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 28:13-14 (KJV):
13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
14 Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.

Proverbs 28:13-14 (AMP):
13 He who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes his sins will obtain mercy.
14 Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is the man who reverently and worshipfully fears (the Lord) at all times (regardless of circumstances), but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Thoughts for the Day:

These verses from Proverbs tell us that a person who confesses their sin shall have mercy, while the one who hides them will not prosper.  Also, a man who has the reverential fear of God will be blessed, while the one who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Verse 13 shows us that the way to obtain mercy is to confess our sins and turn from them; if we do not do this, we will not prosper.  There is another verse in the New Testament that voices the same thing.

1 John 1:5-10:
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

When two Christians cannot fellowship with one another, it is because one of them, or both of them, are walking in darkness in some area of their lives; as these scriptures declare that if we walk in the light, as Jesus is in the light, we will have fellowship, one with the other. We can only have fellowship with Christ by dealing with our sin.  The way we do that is when we sin, we are to confess our sin and turn from it; then, by the blood of Jesus, we are cleansed from unrighteousness. People who declare they have no sin, are deceived, as the Bible says all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God. However, God provided a way for all men to be forgiven of their sins, and that way is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. He is an innocent man who was crucified for the sins of all men. By his death, burial and resurrection, Jesus made a way for all men to be pardoned, if they turn to Him in faith and repent of their sins.

Romans 3:23-25:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.

Verse 14 of Proverbs 28 states that those who have the (reverential) fear of God in their hearts will find blessing, while those who harden their hearts will come to ruin. How do people harden their hearts toward God?  This happens when God speaks to a person's heart and they do not respond to Him in obedience.  Each time a person refuses to obey God, their heart becomes a little more hardened to the things of God. A person who keeps resisting the Holy Spirit will find, in time, their heart will not be sensitive to God at all, and they will have no rest in their souls.

Hebrews 3:7-14:
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, I am grateful that I can always come to You and confess my sins, and You will never turn me away, but will always extend mercy to me and deliver me from evil. Father, may I always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings, and obey You when You tell me to do something. I never want any hardness in my heart toward the things of God.  May I always stand before You with a reverential fear, knowing that You are all powerful and all wise.  Lord, I declare, I will have no fear of what man can do to me, because my faith and trust are in You. I am grateful I can call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.