Bragging On Jesus

Proverbs 22:22 Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, 23 for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them. 24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, 25 lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. Solomon teaches us not to selfishly take advantage of the vulnerable and easy targets in society. ... And then Solomon says not to enjoy friendship with an angry person or a person who takes out their frustrations on others; or else we may become like him. So in these verses we find a few villains. One robs the poor; one subdues the afflicted; another is full of anger and the last mentioned is a wrathful man. These are all brothers… or at the least close relatives in the family of villains. For those who take advantage of the poor and afflicted… Gods word is clear… God will deal with them firmly. Believe it. Small clip of Gods related word to Israel: Exodus 22:22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fath

Proverbs In 365 Devotions For a full transcript go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 22:17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, 18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. 19 That your trust may be in the Lord, I have made them known to you today, even to you. 20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, 21 to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you? ......... Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. We are blind; he is the eye opener. We are deaf to his words; he gives us ears to hear. We have no understanding or awareness until God let’s us know Jesus is the greatest treasure in the Universe. We are dead spiritually like Lazarus was physically until God says come forth. We are without form and void, and darkness is over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God hove

Proverbs In 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. 16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. In today’s passage we find that Solomon wants us to discipline our children. And apparently there is even a time when it is appropriate to use a rod on them. I suspect some have used this verse as an excuse to take out their frustrations on their children… maybe even beat them so that they could hardly move. Please do not read this into the verse!!! It is not there. In fact the very next verse which we read says how we should not to oppress the poor to benefit ourselves. You see… God does not approve of oppressing others not the poor as his word says and certainly not our children. Colossians 3:21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. So we cannot provoke to oppress our children and yet at the same time

Proverbs 22:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!” 14 The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit; he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it. It’s interesting to me how these two verses fit together so well… ... For one we human beings rationalize and make excuses when we don’t want to do something claiming it is dangerous or will cause pain or suffering in some way; … While with open arms a man will run towards the arms of a forbidden woman which can ruin his life. The forbidden woman is a thousand times worse than a lion for sure! I believe we can see the spiritual parallel of how the forbidden woman not only represents adultery and fornication but also the forsaking of our Creator and making all kinds of sin into god’s rather than the Lord. So this forbidden woman can lead a man to eternal destruction while a lion can only kill our physical body. Something else… When I come to this verse a “take notice” flag pop up as if to say slow down, something seems

Proverbs 22:10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. 11 He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. 12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the traitor. Today we find some good words for leaders in various organizations… business owners… governments… even close knit type circles of friendship… Drive out a scoffer… First who is a scoffer? That would be a person who’s always ridiculing in a scornfully derisive or mocking way. Some people just hold this way of looking at life and relating to others at their core. Its not that they are not capable of change… it does not mean Jesus does not love them or did not die for them… its just that they will cause all kinds of trouble in your business or organization and your group will struggle to accomplish great things. Typically I think the scoffer buddies up and builds up those he is with at the time but then he puts them down when

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. 8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. 9 Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. ... Let’s take a brief look at each one in a physical and spiritual context then look for the link between them. A borrower is slave of the lender right? I mean, we may not think of it like that but the truth is.... if you have a $500 monthly car payment and a $1100 house and you make $100 day... if so then you are really working 16 full 8 hour days every month for your lender... and likely for many years… and if you don’t pay they will take disciplinary actions like someone might do to a slave… Surely not as severe but still the message is clear… borrowers are slaves in some context to lenders. A spiritual application to borrowing money from a lender to obtain something we desire might be thought of like this. Consider all the different kinds of sinful th

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Proverbs In 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. 2 The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all. 3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. 4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life. Alright, as we start Proverbs 22, Solomon begins talking about money or wealth. He mentions riches in three of these four verses, but first he tells us there’s something better than great riches even mentioning silver and gold. This is actually very profound… It’s like in one hand Solomon holds out the greatest most valuable things the world treasures… the things that can be used to obtain any physical thing one might desire. Great riches… And he should know a thing or two about them… 1st Kings chapter 10 is one place you can read all about Solomon's wealth. ... (transcript at braggingonjesus.com) Great r

