Mt. Peak Community Baptist Church

Mt. Peak Community Baptist Church Mt. Peak Community Baptist Church
Midlothian, Tx Sunday School 9AM
Sunday Worship 10AM

Wednesday Bible Study and PRAYER time 7PM

9-8-26 TUESDAY Proverbs 23Proverbs 23. Remember Proverbs 22.29 from yesterday’s reading? “A man who is diligent (works h...
09/08/2026

9-8-26 TUESDAY Proverbs 23

Proverbs 23. Remember Proverbs 22.29 from yesterday’s reading? “A man who is diligent (works hard and excels) in his business will stand before kings.” Well, Proverbs 23 starts with a warning to that successful man or woman when they ARE hobnobbing with the rich and powerful, not to let pride redirect their eyes from God and onto the glory, gold and girls, or guys as the case may be, of the world [v.5]. V.2 says you have got to get yourself under control, even if it means holding a knife to your own throat! (Can anyone say ‘hyperbole’?)
Vs.6-7 warn, in those uppity, elite circles, a person is seldom as he seems. They will w**e you and dine you, flatter and cajole you, till you have been caught in their web, have lost your self-respect, your good name, and have become an expendable pawn in their game of thrones. V.7 says, “They will be so nice to you, cater to your every whim, but don’t believe this ploy for their hearts are not for your good, ‘for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” And after you have fallen for their line, your new self will make you so sick you will (v.8) vomit all those sweet, but toxic words, you have swallowed.
Vs.10-11 say, “Even if you have the power to do so, don’t cheat, don’t steal from the unsuspecting or the weak, because God, their protector and avenger, is neither weak nor ignorant.”
Vs.13-14 are full of wisdom, yet from my vantage point, and funny, too. “Go ahead and beat that rotten kid. It won’t kill him (though he will try to make you believe it is); in fact, it will save him, both here AND hereafter!” Note that you are not to slap a child in the face or ever use your hand to hit him. You are to use a “rod of correction.” Your touch, your hand, should never convey anything to your child but love. And NEVER s***k your child in anger! And vs.15-16 (and vs.24-25) are the blessed results of loving correction and discipline. When you hear your children speak and live truth, how blessed your life feels.
I am so thankful for my godly parents. Our home was a haven of peace. But it was not a place where we I can remember us saying, “I love you” to each other. We all knew that we did love each other, of course, and I loved pleasing my parents. I got a lot of positive feedback from them for my obedience and my achievements, but I wish my folks had been better at verbalizing ‘I love you;’ and I wish I’d said it a lot to them when I was growing up. I determined when I got married that my wife and my children would hear “I love you” from me every single day.
There are a couple of times with my dad that are especially dear to me. One was when He was preaching a revival at Avoca Baptist Church and I was leading the music. After I had sung a special, he got up to preach, and said, “That boy never gave us any trouble.” That was his way of saying, “I love that boy.” Years later, my Dad’s youngest brother, Uncle Dutch, died. My dad was already 80 something so Dutch was in his mid to late 70’s. Uncle Dutch’s neighbor lady, a widow, wanted to have a huge limb that hung low over her patio, removed. When Uncle Dutch found out she had hired a guy to come cut that big limb off and what he was going to charge her, he told her to save her money; he’d be right back and cut that limb off for her. I am privileged to know some great old guys just like that.
Well, back came Uncle Dutch with his stepladder and chain saw. The limb was just shy of a foot in diameter and it stuck out over the neighbor lady’s patio about fifteen feet. My uncle set up his ladder, started his chain saw, climbed the ladder and started cutting the limb, which was about face high. When the limb dropped it dropped right down the side of his stepladder knocking him over backward, slapping his head down on the concrete. He never regained consciousness and died a few hours later in the hospital.
One of the great things about owning my own business was being able to get away when I needed to, so I told my Daddy I would drive him to Kansas so he could preach his little brother’s funeral. On the way we talked and talked about God and the Bible. My Dad was an adherent to the Socratic Teaching Method. As we drove, Daddy asked me question after question, and as I answered them, I could see vs.15-16 coming to life in our car. I could tell he was well pleased with me when my “lips spoke right things.” But I would not just answer his questions, I would expound and connect other passages with the ones he brought up and ask him questions. And I loved hearing his answers. As a little kid with ADHD it was hard for me to sit still and listen to a sermon in church. But even when I was very young, what I really liked was on certain Sunday nights, my Dad would let people ask questions. Us kids were allowed to go out and play kick-the-can or chase, but several times, on question night, I told my friends I wanted to stay in the sanctuary and listen to Dad’s answers. After we had been talking for hours, my Dad said, “Well, you know more than I ever taught you.” And that was his way of saying, “I am glad to be your Dad; I love you, Son.” But I would have liked to hear him say that, and I surely wished I had said, ‘I love you, Daddy, and I have always been thankful to be your boy.”
In vs.17-18, the teacher says, stay close to God all your days and do life His way. Don’t get your eyes on Hollywood and think maybe you are somehow missing out, because none of that is real, but there really is a hereafter (‘end’ in KJV vv.18) with heavenly rewards.
Vs.19-21: All of us know people, maybe even in our immediate families, who have lost everything because of addiction to alcohol or drugs. And, thankfully, most of us also know folks who lost everything, yet got it all back when they came to Jesus, and quit drinking and/or drugging. As a youth director I had two such men come and share their experiences with our youth group. Both men, in relating how they started drinking, said, “I never planned to become an alcoholic.”
