Living Right

Living Right

Proverbs 12

Introduction-

Good Morning everyone

Happy you decided to join us as we gather together to hear the word of the Lord.

We are hopeful that you have come with an open heart for Him to speak to you.

We have had so much negative news lately that I would like to open the service with a praise report.

Last week Darlene and Becky both got good reports from their doctors for their cancer treatments. This has been a long process for them and we say a big Amen.

God is still on the throne and He still cares what is happening in your life!

Prayer-

Father, today, hear our cry that we desire for you to do something fresh and new. Not new and improved but fresh and new. We want Lord to hear your voice among the many voices trying to get our attention. We want you Lord to directly speak to each one of us. In Jesus Name Amen.

If you would turn to Proverbs chapter 12, we will be reading from there in a minute.

This chapter is about right living.

Righteous and the unrighteous.

Accepting discipline and those that rebel at correction.

Talk of the upright and the talk of the wicked.

The desire of the wicked and the desire of a righteous person.

Illustration-

It seems to me that everyone has an opinion on every issue, even things that they do not know much about.

Everyone is an expert. Right? You know those people.

Helping Becky put a Holy bush in our yard. If you know me, I know nothing about planting and growing. I do not have a green thumb.

I began telling Becky how to plant this bush, what we needed to do.

I was totally egg her on.

I was just talking, pretending I knew what I was talking about.

She let me go awhile and then she looked up at me and I got the look- you know the look.

I burst out laughing, because I wanted to see how long she would let that go on…everyone an expert on every subject.

When it comes to learning God’s Word…

There are pearls of wisdom in the word of God. Period.

They are there for us to learn, to better ourselves, to understand what God wants for our lives.

There are warnings, pitfalls, landmines, and consequences for not listening to His words.

One of the biggest contrasts between believer and unbeliever is where are you looking for pearls of wisdom? Are you looking to the world? Are you looking into God’s word?

I am going to be reading from the Passion Translation the first 3 verses to set the tone of Proverbs chapter 12.

“To learn the truth you must long to be teachable, or you can despise correction and remain ignorant. If your heart is right, favor flows from the Lord, but a devious heart invites His condemnation. You can’t expect success by doing what is wrong.”

I need to pause and say something…the Bible never debates wither it is the authoritative word of God- it makes a fact statement-

The Bible is …”the inspired word of God”.

It was written by many writers under the anointing of God to direct sinful mankind into a relationship with God through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of His son Jesus Christ.

There is not many ways to be saved from sin, “only one way”.

There is a gulf between a Holy God and sinful man- we cannot fix ourselves.

We cannot be good enough

Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and Man. 1 Tim 2:5- “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

Jesus proclaims “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except by me.” John 14:6

It is right to live for God-

It is right to have a relationship with Jesus Christ

It is the truth of God that sets people free and leads and guides them into eternal life with Christ.

‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Those that say they are good people are deceiving themselves because all of our goodness is dependent on God.

In fact, when they called Jesus good, his response was “why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

If Jesus refers back to God the Father on being good, we cannot stand before a holy God with anything except the blood of Christ and our relationship with Him.

Proverbs 12:5-

“The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the counsel of the wicked are deceitful.”