Daily Devotional
               Betty Miller shares her daily devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the Bible.   

  The Wisdom of God

Verses for the Day:  

Proverbs 27:22 (KJV): Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

Proverbs 27:22 (AMP): Even though like grain you should pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

Thoughts for the Day:

This verse from Proverbs tells us how bad character traits are so deeply engrained that it is impossible to remove them, even with drastic measures. The Bible definition of a fool is one who is rebellious.  This is why many who end up in jail are incorrigible, as they have life-long habits that are embedded throughout their entire personalities.  These kinds of people are referred to as having criminal natures with a mind set on doing evil. Penal institutions have tried to rehabilitate many of them with a variety of programs, yet most of the criminals they release return to their old ways of crime.  In the natural, they retain their foolishness and rebellion because it is a part of them. There is another scripture that talks about those who habitually do evil, making it impossible for them to do good.

Jeremiah 13:23:  Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

The only way for someone who is very wicked to change is through the power of God. What is impossible with man, is possible with God. The Bible is full of stories of those who were once rebellious sinners; they were foolish, murderers, adulterers and liars, and when they surrendered their lives to God, they were changed by His grace. All of us were sinners until we came to Christ and allowed Him to deliver us from our sins and our fear of hell. He gives us the promise of eternal life when we come to Him.

Titus 3:3-7:
3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The penal institutions in the U.S.A. have witnessed many of their prisoners changed when they have allowed the gospel to be preached within their walls. Even some of the most hardened criminals have been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and have been released to live good and clean lives. Paul, one of the greatest apostles in the New Testament, was a man who went about threatening to murder Christians, thinking he was doing the will of God. One day, he had a supernatural encounter with God, and his entire life was changed. God took the scales off of his spiritual eyes and then he could see the evil he had done. After his miracle conversion, he spent the rest of his life in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ and was responsible for writing a good deal of the New Testament of the Bible.

Acts 9:1-6:
1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Today, we are faced with religious zealots of Islam who think killing Christians is the will of God, just as Paul did. We must pray that these people will see the true light of God and experience the saving power of Christ. They need to understand that a religion will not save them and give them eternal life; this can only be found in a personal relationship with God's Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus warned us that there would be people who would seek  to kill Christians. We are living in these days now.

John 16:2b-3:
2b ... yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

Matthew 24:7-9 & 13-14:
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your promise of salvation and eternal life to all who would call on You. I am grateful that You, Lord Jesus, came to save me, and that You now live in my heart because I have surrendered to You.  Lord, I pray for all people who are trusting in false religions to save them. Lord, may they experience true salvation through the love of Christ. Lord, open their hearts and give them Your light, so that they may know the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, and the way to eternal life. You said in the Bible that You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. I pray that the lost may find their way to You.  I ask this in the name of Jesus, my Lord. Amen.