A Man's Words

“The worlds of a man’s mouth are deep waters, a flowing river, a fountain of wisdom.”

~Proverbs 18:4

I wonder if this is speaking of three different cases of men? It sounds like it could.

First is the man whose words are like deep waters. Deep waters move slowly and hide a lot. Some men don’t say too much, but what they do say is worth paying attention to.

Some men are like the flowing river—they never seem to shut up. There is a constant flow of words. They speak a lot, but they don’t say anything.

Then there is a man whose words are like a fountain. Springs are rare and harder to find. The water is cool and clean, filtered by the earth—refreshing to drink. When you find a man like this, who speaks because he has something to say and has the wisdom to keep his mouth shut when he doesn’t—this man you should seek out and listen to. This man is a gift from God—and we need more of them!

Confirming God's Will

Think about it: what is in your heart right now that you are convinced is God’s will for your life?

Have you talked to anyone about it?

What do they say?

Are you ticked?

“They just don’t understand. How can they know God’s will for my life? This is between me and God.”

True, but is that how God operates?

You may be surprised, but the answer is: No, He does not. God births His will in our hearts through a meeting of our minds and His Word, but God always confirms His will through the counsel of others.

Chapter and verse? Excellent question. Here you go:

“The reflections of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:1).

What is floating around in our hearts is ours, but the Lord confirms His will through the lips of others. Why? Read on:

“All a man’s ways seem right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the motives” (Proverbs 16:2).

Can we trust our hearts? We think we know God’s will—we are convinced a thing is God’s will for our lives. But can’t our thinking be influenced by our desires. We want it so bad that we convince ourselves it is God’s will. Happens all the time—even in the best of Believers! Consider this:

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

We make our plans, but the LORD always reserves the right to interrupt them... and He does so very often. He allows us to plan and act to get us sailing, and then He changes the wind to His direction. When God changes the wind you can pout, doubt, or move out.

Hackers and Plodders

“A slacker’s way is a thorny hedge,

but the path of the upright is a highway.”

~ Proverbs 15:19

Physically, one way is no different than the other. It is the same way—the same project, the same challenge, the same opportunity. The difference is—and I hate to use the word because it sounds so “Tony Robbins”—but the difference is attitude. The difference is in perspective—how one sees it. Of course the slacker is looking for obstacles. He is looking for all the reasons why he should not go forward. The thorns are all in his head. They are there because he sees them there. He projects them, imagines them to be in the way. He is looking for an excuse not to proceed.

The path of the upright is no different than that of the slacker. They’re both the same path. He sees the obstacles. He observes the challenges. It is not that he stumbles blindly ahead. He looks and he perceives, but he does not let the challenges stop him. He prepares for them. He packs machete. He has a plan. Then he hacks away at the thorns and pushes ahead. He may not reach his goal, but surely no one has ever gone this far forward before. He blazes a trail that others will follow. Lord, we need people like these—people who see the obstacles but refuse to let these stop them. Greater than the challenges are the needs to be met, the goals to be achieved, the help to be rendered, the good to be done.

God give us hackers and plodders!

A Tranquil Heart

“A tranquil heart is life to the body,

but jealousy is rottenness to the bones.”

~Proverbs 14:28

Thom Rainer wrote a book called “Simple Life.” He interviewed 1077 people and asked them some basic questions about life. Most said their lives were so cluttered with stuff and pursuing things that they had lost the joy of life.

A tranquil heart is a contented heart. Paul said that “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). Professional marketers are constantly telling us that we need one more thing to be happy. Can I really be happy without a big screen TV? Can I really be happy with the mate I have? Can I really be happy with last year’s model automobile? Can I really be happy in the house I live in? Can I really be happy with this computer? The message is always “No; you have to but now!”

We look at what the neighbors have and we feel our lives are shortchanged. Why hasn’t God blessed us? We want their car, their boat, their hardwood floors, their bonus, etc. We make ourselves miserable with our wanting. Why not just be satisfied with what we have? When will we realize that the things that make for a happy, fulfilling life are not the things that accumulate in our garage?

Tranquility of heart does not happen automatically with the next trip to Sears. It happens when we say, “I have enough. I am blessed. God, thank You for what I have. Help me to be a good steward.”

A Capable Wife Needs A Compassionate Husband

Proverbs 12:4

“A capable wife is her husband’s crown,

but a wife who causes shame

is like rottenness in his bones.”

