# The Proverbial (Page 3)

Christians are not allowed to boast, so we sometime resort to the fine art of “Humblebragging.” It’s when you are trying not to appear as if to be boasting by pretending to be modest.Saying something like, “This old suit needs to be thrown away. Turning up at the Prime Minister’s office in this thing will be an insult to her.” Or maybe, “I think YouTube has a cheek blocking my video. Its not my problem that its so popular that…

”I happened upon a situation where one Christian brother was openly rebuking another brother. I exited quickly. I heard enough to know that nothing was being left to the imagination. He told him plainly that his continued behaviour showed arrogance and mean-spiritedness. He had caused a lot of strife in the lives of others, and it was to cease immediately. It did, praise the Lord. No one likes to be pulled-straight face to face.Tact helps, but it still smarts.Open rebuke…

Reducing Christian service to a two-hour Sunday morning experience has weakened the church in every way. It has ripped the heart out of any sense of needing a daily Christian resolve. Thinking that two hours a week is going to sustain a Christian for the other 166 hours is spiritual suicide. It robs us of the joy of seeing the spiritual war from the eyes of one seeking to take the fight to the devil.Don’t get me wrong, the saints…

Proverbs 18:21“Death and life are in the power of the tongue,And those who love it will eat its fruit.” The Bible is about Life and Death.From beginning to end God speaks about the blessings of obedience, and the curses of disobedience. The impact of Good and Evil upon Life and Death is the story of our walk with God.Words can mean physical life or death!By the power of a few wise words, Solomon ascertained the true identity of the baby’s…

Proverbs 29:18“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. ”Everyone loves a good motivational speech. It’s a feel-good experience that you can take home and build on. I highly recommend them, and I wish I was better at presenting them myself. The King James Version made this verse legendary amongst motivational speakers of old. They used it to inject scriptural authority into their speeches on the ‘vital need for a man…

Proverbs 27:17“Iron sharpens iron,So one man sharpens another.”Jesus’ teaching style was hands on. Everything said and done was designed to upskill for usefulness in his Kingdom.Jesus is the ultimate ‘Hardened Steel Toolkit’:He is the forger’s hammer that flattens the steel. He is the tradesman’s file that fashions the blade. He is the butcher’s steel that whets the edge.Ever keeping us fit for purpose.Christians sharpen one another. And we must!When the devil works to blunt our edge, someone is obligated to…

Proverbs 1:7“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” You may know a couple who gives very good marital advice, but oddly, they seem to be unable to live it out in their own marriage. Any sense of personal practical use for their knowledge seems to be missing. It is solely for the purpose of being passed on. Facts accumulated, but facts never imbibed.Knowledge worth sharing is gathered with the will of…

Proverbs 28:1“The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Lions don’t back down. They are the epitome of fearlessness, defiant in the face of overpowering odds.Likewise, Christians are bold. They have no need to look over their shoulders. It’s the bad man who watches his back. His evil past is ever present. Any sign of retribution, real or imagined, strikes fear into him. He is always running from his deeds…

Proverbs 24:3-4 “By wisdom a house is built,And by understanding it is established;And by knowledge the rooms are filledWith all precious and pleasant riches.”Somebody quipped: “An expert is a person who is more than 30 miles away from home.”Such is the nature of our home that, all things being equal, we are known and accepted as we really are.That place of mum, dad and the kids, sits at the centre of our existence. Those stories that our parents told us…

Sadly, problems passing from one generation to the next is nothing new. Poverty, disease, ignorance, violence, and war are but a few that perpetually rain down around us.During miserable times one generation looks back on the last and says: “Our parents did things they shouldn’t have done,And we have to live with the consequences.”It is common for people to talk about “The Sins of the Fathers.” And, yes, scripture says that the consequences will pass down through the generations, unless…