Proverbs 4:7-9 (KJV) Get Wisdom

 Proverbs 4:7-9 (KJV)

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

I see in this passage three things we are to do concerning wisdom:
Get wisdom
The Bible says, “with all thy getting.”  First and foremost, before work, money, or family. Before we attempt to make our mark in the world, get wisdom.

Exalt wisdom

The word has to do with stacking up as the Lord did the waters of Jordan for Israel under Joshua. It is similar to the words of Jesus Christ “if I be lifted up.”[1] It means to make wisdom plain and visible. Wisdom is not to be hidden.

Embrace wisdom
Meaning, “to clasp or fold the hands.” Once gotten, wisdom must be held on to. It would not do to get wisdom and stuff it in a closet. It is to be gotten with all our getting, elevated so that it is obvious and then embraced so that it is ever near to our side and heart.

As it is found in the Proverbs, the description of wisdom sounds like Christ Jesus. Get Christ with all your getting. Lift Christ for all to see in your life. Embrace Christ so that you never leave His side.

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[1] John 12:32 (KJV)
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
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Proverbs 4:7-9 (KJV) Get Wisdom

Revelation 3:18 (KJV) What Hope!

 

Revelation 3:18 (KJV)

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

What hope!

When one considers the scathing words of our Saviour against the church that was in Laodicea, one could come nearly to the conclusion that all hope was gone.

• Jesus said He would spue them out of his mouth
• Jesus said they were, wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked

But then:
He offered them counsel
That is hopeful

He told them to buy
That means that even in their spiritual wretchedness they had something

Jesus said to buy gold tried in fire
They could still obtain something of spiritual worth

He said He loved them
And was therefore willing to rebuke and chasten them

He said they could repent
It was not too late to turn around

He said He stood at the door and knocked

He had not forgotten or forsaken them
It’s not too late. If you read this and wonder if it is too late for you it is not.

Be zealous therefore, and repent

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Revelation 3:18 (KJV) What Hope!

Proverbs 1:17 (KJV) The Theme of the Bible

 

Proverbs 1:17 (KJV)

Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

I think it would be possible to think of this verse as the theme of the book of Proverbs. Come to think of it, it could be the theme of the entire Bible.

We have enemies, both physical and spiritual. This world, the flesh, and the devil are opposed to us. There are nets and traps of all sorts scattered about all around us. If it isn’t something that is harmful to our health it is someone looking for an easy victim.  In the spiritual realm false teachers, antichrists, and dangerous religions are just about on every corner. Jesus said that some of them would be so convincing that, if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect.

But the Bible reveals these nets and traps. The believers who keep their eyes on the book will see those nets for what they are.

We’ve just got to get hold of our attention, so we are in the Word of God as we ought to be.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Proverbs 1:17 (KJV) The Theme of the Bible

Revelation 2:9 (KJV) What Jesus Said

 

Revelation 2:9 (KJV)

I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Consider this verse in contrast with, Revelation 3:17 (KJV) 
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

On the one hand, we see a Church that appeared poor, but Jesus said is rich. On the other hand, we see a church that appeared to be rich, but Jesus said that it is “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

The one is a matter of fact. Jesus said that He knew the church in Smyrna to be poor and in tribulation. He said of them that the physical fact that it was poor did not outweigh the spiritual fact that it was rich.

The other was a matter of perception. Laodicea felt like it was rich and needed nothing. The church did not know it was spiritually impoverished.

What we appear to be and what we believe ourselves to be is not nearly as important and what Jesus says is the truth concerning us.

That truth can only be discovered in the Bible.

How desperately we must be Bible people.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Revelation 2:9 (KJV) What Jesus Said

Revelation 1:9 (KJV) Companions

 

Revelation 1:9 (KJV)

I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

John says to the reader[1] that he is our brother and that he is our companion on three levels:

• In tribulation
• In the kingdom
• In the patience of Jesus Christ

I am thinking about the third of those three. Jesus is both Lord and King even today. He was also in John’s day. He can turn the king’s heart. He can conquer and consume any evil we face in this world. He could, if so willed, return at any moment to take us to heaven. There is nothing too hard for God. And yet, we face the tribulations of life. We endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Our faith places us in predicaments of every sort and trials of every nature. What a pleasure it would be to have an end to these troubles. What joy when we find ourselves finally enjoying His kingdom.

