L
Lost in Sin!
Guest
:D Continuing on with our look at Proverbs Chapter 30, this time at verses 7-9.
"Two things that I ask of You, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood & lies far from me; give me neither poverty or riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have two much, & disown You, & say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor & steal, & so dishonor the name of my God."
TWO THINGS THAT I ASK OF YOU, O LORD; DO NOT REFUSE ME BEFORE I DIE. Agur realizes to whom he is talking to here, & showing proper reverence to the Lord. I keep thinking here of Matthew 7:7-8, where we read-"Ask, & it will be given to you; seek, & you will find; knock, & the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; & to him who knocks, the door will be opened." This is without a doubt, the only way to approach God, when we are in need. I love the way that it looks, when you stack up the words, ask, seek, & knock, because it so simply explains what God wants each one of us to do!
(A)sk
(S)eek
(K)nock
Just ask. Several other verses that come to mind are:
1 Kings 3:5-"At Gideon, The Lord appeared to Solomon, during the night in a dream, & God said-'Ask for whatever you want Me to give to you.'"
2 Chronicles 1:7-"That night, God appeared top Solomon, & said to him, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." (Almost identical, except this time, it appears that Solomon is awake!)
Luke 11:9-"So I say to you, 'Ask, & it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, & the door will be opened to you." (Here we have virtually the same thing as we have in Matthew 7:7-8, but this time recorded by Luke!)
Luke 11:13-".....how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
John 16:24-"Ask & you will receive, that your joy will be complete."
All we have to do is ASK!
KEEP FALSEHOOD & LIES FAR FROM ME; GIVE ME NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES, BUT GIVE ME ONLY MY DAILY BREAD. We may feel many times that God is too busy to be concerned with, (what seems to us), menial requests. Yet Agur realizes that that is EXACTLY what God wants! It is never wrong to ask God for a simple request like this! That's what God wants! He will NEVER turn away a person who is hurting, or a seeker of knowledge!
But I digress! We see Agur asking the only source for truth-God!
GIVE ME NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES, BUT ONLY MY DAILY BREAD. This is a prayer that so many of us, (& I include myself here!), need to pray for! So often we pray for riches in one form or another. With me, it would be money to pay my medical bills, because they seem to be looming over me! But what did Agur say, as he continues?
Just enough to live on from day-to-day. Isn't that beautiful? And this echoes 2 verses from the NT as well! Matthew 4:44 reads-"Jesus answered, 'It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Matthew 6:33 says-"But seek first His kingdom & His righteousness, & all these things will be given to you as well." It is up to US to depend on God for the necessities of life FIRST & FOREMOST! And what happens when we trust God for the nesessities first? Everything else will be supplied! Also check out the nesessitiy of waiting on the Lord! Psalm 40:1-"I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me, & heard my cry." When we put what is REALLY important first, God WILL provide!
OTHERWISE I MAY HAVE TOO MUCH, & DISOWN YOU, & SAY, "WHO IS THE LORD?" OR I MAY BECOME POOR & SEAL, & SO DISHONOR THE NAME OF MY GOD. This verse is absolutly beautiful, because Agur realizes that either too much money, (which results in pride), or too little money, (which results in dishonor0, both of which all Christians should not allow in their lives!
Pride has no place in any Believer's life! Look at the results of it!
2 Chronicles26:16-"But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride lead to his downfall."
Proverbs 29:23-"A man's pride brings him low......"
Obadiah 1:3-"The pride of your hearts has deceived you......"
& probably the best know verse regarding pride-Proverbs 16:18-"Pride goes before destruction....."
No! Pride has no place in a Believer's life!
Then we look at what dishonor leads to:
Dishonoring your father-Leviticus 18:7
Dishonoring a relative-Leviticus 20:9
& the worst of all-Dishonoring God! -John 8:49-".....but I honor my Father, & you dishonor Me."-Romans 2:23-"
....do you dishonor God by breaking the law?", & of course, vers 9 here, which we just looked at.
Let us pray.
"Heavenly Father, how often do we ask for what we need with the wrong intentions! You are all we need! Your Word tells us that above all, that we should focus everything that we are on You above all! Forgive us, Lord Jesus! Forgive us for putting anything else before You! Convict each one of us, Lord Jesus, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, to examine our own lives-to realize that you & You alone MUST come first in our lives! That we are nothing without You! That we can't do anything by ourselves, & we need You & You alone to help us witth EVERYTHING in our lives, no matter how small! You alone are God! There is no other! Convict us to realize that the only thing that truely matters in our lives is You & Only You! For NO ONE is worthy of praise, honor, & glory like you, Lord Jesus!
In Your name, & Your name alone, Lord Jesus, we pray! Amen."
Bill :D
(Next Study will be Proverbs 30:10-14)
"Two things that I ask of You, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood & lies far from me; give me neither poverty or riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have two much, & disown You, & say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor & steal, & so dishonor the name of my God."
TWO THINGS THAT I ASK OF YOU, O LORD; DO NOT REFUSE ME BEFORE I DIE. Agur realizes to whom he is talking to here, & showing proper reverence to the Lord. I keep thinking here of Matthew 7:7-8, where we read-"Ask, & it will be given to you; seek, & you will find; knock, & the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; & to him who knocks, the door will be opened." This is without a doubt, the only way to approach God, when we are in need. I love the way that it looks, when you stack up the words, ask, seek, & knock, because it so simply explains what God wants each one of us to do!
(A)sk
(S)eek
(K)nock
Just ask. Several other verses that come to mind are:
1 Kings 3:5-"At Gideon, The Lord appeared to Solomon, during the night in a dream, & God said-'Ask for whatever you want Me to give to you.'"
2 Chronicles 1:7-"That night, God appeared top Solomon, & said to him, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." (Almost identical, except this time, it appears that Solomon is awake!)
Luke 11:9-"So I say to you, 'Ask, & it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, & the door will be opened to you." (Here we have virtually the same thing as we have in Matthew 7:7-8, but this time recorded by Luke!)
Luke 11:13-".....how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
John 16:24-"Ask & you will receive, that your joy will be complete."
All we have to do is ASK!
KEEP FALSEHOOD & LIES FAR FROM ME; GIVE ME NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES, BUT GIVE ME ONLY MY DAILY BREAD. We may feel many times that God is too busy to be concerned with, (what seems to us), menial requests. Yet Agur realizes that that is EXACTLY what God wants! It is never wrong to ask God for a simple request like this! That's what God wants! He will NEVER turn away a person who is hurting, or a seeker of knowledge!
But I digress! We see Agur asking the only source for truth-God!
GIVE ME NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES, BUT ONLY MY DAILY BREAD. This is a prayer that so many of us, (& I include myself here!), need to pray for! So often we pray for riches in one form or another. With me, it would be money to pay my medical bills, because they seem to be looming over me! But what did Agur say, as he continues?
Just enough to live on from day-to-day. Isn't that beautiful? And this echoes 2 verses from the NT as well! Matthew 4:44 reads-"Jesus answered, 'It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Matthew 6:33 says-"But seek first His kingdom & His righteousness, & all these things will be given to you as well." It is up to US to depend on God for the necessities of life FIRST & FOREMOST! And what happens when we trust God for the nesessities first? Everything else will be supplied! Also check out the nesessitiy of waiting on the Lord! Psalm 40:1-"I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me, & heard my cry." When we put what is REALLY important first, God WILL provide!
OTHERWISE I MAY HAVE TOO MUCH, & DISOWN YOU, & SAY, "WHO IS THE LORD?" OR I MAY BECOME POOR & SEAL, & SO DISHONOR THE NAME OF MY GOD. This verse is absolutly beautiful, because Agur realizes that either too much money, (which results in pride), or too little money, (which results in dishonor0, both of which all Christians should not allow in their lives!
Pride has no place in any Believer's life! Look at the results of it!
2 Chronicles26:16-"But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride lead to his downfall."
Proverbs 29:23-"A man's pride brings him low......"
Obadiah 1:3-"The pride of your hearts has deceived you......"
& probably the best know verse regarding pride-Proverbs 16:18-"Pride goes before destruction....."
No! Pride has no place in a Believer's life!
Then we look at what dishonor leads to:
Dishonoring your father-Leviticus 18:7
Dishonoring a relative-Leviticus 20:9
& the worst of all-Dishonoring God! -John 8:49-".....but I honor my Father, & you dishonor Me."-Romans 2:23-"
....do you dishonor God by breaking the law?", & of course, vers 9 here, which we just looked at.
Let us pray.
"Heavenly Father, how often do we ask for what we need with the wrong intentions! You are all we need! Your Word tells us that above all, that we should focus everything that we are on You above all! Forgive us, Lord Jesus! Forgive us for putting anything else before You! Convict each one of us, Lord Jesus, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, to examine our own lives-to realize that you & You alone MUST come first in our lives! That we are nothing without You! That we can't do anything by ourselves, & we need You & You alone to help us witth EVERYTHING in our lives, no matter how small! You alone are God! There is no other! Convict us to realize that the only thing that truely matters in our lives is You & Only You! For NO ONE is worthy of praise, honor, & glory like you, Lord Jesus!
In Your name, & Your name alone, Lord Jesus, we pray! Amen."
Bill :D
(Next Study will be Proverbs 30:10-14)