Proverbs – Live Skills
From reading our proverb of this day, I’m wondering if the saying, “Well, that was a cheap, pot shot”, had it’s beginning among this advice for staying away from cracked pots who think they are not…cracked…who think they are perfect. Isn’t it amazing what we say to each other in all kinds of circumstances that do more harm than good.
Why DO we enter into quarrels that have nothing to do with us? Why do we give honor to foolish people as a way to get them to not be foolish? It doesn’t work, it never has. And I don’t like snow, much less in summer, so why listen and give honor to foolish words?
Following a fool because you don’t have anything else to do or don’t know what to do is like walking into a blazing fire and wondering why you hair is getting singed. It is better to do nothing and wait of God than to leap in a hole the fool digs deeper while trying to get out.
I have learned over the years that the less said, the less gets spread. You don’t tell gossips what you are feeling at the moment, what you are thinking that probably will change as you get more reliable information or even about the weather and what you think you might accomplish. Why? Because a fictional story will be told with you as the main character in a sage that will become out of control with no end.
What great advice is given here about quarrels among people. Don’t be the unwanted guest in a quarrel. Don’t enter into a discussion you know little about for you will appear the fool and everyone will turn on you like wild dogs on a meaty bone.
Proverbs 26, The Message
Fools Recycle Silliness
We no more give honors to fools
than pray for snow in summer or rain during harvest.
2 You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse
as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow.
3 A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat—
and a stick for the back of fools!
4 Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool;
you’ll only look foolish yourself.
5 Answer a fool in simple terms
so he doesn’t get a swelled head.
6 You’re only asking for trouble
when you send a message by a fool.
7 A proverb quoted by fools
is limp as a wet noodle.
8 Putting a fool in a place of honor
is like setting a mud brick on a marble column.
9 To ask a moron to quote a proverb
is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk.
10 Hire a fool or a drunk
and you shoot yourself in the foot.
11 As a dog eats its own vomit,
so fools recycle silliness.
12 See that man who thinks he’s so smart?
You can expect far more from a fool than from him.
13 Loafers say, “It’s dangerous out there!
Tigers are prowling the streets!”
and then pull the covers back over their heads.
14 Just as a door turns on its hinges,
so a lazybones turns back over in bed.
15 A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie,
but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth.
Like Glaze on Cracked Pottery
16 Dreamers fantasize their self-importance;
they think they are smarter
than a whole college faculty.
17 You grab a mad dog by the ears
when you butt into a quarrel that’s none of your business.
18-19 People who shrug off deliberate deceptions,
saying, “I didn’t mean it, I was only joking,”
Are worse than careless campers
who walk away from smoldering campfires.
20 When you run out of wood, the fire goes out;
when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.
21 A quarrelsome person in a dispute
is like kerosene thrown on a fire.
22 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;
do you want junk like that in your belly?
23 Smooth talk from an evil heart
is like glaze on cracked pottery.
24-26 Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend,
all the while conniving against you.
When he speaks warmly to you, don’t believe him for a minute;
he’s just waiting for the chance to rip you off.
No matter how cunningly he conceals his malice,
eventually his evil will be exposed in public.
27 Malice backfires;
spite boomerangs.
28 Liars hate their victims;
flatterers sabotage trust.
HOLY PAUSE
When did an argument ensue that you wished you had not become a part of lately? What did you learn?
What do we learn about gossip? What do we learn about liars?
Have we lied or held back truth so we could look good?
Are we cracked pots, glazing over real truth?
O Lord,
What pitfalls await us when we do not wait on you for telling us what to be and do in any given circumstance or situation. Help us to stay tenaciously focused on You. Help us to clean out our ears of the world’s ways and listen intently for You. Help to quickly obey when we hear you call. And help us to make peace at all costs to us for the benefit of those around us, but may Truth, Your Truth be told always. May Your love in us lead our every thought and action.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Proverbs – Life Skills
I once read that a great disciple of Jesus is one who does what is right and that right moment and in the right Spirit. Solomon is telling his son to think about his words before he responds for that is wisdom. It’s as if God is leading Solomon in his words. (Smiling.)
