Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 432 | Conversations - Proverbs 29

Transcript

432 | Conversations - Proverbs 29 · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

• 0:00
  Music.
• 0:07
  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
• 0:11
  where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
• 0:18
  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
• 0:21
  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
• 0:25
  or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
• 0:31
  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
• 0:38
  Living a life for Christ. She's a happy girl.
• 0:38
  Music.
• 0:48
  She's a happy girl.
• 1:02
  In this episode of the woman at the well ministries podcast join kim miller
• 1:07
  and erica close in a conversation as we walk with jesus in today's conversation
• 1:12
  we continue a series on the book of proverbs in today's podcast we are discussing
• 1:18
  the lessons learned in proverbs 29 well hello Hello, everyone,
• 1:22
  and thank you for joining us in this podcast about Proverbs chapter 29.
• 1:27
  I'm Erica Close, and I'm here with Kim Miller.
• 1:30
  Hello, and thank you for joining us as we read chapter 29 of Proverbs to you,
• 1:36
  and we discuss the important factors that reach out to us.
• 1:40
  It is our prayer that during this time that we have been in the book of Proverbs,
• 1:44
  that you have been inspired and motivated to search it out for yourselves and
• 1:49
  to mine out those incredible gems and treasures that we find in all of his word,
• 1:55
  but especially in the book of Proverbs.
• 1:56
  I think Proverbs is a book that is so rich and so deep.
• 2:01
  You know, we often talk about how we could read a proverb every single day,
• 2:04
  and I think it is wise to do so.
• 2:08
  Even if we end up reading Proverbs over and over and over and over again,
• 2:13
  we'll never get all that there is to get out of the book of Proverbs.
• 2:17
  And the chapter 29 that we are discussing today, it's really one of those chapters
• 2:23
  that is fantastic for people who are leaders.
• 2:27
  It gives you wisdom for leaders. It talks about how to use words wisely,
• 2:32
  and it talks about a vision.
• 2:35
  And, you know, oftentimes we as leaders are looking for self-help books and
• 2:40
  things to help us be better leaders, and there isn't anything wrong with that.
• 2:45
  But I just want to point out that the book of Proverbs is a tremendous book
• 2:50
  to help you become a better leader.
• 2:52
  And chapter 29 really does focus on some important,
• 2:56
  principles that we need to keep. So with that being said, I'm going to begin
• 3:00
  reading, and Erica will conclude.
• 3:04
  He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed,
• 3:09
  and that without remedy.
• 3:11
  When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked
• 3:15
  beareth rule, the people mourn.
• 3:18
  Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father, but he that keepeth company with harlots
• 3:23
  spendeth his substance.
• 3:24
  The king by judgment establisheth the land, but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.
• 3:31
  A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet.
• 3:34
  In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare, but the righteous does sing and rejoice.
• 3:40
  The righteous considereth the cause of the poor, but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
• 3:47
  Scornful men bring a city into a snare, but wise men turn away wrath.
• 3:51
  If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.
• 3:57
  The bloodthirsty hate the upright, but the just seek the soul.
• 4:01
  A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it until afterwards.
• 4:08
  If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.
• 4:11
  The poor and the deceitful man meet together, the Lord lighteneth both their eyes.
• 4:17
  The king that faithfully judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever.
• 4:22
  The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
• 4:28
  When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth, but the righteous shall see their fall.
• 4:34
  Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest. Yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
• 4:40
  Where there is no vision, the people perish. But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
• 4:46
  A servant will not be corrected by words, for though he understand, he will not answer.
• 4:53
  Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him.
• 4:59
  He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.
• 5:06
  An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.
• 5:12
  A man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.
• 5:18
  Whoso is partner with a thief, hateth his own soul. He heareth cursing, and bereath it not.
• 5:26
  The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.
• 5:32
  Many seek the ruler's favor, but every man's judgment cometh from the Lord.
• 5:37
  An unjust man is an abomination to the just, and he that is upright in the way
• 5:44
  is an abomination to the wicked.
• 5:47
  There's a lot of things in here, and there is a lot of advice for rulers.
• 5:52
  It's often talked about the king, but I think that the wisdom surrounding being
• 5:59
  a good king is good for anyone who's in a leadership position.
• 6:03
  And I think verse 18 of Proverbs chapter 29 is an incredibly important verse.
• 6:10
  It says, Where there is no vision, the people perish.
