Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 31:10, Mighty Men and Women of Valor

Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 19:17

by David Chadwick "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." Proverbs 19:17 Generosity is a mark of a follower of Christ. It shows a surrendered life and a yielded heart. A generous life is the fruit of someone who fully knows how much he or she has been given by Jesus and, in turn, greatly desires to give his or her life away. Proverbs 19:17 says, "Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord; and he will repay him for his deed." I love this proverb! God wants his people to be generous to the poor. To "lend" to them like a bank lends to us for different things that we either want or need. This is a profound truth. Too often, we separate caring for the poor from the Gospel of Jesus. This separation is what has led to social justice movements where people care for the poor without preaching the Gospel. But according to God's Word, these two demonstrations are inextricably connected. Effective ministries to the poor must be Gospel-centered and Christ-exalting. Lending to the poor, which is lending to the Lord, brings about a repayment from the Lord. He always brings back a large return to whatever we give away. God is a God of abundance. He has more than enough to meet our every need. He can do exceedingly and abundantly beyond what we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Too often, we put God in a box. Our finite minds try to compute his infinite existence, and, in turn, we can force our carnal, human minds into an understanding of the Lord that is incorrect. His ways and his thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). Now, think again about the bank illustration. When the bank lends to us, it expects a return on investment. Interest rates allow the bank to get more and more money to be able to lend out more and more. When you give and lend to the poor, you should expect God to return a blessing to you. Expect a return on your investment! It's what today's proverb says. God will repay you for your deed when you give to the poor! And your lending will yield a return that is better than any bank in the world. God already owns everything. Everything is his! You're the steward. You manage his assets. And he loves it when his people are generous to the poor.

Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 19:16

by David Chadwick "Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die." Proverbs 19:16 God gives us commands all throughout Scripture to guide us, lead us, and sanctify us. He knew that we needed clear instructions and boundaries in order to rightly live in his world. His commandments were never meant to control us but to offer us true freedom. Proverbs 19:16 is today's proverb. It says, "Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die." This is a general life principle: the person who keeps God's commandments will live a good and worthy life. God has ordained certain principles into his universe that he desires all people to follow. As a general rule, living according to God's ways leads to experiencing God's blessing of life. Said another way: We don't break God's laws. They break us. But if we despise God's ways and live in open rebellion against him, the result is death, both physically and eternally. A selfish life lived on our own inevitably leads to pain, hurt, and agony. How do you know what God's commands are? What are his commandments by which he expects us to live? The 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17) are a good place to start! They are a tremendous starting point to find God's ways and principles. A great discipline would be to memorize the 10 Commandments so that they are always in our hearts. From there, read God's Word on a regular basis. It is so important to know his Word and obey it. Obedience brings blessing. Disobedience brings discipline. This principle holds true in our everyday lives, but more importantly, in our relationship with God. It is also so important to teach these principles and commandments to our children so they, too, can learn how to live faithful and righteous lives for Jesus. Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). The only way to experience his abundant life is through a yielded life. A life committed to his ways, his truth, and his life! Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). The Gospel is the most powerful force in the world. God created commands and sent Jesus to live them out in a perfect way. Where we would have fallen short, Jesus reigned victorious. He has now given us his Holy Spirit to empower us to model our lives after his and invite others to do the same. What grace! What love! What power!

Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 19:15

by David Chadwick "Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger." Proverbs 19:15 Slothfulness. Defined as the "state or habit of being lazy, indolent, or inactive." According to the Bible, this behavior casts people into a deep sleep and leaves them hungry. Did you know that within Christian theology, the historical church actually came up with what is called the "seven deadly sins?" While all sin is horrific in the sight of a holy God, these are historically the worst of the worst sins that can cause the most harm to us and others. Here is the list of the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and… are you ready for #7? Sloth! Laziness. A bent toward apathy and a refusal to work. A lazy person is always too tired to work. Too exhausted to lift a finger. Or has excuses as to why they can't work. As laziness and slothfulness become more and more severe, poverty becomes inevitable. God created us to work. His intent was for work to be good and enjoyable. His original design was to invite us to participate with him in creating something, look at it, and say, "Well done!" There's no better feeling than to have accomplished a hard task. Hard work leads you to feel pride at an accomplishment. God knows that! Paul even said to the Thessalonian Christians, who were sitting around and not working at all, waiting every day for Jesus to return, that if they didn't work, they wouldn't eat (1 Thessalonians 3:10). Hunger is a great antidote to laziness! If someone gets hungry enough, he or she will work! My prayer is that those who profess Christ will learn the value of developing a strong work ethic. That we will have a high value for excellence and working hard! We must overcome laziness. Discipline your body to work hard and train yourself to see accomplishments. Make sure to teach your children, if you have them, the value of hard work. Try giving them an allowance and teaching them about generosity as well. In all you do, work for God's glory. Work with all your heart for the Lord, not for man (Colossians 3:23). God is the ultimate boss. Give him your very best.

Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 19:5,9

by David Chadwick "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape… A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish." Proverbs 19:5,9 Today, I want to look at two verses from Proverbs 19 that are very similarly worded and carry the same message. Verse 5 says, "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape." Then, almost to make sure we get this truth solidified in our heads, Solomon essentially repeats it verbatim in verse 9, which says, "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish." One of my friends, who has a PhD in theology, once said, "If God tells you something once in his Word, take it seriously. If he says it twice, you'd better pay attention and obey it! It's very important to God!" In these two verses, God says the same thing twice with only a few verses separating the two! So we had better pay attention! So what is God trying to say here? Someone who lies, who bears false witness, will not go unpunished. Someone who breathes out lies will not escape God's judgment but will perish. We live in a culture where lies are rampant. Deception is commonplace. In fact, I would say it is more common to twist and deceive than to be truthful. People love themselves and pandering to the crowd more than they love the truth. Every judicial system in the world is dependent on the truth and on truth-tellers. It is heavily reliant on strong witnesses and accurate recollection of TRUTH. God, as the supreme judge and jury, is no different. He places a very high value in Scripture on accurate witnesses and on the truth! It hurts when lies are told against us and are seemingly never corrected. But don't become discouraged. God will deal with every idle word (Matthew 12:36-37) and every lie raised against us! Every lie stated by someone will one day be held accountable before a holy God. May we always be people who speak truth. Let your yes be yes and your no be no (Matthew 5:37). Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32).

Our Favorite Proverbs: Proverbs 18:24

by David Chadwick "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there's a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24 Today, we are going to look at Proverbs 18:24, which says, "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there's a friend who sticks closer than a brother." There is a significant difference between acquaintances and a true friend. Most everyone has many acquaintances: neighbors, co-workers, people you bump into at your children's schools or sporting events, and so forth. You interact with these people. You talk. You may even say hello. But there is little depth. In fact, people may have many acquaintances, or companions, but are severely lacking when it comes to experiencing the kinds of blessings that only true friends can bring. A true friend is someone who sticks even closer than a brother or sister in your immediate family. These are the kinds of people who are there in your toughest times. When life stinks. When others have deserted you. These are the ones who remain. They are present with you immediately in a time of need. They are always just a text or phone call away. Unlike Job's three friends who came to him in his distress and pontificated about God's "why" he was going through all his tragedy and pain, even suggesting it was because of some sin he had committed, a true friend is a master of what many refer to as "the ministry of presence." Seldom saying a word. With a hand on your shoulder. Holding your hand. Rejoicing with you in joys and weeping with you in sorrows (Romans 12:15). Do you have this kind of friend? If so, at some time today, call, text, email, or write a letter to that person and simply thank him or her for being a friend who sticks closer than a brother or sister. These people are what some call "forever friends." They are more valuable than all of the money in the world.