“For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” Now, God never whips the devil’s children, but He sure does spank His own. That’s good evidence that you belong to Him. You remember in the book of Job we saw this. “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth.” And by the way, this is not punishing. We talk today a great deal about punishing criminals, and that’s the word. Don’t you punish your child, correct him. Punish the criminal. My friend, we’ve got it mixed up today. You punish criminals; you correct your children. How different it is. This is discipline, and this is what God uses for His own today.
October 25, 2023
“Honor Jehovah with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Now this is total commitment. Now don’t tell me you’re totally committed until your pocketbook is committed to the Lord, too. Because He gave you everything. I don’t care who you are. Somebody says, “I worked hard and got this.” Who gave you health to work? Who gave you the work to do? Who made it possible for you to make money? Why, my friend, God did all of that for you. And you acknowledge Him. That’s the evidence of total commitment.
October 24, 2023
“In all thy ways acknowledge him….” Now, I never did this before, I must confess, but until I had cancer I took every day just as it came. Every time I come to a new day, I always like to go and look up at the sky and say, “Lord, thank You for bringing me to a new day.” Now the sun may not be shining, or it may be, and it may be a gloomy day or may be a bright day; but whatever day, I thank Him now. “In all thy ways acknowledge him, he shall direct thy paths.” It took me a long time, friends, to find out what that meant—in life.
October 23, 2023
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” It took me a long time, friends, to find out what that meant—in life. And you remember the Lord Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, says: “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” That’s an amazing thing. If you have committed yourself to God and you’re going down a certain path, doing a certain thing, it’s amazing how everything else drops into place. Your whole body is full of light. Your whole life is full of light at that time. This is a rich book, is it not?
October 20, 2023
“Trust in Jehovah with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Now let’s take a look at that for just a moment. It’s, I think, a very solemn admonition, and yet it has such wonderful assurance, to be guided in a way of peace. And, you know, what a contrast this is—later on, over in the 28th chapter, verse 26, he says: “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” But it’s wonderful to trust in Jehovah with all your heart. Totally committed to Him. And this is something that’s, I think, so definitely needed today—is a total commitment to Him.
October 19, 2023
It’s wonderful to trust in Jehovah with all your heart. Totally committed to Him. And this is something that’s, I think, so definitely needed today—is a total commitment to Him. “Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart.” I find myself again and again when certain situations arise or I’m even in an airport and I find out that the plane I was to leave on, maybe its time has been changed or it’s delayed. It’s bad weather. I generally go over to a corner of the airport, and I say, “Lord, I want to trust You with all my heart. Now just help me to sit down here and just rest in You.” That’s when I need Him.
October 18, 2023
“He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.” One of the reasons that so many Christians are out in the fog and they’re in the darkness, and they wonder where to turn. My friend, it’s obvious what the problem is. They’re so far from the Word of God. Here’s where He’s speaking. This is the foghorn right here—the Word of God. “And he preserveth the way of his saints.” That’s what He’ll do. And He just doesn’t do it haphazardly. You’ll have to come to the Word of God.
October 17, 2023
“For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” If you want wisdom, you go ask Him. You remember, “Eye hath not seen, ear heard; it hasn’t entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him.” But what has happened? But they’re revealed to us. How? “By the Spirit of God.” The Holy Spirit today is here to be our teacher. That to me was the most wonderful thing I came in contact with as a young Christian. That the Spirit of God would open these things. “God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things; the deep things of God.”
October 16, 2023
“Yea, if thou criest after knowledge”—notice this, Peter puts it like this—“as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word.” Have you ever seen a little baby when Mama is fixing the bottle? The little fellow’s lying on his back and he’s wiggling everything he’s got. Hands are going and, believe me, the mouth is going, the feet are going. I tell you, he desires the milk bottle. And the child of God should be that way as far as the Word of God is concerned.
October 13, 2023
Now there are a great many people are going to say that, after all, you have to be a very intelligent person, you must have a very high IQ, in order to understand the Word of God. But friends, nothing is farther from the truth than that. God does not say that that’s the thing that is essential at all. But He does make it clear now in the second chapter, as this young man starts out, that if he is to know the will and Word of God, it’s going to mean that he’ll have to study. He must “apply his heart unto wisdom.” And, therefore, he must study the Word of God.
October 12, 2023