And why not now? I pray every day, “Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.” “Why not today?”

It’s because of the patience of Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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[1] Who, as much as any book of the Bible, is you and me because the Revelation is written to the future.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Revelation 1:9 (KJV) Companions

Jude 1:13 (KJV) Wandering Stars

 

Jude 1:13 (KJV)

Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

The passage is, of course, contending with those “certain men crept in unawares.” The remarks the Word of God pronounces against them are scathing. No doubt, this speaks of individuals who work their way into churches and cause great harm.

I would like to explore a secondary application. Perhaps even worse than those individuals who creep into churches are those attitudes and characteristics that, like them, can creep into us unawares.

• A characteristic of rebellion
• A characteristic of greed
• A characteristic of pride

And the one I wish to focus on

• A characteristic of wandering

Everyone knows that stars have a fixed path. Creationists and evolutionists may disagree on the cause of this path, but, to my knowledge, even the evolutionist agrees that the stars move at a fixed rate and on a fixed path. It’s why the old sailors could guide their ships by them. It’s how astronomers chart and watch them.

Occasionally, a star will get out of its path. Technically I know it’s not a true star, but it is a heavenly object. Some of them are large enough and come close enough to cause concern to those who gaze into the sky. These wandering stars threaten to collide and cause great harm and death.

God has a place for you and me. He also has a course for our lives. When we wander out of place and set for ourselves a course not intended by the Lord, we threaten great harm and loss in the work of the Lord.

Few of those wandering stars hit our planet. Most of them are only empty threats. Things like gravitational forces prevent them from hitting our home. A few make it into the atmosphere, where they burn up. Only small bits of them have ever made it to the earth. They’ve not been anywhere near as damaging as they appear. I think the same is true of those wandering stars of our nature.

Still, it is wise to identify them and ask the Lord to contain and correct them in us.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Jude 1:13 (KJV) Wandering Stars

Psalms 142:3 (KJV) This Caveat

 

Psalms 142:3 (KJV)

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.

There is no question that the Psalmist was hurting. We are kidding ourselves if we think Christians are always supposed to be happy, healthy, and prosperous. That just isn’t Bible.

The superscript for the Psalm tells us that this was a psalm of David when he was in the cave. I wonder how, in that hidden place, he could have cried out to the LORD with his voice?

He likens himself to a sheep in green pasture or a deer by a water brook in other Psalms. Here he speaks of his enemy knowing his path and laying a snare for him on it. I am reminded of how hunters research an animal’s patterns and paths and then set a stand so he can wait and kill the unsuspecting beast. The deer are doing what deer always do. However, this time he is unwittingly walking into the enemy’s sights. David felt just like that.

Except for this one caveat. David knew that the hunter wasn’t the only one who knew his path. David knew God also saw. Was he overwhelmed? Sure he was. But he kept on because he knew God would, either in this world or the next, deal bountifully with him.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Psalms 142:3 (KJV) This Caveat

Psalms 141:5 (KJV) A Righteous Smiting

 

Psalms 141:5 (KJV)

Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

The Psalmist’s great concern here is that he does not want to be inclined to any evil thing.[1] Evil isn’t necessarily wicked. It could be anything that is destructive, counterproductive, especially anything that does not progress spiritual growth.

In an effort not to be inclined this way:

• The Psalmist implores the Lord
• The Psalmist seeks to set a watch over his mouth
• The Psalmist separates from men that work iniquity
• The Psalmist also seeks righteous men who willingly smite him.

To the latter, it isn’t that they smite him out of anger or for things that have little purpose. Really, could a righteous man be mean-spirited and given to anger or a cruel nature? I think not. What the Psalmist wishes is that righteous men would correct him when they witness an inclination toward evil.

• It might be a loving rebuke
• It might be a stern word
• It might be they close a door

The point is that they do it for our good. A righteous man would always and only smite us for our good. 

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[1] Psalms 141:4 (KJV)
Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and, more than 5500 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Psalms 141:5 (KJV) A Righteous Smiting