Bragging On Jesus

Amazing Grace House Of Rising (Son) with Harmonica

Proverbs In 365 Devotions

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Proverbs 18:17 The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.

Most likely we’ve all been falsely accused many times in life… If not it’s probably coming. But at the least there is a silver lining about being accused… You see, the accuser usually states their case first like our text refers to. That means we get to hear the charge and the evidence before we respond… unfortunately many times we hear it from others besides the accuser. Still, if the claim is false then many times we can provide detailed proof against the lies. But there may be times when we do not want or need to respond depending on the circumstances.

You see, for a believer who’s character is honest and who has been one who repents and confesses when they have wronged others, accusations are usually not a problem. When your character has been observed by those around you for years… your attributes and sense of honesty will be known by them. And also as a believer… who’s Father is the King of Kings… the one who loves you dearly and has given you a great inheritance… Dont you think he will stand up for you… You see, God will get the glory in your life if you just keep loving God with your all and your neighbor as yourself and keep rejoicing in the Lord… Trust God.

In the Bible many believers were falsely accused of wrong… a few that come to mind are Joseph… remember Potifiers wife accused Joseph of attempted rape.. he was sent to prison… But God was greatly glorified through the whole thing. There was Moses, David,… I’m sure there were others… Paul…

It may be that you have started a new job or are new to an area or peoples… you may need a history with them before your character can dismiss any accusations against you. Still you can do the same thing Love God and people… Remember after an accusation the next move is yours… You can present evidence of your innocence if you like… but just remember… do it in as you walk in the Spirit the way we just discussed… in rejoicing and love.

Jesus said this:

Matthew 5:11 11“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Another accuser is the devil. He is one who accuses Gods children falsely over and over… If he can just get us to ease up on our faith… to doubt… If he can make us depressed and unsatisfied with God… Oh… that is what seems to feed his ego…

2nd Timothy 3:12Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Pray… Jesus… in a mock trial he was accused of being king of the Jews in a context of wanting to overthrow Rome. He was rightly accused of claiming to be the Son of God and Messiah… the good news for sinful man, the greatest treasure worth giving all for… The one worth delighting in above all others. He is the one who will have the last say on his and our accusers in Judgment. Thank you Lord for the hope set before us in Christ, in His name amen.

Proverbs in 365 Devotions

For more go to braggingonjesus.com

Proverbs 18:14 A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

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Crushed!

R Aylor

One of the highest goals of satan I think… is to crush the spirit of believers.

This takes my mind back to remembrance of Gods prophecy about his only Son after Adam and Eve failed God. Speaking to the serpent God said this in:

Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

The ESV version uses the word bruise. Others use bruise, strike and crush.

So, the offspring of the woman would be struck, crushed and bruised on the Cross as he willingly took the wages of our own sin… Right? And yet Jesus defeated death itself by his awesome perfection and power of God.

Look, the truth is that though satan has been overcome on the Cross… though his head is bruised, bloodied and deformed and his power belittled and defeated… he still foolishly wants to strike, bruise and crush Jesus in some way… One way is by crushing the spirit of believers. You see, it is the Spirit of God abiding in us that changes the world for the glory of God and this is satan’s nightmare.

Depression keeps us defeated and our it leads others close to us to be depressed… How can we encourage others when we are depressed? How can we point others to the joy of God when our spirit is crushed?

When the heel of the offspring of Eve was crushed in Jesus death on the Cross… Someone else was crushed and it was not his heel…. but the head of the serpent satan was crushed. Everyone knows stomping the tail of a snake will only make him angry… but crushing his head brings certain defeat. Thats what the seed of the woman did when Jesus rose from the dead.

Our verse is:

Proverbs 18:14 A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

I’ll say it again: One of the highest goals of satan I think… is to crush the spirit of believers.