Proverbs In 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 28:23 Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue. 24 Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, “That is no transgression,” is a companion to a man who destroys. 25 A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched. 26 Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. 27 Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. 28 When the wicked rise, people hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase. In our last session, we considered a faithful man verses a man who hastens after riches and we looked at how his worship of money caused him to be an unfaithful man. Today Solomon floods us with a blitz of reasons not to be that wicked stingy unfaithful man who is only out for himself… These passages seem to me to serve as a kind of review for the whole chapter in some w

Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. 21 To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong. 22 A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him. In today’s passage Solomon says how a faithful man will be bristling with blessings… overflowing… And then instead of simply giving a one line negative end for the one who is not faithful, he expounds on this truth in more detail than usual. So one man in the text is faithful. Then, interestingly; without using the word “unfaithful”, Solomon uses other words to show us some of the attributes of this unfaithful man. * He is one who hastens to be rich. * He shows partiality towards others. * He is willing to break laws and take advantage of others to get something he wants or needs. Then in verse 22 Solomon repeats the fact that hasting after wealth is a bad thing and he uses a curious word… “stingy”. “A stingy man”. The dictiona

Proverbs 28:17 If one is burdened with the blood of another, he will be a fugitive until death; let no one help him. From the beginning, intentional premeditated murder is something God has decreed to be an abomination and dealt with severely. We see this first when Adam and Eve’s son Cain killed his brother Abel and then in Gods commandments and the courts of his people and all of mankind. Its even something I believe is imprinted upon our hearts. I suppose one reason this is so important is because Man was made in the image of God. Today I’d like to ponder that for a bit… What does made in God image mean? For one thing It must mean that unlike the rest of Creation we were created to be compatible with God in a more intimate way. I mean… families share lots of physical characteristics right? They might have the same eyes or chin or a similar walk. These things identify us as family and remind us we were meant to have strong unifying family ties in fellowship and relationship. So then does being made in

Proverbs In 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 28:15 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people. 16 A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days. Rulers Who Lack Understanding R Aylor I love the metaphors Solomon uses in his writings… Proverbs is full of them. Even in this chapter so far we have encountered a few. In verse one he says how the righteous are bold as a lion and then in verse 3 he gives a scenario where oppressing the poor is like a beating rain. Here the picture Solomon paints is a wicked ruler coming for the poor people in his land… and he’s attacking in full assault mode like a roaring lion or a charging bear. Thats a pretty graphic picture… the outcome will not be rated G or PG13 but a lot worse… still its a true and honest representation. The next verse… 16 continues speaking of a ruler who is a cruel oppressor saying he lacks understanding and then Solomon says how one

Proverbs 28:18 Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall. 19 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. Lets start with the second phrase… of vs 18... it says how the crooked “will suddenly fall”. This seems to indicate that there may be at least a season before that when the crooked might appear to be successful. I think we do see the wicked appearing successful often times in life. And that seems to trip up some people in their faith… It plants a seed of doubt. In Psalm 73, the writer Asaph saw this and it bothered him. Verse 3 says: For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. ... Psalm 37 is a psalm of David and it’s likely just what you need if you don’t understand why God has not stepped in yet. It starts out like this: 1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! Solomon also says how those who walk in integri

Proverbs In 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 28:11 A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out. 12 When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, people hide themselves. 13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. 14 Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity. In verse 11 Solomon starts us out today with what appears to be a comparison taking two examples to their reasonable extreme in order to highlight the point he is making. Here we see a rich man and a poor man. But in keeping with the way chapter 28 is written I believe the implication is that these are also a wicked and a righteous man. So using the extreme vastness of the example we see that whether a man is rich or middle class or poor or anywhere in between… If he is wise in his own eyes… if he is prideful… he will be found

