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363 | Conversations - Proverbs 14 (Part 2) · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Music.
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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Living a life for Christ. She's a happy girl.
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  Music.
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  She's a happy girl.
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  In this episode of the woman at the well ministries podcast join kim miller
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  and erica close in a conversation as we walk with jesus,
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  In today's conversation, we're continuing our series on the book of Proverbs.
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  And in today's podcast, we pick up where we left off last week in Proverbs chapter 14.
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  Today, we are beginning in Proverbs 14, 18.
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  Well, thank you all for joining us. My name is Erica Close, and I am here with Kim Miller.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  It is a pleasure to spend time in the scriptures with you.
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  We're picking up today in the second half of Proverbs chapter 14.
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  The early part of Proverbs chapter 14 has so much amazing truth in it and so
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  many amazing verses about understanding God's wisdom and how we are to live
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  that that podcast was going along.
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  It was a little bit long, so we paused it and we are picking up today in Proverbs
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  chapter 14. So if you want to catch the 14, 18, if you want to catch the beginning
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  of it, you can head back to last Wednesday's podcast.
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  All right, so we're going to read the second half, and Kim, will you start in chapter 14, verse 18?
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  The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
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  The evil bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
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  The poor is hated even of his own neighbor, but the rich has many friends.
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  He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth, that he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.
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  Do they not err that devise evil?
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  But mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.
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  In all labor there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.
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  The crown of the wise is the richest, but the foolishness of fools is folly.
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  A true witness delivereth souls, but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.
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  In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge.
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  The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
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  In the multitude of people is the king's honor, but in the want of people is
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  the destruction of the prince.
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  He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
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  A sound heart is the life of the flesh, but envy the rottenness of the bones.
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  He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his maker, but he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor.
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  The wicked is driven away in his wickedness, but the righteous hath hope in his death.
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  Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding, but that which is
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  in the midst of fools is made known.
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  Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
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  The king's favor is toward a wise servant, but his wrath is against him that causeth shame.
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  This section of Proverbs chapter 14 has many of the same themes that we had
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  in the first part of chapter 14.
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  There's this theme of wisdom, which is common throughout so much of Proverbs,
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  but there are a number of verses that deal with what it means to have wisdom.
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  And there's a whole series of verses in here about how we speak and how we talk.
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  There's a couple of amazing verses about how when we fear the Lord,
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  what comes to us because of that.
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  There's verses at the end of 14 that hearken back to verses about our hearts.
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  And how important it is that our heart is in the right place,
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  and how that is what guides us as we are following the Lord and make sure that
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  we are in alignment with the Lord.
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  So let's pick up at the beginning of verse 18.
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  So in verse 18, we're talking about folly.
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  Again, we talked about that a lot.
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  We talked about that a lot in our last podcast, but folly,
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  right what happens the simple inherent folly but
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  the prudent are crowned with knowledge when we make prudent
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  choices what comes to us is more knowledge and understanding and not folly and
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  an experience so that when you're faced with the same decision or the same situation
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  you can do the right thing whereas if you don't gain that knowledge and that
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  experience and that wisdom,
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  and you are faced with it again, you'll do the same wrong thing again.
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  But more importantly, you pass down to others around you the wrong thing,
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  as opposed to the knowledge and the prudency that comes from those that are
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  just incompromisingly,
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  or whatever the word is, where you don't compromise.
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  You know, they just are uncompromisingly steady in
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  the righteousness of god when we head into verse 19
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  we're talking about what happens between
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  those that are evil right those that are not following after the lord and those.
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  That are and it says that those the evil those that are not following after
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  the lord will will bow before the good i don't think that that means that they
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  will not bow like in worship or anything like that but they will bow and that
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  they will not be as successful.
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  As those that are the good, that are following after the Lord.
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  They're going to be dependent on them.
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  They're going to be in a situation where they have want, where those that are
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  following after the Lord do not.
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  And those that are wicked will be bowing at the gates of the righteous.
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  They will just not have what the righteous have. As we look at verse 20,
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  the verse reads, The poor is hated even of his own neighbor,
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  but the rich has many friends.