But you know… God gives us the same power that raised Jesus from the dead to overcome sin in our every day life. Because of Jesus we don’t have to live our life under a crushed and defeated spirit because Jesus crushed and defeated satan and all his power and all his lies of deception when he overcame being crushed by death.

Pray

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Proverbs in 365 Devotions

For more go to braggingonjesus.com

Proverbs 18:5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice.

Justice and Impartiality

R Aylor

This is a great verse. It is straightforward. There is no apparent puzzle to what Solomon says. It probably needs no exposition… But let’s pause briefly on its simplicity… To the best of my knowledge, some sense of justice… some system of justice is built into every Nation… every peoples in the world. But… at the same time… in this broken world, no process for justice is 100% effective. Evil slips through the cracks even in the best judicious structure. I think it’s clear to all that there are times when evil gets rewarded and righteousness is punished,… I suspect much more often than we know. I mean, just think about it when you watch forensic files or cold case documentaries.

We live in a culture where many think the definition of justice is to weigh the balance of the wrong committed with the good things that person has done. When Martha Stewart was found guilty in things related to insider trading she seemed to want the Judge to consider all the good she has done for others before sentencing her.

Look, God wants us to do good deeds sure... good deeds of righteousness… but good works do not make us innocent on judgment day.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Did you notice in that passage that our rescue from sin does not come from our works… but rather we… ourselves, have become Gods work in Christ Jesus… and notice it is for good works.

So yes again God wants us to do good works but they must be motivated or quickened by God who is the one working in our heart.

This is His grace at work… so we cannot boast or brag.

So back to our text: Proverbs 18:5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice.

I think Solomon is simply saying we should not favor the wicked in order to benefit ourselves… we should be just… that kind of partiality is commonplace in politics… we should not favor the rich over the poor because they are rich… we should not favor one race over another… all these things and more… God wants us to be just.

Though this text is uncomplicated… I think it points us to something greater.

God wants us to take on his attributes… not all the attributes that belong to him as God alone like being sovereign and omnipotent but rather attributes of his character… things like Agape love and patience, mercy, kindness, compassion and many more including to be just and impartial as our text says.

Now… herein lies the problem: Our hearts are bent on sinning and the standard God will use on Judgment Day will be today's text: “It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice”… and we are all wicked in ourselves.

Though we are all unrighteous sinners there is good news. It is that for all who look to him in faith as the Ephesians passage indicates… We will be declared innocent on Judgment Day. He died for us and then defeated death that we might walk in newness of life with victory over sin…

But Jesus who died and rose for us imputes his righteousness to all who delight in him and we are made just before God… And he begins a work in us for his glory.

Pray

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Proverbs in 365 Devotions

For more go to braggingonjesus.com

Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

Here Solomon tells us how listening to a mans words can tell us what is down deep his heart. This goes for a wise man as well as a wicked man. Oh, it’s true that hearing one clip or one tweet from a man might not be enough to tell what is down deep… but over a period of time we can recall a lot of hashtags of what that person has said before. We remember how they spoke about others they disagreed with… If they ever wished them well… we can weigh the conflicting hashtags and be wise to the context of their words. The truth is that deep waters of both a wicked person and a wise person are just waiting to come out.

Jesus himself said in Matthew 12:34 For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

So, we find that one heart is contaminated with toxins and the other is life giving and pure… and they both always find a way to the surface.

Its the same for a individual who has the wisdom of God… Their words come from deep down in their soul… They too may occasionally speak out of character from the vastness of their character down deep. But when they do you will find other words that correct the poison words they spoke. They will be words like “I am sorry” or “please forgive me, I was wrong”.

This verse also brings with it the idea that the water which comes from the fountain of wisdom is healthy. It is a good place to drink… it is a good place to find counsel. You can drink from it with confidence and trust it to be pure. It is a bubbling brook. Oh yes, I remember drinking from a bubbling brook coming up out of the ground in the Colorado mountains… Over time that little artesian well had resulted in a depression down in the ground and one had to kneel down to drink from it.

