in him and thus we will be blessed. Do not listen to men, but listen to God. So we need to ask ourselves who are we listening to? 

Better Than

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

BETTER THAN

Prov 16:19

19 Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.

NIV

Another warning about being prideful is written here for us to learn from. It seems that those who are proud and haughty gain much personal plunder. Fame and fortune are the result for those who strive to be the very best at the world’s game of life. It also seems that many believers are among the oppressed because of having a lowly spirit, but there are also those who claim to be believers but play the game of life among the prideful. Can we have both? Can we be lowly of spirit and still have all the personal gain and share in the plunder? The proud are those value themselves and despise others, and their mind rises with their condition. They are among the people who put forth themselves, they trust, and shave, and scramble to be preferred. In Paul’s letter to Timothy they are charged not to be high-minded, but that may fall on deaf ears. We cannot afford to allow ourselves to think more of ourselves than we ought to, being aware all that we are, all that we have, and all that we do is because of God. Being lowly in spirit does not mean poor and without good things, but it does mean experiencing favor from God who desires to give us good things. But humility may bring certain contempt from those in the world who scratch and claw their way upward, it also brings us closer to God and prepares us for his glory. It also brings a sense of quiet and repose or rest within our spirit. It would seem those who are prideful make God their enemy and the devil their master.

Pride

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

PRIDE

Prov 16:18

18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

NIV

We are told not to think of ourselves more highly than we should and this is just another way of saying that. It speaks directly to the idea that we might think we are so much better than sinners. Of course that kind of thinking leads us to believe we have overcome sin. Sure we do not kill or steal or commit adultery or give false witness against our fellow believers. But do we gossip, do we have any jealously or envy or lust for things or money? Do we hold grudges, have unforgiveness or other ill feelings toward anyone? When we start to think we are without sin, that is the core of pride and we surely should know we are on a path of destruction, but the fact is if we do think we are without sin, we don’t know we are filled with pride, having a haughty spirit. We need to know we have nothing to be prideful about. We are all sinners saved by grace, it is by the gracious act of God that we are saved and not of anything in or of ourselves. We cannot even be a “Good Christian” or “A better Christian” for either of those would imply our behavior has something to do with our salvation. Yes, we must endeavor to live a life pleasing to God, but we cannot make a checklist of do’s and don’ts, making sure we do all the do’s and stay away from all the don’ts for then we might begin think we have mastered sin which would be getting a bit prideful which is of course a sin and therefore we are back to square one, we are sinners saved by the grace of God. We will never be more the sinners saved by the gracious act of God. We must always know it is all about him and not about us. 

Driving Directions

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

DRIVING DIRECTIONS

Prov 16:17

17 The highway of the upright avoids evil; he who guards his way guards his life.

NIV

Most, if not all people, would agree it is a good thing to have a planned out route when driving the highways and byways of this land, otherwise we would just be wasting our time and gas driving aimlessly around. Yet do all people have a planned out route for their lives, with a defined destination? Is the route one which avoids the pitfalls and traps Satan sets in the way? Is that route determined by the passions of self or by a higher standard? If we are the upright then as we live each day of our lives we should endeavor to avoid the evils which so easily beseech us. There are paths, crossroads all along the way which seems pleasing to take, but we must be on guard and examine the map, the bible, and listen to the GPS voice of the Holy Spirit, and see if that path, that crossroad would lead us in the wrong direction. There is but one road, one path for the upright and that leads to eternal life. This is not a set of rules and regulations, laws established by men who are telling they have found the way to travel and it requires following their well thought out ordinances. This is a life, a journey traveling in the direction God has told us is the way to go, avoiding evil, avoiding all the trappings of both Satan and men, guarding our way, following the directions of God and God alone, and we will arrive at eternal life.

Above All Else

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

ABOVE ALL ELSE

Prov 16:16

16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!

NIV

That is fine for Solomon to say this; he was one of the richest men ever. Yet the reason he was so rich is due to the fact he asked God for wisdom, and not for wealth. So perhaps there is a truth here that we could learn from. It does seem that so many believers are in search of wealth rather than wisdom, in fact, it almost seems some believers are obsessed with the accumulation of gold and silver. We can see through the life of Solomon there is nothing wrong with having great wealth, in fact, God blessed him with an abundance of wealth, but Solomon’s request of God was for wisdom. We can have wealth, in whatever amount God determines we should be blessed with, but wealth should not be our focus. Our first number one priority should be seeking the wisdom of God that is after we have first accepted his provision for our salvation. This seeking wisdom first is assuming we are first believers and in the process of listening to God for the direction our life should go. If we travel the journey with only our own wisdom and understanding we can be sure to know God those who do that as foolish. We need his wisdom above all else, for his wisdom is above all else. 

