We need to back up our ways with our whys.

Prov. 16:2 People may be pure in their own eyes, but the LORD examines his motives.

You have heard the saying that actions speak louder than words. It is true, but I will take it one step further, "Motives speak louder than actions." We need to back up our words with our ways, but we also need to back up our ways with our whys. The Lord looks upon the heart to see the why behind what we say and do. The heart is where our character is found.

Jesus changes the heart. He gets rid of the selfishness and replaces it with His love. He gives us hearts that want to do what is right before God. He moves us to live with God in mind. The true test of whether or not we are getting it right is found in the motives of the heart.

We may not always get things right, but if the motive is right, it pleases the Lord. And, if we seemly get everything right and do if for all the wrong reasons, the Lord will not be pleased with us at all.

The only way we can be assured that our motives are right is for us to take seriously the role the Lord plays in our lives. We must stay deeply connected to Him so that He can influence the direction of our hearts. If our intent is to always do what is right before God, we will do it. He honors those who honor Him. When Jesus is Lord of our hearts, our hearts will always please God.

And, Jesus becomes our Lord when we purposely let Him. He will not take ownership of our hearts without our permission and cooperation.  Are you letting Jesus have His way with you?  Is He determining the course of your life?  Are you cooperating with Him to keep your heart pure before Him?  Are the motives of your heart to always do what is right before God and to please Him?  Is it for His honor and glory that you live?

No matter how much wealth a person may accumulate on earth, it never gives the soul rest.

Prov. 15:16  It is better to have little with fear for the LORD than to have great treasue with turmoil.

It is far better to live in humility and be respectful of God than it is to have great wealth.  When we are right with God, there is a peace and contentment that cannot be found anywhere else.  The soul that fears God honors Him.  He is more focused on living to please God than he is anything else.  The soul that fears God is sin-conscious.  He understands the seriousness of sinning against God.  He knows that standing guard over his soul is a matter of heaven or hell.

No matter how much wealth a person may accumulate on earth, it never gives the soul rest.  Wealth keeps the soul in turmoil.  There is always the elusive dream of having enough.  There is always the fear of losing what one has.  There is the turmoil of trying to find satisfaction for the soul with the things wealth can provide.  There is the turmoil of disillusionment when one realizes that wealth cannot deliver on its promises.  There is the turmoil of dealing with those who want a portion of the wealth accumulated. 

Building one’s life on the foundation of wealth, or anything else other than God, is utter futility and foolishness.  The only thing that can satisfy the soul is Christ, for whom the soul was created.  Only Christ can give the soul peace, love, joy, and an unfailing hope for the future.  There is nothing wrong with wealth in and of itself, but when it becomes the sole goal and purpose for living, it is very bad.  It is far better to have little and a proper fear of the Lord than to have all the wealth on earth.

Put all your hopes and dreams in Christ alone and you will never be disappointed or disillusioned.  Only Jesus can satisfy the soul.

A wise person is hungry for truth, while the fool feeds on trash.

Prov. 15:14  A wise person is hungry for truth, while the fool feeds on trash.

It is not too hard to figure out who are the wise and who are the fools in the world.  Wisdom is not the same thing as knowledge.  The world is full of very knowledgeable people who are fools.  The wise are those who have an insatiable appetite for truth.  They desire to know what God says.  They want to discover God’s ways so they can follow them.  The wise are spiritually-minded; they have a need to be influenced by God in all of their living.  The wise understand the limitations of their knowledge and are able to trust God for what they don’t know.  They are constantly exploring God’s Word to discover greater understanding and more practical ways to apply what they learn to life.

On the other hand, fools feed on trash.  Trash is knowledge that is not based on God’s truth.  It is the quest for understanding how life functions apart from God.  It is knowledge without understanding how to get it to work out in daily living.  Trash is the things of life that prevent God from getting through to the soul.  It is the glorification of sin.  It is anything that goes contrary to the Word of God.

The world is full of foolish people and short in supply of wise people.  For the most part, it is the fools who run the world.  Most people do not know God, care about God, know how to find God, or they even have animosity towards God as known through the Scriptures.  Man has become foolish in his thinking because God has been left out of the equation.  We see all around us the end result of fools running the world.  Let us strive to be a people after God’s own heart.

Let us strive to be different than the world of fools.  Let us be as the wise who seek God through His Word.  Let us diligently seek understanding of life as God intended for it to be.  Let us seek after truth and how to live it. 

There are no secrets with God.

Prov. 15:11  Even the depths of Death and Destruction are known by the LORD.  How much more does he know the human heart!

We don’t know what it is like to die.  It’s  a once in a lifetime experience for us.  There are no do-overs.  We will live on, but in a totally different way than what we have known.  Death is a mystery to us.  God tells us some things to expect, but until we live it we will not know what it is like.  What we do know is that God knows.  He knows everything there is to know about death, all the glories of heaven and all the goriness of hell.

Every human being who has ever lived has been warned by God about death and destruction.  He has ingrained in the human soul a sense of right and wrong.  He holds each of us responsible for the knowledge we have been given.  God purposely forbade Adan and Eve from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge because He knew that man would not be able to handle the knowledge of good and evil.  He knew that because of man’s nature once he knew what sin was like he would gravitate towards sin and fall prey to it.  God tried to spare them, and us, the horrors of such knowledge, but obviously they would not listen. 