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  And I think the word poor and rich here can be looked at more than just a financial aspect.
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  Those that are poor in wisdom, those that are poor in knowledge,
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  those who are making bad decisions, Those people who are not living in the goodness
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  of having the righteousness of God in them,
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  those people, people just do not gravitate to.
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  People do not want to be around.
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  But those who are rich in Jesus, in the fruits of the Spirit.
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  In his knowledge and in his goodness, these are the people that have many people
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  around to help them, to assist them, to love them, and to be with them.
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  So the moral of that, I guess, is don't be looking at riches and goodness and
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  poor and all just in the aspect of a worldly perspective,
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  but from the perspective of we are rich in Christ Jesus,
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  and daily he loads us with benefits.
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  And part of that is having a circle of people around you who will love you and
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  care for you and want to be around you.
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  Being poor in this world doesn't mean you're not rich in Jesus. Amen.
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  When we get into verse 21, I think it talks a lot about how we care for our
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  neighbors, how we take care of our neighbors, how we take care of that circle
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  that Kim just mentioned.
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  He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth, but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy as he.
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  Where we are with Jesus determines how we are going to be with others,
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  how we are going to take care of those around us, how we're going to contribute to the circle, right?
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  And the scripture is clear that we are to take care of the poor.
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  We're supposed to take care of the widow.
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  I mean, all of those things are very clear within his word.
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  And when we do, when we are merciful to those who have perhaps less than us,
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  we are blessed beyond measure by God himself.
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  I think this is a beautiful picture and an opportunity for us ourselves to
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  to reflect in who we are relative to who Jesus is.
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  You may think you're all that in a bag of chips, and you've got the right education,
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  and you have great pedigree, and you have this world's riches,
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  and you may also have the love of Jesus in you.
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  And so it might be more difficult for you to see yourself in a depraved state.
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  But the reality of it is the King of kings and the Lord of lords,
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  he who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the hills thereof,
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  the one who everything is under his feet, came to you who were sinful,
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  depraved, deprived.
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  Wicked, and unworthy, and bestowed upon you the greatest gift ever given,
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  eternal life through the shedding of his own blood.
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  When you think about reaching down, he doesn't get any more down than Jesus reaching to us.
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  And so we must be very careful in our day-to-day dealings and our thought processes
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  every day and every moment to never think we are giving a handout to the poor
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  or reaching to the poor because we are them,
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  but we are not nearly as high and lifted up.
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  We aren't nearly as amazing, nearly as good and as gracious as God was who come way down to lift me up.
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  So we need to get a proper perspective.
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  Helping the poor, the needy, those among us who are less fortunate is an opportunity
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  to be God's hands and feet extended, but it really is just having an opportunity
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  to look in the mirror of what God does for us each and every day,
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  because he stays in our presence if we ask him and we live accordingly.
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  And that is reaching down. But because of him, he has reached down,
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  picked us up, and we are on even plane because through him we are made righteous.
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  And when God looks at us, he sees. And what an opportunity to give something back to him.
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  Not that it could ever, ever even come close, but to give something back to
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  him by giving others what he's given to us.
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  Which is how he has asked us to do. We are just like a bank.
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  And he deposits his blessings in us and he writes the checks.
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  We just get the opportunity and privilege to distribute.
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  I appreciate that. When we move into verse 22, the proverb has the word devise
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  in it, and it sets up two things.
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  Are we devising evil or are we devising good?
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  And that brings to my remembrance so many verses that say, you know,
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  we have a choice even each day.
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  What are we going to do or do? Are we going to choose evil or choose good?
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  In every situation, we have that same choice.
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  Choose you this day, whom you will serve. Right. So what are we devising? We make a choice.
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  All choices are either towards Jesus or away from Jesus.
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  They really are that simple. We choose to follow.
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  Or we choose not to follow. And when Joshua said, as for me and my house,
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  we're going to serve the Lord, he was choosing a way of life that was going
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  to give him loyalty and faithfulness and loving kindness.
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  He was choosing to do all of those things because it was going to be the life
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  that God wanted and the life that God could bless. You can't outgive God.
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  You just can't. He will just keep blessing you as you bless others.
