Welcome to Wisdom Today with Bill Kelley. Today we will be going over Proverb 20. I will then key in on verse 24 - A man's steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way? This verse goes right along with Proverb 3, verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart - and lean not on your own understanding. Friends, we should never rely on our own understanding. We should look to God in all things. On today's podcast we will continue our study on scripture verses that can guide your life. Today we will be looking at three scripture verses having to do with humility. By the end of this lesson there are three things I ask that you consider:
1. If my people will humble themselves I will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2. Humble yourselves, under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt you in due time.
3. God resist the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Scripture verses referenced on today's lesson:
1. 2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 Peter 5:6-7; James 4:6
Call to Action - Challenge yourself to write these verses down - and purpose in your heart to begin memorizing scripture verses like these that can help guide your life.
[00:00:06] 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.
[00:00:22] Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
[00:00:38] This is Proverbs 20, beginning in verse 1.
[00:01:08] The man will not plow because of winter. He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
[00:01:14] Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.
[00:01:22] Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?
[00:01:29] The righteous man walks in his integrity. His children are blessed after him.
[00:01:37] A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters all evil with his eyes.
[00:01:43] Who can say, I have made my heart clean? I am pure from my sin.
[00:01:50] Diverse weights and diverse measures. They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.
[00:01:57] Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right.
[00:02:04] The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both.
[00:02:10] Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes and you will be satisfied with bread.
[00:02:18] It is good for nothing, cries the buyer, but when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
[00:02:26] There is gold and a multitude of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
[00:02:33] Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger, and hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
[00:02:42] Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
[00:02:51] Plans are established by counsel. By wise counsel wage war.
[00:02:58] He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets.
[00:03:03] Therefore, do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.
[00:03:09] Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
[00:03:16] An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.
[00:03:23] Do not say, I will recompense evil. Wait for the Lord, and he will save you.
[00:03:31] Diverse waits are an abomination to the Lord, and dishonest scales are not good.
[00:03:37] A man's steps are of the Lord. How then can a man understand his own way?
[00:03:46] It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, and afterward to reconsider his vows.
[00:03:55] A wise king sifts out the wicked, and brings the threshing wheel over them.
[00:04:03] The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.
[00:04:10] Mercy and truth preserve the king, and by loving kindness he upholds his throne.
[00:04:17] The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is their gray head.
[00:04:25] Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, as do stripes the inner depths of the heart.
[00:04:34] Friends, today I'd like to take a closer look at verse 24.
[00:04:39] And Proverb 20, verse 24 tells us this.
[00:04:44] A man's steps are of the Lord. How then can a man understand his own way?
[00:04:52] Now friends, we will come back and take a closer look at that verse prior to closing today.
[00:04:58] But what I'd like to do is to continue our study on scripture verses that can guide your life.
[00:05:06] And what I'd like to do very quickly is go over the verses of scripture that we went over on Wednesday and Thursday's podcast.
[00:05:16] I'm guessing there may be some of you listening today who did not jot those verses down.
[00:05:22] But what I've been attempting to do is to give people a desire to memorize scripture.
[00:05:31] You know, I have said at the beginning of this study that we do have an adversary.
[00:05:37] We know him as the devil or Satan himself.
[00:05:42] And he will come after us.
[00:05:45] He wants to derail our life.
[00:05:47] He comes to kill, to steal, and to destroy everything that we've built up in our lives.
[00:05:53] Our marriages, our relationship we have with our kids, the family unit, the nuclear unit.
[00:06:01] And you know, in our society today, our government is trying to take that away from us.
[00:06:08] They're trying to get away from the regular family that we grew up with.
[00:06:13] You know, they are trying to say that alternate lifestyles are the way to go right now.
[00:06:19] And friends, none of that is biblical.
[00:06:21] So what we've learned in this study is that there are scriptures that we can key in on and that we can stand on that will help us against the wiles of the enemy.
[00:06:36] So when he does come and try to lie to you and try to deceive you and tell you everything that you've worked at and built up over this life is not valuable.
[00:06:48] And it doesn't matter in our society today.
[00:06:51] We can refute that and we can attack him and we can resist the devil.
[00:06:58] So let's just quickly go over these verses.
[00:07:02] I'd like for you to jot them down if you were listening for the first time this week.
[00:07:06] The first one was 2nd Timothy verse 1 and 7.
[00:07:10] And that verse says, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
[00:07:19] The second one on Wednesday was Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 and 7.
