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Proverbs- 1
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts. (Proverbs 18:8) (Proverbs 26:22)

2 matching verses. Gossip sounds to be yummy stuff according to these. And it is, as we all know. Most of us would have indulged in it one time or the other, I guess.
Spoken in hushed tones or with a beginning like, "I'll tell you something, but please don't tell anyone." "Promise me you won't." And then comes out the mystery stuff.

The writer of these verses sees the words of gossip going deep into the person. Perhaps like a seed falling into healthy soil. And as the seed sprouts and puts up a stem and leaves, so the words of the gossip comes back from inside the person who has heard it and sends it into another receptive ear. The cycle then goes on and on bringing grief to many.
Believer's tend to involve themselves in gossip, not the worldy type though; it's called "spiritual gossip"
Whatever it be, the end result is pain, quarrels and misery.

Paul the Apostle specifically included the term while writing to the Corinthians. He said, "For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. (2 Corinthians 12:20)"

Some noteworthy tips for us from Proverbs regarding "gossip"

A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. (Proverbs 11:13)

A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends. (Proverbs 16:28)

A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much. (Proverbs 20:19)

Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down. (Proverbs 26:20)

So, "To gossip or not to gossip"??? "NOT TO" surely!!!

Proverbs- 2

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. (Proverbs 16:33)

Long back when I and my wife were in our spiritual infancy, we had a decision to take. I had resigned from my job as Physician in a hospital as I as too busy with my work and had very little time for God and also my family. We decided to start our own medical clinic, so that I could have enough time for spiritual matters and could spend more time together as a family. Those were the days when we did not have spiritual gifts of revelation.
We did not know which place would be ideal for opening a clinic, so we placed the matter in God's hands and waited for an indication from Him. After a few days since we did not get a clear sign, we cast lots with names of different places that we thought would be good for starting a clinic. Some were small towns and some big cities in Kerala. Then we prayed, "Lord, let us pick up the lot of whichever place you think would be best for us."

The lot that was picked up read "Eraviperoor." It's a small town in Kerala. We now know (after 14 years) that the decision was from the Lord for I had a successful stint there as Physician for 14 years. The beginnings of my work for the Lord was laid there. 14 years, the Lord used me there to minister to believers and unbelievers alike.

Rarely do we cast lots now, for the Lord speaks to us through dreams and visions regarding the things we ask of Him. God is good; all the time.

Proverbs- 3

Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred. (Proverbs 15:17)

Have you ever sat at the dinner table loaded with the best of foods and felt like not eating because of a strained relationship with whom you are living with- wife, husband, children, parents? Your favorite dish is on the table, but you don't feel like eating because of grief!

In some homes, when there is a fight, one or the other member usually says, " I don't feel like eating tonight." No amount of persuasion can change their hearts because they have lost their appetite because of a lack of love.

The writer of this proverb is basically saying that love is an essential ingredient even while we are at the dinner table. Satisfaction does not only come from the things that are on the dinner table, but from the joy of sharing and caring while we partake of the food.

There are some families where everyone eats separately and go about their businesses, whether it be work or school or college. Other than family prayer, eating together at breakfast or dinner can be a time where one can share the joys of being together as a family. Can we find the time? It's always possible if we want to.

Proverbs 4

The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions. (Proverbs 12:27)

Do we prize our possessions? Do we take efforts to preserve the blessings that God gives us? Or do we just fritter it away, not giving adequate importance to it?

We read of such a happening in the Old Testament;

The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction." (Exodus 24:12)
When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. (Exodus 31:18)

This was so sacred, yet in a moment of rage Moses destroyed them both.
"When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain." (Exodus 32:19)

He had been in the presence of the Lord 40 days and nights, eating no bread and drinking no water and then had received the stone tablets from the Lord. He had lost something invaluable.Now what was to be done? Perhaps after his anger had subsided, he must have thought about it deeply and prayed to the Lord about it. Later, we read;

At that time the LORD said to me, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden chest. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the chest." So I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. (Deuteronomy 10:1-3)

Moses now had to chisel out 2 stone tablets and carry it to the top of the mountain. And God reminded him that he had broken it.

