Proverbs 12: 1-3

You should ask, “How may I arrive at a status of goodness?”

It has to do with loving instruction. This is not instruction from anywhere. It is not instruction from anyone. It has to do with obtaining favour of the LORD.

If you are purposed to working wicked devices, condemnation will be the result. You do not wish to be declared wrong? Then chose the nature of the devices you choose involve in your life.

You are not too old to learn. If you say teach me no more, your are full of pride. You already determine that you would turn away from the Lord’s wisdom. Reconsider. For the root of righteousness shall not be moved.

All men are commanded to obey the commands of God.

Human logic which is apart from the express will of God is not logic at all. It is in contradiction to truth. All truth comes from God. When we reason that it is OK to do that which is right in our own eyes, we reason wrongly. We fail to take into account that an all powerful God makes the rules. All else are subject to Him.

God, in his infinite resource and all knowing character, knows what is best. He planned all that exists. He knows what is necessary to make it work in harmony and according to perfection. We fail in the practice of reason to think that we are somehow able to know better.

God give all his commands for the good of His creatures. All good comes from His character of perfection. His creation is ordered by His commands. The whole concept is the basis for law or laws. We are told that He sustains all things by His Word. We fail in the practice of reason to think that we can make laws which supersede His. We fail in the practice of logic to think that we are somehow exempt from accountability in obeying His will.

There are three examples to this.

• First is the requirement to obey as is given in Deuteronomy 28.
• There is the illustration of those who refused to obey commands that seemed illogical to carnal minds. Jeremiah 38
• Lastly, there is illustration of response of offspring who finally learn and understand obedience and then the response of God. Daniel 9:5-13.

Could it not be that so much of the sorrow that people experience is the result of such disregard for the necessary obedience to God which has been so clearly declared to us?

Putting out the appeal

Isn’t it curious that wisdom should have to advertise? Imagine a village a thousand years ago. People lived in homes without glass windows. Noises of the village were always intruding into the home. Now we have Wisdom crying aloud. She is putting forth her voice. To be best heard she stands in the top of high places and goes along the paths of the village.

The appeal is directed

Wisdom calls unto the men and to the sons of men. She calls to the simple, the inexperienced. She wants them to understand wisdom.  She calls to the fools that they may be of an understanding heart. She offers to speak of excellent things and right things. Her mouth will speak truth. Wickedness is an abomination to her lips. All the words of her mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing froward (twisted as a rope) or perverse (distorted or false) coming from her mouth. Her words are plain to him that understands. They are right to them that find knowledge.

Wisdom’s appeal is better than great treasure

Wisdom’s instruction is better than silver, knowledge than choice gold. Wisdom is better than rubies. All things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

Wisdom’s companions

One is  prudence. Prudence implies caution in deliberating and consulting on the most suitable means to accomplish valuable purposes. It is the exercise of sagacity in discerning and selecting these purposes.

The other is knowledge of witty inventions. This has to do with the making of plans. Things are not done with haphazard foolishness. This suggests  sagacity. Sagacity has to do with quickness and acuteness of discernment, a readiness of apprehension. It is a faculty of readily discerning and distinguishing ideas and of separating truth from falsehood. It also finds out the intermediate ideas to discover what connection there is in each link of the chain.

Proverbs 8:1-12

I try to walk everyday, and I take my dog Jug with me. He hears my voice inside the house, and he stands by the door until I come out. He is visually impaired, yet somehow he knows I am taking him for a walk. He must smell the leash in my hand. Immediately he starts to yelp, bark and run in circles around me. He is so happy. It almost seems that there is a smile on his face when he is barking. He continues to run two feet in front of me and return to me barking and jumping in the air. It is quite evident how happy he is to go walking with me. Eventually he calms down and trots happily out the driveway because he is walking with his master.

As we walked, the verse from Philippians came to mind, “Rejoice in the Lord alway and again I say rejoice.” It is interesting how the Lord used the actions of my dog to teach me about a simple attitude of rejoicing. I decided to do a word study on the phrase, “rejoice in the Lord.” Here are some of the results. It is amazing how these definitions describe my dog’s behavior when he was anticipating my presence with him.

Ps 33:1 Rejoice -i.e. to shout (usually for joy):–aloud for joy, cry out, be joyful (greatly, make to) rejoice, (cause to) shout (for joy), (cause to) sing (aloud, for joy, out), triumph.

Ps 97:1 and Isa 41:16- Rejoice-a primitive root; properly, to spin round (under the influence of any violent emotion), i.e. usually rejoice, or (as cringing) fear:–be glad, joy, be joyful, rejoice.

Isa 61:10 Rejoice- a primitive root; to be bright, i.e. cheerful:–be glad, X greatly, joy, make mirth, rejoice.

