Choose to Build on the Rock (Proverbs 21:7)

There are people out there who will constantly be a destructive force to themselves because they refuse to do the good things.

"The violence of the wicked shall sweep them away, because they refuse to do justice." Proverbs 21:7, Amplified

How does one refuse to do justice, exactly? They refuse to do it because they have a clear understanding of what it is and choose to do the opposite. This is only because the foundation of their belief system is not based on Jesus. Paul tells us about that foundation in First Corinthians. Jesus even told a parable about two men building houses. One chose to build on the rock, which is Jesus) and the other chose to build on the sand. What happened to the second man? "[He is] like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." (Matthew 7:26b-27, NKJV)

The violent man who chooses to do something different, other than what is just, will fall. Our foundation must must be on the Lord and His Word. Why? "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8, NKJV) This is not a question to the reader from God as if it deserved an answer. Rather this is a rhetorical question, meaning that has the Lord shown us all these things already? Yes. Where? In His Word. And if we begin our day with Him and go to Him throughout the day, we will not fall, we will not falter, because we are relying upon Him as we build our houses of faith. Violence comes from the recesses of the heart when we do not allow the Lord to touch us.

Something and Nothing (Proverbs 18:23)

It is interesting to see the different social dynamics of a society. Given the same set of circumstances, the rich and the poor approach the matter differently.

"The poor uses entreaties, but the rich answers roughly." Proverbs 18:23, Amplified

There isn't much to be said about this verse. But as I stated earlier, the rich and the poor act differently given the same set of circumstances.

An entreaty is an "earnest and humble request". The poor has no power, it seems, to act on his own therefore he uses entreaties to come to his end. In other words he begs. The rich do not have it in them to beg. At their disposal is wealth and resource.

Notice, however, that the Bible condemns neither of the two. Jesus ministered to everyone, the rich and the poor alike. Though the two are on polar opposites of the spectrum, those boundaries never kept Him from ministering. It was those boundaries that kept men and women from receiving. The Bible never condemns either because people are people, no matter the social order. All of us use what is at our disposal.

I am a poor man. There have been times when I have used entreaties to exact money to help with different things. Am I condemned? No. Do I have a lack of faith? No. I feel a lack of faith is sitting and doing nothing, while waiting for something to happen.

Realize one thing, something is never derived out of nothing and nothing doesn't come from something.

Where to Run (Proverbs 18:10-11)

It is interesting to see what a person believes to be his refuge in times of trouble. Is it something tangible like money or possessions? Or is it something ethereal like the Lord?

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the [consistently] righteous man - upright and in right standing with God - runs into it and is safe, high [above evil] and strong." Proverbs 18:10, Amplified

If you have ever read the book of James, you would find that the entirety of the book is a dichotomy. A dichotomy is a comparison between two things. For James that comparison is between the flesh and the spirit. In these to verses this morning, we have laid out for us a dichotomy. What are we to trust in? More than that, however, is not really who or what to trust in, but who we are. Are we the righteous who trust in the Lord, or are we something else?

The righteous man makes the Lord his strong tower. Not even the Lord really, but just the name of the Lord. Once we understand who the Lord really is in our lives we can understand the true power of His name alone. Sometimes it is who you know that counts. There is so much power in the name of Jesus alone. All we need to do is run to the Lord in those times of trouble. I have some really good friends who are going through a very turbulent time in their lives. I talked to one of them for a long time the other day and she described life like having the Titanic dropped on them. After discussing with me all the things that they had been and are going through, I couldn't believe the strength of her faith still. She and her family truly understand that the Lord is the strong tower in their lives. A great man once said, "We have no control over the wind in adverse times, but we can always adjust our sails." How do we do this? Keeping an eye and our focus on Jesus. Allowing for Him to be our protection. My friends understand this concept, "We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not in despair; struck down, but not destroyed..." (Second Corinthians 4:8-9a, New King James) He is our strength and our strong tower.

"The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as a high protecting wall, in his own imagination and conceit." Proverbs 18:11, Amplified

Or there is the rich man who places his trust in his riches. Being rich is not a sin. Trusting in riches is misguided. These are turbulent time that we live in. This recession is devouring our country and this is not time to trust in the all mighty dollar. Before one makes money his strong city, there are a few concepts that he must understand first.

Money runs out: the money that one person has will always have an end. Even Donald Trump's fortune is not bottomless. There is an end to his wealth. The more common people have found this to be truer today than before. Money does not last forever. But the Lord has no end. There is no cap to His power and might.

Money's value is uncertain: everyday the value of the dollar changes. Today it is not worth what it used to be. But the Lord's value is inexhaustible. Though the market tumbles through these uncertain times, His value will never falter of fail. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

I once had someone question one of my entry's about money. I want to stress that I do not think that money is evil, or that having money makes one less of a believer. Riches do not make one's chances of going to heaven any less. I would love to have more money to take care of my family and be a little more comfortable. But there is one verse that I would like to close with today. "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed form the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (First Timothy 6:10, New King James)

Trust (Proverbs 16:20)

Everyone needs something or someone to trust in. In my experiences I have found that all things are untrustworthy except the Lord. He never fails.

