Posted on 02/16/2020 5:35:10 AM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD . . . The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil” (Proverbs 16:1, 4).
“The preparations of the heart,” in other words, getting it right. Preparing it for life, preparing it for salvation. “The preparations of the heart,” you see, a Christian is the only man that prepares his heart. Did you ever see an unsaved man spend any time on his heart? I’m not talking about his physical heart; I’m talking about his spiritual heart.
“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.” When a man answers to godly things, it is because God has done something in his heart. If the heart is right, then the tongue will be right. “how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34).
A man can’t speak good things until he is good on the inside. But unfortunately, man is more interested in justifying his own self. “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12).
The problem is that man looks on the outside, but God looks upon the heart and knows what is really going on inside there.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:3-5).
“The LORD hath made all things for himself,” Jesus Christ did all the making.
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16).
“The LORD hath made all things for himself,” the Lord has made you for His pleasure. Now, if a man rejects Him, He will have pleasure in destroying him. Isn’t that peculiar? Remember in Proverbs chapter 1 what He would do when calamity came upon the wicked? He would laugh: “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me” (Proverbs 1:24-28). God is pleased with justice. God is pleased with judgment. And if a man prefers justice and judgment to mercy and grace, God is pleased to give him judgment.
God is a whole lot different than the way that the modernists looks at him. They put Him forth as a God of love, but the Bible clearly shows Him to be equal part love and equal part justice. God will execute fiery judgment upon the Christ-rejector.
Now, if a man will come to God as a needy beggar and a wicked sinner, and he is pleading for God’s mercy on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice, it is God’s pleasure to forgive.
Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.
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Thank you Pilgrim’s Progress for today’s reading.
Again very wise.
As a side note, you mentioned that your wife has gone on to be with the Lord.
Right now my beloved husband is suffering from Parkinson’s and I am his caretaker. We cherish each day. He can no longer walk much without assistance. Thankful to God for strength each day.
I will pray God give you strength also. I am sure He has been doing just that.
God loves us too much to allow us to stay in our depraved condition....He is in the process of changing us into His likeness.
We had 42 years together. I still think of all the things I wished that I had said to her but didn’t. I tell her now, I’m sure she knows.
God grant you much time with your husband, but always know that God’s plan and purpose is perfect always.
Oh Pilgrim, you must not lament what you did not do or say!
I went through that after my parents died. I wished I had of...said and done more.
Like you, I told my parents AFTER they died...and wept bitterly. Only to “ hear” in my heart of course, my dad say, I know fully now... it is okay.
I am sure being in the Presence of God they understand as only HE understands.....
someday we too will know fully ....
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