641. We Must Always be Ready - September 16, 2024

[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_00]: reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them. In addition, I ask that

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_00]: every one listening to this podcast would have favor with both God and man. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Proverbs 16, beginning in verse 1. The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00]: is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits.

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. The Lord has made all for himself.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Though they join forces, none will go unpunished. In mercy and truth,

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: a toement is provided for iniquity and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_00]: When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Better is a little with righteousness than vast revenues without justice.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Demonation is on the lips of the King. His mouth must not transgress in judgment.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Honest weights and scales are the Lord's. All the weights in the bag are his work.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness. For a throne is established by righteousness.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Righteous lips are the delight of kings and they love him who speaks what is right.

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: As messengers of death is the King's wrath, but a wise man will appease it. In the light of the King's

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: life and his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain. How much better to get wisdom than gold?

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. The highway of the upright

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: is to depart from evil. He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Pride goes before destruction and a hotly spirit before a fall, better to be of a humble spirit

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: with the lolly than to divide the spoil with the proud. He who heads the word wisely will find good

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and whoever trusts in the Lord happy is heath. The wise in heart will be called prudent

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: and sweetness of the lips increases learning. Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it,

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: but the correction of fools is folly. The heart of the wise teaches his mouth and adds

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: learning to his lips. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_00]: to the bones. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_00]: The person who labors labors for himself, for his hungry mouth, drives him on. And ungodly

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_00]: man digs up evil and it is on his lips like a burning fire. A perverse man so strife and a whisperer

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: separates the best of friends. A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_00]: He winks his eye to devise perverse things. He purses his lips and brings about evil. The

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: silver-haired head is a crown of glory. If it is found in the way of righteousness,

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: city. The law is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Friends today I'd like to take a closer look at verse 9 and Provenant 16 verse 9 says this,

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Friends this is your host Bill Kelly and I'm going to do something a little bit different today.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So if you are a regular listener and right now we have been in a study of the minor profit

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Jose and if you are looking forward to a continuation of that I promise you on Wednesday's podcast we

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: will begin where we left off on Thursday's podcast, but something happened yesterday at church

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and it brought my mortality into reality. I went to church yesterday and you know you feel that when

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: you go to church, that everything's going to be okay and what happened yesterday is at church,

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: a man had a heart attack and died at church. Now I want you to think about that because if there's

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: one place that you are going, that you don't think that's going to happen, it's at church.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So what I'd like to do before I give you a few more details about that story is I'd like to go to a

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: passage of scripture in the Gospel of Matthew and I'm going to begin in verse 34 because verse 36

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: begins with a word of thought and I sometimes say this on this podcast but friends if you open

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_00]: your Bible up and if you are beginning of verse and it says AND or but it means that something

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: came prior to that. So you have to go back and verse 35 begins with heaven and earth will pass away

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and that's actually a pretty good place to start but I chose to go back to verse 34 because verse 34

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: begins with a word of shurriedly and friends whenever Jesus is speaking and you hear the word

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: assuredly that is a good place to start because what Jesus is saying this is going to happen.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: So whenever you see that word assuredly it's a reminder friends this is important

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: pay attention to this so we are in Matthew chapter 24 beginning in verse 34.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Assurably I say to you this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: heaven and earth will pass away but my words will by no means pass away and friends here

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is telling us the importance of scripture sometimes we refer to Jesus as the word

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and you know if you go to John's Gospel chapter one verse one that's what we begin with

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_00]: let's go there just for a moment in the beginning was the word and the word was with God

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and the word was God he was in the beginning with God all things were made through him

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_00]: and without him nothing was made that was made in him was life and the life was the light of man

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it and friends

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00]: what John is telling us here is the power of Jesus. Jesus is the word of God.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Now it says later in John that Jesus did not do anything that he did not see his father

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: God doing in heaven and he didn't say anything that he didn't hear his father saying in heaven.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Let's go back to Matthew's Gospel chapter 24 verse 36 but of that day and hour no one knows

