Proverbs 18:15-24

but tonight let's do some devotions i don't have coffee with me maybe you do with you if i drink coffee now i'd be up until 3am but let's make sure everybody's online down here here we go all right well we are at proverbs chapter 18 verses 15 through 24 proverbs 18 verses 15 through 24. why don't we go ahead and pray we'll get into god's word lord we thank you so much for this day we thank you for your word we thank you that you are the god of all wisdom and that the fear of you is the beginning of wisdom so father we pray that as we hear your word now we pray that we will listen to it with faith and that you would teach us and lead us in jesus name amen all right proverbs 18 verses 15 through 24 here we go the heart of the prudent acquires knowledge and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge people who know the most know how little they know the people who are the most knowledgeable and wise in this world are the people who know their limitations and are always curious about things and want more knowledge the spirit of or the heart of the prudent acquires knowledge in the ear of the wise seeks knowledge if you want to be wise don't ever become complacent and wanting to learn about the things of god and the beauties of this creation that he's made verse 16 a man's gifts makes room for him and brings him to great men this isn't talking about a bribe here but what this is talking about is the reality of of being generous with others and the kind of what this is talking about is similar to what uh jesse did when he sent david to go bring king saul some some uh some of the fruits of the land and they care for his brothers or his sons it's similar to what jacob did when he sent the for the brothers to go and to seek favor from pharaoh right he's he's at that point pharaoh's servant joseph he didn't know it was his son joseph but he sent him a gift that they might gain inference into this great man's presence the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him this is a huge one this is an absolute huge one listen to both sides of the story before you cast judgment on something whenever you hear some gossip or a story from someone hold off on judgment that the lord is saying here you're going to hear you're going to hear and whoever you hear first is going to seem right until the next person comes and gives you more context or colors the story wait until you have both sides don't this is why in god's word you were not allowed to cast judgment based on the testimony of just one witness but you always had to have the testimony of two or three witnesses casting lots or sorry no verse 17 no sorry verse 18 casting lots causes contentions to cease and keeps the mighty apart uh the lots were like casting dice and and and essentially letting god in his sovereign provident hand choose a thing and so this can be used good and bad you know i think that we can be people can use lots unwisely and it can actually cause contentions but the point here is that god doesn't play with chance uh albert einstein is famous for saying that uh god doesn't play with chance but but god determines a lot he is sovereign he makes he he determines each thing and so if if you ever want to research a little bit of time go see what happened when john wesley decided to cast lots and if that actually stopped contention with his contemporary george whitefield at the time i'll leave that for you to research on online sometime verse 19 a brother offended is harder to win than a strong city and contentions are like bars of a castle i wrote here in my margin there are strong and high walls that can be built when we estrange people when we make people our enemies it is really hard to gain them back this is why god tells us live at peace with all men so long as it depends upon you it is really hard to regain someone who you have broken their trust or whom you have hurt verse 20 a man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruits of his mouth from the produce of his lips he shall be filled you reap what you sow you reap what you sow when you speak to make sure you're speaking wisdom make sure you're imparting grace to the here make sure you're only saying those things which will build others up that you might show the love of christ verse 21 death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruits again in my margin when i was thinking about this i said uh words kill words can also give life their eyes import they're either poison or fruit you choose that's kind of paraphrasing from the message here but you're gonna again you're gonna reap what you saw with your words and so you're able to impart life or you're able to be a snare for others how will you use your tongue how will you how will you speak to others around you verse 22 he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the lord oh i love this verse oh the lord has shown me such favor in giving me such an amazing loving supporting wife and olivia and so he who finds a wife finds a good thing after salvation after wisdom the best thing the lord could give a man to not be alone is a good wife men if you are married love your wife she is a blessing from god care for her cherish her build her up pray for her bless her and praise her to others she is a good gift from the lord verse 23 a poor man uses entreaties but the rich answers roughly a poor person can't afford to be brash can't afford to you know just answer roughly but a rich person can because they can get away with it and sadly people don't always listen to this actually some of the poorest people i know who should have been the most meek ended up as they were especially speaking to people in authority like cops and judges ended up getting themselves in trouble because they have nothing but pride and attitude and they probably should have answered more humbly because authority came down hard on them but the brash for the rich person is able to speak more brashly and they're typically will bribe their way out it's just sinful and wrong but it's the reality of life verse 24 a man who has friends must himself be friendly but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother that brother is jesus christ there's a friend who sticks more closely than a brother the one who sticks with us through thick and thin who if you are in him if you believe in him will will abide in you and will cause you to bear much good fruit as jesus as you're in the darkest hours of your life and the most need that you could ever find yourself when everyone else has deserted you your redeemer lives he's always beside you always making an intercession for you and always loving you let's pray father we thank you so much for this day we thank you for the wisdom that you have given us lord we pray that you would let us walk in your ways love you lord we pray that we would impart grace with our lips and cling to the grace of jesus christ in his name we pray amen may the lord bless you tonight may have a great night's sleep and i'll see you tomorrow bye