Proverbs 3:1-12 My son, forget not My law; but let thine heart keep My commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 9 Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

The mega-church Pastor Joel Osteen preaches a prosperity gospel. In his book “Your Best Life Now” he makes statements like:

“God wants to increase you financially” (pg 5)
“Think big. Think increase. Think abundance. Think more than enough.” (pg 11)

Mega-church Pastor Steven Furtick preaches a Word of Faith gospel. The Word of Faith preachers are modalists. They deny the Trinity of God in favor of something they claim is more understandable, more relatable to the flesh. The modalists teach that there is one God, Who presents Himself in three different forms – Father, Son and Spirit. Preaching the words of Christ in

John 16:7-8 (NKJV) Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

Furtick made this statement:

“{Jesus was saying} No, I am not leaving you. I am changing forms. See, up until now I have walked with you, but when I send my spirit, I will be in you.”

That isn’t what Jesus was saying. He spoke of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit as a Seperate Person. Furtick went on to preach:

“and now Jesus is taken from their sight, and hidden in a cloud, but he did not leave. He just changed forms. He did not disappear. He just was no longer visible. Instead he was internal… He said “it’s good that I’m ghosting you. It’s good that I leave in physical form because then I can give you in spiritual form, then I can direct you from a deeper place.”

This is not what the Scripture says. Osteen, Furtick, the various Word of Faith and Prosperity Preachers (Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar) appeal to the flesh of man rather than preach the Gospel. As Creflo Dollar preached:

“As the righteousness of God, your inheritance of wealth and riches is included in the “spiritual blessings” (or spiritual things) the apostle Paul spoke of in Ephesians 1:5. Based on Psalm 112:3, righteousness, wealth and riches go hand—in—hand. You have every right to possess material wealth—clothes, jewelry, houses, cars and money—in abundance.”

What does the Gospel preach? It does not preach peace and comfort in this physical world. God does not preach that we will all be rich in the things of this world. As a matter of fact, Jesus said:

Luke 12:15 (NKJV) … Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.

Matthew 6:19-20 (NKJV) Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

And the Apostle Paul – who was a tentmaker – wrote:

1 Timothy 6:6-9 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

There is an easy way to determine if something is false and not from God, or if it is true and from God. Ask yourself, “Does it elevate GOD, or elevate MYSELF, my FLESH?” If the “truth” elevates God, it is from God. If it elevates US, it is from Satan.

Follow Your HEART?

For instance, people say “Follow your HEART. Your HEART will always be right?” Is that true? Let’s put that on the Scripture Scales and weigh it:

Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, forget not My law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

God does not say “Follow your Heart”. In fact, this is what brought sin into the world in the first place. God gave Adam a very clear set of instructions, and a warning against doing what his heart told him to do. Instead of listening to God, Adam listened to his heart. He let his flesh control him, instead of the Word of God. What happened? Paradise was lost.

God said:

“let thine heart keep my commandments”.

Word Study: The word “let” or allow is not in the original text. The word “keep” is the Hebrew nāṣar (pronounced naw-tsar’) which means “to OBSERVE, to PRESERVE as presented, to GUARD from evil, to WATCH CAREFULLY, to DRAW CLOSE TO so as to obey”. We are not to revel or elevate the flesh, our own desires, but are to glorify God our Creator by heeding at doing what He said. We are not to “let” our hearts do God’s Word – that is a poor translation. We are to “KEEP” our hearts focused on God’s Word. We are to put a leash on our hearts, and say to ourselves “What has GOD said and GOD ordered. We will follow GOD regardless as to where our hearts want us to go”.

When we reject our desires and instead put God first, then we are promised:

length of days and long life, and peace

What is the difference between “length of days” and “long life”? The first phrase has to do with the QUALITY of your life, and the second with the QUANTITY of your life. When I lay in the hospital with my left leg crushed, every day seemed like a week, and every minute like an hour, and every second like a minute. When you are suffering and in pain you have a bad day, or a long and torturous day. What got me through each day was my relationship with Jesus Christ. When you heed God’s Word, and cherish it, God helps you make it even through those kind of days. When you guard and cherish God’s Word, your life is extended. To disobey God is to court disaster.

It’s better for your flesh to ignore the flesh, and
heed the Spirit and the Word.

Jesus told us:

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

If you live in this fallen system, you will have trials and tribulations. However, our Lord has promised to see us through the worst of everything. He will “never leave nor forsake us” (Hebrews 13:5), saying “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).