Now that was some good fresh water… It fed into a small creek and then I believe combined with other creeks and fed into a river giving life to millions of acres of land and animals all the way to the ocean.

Just as one had to kneel down low to drink from the bubbling brook, we have to humble ourselves to receive good counsel from others… We also must humble ourselves and say we are thirsty and we are not satisfied with what the world offers before we will go to Jesus for living water.

John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Pray

Proverbs in 365 Devotions

For more go to braggingonjesus.com

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. 11 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination. 12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

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Strong Tower

R Aylor

Gods name lets us know he is trustworthy… you see throughout the Old Testament his name carries with it all kinds of adjectives that describe his holiness… who He is… We see his attributes over and over which give him praise for his character. So you want to know God better this is a good place to study about why the name of the Lord is a strong tower we can run to to be safe.

On the other hand… a man who’s fists are clenched tight around his money… Well, let’s back up… a man can be rich in many ways… it’s whatever he clenches his fists around right?… It might be money for sure… but it might be influence, a big house, beauty… clothes, even health… I suppose we might say that whatever we treasure in life is our version of riches. So even a poor homeless person and a wealthy person alike might be rich in so called me time or even laziness. And everyone has the ability to treasure something over God.

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What is your strong tower… what is your strong city… And what high wall of imagination secures you from your brokenness and that of the the world?

The last verse speaks of pride and humility… One leads to destruction, the other to honor… One is the trait of a person who trust in themselves and their high walls of protection as well as their treasures are found in the world… But the other person… also sinful and broken in themselves, runs to the strong tower of the Lord and all his name brings with it… He is their treasure.

Pray

Proverbs in 365 Devotions

For more go to braggingonjesus.com

Proverbs 18:9 Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.

Who Is Your Brother?

R Aylor

Who then is your brother, metaphorically speaking?

Who do you favor? Who are you creeping?

Who is your spouse, Where are you sleeping?

What makes you smile? With whom are you weeping?

If in life you show little production, you take after your older brother destruction

Or maybe you work to be selfishly wealthy, while your sister’s obsessed to be pretty and healthy

With whom do you share the same style of walk, the same inflections in how you talk

Outside we may seem full of skizms, but inside have similar mannerisms.

If you walk with the wise, that shows what you’ll be

But what if you prefer hanging with those who don’t believe

You like how they speak, what they watch on tv

When you look in the mirror then that's what you’ll see

So who is your brother, your closest kinship?

Jesus said: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

Proverbs in 365 Devotions

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Proverbs 18:3 When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace.

He Removes the "Dis" from Disgrace

R Aylor

Here in this verse, first Solomon mentions wickedness. My definition of wickedness is common sense… It is this: To be wicked is to be disobedient of the one true Judge. It is living our life with attributes and a character that goes against Gods attributes and character. And so as we live out a life of wickedness as this text indicates, we are found to be in contempt of our Creator. We are contemptible.

When a person is found in contempt in a courtroom in means they have dismissed the Judges courtroom rules. They have disobeyed the Judge. They have acted in a wicked manner towards the one in charge.

Wickedness and being found in contempt then naturally leads to dishonor. Even a corrupt society holds those in contempt some thieves, murderers and sex offenders… even some who are prejudice… so yes these people try to hide from their disgrace by moving to another town or becoming a hermit but in todays age of technology their disgrace travels with them via social media…

That word disgrace is interesting to me on the surface. I don’t know its meaning in the Greek or what word it comes from in the Latin… But still it makes me think it might somehow be connected to grace.

We are all wicked… we have all lived lives in contempt with the Judge of the Universe. We have all been seen as dishonorable to our Creator…

But God gives grace. When God gives grace that means the (dis) is removed from the disgrace that we all deserve in Hell. That's what grace does.

