Treasures

The Way Of Righteousness

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I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.  Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.  By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.  By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth.
I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.  My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.
I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

Proverbs 8:12-21

Eternal Wisdom

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“I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
The LORD possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old.”   Proverbs 8:20-22  (KJB)

When You Will Understand The Fear of The LORD, and Find Knowledge

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“My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5 (KJB)

Treasured Treasures

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Treasured Treasures

Matthew 6:19-34

LAID UP EARTHLY TREASURES ARE SUBJECT TO THEFT, MOTH, RUST, AND CORRUPTION (vv. 19-20).

* There is no contentment, peace or joy in obtaining worldly things or pleasures.

* There is comparison between two places of savings;

THE TREASURED TREASURE IS THAT WHERE YOU DEVOTE YOUR MOST ATTENTION, AND TIME (vv. 21-24).

* The key verse to this passage of Scripture is verse 21.

+ When we speak of the “heart” we mean the center of one’s being.

+ This is the place of your feelings, emotions, your caring.

AN EXAMPLE/ILLUSTRATION OF HIS PROVISION, THROUGH THE FOWLS OF THE AIR, AND OUR FAITH (vv. 25-30).

* Taking no thought for food or raiment is to not worry or fret over where these things will come from.

+ As the Father provides for the birds of the air He provides for His children.

+ As the Father provides for the flowers of the field in raiment He provides raiment for His children.

WORRY/ANXIOUSNESS IS THE PATH OF THE UNGODLY, AND GOD KNOWS ALL OUR NEED (vv. 31-32).

* The Gentiles [ungodly] spend their time seeking material gain, putting money away and building massive bank accounts; or at least dream of doing so.

SEEK SPECIFICALLY, WITH DESIRE, THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND LET ‘TOMORROW’ TEND TO ITS OWN (vv. 33-34).

* The righteous by Jesus Christ desire to seek righteousness, and to be like Christ

+ We seek the righteousness of God through our daily disciplines:

1. Giving; 2. Praying; 3. Fasting; and 4. Feeding on His Word.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Wisdom of Work, and the Mouth

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Words have power.  It is my belief that if we as people would do our individual jobs, and responsibilities, and listen twice as much as we open our mouths the world would be a better place.  God gave us two ears and one mouth; and that means we ought to do twice as much listening, as we do speaking.

Hear the Proverbs…

“The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but He casteth away the substance of the wicked. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame. Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.” Proverbs 10:1-6 (KJV)

At least 13 times in chapter ten there is reference to “mouth”, “lips”, or “tongue”. Verses 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 31, and 32 with a couple of verses having two references.

There is power in our use of words with our tongues, lips, our mouth; hear what God says about the power of the tongue; “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21).

From Warren W. Wiersbe –

Wise and righteous are key words in this chapter, and they go together, for the wise practice righteousness and the righteous grow in wisdom.
The wise bring joy and not grief to their parents (v. 1). They will take advantage of God-given opportunities (v. 5) and will obey orders (v. 8). Wise people gather knowledge (v. 14) and share it with others (vv. 13, 21, 31). They also know when to be quiet (v. 19). They do not jest about sin (v. 23) but are serious about obeying the Lord.
The righteous have God’s protection and provision (vv. 2–3, 24–25), and He blesses them in life (v. 6) and after death (v. 7). Their words give life (vv. 11, 20–21, 31–32), and their works prosper (v. 16). Their future is secure (v. 30) and joyful (v. 28).
If you are wise and righteous, those traits will be revealed by your words (vv. 6, 11, 14, 20–21, 31–32) as well as by your works.

Of verse 6 Matthew Henry Commentary says,

“Verse 6
Here is, 1. The head of the just crowned with blessings, with the blessings both of God and man. Variety of blessings, abundance of blessings, shall descend from above, and visibly abide on the head of good men, real blessings; they shall not only be spoken well of, but done well to. Blessings shall be on their head as a coronet to adorn and dignify them and as a helmet to protect and secure them. 2. The mouth of the wicked covered with violence. Their mouths shall be stopped with shame for the violence which they have done; they shall not have a word to say in excuse for themselves (Job 5:16); their breath shall be stopped with the violence that shall be done to them, when their violent dealings shall return on their heads, shall be returned to their teeth.”

Let us commit ourselves to doing what God has given us to do, as unto Him doing it with all our heart; then with busy hands and feet the mouth will be used for right and good.  There is power in words.

Through the Bible in a Year – 082513

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Always Faithful

1.  APPRECIATE THE FAITH OF OTHERS WHO ARE FAITHFUL (Colossians 1:3-8).

2.  ACKNOWLEDGE THE HIDDEN TREASURES WHICH ARE IN CHRIST (2:1-3)

3.  PUT TO DEATH THE WORKS OF THE FLESH (3:5-11).

4. APPRECIATE THE FAITH OF YOUR FELLOW SERVANTS AND WORKERS (4:7-11).

-Tim A. Blankenship

God’s Word Today 082212

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The LORD of hosts hath sworn by Himself, saying, ‘Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.’   He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by His understanding.  When He uttereth His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures.  Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.  They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.  The portion of Jacob is not like them; for He is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of His inheritance: the LORD of hosts is His name.”  Jeremiah 51:14-19 (KJV)

Also read Psalms 115 and 135.

-T.A.

Third Woe and a Promise

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EARTH FILLED WITH GLORY

“Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!  Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:12-14 (KJV).

The third woe is here presented. So far the “Woes” have had to do with unjust increase, and increase at the cost of another’s fall, by the profiteer’s own doing. Remember these woes are being pronounced against Babylon. It seems that there are lessons the Christian and the world of today should hear and heed. If these things were evil for Babylon to practice, then they are evil in any society.

This again is a continuation of the charges against them. They have been pillaging, robbing, killing, and taking all the treasures of every land. They were using means which would not meet with God’s approval. There was much injustice in their dealings with the people of God and others.

It is a wicked people who take from the weak to establish their own homes, villages, towns and cities. It is a vile thing in the eyes of our Just God to see those who gain and gain and gain never to return anything to God for His glory. The one’s who have against those who have not. Those who have money can “legally” charge those who cannot afford it 30 percent or more for the credit. That should be illegal in this country. “O, that is capitalism – that’s the way it works”. That is capitalism run amuck. It is foul, it is a stench in the nostrils of holy God. To correct this there should be a fair exchange of money. What you charge the wealthy should be the rate you charge the poor man or woman. Really it would be a delight in the eye of God to charge less to the poor, than to the rich. Laugh if you will, but you laugh at holy God.

The wealthy put people to work, and some do not pay a wage consistent enough to live on. Then, they charge an enormous amount of money for their product, what that same person needs, and take even more. God help the business people of our land to open their eyes and be a benefit to our society rather than dividing the classes even further.

Let me assure you, that all these things for which we labor and toil; these things that we find so dear and important, will one day fade to naught. What will you have left when it is all gone?

There is a prize in these verses. “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea”. The leaders and rulers of Babylon sought to build a great kingdom by the shedding of blood, and taking what belonged to others, and often at the expense of their lives. There is a Kingdom coming in which there will be no war, but only peace. The peace of God that passes all understanding. Notice the vastness of this “knowledge of the glory”; it is “as the waters cover the sea”. How much do the waters cover the sea? The sea is water, thus this filling with the knowledge of the glory covers the whole realm of the Kingdom. All the bloodshed, and such will have been done away. Jesus Christ will reign supremely. The knowledge of His glory will fill the earth.