King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Thursday, June 03, 2021
Chapters: Proverbs Chapters 1-3
Message: To Understand God
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today I thought about what Jesus said to the disciples when they asked Him why He spoke in parables, [Matthew 13:10-12 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.]
Proverbs work the same way that parables do, they are small tidbits of truth that only those whom have a relationship with God will understand. The Book of Proverbs contains thirty-one chapters, most of the book is penned down by King Solomon, in his early days of reign, the timeline is about 990 to 995 BC. The book was first written to the Jews, but these truths are addressed to all believers. The purpose of the book is to teach wisdom, instruction, and correction to all who fear God. What we are to learn from it is that, God teaches us wisdom, instruction, and correction so that we learn to lean on His understanding and not our own, [Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.]
When you first begin reading the Proverbs they seem like a bunch of sentences thrown together, but as you begin to study them you realize this is not Solomon speaking, it is actually Jesus. It is recorded in I Kings that Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs, all under the inspiration of God, [Proverbs 1:1-6 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; 4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. 5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: 6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.]
[To understand a proverb, and the interpretation;] You do not have to be a genius to be wise, you just have to be learnable. We get wisdom by understanding the knowledge that we receive. People read the Bible all the time, but very few actually understand it because they need to have faith in it first. Without faith, God will never trust you to understand His Word, let alone show you His mysteries. God will not be mocked, if you are a foolish skeptic or have no intention of acknowledging and following His Word, then He will mock you.
[Proverbs 1:24–29 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; 25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; 27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: 29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:]
[I will mock when your fear cometh;] There are two types of fear, there is the fear as having respect for God, acknowledging His ways, and walking in them out of reverence to who He is. Then there is the fear of being so terrified of God that the thought of death overtakes them to the point that they refuse to accept Him. When I was growing up I had the fear that if I did one thing wrong God would strike me down, that was due to the false religion I was in, but that actually kept me from going to God. Of course, back then I had no idea what it was really like to have God in my life, and thank God He showed me the truth. And he only did that when I started seeking Him by faith, [Hebrews 11:1,3,6 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.]
There is something truly uplifting when you discover that God wants a relationship with you, not only to save your soul, but to walk and talk with you as an equal to Him. We cannot blame God for the evils of the world, man has brought that upon themselves by not only not acknowledging God, but loving the sin that they commit. We cannot expect God to do great things in our lives if there is constant sin in our lives, we can expect that He wants us to keep His commands.
[Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.]
[and find the knowledge of God.] [Wisdom; The right use or exercise of knowledge. Knowledge; A clear and certain perception of that which exists, or is of truth and fact.] It is God who gives us every bit of the knowledge we have, it is the Holy Spirit in us that helps understand what that knowledge is. There is a good reason why God does not give us knowledge of certain things. God’s wisdom far exceeds that of mans, and the sooner we figure that out the longer we will live in this life. True wisdom comes when we understand that our salvation is not justification to live a sinful life, but to live a virtuous life so that evil does not always find us.
[Proverbs 2:10-15 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; 11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: 12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; 13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:]
[Discretion shall preserve thee,] [Preserve; To keep or save from injury or destruction; to defend from evil.] It is only when we take the time to know God that we grow in His knowledge and learn not only about the salvation of our souls, but how to keep ourselves safe from the evils of the world. While we will never be completely sheltered from the evils of the world, the more we learn from God, the wiser we become, the more we are able to combat evil, [1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.]
Our goal in reading God’s Word has nothing to do with understanding His existence, it has everything to do with understanding Him personally. We first have to believe that His Word is true, and if we believe that His Word is true, we understand that we truly need Jesus in order for us to attain the knowledge necessary to get saved. The wisest decision we will ever make is receiving Christ as our Saviour, once we do that, and with a willing heart, start reading His Word, we will begin to hear what He is saying to us.
[Proverbs 3:3-8 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.]
[In all thy ways acknowledge him,] Leaning on our own understanding is what gets us in trouble to begin with. Do you know how many times thoughts of my past come flooding back when I pray? Almost daily. No, I do not dwell on them, they are reminders of where leaning on my own understanding took me, and what Jesus did to turn it around. And just reading the Bible one time is not going to cut it, it needs to be constant, and it needs to be applied, [Romans 2:12-13 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.]
Faithful Christians are not always going to make wise decisions, if fact, many times we will get caught up in something and make rash decisions because we did not think things through before we acted. God’s grace and truth is what gets us back on track, and even helps us through those bad decisions. When we lean on our own understanding, we are only looking at the surface of things, and we will make bad decisions if all we see is the surface. When we look to God and lean on His wisdom, He will direct our path and we will not stumble.
[Proverbs 3:19-23 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. 20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. 21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: 22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. 23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.]
[by understanding hath he established the heavens.] We born with the knowledge of God in us, but that gets changed by what we are taught. We are not always going to understand God’s ways, but we can always understand that we have a secure place in heaven.
[Proverbs 3:29-35 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. 30 Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. 31 Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. 32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous. 33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. 34 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. 35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.]
[but his secret is with the righteous.] What is God’s secret with the righteous? Eternal life through His Son, [Romans 2:5-10 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:]
Jesus Christ Magnified: [Proverbs 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Proverbs 2:7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. Proverbs 3:33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.]
Today’s Prayer: God, When our minds are constantly bombarded with all sorts of doubts, guilt, frustrations, or anger, we can lose sight of the fact that You are in control and know the path that we take. Thankfully You are full of mercy and grace help us when we lean on our own understanding, and guide us back to Yours. Thank You for Your wisdom and showing us how to take the knowledge You gave us and use it for Your glory. We may not always understand it, but when we take the time to study Your Word, receive it, and obey it, then You will give us riches, honor, and long life. Lord, Lead us and guide us, fill us with Your wisdom so that we do not lean on our own understanding. Give us Your mercy, and grace, direct our paths, and show Yourself mighty in our lives for all to see. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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