Showing posts with label wisdom for end times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wisdom for end times. Show all posts

July 18, 2016

For she cares nothing about the path to life.

My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
listen carefully to my wise counsel.
Then you will show discernment,
and your lips will express what you’ve learned.
For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey,
and her mouth is smoother than oil.
But in the end she is as bitter as poison,
as dangerous as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.[a]
For she cares nothing about the path to life.
She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it.
So now, my sons, listen to me.
Never stray from what I am about to say:
Stay away from her!
Don’t go near the door of her house!
If you do, you will lose your honor
and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.
Strangers will consume your wealth,
and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
In the end you will groan in anguish
when disease consumes your body.
You will say, “How I hated discipline!
If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?
Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
and now I must face public disgrace.”
Footnotes:
5:5 Hebrew to Sheol.
(above quoted from the Holy Bible, Proverbs 5:1-14 New Living Translation (NLT)
Avoid Immoral Women)
Revelation 17:5 A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.”
Revelation 18:2 He gave a mighty shout: “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a hideout for every foul spirit, a hideout for every foul vulture and every foul and dreadful animal..

March 21, 2016

wisdom for end-time: Christian integrity in financial matters

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Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place suchover them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covetyour neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.
When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”
Therefore I will give their wives to others, And their fields to those who will inherit them; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is given to covetousness; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely.
Sin’s Advantage in the Law ] What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have knowncovetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

December 20, 2015

Why did God call him "Greatly Beloved"? Wisdom for end times

Lifestyle is the sum total of who we are inside and our attitude toward life. Let us read Daniel today, my spirit cries out. What makes Daniel different and worthy as an individual to be so well recorded in heaven and written with such great length in the Bible? What does God say of Daniel? Why is he considered so special and highly respected and honored by even the powerful pagan kings? What is the key success factor word if we have only one sentence or one word to describe him? I shall try to summarize the book of Daniel to answer these questions.

The physical Daniel: a noble (royal family) young man taken hostage from Jerusalem in 605 BC to the Babylonian court. He qualified for the pagan king’s requirement: an Israelite from the royal family and nobility-young man without any physical defects, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well-informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. The Babylonian king considered Daniel as a person with insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom, ten times better than his counselors (all the magicians and enchanters) in his whole kingdom. (Daniel was taken hostage probably in his teen, and subsequently lived through the captivity period 605-530 BC in the courts of the Babylonian kings and the Medes and Persian kings respectively.)

The spiritual Daniel: He knew his God. All his actions were persistently and consistently based on this reality of a living God in his personal total life (inside and outside). He described God as “the Lord my God”. He addressed God as: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments.” He knew God as absolutely holy. Therefore he resolved not to defile himself with the spiritually ‘unclean’ (including pagan food, drink, idolatry religious practices and rituals). He knew God as awesome and the only God for him. Therefore he remained calm and composed despite threats of his life. He remained faithful and loyal to his God. He knew God’s spiritual reality. Therefore he could understand visions and dreams of all kind. He could even ask God to reveal mysteries (beyond the human realm) to him, about things to come.

For example: He even knew the details of a dream of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and correctly interpret them The king heard and fell on his face and prostrate before Daniel and declared that Daniel’s God is “the God of gods, the Lord of kings.” The queen mother described Daniel to her son King Belshazzar that Daniel was a man “in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. Light and understanding and excellent wisdom were found in him.”

The Daniel as a role model of an overcomer: He knew God. He testified for God. He was not afraid of death because of his testimony and faith in the living God.
What does God say about Daniel? From the conversations and messages the angel (Gabriel) held with Daniel, we know that Daniel was a man greatly beloved of God, and from the first day he set his heart to understand God’s mystery, God heard his words (prayers), replied, granted his requests. God even sent His mighty angel in reply. God also saved and preserved Daniel from harm. Daniel lived to a ripe old age before the living God.

Daniel’s spiritual, godly and prayerful lifestyle was entirely based on his lifelong unwavering belief in the living God and attitude toward God. Indeed, he has the Spirit of the Holy God in him.
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“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)
The Time of the End
“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:2-3)

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