• 6:14
  But he that keepeth the law, happy is he. And I believe that we as Christians,
• 6:21
  our spiritual vision, we as citizens,
• 6:26
  our just physical vision, we need to have a purpose.
• 6:32
  The secular world would call it, what is your vision statement?
• 6:36
  What is your mission statement? And they would teach you tremendous concepts
• 6:42
  and principles on how to adhere to a lifestyle.
• 6:48
  Habits, behaviors that move you forward to living within the boundaries of your
• 6:56
  mission statement or your mission vision.
• 6:58
  And I believe this is saying when there is no vision, the people perish.
• 7:05
  If you don't know where you're going, you most likely will just not end up anywhere.
• 7:12
  A lot of people get stuck taking the first step in any change of behavior,
• 7:18
  in any project they want to start.
• 7:21
  You see so many people that just don't get off go because they don't know where
• 7:27
  to start. They don't know how to start.
• 7:29
  They are afraid to start. There's so many different things, but they don't have
• 7:34
  a vision that is articulated enough for them, that is strong enough,
• 7:39
  convicting enough for them to make them move towards it.
• 7:43
  And we have a vision and you can pick any part of it you want,
• 7:49
  but part of it is definitely found in, in my father's house are many mansions.
• 7:54
  And if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you.
• 7:57
  That where I am, you may be also.
• 7:59
  And if I come again, I will receive you unto myself when I come again.
• 8:03
  And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and I will receive you unto myself.
• 8:08
  The vision there is this is not my permanent home.
• 8:14
  We see in Hebrews, as they talk about Abraham and some of those folks,
• 8:19
  that they said that they were pilgrims and strangers in this world, as so are we.
• 8:24
  Because we can't be friends with the world.
• 8:27
  Because it says to be friends with the world is to be enemy with God.
• 8:30
  And so we see they are sojourners, and they're looking for a city whose builder
• 8:36
  and maker is God. It's what's propelling them forward.
• 8:40
  We read in 1 Corinthians 2.9 that I have not seen an ear have not heard and
• 8:46
  neither has entered into the mind of man what lies in store for them that love the Lord.
• 8:50
  Those of us who know the Lord as Savior have a vision of God as our shepherd,
• 8:56
  as our leader, our protector, and the one in whom we should delight and who we serve.
• 9:06
  And so our vision is to keep his commandments. And he says, if you love me,
• 9:12
  you'll keep my commandments and they aren't grievous.
• 9:16
  And so as a spiritual Christian being seeking the will of God,
• 9:22
  we know what our vision is.
• 9:25
  And so we aren't going to perish because we are motivated and inspired to walk
• 9:31
  towards the precepts, the principles, the concepts and commandments of Jesus
• 9:36
  that we might live the abundant life he's promised us in John 10.10.
• 9:40
  You're not going to get it any other way.
• 9:42
  And so I love this in Proverbs 29.18, because he says, you've got to have a vision.
• 9:50
  And then he's told us from Genesis to Revelations what our vision is.
• 9:54
  And he says, those that keep the law, they're happy.
• 9:57
  Well, when you keep the laws of God, you're living the abundant life he promised.
• 10:02
  And you have peace that passes understanding and a joy unspeakable.
• 10:07
  And I think that when we're talking about leaders, if they have a vision and
• 10:11
  their eyes are on the correct vision, it's going to be better for whoever it is they're leading.
• 10:19
  If their eyes are taken off the vision, they're not going to be leading well.
• 10:24
  Verse 2 talks about when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice,
• 10:27
  but when the wicked bear through the people mourn, right?
• 10:30
  When the righteous are in authority, the people are going to rejoice because
• 10:33
  the righteous will be making wise decisions. and following for the,
• 10:39
  whatever it is they're leading, right?
• 10:41
  The city, the country, the business, whatever it is, like the righteous are going to be leading.
• 10:45
  The people will have something to rejoice about. And if you move to verse eight,
• 10:49
  it talks about that righteous people turn away wrath.
• 10:54
  Because when you have a great leader that you are following.
• 11:00
  One that you trust, one that shows they have your best interests at heart,
• 11:06
  One of the qualities you're going to see is they maintain peace.
• 11:10
  They reduce chaos.
• 11:14
  And they...
• 11:16
  Protect against disruption. And we all know people who you see them walk in.
• 11:23
  The middle of an argument, whoa, this is going to explode, because they just
• 11:27
  fuel it with their anger. They fuel it with their hatred.
• 11:31
  They stir the pot. They do whatever it is they can do, and they make it worse.