The only way I know to find a capable wife is to let the Lord do the searching for you—not eHarmony!

We all have ups and downs in our marriages. Congratulations to you if you don’t—but we don’t want to hear about it. Most of us live in another world where there are disagreements over the kids and money and where to eat on Sunday afternoon. No one ever said relationships were easy. Living with someone totally different than you is filled with challenges. But finding the middle is a great exercise that results in marital and personal growth. Don’t ever loose the vision of growing old together. Keep talking about your dreams. Pray together even when you don’t feel like it. And be determined to hang in there. If one of you decides to leave the other one should tag along. Those who persevere will win the crown. It will be worth it all.

Proverbs 8 catalogues the virtues of wisdom. Wisdom is personified—speaks as a person. I think this can be the Holy Spirit-who is the “Spirit of Wisdom.”

Cicero called wisdom the highest level of reason. In other words, beyond reason—which is available to every person—is wisdom. But the difference is that wisdom is from God. Even Cicero recognized this. He spoke of “the law of nature” which, to him, was the law of nature’s God. Writing before Christianity he recognized this. That is wisdom!

Jesus of course epitomized wisdom. Solomon is said to be the “wisest man who ever lived.” Solomon would say, “Hogwash!”—Which, come to think of it, would have been especially detestable to him. But Solomon said, “He that wins souls is wise.” Jesus was the—and really the only soul winner.

Wisdom is not something unattainable. It is easily within reach of any person. She says, “I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.”

And those who find her find the best—riches, honor, life, happiness and favor from the Lord. The person who ignores wisdom does so to their own detriment. Wisdom is to seek it. Foolishness is to ignore it.

“Anyone who listens to me is happy, watching at my doors every day, waiting by the posts of my doorway” (vs. 34).

Seek wisdom today. Put this on your list of “Things To Do.” Ask the Lord to give you wisdom as a gift. Seek it out. Make the attainment of wisdom one of your goals today. When the wise path is presented to you take it. Put wisdom into practice. The way to find wisdom tomorrow is to act with wisdom today. Now, start seeking!

Proverbs 7:6–9 (HCSB)

At the window of my house

I looked through my lattice.

I saw among the inexperienced,

I noticed among the youths,

a young man lacking sense.

Crossing the street near her corner,

he strolled down the road to her house

at twilight, in the evening,

in the dark of the night.

Proverbs 7:24–25 (HCSB)

Now, ‹my› sons, listen to me,

and pay attention to the words of my mouth.

Don’t let your heart turn aside to her ways;

don’t stray onto her paths.

You cannot blame this on the woman. Yea, she was wrong, but this young fella went out huntin’ for her. He knew where she hung out. He put himself in a position to be tempted. In fact, I’d say he was already tempted before he got there. His heart was filled with lustful thoughts. He got to the place and there she was dressed like bait. It was like putting fire and dynamite together.

Solomon said three things:

1. Don’t lust for her in your heart. It’s forbidden territory. You can’t go there. Such thoughts cannot be righteously fulfilled.

2. 2. Don’t go where she is. Stay away. Confucius say, “He who would not fall down ought not walk in slippery places.”

3. 3. Remember the consequences. Even cheap thrills have a high price tag. If you play with fire you’ll get burned. It’s not worth it.

Sour Fruit

Proverbs 1:29-31

²⁹ Because they hated knowledge,

didn’t choose to fear the LORD,

³⁰ were not interested in my counsel,

and rejected all my correction,

³¹ they will eat the fruit of their way

and be glutted with their own schemes.

Proverbs was written for our instruction. If we neglect God’s counsel we will suffer the consequences. We can listen to our own hearts—which are still desperately wicked. We can listen to our family and friends—who, although well meaning, can be wrong. We can listen to the devil—who may sound right but he always lies. We can choose to listen to God’s Word—which will always provide us with wisdom and lead us to do the right thing.

Hmmmm….

Why do we struggle with this one? It seems like such a no-brainer!! And yet, we do struggle at this point don’t we?

When we enter his world as a baby our fists are clinched—because a baby is selfish and self-centered. When we leave this world look at our hands. They are open because we know we cannot take anything with us.

The counsel our own hearts is always self-serving—which is what we want. The problem is that we don’t want what we want when we get it!

Should’ve listened to God’s Word! It will save us from a truckload of grief every time.