THINKING OF YOURSELF LESS

"Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility."—Proverbs 18:12 

The following quote from C.H. Spurgeon refers to the verse printed above.   

 —Almost every event has its prophetic prelude. It is an old and common saying, that "coming events cast their shadows before them;" the wise man teaches us the same lesson in the verse before us. When destruction walks through the land, it casts its shadow; it is in the shape of pride. When honor visits a man's house, it casts its shadow before it; it is in the fashion of humility. "Before destruction the heart of man is haughty;" pride is as surely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain, and far more infallibly so than that. "Before honor is humility," even as before the summer, sweet birds return to sing in our land. Everything hath its prelude. The prelude of destruction is pride, and of honor, humility. There is nothing into which the heart of man so easily falls as pride, and yet there is no vice which is more frequently, more emphatically, and more eloquently condemned in Scripture. Against pride, prophets have lifted up their voices, evangelists have spoken and teachers have discoursed. Yea, more; the everlasting God has mounted to the very heights of eloquence when he would condemn the pride of man; and the full gushing of the Eternal's mighty language has been most gloriously displayed in the condemnation of the pride of human nature.—

Do you consider yourself to be pretty humble? This Thursday morning at 9:30 we will look deeply into what God has to say about real humility, as well as, pride. Please plan to be with us for this valuable and timely class from the book of Proverbs.

TIME FOR A HEART CHECKUP

The Way of Wisdom!

This Wednesday morning my doctor plans to check my heart and observe other markers that indicate good, or poor health. Most people consider it wise to have somewhat regular evaluations of their hearts, particularly as they get older. However, there is a “heart” of much more value that relatively few people concern themselves with evaluating. More than 700 times God talks about this “heart” in the Bible. Many of those references are found in the wisdom literature of Proverbs. Consider this wisdom—”Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23) Think about that for a while.

In helping us understand the true meaning of this heart, I found this great quote from John MacArthur. “The ‘heart commonly refers to the mind as the center of thinking and reason, but also includes the emotions, the will, and thus, the whole inner being. The heart is the depository of all wisdom and the source of whatever affects speech and conduct.” In other words, this affects everything about our lives!

This Thursday morning our Ladies Bible Study will consider God’s instructions concerning our “heart” in general and also more specifically in relation to pride and humility (day’s one and two of chapter 7). I want you to part of this time of encouragement to live whole”heart”edly for the Lord.

FRIENDSHIPS FROM A GODLY PERSPECTIVE

One last photo from Mark and my 50th wedding anniversary celebration of all our children and their families. I’m very thankful for the happy relationships we have with all of these dear people. To God be the glory!!

Recently I watched two young ladies openly and blatantly explain on a national news program how they have cut out of their friendships everyone who did not contribute something to their lives. I felt confident the person interviewing them would challenge their thinking, but no, their philosophy was praised as a wonderful decision that has and will continue to bring much success to their lives. I can’t imagine what our society would be like if everyone followed this same thinking.

This Thursday our Ladies Bible Study begins for the fall season and we will be continuing a study gleaning what God has to say in Proverbs about various practical aspects of our lives. This week we zero in on friendships. Although the Bible gives many warnings about who we associate with, these always deal with honoring God, not ourselves. We naturally want everything to be about us (as is apparent in young children)—our happiness, our success, our fame, etc. But, God turns all of that around and makes it very clear that everything is to be about Him first of all, and other people secondly. In fact honoring Him most highly results in a great concern for the welfare of other people above myself. “And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’" Luke 10:27

With all of this in mind let’s plan to look at Proverbs to see friendship from a Godly perspective. Our dear babysitters will be with us again this year to care for your little ones. Plan to be encouraged tomorrow morning 9:30 to 11 am in the Fireside Room.