Transcription
What's good everybody? It's your boy Clans, and we are here with day 11 of Proverbs. Let's clap it up some more. Let's go, let's go, let's go! We're excited, we're hungry, and we are learning more and more every single day.
Um, the title of this one, I don't have a title particularly in my NLT Bible, but my MP Bible title says, "The Contrast Between the Upright and the Wicked." So I'm guessing that this title is going to be talking about the, the difference between the upright, like the righteous, and then the wicked. So it's going to be comparing the two of what your life will look like if you're living a righteous life, if you're living a wicked life. So I think that's what it's going to be talking about, but we're going to see as we read along.
Um, we're going to be praying as always, and then after we read this full chapter in my NLT Bible, we'll be doing the breakdown from the Filament Bible, and then we'll just see what we get as far as what God allows us to learn from today's read. So, all my clear heads bowed, eyes closed.
Good morning, Lord. How you doing? How you feeling? Um, thank you, Lord, for just waking us all up this morning. Thank you for letting us all wake up on purpose, Lord, for more purpose, God. Thank you for showing us that it doesn't matter what we may have done that they influence, Lord, that we are forgiven. So I ask that you forgive us all right now for our sins, Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for just even holding us in your presence, Lord, and giving us an open hand to always run back to, even in times of need. And even if we don't want to run near you, Lord, you're always there with open arms, Lord. So I thank you for your grace. I thank you for your love. I thank you for your patience with us, Lord. I thank you for just allowing us all to just build this consistency and this discipline to read your word, to learn as much as possible, to apply your word to our lives, Lord. So as they hear your voice and not my own, Lord, and for us to be able to just find even more in different ways to apply your, the new knowledge, the new insights, the new understanding to our lives that even not only that we can see, but also the people that's around us can even see the change in our lives, Lord, and change in our heart. Precious God, so I thank you and I praise you. Bless today, be the beautiful reads. Bless be beautiful revelations with new understanding in Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
All right, y'all, we about to get right into it. I'm excited. So, Proverbs 11. I read from my Every Man's Bible for those that want it. It's tagged in the video somewhere on the screen, tag somewhere on the screen for y'all. Um, and they had the NIV version as well for this Bible. This is one of my favorite Bibles so far. I love the little devotionals it has specifically towards men. I love the breakdowns. So yeah, Every Man's Bible, NLT version, and they also have an NIV version as well for those that want the NIV version. But yeah, Proverbs Chapter 11, verse one. Let me get my highlighter ready too.
Verse one: "The Lord attests the use of dishonest skills, but he delights in accurate ways." That's good. Out the gate, that's good.
Verse two: "Pride leads to disgrace, but humility comes wisdom." But with humility comes wisdom.
Verse three: "Honesty guides good people, dishonesty destroys treacherous people. Riches won't help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death." Highlight that. Let's go. Highlight that. Now, I'm not going to lie to you. I know we supposed to be reading first. I'm sorry, I have to highlight that. Cut my eye. Highlight verse four.
All right, we're gonna, I'm gonna read through all of it again. My fault, y'all got sidetracked that fast. It caught me off guard.
Verse one: "The Lord detests the use of dishonest skills, but he delights in accurate weights. Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Honesty guides good people, dishonesty destroys treacherous people. Riches won't help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death."
Verse five: "The godliness of good people rescues them, the ambition of treacherous people traps them. When the wicked die, their hopes die with them, for they rely on their own feeble strength. The godly are rescued from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead. With their words, the godless destroy their friends, but knowledge will rescue the righteous. The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed, they shout for joy when the wicked die. Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper, but the talk of the wicked tears it apart. It is foolish to belittle one's neighbor; a sensible person keeps quiet. A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence. Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers."
Verse 14: We're definitely going to highlight verse 15. "There's danger in putting up security for a stranger's debt; it's safer not to guarantee another person's debt."
Verse 16: "A gracious woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth. Your kindness will reward you, but your cruelty will destroy you. Evil people get rich for the moment, but the reward of the godly will last. Godly people find life, evil people find death. The Lord attests people with crooked hearts, but he delights in those with integrity. Evil people will surely be punished, but the children of the godly will go free. A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring and a pig's snout. The godly can look forward to a reward, while the wicked can expect only judgment. Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. People curse those who hoard their grain, but they bless the one who sells in time of need. If you search for good, you will find favor, but if you search for evil, it will find you. Trust in your money and down you go, but the godly flourish like leaves in the spring. Those who bring trouble in their families inherit the wind. The fool will be a servant to the wise. The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life. A wise person wins friends. If the righteous are rewarded here on Earth, what will happen to wicked sinners?"
