KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Sunday, June 10, 2018
Chapters: Proverbs 22-24
Message: A Good Name
Hello My Friend,
A good name, someone who is upright, virtuous, moral, and lives a Godly life. A good name is hard to come by these days, so many people are willing to sell their soul for the riches of the world, and it causes much shame to their name. While God can give us the richest people on the planet, He knows what will happen if He did. Those who put their faith in God will find His favor and trust with all things, including earthly riches, but those who seek only riches will find themselves very poor. “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.” – Proverbs 22:1-4,11-12.
“By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches,” Humility; a deep sense of one’s own unworthiness in the sight of God. Freedom from pride and arrogance. Humility does not come easy for us, none of us want to accept the fact that we are unworthy to stand before God. Let me tell you, when we let go of our pride and look to Jesus we do discover just how unworthy we are. However, we must not forget that even though we are a mess, God loves us, we are precious to Him, if we were not He would not have gone through what He did so that we could not only be able to stand before Him, but be blessed by Him. There is not a day that goes by that I do not tear up over God’s grace upon my life, and it is daily, especially when my week has been less than desirable. What presses in my mind the most lately is how weak my flesh is and how easy it is for me to give into it when I am frustrated or angry. You know, most of our frustration and anger has to do with our not knowing what is going on, we are quick to judge the worse and act upon it rather than find out what is really going on. This is why we have to learn to trust God’s thoughts and not our own, our minds are a mess, but God knows what is going on.
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:8,9,19.
“if there be any virtue,” Virtue, Moral goodness. Here is the key to claiming our riches from God, virtue. None of us are perfect, and we have done some crazy things to get some of the things we want, but to receive the best from God we need to live a virtuous life. We cannot change our past, but we can change today by living a virtuous life. Now, when God says humility and fearing Him are riches, honor, and life, He means it, which is why He tells us not to work to be rich, not to follow our own wisdom, and set our eyes on true riches.
“Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.” – Proverbs 23:4-11.
“cease from thine own wisdom.” There is a good reason why God tells us stop doing things in our own wisdom, our thoughts are not the same as His, what He wants for us is much more that what we can ever imagine, and we can ever comprehend it on our own. True wisdom comes from God, and in only acquired by having a relationship with His Son. Love God, have some honor, get saved, and His blessings will come pouring down upon us. God does not care about what we possess, He cares about what we do through His Son, He blesses us with possessions when we humble ourselves before Him, and live a virtuous life with Him in it. “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” – II Peter 1:3-4.
“having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Let me tell you, earthly possessions do not last, in an instant we can lose everything we have. Envying what others have gets you no where, and selling your soul for riches will get you somewhere, but not where you want to be. There are times when I look at someone and wonder why I do not have what they have, then when I realize what they did to get what they got and become ashamed of myself. I have been in the world and got caught up in the money that can be made in it, but then God showed up and gave me a glimpse of where I would be if I continued where I was. I do not know about you, but I do not want to gain any kind of fortune by doing things through the worlds lusts. We can rest assure that if we simply trust God, He will give us everything we need and then some.
“If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works? My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off. Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place: For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” – Proverbs 24:10-16.
“For a just man falleth seven times,” No matter how much virtue we have, we are human, we mess up, we fall, but the difference between us and the world, Jesus Christ. He is the one who picks us up when we fall, He is the one who gets is to rise again. Faithful Christians are going to fall on hard times, even if they are wealthy, but they have Jesus to help them get back up. Stop worrying about the things that you do not have, take care of what you do have, the more God trusts You with the little things you have right now the more He can trust you with the much bigger things He has waiting for you. “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” – Matthew 6:30-34.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.” – Proverbs 22:4.
Today’s Prayer: God, I may not be the wisest person on earth, but I know that without You nothing lasts. No matter how much I learn, unless You are there with me, it is vain, and I will never be satisfied. I tried to do things my way and all I did was make a mess of things, I am trusting You to guide me as I learn Your truths and apply them to my life. Give me Your power to live in and through Christ, who makes everything possible, and supplies me with all I need for Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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