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  I think that verse 23 talks about how we work.
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  It says that in all labor there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.
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  We need to be diligent workers.
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  So many verses here in Proverbs talk about being diligent versus being slothful.
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  And to me, this just is saying he cares about how we work, right?
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  We need to be people who labor.
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  We don't need to be people who are just talking about it. We need to actually do it.
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  And everything we need to do, we do as if we're doing it unto the Lord.
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  So we should be the best worker in that office there is to the very best of
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  our abilities and capacity.
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  And there should be no sinner looking at us saying we are slothful and we are
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  just getting by because we are an ambassador of the Most High God.
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  That verse 24 talks about there being a crown for the wise and what comes to.
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  In this case, they use the word fool, but as being folly, right?
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  When we are wise and we act in wisdom that comes to us from God, there is a reward.
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  And it's not necessarily an earthly reward at all, but it's the reward of being
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  rich in Him and knowing that we are living the way He would ask us to live.
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  There's always going to be something that returns to us, whether it's returning
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  to us more problems or whether it returns to us more blessings or a more close relationship from him.
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  Verse 25 talks about a true witness and how a true witness delivereth souls. And I love that verse.
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  Because I think that hearkens to what it means to be a truthful witness for who God is.
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  What we say to people allows them to see how God has worked in our life.
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  And we need to be truthful about what God has done in our life and give Him
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  the glory for what He has done in our lives so that others hear it and so that others understand it,
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  so others can see it in action in our lives, and then see how the Lord can make
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  a change in their own life.
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  How we live our life truly demonstrates how we feel about God.
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  And my dad used to sing a song called Treasures Unseen.
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  And we may not look wealthy to the world, but oh, there are treasures unseen.
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  And the Lord blesses us and provides our every need.
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  And there is nothing wrong if he has provided for you and you are wealthy in this world's finances.
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  But I promise you, if you are, he has given them to you for his good glory and
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  your good and to use them to help his kingdom and his people.
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  Because riches in Jesus Christ are not measured by bank accounts.
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  They're measured by the heavenly account.
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  We lay up our treasures in heaven where moth and rust does not corrupt.
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  And it is important that we remember his scriptures are divinely inspired and
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  they all line up one for another. And so when he says, out of the abundance
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  of the treasure of the heart, we speak. That's what you're saying here.
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  Our lives make a difference to those around us. And they're either pointing
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  them to him or away from him.
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  Verses 26 and 27 are precious.
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  They talk about what happens for those who live in the fear of the Lord,
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  meaning those who have respect for the Lord.
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  They say in 26, in his children shall have a place of refuge. Amen. Love that.
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  And in 27, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life and to depart from the snares of death.
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  We are not ensnared by death because we respect and we honor and we have found
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  our salvation in the Lord.
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  And because we are his children, we have a place of refuge.
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  Oh, death, where is thy sting? Yes. Oh, grave, where is thy victory?
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  Two hugely encouraging verses right here. As we keep moving through this proverb,
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  there are a number of verses here and then as we go on that talk about the leaders, right?
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  Leaders are followed by people.
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  And when the people are following them, it brings honor to them.
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  And it said this in verse 20, it says, but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.
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  I think that's talking about earthly leaders, but I think that also it talks
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  about Christ as our leader, right?
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  He's our king and we honor him with our lives.
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  We honor him by giving to him our life. It's all that we can give.
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  And when we give him our life, it gives him honor. We honor him with what we
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  have. And all we have is who we are and how we live.
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  I believe when you look at Proverbs 14, 29, and you would ask anyone the verse
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  they remember most out of Proverbs 14, they would most likely say 29.
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  He that is slow to wrath is of a great understanding, but he that is hasty of
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  spirit exalteth a folly. And here we have it again.
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  Great understanding. those who have the peace of God in them,
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  who have a close relationship with Jesus Christ, they're slow to anger.
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  But those who have no self-control, have no fruit of the Spirit,
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  have no submission to God, those are the people who are hasty,
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  and it exposes their foolishness.
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  I mean, it used to be a saying I would hear all the time at work,
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  you know, people thought you didn't have understanding.
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  But when you opened up your mouth, now everybody knows.
