Proverbs 10:12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
Top o’ the mornin’ mih beautiful Friends in Christ! It’s a new day, with new mercies overflowing, so let’s offer some thanks and praise to our most gracious and generous heavenly Father. ‘Oh Lord, your humble and obedient servants thank you for allowing us to see the brilliant sun rise once again, and ask that you guide us safely through whatever life brings our way today. We know we’re not worthy to receive all you do for and give us, but we also know and greatly appreciate that you’re an omnipotent and magnanimous God, who takes great pleasure in LOVING His children and guiding them safely through this earthly life. We praise and honour your Holy Name, praying this through your wonderful Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.’ Yes Friends, the best way, the wise way to start our day is with a little prayer, praise and thanksgiving! It just gets our day off on the right foot. And remember to do it all day too, as Bruh Paul advises: ‘Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess.5:17-18) And if we take that advice to heart my people, then most likely our words will be gracious in our dealings with others, making us seem oh so wise. But if we don’t, then the odds are we’ll end up looking like fools. That’s because: ‘The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool swallow up himself.’ And the first place, or the first way to seek wisdom is to look to our God; communicate with Him, re our whole lives, whatever our hopes, fears, doubts, dream and problems. True wisdom declares that we should take them all to the Lord in prayer. Now yesterday we looked at the first part of our Bit, re the wise man’s words being gracious. Today, let’s consider the fool’s response. And the first step along the foolish part is not communicating with our heavenly Father. Yes Friends, regardless of who we are, and all the wealth, talent and power we might possess, if we don’t talk to the Creator, we’re automatically headed down Fool’s Lane. Absolutely no ifs, ands or buts about that! And here we’ll just insert a couple of rather apt verses from Cousin Sol. ‘The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating (babbling) fool shall fall (be ruined).’ (Prov.10:8) And if that verse didn’t catch your fancy my brethren, then try this one: ‘Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.’ (Prov.10:14) Now aren’t those awesome truths Friends? Of course! For we all have had occasion to say and/or do foolish things that caused us to pay a price. Whether it was high or low, we still paid because of our foolish, unwise attitude. And unfortunately, a lot of our foolish behaviour stems from overblown pride and arrogance; thinking ourselves so much better than we truly are. Oh Friends, unless we’re humble, before both God and man, we’ll experience much unnecessary hardship, because our foolish pride will only lead us down the foolish path. There’s nothing that screws up our lives like proud and arrogant behaviour. It causes us to fall in this trap that the author of Ecclesiastes describes so accurately. ‘A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fools heart at his left. Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way (along), his wisdom faileth him (he lacks wisdom), and he saith (shows) to every one that he is a fool.’ (Eccl.10:2-3) Now there’s no good reason for us to portray that image of ourselves, but sadly, for one reason or another, many believers do. Oh Friends, we already have a lot of the world against us, simply because we believe in Jesus and try to walk in His footsteps, we don’t need to give them any more ammunition to battle us with. That means we have to be very circumspect in our dealings with others, since they’ll not noise abroad our good deeds, but will surely broadcast our folly and hypocrisy. One serious word of advice mih people: please, please, let’s stop talking as much as we do. The more we talk is the more opportunity we have to get ourselves in trouble. Everybody seems to be jumping on the bandwagon of this new talkative society that we’re seeing evolve, but Friends it’s just Beelzebub’s work in disguise. It makes money for its proponents, but causes a whole lot of pain and heartache to the foolish who unfortunately embrace it without proper thought, boundaries and priorities. Yes Friends, call me old fashioned! I’m proud to be! I get myself into enough foolish trouble without all those new fangled tools of communication. And the problem is not that they can’t be useful tools, but we use them as lifestyle choices, rather than mere tools. And since most of us live boring, mundane lives, what have we got talk about so much eh? Same old, same old! That means if we don’t have much of our own business to talk about, then we minding other people’s business. And as 3 Canal says: ‘If you don’t have no business; find a business, and stop minding other people’s business.’ Remember too that the devil finds work for both evil hands and mouths to do, and if you’re not securely hooked up with the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then most likely you’re in enemy country, heading down Fool’s Lane. And that, my beautiful Friends in Christ, is no sensible place to be! Because, as the Preacher says: ‘The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth (consumes) his own flesh.’ (Eccl.4:5) Now how bright is that eh? And we’ll end with a few more verses on unwise behaviour. ‘A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover (express) itself…A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes (blows). A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.’ (Prov.18:2,6-7) Oh Friends, the Good Book is full of examples of foolish and wise behaviour; the former being characterized by much useless talk and incompetent behaviour, while the latter places God first in our hearts, minds and souls. That’s the only way to avoid foolish, unwise behaviour. So please, let’s faithfully promise ourselves to place God first and foremost in all that we say and do, and to consult Him, before we say or do anything at all. Till tomorrow then, God willing, please walk in blessed peace, safety and LOVE. Much LOVE mih people!…the path to true wisdom…is only found…through Jesus Christ…
