Prepare
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for this day and for your Word. Help us read and understand it; by your Holy Spirit teach us and apply it to our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.
Read
Scripture Passage
12:18 There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health.
12:19 The truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment.
12:20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy.
12:21 No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, But the wicked shall be filled with evil.
12:22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.
12:23 A prudent man conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.
12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.
12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.
12:26 The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
12:27 The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession.
12:28 In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
The official transcript actually reads Proverbs 12:18-28. These proverbs teach that words may wound or heal, truth lasts, peaceful counsel brings joy, honesty delights God, prudence knows when to be silent, diligence works faithfully, good words lift anxiety, righteous people choose friends carefully, and the path of righteousness leads to life.
B — Best Verse
A Verse That Summarizes the Passage
Proverbs 12:28
Distilled from the devotional exposition; the speaker did not explicitly name a best verse.
And the way of righteousness is life. and in its pathway there is no death.
No Best Verse selection occurs. Verse 28 gathers the many practical contrasts into their destination: God's righteous path is the narrow way of life, and it is known by going to God and following Jesus.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Use words to heal and tell truth, counsel peace, work diligently, choose friends carefully, bring anxiety to God, and care for what he entrusts to you. Go to God to know righteousness, follow Jesus on the narrow path, and rest in Christ.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Why couldn't the skeleton play music in church? Why couldn't the skeleton play music in church? I know the answer to this one. Should I wait for everyone else to hear? No, I should. Why? Because he doesn't have any organs. He doesn't have any organs. Har, har, har. Yeah, you do it together. Well, good morning, good morning. No more jokes, okay? I want to do it. Okay, go ahead. No, no, no, no, no. Please know we shouldn't tell jokes. Ellie, I don't want you to feel like I favored your brother though. Go ahead. Why the kitty found the little baby kitty? Why did the kitty find the little baby kitty? Because it was crying? Oh, okay.
Well, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through what? All the wisdom literature. That's right, all of the wisdom literature. We'll make it through all the wisdom literature.
Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day, and we thank you for your word. Father, we pray that we would read your word and understand it. We pray that your Holy Spirit would teach us and apply it to our hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. Proverbs 12, and we'll do verse 18 down to the end of the chapter. So I'll read 18 through 22, and then we'll work on those.
Okay, you guys ready? There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword. But the tongue of the wise promotes health. Right? Can people hurt you by their words? Can people build you up with their words? That's right. The truthful lips shall be established forever. But a lying tongue is but for a moment. Does truth endure forever? Yeah. But people who are lying, guess what's going to happen? They're going to tear other people down. And will the truth come out? Yes. The truth will come out. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy. So if you have joy, you should counsel people in the way of peace. And what is the way of peace? Where do we find peace for our souls?
Telling the truth. Telling the truth? Do we tell people about Jesus Christ? That's right. Okay, let's keep reading Ellie. No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil. Oh boy, if you want your life to go well, should you follow the Lord? That's right. But if you follow the way of the path of wickedness, there's going to be pain. There's going to be heartache. There's going to be sorrow. All right. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. But those who deal truthfully are his delight. What does God delight in? Truth. Truth. That's right. God delights in the truth.
Do you remember what Jesus said when one of his disciples asked him, how do we get to the Father? And Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me. That's right. So how do we know the truth? We go to God. We go to His Word. Okay, Nathan, you want to read verse 23? That's right, we go to Jesus. A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of a fool proclaims foolishness. That's right, we go to God. We don't make gods, that's right.
A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of a fool proclaims foolishness. A wise person doesn't need to say everything they know. But a fool... bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh If you don't want to be stuck doing the manual labor, being the hard work all the time, work hard and get a supervisor role. Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes him glad. What does Jesus say about being anxious or worrying? Do not be anxious about anything.
With thanksgiving present your requests to God. That's right. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds with Christ Jesus. That's right. But if you don't listen to that, do you think your soul can be burdened like heavy? Yeah. That's right. That's right. Nathan, you want to read verse 26?
The righteous shall choose his friends carefully. for the way of the wicked leads them astray. Oh, this is a really important one for all of us. What is this teaching us? The righteous should choose their friends carefully. Does that mean that you should be friends with everyone you meet? No. Why not? Because they might not be righteous. Yeah, and what does God teach us in the New Testament? Do not be deceived, bad. Bad company corrupts good morals. That's right, bad company corrupts good morals. Choose your friends. Cody took me under the water. Oh, is Cody your friend? Okay, Deborah, you want to read verse 27?
The lazy man does not roast what he toasts. in hunting, but diligence is man's precious possession. All right. Could you guys imagine daddy going out and hunting, and then when I was done hunting, let's say I got a big buck, and I got that buck, and then I said, ah, it's just too much work. Just leave it in the field. Would that be very smart? No. Why not? Tractors can run over it. People can get hurt. Well, yeah. Tractors can run over it. People get hurt. But would we get to eat? We eat it then? No, and mommy would be sad because she just like had to spend all that time without you. Yeah, she would have to spend all that time without me and then I didn't bring home the meat.
What's wrong with you, dude? Right? Don't be a lazy bum. Right? But diligence is man's precious possession, right? Be hard about the work that God's given us to do. Okay, verse 28. Whose turn is it to read 28? Is it Deborah's? Is it mine? I just read. Okay.
And the way of righteousness is life. and in its pathway there is no death. So which pathway should we walk? The pathway of the wicked or the pathway of the righteous? The righteous. And how do we know what righteousness is? The narrow path. What is the narrow path? How do we know the narrow path? The hardships. Well, we go to God and we look to His Son. We walk in the path of Jesus. We follow the law of Christ. We hear God's wisdom here and walk after his ways, not after our own.
Daddy, it's not my jommies. It's not your jommies today? Okay. Well, why don't we go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your wisdom. God, we pray that we would follow after your paths. Please, Lord, be our teacher. Please let us rest in Christ. Let us walk after Him. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may by the Spirit of God, your feet be moved to walk in the paths of righteousness. And we'll see you tomorrow. You guys wanna say bye? Bye. Bye.