Righteous Jesus took our disgrace by being paid the wages of our sins on the Cross. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. It is a gift that only comes to you and I through faith in Jesus. Not only that but Jesus imputes his righteousness to all who believe making us 100% acceptable to God. Then Jesus destroyed the penalty of sin for all who delight in him… He defeated death itself and rose up from the dead. He gives us the same power that raised him to defeat sin practically as we trust in him from day to day. And… he will raise us up incorruptible as he was raise up to be with him and never die again.

Proverbs 18:3 When wickedness comes, contempt comes also, and with dishonor comes disgrace.

* Jesus replaces our wickedness with his righteousness positionally. It’s 100% real true righteousness before God.

* Jesus also changes us from being contemptible toward him by quickening us to grow in righteousness practically with joy.

* Jesus replaces our dishonor with acceptance, adoption, an eternal inheritance... even honor as he shares his glory with us.

* Jesus take the (dis) out of disgrace and we have all things because of his grace.

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Pray

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Proverbs in 365 Devotions

For more go to braggingonjesus.com

Proverbs 18:6 A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. 7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. 8 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

To Invite A Beating

R Aylor

Here we see Solomon referring to people who get into trouble in two ways... through their mouth and through their ears.

I love the colorful images Solomon uses. Like lips walking into a fight or a mouth that says come on… hit me right here on the chin.

It’s like someone is so aggressive that they walk up to you and stick out their chest and put their face up against yours and say “go ahead… if you think you’re man enough”. Their mouth invites a beating... especially if they are smaller and weaker than you. And for a fool… even if they do get in the best punch on that day it will likely come back to them for initiating the situation… and at the very least their life will show that time and time again it is their mouth that gets them in trouble over and over

The other two people Solomon refers to are the gossiper and the listener. We’ve likely heard more about how we shouldn’t gossip but here Solomon focuses on the listener. The gossiper feeds him. And he loves it... he eats it up. He has no self control and can’t stop eating. They are like delicious chocolate chip morsels and go down into our inner parts... and it changes us... like eating cookies every day changes us.

Listening to gossip causes spiritual indigestion... it makes us jealous and angry and stirs up feelings of injustice and ill will.

Now we know that whatever is in our heart always finds a way out. In Luke 6:45 Jesus said this: The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

The next thing you know we are in somebodies face and our mouth invites a beating. We make accusations and gossipers hear both of us and the vicious cycle goes on and on.

Only the spiritual quickening power of God can help us. It’s the same power that raised him from the grave.

Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

So yes, if you know Christ you’ve died to your old mission of seeking to glorify yourself. You’ve been buried or baptized… that old person has been submersed into death. But you didn’t stay dead but were raised to walk in newness of life by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead… And now we have his power to overcome sin and gossip and pride does not have to let our mouth invite a beating and our ears do not have to enjoy gossip like it were sweet morsels.

Pray

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Proverbs in 365 Devotions

For more go to braggingonjesus.com

Proverbs 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.

Listen With Love

R Aylor

I sense conviction as I read this verse because I know I have not listened while others speak but have only been thinking of what I would say next and at times I have even interrupted others or spoken over them.

If you have children then you surly know how sometimes they can get louder and louder trying to make their case over another sibling… or maybe better yet… If you’ve ever watched an interview on a news channel where people of different parties are asked questions… and the interviewer is trying to be respectful and orderly and they ask them questions separately but they don’t have the discipline to wait their turn and talk over one another including the interviewer…

When a person of another faith comes to my door and expresses their religious world view I am tempted to talk over them at every turn… or even not listen much to what they are saying but rather be thinking about my defense. The same goes for relationships with people of different faiths. This is a major area of failure for believers in my opinion.

I think most people in the world would class themselves as socially deficient to some extent.

Relationships are not all about expressing our own opinion but also about listening and understanding others… listening, understanding, expressing… all with love.

Consider how we might relate to others in conversation like 1st Corinthians indicates… Notice that the first attribute Paul tells us about love is that it is patient.

1st Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

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Pray

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