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: Monday, June 05, 2023
Chapters: PROVERBS 7-9
Study: Two Births
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
I have a birth record, in fact we all do, of the day I was born, down to minute that I was brought in this world. Now, I had been living in my mothers belly for a little over eight months prior to that so I was still a living being. Even if I had never gotten the opportunity to be brought in this world, I was still a living being, only my home would have been with Jesus. I do not care at what point a woman conceives, as soon as she does there is a living human being inside of her womb, who God actually knew before then, [Jeremiah 1:5-7 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. 6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. 7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.]
Now, this was actually God speaking to Jeremiah, but the same applies to us, before we were even a heartbeat in our mothers belly, God already knew who we were and what He would have for us to do. However, before we can be used of God we need to be born a second time, [John 3:3-5 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.]
There is another birthday that all saved, born again Christians have and that is their spiritual birthday. We may not know the exact minute that we were born of the Spirit, but we can tell you exactly when we understood that we needed Jesus to save our soul and accepted Him as our Saviour, [Acts 16:29-31 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.]
Now, once we are saved we are known as babes in Christ, we are simple minded, void of the understanding of God’s Word, and quite frankly, a little naive. Nevertheless, we are like sponges soaking up all the newness of Christ now being in our lives. As we continue in the reading of Proverbs, we find the importance of keeping ourselves from God’s commands after we are saved in order to keep ourselves out of trouble.
[Proverbs 7:1-7 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. 2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. 4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: 5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. 6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, 7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,]
[That they may keep thee from the strange woman,] Did you ever notice that Proverbs makes a lot of references to adulterous women? Of course, the book is written from a father to his son, but we can learn a lot if we read between the lines of God being our Father speaking to us through His Son. Some of us take a little longer to grow, which is just fine, but as long as we are growing, we become wiser in the knowledge of God’s ways and are actually prosperous. Those void of understanding lag behind and stunt their growth as they allow the temptress to come in and turn them astray. Watch what happens when the one void of understanding falls for the temptress.
[Proverbs 7:21-27 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. 22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; 23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. 24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. 25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. 26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.]
[with the flattering of her lips she forced him.] The devil does not care if he has to use your faith in God, your disposition in life, your relationships, or your desires, he will use anyone he can to flatter us with those words we want to hear in order to get us to stray. We must lay up God’s commandments safely, not only to keep them, close to us, but live them as well. We need to let the Word of God dwell in us, and keep it close by to where it will be always at hand to be read so that we continuously grow in Christ. Doing this will keep us from the fatal effects of our own passions, and the snares of Satan, who cannot more force us to commit sin no more than God can from not committing sin, but can flatter us, [1 Peter 5:8-10 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.]
Surely our salvation is not based on our works, and nothing we could ever do would change that, but that does not mean that God will not send judgment upon us. We can think of the world, and quite frankly most religions, as an adulteress woman or man, seeking to keep us entangled in it and from living the way that God wants us to live. We are the apple of God’s eye, if we have accepted His Son as our Saviour, then why would He not want us to improve on the quality of our lives by keeping His commands? Following His commands are by far the wisest decisions we will make next to accepting Christ as our Saviour.
[Proverbs 8:1-7 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? 2 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. 3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. 4 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. 5 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. 6 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. 7 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.]
[and the opening of my lips shall be right things.] As we read His Word and apply it to our lives, we become more mature and better equipped to handle the temptations that come. However, the sad truth is that most do not and end up suffering in their sin, unknowingly realizing that even if you are saved, sin leads to death, [James 1:13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.]
The knowledge of Christ dying to save our soul from the depths of hell ought to send us running to both the altar and His Word. Jesus, can tolerate our slow growth, but what He will not tolerate is our receiving Him just to go on living in sin. In fact, as you read though these passages you will discover that this is actually Jesus speaking and what it is exactly that we need to be doing to inherit true treasures.
[Proverbs 8:13-23 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. 14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. 15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. 16 By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. 17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. 18 Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. 19 My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. 20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: 21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. 22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.]
