No Pleasure in Understanding

Jesus is Returning!

Found in the book of Proverbs is this: Prov. 18:2 ESV  A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
In today's media highways, journalism does not exist for the most part, but certainly opinions are running rampant. I remember those like Edward R. Murrow who carved a way into making truth known of what was going on in the world, integrity in the marketplace and decisions made that were based more on truth and not on fallacy.
Today, people make-up the news and no two networks will carry the same information. Yikes! Other than One America News, I find some news channels trying to commercialize the news to make more money by creating and passing out lies that can be sold for a high premium.

Truth comes from God and Him alone. We abide in Him to see His kingdom come to earth as it is in Heaven. In His plan or purpose for us .....the family would join to Him and His instruction. The family will be taught by Him, and will rule with Jesus when He returns to take His throne in Jerusalem.
If we truly seek to know truth, then we know a cost is involved. Jesus paid the ULTIMATE price for truth. He gave His blood....to be shed for mankind ..........giving opportunity for others to be a part of His family.
When He returns it will not be about who is right or wrong but where truth abides. Proverbs 12:19 reveals this:  NKJV 19 The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. 20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy.

Proverbs 12:22 NKJV Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.
It is God's righteousness in us that will guard us through life from the scheme's of the devil. Because life will afflict something to the pilgrim passing through this lifetime. But our home is to be with the Lord.
We are to be where He is. John 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am , there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.  John 12:26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Those trustworthy are given the platform for truth; so too, those who speak lies have one as well. We must know which is the truth and the only way to that is knowing God and relating to Him daily as your Father. We must have that one to one to know what His heart is.

I know in this day that many have been abused by their parents in some way or form. Still we can have the relationship God intends when we look at the life of Jesus and His willingness to obey the Father in all circumstances of His life.

YES, there are those who have no pleasure in understanding. They have a life that dictates entitlements. They speak out by interrupting others, they are given grand presents before they even know the price of those grand things. Had read an article this morning that preschool children are having parties (birthday & other) that represent the price tag of a grand wedding.
The same article also mentioned that middle school age children are taking out  rented limousines for their dates....What????
Who is footing the bill? The other thing we should think about is when teaching our children, that rules are to be followed and not broken. Heard recently that most teens and twenty -somethings regard rules as some kind of guideline but you do not have to do it.
Is that right? So it is okay not to study for a driver's test to gain a driver's license to drive legally on the roadways......so any young person can take someone's vehicle and use it as a weapon against others, because in their opinion they did not need that license and without studying it, they have vision of truth in driving. They have no pleasure in understanding!

We are told that understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it, but correction of fools is folly. The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips. (Proverbs 16:22-23) He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the LORD happy is he. 21 the wise in heart will be called prudent, and sweetness of the lips increases learning. (Proverbs 16:20-21)

1 John 5:18-21 NKJV 18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

The devil had no pleasure in understanding. He operated in pride and lust and fell to earth. So the whole earth is under his rule! (for a short time) Still we should want to know truth and that which is of God and His righteousness. When we abide in Him and walk righteously before Him, we hold to Him and His truth for our lives and our children's lives. Separate from that which is idolatry and serving the world: chasing the quick wealth, the quick party entertainment circle, the quick gratification  for there you will only find emptiness and sorrow!  
We must labor for that which is life to us and for others..to know God and tell others of the love from Him through His Son Jesus.!
Truly Jesus was the seed planted for mankind that others might come to know God the way Jesus taught in the relationship with HIM!

For even the farmer must work to put his seed in the ground, nourish the soil with needed minerals and water to see his seed to produce a crop. It takes the farmer hours upon hours of sweat, labor and much duty to those seeds to see them come to harvest. 
Those who have seen labor and receive that check know so well that which goes into getting that check whether weekly or one time monthly. There is no entitlements! If you put no effort into working with your hands, put no effort into working with other individuals but only partying....with them...that is the only seed you will have a harvest from.........and you really need life through Jesus Christ and not Party Central!

There is a day coming when all eyes will see HIM who they crucified and many will flee to hide themselves in the mountains. Yes, Jesus is returning.....not the Jesus who walked the shores of Galilee but the King of Kings is returning.....and He is described in Revelation!
Revelation 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice was the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged word, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, " I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.
He is coming in His priestly royalty....not as one of the superheroes like spider-man or some hulking kind of thing, but of God! Surely we should keep to His truth and that walk of life that is truth where there is no shadow of turning.....James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turned. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first -fruits of His creatures.
Our God is the SOURCE of all good! In taking His instruction we become more like Him. We are to bear the image of our Father who created us and not the image of the world, that has no pleasure in understanding, demanding their own ways and opinions, relishing in moments of rash hysteria in amusement when eternity is on the line.
Seeking truth, we will be found with truth and that is in God alone!