Jesus healed the man who was invalid for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda, but later told him,
"See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (John 5:14)

Prizing our possessions, keeping the blessings that we receive from the Lord is important. May the Holy Spirit help us in that.

Proverbs - 5

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall. (Proverbs 18:11)

Imaginations run rife when people have wealth but no godly perspective. As the writer of Proverbs says, "It is their fortified city and they imagine it an unscalable wall."

Wealth may guarentee the best of treatment, but it cannot guarentee health and long life. Wealth may guarentee the best of homes, but it cannot guarentee peace and joy within.

But the Bible provides certain guarentees for those who love God, acknowledge Him and call upon Him.
"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." (Psalm 91:14- 16)

Being wealthy is not a sin and the Bible says that the blessing of the Lord brings wealth, but it must never in our imaginations become our fortified city or unscalable wall.
For the believer:
"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10)"

Proverbs- 6

As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed. (Proverbs 26:14)

Ever heard of Christian sluggards? Well, they are a class of their own.
Sluggard is defined as a slothful person. "Slothful" perhaps is related to "Sloth" (anyone remember Sid the sloth from Ice Age)(my kids loved part 1........No, we are not into movies if you thought so, except the rare clean ones). Sloth is a very slow paced animal.

There are many churches where some believers just never get there on time for the service. Not it's not the travel or any other hindrance, plain laziness and tardiness of believers that often drives the minister crazy, especially if it is a small congregation.

In the book of Joshua, we read a very salient point regarding the life of Joshua.
Early in the morning Joshua ....... (Joshua 3:1)

Joshua got up early the next morning ......... (Joshua 6:12)

Early the next morning Joshua ....... (Joshua 7:16)

Early the next morning Joshua ........ (Joshua 8:10)

He had a very different lifestyle. And that's why he was so successful.

Unless a believer is working nights or is too sick, it is good if he/she is in the presence of the Lord early in the morning. Quite time can be quite a time if we have quiet around us. Just us (you) and the Lord.

It is said of Jesus in the Word,
....for zeal for your house consumes me (Psalm 69:9)

How about you brother, how about you sister. How's your zeal for the Lord and for his house?

I have asked my congregation in the past when I have seen regular late-comers whether they would do the same if they were to catch a flight!
Would they wait for you?

Reporting time -3 hours prior to the flight.

I think if the same were put in Church manuals, many would plan to cancel their membership.

Speaking about sluggards, the writer of Proverbs puts down some interesting thoughts. Let's end with that.

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! (Proverbs 6:6)

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? (Proverbs 6:9)

As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him. (Proverbs 10:26)

The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. (Proverbs 13:4)

The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway. (Proverbs 15:19)

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth! (Proverbs 19:24)

A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing. (Proverbs 20:4)

The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or, "I will be murdered in the streets!" (Proverbs 22:13)

I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. (Proverbs 24:30, 31)

The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!" (Proverbs 26:13)

As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed. (Proverbs 26:14)

The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. (Proverbs 26:15)

The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly. (Proverbs 26:16)

Proverbs - 7

A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a crafty man. (Proverbs 12:2)

Ever seen crafty believers? If you have been a believer for quite a while, it's possible that you have encountered many.

It's true that they are saved and are worshipping the Lord but some of their older traits have yet to leave them. Not really a new creature yet. The old things have not passed away.
In Psalm 18 we read the following:

To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. (Psalm 18:25, 26)

Truly, the Lord deals shrewdly with the crooked.
In the book of Acts, we read of a man named Simon who had practiced sorcery in Samaria, but when he saw the miracles that God performed through Phillip, he himself believed and was baptized. He even joined Phillip in his ministry, so as to say. But later on when he saw believer's receiving the Holy Spirit when Peter and John placed their hands on them, he offered them money to get the power. He was sternly rebuked by Peter who said,
"May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. (Acts 8:20,21)

Sadly these days, this is what many who are in the ministry are trying to do. Trying to buy the power of God with money and when they do not succeed, they settle for counterfiet powers which seal their fate.

These are the ones, who will in the end tell the Lord,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' (Matthew 7:22)

But the Lord will have only one answer for them and that is:
'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:23)

Better be faithful and blameless and try to keep ourselves pure, for that is what God desires from us.