Proverbs In 365 Devotions For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 28:10 Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will have a goodly inheritance. Solomon does a great job painting a picture of an evil person leading someone in a bad way. It could be this wicked person is simply exalting himself and trying to set himself up as a mentor to a righteous person. Some people thrive on having people like them and think they are cool… It makes them feel good when people see them as a leader… even a rebel who gets what they want and don't take no lip from anyone… and they want approval and acceptance for who they are. So many times they would likely be trying to lead someone down a road they were familiar with… their own territory if you will.. one they have traveled on many times. Evil men tend to exalt their own wickedness as a kind of exalted glory toward others. It could be that kind of leading. But it also could be that he is leading this righteous person

Proverbs 28:4 Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law strive against them. 5 Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely. 6 Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. 7 The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father. 8 Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor. 9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. ... ... Well, Verse 4 starts us out by saying how those who disobey God are not praising him… they are not worshipers of God… ... Thats a heart issue. We’ve talked a lot about that… ... When from the heart we forsake Gods word, our praise or… our worship goes to those who are wicked. ...and most of the time to his own self… ... Of course, that was satans sin which caused his fall and that was the temptation he brought to Eve which l

For more go to braggingonjesus.com Proverbs 28:3 A poor man who oppresses the poor is a beating rain that leaves no food. So here is a verse which can also be translated a couple different ways. Listen to the audio for more on this. (out of space) If this is referring to a leader…. think of this: You know that a good rain is good for growing crops. If a leader as a beating rain… its’ a bad thing; he should be one who brings nourishment and things needed for prospering and growth to the poor and not be as one who takes advantage of them as easy prey. On the other hand, a poor man who oppresses the poor reminds me of the parable Jesus gave in Matthew 18. A servant owed the king 10,000 talents… that was a ton of money which he could not pay. The king ordered that his wife and children and all that he had be sold and applied to his debt. The servant begged the king for mercy and the king forgave him the debt in full. This was a poor man right? Here’s what he did next: Matthew 18:28 But when that same ser

Proverbs 28:2 When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue. “When a land transgresses” I think this might be paraphrased as: when the people of a land sin… Solomon says they will have many rulers. That does make sense in my mind because though sin makes a lot of promises, it never satisfies the people of the land. So many times I think that the leadership reflected the sinfulness of the people… and Solomon seems to make that connection because he begins talking about the sin of the people being reflected in the number of rulers and he ends the verse speaking of a man of understanding… i suspect that would be a good ruler… he brings long periods of stability so theres a connection there also. Anyway, as for the people… since sin does not bring true satisfaction its typical that they might wind up blaming the leadership for all their discontentment instead of their sin. So in times of monarchs oftentimes there would be assassin

Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. Here’s a verse that throws in the face of what the wicked person portrays about himself. The wicked man is the one who roars right?. He is the bully at school that picks on the smaller kids. He is the one who pursues others in dark alleys with knives and guns. These may even have admiring followers in school or in gangs or even on the job who back them up and give a sense of credibility… these paint themselves as the king of the jungle, bold and unafraid. But Solomon teaches us that underneath their facade they are not fierce lions at all but scaredy cats. You see, their lifestyle of wickedness carries with it a long list of bullying and taking from and taking advantage of and using others. Yes, in school and daily life including at work. They are deceivers and manipulators who have learned that by building and puffing themselves up... by being aggressive and domineering their pretense becomes a defensive tool as well a

Proverbs 13:18 Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored. 19 A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools. I was just thinking… you know, poverty may come to a person for a number of different reasons… Sickness may be the catalyst that brings it on. ... but not necessarily with disgrace attached to it like todays passage mentions. Poverty may overtake someone because they were taken advantage of by another; right? Sometimes people are born into a poor country with few opportunities or they are born blind or deaf which keeps them lacking… So I suppose there are lots of reasons poverty overtakes someone. Still, I think a case could be made that at least some of these other reasons for poverty are somehow linked with ignoring good instructions around them. Covid-10 might come from ignoring social distancing guidelines… Going broke in business comes quite often to those who ignore good business rules… Even laz