• 11:35
  But a righteous leader, remember, Scripture says that we are to live peaceably
• 11:41
  with all men as much as possible.
• 11:43
  And so they are speaking words that diffuse,
• 11:48
  that dampen the anger, that restore civility and peace.
• 11:56
  And so I want you to just take a moment and think, when you walk into a difficult
• 12:01
  or stressful situation, does it escalate or does that de-escalate.
• 12:07
  Because those of us who know the Lord, we're bringing Jesus in.
• 12:11
  And Jesus was strong, but Jesus spoke peace.
• 12:17
  And I think we need to really realize that. And I think it's an important part
• 12:21
  as you move on down in the scriptures, as he begins to talk about leaders.
• 12:26
  So verse 12 talks about if a ruler hearkeneth to lies.
• 12:31
  So like if a ruler hearkens to lies, That means they listen to them,
• 12:36
  right? They listen to things that are not true.
• 12:38
  And they're swayed by deceit and deception.
• 12:44
  A ruler should be able to judge fact from fiction, lies from truth,
• 12:51
  and should clearly be listening to the truth.
• 12:55
  But I think so often that a ruler doesn't want to hear the truth because the
• 13:00
  truth sometimes means they were wrong or they have to change the way they're
• 13:05
  doing or thinking or being.
• 13:07
  And so they get these people that surround them that doesn't speak the truth
• 13:11
  and they only want to hear the lies and the things that flatter them.
• 13:15
  And then you have a crowd of followers that are lost.
• 13:21
  They don't know where they're going. They don't know what's going to happen
• 13:23
  because there's no true boundary or measurement such as truth to weigh what's happening against.
• 13:32
  But then you turn away, but thus you've taken a leader that is a true leader
• 13:37
  and you've taken them to the exact opposite of what God would have them to be
• 13:42
  because they listened to the lies.
• 13:45
  And the king needs to be able, you know, verse 14 talks about the king faithfully judging the poor.
• 13:49
  I think that the king needs to be able to honestly and faithfully judge whatever
• 13:56
  situation that they're in, like to seek the truth, to find the truth.
• 14:00
  I feel like that's kind of what is alluded to in the 26th verse,
• 14:05
  because people want favor, but they don't necessarily want to earn it or merit it.
• 14:10
  And I believe that, you know, the Lord is the one that seeks judgment.
• 14:16
  He's the one who dispenses judgment.
• 14:18
  And he is truthful and he is fair and he is right.
• 14:22
  Verse 25, you know, makes you think about how, you know, people are going to
• 14:26
  come to the person in charge, right, to try to get what they want,
• 14:30
  to try to get the thing that they want.
• 14:33
  And they want to be able, they want that person, that ruler,
• 14:37
  that judge, whatever, that king, to look favorably upon them.
• 14:42
  But our true judgment, right, is not coming to us from our earthly leaders.
• 14:47
  Right. And the Lord is no respecter of persons.
• 14:50
  He's the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. And He treats all of us the
• 14:53
  same, and He loves all of us the same.
• 14:55
  The difference in our blessings and the way things pan out in our lives has
• 14:59
  to do with how much of Him we give ourselves.
• 15:02
  How much freedom and reign do we allow Him to have in our lives?
• 15:06
  That's the difference between order and chaos.
• 15:09
  That's the difference between peace and confusion.
• 15:12
  That's the difference between love and hate. Because where Jesus is, all things are perfect.
• 15:17
  And perfect love casts out all fear. And it brings peace.
• 15:22
  There are a couple of verses in this chapter that aren't so much about leadership,
• 15:28
  but are about using our words wisely, which are important concepts for any leader,
• 15:36
  for any leader that we have.
• 15:37
  But verse 11 talks about basically saying everything you can possibly say. I love that.
• 15:44
  And then verse 20 is about speaking hastily.
• 15:47
  And those are both, you know, they're two very different things.
• 15:50
  Sometimes I guess they can go together.
• 15:52
  But they're not wise i
• 15:55
  mean how many times have you just quickly said something
• 15:58
  without thinking and you spent a long time getting yourself back out of that
• 16:02
  pit you just done and that's what verse 20 says right if you see a man that
• 16:06
  is hasty in his words there's more hope of a fool than of him like it's you
• 16:11
  know it there's there's no hope for someone who just spits things out right away.
• 16:16
  There needs to be thought before we speak.