New teaching at: Voice of Prayer  

Newness of Spirit for Fruit and Prayer

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Also visit my You Tube channel Voice of Prayer for more teaching 

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New teaching at: Life Giving Wells

Without God is Grasping for the Wind

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Also visit Life Giving Wells You Tube Channel for more teaching

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PREPARATIONS

Recently saw the young woman who is out-swimming the males. She is coming up for the Olympics and she is phenomenal. They showed her in her practice swims, and though at ease, she broke her own time. And yes, she was swimming with males in practice. Her coach wanted her to train with them and try to keep pace with them, for he believed she had a quality and that it would come as she trained.
He was so right!
As individuals we certainly need to train ourselves. We must learn some cooking skills, paying bills, cleaning the area of earth the Lord has given us to take dominion over. I am amazed today how many men and women cannot cook up a meal. I remember my mother always telling me to stand by her side as she prepared a meal and consistently watch everything she did so I could take it and run one day with it as well. That worked for us when my mother went back to work when we were in high school. She did not have to worry about the evening meal being started. And she would finish it up when she arrived home.
It is all about preparations and if we do any kind of preparation for where we are headed. I have seen couples that we have known lose their loved one, and feel inadequate as they could not even boil water. Still others, I have seen take the role seriously, and continued to prepare meals for themselves when that loved one left this earth for glory!
I have seen our children teach their child to bake banana bread. They bring out all the ingredients, get her situated on the step, and hand her the measuring cups, and she is running with it! And she bakes up some really great banana bread with chocolate chips! Preparations!

So where are we headed? Where do we plan to be in a year or so? Tomorrow will surely come and how prepared for it are we at this moment?

Proverbs 14:8
8 The wisdom of the prudent is to understand His way,
But the folly of fools is deceit.
NKJV

How true that the prudent will understand their way, but the fool will put off all that for another time and place. In deceit, they make up excuses about tomorrow and put off what really should be done today. Like growing older and making plans for leaving this earth certainly makes one stop and think about life and how short it is, but in truth we must make plans so whoever is left behind will have some satisfaction knowing everything was dealt with before leaving this earth. 

A lot of people do not want to make the needed goals, but rather set them aside and maybe ignore them for awhile longer.

Like Jesus, we too, must make goals, and see them made plain that we follow through to their completion. His of course was the purpose and the mission.

Luke 19:9

9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." 

NKJV

When we take time to "talk" with our Father Who is in heaven and relate to Him what we are experiencing, He will show us how to walk on through. It is allowing Him to show us the perfect plan and then how we are to implement it in our life. Surely when one faces some hard things in life, like finding the needed blood one might need in an emergency, and none matches your own, you certainly give heed to the direction of the Lord and how to proceed to make the needed changes that would help your spouse should anything occur all too quickly. But by faith we walk, with eyes on the God who can deliver. Walking by faith, is keeping that faith walk alive by speaking and preparing. It is not about leaving all to God, for He already did everything He was going to do. It is up to us to obey and do now what He has spoken for us to do.

James 4:13-17

13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. NIV

Yes, we can certainly make our plans, and in the long run most never come to fruition. Some I have noted of late is of people who make a plan, went on vacation when they should have stayed home, and then died on the vacation trip. So the spouse had to deal with bringing them home. Now I am sure this does not happen all the time, but of late I hear it happening a lot of the time. 

We should always ask the Lord's plan or will for the specific thing we are planning and if we are to move then God would have His seal of approval on it. And I know by experience it took us two years many decades ago, to really move from where we were at. But God kept speaking to us about moving from where we were at to get TO WHERE WE NEEDED TO BE!

YES, not obeying is sin! 

So do we have anything today that is disabling us from being the individual who can cope with great change? Are we willing to learn to wash clothes, clean a house, cook a meal or even care for a spouse who might need it? These are just questions, but they need to be addressed.

Will we come out on the other side of a loss with hope in our hearts that we can continue to live on with a cheerful attitude or will we be the grumpy and the unforgiving sort.

Consciously we should seek to be educated on what we lack knowledge on and then to be informed of what changes must take place.

I know when my grandfather had passed many years ago, he had left my grandmother well cared for. She had money in the bank and a new home to live in. Yes she lived alone but had many guests frequently dropping by for a glass of sweet tea or just to chat. She had a life to continue with and lived many decades after his death. She never remarried but remained faithful to the marriage she was devoted to. And when she passed, she left an inheritance to her children's children.

