PROVERBS 30:5 – 6

 5 Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him.

6 Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

GOD’S PURE WORD

I love the Word of God! It is the most amazing Book in the world.

Every single word of this God-breathed document is pure. Why is it pure?

Because the One who wrote it is completely and utterly pure

It is the Christian’s shield; it is the place where the Believer runs to in times of trouble: for comfort, encouragement, and strength.

The Word of God is not to be tampered with; and for the Believer, it should be enough.

The Bible is God’s breath to men: holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

It is everything to the Believer. It is to me, and I hope it is to you also.

God bless you

KK                       

PROVERBS 14:25

25 A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.

ARE YOU A DELIVERER OR A DECEIVER?

If the gospel is to be proclaimed, it must be done through faithful witnesses.  In today’s church, there are many people who preach a “false” gospel. They preach and promise prosperity or they tie everyone in knots by preaching legalism.  So how do you know a false teacher/preacher from a true one?

A false teacher is one who preaches for financial gain; a true one preaches for heaven’s gain.  A false teacher entertains.  A true teacher edifies.  A false teacher will not preach the cross; A true teacher will always preach the cross.   

Are you a true witness to the gospel of Christ? Do you proclaim the death, burial and resurrection of Christ?  Listen – wealth cannot save; self-help cannot save; only the blood of Jesus can save…preach Him and Him alone.

God bless you

kk

Proverbs 26

13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.

14 As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed.

15 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth.

16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.

ANY EXCUSE

King Solomon was a man of action, especially in his youth.

His troubles came when he became older and slower.

We all like to rest, me more than most!!!

But we do not want rest to lead us to become lazy.

Rest comes from hard work; laziness is the irresponsible act of avoiding work. Amen.

In the Book of Proverbs, the “sluggard” is a person who shuns hard work, and seeks a life of ease and comfort.

There is a little sluggard that lives inside each of us, and if we are not careful, that sluggard will rob us of the motivation and discipline we need to do the job that is set before us.

King Solomon gives 4 examples of how a person who is lazy reacts and he likens them to some everyday objects.

Indeed the person who is lazy, won’t even eat and feed him or herself.

You know we often say let’s take a rest and then it lasts one day then goes on and on and on, until we become virtually dormant and dead in our feelings and actions.

There is no excuse to be a sluggard…let’s call laziness what it is and never make any excuse for sitting on our hands…remember the devil has work for idle hands.

David was lazy, he was at ease with himself, and we all know what happened to him, don’t we?

God bless you,

Keith

17 He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

A DOG’S DINNER

How many people in our churches are like this.

I must admit that I do like to know what is going on, and so I can at times, poke my nose into things that I really shouldn’t.

We/I get involved in arguments and disputes that don’t involve us/me.

People like this are likened to those who take a dog by its ears and pick it up!

I have never ever seen anyone pick a dog up by its ears and would not advise anyone to do so…for one good reason. It may bite you!

Likewise, if you start to meddle and get involved in arguments that are not your own, you are likely to get literally bitten and badly hurt.

If you do, you are like someone who picks up a dog by its ears, and this is likely to cause you severe pain…especially if it’s a big dog with an even bigger bite.

We are told not to be busybodies, poking our nose into other people’s business.

How many times have you been hurt because you have got involved with something that didn’t involve you?

Save yourself the heartache, and avoid getting involved in arguments and gossip.

You will sleep better, and have a good reputation.

In some homes in Europe and America, you may find a sign in the yard that says, “Beware of Dog!”

The purpose of that sign is to warn you not to get too close to that neighbor’s yard.

Well, that example applies here…Beware of gossip! Beware of contentions!

Keep walking from gossip and you will be blessed indeed.

Here is a pearl of wisdom from a very wise man, he is saying

Keep out of other people’s disputes and strife

God bless you,

KK

PROVERBS 20

3 It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

STICKY BEAK SYNDROME

Helen, my wife, says I have a problem. She calls it by the title of the devotion.

Strife and meddling are a real paIn to any church, where strife is, there is every evil thing. Strife either personally or corporately will rip churches and relationships to pieces. The text says that it is a good thing for a man to cease striving with others. Have you stopped causing strife?

I can speak from experience, because I am an expert in meddling. Let me give you an example: Helen and some sisters are talking in Chinese, and I have to know what they are talking about it. It is none of my business and when I find out, then it’s really not that important, but yes I have to know. I have to meddle.  I have to stick my beak into something that isn’t my business. Have you ever done that? What… you haven’t… you are either perfect or a liar!!!!!

Peter was a meddler. Look at him on the Mt of Transfiguration. He couldn’t leave things alone! God’s glory was all around him, and then after he was restored by Jesus, he had to ask about John; “What will this man do?” He got a stern rebuke from Jesus. He knew full well what John would do, but he wanted to meddle. He wanted to know everything.

Be honest here, are you a meddler? Do you have sticky beak syndrome?

God bless you

Kk

PROVERBS 20

4 The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

BEDRIDDEN

So many Christians are bedridden. They like their beds too much, me included.

We all love to harvest, but the hard, back breaking work is the ploughing, because without it, you can’t get a harvest.

We all like to see a full church at Christmas and Easter with many unbelievers. But this is probably the result of long days of sending out invitations and praying for people.

Let’s say we are having special services at Christmas, and it’s snowing on the Saturday mornings. You and church members are going to go out into the community posting literature through the doors of houses, “Oh Its so cold, let’s go another day”. WWJD is printed on our logo’s. We say well what He do? Well… He would go, cold and all.

We have to plough the land before we can plant the seed. If we plant the seed upon the unploughed land, will it grow? I think not.

We should not expect a harvest unless we are prepared to plough and then sow. Remember Psalm 126. Maybe we don’t receive a harvest because we don’t sow in tears; there is sowing and sowing in tears. There is a difference in giving out literature and giving them out with a heart of compassion for those you are giving them to:

Those who sow in tears
    shall reap with shouts of joy!

6 He who goes out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    bringing his sheaves with him.

When someone comes to faith in your church, that is probably the result of someone who is dedicated, believing, ploughing and sowing precious seed in their hearts.

Remember, before we can reap, we have to sow and before we can sow, we have to plough.

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Sometimes the ground is hard, but that is the time to get off our butts and plough. We can’t plant seed on land that is not ploughed.

So it’s time to get out of our comfortable little church lives and plough the communities we are in. Have you ever prayer walked your community?

I talk to many believers who never invite anyone to church or to evangelistic events. They are completely bedridden and expecting others to share the gospel. 2% of Christians share their faith in a regular basis! This is true church, and it’s time to train people how to share the gospel. We are here for one purpose, and that is to share the gospel!

I have heard of a minority people in China of 30,000. Much literature was given out to them, but there is no fruit. Yes, the seed was sown, but the field was not ploughed. Ploughing and sowing can happen in a time period close to each other.

Let me ask you about the peoples of Afghanistan. Can the seed of the word of God be sowed into their lives? Yes and no. It takes people to plough in service and prayer to break up the ground… first.

Jesus said what in Luke 9:

62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

What is that person doing? Is he sowing the seed or is he reaping?

He has his hand to the plough… doing probably the most important job in the church.

Let me ask why should you expect a share of the harvest if you can’t be bothered to plough and sow?

God bless you

KK