by Pastor Adekoya
We have a number of “Proverbs” reiterated here almost verbatim as they were in the previous chapter 19. Interestingly, my yesterday’s review on Proverbs 19 was centered mostly on them. Scripturally speaking, two or three witnesses authenticate the veracity of thing/case/situation.
Let’s briefly check on them again…
20: 2. KJV: The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.
ESV: The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion; whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his life.
COMPARE…
19:12. AMP: The king’s wrath is as terrifying as the roaring of a lion, but his favor is as [refreshing as] dew upon the grass.
Base of yesterday’s review, hope you remember your stand in this case?
God the Father put in the place of the King, our faith in Jesus has saved us from experiencing His wrath to come to be unleashed on the children of disobedience. The way to provoke God is to refuse or reject salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Having received Christ, you’ve escaped!
20:3 NIV: It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.
COMPARE…
19:11 AMP: Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense.
That is, it is wisdom to learn to avoid strife by all means, and the surest way to that is to learn to hang (control) your anger!
20:4. KJV: The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
20:13. NIV: Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.
COMPARE…
19:15. ESV: Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.
19:24. KJV: A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
We read yesterday that even though a poor man with integrity is better than a fool, a liar and a crooked fellow. Poverty itself is not a befitting option. Slothfulness, which is mostly evinced in “sleepfulness”, is a sure bet for a poor life.
Diligence is a requirement for a prosperous life, born again or not!
20:24. AMP: Man’s steps are ordered by the Lord. How then can a man understand his way?
24 MSG: The very steps we take come from God; otherwise how would we know where we’re going?
COMPARE…
19:21. KJV: There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.
Fulfillment of destiny is tied to access to divine direction. Accessing divine direction as believers in Christ however, mostly or simply requires that we are sensitive and responsive to the ‘still small voice’ within.
20:7 KJV: The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
COMPARE…
19:1. KJV: Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
These days, we have believers whose Christian belief and practice is unrepentantly centered on breaking generational curses even when they read that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. They doctrinally believe that their forefathers had erred, did evil and served idols that have brought curses upon the lineage and the curses must be broken before they can move forward… And they keep breaking it!
Proverbs 20:7 reveals that living a life of integrity imparts blessings on your posterity.
There are men who died rather poor but their names are opening great doors to their descendants. A life of integrity guarantees that!
ACCESSING DIVINE DIRECTION/GUIDANCE
20:1 KJV: Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Those who love to drink (strong drinks) can quote several verses from the bible to justify their appetite for wine, after all, Jesus turned water to wine!
That wine is a mocker and those who are deceived thereby are not wise is probably not in their Bible or maybe it just doesn’t minister sense to them!
I remember moving from one cell fellowship center to minister in yet another sometime 2011 and here was a full grown up family man being dragged into the gutter by the very woman that sold drinks for him. He was already drunk that he couldn’t even feel the pains of being drawn on a sandy floor, forcefully from inside the shop into the gutter outside. Surrounding men and women, young and old and passersby were at an attention to watch free film. The mockery and the cruel treatments were so inhumane so much that I felt like to go and rescue him, but he wasn’t feeling anything himself!
There is what being filled with wine does: it gets your natural senses suspended and you’re just in (and operating from) another realm entirely!
As believers in Christ, we have the wine of the Holy Ghost available to/for us. That’s why Paul counseled not to be filled with wine wherein there is excess but to be filled with the Spirit.
20:5 KJV: Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
John 7:38-39. KJV: He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
At new birth we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us into all truth.
Having the Holy Spirit of God in us as our guide, we should not ever miss our way! We draw counsels from within like deep water, for out of our belly flows expressly, lavishly, rivers of living water (divine inspirations, visions, revelations, directions)!
Here is my point: All the counsels we ever need can be drawn from within us as we recognize and learn to work with the Holy Spirit. But, many times, He’s instructing us, directing us, inspiring us but we cannot hear or pick the signal. Why? Because we are yet to understand how He (the Holy Spirit) leads or operates.
AMP: Counsel in the heart of man is like water in a deep well, but a man of understanding draws it out.
To access divine direction (which is what makes the journey of life hitch-free), we already have the Counselor Himself in us in the person of the Holy Spirit. But, our understanding of His Person and how He operates is required for us to know when He speaks and to enjoy His ministry in us. How do we arrive at the required understanding? Simply by constant and consistent exposure to the gospel. The Truth of the gospel is The Voice of the Holy Spirit. So, the more we are exposed to the gospel of Christ and/ which is of His Grace, the easier and natural it becomes for us to experience and enjoy divine guidance or direction because we will know when He speaks.
Hence, we can always draw out counsels like deep water from within, having come to understanding through the knowledge of the gospel.
AMP: Counsel in the heart of man is like water in a deep well, but a man of understanding draws it out.
Keep listening to the gospel of His grace and keep hunting for more!
The more you do that, the more you attain to understanding and can be sure of access to the right words, the right ideas, the right steps to take per time, through the leading of the Holy Spirit for it takes a man of understanding to draw out counsel!
Remain ever blessed!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.