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: Saturday, June 04, 2022
Chapters: PROVERBS 4-6
Study: Keep Going Strait
Hello My Friend,
In this walk that we take with Christ, the longer we walk with Him the more we understand that He called it right when He said, [Matthew 7:14-17 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.]
Strait is not misspelled, it means; Distress; difficulty; distressing necessity. Yes, walking with Christ can take a toll on us as it does bring a lot of distress, and sadly, it is often the people in our lives that bring that distress, whether it be family, coworkers, church members, or just strangers that cross our paths. There is not one of us who has not been deceived by some wolf, those we thought had the same belief in Jesus and walk with Him that we do only to find out the truth the hard way. And let me tell you, it is more painful to come with terms with the fact that we have been deceived than had we just knew it from the start. Knowledge truly is power, and if there is anything that we can learn from the Proverbs, it is that to keep ourselves from being deceived we need to keep going strait, [Proverbs 4:25-27 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.]
As we continue in the reading of Proverbs, we are reminded that knowledge is power, and the key to getting the wisdom and understanding that we need to keep going strait, [Proverbs 4:1-8 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. 2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. 3 For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. 5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.]
[Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee:] Wisdom; The right use or exercise of knowledge; the choice of laudable ends, and of the best means to accomplish them. Do you see what I mean when I say that knowledge is power? Anyone can read God’s Word and receive knowledge from it, but only the saved who are faithful in their walk with Jesus will use that knowledge the right way, [1 Corinthians 3:18-19 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.]
I tell you what, the longer I am in the world and working in it, the more I discover just how foolish the wisdom of this world is. They think that they can play God and get away with it, well, God, is not taking any of what they are doing lightly, He will take them out in their own craftiness, which is pure wickedness. Our only defense is literally the Word of God and applying its knowledge to our hearts, minds, and path strait.
[Proverbs 4:10-18 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. 11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. 12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. 13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. 14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. 16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.]
[Enter not into the path of the wicked,] Our walk with Christ is not really a straight path at all, it is full of hills and valleys that will bring a lot of distress, and it is actually something that God allows for one reason, to keep us strait. We do not need to stress out about it or worry ourselves to death, it will do us no good anyway, what we can do is get in the Light, who is Christ, and let Him guide us.
[Luke 12:3-7 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. 4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.]
When you stop to consider the fact that we lose between fifty and one hundred hairs per day, yet each one is numbered by God, we can rest assure that God’s path for us is well thought out and not something He takes lightly either. You can imagine the grief that it brings Him when His faithful fall into the path of those who expose them to evils of the world. All it takes is one sheep in wolves clothing to take us down that path that we are warned through the Proverbs.
[Proverbs 5:1-11 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: 2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. 3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. 7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: 9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: 10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; 11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,]
[Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life,] Do not think that this just applies to men who can be deceived by adulteress women, this applies to women as well as there are plenty of adulter men out there too and adultery does not have to be physical. Remember, the serpent did not need to physically touch Eve to get her to grab the apple, all he did was leave just a little bit out of God’s Word to get her to ponder on the fruit, [Genesis 3:4-6 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.]
[and depart not from the words of my mouth.] There is a reason why God says, “Do not pass Go!” to some people, especially those who are quick to say, “Ye shall not surely die:” We think that we are strong enough to handle temptation or that we can turn anyone to follow God’s Word, but the truth is, while it is not impossible as long as God is in the picture, most likely the one who changes is you. It is God who actually ponders the paths of all mankind, and knows exactly what path those who really care less about keeping His Word in their mouths would take us. And no one exempt from the temptations of the devil.
[Proverbs 5:14-17,21-23 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. 15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. 16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. 17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. 21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. 22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. 23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.]
[I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation] All it takes is one foot in the door to get ourselves caught up in a trap that would lead to death. There are plenty of saved, born again Christians who have gotten caught up in these chains of sin that literally destroyed them and some have even died in their sin. There is not one of us strong enough to go down the path of sin in our own strength, and that is why we need Jesus every step we take, [Psalms 142:3-5 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. 4 I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. 5 I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.]
Every step we take needs to be thought out, and by far, taken with the Word of God upon our heart, especially when we are overwhelmed with life. Nevertheless, we have all be deceived a time or two by those who were not on the strait path, some caught on sooner rather than later, others are still caught up in a trap, but there is always a way to escape, and that is to humble ourselves before God.
[Proverbs 6:1-4 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, 2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. 3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. 4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. 5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler..]
[go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.] It does not matter how far behind we have gotten or even gotten off the strait path, all we need to do to get back on is to humble ourselves and get to our true friend, Jesus, [James 4:7-10 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.]
There is not one person who has not taken a look at their lives and ponders what they have done or missed in life once in a while, I call them the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s, but we cannot dwell on the past. If there are things that we want, then we need to press forward, and keep walking or get back on the strait path. Those who are not grounded in the Word of God will take not only their feet, but their entire lives into places that bring dire consequences. In fact, it will lead them down a steep and dark path bringing them a hatred toward Christ and will destroy themselves.
[Proverbs 6:16-19,30-33 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. 30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; 31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house. 32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. 33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.]
[A wound and dishonour shall he get;] As I said, we think that we can turn someone around, but it would likely be us that changes not them. And the only thing that it would do for us is wound and dishonor us while they will just move on to someone else. As we consider the path that God leads us on, we must think about who we are walking with, and if they have the knowledge that we have or are going to be trouble for us, and that includes Christians who are not walking the same faith, [2 Corinthians 6:14,17-18 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You tell us time and time again that if we want a blessed and prosperous life then we need to follow Your commands. While we are saved by grace, You still want us to follow Your commands and live in a way that pleases You and not our flesh. And it is really the only way that we can truly enjoy the gifts that You give us. Lord, lead me and guide me on the strait path that You have for me, search my heart, try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me. Let me ponder all the paths I take and if they are not led by You, turn me around and get back in the right direction. Fill me with Your wisdom, understanding, mercy, grace, and let me never become forward in my actions. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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