Proverbs 4:14-17 "The Wicked Path"

            “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the ways of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your own way. For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.”

            It is very easy to step off of the path of righteousness and step onto the path of the wicked. The path of the wicked is tempting –anger, jealousy, hatred, and pride are all a part of our sinful nature and every time we experience one of these emotions we are tempted to act upon them. But once you step onto that wicked path, it is hard to step off again. This wicked path is the exact opposite of the attitude we should have. We have to replace anger with patience, jealousy with contentment, hatred with love, pride with humility. The wicked man’s desire is to see someone else fall. But the righteous man’s desire is to build someone else up.

Proverbs 16:32 "A Patient Man"

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

            In this day and time we often forget what characteristics God is pleased with in light of the characteristics the world glorifies. To the Lord, patience is a far better trait to be had than the strength, cunning, and skill of a warrior. A patient man is one who knows how to wait on God to fulfill His plans and promises instead of trying to fix things his own way. He is a man of prayer, who seeks the Lord’s guidance before he embarks upon any endeavor. A patient man knows how to control his temper, how to keep from lashing out in anger, saying things that he does not mean, things that he will later regret. He knows not to jump to conclusions, but to instead give others the benefit of the doubt.

When you compare those attributes to the so called “heroes” and “role models” of society today –the celebrities, movie characters, political figures—we see them to portray not a patient man, but the warrior. A warrior who is ready to fight for things on his own strength, who will lie, cheat, steal, and trick to reach his goal, regardless of the cost. The warrior may take the city in a blaze of glory, but that is the only reward he will receive.

Proverbs 9:7-9 "Rebuke"

            “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.”

            This passage of scripture is very revealing. It lays out for us the response of both a wicked man and a wise man when they are rebuked. Their reactions give us an excellent description of where their hearts are at. The mocker, or wicked man, displays an arrogance and pride, gracelessly refusing to consider the correction they have been given. The wise, or righteous man, in comparison accepts the rebuke with thankfulness, humbly taking the correction into consideration and altering his ways. However, we cannot be so quick to apply this knowledge of how a wicked man and a wise man will react to correction to our view of others without first using it to examine our own lives. Are we accepting rebuke arrogantly or humbly? Are we listening to the correction others give us? It is often hard for us to see some of the sin in our lives that others see clearly because we rationalize the sin until we no longer realize we are sinning. When we accept rebuke humbly, we reflect wisdom and the Holy Spirit that lives within us.

Deuteronomy 30:15-18 "Internal Battle"

Deuteronomy 30:15-18

            “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other Gods and worship them, I will declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.”

            The choice is simple: do the right things or do the wrong thing, do the good thing or do the bad thing, do the Godly thing or do the sinful thing. If it is such a black and white thing, and we know that following God will lead to prosperity and refusing to follow Him brings us destruction, why do we continue to sin? Our sinful, worldly nature wars inside our mind with our righteous, Godly nature.  Every single decision we make is a reflection of that battle. Our natures are jostling for position, screaming for us to make a good choice or a bad one. We counteract our sinful nature by feeding our Godly nature. Reading the Word, praying, and serving others –spending time getting to know God better—all strengthen our Godly nature, enabling us to make God-pleasing decisions in our lives.

1 Thessalonians 2:2 "Opposition"

            “We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.”

            Just because we face worldly opposition does not mean that we can just give up on a task God has set before us. Because we are no longer of the world when we accept Jesus as our Savior, the world will offer us only temptation and opposition when we follow God’s plan. However, we do not face this opposition and temptation on our own strength. When we face these challenges in our lives it is God’s strength that brings us through and allows us to continue on with His plan.

Philippians 1:27-28 "Conducting Yourself"

            “Whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved –and that by God.”

            Our attitudes and out reactions are one of the greatest witnessing tools we have in our possession. Every time we react to a situation or problem in a manner worthy of the gospel, we act in a way most people would not expect. God’s ways are not the world’s ways. In the same way the customs of a foreigner may seem strange to us, so do our actions seem strange to a person who has not accepted Christ. When we act in a way worthy of the gospel, we stand with the body of Christ as if we were one person in Christ. But even this witnessing tool “we possess” comes from God. Our actions in whatever we do ought to reflect God’s grace because He is the one who will save us. All of this, our ability through God to act in a way that is worthy of the gospel, will be a sign to those who do not know God.

"Trust and Wait" Acts 1:7, Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11

            “He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.’”

            “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.”

            “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

            God loves each and every one of us and has a plan for our lives, “plans to prosper [us] and not to harm [us], plans to give [us] a hope and a future.” He is working for our good because He loves us. However, unfortunately though it may sometimes seem, His plan for us is on His perfect time table, not ours. Sometimes when we are praying and waiting to see God’s plans revealed in our life, we can forget that we are waiting on His perfect plan. We forget that He knows what is best for us and that sometimes, that answer we are looking for is just around the corner, instead trying to manage our lives ourselves. But we are not God, and our plans cannot even compare to His. We worry over what we cannot control, forgetting that He has everything under control, that we can trust Him.

