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 29:22-24 (KJV):
22 An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.
23 A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
24 Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not.

Proverbs 29:22-24 (AMP):
22 A man of wrath stirs up strife, and a man given to anger commits and causes much transgression.
23 A man's pride will bring him low, but he who is of a humble spirit will obtain honor.
24 Whoever is partner with a thief hates his own life; he falls under the curse (pronounced upon him who knows who the thief is) but discloses nothing.

Thoughts for the Day:

These verses from Proverbs tell us how those with bad characteristics like anger, pride and thievery stir up strife and will be brought low, while men of humility will come to honor. Those who harbor anger in their hearts will also have other things that will cause them to abound in their own transgressions. Uncontrolled anger is a form of pride, and pride breeds many other woes. An angry man will stir up strife, because he will vent his anger on others, thus causing dissension. Some people think that because they are just angry at one person, that anger is not that bad; however, a spirit of anger is not always selective.  People who are angry at one person will find that the anger they embrace toward one, will spill over to others.  That is why we must resist all uncontrolled anger. We must ask the Lord to cleanse us from this evil sin. 

Verse 23 talks about pride, another deadly sin. If we yield to this one, we will be brought down from our lofty place, as the Bible says "a haughty spirit goes before a fall."

Proverbs 16:18: Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 18:12: Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.

Proverbs 15:33: The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.

The Lord looks for those who have a heart attitude that is humble and contrite and to those who respect the Word of God. Those are the ones who will receive His blessings and will be brought to honor.

Isaiah 66:2: For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Jesus in the New Testament told us the same thing - the way up in the kingdom of God is down. Those who are great in God's kingdom are those who become a servant to all.

Matthew 23:11-12:
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

James 4:6-7 & 10:
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

The Bible tells us that God resists those who are proud, but to the humble soul, He will give grace. Also, the way to overcome when the devil attacks us, is to first submit ourselves to God; then we must resist the devil, and when we do, we are guaranteed that he will flee.  How do we resist the devil?  We must quote the Word of God in faith that pertains to our problem, and then verbally command the enemy to leave. The Bible says, "he will flee," not maybe he will flee. The devil will flee!

Proverbs 29:24 states that a man who partners with a thief really does not care about his own life, for he knows the consequences and does it anyway. The accomplice of a thief is his own enemy. A thief will threaten an accomplice, because of what they know, and he will make them swear, they will not tell on them. Out of fear under such an oath, he dares not testify. This is a world of deceit, and in time, it will come down.

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, I come to You, asking that You deliver me from all pride and anger.  I truly want to be like Jesus, who was meek and lowly. Father, help me to remain humble and always be willing to assume the place of a servant. May I always be sensitive to the needs of others and look for ways to help them. I am reminded in Your Word that we are told, by love, we are to serve one another. Fill me with Your love, so that I might love those around me and serve them as You would.  I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.