These are some of my favorite verses in the Bible. Of the words of wisdom, they are the ones I utter in my prayers the most. As we all do I'm sure, I often time pray for lies and deceit to be far from my lips, and heart, but so few consider the trappings of fame and fortune. A cursory look at Hollywood to see what fame and fortune can do to ones life. Remember that sweet little girl who sang beautiful songs with her father? Yes, the one who turned out to be just another harlot of Satan. I speak of course of Miley Cyrus.
To be rich is to take God's blessings for granted and look to yourself as the giver of the blessing. To be poor is the take lightly the name of our Lord, and curse our LORD. When times are good, we tend to forget about God, and think of our own pleasures. We become the center of our own lives. But when thing go really bad, you can start cursing everything around you, even God.
It is not to say men cannot handle wealth, but with wealth comes much responsibility and much temptation. On the other end of the scale, poverty brings it's own temptation that can lead to many unforeseen troubles. Thus the reason I myself pray often for neither rich's nor poverty. If we are diligent in in our faith in God, we can always be assured that He will bless us with that which he knows we can handle, and I would much rather trust His Wisdom over mine.
Thus the best policy is to ask the LORD to keep your life balanced in the financial dept. I have been blessed to always be fed, always be clothed. Jesus tells us not to worry about our needs. He tells us our heavenly Father will provide the things we need as long as we have faith.
"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
"Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or "What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34
Proverb 30 (NKJV)
The Wisdom of Agur
01 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance.
00 This man declared to Ithiel--to Ithiel and Ucal:
02 Surely I am more stupid than any man,
00 And do not have the understanding of a man.
03 I neither learned wisdom
00 Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.
04 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
00 Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
00 Who has bound the waters in a garment?
00 Who has established all the ends of the earth?
00 What is His name, and what is His Son's name,
00 If you know?
05 Every word of God is pure;
00 He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
06 Do not add to His words,
00 Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.
07 Two things I request of You
00 Deprive me not before I die:
08 Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
00 Give me neither poverty nor riches--
00 Feed me with the food allotted to me;
09 Lest I be full and deny You,
00 And say, "Who is the LORD?"
00 Or lest I be poor and steal,
00 And profane the name of my God.
10 Do not malign a servant to his master,
00 Lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.
11 There is a generation that curses its father,
00 And does not bless its mother.
12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
00 Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
13 There is a generation-- oh, how lofty are their eyes!
00 And their eyelids are lifted up.
14 There is a generation whose teeth are like swords,
00 And whose fangs are like knives,
00 To devour the poor from off the earth,
00 And the needy from among men.
15 The leech has two daughters--
00 Give and Give!
00 There are three things that are never satisfied,
00 Four never say, "Enough!":
16 The grave,
00 The barren womb,
00 The earth that is not satisfied with water--
00 And the fire never says, "Enough!"
17 The eye that mocks his father,
00 And scorns obedience to his mother,
00 The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
00 And the young eagles will eat it.
18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
00 Yes, four which I do not understand:
19 The way of an eagle in the air,
00 The way of a serpent on a rock,
00 The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
00 And the way of a man with a virgin.
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
00 She eats and wipes her mouth,
00 And says, "I have done no wickedness."
21 For three things the earth is perturbed,
00 Yes, for four it cannot bear up:
22 For a servant when he reigns,
00 A fool when he is filled with food,
23 A hateful woman when she is married,
00 And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.
24 There are four things which are little on the earth,
00 But they are exceedingly wise:
25 The ants are a people not strong,
00 Yet they prepare their food in the summer;
26 The rock badgers are a feeble folk,
00 Yet they make their homes in the crags;
27 The locusts have no king,
00 Yet they all advance in ranks;
28 The spider skillfully grasps with its hands,
00 And it is in kings' palaces.
29 There are three things which are majestic in pace,
00 Yes, four which are stately in walk:
30 A lion, which is mighty among beasts
00 And does not turn away from any;
31 A greyhound,
00 A male goat also,
00 And a king whose troops are with him.
32 If you have been foolish in exalting yourself,
00 Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth.
33 For as the churning of milk produces butter,
00 And wringing the nose produces blood,
00 So the forcing of wrath produces strife.
The purpose of Writing the book of Proverbs was to reveal the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in common, ordinary, everyday situations. It appears that no topic escaped King Solomon's attention. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations, business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character, alcohol, politics, revenge, and Godliness are among the many topics covered in this rich collection of wise sayings.
Without wisdom, knowledge is nothing more than an accumulation of raw facts, influenced by emotional feelings. Many highly educated people are in positions of power in the United States, but very few of those educated leaders have the wisdom needed to rule properly.
One can say that they have been educated well beyond their intelligence. A cursory look at the court system will prove my point that knowledge without wisdom will only lead to an immoral society that eventually crumbles from within. Judges are supposed to be above the fray, and immovable to emotions. Instead, the vast majority of judges today are Godless individuals who are vacant of wisdom. So their rulings are totally based upon emotional feelings.
We the people are to blame, because we ignored God's guidance in appointing our leaders. Instead of putting leaders full wisdom in power, we instead chose those who would scratch our itchy ears to lead us.
Of the 31 Proverbs, only the first 24 were written by Solomon. King Hezekiah wrote 5, Proverbs 25 to 29, Agur wrote Proverb 30, and Lemuel wrote Proverb 31. Now many believe Lemuel was in fact King Solomon and Lemuel was just a nick name his Mother, Bathsheba gave him. We are told that Solomon write over 3000 Proverbs and composed 1000 songs, but the only Proverbs God decided to preserve for us are Proverbs 1-24. Like the New Testament epistle by James, it is impossible to get a chronological outline for a study since they all bounce from subject to subject.
Along with my daily routine of reading the Bible, I try to read through the book of Proverbs once a Month. It's an easy task when you consider there are 31 Proverbs. So all you need to know is what day of the Month it is. In the Months that have 30 days, or in the case of February, I just double up by reading more than one two proverb so I can begin the next month with Proverb 1 on the first again.
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