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 6:12-15(KJV): "A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
13 He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers;
14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy."

Proverbs 6:12-15(Amplified): "A worthless person, a wicked man is he who goes about with a perverse (contrary, wayward) mouth. 13 He winks with his eyes, he speaks by shuffling or tapping his feet, he makes signs (to mislead and deceive)and teaches with his fingers.  14 Willful and contrary in his heart, he devises trouble, vexation and evil continually; he lets loose discord, and sows it. 15 Therefore upon him shall the crushing weight of calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken and that without remedy."

Thoughts for the Day:

These verses in Proverbs are very descriptive in their characterization of a charlatan. Many people are taken advantage of by worthless and naughty people who use different means and scams to con people out of their money. In our day, a "froward mouth" would be someone that we would call a "slick talker."  They lie and give a convincing story to con people out of their money.  Telephone scams are so notorious, that many people are putting blocks on their telephones to avoid these kind of encounters.   Many evil people prey on Christians because they are good hearted. I have even heard wicked men say how gullible Christians are, stating that they will believe anything.   As Christians, we should ask the Lord for discernment to know when someone is trying to cheat us, so we will not be taken advantage of. We should never be pressured into giving or buying something without asking the Holy Spirit to guide us in these areas.

The Bible warns us that there will be people who are false prophets, pretending to be sheep; yet, they are wolves in sheep's clothing.   Just because people use the name of Jesus and come in His name does not guarantee they are really true Christians.

Matthew 7:15: "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

The Lord instructs us to examine the fruit of someone's life to see if they really are of God.  A good question to ask about a person's actions is -- Would Jesus act this way?  Would Jesus do this? If the person is not acting in a godly manner, we can know, at best, he is not walking in the Spirit or, at worst, he is an emissary of the devil. Notice in the verse 13 how a charlatan uses a lot of body language to express himself.   Often they will have partners in crime, whom they will signal with certain actions, to fool people. This happens many times in gambling halls and casinos.   Gamblers are set up to lose. Gambling is a sin and as Christians we should never go to these places unless God has called us there to share the gospel. Gambling addiction is now a growing epidemic in our nation.

Notice in verse 14 that the wicked man sows discord and mischief among his acquaintances.  Such a man is not a peace maker. In verse 15 we also see the end of people like this -- they will end up broken, as calamity will overtake them.  It will come suddenly when they do not expect it, and there will be no way out, nor any remedy. We must ask the Lord to keep us from getting involved with these kind of people.  We should also ask Him to keep us from falling into the trap of gambling or any other thing that would allow the enemy to rob from us.

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you today for keeping me from evil people who would be set on destroying me or my family.  Lord, I need your discernment to help me to know when I should give, and when I should not give to people.  I want to be generous, but I do not want the enemy fooling me and causing me to waste my money on the wrong things.  Lead me by Your Spirit to know the things I should do, and the things I should not do. Lord, I pray today for my Christian brothers and sisters who are addicted to gambling. Help them to get free and deliver them from all forms of gambling.  Lord, show them that Lotto is not the answer to their financial problems. Teach them how to manage their monetary affairs according to the Word of God.   When we do that, we are promised blessing from You.  In the name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.