[00:07:26] And I really like this.
[00:07:28] It says, be anxious for nothing and the peace of God will guard your hearts.
[00:07:34] Isaiah 41 10 talks about how we should not have any fear in our life.
[00:07:41] Next, we went to 1st John chapter 4 verse 18.
[00:07:47] And I actually asked that you write down 17, 18 and 19.
[00:07:54] Now yesterday we talked about what faith is.
[00:07:58] And the definition of faith is found in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1.
[00:08:04] In that same chapter, Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God.
[00:08:14] So friends, our desire should be to try to please God in all we do.
[00:08:19] So we have to have faith.
[00:08:21] And the third verse, Romans chapter 10 verse 17 tells us where our faith can come from.
[00:08:29] And it says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
[00:08:34] So friends, we need to get into scripture.
[00:08:37] We need to open up the Bible.
[00:08:39] We need to read it for ourselves.
[00:08:41] And as we do, our faith will increase.
[00:08:45] And I closed with 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7.
[00:08:50] And that verse says, for we walk by faith and not by sight.
[00:08:55] So friends, let's continue our study today.
[00:08:59] Today, I'd like to go over several verses having to do with humility.
[00:09:05] And friends, none of this stuff that we have faith, you know, if we don't have humility,
[00:09:11] none of this stuff that we are doing is really going to work out.
[00:09:16] Because we have to have a humble spirit.
[00:09:20] So one of the most famous verses in the Bible on humility is found way back in the Old Testament.
[00:09:29] And it's found in the book of 2nd Chronicles chapter 7 verse 14.
[00:09:36] And listen to what this verse says.
[00:09:40] If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
[00:09:54] then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
[00:10:01] Now friends, this is actually God speaking through the author of this book.
[00:10:10] This is God and what his desire is.
[00:10:13] Let me read it one more time.
[00:10:15] I want you to read it one more time.
[00:10:17] I want you to read it one more time.
[00:10:17] I want you to read it one more time.
[00:10:18] If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
[00:10:31] then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
[00:10:38] Now friends, let's break this down a little bit.
[00:10:41] So my first point of the day is, if my people will humble themselves, I will forgive their sin and heal their land.
[00:10:50] That is basically a summation of that entire verse.
[00:10:55] But let's break it down.
[00:10:57] God wants us to humble ourselves.
[00:11:02] In other words, he wants us to come to him recognizing him for who he is.
[00:11:08] God is above us.
[00:11:10] God is greater than we are.
[00:11:13] We need to humble ourselves, put ourselves in a position where we get down on our knees and say,
[00:11:19] Father God, I need your help.
[00:11:20] And he asks us to pray.
[00:11:23] That is God's desire for us even today as we live in our society.
[00:11:29] We are to pray to God and ask him for help.
[00:11:33] And seek my face.
[00:11:36] God wants to have a relationship with each one listening to this podcast today.
[00:11:43] And if we turn from our wicked ways.
[00:11:49] Think about that, guys.
[00:11:51] We are to do good.
[00:11:53] We are to live our lives doing good and not doing evil.
[00:11:59] If we do that.
[00:12:01] So if we humble ourselves.
[00:12:03] If we pray to him.
[00:12:05] If we seek his face.
[00:12:07] And if we turn from our wicked ways.
[00:12:11] Then he promises that he will hear us from heaven.
[00:12:16] And he will forgive our sin.
[00:12:19] And he will heal our land.
[00:12:22] Such an awesome promise of God.
[00:12:26] Now, the second one I'd like to go over today is a combination of verses.
[00:12:32] And this is found in 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 6 and 7.
[00:12:39] Listen carefully to these two verses.
[00:12:42] I would like for you to write them down.
[00:12:54] Verse 7 says,
[00:13:03] So friends, my second point today is humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.
[00:13:10] So that he may exalt you in due time.
[00:13:14] Casting all your care upon him.
[00:13:17] For he cares for you.
[00:13:20] Friends, God loves you.
[00:13:24] He cares about every detail of your life.
[00:13:28] He wants you to humble yourself and look to him for guidance.
[00:13:36] For your help.
[00:13:37] For the answers for anything that is going on in your life.
[00:13:43] And the third verse that I'd like to bring up today is found in the book of James chapter 4 verse 6.
[00:13:50] And it says,
[00:13:52] God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
[00:13:58] Friends, we do not want God to resist us.
[00:14:04] I don't like that thought.