God is for us. He has the best for us, but we must get moving on learning all that we must learn and deal with hard questions and those things that may seem terrible right now, but will bring peace and satisfaction to those we leave behind.

We must want to practice victory everyday. It starts by getting out of bed in the morning and dressing for the day. We are to walk in triumph for all things have been given to us. 

Yes, the enemy may come with circumstances and even thoughts, but we are to walk in the steps of the Lord that is righteousness. Sing out in triumph and know it is not over till God gives you the nod that it is time to go HOME! Today we must rejoice for we boiled that egg and it appeared cooked in the middle. And hey, I did not burn the toast, although the cornbread I did bake fell apart while taking it out of the pan, I could still put a little butter on it. I like to bake and try new recipes but they do not always turn out for me. But for my husband, well, he loves to cook up new recipes and we always have fun in the kitchen together!

Isaiah 57:19-21

19 "I create the fruit of the lips:

Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,"

Says the LORD,

"And I will heal him." 

20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea,

When it cannot rest,

Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 

21 "There is no peace,"

Says my God, "for the wicked."     NKJV

The fruit on our lips must be for peace, for ourselves and for our loved ones. As we take the opportunity to give praise to God, we are healed of any sorrow or pain, and we gain our victory for each day that we praise. Whatever the trial or tribulation, we must be the prepared to continue to walk in that peace of God.  May our confidence be in God and hold onto to His truths as we make our way into eternity.

Father, You cause us to triumph in Christ Jesus. We are thankful for Jesus and all that He did for us on the Cross. We pray to be the diligent who will make preparations as individuals and for the welfare of our loved ones, so that whatever may occur we will be the prepared and not the fool! Help us in dealing with any change. Show us Your plan and purpose for us as we make our way through this life and how to enter eternity with Your thoughts for us.  Jesus said that we must deny ourselves and take up His cross to follow Him (Matthew 16:24) Following Jesus requires us, Father,  to change our plans, although  sounding really good, those plans may not be the best for us. Help us to know when we are tying to make deals with You and know that we must not INSIST ON OUR OWN WAY THROUGH DAILY LIVING BUT A CONTINUAL SURRENDERING  our life to Jesus.
We desire to have no struggle over this area of decision making as we make those lasting decisions to help our loved ones. Our desire is to make life easier and to bring peace when all is set and done. We know we are promised long lives and we truly seek that long life following Your voice as You lead us down that path of righteousness. Thank You today for Your plan that is one of ease for our lives. Today we will choose to fill our minds with Your words and focus on Your thoughts for us that are for our good and not for evil to give us hope in our final outcome. It is in Jesus' s holy name we pray. Amen.

You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV 

Just Be YOU!

When I was in Jr. High, I remember my homeroom teacher telling us this story. She had a lot of wisdom. She had raised a family and owned a farm plus was a school teacher for many years. She was kind and gentle. She never raised her voice, but she certainly could speak from soft to firm in seconds. You knew when she meant to be serious about something!

She told us about this young lady who was asked to dinner at the family home of the young man she was seeing. This was early on in the 1940's. She said the young woman doted over what she would wear and how to fix her long hair for the evening. She wanted to look good and wanted to impress the young man's family. 
After arriving and being seated for the meal, the food was served. The young woman was so self-conscious that she picked the food up in very small pieces. She placed the peas on her fork and ate each piece one at a time. 
Our teacher stood up and gave a long look around our classroom.  She said, " the young woman did not impress anyone. She was trying to be someone she was not." She went on to say, "The young woman did not win the young man's heart. Although she cared very much for him, she never saw him again."
Well, I thought a long time on that story and how that young woman could think she could impress anyone with just fixing or adorning one's hair and by wearing a certain outfit or dress! But the other thing I think about was that she picked at her food. That would give the hostess the idea that she, the young guest did not like what was served!


I have continued to think on that story in the past few years. I remember my teacher and the day she shared that story. I think on how so many are swayed by those commercials that they have to be a size 4, or have blonde hair, or weigh one hundred pounds and look like a model. I think of the young men who are swayed into believing they have must drive a certain vehicle to look good to young women. I think how many must believe that they must drink a certain beverage to be an adult.

But maturing is more than clothes and food. Maturing in God is knowing Him and what He desires for each of us. Maturing is acting on the Word and have truth stored up in our hearts that He is always with us and He never fails!
God gave us His Word to know who we are and what we have. He gave it to us so we could be with Him for an eternity. Jesus said, “if you have known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 

We are to know the truth. We are far more valuable than just people who exist. We are heirs of the Most High God. It is God Who wants to have one heart with us. He shares with us in detail what His thoughts and plans are. He does not keep any secrets. He gives us His wisdom to instruct us and to guide us. Jesus was a lover of God’s Word. He knew it and He spoke it. He lived it and so should we. Jesus was continually after the Father and His business. He made the Word His priority and so should we. 


