Proverbs 18:4:
4 The words of a [discreet and wise] man's mouth are like deep waters [plenteous and difficult to fathom], and the fountain of skillful and godly Wisdom is like a gushing stream [sparkling, fresh, pure, and life-giving].
The word for "man" here is the Hebrew word "iysh", which means: man, male, human being, champion, great man! The Amplified Bible says a "wise and discreet" man! When a wise man speaks his words are valuable and worth noting! Now he wouldn't BE a wise man if he had not received Jesus as Lord and Saviour AND become a student of the Bible! You can't be wise without Wisdom, which comes from God and His Word and IS the principal thing! Remember in 2 Peter 3:16 where Peter says that some of Paul's teaching were "hard to be understood"? Well, that describes the words of the wise man! When we hide the Word in our heart and meditate on it until it becomes Wisdom to us, THEN the fountain of God's Wisdom and anointing can rise up big inside of us and become that gushing stream that flows out and minsters life to the people! THAT is why we are to meditate the Word - DAY & NIGHT! The lost and hurting NEED the River of Life flowing out of us so that it reaches THEM with the ANSWER! AND HIS Name is JESUS! AMEN!
Galatians 2 has Paul, who had spent 3 years receiving the Gospel message directly from Jesus, coming to Jerusalem to make sure that the Church of Jesus Christ were all speaking the same thing! Verse 2:
2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
Paul went by revelation, meaning that the Holy Spirit led him to go there for HIS purposes! Some say that Paul wanted to make sure that what HE was preaching lined up with what the rest of the Church was preaching. NOT SO! Remember that Paul spent 3 years receiving his instruction from Jesus Himself! He KNEW that HE was preaching the right Gospel! He went privately so as not to cause a public controversy that would harm the preaching of the Gospel. I like the Message Bible for this verse:
2 I went to clarify with them what had been revealed to me. At that time I placed before them exactly what I was preaching to the non-Jews. I did this in private with the leaders, those held in esteem by the church, so that our concern would not become a controversial public issue, marred by ethnic tensions, exposing my years of work to denigration and endangering my present ministry.
Doesn't that make it a little more clear? And some of them WERE wrong! Some were preaching that Gentile believers had to become observers of the Law in order to be saved. NOT TRUE! If the Law could have saved ANYONE, Jesus would NOT have had to give His life! Verse 21 says as much:
21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Every answer IS found in the Word of God, it just takes time and diligence to find it! AMEN!
Esther begins with king Ahasuerus (Xerxes) proudly showing off all the riches of his kingdom. Remember when king Hezekiah did the same? (2 Kings 20:13) God is NOT pleased with that kind of pride! During a drunken feast, Hezekiah sends for his wife, Queen Vashti, so that he can show off her great beauty! Pride again! She refused and made him angry, Some scholars say that she was pregnant at the time with his son, Artexerxes, and did not want to appear in that condition. Whatever the reason, Vashti is deposed and when the king returned from battle and remembered that queen, his advisers "came up with" the plan. NO! It was God's plan all along! He had Esther in place to accomplish HIS will for His people in that place!
One comment I thought was interesting in the Bible Exposition Commentary had to do with the drunkenness that caused the irrational behavior of the king in the first place.
Most of the advertisements that promote the sale of alcoholic beverages depict fashionable people in gracious settings, giving the subtle impression that "social drinking" and success are synonymous. But pastors, social workers, physicians, and dedicated members of Alcoholics Anonymous would paint a different picture. They've seen firsthand the wrecked marriages, ruined bodies and minds, abused families, and shattered careers that often accompany what people call "social drinking."
Longtime baseball coach and manager Connie Mack said that alcohol had no more place in the human body than sand had in the gas tank of an automobile. Alcohol is a narcotic, not a food; it destroys, not nourishes. The Bible warns against drunkenness (Prov 20:1; 21:17; 23:20-21,29-35; Isa 5:11; Luke 21:34; Rom 13:13-14; 1 Cor 5:11; Eph 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3-5)
The best way to avoid drunkenness is not to drink at all. A Japanese proverb warns, "First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes the man." And King Lemuel's mother taught him, "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink" (Prov 31:4, KJV).
As always in God's Word, we are given instruction in the Word, and then expected to make wise choices! Make sure that all of YOUR choices are wise ones! Then YOU will have a most blessed life here on earth! AMEN!