There are also these proverbs of Solomon,
8 Don’t jump to conclusions—there may be
A Person Without Self-Control
21-22 If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch;
26 A good person who gives in to a bad person
Proverbs – Life Skills
What if Jesus said, “Hey, that’s none of my business” or “believe what you want and I will believe what I want”? 
Along with the word justice that the world is throwing around these days as “my rights” is expanded to justification in a believer’s heart who has found true justice from turning from this world’s thinking and behaving to how Jesus thinks. Jesus gives, the lost in sin, justification. Jesus the only true, perfect one who has the right to judge, justifies us from all sin. How did He do that? He paid the debt of all our sins for all who believe He did and believe in Him as Lord of our lives. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Who does God send to rescue the unjustified, caught up in the way the world thinks? Who will help others find and follow Jesus, the Savior and Lord of all, who opens to door to an intimate relationship with God? Who will point the way to true justice in Jesus? 
Love. The greatest trait of God’s character is love. God’s Love is the equalizer that drives us to His justice. Love is the passion that requires us to rescue the perishing before it’s too late. 
Intelligence Outranks Muscle
5-6 It’s better to be wise than strong;
Someone is watching you closely, you know—
27
29
24-25 Whoever whitewashes the wicked
Proverbs – Life Skills
All the diets “that will save our lives” are coming out in full force. The Keto craze is on all our social media feeds taunting us about what our bad habits have done to us and how to fix it. People are crying out for help, seeking comradery in fixing the problems we did to ourselves. You would think it was January!
1-3 When you go out to dinner with an influential person,
10
14
15
18
IT’S NOT TOO LATE! 
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” 
I still remember my senior paper in high school. I based my research on the current, acceptable norms of our society at that time (1969). I wrote about the moral decay of our world and how it was affecting our lives. I wrote about how the moral boundary lives of behavior kept moving back and away from what we knew to be right and good. The lines were becoming consistently blurred. More and more was acceptable in media and movies. “I promise you, just ignore the language and the nudity, there really is a story here” was becoming the norm in conversation with each other. Moral decay was settling in and rot was beginning to form. And we allowed it, excused it and then accepted it.
Now, it is 2020. What we see with 2020 Spiritual vision is the result of consistently pushing the envelop of morality with no boundaries in behavior. Anything goes. Some ask, “has God changed His boundaries so He can accommodate us?” Absolutely not. In fact, God’s boundary lines of living at His best for His glory have not moved. God’s Word still stands and has not changed. 
A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich;
6 Point your kids in the right direction—
9 Generous hands are blessed hands
13 The loafer says, “There’s a lion on the loose!
2
4
Morality is the issue. Do we have the moral discipline to live in the wide open spaces of God’s grace for his glory?
Proverbs – Life Skills
When God examines my heart, what will He find?
Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God;
10 Wicked souls love to make trouble;
20 Valuables are safe in a wise person’s home;
Proverbs – Life Skills
What is this deep water?
Wine makes you mean, beer makes you quarrelsome—
14 The shopper says, “That’s junk—I’ll take it off your hands,”
24 The very steps we take come from God;
Our words determine where our hearts are. Jesus also said, “What you say flows from what is in your heart” (Luke 6:45). If your heart is hard, then it will show by what you say. If you are bitter, then you will find yourself talking about it, because bitter people love to spread it around.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Proverbs – Life Skills
6 Lots of people flock around a generous person;
8 Grow a wise heart—you’ll do yourself a favor;
16 Keep the rules and keep your life;
21 We humans keep brainstorming options and plans,
26 Kids who lash out against their parents
To have a safe, loving environment is the goal of great teachers. It means everything to the learning process.
Proverb 18, The Message
6 The words of a fool start fights;
9 Slack habits and sloppy work
20 Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach;
Proverbs – Life Skills
The example of St. Francis of Assisi in these respects stand as a challenge to Christians today. In the face of our increasingly post-Christian context, we must resist the temptation to fight to sustain our place of power and privilege. In truth, such a position has largely compromised our authority and credibility before a watching world. 
“A quiet rebuke to a person of good sense
A Whack on the Head of a Fool
6 Old people are distinguished by grandchildren;
12 Better to meet a grizzly robbed of her cubs
17 Friends love through all kinds of weather,
22 A cheerful disposition is good for your health;
HOW WISE ARE WE NOW? ARE WE THERE YET?