Top o’ the mornin’ mih beautiful Friends in Christ! It’s a new day, with new mercies overflowing, so let’s offer some thanks and praise to our most gracious and generous heavenly Father. ‘Oh Lord, your humble and obedient servants thank you for allowing us to see the brilliant sun rise once again, and ask that you guide us safely through whatever life brings our way today. We know we’re not worthy to receive all you do for and give us, but we also know and greatly appreciate that you’re an omnipotent and magnanimous God, who takes great pleasure in LOVING His children and guiding them safely through this earthly life. We praise and honour your Holy Name, praying this through your wonderful Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.’ Yes Friends, the best way, the wise way to start our day is with a little prayer, praise and thanksgiving! It just gets our day off on the right foot. And remember to do it all day too, as Bruh Paul advises: ‘Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ (1 Thess.5:17-18) And if we take that advice to heart my people, then most likely our words will be gracious in our dealings with others, making us seem oh so wise. But if we don’t, then the odds are we’ll end up looking like fools. That’s because: ‘The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool swallow up himself.’ And the first place, or the first way to seek wisdom is to look to our God; communicate with Him, re our whole lives, whatever our hopes, fears, doubts, dream and problems. True wisdom declares that we should take them all to the Lord in prayer. Now yesterday we looked at the first part of our Bit, re the wise man’s words being gracious. Today, let’s consider the fool’s response. And the first step along the foolish part is not communicating with our heavenly Father. Yes Friends, regardless of who we are, and all the wealth, talent and power we might possess, if we don’t talk to the Creator, we’re automatically headed down Fool’s Lane. Absolutely no ifs, ands or buts about that! And here we’ll just insert a couple of rather apt verses from Cousin Sol. ‘The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating (babbling) fool shall fall (be ruined).’ (Prov.10:8) And if that verse didn’t catch your fancy my brethren, then try this one: ‘Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.’ (Prov.10:14) Now aren’t those awesome truths Friends? Of course! For we all have had occasion to say and/or do foolish things that caused us to pay a price. Whether it was high or low, we still paid because of our foolish, unwise attitude. And unfortunately, a lot of our foolish behaviour stems from overblown pride and arrogance; thinking ourselves so much better than we truly are. Oh Friends, unless we’re humble, before both God and man, we’ll experience much unnecessary hardship, because our foolish pride will only lead us down the foolish path. There’s nothing that screws up our lives like proud and arrogant behaviour. It causes us to fall in this trap that the author of Ecclesiastes describes so accurately. ‘A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fools heart at his left. Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way (along), his wisdom faileth him (he lacks wisdom), and he saith (shows) to every one that he is a fool.’ (Eccl.10:2-3) Now there’s no good reason for us to portray that image of ourselves, but sadly, for one reason or another, many believers do. Oh Friends, we already have a lot of the world against us, simply because we believe in Jesus and try to walk in His footsteps, we don’t need to give them any more ammunition to battle us with. That means we have to be very circumspect in our dealings with others, since they’ll not noise abroad our good deeds, but will surely broadcast our folly and hypocrisy. One serious word of advice mih people: please, please, let’s stop talking as much as we do. The more we talk is the more opportunity we have to get ourselves in trouble. Everybody seems to be jumping on the bandwagon of this new talkative society that we’re seeing evolve, but Friends it’s just Beelzebub’s work in disguise. It makes money for its proponents, but causes a whole lot of pain and heartache to the foolish who unfortunately embrace it without proper thought, boundaries and priorities. Yes Friends, call me old fashioned! I’m proud to be! I get myself into enough foolish trouble without all those new fangled tools of communication. And the problem is not that they can’t be useful tools, but we use them as lifestyle choices, rather than mere tools. And since most of us live boring, mundane lives, what have we got talk about so much eh? Same old, same old! That means if we don’t have much of our own business to talk about, then we minding other people’s business. And as 3 Canal says: ‘If you don’t have no business; find a business, and stop minding other people’s business.’ Remember too that the devil finds work for both evil hands and mouths to do, and if you’re not securely hooked up with the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then most likely you’re in enemy country, heading down Fool’s Lane. And that, my beautiful Friends in Christ, is no sensible place to be! Because, as the Preacher says: ‘The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth (consumes) his own flesh.’ (Eccl.4:5) Now how bright is that eh? And we’ll end with a few more verses on unwise behaviour. ‘A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover (express) itself…A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes (blows). A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.’ (Prov.18:2,6-7) Oh Friends, the Good Book is full of examples of foolish and wise behaviour; the former being characterized by much useless talk and incompetent behaviour, while the latter places God first in our hearts, minds and souls. That’s the only way to avoid foolish, unwise behaviour. So please, let’s faithfully promise ourselves to place God first and foremost in all that we say and do, and to consult Him, before we say or do anything at all. Till tomorrow then, God willing, please walk in blessed peace, safety and LOVE. Much LOVE mih people!…the path to true wisdom…is only found…through Jesus Christ…
SCRIP-BITS 