Lies and Discord. Proverbs 6:19 NLT

Proverbs 6:19 ESV

19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Proverbs 6:19 NIV

19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Proverbs 6:19 KJV

19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Provetbs 6:19 NLT

19 a I false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.

Breathes, pours, speaketh. Sows, stirs, soweth. Brothers, community, brethren, family. No matter which version you read, which words you use, how you say it, it's all interpreted the same. God hates a lying tongue and one who causes trouble. Is that you? Do you cause friction among your brothers or sisters or friends? Maybe you like to stir it up at work, at the holiday table, or on Facebook? God HATES that. Isn't that enough reason to stop?

Blessings, Cecilia

Genesis 16:1-4 Have Faith

The Birth of Ishmael

1Now Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne a child to him, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. 2So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.”

Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife. 4And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

Gods timing is not our timing. God made a Promise to Abram but Sarai got tired of waiting and she was going to fix the situation! How did this work out? 

“But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.”

Sarai began to despise her mistress! Sarai didn’t have faith.

We will see later how this decision affected the whole world and it still is causing conflict today!

Lesson, wait on the Lord! Don’t try to fix it yourself as you will only cause conflict.

Have faith.

Blessings, David 

Not So Sweet Revenge. Proverbs 6:18-19 NLT

"Revenge is a dish best served cold."-Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderios de LaClos 

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." 

“Beware the fury of a patient man.” ― John Dryden 

"What goes around comes around."- Unknown

We've all plotted it, some of us may have acted on it at least once. Sweet revenge. "I'll show him", "I'll show her." But in the end the only person truly hurt is ourselves. Revenge is not so sweet, it's actually rather bitter.

It's best to take the advice of the Father in Deuteronomy 32:35 "I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them."

Let go of the anger, give God your hurt and let Him heal you and deal with them.

Proverbs 6:18-19 NLT

18 a heart that plots evil,

feet that race to do wrong,

Blessings, Cecilia

Genesis 15:8-21 The Lord Cuts a Contract!

God Confirms His Promise

(Numbers 34:1-15; Romans 4:13-25)

8But Abram replied, “Lord GOD, how can I know that I will possess it?”

9And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”

10So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut. 11And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.

13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own; they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14But I will judge the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will depart with many possessions. 15You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. 16In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses. 18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates— 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

“What! Abraham, is not God’s promise sufficient for thee? … Ah, beloved! faith is often marred by a measure of unbelief; or, if not quite unbelief, yet there is a desire to have some token, some sign, beyond the bare promise of God.” (Spurgeon)

In Abram’s time, covenant’s were made by the sacrificial cutting of animals and the covenant was verbally repeated while passing through the cut pieces of animals.

The Lord cut (made) this contract.

When Abram was in the deep sleep the Lord signed this contract, “behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses.” Many times in the Bible God is represented by a flaming torch and smoking firepot (oven). 

Isn’t it interesting that the Lord told Abram (prediction) about the 400 years of slavery as mentioned later in Exodus?

God knows the future, He knows our failures and faults and still loves us!

Blessings, David 

The Innocent. Proverbs 6:16-17 NLT

There's a powerful radio commercial we hear here in northern Michigan. Maybe it plays elsewhere too. It's sponsored by "Right To Life". The announcer comes on and tells us what we are about to hear are BB's hitting the side of a can. Each BB represents 10,000 lives lost in American wars. It starts with the Revolutionary War and goes through each war fought until the war against terror. Then the BB's are dropped for the war against abortion. The sound could be deafening and seems it will never stop. 

Is that what Solomon was talking about when he said the Lord hates "hands that kill the innocent" ? And is it not just the woman who is guilty but the doctors and nurses too? What about the politicians who helped to legalize abortion and those who believe it's a womans right to choose? Are the protesters who march with signs also guilty? That's for God to decided. 

I found the ad below on the web. Although its not the same one I hear on the radio, its still powerful. 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=right+to+life+bb+radio+ad&&view=detail&mid=4DCA7A77410C0047DB284DCA7A77410C0047DB28&&FORM=VRDGAR

Proverbs 6:16-17 NLT 

16 There are six things the LORD hates— 

no, seven things he detests: 

17 haughty eyes, 

a lying tongue, 

hands that kill the innocent, 

Blessings, Cecilia 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EdTjLZPnvKM#

This was the radio commercial Cecilia was looking for but couldn’t find. 

Genesis 15:1-7 Righteousness

God's Covenant with Abram

(Romans 4:1-12; Galatians 3:1-9; Hebrews 11:8-19; James 2:14-26)

1After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,

your very great reward.”

2But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He declared, “So shall your offspring be.”

6Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

7The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

Abram was afraid because he had just defeated four kings and was afraid of retribution. God was reassuring him, ““Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,”.....

And because Abram didn’t take a reward for the victory over the four kings God was also telling him, (I God) “am...your very great reward.”

God was going to bless him. But Abram was concerned because he had doubt about an heir, he didn’t have a son and didn’t want his chief servant Eliezer to become his heir. 

There’s a lesson to learn here, it’s ok to have doubt with belief but it’s not ok to doubt with disbelief.

This verse says it all, “6Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

To have doubt is ok but you must believe. May we all be an example like Abram.

Blessings, David 

What Goes Around.... Proverbs 6:12-15 NLT

Do you remember the television series "Get Smart"? It first aired in 1965 and stared Don Adams as Maxwell Smart Agent 86 a bumbling secret agent. His side kick was agent 99 played by Barbara Feldon. Together they battled the evil forces of KAOS .

That has absolutely nothing to do with the verse below, it just came to mind when I started thinking about verse 14 "Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble."

Plotting evil, stirring up trouble, creating a crises, chaos (KAOS). See how I got there?

Since we know, in the end, the good guy (God) always wins, it's best we just stay clear of the type described in these verses and let God deal with them.

Proverbs 6:12-15 NLT

12 What are worthless and wicked people like?

They are constant liars,

13 signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye,

a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.

14 Their perverted hearts plot evil,

and they constantly stir up trouble.

15 But they will be destroyed suddenly,

broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.

Blessings, Cecilia 

Genesis 14:17-24 Who was Melchizedek?

Melchizedek Blesses Abram

(Hebrews 7:1-10)

17After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High— 19and he blessed Abram and said:

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Creator of heaven and earth,

20and blessed be God Most High,

who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

21The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself.”

22But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share for the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. They may take their portion.”

Where did Melchizedek come from? We don’t know but we do know he was a king and a priest of the Most High which was forbidden for kings of Israel. This is why Uzziah was struck with leprosy when he tried to do the work of a priest. (2 Chronicles 26:16-23)

Melchizedek was not related to Abram or other known covenant people of God.

Because of the following verses some believe it was a Christopwoney. (An Old Testament appearance of Jesus.)

Psalm 110:4 The Lord has sworn

And will not relent,

“You are a priest forever

According to the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 7:3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

“The question cannot be said to be settled completely… otherwise, the identity of Melchizedek would have been agreed on by Bible scholars long ago” (Morris)

“22But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,”..... indicates Abram made a vow to the Lord God Most High.

“Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. They may take their portion.” They were Amorites, so with the custom of the time, they could take their portion.

Who was Melchizedek? We just don’t know.

Blessings, David 

Do Your Job! Proverbs 6:6-11 NLT

There's a balance between work and rest. I know some who rest too much and some who work too much. I think what's important is a good work ethic. Do you give your employer their money's worth?

I recently started a new job and was told when I come in to work to prepare myself to walk out to the sales floor before I punched in. When leaving at the end of my shift to punch out first, then prepare myself to leave. I was also told to be on time and "mind my own business". If I see someone "abusing the time clock, don't worry about it, they get found out eventually." No one likes a snitch.

Colossians 3:23 tells us to "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." Wouldn't it be great if everyone did their job "as though you were working for the Lord"?

I'm back in the secular work world after many years away from it. I pray I will be an example of Jesus in the workplace and I pray I will be a good example of Colossians 3:23.

Proverbs 6:6-11 NLT

6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.

Learn from their ways and become wise!

7 Though they have no prince

or governor or ruler to make them work,

8 they labor hard all summer,

gathering food for the winter.

9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?

When will you wake up?

10 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

11 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;

scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

Blessings, Cecilia 

Genesis 14:10-16 Abram rescues Lot!

Lot Seized by the Four Kings

10Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some men fell into the pits, but the survivors fled to the hill country.

11The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food, and they went on their way. 12They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

Abram Rescues Lot

13Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram. 14And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he assembled the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.

15During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16He retrieved all the goods, as well as his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the rest of the people.

Did you catch the significance in these verses? It’s an important one. “he assembled the 318 trained men born in his household”, Abram kept and trained his own personal army! A wise and prudent man.

Abram and 318 men routed the undefeated king (Chedorlaomer) and his army! How can this be? Because God was with him!

Unfortunately Lot returns to Sodom after his rescue and eventually it will cost him everything.

Sin draws us like metal to a magnet and we will get stuck to it unable to free ourselves. Fortunately we have a loving Father!

Does sin have ahold of you? Seek Him with all your heart and ask Him to free you from being carried off by the devils army.