WE are to know God! We are to truthfully know that He created us!

Psalm 139:13-16.............13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb. 
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. 
15 My frame was not hidden from you 
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me 
were written in your book 
before one of them came to be. NIV

Psalm 103:1-5......1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-- 
3 who forgives all your sins 
and heals all your diseases, 
4 who redeems your life from the pit 
and crowns you with love and compassion, 
5 who satisfies your desires with good things 
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. NIV

Proverbs 23:15-16......15 My son, if your heart is wise,

then my heart will be glad; 

16 my inmost being will rejoice 

when your lips speak what is right.   NIV

Have we seen Him? Have we seen what He has written in the book about us? Have we forgotten how He got us, to this place, right now? It was by His grace and merciful love I am here today! How about you? Can you think of some benefit He has showered you with? Being knitted together, God created our innermost being. In Psalm 103, we are told that we are to praise the LORD with all of our souls. OUR innermost being is to praise His holy name. WE must find who God created each of us to be. We have a right to learn that which is truth. Jesus paid a big price for us. 

So am I speaking right things that will cause my innermost being to rejoice? (Prov. 23) Ask yourself, is your innermost being rejoicing? If right things are being spoken, that is truth of God's word brings rejoicing, then we should be rejoicing, right?
I do not know about you, but I desire my heart to rejoice all the time. I desire this temple of the living God to be strong. I want it to built through the wisdom of God. It is by understanding the word that establishes my temple. I become the wise woman who is strong. I increase in strength. It is by wise counsel that we will wage war. I do not want to be the fool, the one in "error", I desire to be found with God.

If I am radiating the glory of God, I am in the right place at the right time. I do not have to guess about it. I just know I am where God desires me to be. 
So, are we radiating with the glory of God? Do our faces shine in the dark? Is there a glow about us that is life to others? Psalm 90:17..........17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,  And establish the work of our hands for us;  Yes, establish the work of our hands.  NKJV

Paul Manwaring wrote in his book “WHAT ON EARTH IS GLORY?”  from Chapter 16 and pages 201-202, “Instead of being made to fit to a certain mold, we are made to freely discover who He made us to be through the exchange or relationship with Him, by which He awakens our hearts and stirs our desires for the things He made us to do. And when our assignments flow out of this partnership and passion, they do  not feel like duties or heavy burdens. There is nothing that will give us satisfaction, pleasure, and energy like being and doing what God dreamed us up to be and do.”

We must be those who have the heart of the prudent that acquires His knowledge. Each of us have the ability to give life or death. It is in the power of that little tongue and those that love it, will eat its fruit.

We are to be what God had on His mind for you and for me. Let us not pretend to be someone or something we are not. Let us not try to live up to another person's expectation. Let us glory in Him, and find our pathway growing brighter and brighter to the full light of day. Let us find that narrow path that causes us to have a one to one relationship with HIM!     

John 14:6-7..............6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."  NIV


Let us always be seekers of God and find Him, for He is always close by. May we speak like Jesus did, "you know him and have seen Him."

Father, in Jesus name, we make a commitment to know YOU. We make a commitment to seek those things which are above. YOUR thoughts and plans reveal to us what YOU created for us. They are not found in the things to groom our hair, or in the clothes we wear but what character we reveal in our heart. Today, we "know the real thing". We can expect life that is above and beyond our dreams or expectations. YOU sent Jesus that we can have life abundantly now in this lifetime. We say with our mouths that we have our beginning in YOU God. Today, we have in You our lives and we are light to men. Today, with the Word of God, we are that light that shines bringing glory and honor to YOU our God. Father, we desire to be those who pray. And that when we pray, it is YOU who listens from heaven. We seek to find YOU for we search for YOU Lord with all our hearts. We carry the same authority as Jesus did. And as we do we create the momentum that will carry us forward into the life filled with the blessings of God. We give You much thanks for giving us the ability to enjoy our share of the inheritance of the saints in light. It is YOU Father who is at work within us willing and working Your own good pleasure. It is You Who furnishes us with Your courage and strength to move ahead to receive ( James 1:17) every good gift and every perfect gift from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Now may the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace comfort our hearts and establish us in every good work. (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17) We pray that the Word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified. (2 Thess. 3:1,3,5) The Lord is faithful who will establish us and guard us from the evil one. Thank You Lord for Your goodness to us. Amen.

You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV