Coming to the Still Waters

Today's verses Proverbs 12:25-28, which read, v.25 - Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad. We know from Jesus that we are not to be anxious about anything but rather to seek first His kingdom and what you need will be provided to you from Him.  This is from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6.  When we allow worry to get to our heart meaning when it is all that we do and identifies us as a  "worry wart"  then we feel the weight of it.  We bow down to the possibility of what has yet to happen if it is going to happen.  We don't know. But a good word, pleasing, beneficial, joyful, pleasant, favorable, happy, and right makes the man's heart, his inner being, glad or to rejoice.  What better good words than God's promises.  When we are anxious and start to worry about something that we don't know it is better to speak a good word from God that we do know.  The fool bows to what he doesn't kn...

Today's verses are Proverbs 12:21-24, which read, v.21 - No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble. It is not that the righteous do not feel the effects of harm but it does not come from within them as they live righteous lives and it does not come upon them as they follow the footsteps of Christ.  The wicked are producing harm by their actions and words and they are putting themselves in the path of calamity.  The rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous but they are standing on different ground when the it hits them.  The righteous are standing on the ground that is solid because they are following after Christ.  The unrighteous are standing on ground that is shifting sand because they are following themselves and really after the schemes of Satan.   v.22 - Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight. We can't get to far from talking about our mouths and lips a...

Today's verses are Proverbs 12:17-20, which read, v.17 - He who speaks truth tells what is right, but a false witness, deceit. Our lives sometimes take us into a court of law.  It might be our own doing or it could be a requirement of citizenship or the consequences of others infractions of the law that have bled over into our lives.  In these situations the proverb is to speak the truth and not be a false witness.  Speaking truth brings about what is right that is so desperately needed in the court of law.  Being a false witness brings about more deceit along with more falsehoods allowed to linger and impact society.   "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"   You raise your right hand and swear this oath.  You used to put your hand on the Bible when giving your answer.  You put your hand on the Bible, why?  Because the Bible was seen by the general public as where trut...

Today's verses are Proverbs 12:13-16, which read, v.13 - An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will escape from trouble. An evil man, one who doesn't follow after God, is ensnared or trapped by the transgression or rebellion of the right of his lips or his language that is on the edge.  He is being choked by the very ungodly action of his own speech.  It is the scene where one lie has led to another and then to another and you start to forget all the lies that you have told and to who and it catches up with you.   The righteous, one who follows after God, will escape or come out or exit from trouble or straits or distress.  He will reap the benefit of following the righteousness of God that when trouble comes upon him, he will continue to do what is right and exit from its temptation to rebel against God. v.14 - A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, and the deeds of a man's hands will retur...

Today's verses are Proverbs 12:9-12, which read, v.9 - Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servant than he who honors himself and lacks bread. This is the start of 15  "better - than"  proverbs in the remaining chapters.  It is better if someone is quietly living a life honoring onto God, righteous in character, and following the footsteps of Christ with a focus not on self but God and others.  This person is not heavily esteemed because of focus on self or promoting self but they are recognized lightly because of the outcomes of a righteous life.  This person has the benefit of living that type of life as signified here as having a servant or the sign of some earthly progress.  It is better than the one who boasts in himself and follows the ways of the wicked and foolish and ends up without even the basics of life, the bread. v.10 - A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, but even the compassion of the wicked is cruel...

Today's verses are Proverbs 12:5-8, which read, v.5 - The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. Look at the depth of the actions of the righteous.  Their thoughts, not just their words and actions, are just.  Remember the verse to take every thought captive to Christ?  As a young person and being raised in a Christian home I knew what was unwholesome talk and what wasn't and I had self-discipline to not participate in it but my mind was another story.  I remember many times crying out to God because even though I didn't say the words I was thinking those words over and over again in my mind.  They had to be taken captive and before the cross of Christ for victory to happen.  I thank God for the victory over that sin. I guess the counsel of my sin would have been that it was okay because at least I didn't say the words.  I am sure that I could have found many to say that it was just a phase I was ...

Today's verses are Proverbs 12:1-4, which read, v.1 - Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. Probably that word stupid is what shocks you in our day of not saying that word.  It means to graze.  Instead of receiving the discipline and reproof, the instruction and correction, the foolish person grazes where he should not.  He is consuming what is not good for him.  He is ignoring the label and warning signs.  The discipline and reproof are available for him but he chooses to be a brute and do his own thing. The wise sees discipline and reproof as something done from love and out of love and with love to produce more knowledge of the fear of the Lord.  No discipline is easy to take and we usually bristle at first when it is brought to our attention but the wise will get past that stage to see that value of the reproof.  Our sinful nature takes us to denial or rebuttal or excuse as it did in the Garden o...

I have been reminded of a book that we read together in January of 2015,  “I Am A Church Member”  by Thom S. Rainer.  It was followed by a preaching series on the topic and I go back to this book time and time again with those looking at membership into the church.  It has become required reading along with the sessions of history and constitution of the church. On my copy I have altered the cover to change the statement into the question,  “Am I A Church Member?”   It has been a check list to look at the six commitments and ask myself if I have been living up to being a biblical church member.  I will use this time this morning to look at each question and give a quote that I marked in the book along with some passages of Scripture to challenge us to be a biblical church member at Union. 1.  Am I a functioning church member?   “One of the ongoing questions you should ask yourself and God in prayer is ‘How can...