The God of the Bible is a God of truth. On the other hand, the Devil is the great enemy of truth. The Bible says of him, “there is no truth in him.”
Many people choose to continue in sin thinking that the consequences are not mounting up. The scriptures indicate something quite different.
Life will present difficult situations. The only viable solution will, at times, involve taking a step back and regrouping mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
It is always right to do right, but it is more perfectly right to do right for the right reasons. In other words, serve the Lord, but do so out of a pure motive.
A martyr is one who is killed for his faith. Only two individuals are specifically named as martyrs in scripture: Stephen and Antipas.
Like other callings upon a person’s life, God prepares men and women for marriage. Obviously, God prepares the heart, but He also prepares other areas in order to provide for a strong home. When God created Adam, He could have immediately created Eve, but He chose to allow Adam to experience the sense of being alone. Perhaps there are other reasons, but God may have thought it wise to prepare Adam for marriage. He needed to experience life without Eve. Adam needed to come to the place where he desired companionship. He needed to be alone before he could truly appreciate a wife. In addition to the preparation of Adam’s heart, the Lord gave him a job, a means by which he could provide for Eve (Genesis 2:8-9, 15). All of these preparations were necessary for a strong marriage relationship.
Loyalty may seem to go unobserved but eventually yields unexpected and momentous dividends. The story of Esther’s uncle uniquely exemplifies this point. Mordecai sat in the king’s gate in Shushan. One day, while he sat in the gate, he overheard two men plotting to kill the king. When Mordecai heard the news, he immediately repeated these words to Queen Esther, thus foiling the plot. The two men were tried, found guilty, and ultimately executed. At first, Mordecai’s loyalty seemed to remain unnoticed, but one night the king was troubled and could not sleep. His servants, by divine providence, read the record of Mordecai’s loyalty to him (Esther 6:1-3). Soon thereafter, Mordecai’s loyalty was rewarded (Esther 6:4-11). His loyalty most likely saved his life and spared the lives of countless Jews (see Esther chapter 7).
The book of Proverbs frequently incorporates the tools of comparison and contrast for the purpose of teaching specific truths. In today’s passage, a liberal soul is likened to one who waters. The passage also mentions that being made fat is likened to being watered. In other words, a liberal reaps the benefits of his own liberality. Proverbs chapter 3 also sets forth the principle of sowing and reaping as man is told to “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10). When a man with a sincere heart liberally cares for the Lord and His people, the Lord will return his liberality back to him.
Should prayer be kept private or can it be done in publick? For various reasons, some believers have grown increasingly concerned about the appropriate places to call upon the Lord. In Matthew 6:5-6, the Lord rebuked the publick prayers of the hypocrites and suggested that His people should enter into their closets to pray. The Lord Himself followed this pattern by seeking a “solitary place” in which to pray (Mark 1:35). Does this mean that the Lord opposed all publick prayer? It is important to consider the whole counsel of God. Obviously the Lord was not displeased with the publick prayer meeting held by believers in the early church – He answered their prayer by freeing Peter (Acts 12:12). Furthermore, the Lord expressed His will – for men to “pray every where.”
God designed and willed for the Christian home and the local body of believers to function as two of the closest experiences to heaven on this side of eternity. As believers, we ought to love one another (John 13:34-35) and serve one another by that love (Galatians 5:13). Rather than backbiting and devouring each other (Galatians 5:15), believers ought to give themselves to ministering to each other. In Paul’s epistle to the Corinthian believers, God led Paul to mention a family addicted to the ministry. At some point, this family decided to sacrifice their own gain for the sake of ministering to others. Because of this commitment, the Bible says that Stephanas refreshed the spirit of other believers.