[00:14:06] I don't like the fact of him turning his back on me and not wanting to listen to me.
[00:14:13] And friends, if you have a proud spirit, that is what he will do.
[00:14:17] He will not pay attention to what you say.
[00:14:21] He will not hear your prayer.
[00:14:23] He will not answer you.
[00:14:24] Because he resists those people that walk around with a proud attitude.
[00:14:31] And that is how they live their life.
[00:14:34] But he gives grace to the humble.
[00:14:37] So friends, if you are humble.
[00:14:42] If you acknowledge God for who he is.
[00:14:45] If you look to him in your time of need.
[00:14:48] He will hear you.
[00:14:50] And he will answer your prayer.
[00:14:53] So friends, before we close today, I'd like to go back to our verse of the day.
[00:14:58] And we are in Proverb 20.
[00:15:00] And Proverb 20 verse 24 tells us this.
[00:15:05] A man's steps are of the Lord.
[00:15:09] How then can a man understand his own way?
[00:15:14] So friends, this is basically a very good question.
[00:15:21] And if we consider ourselves Christians.
[00:15:24] If we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
[00:15:30] This verse says, a man's steps are of the Lord.
[00:15:36] He will lead us.
[00:15:37] He will guide us in all we should do.
[00:15:41] How then can a man understand his own way?
[00:15:44] In other words, this goes back to Proverb 3 verse 5 and 6.
[00:15:49] And it says, trust in the Lord with your whole heart.
[00:15:54] And lean not on your own understanding.
[00:15:57] This verse part here, right here, it's talking about.
[00:16:01] Do not rely on your own understanding.
[00:16:04] But seek God in all you do.
[00:16:08] So friends, I have given you a number of verses this week.
[00:16:13] That I believe can help guide your life.
[00:16:17] The question is, are you dedicated enough to actually look at these verses?
[00:16:26] To read these verses.
[00:16:29] Hopefully write these verses down.
[00:16:31] And begin to key in on where these verses are found in the Bible.
[00:16:38] One is in 2 Timothy.
[00:16:40] One is in Philippians.
[00:16:42] One is in Isaiah.
[00:16:45] One is in 1 John.
[00:16:47] Yesterday, we found two in the 11th chapter of Hebrews.
[00:16:51] Then we went to the book of Romans.
[00:16:53] Then we went to the book of 2 Corinthians.
[00:16:56] And today, I have shown you 2 Chronicles and 1 Peter and James.
[00:17:02] Friends, there are 66 books in the Bible.
[00:17:07] And they are all there for a purpose.
[00:17:11] Friends, we can learn from everything in the Bible.
[00:17:16] Every book.
[00:17:17] Every chapter.
[00:17:19] Every verse.
[00:17:21] Please take this seriously.
[00:17:23] Learn to want to know scripture.
[00:17:29] To know it.
[00:17:30] To embrace it.
[00:17:31] To let it settle into your heart.
[00:17:35] So when Satan comes and attacks you, you will have a rebuttal for him.
[00:17:42] And you can resist whatever it is that he tells you.
[00:17:45] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
[00:17:55] If there is anyone listening today and you've never taken that step, I invite you to repeat a simple prayer after me today.
[00:18:02] Jesus, thank you that you came to earth and died on a cross.
[00:18:08] For everyone listening to this podcast today, I believe that you are the Son of God.
[00:18:14] I believe that you chose to come to earth as the perfect sacrifice for all the sins of humanity for all time.
[00:18:24] By dying on that cross, I believe that you have put me back in right standing with God.
[00:18:32] We can now go boldly to his throne of grace and ask him for what we have need of.
[00:18:38] Jesus, I invite you to come into my heart.
[00:18:41] I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point forward in my life.
[00:18:46] I make you my Lord and Savior.
[00:18:50] Friends, the Bible tells us that our lives are no longer our own.
[00:18:54] That our lives have been purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
[00:19:00] We are to look for him in our time of need.
[00:19:05] And he will lead us and guide us in all that we should do.
[00:19:11] Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.
[00:19:14] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
[00:19:19] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
[00:19:24] Friends, this is the weekend.
[00:19:27] Go out with your spouse.
[00:19:29] Go out with your family.
[00:19:31] Have a great time.
[00:19:33] Remind them of how much God loves them and how much you love them.
[00:19:37] And I hope to see you back on Monday as we further explore wisdom today.
[00:19:44] Bye.