There are no secrets with God.  He knows every thought of the mind.  He knows every intent of the heart.  He knows what moves us to say and what we do.  The Lord knows it all.  Do not be decieved by those who would deny it.  Do not be deceived by the foolishness of thinking that you can hide your thoughts from Him.  What controls your mind comes from your heart and He holds you responsible for what He finds there.

Dear friend, you can fool people and you can even fool yourself, but you can’t fool God. 

The Lord is watching you.

Prov. 15:3  The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.

How does this truth make you feel?  The Lord is watching everywhere; everywhere you go the Lord knows about it.  He is aware of what you are doing at all times.  He knows everything about you, inside and out.  He knows when you do good and when you do evil.  You do not get away with anything.  How does that make you feel?  Are you okay with it, or does it concern you? 

You cannot hide from the watchful eye of the Lord.  This is why we can’t let down our guard and assume anything.  We must keep vigilant watch over our souls.  The Lord will not accept our excuses for sinning.  He cannot be fooled and we cannot hide anything from Him. 

We cannot understand how the Lord is able to single us out of all the masses of people in time and space and know what is going on with us.  All we know is that He can.  Such knowledge comforts, challenges, and concerns us.  He has His eye on both the evil and good.  He knows.  He knows what no one else knows.  In our innermost secret places He knows whether or not evil or good has a hold of us. 

The Lord is watching and sees the evil and good in the world.  He is not surprised by the things that surprise us.  He has all things under control and will make all things right when the time is right.  No one is going to escape His judgment.  Justice may not seem to be accomplished here on earth, but it is done in heaven.  Do not let the evil of the world throw you.  God is on the throne and Judgment Day is coming.

The Lord is watching you.  Are you living a life that pleases Him?  Do you put a smile or a frown on His face?

No one who takes their faith seriously and is disciplined in it will abandon the Lord.

 

Prov. 15:10  Whoever abandons the right path will be severely punished; whoever hates correction will die.

We must pay attention to this truth!  There is severe punishment for those who abandon the right path.  First of all, although it is not stated, it is God who punishes those who abandon Him.  I don’t want to speculate on what that punishment may be, but I am certain that it won’t be pleasant to be subjected to severe punishment from God.

We also note that it is possible to abandon the right path.   We can choose to do things that are displeasing to God.  We can choose to not honor and serve Him.  We can choose to not obey Him and let Him be the influencer of our lives.  We are not spiritually stuck when we give the Lord our hearts. 

No one who takes their faith seriously and is disciplined in it will abandon the Lord.  Neglect is where it all starts.  In order to stay true to the Lord we must be students of the Word.  We must be reading, studying and meditating on the Word.  We must let it be our measuring stick and strive to live consistently according to the Word.  We must also be participators in prayer.  We must pray regularly ourselves and not rely on others to pray for us.  We must spend time alone with God in daily conversation.  We must be driven by our faith and refuse to let it grow cold.

Anyone who hates correction will die.  No one is beyond the need of correction.  We need to know where we fall short of God’s standards of holiness and be humble enough to change our ways.  We need to hear from God and others how to better live for Christ.  We need to confront each other in a loving way so we can become more like the Master, a people after His own heart.  Anyone who cannot, or won’t be, corrected has no hope or help from God.  He will not live a life that is right with God and he will die in his sins. 

“Lord, keep our souls humble and pliable.  Help us to never let sin harden our hearts.  Strip us of any pride that keeps us from not accepting correction when we need it.  Give us open hearts that we may gladly accept Your corrections.  Lord, we need your help if we are going to stay on the path that leads us to heaven.  We need you, O Lord and we declare anew our allegiance to you.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.”

Those who follow the right path fear the Lord; those who take the wrong path despise him.

Prov. 14:2  Those who follow the right path fear the LORD; those who take the wrong path despise him.

One of the ways a person can know that they are right before God is whether or not they fear Him.  Fear is one of the things that characterized people before Calvary.  The law of God taught His children to fear Him.  It was very clear that if man did not obey God, there was an eternal price to pay.  God’s children understood that you don’t mess with God.  God is holy and will not condone or tolerate sinful living by His children.

At Calvary Jesus took upon himself the wrath of God.  He did for us what the law could not do; He provided a way for us to know God on a personal level.  We now live in grace and therefore the edge of fear has gone away.  But, is that really a good thing?  I personally believe that we should still have a sense of fear for God.  If there were a greater fear for God, there would be greater respect for Him shown.  There would be more careful living; sin would matter more to us than it tends to today.  We have lost the sense of need to strive to be holy since Jesus is our holiness.  We become spiritually lazy and rest solely on the finished work of Christ at Calvary on our behalf.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  We cannot make ourselves holy by what we do.  We cannot save ourselves by what we do.  We cannot be accepted by God as His own without our embracing the finished work of Christ on Calvary.  We cannot do for ourselves what Christ has done for us.  We are saved by faith in Christ alone; it is a gift of God.  We just cannot use our new relationship with God as an excuse for not fearing Him.

Those who try to get to God another way than through Christ despise God.  All other attempts to reach God are futile and causes man to express his frustrations over the emptiness and hopelessness of his life.  Man tries to look good in his own eyes; he tries to do his best to do things his way.  He hates God and His ways because it brings man up short.  It is a slap in man’s face to be told he is not good enough, that he will not enter into heaven without Christ.  Man wants to be in control and when he is told he cannot be in control and be right with God, it causes him to rebel and despise those who declare Jesus to be the way, truth and life.

Choose today the right path.  Fear God and turn away from evil and you wll make it to heaven when you die.