• 16:21
  Right, which that thing that says engage your brain before you speak is truly
• 16:26
  important because you want to speak what you truly believe and you want your
• 16:32
  words to contribute to a better situation and you want to be wise.
• 16:39
  And you can't do that off the cuff sometimes.
• 16:42
  You need some moment to do that.
• 16:45
  I love that you said you need a moment because verse 11 says,
• 16:48
  A fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.
• 16:55
  Like, it doesn't define till afterwards. But to me, that means till the heated situation has passed.
• 17:04
  Because we often don't speak our true faults.
• 17:09
  In the heat of passion. I love about Levin because I don't know about you and
• 17:13
  maybe those listening, this hasn't happened to, but I have been...
• 17:18
  In a work situation where I'm telling you, the person just loved to hear themselves speak.
• 17:24
  And they would just talk and talk and talk and talk and talk.
• 17:28
  And absolutely, at the end of when they finally took a breath or finally you
• 17:33
  could get yourself out of there, you didn't know anything more than you did when you came.
• 17:37
  You know, some people would just open up and tell you everything,
• 17:40
  and it's not even stuff you need to know or want to know.
• 17:43
  And they contribute things that sometimes take you down rabbit holes or they fuel the fire.
• 17:48
  We want to use our words to build the kingdom.
• 17:53
  And the only way we can use our words to build the kingdom is to allow the Holy
• 17:58
  Spirit to control our words.
• 18:00
  James tells us that, you know, it's our tongue that is so deadly and so hard to control.
• 18:07
  And this is telling you, listen, discipline yourself to know all the sides of the story.
• 18:15
  You know, we were given two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak.
• 18:22
  And we should listen for understanding before we speak to be understood.
• 18:31
  Stephen Covey made that a saying, but it is so real and it's so biblically sound.
• 18:38
  We need to be careful what we
• 18:41
  say because words are powerful you
• 18:45
  cannot take them back it's like trying to put toothpaste back in a a toothpaste
• 18:52
  tube it's the same thing you you can't get it back in now you can say i'm sorry
• 18:59
  but you can't get it back in i think we've all seen the illustration,
• 19:03
  where you had the nails put in the fence with each bad word you said or hurtful
• 19:09
  thing, you can say, I'm sorry, and pull the nail out, but there's still a hole.
• 19:13
  And we have to realize they're powerful. But just like they are powerful to
• 19:17
  tear down, they can be extremely powerful to build up.
• 19:22
  And we need a wise man, a good leader, a person with a vision to take people to heaven.
• 19:28
  These are the people that are assessing every situation and what they can say
• 19:33
  or do to make someone see Jesus more clearly, whether it's through them,
• 19:39
  whether it's the light they're shining, or whether it's words that you're saying.
• 19:43
  But you got to keep your eye on the prize of Jesus Christ and winning people
• 19:48
  to them in every situation.
• 19:50
  You know, we started with verse 18, and I think that we can close with verse 25.
• 19:56
  The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.
• 20:03
  Amen. I love the concept of being safe.
• 20:08
  And who could keep you more safe than the one who knows all things?
• 20:12
  Absolutely. And is ruler over everything.
• 20:15
  We need to trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own
• 20:19
  understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
• 20:23
  Be not wise in thine own eyes.
• 20:25
  Fear the Lord and depart from evil. That's what he tells us in Proverbs 3, 5, 6, and 7.
• 20:31
  The theme throughout Proverbs is how to live a life that brings glory and honor
• 20:36
  to the Lord, how to live the abundant life that he promises us in John 10, 10.
• 20:41
  Thank you so much for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
• 20:45
  As we have walked through Proverbs chapter 29,
• 20:49
  it is our prayer that you know him deeply, personally, and that you are committed
• 20:54
  with your vision and your purpose to be to live the life that God has called you to live.
• 21:00
  Remember, you are loved. Jesus loves you.
• 21:05
  Music.
• 21:11
  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
• 21:16
  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
• 21:19
  We pray today has been a blessing, and we encourage you to reach out to us through
• 21:23
  our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
• 21:26
  You can find our app by searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
• 21:30
  store or through our website at watwm.org.
• 21:34
  We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm.
• 21:39
  If you visit our website, you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits,
• 21:42
  a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
• 21:47
  Woman at the Well Ministries is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving
• 21:51
  our Heavenly Father, and it is through your loving and generous support that
• 21:56
  our ministry continues to bless others.
• 21:58
  To learn how to partner with Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
• 22:02
  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
• 22:07
  We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our.
• 22:15
  Music.