"He who deals wisely and heeds [God's] Word shall find good, and whoever leans on, trusts and is confident in the Lord, happy, blessed, and fortunate is he." Proverbs 16:20, Amplified

There is nothing in the world that we can touch or experience that will fulfill us the way the Lord can. There is nothing in this world that we can trust in that will not let us down. Everything fails. The physical law of entropy I feel can be translated into the spiritual: everything breaks down. But the Lord, He never fails.

The words "it shall come to pass" appear 120 times in the Bible. The words "it came to pass" appear 176 times in the Bible. This more than compensates for all the times the Lord says that something will come to be.

The Lord has proven Himself faithful to humanity trough the centuries even to the point of sacrificing His Son to satisfy the need for blood. If our trust in solely in Him, then happy are we. If we lean solely one Him, then blessed are we. If we have confidence in nothing else other than Him then fortunate are we.

Seek, Run, Question (Proverbs 14:6-8)

There are two types of people in this world. Those who know and those who don't. Know what, you ask? Anything and everything. About cars, about cooking, about rearing children but most importantly about their eternal salvation and the walk they have with the Lord on this side of heaven.

"A scoffer seeks Wisdom in vain [for his very attitude blinds and deafens him to it], but knowledge is easy to him who [being teachable] understands." Proverbs 14:6, Amplified

Webster's Dictionary defines scoff as "showing derision or mockery." If one seeks true wisdom and shows signs of derision and mockery, of course that wisdom will elude them. The godly wisdom being spoken of in this verse is a teaching wisdom, a correcting wisdom. One must want to change and be taught if he desires to find the wisdom of God.

"Go from the presence of a foolish and self-confident man, for you will not find knowledge in his lips." Proverbs 14:7, Amplified

This is one of those "pearl before swine" instances. We must ever be making judgement calls to decide with whom we should affiliate ourselves. I am not speaking of judging people and condemning them, that is for the Lord to do. We as good soldiers for the Lord must know and understand what banner another is fighting under.

"The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of [self-confident] fools is to deceive." Proverbs 14:8, Amplified

Understanding comes from questions. I have heard the expression "blind faith" and I am not too keen on it. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV) Yes, it is the substance of things hoped for. Hope is something that is not seen. When hope is in the heart it is actually an unfulfilled desire. But what most people overlook in that verse is the "evidence" of things not seen. How is a criminal convicted? Evidence. The questions that I referred to at the beginning of this chapter is the question of our own walk and our own faith. I feel the Lord wants us to question our faith. Not that we should question if He is real, or am I really saved. Rather, the healthier questions. Questions whose answers will solidify our existing faith and make it stronger.

Think of it like this. When a contractor is building a structure, he knows that he is doing everything right. But he must still call in a building inspector to question the integrity of the structure. The purpose of the inspector is to find fault. Without the inspector coming into the structure and questioning its integrity, how then can the contractor fix any fault that he may have overlooked? Seek. Question. Listen. It is the same in our own walk with the Lord. If we do not question, how then are we to fix our own walk and stay on the path that He has designed for us?

Faith in a Chair (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Trust has become just another word in the english vernacular. It used to be that trust was the ultimate idea in America. Faith is another word that can be used to describe trust. As Christians, this is a word with a little more familiarity. I had a friend who went to Africa to Preach the Gospel. He was trying to define faith to the local peoples because they had no word for it. Just as he is fumbling for the words one of the people from the village come into the hut where he is trying to define faith. The person was so tired that they leaned on the back of a chair and said, "I am so tired, I need this chair to hold me up." Just then, my friend had the idea to define faith as such. He told the people of the village that faith in God is like leaning on the back of a chair; when you are so tired and you cannot go on you need something to support you.

I God that chair of our lives?

"Lean on, trust and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind, and do not rely on you own insight or understanding." Proverbs 3:5, Amplified

Trust in the Lord should be our ultimate. There is no greater thing than trust. As we go about our daily tasks, trust is an issue that is so common we do not even realize it. When we go to the grocery store, we trust that when we buy the peanut butter that there is actually peanut butter in the jar. Buying a car, we trust that it is going to continue working for the next few years. We trust our waitresses, teachers and politicians, but can we trust the Lord? Is God that chair in our lives?

Over the years trust has been so closely associated with sight, smell, taste, feeling and hearing that some do not associate it with God. But faith on the other hand has been so disassociated with the five senses. I ask, what is the difference between faith and trust? Nothing.

This trust in the Lord needs to be whole heartedly as well. To rely on oneself negates the need for an outside Savior. If we do not need the Lord when buying a car or a house or to watch over our finances, then why do we need Him at all?

"In all your ways know, recognize and acknowledge Him, He will direct and make straight and plain your paths." Proverbs 3:6, Amplified

As we begin to trust the Lord with everything, then He will begin a work in us. In everything that we do we need to acknowledge Him and he will begin a work in us.

Just as the member of the village who came into the hut and acknowledged his need for the chair to support him, we too need to acknowledge the Lord when He supports us. As a result, the path laid out for us becomes much clearer. Think of it like a walkie-talkie. As we get closer to the other unit, the voice becomes clearer and clearer, easier to understand and discern. Do you see where I am going with this? Seek the Lord and listen to the Lord; as that relationship develops, then His voice becomes clearer and and easier to discern.