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  • Banquet of the King in the House of Wisdom – 2

    Banquet of the King in the House of Wisdom – 2

    “Lord, Lord”

    You are about to sit in the presence of the King. Yet with the hearing of the wisdom of the King comes responsibility.

    “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?’ – Luke 6:46

    LUKE 6:49

    “But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”

    Can you sit before the King and heed His words of wisdom?

    The Way of Wisdom

    Proverbs 9:HRH Queen Elizabeth

    Wisdom has built her house,
    She has hewn out her seven pillars…

    She has also furnished her table.

    6 Forsake foolishness and live,
    And go in the way of understanding.

    7 “He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,
    And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
    8 Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
    Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
    9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
    Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

    10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

    Account for your actions

    Do you answer the tweets of a fool? Would you correct this scoffer?

    Does the world recognize a wicked one without you answering a fool?

    Contentious words provoke angry response,

    While silence speaks softly to those who hear.

    A fool speaks loudly and carries no stick.

    The wise one withholds comment from deaf ears..

    What basis have you to judge another? Are you so infallible or have you never transgressed righteousness?

    Learn from the Lord and ask forgiveness for your errors. Fear the LORD! Then you will begin to have wisdom.

    Wisdom of the King

    Earthly kings and leaders have appointed times, yet often they fail. Even Solomon forgot wisdom in his later days. The king’s banquet may become an event of singular honor or delectable cuisine, but wise words nourish the guest of the king’s table.

    Hear just a few morsels of wisdom from King Solomon. My reflections follow, as I invite your consideration.

    Savor wisdom’s words on the pallet of your understanding.

    Feast upon wisdom’s flavor before digesting a proverb as common fast-food.

    Proverbs 10:

    6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
    But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

    I am a sinful man; therefore I will keep silence before the King.

    I recall the actions of so many wicked men and wayward women. We abhor their violence, yet the Lord will judge.

    9 He who walks with integrity walks securely,
    But he who perverts his ways will become known.

    he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
    he is a shield to those who walk in integrity – Proverbs 2:7

    Integrity – completeness, fullness, innocence, simplicity.

    Acting in the Lord’s will, considering my imminent action as simply evil or good. Choosing good before exercising evil in thought, word or misdeed.

    And perversion? We have forgotten it’s meaning in an onslaught of common evil. Perversion twists the truth of righteousness with corruption of the pure and defiance against God. Consider the lives of an evil one:

    The way of peace they do not know,
    and there is no justice in their paths;
    they have made their roads crooked;
    no one who treads on them knows peace. – Isaiah 59:8

    Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
    than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool. – Proverbs 19:1

    12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    But love covers all sins.

    How we continually hear the news of the world; taunting words of hatred from the lips of arrogant men and unbound women.

    Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8

    More than everything, soft words of love and the mirror of time will turn harsh words of hatred into regret.

    More wisdom from Proverbs 10:

    14 Wise people store up knowledge,

    But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

    17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life,
    But he who refuses correction goes astray.

    18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips,
    And whoever spreads slander is a fool.

    19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
    But he who restrains his lips is wise.

    20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
    The heart of the wicked is worth little.
    21 The lips of the righteous feed many,
    But fools die for lack of wisdom.

    The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,
    and humility comes before honor. – Proverbs 15:33

    Don’t think of Proverbs as only a few pithy sayings by Solomon and other ancient Kings.

    Think of Proverbs as personal advice from the King of kings; then consider your own words and actions.

    Will you be invited to the banquet of the King?

    To be continued…

  • Banquet of the King in the House of Wisdom

    Banquet of the King in the House of Wisdom

    The House of Wisdom

    Does not wisdom cry out,
    And understanding lift up her voice?

    Proverbs 8: NKJV

    6 Listen, for I will speak of excellent things,
    And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
    7 For my mouth will speak truth;
    Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

    8 All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
    Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
    9 They are all plain to him who understands,
    And right to those who find knowledge.

    Ah, wisdom, such a rare jewel among riches, a hidden treasure in the palaces of kings.

    Does a son of man in this 21st century even consider her value before proclaiming foolishness?

    O, that a humble King could be found, a son of man with whom wisdom occupies a seat of honor at his banquet.

    15 By me kings reign,
    And rulers decree justice.
    16 By me princes rule, and nobles,
    All the judges of the earth.
    17 I love those who love me,
    And those who seek me diligently will find me.

    Wisdom. A wise ruler surveys the land, chooses the high ground and builds upon a foundation of the Lord’s righteousness. Though cunning may sweep an evil one into a palace on shifting sand, no monument outlasts the wisdom of the Lord.

    In the Beginning

     

    22 “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
    Before His works of old.
    23 I have been established from everlasting,
    From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
    24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
    When there were no fountains abounding with water.
    25 Before the mountains were settled,
    Before the hills, I was brought forth;
    26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
    Or the primal dust of the world.
    27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
    When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
    28 When He established the clouds above,
    When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
    29 When He assigned to the sea its limit,
    So that the waters would not transgress His command,
    When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
    30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
    And I was daily His delight,
    Rejoicing always before Him,
    31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
    And my delight was with the sons of men.

    John 1:

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

    10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

    Proverbs 8:

    33 Hear instruction and be wise,
    And do not disdain it…

    35 For whoever finds me finds life,
    And obtains favor from the Lord;
    36 But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
    All those who hate me love death.”

    Do you seek the house of wisdom and will you hear her voice?

    What word of wisdom would you with ears to hear obey?

    To be continued…

     

  • Times of Difficulty – 5

    Times of Difficulty – 5

    Godlessness in the Last Days

    2 Timothy 3:

    But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

    2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

    File- This Sept. 6, 2012, file photo shows Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
    Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos richest man in the world with a net worth of $90.6 billion

    Many lovers of money worldwide, with the richest residing in the US, France, Spain, Mexico, China and Hong Kong.

    Proud and arrogant men and women rule companies and financial interests more powerful than countries.

    We sense the extreme poverty of so many without knowing the truth of many billionaires like Carlos Slim Helú who dominates more than a country just devastated by yet another earthquake.

    Borderless prisons of poverty abuse the starving and obliterate opposition.

    Difficulty in these last days

    How many rulers of this temporary darkness are without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit and more?

    Evil rulers of countries and military forces threaten apocalypse, condone persecution and order elimination of those who oppose them. Is the Lord God their God?

    Hardly a mention of evil in these trying times. Yet one word describes all – godlessness. 

    Meanwhile international headline news conglomerates skew our focus toward consumption, power and fleeting fame. 

    Signs of the End of the Age

    Enlightened ones speculate with futily about global warming and disasters of ‘mother nature.’ 

    Earth did not create us, aliens did not plant us and apes did not conceive our ancestors. Yet idolatry abounds in these times of difficulty.

    When hurricane approaches or disaster strikes do any dare mention ‘acts of God?’

    Matthew 24:

    Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

    3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

    4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.

    6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

    7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

    9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

    11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

    12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

    14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

    No One Knows That Day and Hour

    In two millennia since the beginning of these last days, in recent centuries of these last hours, in passing minutes of threatening signs:

    Has your love grown cold? Will you endure to the end?

    Is your gospel of the kingdom of Christ Jesus a testimony of truth, an anchor of belief and hope of love?

    37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man…

    Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Florida, wreaking destruction

    44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

    2 Peter 3:

    … scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say,

    “Where is the promise of his coming? …”

    5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.

    7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

    Remember 9/11
    2,996 deaths

    10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

    For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man…