RUSSELL SANDERS

4-17-2023

NUGGETS OF WISDOM FROM PROVERBS 13

The wisdom of young King Solomon is seen throughout the book of Proverbs and is credited mostly to him. Let us look at a few selected nuggets from Proverbs 13.

1. Verse 5: “A righteous man hateth lying…” One of the ten commandments (Exodus 20:16 and Deut. 5:20) says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness” which is lying. Rev. 21:8 says, “…all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire…which is the second death.”

God will forgive the occasional lie if we truly repent and not continue to do it. People given to frequent lying will be judged by God who hates dishonesty of any kind.

2. Verse 12: “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.” When you put “all your eggs into one worldly basket” of hope or expectation which never materializes, it can wreck your dreams or ambitions if you let it. Your hope and dreams should be anchored in the Lord.

3. Verse 22: “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children.” This is a forgotten or a sorely neglected verse. Upon death, a man’s goods are usually given to his children and his grandchildren get little or nothing. This verse is instruction to provide for his posterity. His adult children have made their way in life already. The bulk of his wealth (in his will) is to go to grandchildren and great grandchildren to help establish their way in life as his seed.

4. Verse 24: “He that spareth the rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth (reproof, correction, discipline, rebuke) him betimes (early on).” Betimes is Strong’s 7836 which means to be early in the task (no delay or putting it off). From this verse comes the common saying, “spare the rod and spoil the child.”

The word rod does not mean beating them mercilessly with something hard. It can refer to a stick which we call a switch that comes from a tree branch (or a belt) used for punishment in wrongdoing. Chastening refers primarily to correction through discipline, rebuke, and correction.

Any parent who loves their child will use such corrections. Spanking is not abuse unless it is done without mercy out of sheer anger. Discipline shows the child that you love them enough to correct them in a manner that they will not soon forget. 

HELEN SANDERS

4-18-2023

BLINDED BY DECEPTION

The spirit behind deception is the devil himself. It started in the garden with Eve where Satan tried to put doubt of God into her mind when he said in Genesis 3:1, “…hath God said…?”

Satan cannot create anything good. He can only counterfeit what God has created. He counterfeited the plagues that God sent through Moses, but his plagues could not defeat what God had done.

In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 it says, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” The word blinded means to be smokey, or opaque, where you can’t see things clearly.

In John 12:40 it speaks about the prophet Isaiah that tried to get through to the people. It says, “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.”

Deception blinds the eyes like a smoke screen.  It is no wonder that people don’t “get it” when we share the truth. They have been blinded by the devil himself.

We are to walk in the light and not be deceived by Satan’s ploys. The way to know it is deception is if it contradicts what God says in his word. That is the best tool to use.