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 12:5-7(KJV): 
5 The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.
6 The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.
7 The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.

Thoughts for the Day:

The book of Proverbs contrasts the thoughts and the words of the righteous against those of the wicked.  Looking at these verses carefully, we notice that sin and righteousness both proceed from the heart, then they become thoughts in the mind and finally they become deeds.  The deeds manifest according to the thoughts, as to whether they are good or evil. Notice the progression. Sin begins in a man's heart, then a man will have thoughts about the sin, then the mouth will speak of those sins, then the man will actually commit those sins.  The same is true of righteousness as it will proceed from the heart, then form as righteous thoughts, then he will speak of those thoughts, and finally he will act upon them, and bring them forth as righteous deeds. 

Jesus speaks these words in Mark 7:20-23:

20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

How can we have a change of heart and be free from sin? The Bible tells us that we are all born with sin in our hearts, and the only way we can be free from sin and its evil deeds is to be "born again."  That can only come if we choose to confess our sins and ask God to forgive us. Then we must invite Him to come into our lives and give us a new heart.  As we surrender our life to Him and die to our way, the power of the Holy Spirit will break the power of sin in our lives.

Romans 6:6-13(RSV):
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and
we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
7 For he who has died is freed from sin.
8 But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.
9 For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death
no longer has dominion over him.
10 The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.
13 Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God
as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.

Verse 6 of our Proverbs study tells us that the wicked will plot murder with his mouth, while the righteous will prevent the same evil with his mouth? How?  Through our prayers.  As we pray in faith for the safety of our families, and speak God's protection over them, we are actually destroying the the plans of the wicked. (Psalm 91 is a chapter in the Bible that promises us protection and we can read it over us, and also speak it for those for whom we pray). Verse 7 says the wicked are overthrown, while the house of the righteous will stand. 

Isaiah 54:17: "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD."

We must guard our hearts and not allow evil things to come into our spirits. Wrong things will produce evil fruit.  This is also true for our children.  Satan will try to enter through our eye and ear gates.  We must be careful about the things we watch on TV and read in books.  We must monitor the games and music our children hear. When evil enters the heart, then it will bring evil suggestions to the mind and eventually tempt us to act upon those evil ideas.  It is not a sin to have an evil thought; however, it is sin to dwell upon that thought and consider it.  We must rebuke evil thoughts from our minds with the Word of God.   For instance, if the devil is causing us to covet anything that belongs to another, we must put that thought to flight and be content with what the Lord has given us.   He will bless us in due time, if we are not jealous of what someone else has.   The Lord wants to bless all His children. We must resist evil thoughts and keep our minds on the things of God in order to walk in victory.

James 4:6-7: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, I am grateful for all the times Your hand of protection has been over me and my family.  Thank you for watching over us.  Lord, help me to keep my thoughts on good things and take those things out of my heart that are not like You.  Forgive me when I dwell on wrong thoughts and I fail to resist the devil immediately.  I do want a clean heart and a pure mind.   Help me to resist the evil that is in this world.  Lord, I pray for all the Christian parents who are raising their children in this crooked generation.  Give them wisdom and love as they instruct their children in the ways of the Bible. Lord, take the rebellion from the hearts of those young people who have perverted thinking.   Protect our children in the schools and on the streets. Have mercy on all of us, and give us Your grace to be good examples to our children and the young people we know.   In the name of Jesus, I ask.  Amen.