Proverbs 3:3-4 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

As we go through this life we will find ourselves at odds with others. When someone does not agree with us, there is a temptation to do one of two things (both equally wrong):

1. We COMPROMISE the TRUTH of God so as to keep the peace, or

2. We ELEVATE THE FLESH and let our FEELINGS, our HEART
take the place of God’s Word.

Word Study: We are told to not allow either TRUTH or MERCY to “FORSAKE” us (the Hebrew ʿāzaḇ, to depart from us). We uphold and cling to the truths that God has given us in His Word. But we also operate from the place of mercy. We do good toward those who have done evil to us. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:43-45 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

You do not compromise the Word of God in order to please the enemy – but you DO GOOD to those who have done evil to you. You emulate your Heavenly Father. Our natural inclination is to “get someone back” when they hurt us. Jesus said, “Get then back by NOT COMPROMISING TRUTH, but DO GOOD to them”.

Let the Word of God direct your heart and
your hands, not fleshly feelings.

bind them about thy neck

When the neck is injured, the doctors will put a brace around your neck that keeps you from turning your head or bending your neck. Mercy and Truth are to be bound around your neck. They should control your head. You are also to

write them upon the table of thine heart

You are to take the Words of God and WRITE THEM – those words of Truth and Mercy – on the table of your heart. We are to control our hearts. Our hearts are not to control us.

We read:

Proverbs 3:4 So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

The reason why many Churches have lost their influence over a lost and dying world is because the members of the Churches are no more spiritual than the lost world. God calls us to be Light and Salt, not Darkness and Sugar. The Author of the popular devotional “The Imitation of Christ”, Thomas à Kempis (Thomas of Kempen, the Netherlands) wrote:

“Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace.”

Trust In God Will Bless Your Physical Life

Proverbs 3:5-8 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Modalism leans toward our own understanding. God is Triune. He is incomprehensible. His ways are incomprehensible. When the Apostle Paul considered the majesty of God, he wrote:

Romans 11:33-36 (NKJV) Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

The way we glorify God is NOT to argue with Him at the border of the Promised Land, but to say “I don’t understand it. But Lord, if You say it, if it is in Your Word, I believe it”. God doesn’t care if we understand. He just tells us to DO what He says do, to glorify Him and Him alone. We have a tendency to “LEAN TO OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING”, and that is foolish. If God can be understood, then He’s not God. God is high above us. “IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM”. Put God first, and you will be blessed.

fear the Lord, and depart from evil

Fear of the Lord is when we hate what God hates. God hates evil, because evil destroys creation.

Global warming is not our world’s greatest threat. It is the spread and legalization of EVIL.

That which God has deemed is an “abomination” has become a plaything in America. The liberal leaning NPR (National Public Radio) published an article entitled “Live free and die? The sad state of U.S. life expectancy” (March 25, 2023). In the article we read:

“Across the lifespan, and across every demographic group, Americans die at younger ages than their counterparts in other wealthy nations. … How could this happen? In a country that prides itself on scientific excellence and innovation, and spends an incredible amount of money on health care, the population keeps dying at younger and younger ages. … Referring to a study “Shorter Lives, Poorer Health” the author quoted, “American children are less likely to live to age 5 than children in other high-income countries,” the authors write on the second page. It goes on: “Even Americans with healthy behaviors, for example, those who are not obese or do not smoke, appear to have higher disease rates than their peers in other countries.”

The article went on to give a myriad of reasons why the lifespan of Americans is decreasing. The Bible makes it clear. “The wages of sin is DEATH” (Romans 6:23). If you heed and do God’s Word, we are told:

It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones

The ancient knew that the “navel” was the place where you received life. Your naval was where you were attached to your mother – but it was God Who formed you in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-15). The ancients also knew that the MARROW is what produces your blood cells – and blood contains the life (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 10:10).

If you heed God and trust Him, not your heart, your stress levels will be lower, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:5-7)

Do Not Let “Stuff” Control You

Proverbs 3:9-10 Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

God will bless you physically when you put Him – and not your “stuff” – first. Everything you have, you have because of the Grace of God. There are three things we need to always remember:

1. God is TRUSTWORTHY. What He has promised, that He will do. Always!

2. God has ENTRUSTED us with what we have. If we are saved by faith in Him, we are HIS POSSESSION – and all of our possessions are His as well. Boyd Bailey (founder of Wisdom Hunters) said:

“Only in complete surrender to Christ are we complete in Him.”

If we belong to Jesus, then our stuff belongs to Jesus. We’re just borrowing it for a time. Honor God with your stuff.

3. We are TRUSTEES or stewards of all that God has given us. Our souls belong to God, and will one day return to Him who made us. Are we honoring Him? There will be a judgment day. Those who know Jesus by faith will stand before Him, and that which He entrusted to us will be judged for reward or loss. The Shekinah glory of God shall test what we did with what He entrusted us with. The Scripture says:

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NKJV) For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

The foundation is our relationship by faith in Christ. We build on this relationship. We do works that glorify our God, trusting Him above all else. May God move on us all to live for His Kingdom – for one day, if we are saved, we will be IN His Kingdom. Amen.