Life and Favor

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

LIFE AND FAVOR

Prov 16:15

15 When a king's face brightens, it means life; his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.

NIV

We cannot escape the thoughts of the description of John when he was faced with the first and the last, the living one, the one who was dead and now is alive for ever and ever and the one who holds the keys to death and hades. John said of him that his face was like the sun, shining in all its brilliance. This is the description of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord, Christ Jesus himself, the one and true King. When we see the brightness of his face we will know for sure life and life everlasting. When he returns for us and exhibits his favor upon us, it is like the rain cloud in the spring. When those clouds bring rain in the spring all things which appeared dead come to life. The trees begin to bud, the brownish grass turns to green, and the flowers begin popping their heads skyward all in search for the sun. When we see Jesus, although we might appear to be dead, we will all spring to life in the glory and grace of our Lord. Nothing but the brightness of his face shining down upon us will cause us to once again come to life. He has the key to death and has opened to door for us to escape and join him in the very presence of God for all eternity. He also holds that key to hades which he and he alone has the authority over. He will lock up those who have refused to accept him for who he is until the final Day of Judgment when he will call them out and then cast them into the lake of burning sulfur to perish. But we who have acknowledge him as Lord and Savior will see the glory of his face, and experience life and his favor. 

A Clear Choice

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

A CLEAR CHOICE

Prov 16:14

14 A king's wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will appease it.

NIV

Surely in those days a king had the power of life and death over those he ruled over and it would be wise for a person to always make sure to be on the good side of the king. But this saying is not a history lesson for school children; it is certainly about the one King who is absolute authority over all. Those who are not wise, thus who would be consider by him as foolish and refuse to accept his provision for eternal life, will experience his wrath  and inherit as a result death or destruction or perish. But those who are wise will appease the King of kings by accepting his provision for salvation. They will accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah, their Lord and Savior and thus will inherit eternal life. It is a choice they ever person has to make, whether to be foolish, living for today by refusing God, or being wise and living for God. So we have to conclude that for some his wrath is a message of death, but for us we believe, by extension appease his message is of life, and life everlasting. The choice is clear.

Honesty

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

HONESTY

Prov 16:13

13 Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value a man who speaks the truth.

NIV

It would seem everyone would take pleasure in a person who does not lie, not just kings. There are pathological liars of course who simply cannot find the truth if it was staring them right in the face. We should not engage in lies, but rather the truth. There are times when the truth might be hurtful, and then what should we do? Is telling a lie in order to keep someone from certain pain acceptable? Maybe we should just stick to the surface of this saying by dealing with telling the truth to those who govern us. Like when we prepare our taxes, or tell the police it wasn’t us who were speeding, they got the wrong car, or some other ways we could lie and cheat our governing system. We know there are people who cheat about many of the entitlement programs and we know that we would never do that as believers. We do need to live an honest life not just among the body of Christ but as citizens of the country we abide in. That is the whole point, honesty is the best policy, even if it hurts, us or them. 

Being Established

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

BEING ESTABLISHED

Prov 16:12

12 Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.

NIV

Again this is about governing in the right manner. We course no longer live in the land of kings, although it seems at times some of our elected leaders think they  should be a king and it also seems they do not detest wrongdoing. But although this is about kings and Solomon might have written this for his successors or neighboring kings, it still holds true to how we live our lives as the royal priesthood, a holy nation, and children of the King of kings. We know without question that the King of king, God detest wrongdoing and his throne has always been in righteousness. We also should live in a manner as to detest wrongdoing and if our lives are in Christ then we are established in righteousness. The wrongdoing could be seen as refusal to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior for there are many people who are not born again who live as honest a life as possible, trying their best to not be involved in any wrongdoing. It is also quite possible, if fact it is a sure thing, for a person who has accepted Jesus as Lord and savior to do something which is wrong, which we define as sin, for none of us can be perfect. Even if we detest sin, we still fall into it from time to time. So the difference between wrongdoing and being established in righteousness is between refusing or accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is a good thing we detest a life without Christ, for with him we have been established in righteousness which is the only way we will live forever in the presence of God. 

Measuring Up

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

MEASURING UP

Prov 16:11

11 Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making.

NIV

We see a somewhat practical truth in this saying. It is known that in those days weights and measures were used in the exchange of goods by buyer and seller. There were a bag of weights, kept in the sanctuary of the temple by which all others were compared to if there was a dispute between the buyer and seller concerning the honesty of the sellers scales. This may be referring to this situation in that time of history, so how do we apply this truth to our lives today? Could it be said that all of mankind’s heart is deceitfully wicked and there is no real honesty upon people unless they are, in some way, influenced by God? That would be an awful commentary on  us as people, for surely we have honest upright people engaged in business or commerce today. We have laws by which people must operate, laws which prohibit dishonest gain and so perhaps this truth applies in that sense. We can also take from this truth a way of conducting our personal lives. We should conduct all our affairs, but commercial or material as well as spiritual in total honesty thus not trying to take advantage of others for our own sake, or personal gain. If we profess to love God then we need to be upright and honest in all our dealings. This would imply we should not have any façade that would present ourselves different then want we are. Some might try to act as though they are righteous, sanctified, totally sanctified and live without sin, but the truth is that would be prideful and thus sin would still exist within and the façade would be compared to an unjust scale, when compared to the weights and measures of the Lord. We must be sure our lives measure up to the scales and balances of God. Do we measure up?

