Proverbs 13

PROVERBS 13

"A wise son heeds his father’s instruction,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth,
But the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence.
He who guards his mouth preserves his life,
But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction."
(vs 1-3)

The words of our mouth are very telling about where our hearts truly lie. Years ago, when I was living in the world trying to justify the sin in my life, I remember telling others - "I know I did, or said, such & such, BUT God knows my heart." I thank God now that He revealed the Truth to me. Indeed He does know my heart... by the words I speak, and the deeds I do. What is in our hearts will be known by the fruit of our behavior.

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."- Matt 12:33-37

In that Day, we shall give an account for every word we have spoken. In that Day, we all shall be judged according to what we have done (Jer 17:10, Matt 16:27, Rom 2:6, 2Cor 5:10 and Rev 22:12 among others)

Dear friends, may we be ever coming before the Lord, dealing with the sin and bondages in our life, now, that He may cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and we may be found blameless in His sight. I love the desire of King David, who prayed unto the Lord -
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer." - Psalm 19:14


"The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing;
But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
A righteous man hates lying,
But a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.
Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
But wickedness overthrows the sinner.
There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing;
And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches."
(vs 4-7)

In a parable Jesus told, we see a man who appeared righteous to others (and to himself), yet was full of pride and selfishness. And we see a man who others knew was a sinner (as he did himself), who humbly came before the Lord to deal with the sin in his life.

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ’God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ’God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."- Luke 18:10-14

To those who are poor in spirit, who are humble, who seek His face, are the great riches of the Kingdom of God (Luke 6:20-25)

To those who have made themselves rich in the things of this world, is the condemnation of the Lord.

"Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, " and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ’Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent."- Rev 3:17-19


The Proverb goes on to talk about the benefits of Godly wisdom and of discipline, both for us and our children... leaving much more to be looked at in depth later. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to study and share the Truths of the wisdom He imparted to the kings who wrote these Proverbs long ago.

May the blessings and wisdom of God be upon us, each one, always.

Michael


By pride comes nothing but strife,
But with the well-advised is wisdom.
(vs 10)