Joe 2:23 rejoice- a primitive root; probably to brighten up, i.e. (figuratively) be (causatively, make) blithe or gleesome:–cheer up, be (make) glad, (have, make) joy(-ful), be (make) merry, (cause to, make to) rejoice, X very.

Hab 3:18 rejoice- primitive root; to jump for joy, i.e. exult:–be joyful, rejoice, triumph.

We learned from the sermon series on “Christ is All, Christ is All in All” that Christ is ever present with us. He resides within the believer. He is wholly present, everywhere and all the time. He is our sufficiency. As believers our attitude should be one of “shouting or singing with joy.” Knowing that Christ dwells within us should make us spin around with such happiness. We should have an attitude of victory over sin and allow no opportunity for self defeat. Our countenance should reflect bright cheerfulness. As believers we can rejoice in the fact that our Master is always with us, and He will never leave us or forsake us. He is our All! He is All we need, All we want and All we have.

Ps 46:1,”God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” This verse helps demonstrate the theological truth that   “Christ is All and in All”.  As discussed in a previous blog we discovered that Christ is the believer’s refuge, and that God had established “cities of refuge” for people who had accidentally killed someone.  We also see that Christ is a very “present” help in trouble.  He was “present” when David’s life was being threatened by King Saul, his son Absalom and in battle.  He was “present” when David as a lad volunteered to fight Goliath, the Philistine giant.

God tells Joshua in Jos 1:9″ Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”  What a very comforting and encouraging thought to know that God is with you wherever you are.

Another example would be when God led the Israelites  out of Egypt.  He went before them in the day with a pillar of cloud and at night with a pillar of fire.  They could see his presence.

In John 14: 18-23, Christ promises not to leave us comfortless, but to make his abode with us.  We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.  While He can’t be seen, He is there because scripture says so.  There is no reason to fear because the Eternal, Holy God indwells the believer.  When the trials of the world are overwhelming flee to Christ who is the believer’s refuge.  He is a very present help in trouble.  There is no need to feel pinned in, overwhelmed or defeated.  Christ is always near and always hears the cry of the saint.  Scripture testifies of that intimate, personal  assurance that Christ is present.

There are three prominent religious errors which our nation faces.

1. We fail to acknowledge our iniquity.

2. We, as a nation have changed our God. Jeremiah 2:11 “Hath a nation changed their Gods which are yet no gods?”

3. We have made the truth into a lie and made a lie, truth.

We dare not be counted among those who are spiritually deaf. Life and eternal life is at stake!

Hear the full context of this message “A Deaf Ministry” at http://BiblicallyTrue.com

Hebrews 6:19 tells us we have a hope which is an anchor for our soul. Hope such as this speaks of a line of credit. We are able to enjoy effective prayer because we may personally enter within the veil into the presence of God because Jesus Christ paid the sacrifice required because of our sin. Therefore, we have privilege to exercise this line of credit through prayer.

It is this hope which represents our line of credit.

So as Hebrews 10:19 says, “. . .we are to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.” As we do so in prayer, we are exercising our line of credit that was established for us according to our salvation’s provision.

During prayer meeting Pastor Kaminski spoke on Psalm 27:4. He pointed out a key word, “desire”.

The word “desire” illustrates the attitude of a farmer as he plows. He works in diligence and faith. He looks forward to the product of his labors, a fruitful field in harvest.

Pastor Kaminski said that desire is an absolute necessity in prayer. Prayer is an oral expression of one’s desire.

Desire wants a few things. So does one who prays. One wants it badly. He knows that only God can answer that want. He definitely wants God’s will in that answer. Only in fulfillment of this will there be contentment of the soul.

Do you pray with desire? The goal for this church is that each person does!

Next week on http://BiblicallyTrue.com the rest of this message will be available on MP-3 audio. It will be listed under “Desire and Prayer”.

In scripture, [the term] fool is often used for a wicked or depraved person; one who acts contrary to sound wisdom in his moral deportment; one who follows his own inclinations, who prefers trifling and temporary pleasures to the service of God and eternal happiness.            Webster Dictionary – 1828

The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. Psa 14:1.

Some people fail to understand their wicked condition by believing that there are other Gods. Or they believe that they may even have opportunity to become a god themselves or as an equal to god.

Isa 43:10  Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

Isa 44:6  Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

Isa 45:21  Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

Hos 13:4  Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.

Don’t you be saying that there are several ways to heaven or that the ways to God are through various religions. It is false thought, wrong and the way of the fool. Don’t make April fools day a year around event. In fact don’t even play the fool today.

Living Faith:

• overcomes…1John 5:4-5
• obeys…Matthew 8:1-4, John 9:7, John 21:6
• sees through obstacles…John 11:39-41
• perceives unlimited potential…John 14:1

A Living Faith produces an Active Prayer life…”When one’s relief is likely improbable, he does well to turn to the Lord of the highly impossible.” Pastor Daniel Kaminski