Words have Meaning

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

WORDS HAVE MEANING

Prov 16:10

10 The lips of a king speak as an oracle, and his mouth should not betray justice.

NIV

It is not easy to make a personal application to this saying as first we did not have a king in our county, and second none of us are kings, yet there is a truth for us within. It has been said that we should pray for our leaders, those in charge, the governing body, in our case those the majority of our citizenry have elected. We would pray they speak out of a divine revelation from God, but in most cases that is not true. This Hebrew word can imply both a divine, as from God, and divination as from witchcraft or Satan speech. We could also see this saying in light of our own words. How do we talk? Do we have speech which is divinely influenced? Do we make any improper judgments in our words that are accusatory statements in which we are not absolutely certain of the facts, should as in gossip? Is there any justice in gossip? Do we speak negatively about others in any way which surely would not be speaking as an oracle or from divine influence? We should be careful with our words, thinking first before we speak, making sure we are speaking as one directed from God. Too often we speak when we should hold our tongue, for we might not have justice in our mouth. We can learn from this saying to watch and weight our words for words have meaning.

Ours or His

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

OURS OR HIS

Prov 16:9

9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

NIV

This seems to echo the sentiments of the first verse of this chapter of proverbs, yet this is the one which has been quoted more often. Even though it is saying almost the same thing as verse one, it still has a slightly different twist. We are the only living species which has the capacity to determine the course of our lives. We have been given authority over all other living species upon this earth. With this capacity to make our own way, we always face choices in the journey of life. Some of those choices are what we might think are important to us, but in the grand scheme of things may be quite inconsequential. The one choice which determines everything is the choice to follow the ways of God and live or follow our own ways and die. It is to our shame if we choose to follow after our owe ways, but yet there is also the sovereignty of God we must deal with. Because God determines our steps, he has the providential power to determine the course of our lives. We might desire certain things in life, but it is truly up to God whether we achieve or obtain those things. We might also see in this proverb that each person plans the course of their life, to live according to their own ways, or Gods way. He then has determined those who live according to their way will step into death, and those who live his way will step into everlasting life. Either way we look at this, we know one thing for sure, God is the creator and we are the created. Although he gave us this free will to choose our way, he has the authority over all things, and in the end, his will shall be accomplished. We only need to make the choice, ours or his. 

The Chose

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

THE CHOSE

Prov 16:8

8 Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.

NIV

It would seem that most people are in pursuit of life liberty and happiness, the American dream, to have as much of the world’s good as possible. Most of us live in as big a home as we can possible have, drive the best cars we can, eat the best food, wear the best clothes we can and do all things we want to do, or dream about bigger, and better things to do and try our best to do be able to do them. If for some reason our lives are not as big as we dream of then we feel discontent and are at unrest, wanting more. Here in this saying we learn we such be content in whatever state we are in as long as we are in right standing with God. It is far better for us to live with much less and be in right standing with God, then to live in the lap of luxury because we have put out our personal gain before our relationship with God. If our motive of having a relationship with God is so that he will bless us with the abundant life, we lose for that is injustice. If we live for personal gain, but include God as a part of our lives, we lose for that too is injustice. The main point here that we need to put God before all else. It does not matter what we have or do not have, as long as we have a right relationship with God. This life is just a preparation for the life to come and if we are in pursuit of this life, we may well not have the one to come. There if a difference between life everlasting and perishing, and only those in right standing with God will have life everlasting. It is our right to choose. 

Living in Peace

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

LIVING IN PEACE

Prov 16:7

7 When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.

NIV

We certainly have seen all throughout the history of the children of Israel the truth of this statement. Every time their ways were not pleasing to God their enemies attacked and carried them off in captivity. This was a recurring event over and over again. It seemed their never learned this lesson. It seems they still have not learned it in this modern era as the Israelis, in general, do not serve God in the manner he desires them to, and thus their enemies still do not live in peace with them. As far as our personal lives, we may not have actually enemies who are out to capture us and carry us off as slaves, except of course Satan, who tries his best to do just that. However we do have people in this world that could make our lives difficult just because they oppose our personality, our views, our faith, or some other aspect of our lives. This truth would imply that if we spend out effects living in a way that would please God, rather then please the world, we would enjoy a peaceful life, without strife, without tension, without conflict or any of the other negative interactions that could occur. We are told to make every effort to live in peace with all men. This could be interpreted as trying to appease them, not rocking the boat, so to speak, never giving them any cause to hate us, dislike us, or have other ill feeling which would cause them to not live in peace with us. But it would seem them way to have all others live in peace with us, is not by appeasing them, but by pleasing God. This of course would require living in such a manner that it would be difficult if not impossible for others to do anything but live in peace with us. If we live to please God then we are living a life of love, which effects how we treat all others. It seems a rather basic concept, yet there still lies within each of us the struggle against self. When we attempt to please self rather than God, we may not be living in peace with our enemies. When we live to please God, we can truly live in peace.