Jesus, that is good. Go back to verse 14 real quick. I have to highlight that. I'ma highlight that because that's what stood out to me first. Verse 14. Verse 14. Verse 14.
And what else stood out to me? What else stood out to me? Um, oh, verse 27: "If you search for good, you will find favor." I like that. Listen, I need more favor, Lord. More favor.
All right, all right, y'all know the drill. About to go down verse for verse through my Filament Bible on my, um, iPad, and we're going to see what verses, what each verse means that they have up here. So they have a breakdown.
All right, verse one. So verse one says, "The Lord tests the use of dishonest skills, but he delights in accurate weights." So verse one, it says here, "Honest practices are applied to the business world. Scales were often made of two metal bowls suspended from a crossbar. The unit of currency, the shekel, comes from the verb meaning to weigh." So it just has different scriptures and everything, y'all going to be able to see on the screen.
"Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." I'm actually going to highlight that. Yeah, let's highlight verse two. Highlight verse two. And verse two, it says, "Pride is dishonest self-promotion, whereas humility is an honest assessment of one's strengths and weaknesses." Yeah, like that.
It skips down to verse four, and it says, "Riches won't help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death." And verse four in the Filament Bible, it says, "Right living, which flows from wisdom, is more important than riches. Nothing is wrong with riches that are gained properly." I love that. That is good.
Then it skips down to verse 10. It says, verse 10: "The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed; they shout for joy when the wicked die." Verse 10, it says, "Our actions, whether godly or wicked, affect the whole city. So think about that. Think about how much weight your actions carry. Think about how much weight your actions carry." Let's go ahead and highlight that too. Let's go and highlight verse 10 because that's good. A lot of people have to realize their actions don't just affect you. It doesn't just affect. I had to learn it the hard way too. A lot of, a lot of things that you do in a moment, you may be thinking about yourself and only your feelings or someone else's feeling that's like close to you in that situation, but you have to think past just your feelings or people that's around you because it affects more people than you actually think it affects. And I had to go, I had to go through a whole situation that affected not just me, but half my group, half my friend group. So, not going to lie, make sure you focus in on that. Like, make sure you understand that everything you do doesn't just affect you, but it affects everyone else that's connected to you, everyone else that's around you. So make sure you're being wise with your decisions.
Um, verse skips down to verse 13. Verse 13, it says, "A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence." Verse 13, it says, "This perspective on a gossip is repeated in chapter 20, verse 19." That's all it says.
And then verse 14: "Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers." And in verse 14, it says, "The future of an entire nation depends on wisdom." So I love how I, I love this verse so much. This is probably my favorite verse so far in this whole chapter. "Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers." And I'm a firm believer that you're supposed to have, um, wise counsel in every category of your life. So whether that's wise counsel in your friendships, relationships, whether that's wise counsel with your personal goals, whether that's wise counsel with, um, like as far as like, all right, let's break it down like this: spiritual, mental, physical, emotional. What else is there? Spiritual, physical, mental, emotional. I think there's one more I'm missing, but I feel like you, you're supposed to have a mentor in all these different spaces. So, um, business-wise, relationship-wise, spiritually wise, like as far as like a spiritual mentor, I'm a pastor, whoever it is, um, finances, working out, body goals, like food habits. You're supposed to have, I feel like you should have a mentor at all these different ranges because, because that's what will keep you on the right track as far as living a life where you live your calling, which is Ephesians 4, by the way. For those that are in leadership, for those that are called to lead multiple people and are called to shepherd a certain flock, I believe that in order for you to shepherd a flock, you must have people shepherding you. You know, you, you see what I'm saying? So in order for you to shepherd a flock, you must have people shepherding you. If you get what I'm saying. So make sure that you are searching and seeking wise counsel in every area of your life. So if you deal with lust, make sure you have wise counsel that will help you to, that can help you navigate and how to fight that lust off. If you're dealing with depression, having wise counsel that, that can help you fight that off. If you're dealing with anxiety, if you're dealing with, um, a lack of confidence, if, if you're dealing with, um, bad budget and bad finances, having a mentor for that, like having different wise counsel and advisers and all these different things so you can lead properly. If you have a, you know, I'm saying, if you have a spirit of just being lazy, you know what I'm saying? Having someone that actually pushes you towards greatness. Like having someone in every area of your life that can actually push you towards these things so that you can actually shepherd and lead the way that you was called to lead. Because without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers. So don't be ashamed that you, if you have multiple advisers, if you have multiple people that are pouring their opinions out and trying to lead you, wise counsel, don't be ashamed of that. It's good to have wise counsel. It's good to have many people that want to, um, help you out with where you're going and where they see that God trying to lead you to. But make sure that you're not trying to just lean to your own understanding, which is back in earlier in Proverbs, Proverbs 3. Do not lean to your understanding. Make sure you are following wise counsel, going back to your wise counsel for advice, for, um, knowledge on what you should be doing, and asking God what decisions you need to be making because wise counsel is important.