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_00]: not even the angels of heaven but my father only so friends my first point of today's lesson is

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_00]: only the father knows when he will take you home. Now friends there are two things that can happen

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_00]: either you are going to be called home to be with God and with Jesus prior to the return of

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_00]: or if he carries and if he chooses to come prior to our leaving this earth that could happen

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and in this portion of scripture that is what is happening here we're talking about

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus' ultimate return and how we need to be ready for his return at all time

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: but equally as important is God could call you home at any time. You do not know the day or the

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_00]: hour when you will be called home. Let's go to verse 37 but as the days of Noah were so also

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_00]: will the coming of the Son of man be for as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Mary and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_00]: flood came and took them all away so also will the coming of the Son of man be.

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Then two men will be in the field one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_00]: at the mill one will be taken and the other left. Verse 42 watch there for for you do not know

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_00]: what hour your Lord is coming. So friends that's my second point today is watch there for

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_00]: for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Now friends like I said there are two things

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_00]: that can be happening here the Lord is going to be coming but equally as important is God could

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_00]: be calling you home. Let's go to verse 43 but know this that if the master of the house had known

[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_00]: what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Therefore you also be ready for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and my third and final point today is therefore you also be ready. Now friends I'm going to continue

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_00]: what happened at church yesterday. Now when we first arrived and this happened in a Sunday school

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: and Judy and I were running a little bit late it actually was right at nine o'clock when Sunday

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_00]: school starts and as we were getting ready to enter the building there was like chaos going on

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and you could tell that something was a little bit ummiss and people were kind of running around

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and anxious and there was just something going on and you just sensed things were a little

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_00]: different than they should be. So anyway I opened the door and one person said somebody's just

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_00]: had a heart attack you need to pray so meanwhile Judy went to our Sunday school class because it

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_00]: was time to start while I chose to go down the aisle and the hallway to find out what was going on

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and as I entered a certain room here is this man who is following and he's had a heart attack

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and here he is you can tell the man's unconscious and I noticed his mouth because his mouth

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_00]: reminded me of death. His mouth reminded me way back in 1990 when I had seen my dad after

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_00]: he had recently died and his mouth was kind of slack jawed and you could just tell I sat there and

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_00]: said to myself this guy is dead and there were people they were trying to do mouth to mouth

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_00]: resuscitation, they were pounding on his chest trying to bring him back to life but in my heart

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I knew that he was gone. So anyway the point I want to try to make is this I guarantee you

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_00]: when that gentleman woke up that morning he did not believe or know that that would be the last time

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_00]: he got dressed to do anything. Now friends times have changed when people used to go to church many

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_00]: times people would wear suits and ties then we've started wearing casual pants and maybe a

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: little shirt. In today's society a number of men have even gone to the extent of wearing shorts

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_00]: to church so this man had a nice pair of shorts on and he had a nice button down shirt

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_00]: and he looked well dressed he looked like you know wow you know somebody that I might invite over

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_00]: for you know for a dinner at my house he looked comfortable but he looked like he had put himself

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_00]: in order he wanted to present himself well and here he is on the ground dead and I couldn't help

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_00]: it think I'm sitting there thinking this could be me and I'm sitting there thinking there's a woman

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_00]: who must have been his wife and she was walking around frantically almost kind of like a chicken

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_00]: without his head and the chickens had has been cut off and just running around and squawking and you

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_00]: know she was basically beside herself and she's you know not yelling and screaming but she was

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: you know she was antsy and she would ah you know she was she didn't know how to react

[00:16:50] [SPEAKER_00]: now friends I want to bring this a little bit closer to home and I want to tell you what happened

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_00]: personally to me earlier this year. Now in about April I believe that's when the university of

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Florida has its annual spring football game and the duty and I chose to go to that game I was

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_00]: looking forward to seeing the new you know recruits and what the football team might be looking

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_00]: like in the fall and we had to park a pretty far distance away from the stadium probably over a

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_00]: half mile could have been closer to three quarters of a mile and it was hot I remember it being

