Proverbs Chapter 17

I so love the Book of Proverbs! In this chapter, the verse, "Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker;" speaks to me in a very strong way. I work security in a hospital in a bad area. The homeless often come in and pretend to be suicidal just for a place to stay. We often have to turn them away. Then they will say they need to be seen in ER, so that they can sleep for a couple of hours in our beds. It is so easy to become cynical after dealing with it every single day. These are the times that I need to remember where I come from, and not judge them, but pray for and encourage them. I needed this Scripture reading today! Have a great day, brothers and sisters in Christ!

 

[Stuart]

Excellen speech becometh not a fool.  Prov. 17.7a.  An excellent speech tells us the truth entirely.  Not half truths, innuendoes or lies like we hear from false teachers and false preachers.  We must stick to the truth of the Word of God. We will give an account to God on the Judgment Seat of Christ what we have said and done here on earth.

 

[Randolph]

The Lord Jesus rewards His people for good behavior, for obeying His word and for praying always no matter what is going on in the world. If we reward evil for good then the Lord will chastise us with evil coming to our own house.  As His word says.  Whosoever rewarded evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.  Prov. 17.13  This is one good reason to pray for those who do evil and reward evil for good.  Dear God, save the souls of all evil doers and please fill our churches with all of them so they will get saved and change their way of life.  In Your name.   Amen

 

[Leopold]

Cannot sleep well at night??? Well, talk to God, enter into His presence with thanksgiving and enjoy Him throughout the whole night. He will give you the rest that you need and will bless you with untold blessings as you obey His word. Excellen speech becometh not a fool says His word. Let our speech be of blessings and to glorify God all the time. Amen

 

[Graham]

Childrens chldren are the crown of old men.  Prov. 17.6a  Our grandchildren are the crown of our own lives. Let us pray for each grandchildren we have to grow in the grace of God and in the knowledge of Jesus. He loves the little children..all the children of the world are His.  Therefore, we should instruct our grand children and great grandchildren in the ways of the Lord and tell them that God is our Father in heaven who loves us so much and cares for us.   Dear God, bless our grand chldren and great grand children to grow in the knowledge of Jesus.  Help us to be a wonderful examples of holy and pure life before them and before Jesus.  Amen

 

[DeaconRaymond]

Dear Jesus, we thank you for the wonderful word you have given us today.  We repent and come before You to cleanse us from all sin and evil.  Purify our hearts according to your word..  We bless You and worship you today.  Amen

 

[Beverlie]

May your holy word touch our hearts today.  May we obey what it says and do what Your will is for us.. Amen

 

[SongleaderGlenny]

Being unthankful for someone that did a a lot of good is not good in the sight of the Lord. Jesus died on the cross for us. So, everyone should be thankful to God for sending Jesus to save us from sin and evil. This verse in Proverbs 17.13 tell us not to be unthankful to those that practice good deeds. Instead be thankful all the time to God for being so kind and good to everyone.

 

[HappyEunuch]

Proverbs 17: 4 "The evil man gives heed to wicked lips and listens to falsehood from a mischievious tongue."

This reminds of the Lord's most important message to us. In John 6: 28, the people asked Christ what great work they could do to perform the works of God. Jesus answered, "Believe on the one whom the Father hath sent."

The filthiest false prophet or heretic would tell you to believe on Jesus Christ. Yeah, right...so that ridiculously obvious interpretation leaves much to be desired. Therefore, another question arises in the minds of thinking Christians: "Does God test us by sending others besides the Lord Jesus Christ? Are all those who claim to represent God truly sent from heaven?"

I don't think so.

In Matthew 23: 34 Christ makes it plain that more men than Him have been sent from heaven to correct the errors of the people propagated by their popular false prophets (cf. Luke 6: 26). The true prophets sent from heaven were usually rejected and that rejection led to the peoples' downfall. In one day alone, the lonely prophet Elijah killed 450 of Jezebel's false prophets (I Kings 18: 22 & 40). The people in error didn't believe on the ONE whom the Father sent, be it Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or John the Baptist...Therefore, they could not be saved. They refused to do the single most important work God asked of them: BELIEVE THE TRUTH!

The entire book of Galatians is about this problem, a recurring one in the early Church. Were the Christians going to believe on St. Paul who was commissioned and sent by the Lord or were they going to believe on the self-appointed false prophets who insisted on obsolete things like circumcision? The NT is full of warnings about the dangers of believing on the wrong parties, parties who always claim to represent Christ. Their attraction is a liitle error mixed with Truth in the same way that a little poison works best in a perfectly tasty dish. Beware of them.

So what kind of people are we when we give greater heed to Satan's ambassadors than God's? Are we forever to be children "swept to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Eph. 4: 14)," believing one minute that our cousin Clem is doing fine in a gay "marriage" while believeing the next minute that he's sinning? Are we going to believe one mintue that our troops are defending only special interests and the next minute believe they are defending the lot of us? Like it or not, what we believe effects those around us---especially our families.

"Who do we trust?" Doesn't the answer to that question tell everything one needs to know about us? Who else would give more heed to a tricky messenger than one with a tricky heart? Yes, we are saved by faith. Yes, yes, YES!  But faith in who and in what? If we really believe in Jesus Christ, won't we cherish every last one of his precious words and try the prophets (I John 4: 1)? Won't we be careful. Won't we "watch and pray?"

In short, do we believe in lying tongues because we are evil? I pray that is not the case.

 

[Charleston]

Another way of witchcraft and evil is rebellion against God and His word.  Anyone who rebels against God will miss heaven and we must pray and fast for lost souls that rebel against God so He will have mercy on them and save them all.  An evil man seeketh only rebellion.  Prov. 17.11a   If we see anyone who rebels against Jesus and His word, then we should pray for them.  Please Jesus, save them all we pray.  Amen

 

[Dempster]

A true friend is a source of constant care and prays for the salvation of his soul.  While a brother could not be as close to one a true friend is always there to help. A true friend is available all the time not just in times of crisis or loss of a job.  A friend loveth at all times and a brother is born for adversity.  Prov. 17-17   If your own brother or your own sister have left the church and are away from God, then it is time to pray for them.  To get saved and to come Jesus again.  Dear God.  Save all our relatives who have gone away from You and now are in sin.  We want them to go to heaven and meet them there and rejoice for ever and ever.  Amen