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  So, and it was really kind of maybe a derogatory thing. And I think we've all
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  heard some derivative of that phrase.
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  But the reality of it is the truth.
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  Because people who are slow to speak, slow to fly, they don't fly off the handle.
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  They don't say a lot of stuff that they have to go back then and ask for forgiveness and apologize.
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  You know, you just, when you fly off, I'll see you next time.
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  You can be sure you're going to be saying some things that you're going to have
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  to retract and that you really didn't mean.
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  But understanding gives you self-control because you're actually have submitted
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  yourself to the Holy Spirit in you and you're following his guidance.
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  Verse 30 talks about the heart. And there's a couple of verses in Proverbs chapter
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  14 that talks about our hearts.
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  But 30 says, a sound heart is the life of the flesh, but envy the rottenness of the bones.
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  When our heart is settled, when our heart is settled in Jesus, we have life.
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  Our life of flesh is secure because it has an everlasting home.
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  But envy is the rottenness of the bones. When we are looking for whatever it
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  is to the world and looking to what others have, it literally makes us feel rotten.
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  It eats us from out from the inside. when we're looking for the world to the world.
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  And you can't be satisfied if you have envy. Which just... You can never have enough. Eats away.
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  It also is a way when you really get caught up in having more than somebody
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  else or they get something and you have to one-up them, you can never be satisfied.
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  You can never have enough.
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  And in order to afford all of those things, many times you are just working,
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  working, working, working, which means you're often working during times of
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  services at churches or events or things. And so that pulls you even further.
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  And this rottenness of bone is just a rottenness of life because you're getting
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  further and further and further from what God has planned for you.
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  The devil would want nothing more than for us to be completely dissatisfied
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  with our lives because God's plan for us is an abundant life that is fully fulfilled.
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  Satisfied. And that's what he says in John 10, 10. And when you have put your
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  faith and trust in him, you have perfect peace and you don't have this need
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  because the only thing that truly satisfies is Jesus Christ.
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  And we see that in John chapter four, when he says, if you drink of this water,
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  you'll never thirst again.
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  Those that have a sound heart have understood what it means to take in and accept God's mercy.
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  And in verse 31, we read, he that approaches the poor reproacheth this maker,
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  but he that honoreth him hath mercy on the poor.
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  How we treat others gives honor to our maker, right? Gives honor to the Father.
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  How we relate to our neighbors, to those around us, is all about our relationship
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  to the Lord, to our maker.
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  We've said this over and over and over again talking about this proverb,
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  but how we live and how we relate to others demonstrates
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  who we think god is because he
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  said you'll know you're my disciples but how
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  you have love one for another and if you're oppressing somebody
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  you're definitely not loving them verse
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  32 the wicked is driven away in his wickedness but the righteous have hope in
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  his death we have hope even in death amen because we know heaven awaits 33 wisdom
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  resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding but that which is in the
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  midst of fools is made known.
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  Wisdom is in our hearts because wisdom comes to us through our relationship
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  with Jesus. It is developed and it is grown.
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  In fact, it says the beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord.
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  Verse 34, righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
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  Our nation does well when it is living righteously, when its people are living righteously.
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  And in verse 35, we read more about the king.
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  The king's favor is toward a wise servant, but his wrath is against him that causeth shame.
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  This could be talking about earthly leaders.
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  King is looking for wise counsel. But you could take that even back to just
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  your little family unit.
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  You know, when you are walking with Jesus and upright with him and following
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  his commandments and making him supreme in your house,
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  then you're going to have a walk that pleases the Lord and he's going to bless you for that.
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  And then if you don't have that, then you can see that sin takes each and every
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  one of those things away from us because God gives unmerited favor to all of us.
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  But he certainly gives us uncommon favor when we walk in it. Absolutely.
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  And he's walking his wisdom. Well, thank you all for joining us in this podcast
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  as we looked at the second half of Proverbs chapter 14.
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  Next Wednesday, we will be in Proverbs
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  chapter 15, and we look forward to studying that passage with you.
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  Thank you for joining us. Please remember that God loves you, and you are loved.
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  Music.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references. We pray today has been
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