Verse 15: "There's danger in putting up security for a stranger's debt; it's safer not to guarantee another person's debt." It's common sense. But verse 15, it just says the message is repeated in those different verses that's lined up right there.
Verse 16: "A gracious woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth." Respect is the great and lasting reward of being gracious, while wealth is the lesser and temporary prize of being ruthless. That's good.
And then it skips down to verse 21: "Evil people will surely be punished, but the children of the godly will go free." Verse 21, it says, "Godly behavior has positive consequences for the next generation." That's good.
Verse 22: "A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring and a pig's snout." Discretion is the ability to tell them, is to tell right from wrong, the beautiful from the ugly, and good taste from bad taste. That's good.
And it goes down to verse 23: "The godly can look forward to a reward, while the wicked can expect only judgment." The wicked might prosper and the godly might suffer in the short term, but in the future, but the future will write this imbalance. So basically, for those that aren't able to see things from a from a zoomed-out perspective or from a long-term perspective, right now it may seem like you're the one that's suffering, but all the people that's in the word that's evil are prospering. That's short-term. Right now, you're looking at the heavenly prize, they're not. So you have to change your mindset a little bit that although you may be suffering right now, you're suffering for Jesus. They're looking, they're perceived to be prospering, but right now they don't have the advantage that you have, which is knowing Christ. So they're trying to fulfill a void, which is why I see it as if they're prospering, but in real life, they're probably trying to still fight depression, fight sadness, fight this and that. When you've actually met your Creator, you actually have an experience with Jesus Christ. When you've actually been able to let go of certain things because you've met God, now you know what I'm saying? You've built a relationship with Him. So it's a little bit different there. So you might look at them and be like, yo, I'm over here struggling with the bills, but they over here, they doing their thing, they having, they living good. But that's just off because they're not, they're not looking at the heavenly prize, they're looking at an earthly reward. You are looking for the heavenly prize. So make sure you're keeping your eyes on the heavenly gold. We're trying to focus on that. We're not worried about the earthly stuff right now. We're worried about the heavenly gold. When you keep eyes on the prize, let God do the rest. He'll handle the rest, you know what I'm saying?
Um, verses 24-26 says, "Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. People curse those who hoard their grain, but they bless the one who sells in time of need." Verses 24-26, it says, "Generous people who give freely to others will prosper, but those who hoard their money will lose it." So for those that are hoarders, for those that see somebody in need and you're over here just hoarding your money, but God is letting you know that, hey, you should help them out. You should bless them. You better obey, but walk in obedience. Like I told y'all before in the, um, in the last, uh, video, do not have a love of money, bro. Yes, it's smart, it's it's smart and wise to budget your money accordingly. Stick to your plan, whatever God gives you to do as far as like your plan of finances, do that. But don't ever be so caught up in saving your money that you're not willing to give back the money that God has given you. At the end of the day, the money that you have right now, that, that you was blessed with, it wasn't yours in the first place. God blessed you to have it. He gave it to you. So when God asks you to use it to bless someone else, do not withhold that seed from them because you never know what that seed may harvest. If you only hold the seed, you're keeping that seed from even being nurtured. You're keeping that seed from even being planted, and you're keeping that seed from being watered by God because you didn't want to plant the seed. So make sure you're not hoarding, hoarding nothing. Don't hoard it. There's nothing wrong with saving. There's nothing wrong with stacking and investing, but make sure you're not hoarding to the point where you're keeping everything and don't want to share, don't want to bless others that God is calling you to bless.