Deuteronomy 8:10-14 "Do Not Forget"

            “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

            It is very important that we never forget how God has blessed us. If we are not careful to remember all of the gifts He has given us, we easily fall prey to the trap of thinking we can accomplish things without God. We cannot do anything without Him, and when we try to take the credit for the amazing things He has done in our lives, when we fool ourselves into thinking we can do it all on our own, we forget the Lord and His commands. We become prideful as we think of all of the things God has done through us, forgetting that it was not through our own power that we accomplished them. We forget His grace and love that saved us from our sins that would condemn us to death.

Numbers 11:1, Philippians 2:14-15 "Standing Out"

            “Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when He heard them His anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.”

            “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”

            When we complain, to us it may seem like just words, but the words we speak reflect the attitude of our hearts. The world does not condemn a person who complains as they would a murderer because complaining is the norm. People complain, it is as simple as that. They complain because life is hard, because it isn’t fair, because they’ve been wronged in some way, so when you find someone who does not complain, they tend to stand out. It may not seem like they have a reason to always have a smile on their face or a cheerful attitude, but their attitude is a reflection of Christ’s love. We have every reason to celebrate in the glory of the Lord, yet we waste our time focusing on the bad things in our lives instead of seeing the beauty in the day God has made and the opportunities to show other’s His love.

Numbers 13:28-30, Matthew 17:20, "Mountain Moving"

            “But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea along the Jordan.’ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’”

            As we go through this life, we will encounter much opposition and many mountains that may seem to be immovable. When most of the Israelite spies that were sent into the Promised Land saw the land the Lord said He would give them, they were fearful because of the mighty people who lived there. In their fear they wished to abandon the land God had given them. Caleb, however, knew they could take the land because he knew the Lord was with them. He had faith that the mountain in front of him could be moved by God. Matthew 17:20 says, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” When we have faith in God, faith that He can do the amazing things He has promised us, we can be ready to see miracles.

John 12:26-28 "I Will Follow"

            “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

            If we say we want to serve God, we will follow Him and go where He tells us to. And with that, we will actively seek His desire for our lives. Where He goes, we should go also. We should want to do and go where there is a need. It may not gain us any love from the world, and even if we do, that is not what we should be trying to gain. Instead we should be trying to go where we are called, despite the odd looks and laughs at the faith we show when we follow God. We should not shrink away when faced with the head shaking of the world. Instead we should look at such attention as a chance to glorify God’s name. Even if they look down on us for following God, we can still use that as an opportunity to share the good news with someone we might not have been able to otherwise.

John 12:25, Matthew 10:39 "Lose Your Life"

            “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

            “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

            Because this world is all we have ever known, it is easy to focus on the earthly things and forget that this life is not all that is in store for us. When we live in this world where people are focused on themselves and what is happening in the here and now, it is hard to fix our eyes on heavenly things instead of earthly things. We fall into the trap of grasping onto this life too tightly, living life to the fullest extent of earthly possibilities. We do what we want to do in the time we have been given instead of dying to ourselves and using every second we have on this earth to bring glory to God, waiting expectantly for the day when He will bring us to live with Him in paradise for all eternity, basking in the presence of God. If we find our life on this earth, we will lose it, because it is frail and worthless in the tapestry of time. But if we lose our life on earth, we will find it, because the gift of life God offers is eternal and everlasting.

"In the Presence of a Holy God" Leviticus 10:1-2, Romans 6:23, Numbers 18:22, John 14:6

            “Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.”

            “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

            “From now on the Israelites must not go near the Tent of Meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die.”

            “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father in heaven except through me.’”

            Many times people have a hard time understanding how God could seem so unforgiving in verses like Leviticus 1 and 2, but still love us enough to send his Only Son to pay the price for our sin. But, “[we] will bear the consequences of [our] sin…” and “the wages of sin is death.” By all rights each of us does not deserve life. We are sinful people and if we were to be judged at this moment, we would not deserve to live on our own acts. Only because we have an intercessor on our behalf can we stand before God without being struck down for the sins we have committed. God has given us the gift of eternal life through Christ, “…the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [Him].” We have been given a great gift, the gift of grace, so that we can stand in the presence of the Lord without fear.     

Psalm 19:14, Matthew 12:24 "Overflow"

            “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

            “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

            We may not think that what we think is very important, but the mind is where everything we do begins. The sin we struggle with does not just all of the sudden spring up in our lives. It starts in the mind, festering and growing until it overflows in our lives. If we are sinning, we can know that sin has its start in our hearts. But, the focus of our hearts works both ways. If our focus is on God, if our hearts are turned to God, our words will reflect that as well. If we are filled with the love of God, the little inconveniences like having a bad hair day or being cut off while driving will not affect our attitude. If complaining is a reflection of discontent, a loving and cheerful attitude reflects the content that only God brings. Our daily prayer should be that our words and thoughts be pleasing to the Lord. We must be aware of our thoughts and what they say about us even though no one else can see what we think.