Shalom,
Proverbs 26:1:
1 LIKE SNOW in summer and like rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a [self-confident] fool.
For most places snow in summer is not only not wanted, but it can actually be harmful. In Wisconsin the summers are so short that we try to take advantage of every warm day, but snow would also kill the gardens and the summer crops for the farmers. Harvesting crops is also affected greatly by rain. Farmers will check the weather forecasts before deciding when to harvest. It is not suitable, proper or appropriate! NEITHER is it appropriate to give honor to a fool! But that IS how the world operates! They will give praise and honor to a terrorist and known murderer, while belittling and persecuting a believer in Jesus, or any other moral and decent person! It is a very good gauge of your life to see how people treat you! People who get all the honor are probably NOT all they seem to be and the ones who really deserve to be honored and appreciated, seldom are (by the world)! If you are not suffering some type of persecution for your stand on the Word of God, then you MAY not be doing all that you are called to do and know to do! Verse 12 says that even this "fool", the Hebrew word "keciyl", which means: simple, stupid or stupid fellow, is better off than someone who, in their own mind and thinking is very wise! If they THINK they know it all already they will NOT be open to God's Word and skillful and Godly Wisdom!
12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes and conceit? There is more hope for a [self-confident] fool than for him.
What to do? DON'T be EITHER of these! Be "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10)! Be filled with the Word of God and filled with the Spirit of God! Meditate day and night on the Word of God so that you will be wise in HIS eyes! AMEN!
Ephesians 4:29:
29 Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God's favor) to those who hear it.
When you read this verse, you may be thinking that it is referring to swearing or cursing, but it is not. That may be included, but the word "corrupt" is the Greek word "sapros", which means: rotten, bad, corrupt, worthless, putrid, unfit for use, of poor quality. When the 10 spies came back from spying out the land and gave an "evil" report, it was this same type of thing! It was worthless, faithless, and unfit for use! Anything spoken that is NOT in faith or is contrary to the good and Godly promises of God's Word, is "corrupt"! It is worthless, produces nothing, and actually STINKS in the nostrils of God! I would personally rather hear someone cuss up a storm than to hear someone say that tongues have ceased, healing isn't for all, God wants people poor, you can't understand the Word, (blah, blah, blah!) KNOW the Word of God so you can SPEAK the Word of God and DO the Word of God! There is NOTHING corrupt about that! AND, you will not be grieving the Holy Spirit then! Verse 30:
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you are sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequence of sin).
The Holy Spirit is greatly grieved when God's people do not know and recognize the GOODNESS of God! Get into the Word consistently so that you can really KNOW Him! You'll be glad you did, and so will everyone around you!
I see two things in Nehemiah today that really stand out to me as something that is needful for our time! When the people of Israel were being threatened by the other nations, Nehemiah prayed to God and then the people banded together and worked together for the protection, provision and safety of all! Nehemiah 4:16-17:
16 And from that time forth, half of my servants worked at the task, and the other half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail; and the leaders stood behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who built the wall and those who bore the burdens loaded themselves so that everyone worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other hand.
As believers who know how to wield the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and know how to pray, both in the Spirit and in their known language, we should do this same thing, every day and all day long! Be ever ready to pray, to proclaim God's Word and to praise and worship whenever necessary! There should never be a time that we are not "tuned in" to the Spirit of God and ready to act in obedience to His leading and direction! AMEN!
Then in Nehemiah 5 we see the people under such financial pressure because their own people were lending them money at high interest and they were being forced to sell their own children into slavery to pay the debts and in order to eat! Nehemiah told the people that this should NOT be so! He even said this about himself, as Governor of the land in verses 14-15:
14 Also, in the twelve years after I was appointed to be their governor in Judah, from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, neither I nor my kin ate the food allowed to [me] the governor. 15 But the former governors lived at the expense of the people and took from them food and wine, besides forty shekels of silver [ a large monthly official salary]; yes, even their servants assumed authority over the people. But I did not so because of my [reverent] fear of God.
Would that we had leaders like THAT now! I know there are some! Let's pray for more of them! AMEN!
Shalom in Him!
