TRUST GOD’S GOODNESS!  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. —Ecclesiastes 3:11  I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. — Ecclesiastes 3:14              Trust in the Lord. He has plans and purposes that He is carrying out. You and I have eternal destinies. Are we living for the Lord? Have we truly called on His Name? If so our eternal destiny is…

THE WISE AND THE FOOL  Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. —Proverbs 26:12  The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly. —Proverbs 26:16 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth— a stranger, and not your own lips. —Proverbs 27:2             A person who is wise in their own eyes lacks humility.   They think they know it all.   “There is more hope for a fool than for him.” They are stuck on themselves and what they think and that you need to listen to them…

KEEP GOOD COMPANY!  Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. —Proverbs 23:17-18  Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them, for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble. —Proverbs 24:1-2             Fellow follower of Jesus the hope we have is eternal! We live for Jesus now and we will be with Him forever! What a great future we have and that “hope will not be cut off.” So do not envy sinners or evil men. Don’t even desire what they desire. Companionship…

GIVE THANKS FOR HEARING AND SEEING!  The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both. —Proverbs 20:12              Listen… the birds are singing this morning. What a joy to hear them! I always love listening to them. I have never heard a sad song from the birds that live in my area. Oh, I hear a raspy crow from time to time, but all the other birds have happy tunes. Often, when I step outside and hear a Cardinal chirping, I will whistle back its song. It is funny as we go back and forth and it brings joy to enter into its song. I hear…

BEWARE OF THE ISOLATED KNOW-IT-ALLS!  Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. —Proverbs 18:1              Beware of all those who claim to be followers of Jesus but have isolated themselves from the Body of Christ, the church.   These people speak arrogantly against the Body of Christ as if they have all the answers.   “These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage” (Jude 1:16).  People like this are all about themselves and making disciples after themselves and not about making disciples after Jesus. They are like “savage…

A HEALTHY TREE… OR NOT  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. —Psalm 1:1-3             How does one become “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.”   We…

HAVE MANY COUNSELORS!  Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray. —Proverbs 10:17  Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. —Proverbs 11:14              Are you heeding the instruction of the Lord or are you more concerned with the instruction of men? Do you take time to listen to Him through His Word or are you just listening to what men say?   When He shows you error in your life do you correct it or just go on your way? To reject His reproof will cause you to lead others astray.…

FEAR OF THE LORD  The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. —Proverbs 8:13  Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, A MAN WHO FEARS GOD AND SHUNS EVIL. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” —Job 2:3               The “fear of the Lord” is to have a proper perspective on Who He is, on who we are and a desire not…

HEART’S FOCUS!  Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life… Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. —Proverbs 4:23, 27             What is your heart’s focus? “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts–murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19). So where is your heart’s desire today, this moment? “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34). Are you allowing God’s Holy Spirit to direct you or are you…

BE WISE!  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. —Proverbs 1:1-8  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would…