And then verse, the last one is verse 28: "Trust in your money and down you go, but the godly flourish like leaves in spring." Money can be a blessing from God, but it is uncertain. The godly trust in God and flourish. So again, making sure that you're not falling in love with money, you're falling in love with God, and God will supply all your needs. Matthew 6:33. Again, seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first the kingdom of God. So you keep your eyes on Jesus, and then live righteously. So live a righteous life according to what the word says. Live a righteous life, and then, and only then, will all these things be added unto you. So if you look, if you need more money, if you're looking for, um, stable income, if you're looking for a job, if you're looking for food, water, clothes, whatever it is, when you keep your eyes on Jesus, all these things that you may be stressing about, that you don't know where they're going to come from, you don't know how it's going to get you, get to you, you don't know how your bills are going to get paid, when you keep your eyes on Jesus and you live righteously, then God will supply all your needs. Because again, same thing my dad always says, when you make God's business your business, He'll make your business His business. So in order for us to understand how to really live based off of faith is to keep our eyes on Jesus. When you start relying on money, not God, you'll start seeing a decrease in your money. You'll start seeing a decrease in your lifestyle. You'll start seeing different things happen to where it's like, yo, what's going on? Why is all this happening? It's because you took your eyes off of Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and you would not have to worry about anything. You might go through obstacles, but you will not have to worry about anything to that extent to where you're, you're like, you're lost, you feel me? So keep your eyes on Jesus. He knows exactly what you need, exactly the way you need to go. And if you do Matthew 6:33, and tattoo that on your heart, I promise you, you will be fine. You'll be good. He will not leave you astray. He'll not leave you, uh, stranded. And also in Matthew 6:33 through 34, 34, it says, "Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has its own worries. Today's worries are enough for today." So in saying that, for those that are in that situation where they're looking like, bro, I don't know where my bills are going to get paid, don't even focus on the future right now. I understand that you have to, that you're trying to worry about bills and all these different things going on, but again, just go back to the basic principle of what God said. Matthew 6:33: Seek first the kingdom of God, live righteously, and then all these things will be added unto you. So if you do those two things, God has no choice but to come through on the promise of what His word says, not what your word says, what His word says. If you've been doing those two things, you've been honoring God, you've been living righteously, God's going to supply all your needs. Simple as that. All your needs, not your wants, your needs. So make sure y'all remember that.
That is our reads for the day. I actually love this breakdown that it has. In fact, my Bible actually has multiple breakdowns. Real quick, so, um, for 11:1-3, it says, "These Proverbs underscore the importance of being honest. We need to be honest with ourselves and with others. We need to honestly admit our sins when we see them. We need to be honest as we reflect on the condition of our spiritual lives in light of God's word." And then verses 24-26, which what we just read about money, it says, "One of the things we can give away is encouragement. When we share our victories and even our failures, others will be strengthened for the battle ahead. As we share our experience of spiritual renewal with others, they will gain insights and encouragement." So not even just sharing your money, but just sharing your testimony, sharing your experiences, sharing your lessons that you have learned from the different obstacles that you have to face and just in your life in general. And you sharing those different things are still planting seeds for someone else to be able to fight those battles themselves or whatever they may be going through in their own personal life. So we always say that your yes, your yes has people other people's yeses tied to it. So make sure that you're not hiding, that you're not withholding your testimony from someone else because your testimony might be the only thing at least someone else is saying yes to God.
So that's our reads for the day. Beautiful reads again. Not too many like crazy, you know what I'm saying? Everything in here is basically self-explanatory. A lot of just basic principles of how to live, how to live right, just, you know what I'm saying, how to live righteously versus living wickedly and just having a right heart posture. So nothing too crazy. I'm excited to go to day 12. We going to pray out and we going to get out of here, man.
All minds clear, heads bowed, eyes closed. Lord, thank you for once again for just supplying us with a new way of thinking, a new way of living, a new way to live righteously and to just remove all the wickedness out of our lives, Lord. So thank you for giving us a contrast, a blueprint, and a picture to show us how to live righteously versus living wickedly, Lord. How to live for you and not for the world, Lord. So I ask that you continue to make us all recognizable, Lord. Bless us to become unrecognizable to the world and become recognizable to you, Lord, by living out to what your word says to us, God. So help us apply your word to our lives to where we can continue to look more and more like you, Lord. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
Y'all be safe. We love y'all. Make sure you like, comment, subscribe. And as always, it's always more purpose, you just have to find yours. Love, peace, prosperity, abundance. What else? All the above. Whatever God has for you, He gonna get to you. But make sure you, Matthew 6:33. Don't forget that. Matthew 6:33. Love y'all, man. Y'all be safe. Keep guard in life. Love.