[pride, and arrogancy,] Pride, is the very drive that keeps people from accepting Christ in the first place as they do not want to admit that they are sinners. Pride, is also what keeps those who are saved from submitting to the will of God. And as for being arrogant, well, that is like telling yourself that you are God, [1 John 5:3-4 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.]
[That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance;] God, made everything simple, man is the one who complicated things. And while God can certainly take away every bit of freewill that we have, He gives us the choice to choose Him, all He asks that if we do choose Him that we keep His Word, [Isaiah 1:18-20 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.]
As you study the true Word of God you discover some amazing things that you might not have known had you never read it. Everyone knows who Jesus is, but unless you read about Him in the only infallible book of truth you would never have known that He is actually much more than a man who walked the streets of Israel preaching about God, and was martyred for defending His faith. Jesus, was here from the very beginning, has always been, and is in fact, God in the flesh.
[Proverbs 8:25-31 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: 26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. 27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: 28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: 29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: 30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.]
[and my delights were with the sons of men.] Do you understand that Jesus delights to be with us? Okay, just think about this, God is omnipotent, meaning He has the power to do whatever He wants, He decided He was going to, in a sense, show Himself in the form or three different persons, them being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which He has a specific reason for. Jesus has always been, in fact, He is God in the flesh, and those who believe that are the ones who get are saved from the fire, and receive eternal life.
[Proverbs 8:32-36 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. 33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. 34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. 35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. 36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.]
[But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul:] No one thinks, especially when they have a strong faith in God and are faithful to Him, that they are capable of falling into sin, but no one is that strong on their own. We need the strength of Christ, every single day for He is the only one who can give us the strength to not only resist that temptation, but not even put ourselves in that position to begin with. Satan, can really care less about our being saved, what he cares about is keeping others from knowing the truth about Christ. If he can get us to ruin our testimony, then it will get people to doubt Him.
[Proverbs 9:1-6 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: 2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. 3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, 4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, 5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. 6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.]
[Forsake the foolish, and live;] If we lean on God’s understanding instead of our own, we will find that we will be foolish and not even need to work so hard. Our strength to live the simple life, and prospering as we do, is listening to Jesus. Jesus takes extra special care of those who love Him, and He is not hard to find. In fact, you will find Him in the midst of the biggest obstacles, and when we truly seek Him we will discover that he does really keep it simple, [Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.]
I come to realize the more I teach God’s truths, the more people I attract, some are rude and hateful, but quite a few find hope and comfort in hearing about Jesus. You cannot explain the Word of God to those who are void of understanding the simple things, all it does is get us riled up and take valuable time away from someone who really wants to hear it. Those who do will soak it up like the sponges that they are, but those who will not will fall to their own death and hell.
[Proverbs 9:9-12,17-18 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 11 For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased. 12 If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. 17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. 18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.]
[but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.] [Scorner; one who scoffs at religion, its ordinances and teachers, and who makes a mock of sin and the judgments and threatening of God against sinners.] We waste so much valuable time trying to convince the foolish that we stand by God, but it is time to forsake the foolish, and live. Live the simple, joyful, blessed life that God wants you to live, and let God take care of the rest, [2 Timothy 2:19-22 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. 22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for adopting us into Your family the second we receive Your Son as our Saviour. We are not saved by any of our works, only by grace through our faith and acceptance of Your Son, and His finished work on the cross. Thank You, also for the fire that You put under us to refine us and remove the impurities that weigh us down. Our faith in You needs to go beyond our salvation, we need a continual walk with Jesus to conform into an image the resembles Him as He refines us. Part of that walk is in reading Your Word, and applying it to our lives. We are not always going to make the right decisions, and You will try us in order to keep us from getting burned. Lord, lead us and guide us, give us Your wisdom, understanding, and strength to endure the fire. And fill us with Your mercy and grace so that we may endure it with You and come forth as gold like You continue to do. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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