Blessings, David 

Who are you indebted to? Proverbs 6:1-5 NLT

 “Our God, while he warns us against putting up security, has taken it on himself. May his name be praised for this! He has given us his Word, his bond, yes, his blood as security for sinners, which no power of hell can shake.” (Bridges)

" If we live as directed by the word of God, we shall find it profitable even in this present world. We are stewards of our worldly substance, and have to answer to the Lord for our disposal of it; to waste it in rash schemes, or such plans as may entangle us in difficulties and temptations, is wrong. A man ought never to be surety for more than he is able and willing to pay, and can afford to pay, without wronging his family; he ought to look upon every sum he is engaged for, as his own debt. If we must take all this care to get our debts to men forgiven, much more to obtain forgiveness with God. Humble thyself to him, make sure of Christ as thy Friend, to plead for thee; pray earnestly that thy sins may be pardoned, and that thou mayest be kept from going down to the pit. " (Henry)

Jesus paid a debt He didn't owe. We owe a debt we cannot pay.

Proverbs 6:1-5 NLT

1 My child, if you have put up security for a friend’s debt

or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger—

2 if you have trapped yourself by your agreement

and are caught by what you said—

3 follow my advice and save yourself,

for you have placed yourself at your friend’s mercy.

Now swallow your pride;

go and beg to have your name erased.

4 Don’t put it off; do it now!

Don’t rest until you do.

5 Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,

like a bird fleeing from a net.

Blessings, Cecilia

Genesis 14:1-9 War of the Kings!

The War of the Kings

1In those days Amraphel king of Shinar,a Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim 2went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

3The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Seab ). 4For twelve years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

5In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El-paran, which is near the desert. 7Then they turned back to invade En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

8Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and arrayed for battle in the Valley of Siddim 9against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.

Archeology has discovered the wake left by these kings. They destroyed everything in their wake, plundered villages, the countryside was laid to waste and every human being was killed or taken captive. For hundreds of years thereafter the areas left by these kings was like an abandoned cemetery, monuments shattered and strewn in pieces on the ground and hideously unkept.

But what will happen to Lot? Stay tuned!

Blessings, David 

Genesis 13:14-18 Promises!

God Renews the Promise to Abram

14After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west. 15For all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspringa forever.

16I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. 17Get up and walk around the land, through its length and width—for I will give it to you.”

18So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Abram May have been relieved or sad with Lots departure, but either way God felt it necessary to renew His Promise to Abram.

When God makes a promise He keeps it, just like the promise He made to me and you.

2 Peter 1:4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Are you holding on to the exceedingly great and precious promises?

2 Peter 1:3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 

Be a partaker of the divine nature and you will have everything you need for life!

Blessings, David 

Genesis 13:10-13 Lot Walked By Sight

Lot Proceeds Toward Sodom

10Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.

12Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.

Abram walked by faith and Lot walked by sight.  Lot’s choices by sight shows he had a heart issue. This gives us a picture on how sin works, Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom a sinful city and like Lot we put one foot in thinking we can remove it at any time but eventually we will be all in and loose everything just as Lot eventually did.

Don’t pitch you tent towards Sodom, you will eventually loose everything maybe even your soul.

Blessings, David 

Genesis 13:1-9 Trust Him

Abram and Lot Part Ways

1So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him. 2And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.

3From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched, 4to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

5Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6But the land was unable to support both of them while they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they were unable to coexist. 7And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.

8So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are brothers. 9Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

Isn’t it interesting that Abram returned to the place that he had left when he didn’t trust God because of the famine?

He did the right thing by returning and seeking after the Lord.

He also trusted the Lord with His Promise when he was generous and offered Lot the whole land in either direction.

Brethren, we need to be like Abram in these verses, return to the Lord, seek Him, trust Him and the promise He made to you in Jesus Christ. Our Father loves you just as He did Abram and will care for you as He did for him.

Do you trust Him?

Blessings, David 

Genesis 12:10-20 What is faith?

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

10Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman, 12and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will allow you to live. 13Please say that you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”

14So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh. 16He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

17The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

20Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away with his wife and all his possessions.

Abram was the Promise, do you think God would let him starve because of a famine? He went down to Egypt without direction from God, he lied about his wife, accepted gifts under false pretenses and was rebuked by a pagan king and then forced out of Egypt.

The Egypt trip will have future consequences. God blessed Abram even though he was a liar and kept His Promise even though Abram didn’t do what he was supposed to do.

But Abram had faith, he built alters and called on the name of the Lord.

“Faith is not a mushroom that grows overnight in damp soil; it is an oak tree that grows for a thousand years under the blast of the wind and rain” (Barnhouse).

Do you have faith?

Blessings, David