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Proverbs 4:14-15
"Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."
23-27,
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."
In these verses we are instructed to avoid evil, to shun it, and go not near it, at all. But we must do this from the heart, not begrudgingly, as a duty that is weighty and oppressive. The key is in verse 23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life"
How de we keep our heart? The scripture tells us , "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 23:9)
Go on to verse 10 following this though, "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."
Matthew 6:19-21 is a good place to start:
" Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
That doesn't mean to have no possessions at all, but that we need to be putting God, and the things of God first. When you wake up in the morning, pray and read the Scriptures. Don't go about making coffee or breakfast or any other such thing (bathroom excluded, LoL) before feasting on the Word and communicating with God in the Spirit. Even something as simple as "Praise you LORD, bless thee O Lord, guide me this day, cover me in thy blood, forgive me any sins, and let me not sin in thy sight." Takes only a few seconds, and while you can certainly pray more than that: that sort of prayer will suffice.
I try to start off with a Psalm and a Proverb for the day, (hence the verses from Proverbs 4 today), a portion of Revelation, a portion from the Gospels, a portion from the Prophets, a portion from the law, and something either from the epistles, or from the historical books from Joshua through Esther. That's 7 different parts of the Bible. I may only read a smaller amount before breakfast, but before I get out and going for the day I like to get all of this done. Then through the day I'll read more, such as when I'm on the computer. At night before bed, read those scriptures: whatever God lays on your heart. Or read a sermon. Last night I read a sermon by Charles Spurgeon.
Feed on the Word, as Job said, "I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." (Job 23:12)
The whole point of doing this; of having these kind of devotions, is that it will give you the strength, and the integrity, to do what Proverbs 4 says: to avoid the way of wicked men, to know how to say "no" to temptation, to avoid bad places - bars, gambling halls, dance floors, etc. To keep your mouth clean, and your words pure, and to look strait, not turning aside to observe some girl with lust, or for a girl to look at a man with lust, or to be enticed by a picture. Watch that advertising too: it is a temptation and allurement to sell you something by making it look extra good, and often better than it actually is. Is advertising bad? Depends. people need to make money, but some advertising is extreme.
Consider the cigarette ads, or beer and liquor ads: they make it look fun and exciting. There's that one menthol cigarette ad that says "Alive with Pleasure." Well, keep on smoking them and you'll be dead with something else, and it won't be pleasure! How about beer? "High Life" can make you a low life. How about whiskey? They advertise it as "smooth" but don't tell ya it won't be smooth coming up! It won't feel "smooth" crashing into a tree. Basically all this kind of advertising is enticing you to purchase death. Satan is very pleased with it.
But Satan advertises all around us. He tempts us to covet, and lust, and to be angry, or proud, or jealous.
"Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."
Walk right past Satan's advertising and buy it not. Don't take it for free either, because most of his enticements are free at first, but come with a heavy price to pay. The wages of sin is death, and what Satan promotes is sin. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23)
Get in the Word daily and start early. Don't buy into Satan's advertising.
Jesus says to the church of Laodicea, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." (Revelation 3:18) Amen
"Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."
23-27,
"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."
In these verses we are instructed to avoid evil, to shun it, and go not near it, at all. But we must do this from the heart, not begrudgingly, as a duty that is weighty and oppressive. The key is in verse 23, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life"
How de we keep our heart? The scripture tells us , "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 23:9)
Go on to verse 10 following this though, "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."
Matthew 6:19-21 is a good place to start:
" Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
That doesn't mean to have no possessions at all, but that we need to be putting God, and the things of God first. When you wake up in the morning, pray and read the Scriptures. Don't go about making coffee or breakfast or any other such thing (bathroom excluded, LoL) before feasting on the Word and communicating with God in the Spirit. Even something as simple as "Praise you LORD, bless thee O Lord, guide me this day, cover me in thy blood, forgive me any sins, and let me not sin in thy sight." Takes only a few seconds, and while you can certainly pray more than that: that sort of prayer will suffice.
I try to start off with a Psalm and a Proverb for the day, (hence the verses from Proverbs 4 today), a portion of Revelation, a portion from the Gospels, a portion from the Prophets, a portion from the law, and something either from the epistles, or from the historical books from Joshua through Esther. That's 7 different parts of the Bible. I may only read a smaller amount before breakfast, but before I get out and going for the day I like to get all of this done. Then through the day I'll read more, such as when I'm on the computer. At night before bed, read those scriptures: whatever God lays on your heart. Or read a sermon. Last night I read a sermon by Charles Spurgeon.
Feed on the Word, as Job said, "I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." (Job 23:12)
The whole point of doing this; of having these kind of devotions, is that it will give you the strength, and the integrity, to do what Proverbs 4 says: to avoid the way of wicked men, to know how to say "no" to temptation, to avoid bad places - bars, gambling halls, dance floors, etc. To keep your mouth clean, and your words pure, and to look strait, not turning aside to observe some girl with lust, or for a girl to look at a man with lust, or to be enticed by a picture. Watch that advertising too: it is a temptation and allurement to sell you something by making it look extra good, and often better than it actually is. Is advertising bad? Depends. people need to make money, but some advertising is extreme.
Consider the cigarette ads, or beer and liquor ads: they make it look fun and exciting. There's that one menthol cigarette ad that says "Alive with Pleasure." Well, keep on smoking them and you'll be dead with something else, and it won't be pleasure! How about beer? "High Life" can make you a low life. How about whiskey? They advertise it as "smooth" but don't tell ya it won't be smooth coming up! It won't feel "smooth" crashing into a tree. Basically all this kind of advertising is enticing you to purchase death. Satan is very pleased with it.
But Satan advertises all around us. He tempts us to covet, and lust, and to be angry, or proud, or jealous.
"Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."
Walk right past Satan's advertising and buy it not. Don't take it for free either, because most of his enticements are free at first, but come with a heavy price to pay. The wages of sin is death, and what Satan promotes is sin. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23)
Get in the Word daily and start early. Don't buy into Satan's advertising.
Jesus says to the church of Laodicea, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." (Revelation 3:18) Amen
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