[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_00]: hot it wasn't really summer-ish temperatures yet but probably around 90 degrees and in Florida

[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_00]: with the humidity it probably felt like it was around 100 degrees and I was a little bit out of

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_00]: breath and you know I remember getting into the stadium because the spring game is actually free of

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_00]: charge all you do is just walk in the entrance and you can sit anywhere you'd like so anyway uh

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Judy wanted to sit in the shade I chose to go and sit in the sun and after a while it only took

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_00]: five or ten minutes but I started feeling a little bit faint I started feeling a little bit

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_00]: you know out of sorts and and I started feeling a little bit dizzy and you know I think what

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_00]: was happening is I was dehydrated because it was about a hundred degrees heat index factor like I said

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_00]: 90 degree temperature but with a high humidity it felt like around a hundred degrees that I really

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_00]: started feeling a little bit lightheaded so you know I found out where Judy was and I went and

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_00]: sat down to her and here we are in the shade and after about ten or fifteen minutes I didn't really

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_00]: feel any better and I'm thinking godly I I feel like I need to go to the bathroom and so

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm still a little bit dizzy and this is so unusual for me this is unlike really anything that

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_00]: you know that is normal for me and as I'm walking up the steps I'm just feeling I don't even

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_00]: know if I'm going to make it to the bathroom and it was in a way it was a little bit scary.

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't like to hear the word scared because I know the Bible tells us not to fear but

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I literally didn't know if I could make it to the bathroom and so anyway I did manage to get to

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_00]: the top of the stairs and I'm walking and there's hundreds of people around me so we're at a

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER_00]: football game even though it's it's the spring game game doesn't count but I saw people go in

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_00]: right and they left them me and people are just going by me full speed and and I actually fell down

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I just couldn't take another step and friends basically what happened is I had become dehydrated

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_00]: so anyway somebody came and they picked me up and they brought me in to a room

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_00]: and they gave me some gay to read they gave me some water they asked if I was okay they took my

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_00]: vitals and they said well you seem to be okay how do you feel and I think they were trying to

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_00]: ask your tane whether I needed to go to the hospital or not and you know I mean this is kind of

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_00]: probably what happened to this man of church is this possibly could lead to a heart attack

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_00]: but friends the point I'm trying to make is you do not know the day or hour when God

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_00]: is going to call you home what I'm saying is that could have been me yesterday who had that

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_00]: attack a church I guarantee you when he took his wife to church he did not know he would not be

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_00]: returning home with her friends just something to think about friends before we close today I'd like

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_00]: to go back to our proverb of the day, proverb 16 and I'd like to take a look at the verse I selected

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_00]: today verse nine which says a man's heart plans his way but the Lord directs his steps

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_00]: now friends the first part of that verse basically is talking about a non Christian

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_00]: somebody who doesn't know God it says a man's heart plans his way if you don't know the Lord

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_00]: then you're not asking God for advice you're not asking him what you should do that day you're just

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_00]: going about your business doing what you feel is the right thing to do but the second part of

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_00]: that first talks about but the Lord directs his steps that is talking about someone who is saved

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_00]: someone who has received Jesus as their Lord and Savior so my call to action today is have you

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_00]: made that very important decision of receiving Jesus into your heart and if you had never taken

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_00]: that step today could be your lucky day should you decide to take me up on my invitation so the

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER_00]: invitation I'm going to ask anyone who is listening to the days podcast if you had never said that

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_00]: prayer to receive Jesus and to invite him into your heart repeat a prayer after me today

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus thank you for coming to earth and dying on across for me Jesus I confess that I am a sinner

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_00]: and in need of a Savior I invite you to come into my heart I ask that you lead me and guide me from

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_00]: this point forward I make you my Lord and Savior. Friends now made a Lord bless you and keep you

[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_00]: the Lord make it stay shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_00]: countments upon you and give you peace. Friends tomorrow is testimony day please join me at

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_00]: your discretion.