After they were through and I thanked them for being so real with the kids, and I said to my youth group, “Did you hear what they said?” After several wrong answers, I said, “They both said, ‘I didn’t plan…’ Paul tells us we are not ignorant of the devil’s devices; we know he is out to get us; so to win, we have to have a game plan.” And I gave my youth group the same plans I gave to my own children: “Decide now, if you are with friends and they bring out some alcohol or drugs, don’t talk about it, get out of the house or get out of the car, and get as far away from them as you can. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse says 21% of all the people who ever take that first drink of alcohol become ‘psychologically dependent’…feel they need alcohol to get through the day.”
V.19 says “be wise: guide your heart.” One of the most foolish things…and you hear it on TV all the time…a girl has a boyfriend who wants to be intimate, and instead of talking with her mom or dad or her pastor, she asks one of her teen friends who is just as ignorant as she is, “How do I know I am ready?”
And her friend will say (and sometimes on those stupid TV shows the mother will say), “Just follow your heart.” Proverbs 28.26 is going to tell us that the person who follows his heart is a fool! “For your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked [Jeremiah 17.9]!” This proverb says YOU have to guide your heart with wisdom. Why? Because your heart wants to go wandering off after wickedness. Where do we get wisdom? From God’s word. Mom, Dad, Pastor, “My boyfriend wants to be intimate, how do I know I’m ready?”
“God says, you know you are ready after you have said your vows and been legally pronounced husband and wife!” And “God says, get away from him immediately; he is the devil’s ploy to destroy you. If you mess up with him you may well miss the wonder-full life God has planned for you, and make life in general much harder for yourself and for those you love.”
From early on I wanted to have a godly, peaceful, home like the one I grew up in, so I made a promise to myself that I would not kiss a girl until I knew her well enough to know several things: that she was committed to and loved God, that she would be a good faithful wife, and that she wanted to be a mother, and that she would be a good mama. See, I knew if I kissed a girl before I could objectively evaluate those three things, I would not be able to do so afterward, after it got physical. I dated several very nice young ladies in college, but as I spent time with them and got to know them something would happen and I would just know she’s not the one. So, even those I dated several times I didn’t kiss them.
I met Jennifer, my wife-to-be, at a Big Country Baptist Association Area youth rally. Later, I became the youth and music minister at FBC in Munday where the Jennifer Guess was the church organist. We went on mission trips together, did VBS together, and of course worked on the weekly worship service music together. Our first date was to see The Ten Commandment with Charlton Heston at the Rule Drive-in Movie Theater. All the way home … we held hands. When I had known Miss Guess for two years, and had dated her for more than six months, I was finally sure that if I kissed her, and our relationship progressed to marriage, that would be a very good thing, a God thing. So, on Jennifer’s 17th birthday we shared our first kiss. A little over a year later, when she was just three days out of high school, we were married, and have been enjoying wedded bliss for more than 50 years. She is my one and only, the only woman I have ever kissed on the lips. Life is GOOD!
V.23 says, “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” Value what God says above everything, and never sell out for less! You don’t want to be like Esau, who sold his birthright for the momentary pleasure and satisfaction of a bowl of beans! How many times over the next 50 years do you think Esau kicked himself for being so obtuse?
Vs.27-35 combine warnings and examples of alcohol and drug abuse and the sexual sin that often accompanies them. “Don’t look at the w**e when it is red and swirls beautifully in the goblet…look at what it does to people. You will come to in a gutter, robbed, beat half to death, and you can’t remember how you got there.” Or v.33 which says in effect, ‘Under the influence, a guy goes to bed at 2 with a 10 but wakes up hung over at 10 with a 2.” The only alcohol I have ever had in my life was a sip of w**e at a Lord Supper Service at a Lutheran church in Jerusalem.
Right after Jennifer and I got married, we were both in college and I was a part-time music and youth director at Avoca Baptist Church. But my new little wife was afraid we were going to be living in poverty, so I got a full-time job as the night auditor and desk clerk at the new Holiday Inn on I-20 in Abilene. I would go to my college classes from 8am to noon, go home and eat lunch and sleep till 8PM, get up and eat supper with Jennifer, do my homework and be at the hotel at 11PM and work till 7AM. Behind the check-in counter there was the men’s restroom, then the women’s restroom, and at the back, the bar. The bar made more money than the hotel rooms and the restaurant (the restaurant never made money) combined. The traveling men would come staggering out of the bar at one or two in the morning and I would hear them go into the men’s room and throw up and throw up, and the next morning talk about what a great time they had.
There are some medicinal benefits to moderate w**e intake. Paul told Timothy to “Take a little w**e for your stomach’s sake, and for your oft infirmities [1 Timothy 5.23].” But the Bible says drinking is dangerous, too, as we saw earlier. Heavy alcohol intake kills brain cells, can cause cirrhosis of the liver, cancer of the digestive track, and heart disease, and of course you can die of alcohol poisoning, not to mention from driving drunk or just staggering and falling down and hitting your head.
So, the Bible does not say never drink w**e, it only says, ‘never get drunk.’ I have seen way too many drunks in my life, and I have seen the pain they put themselves and their families through, to ever drink myself. Besides, 1 Timothy 3.3 says part of the criteria for pastors is “Not given to w**e…” And Ephesians 5 says, "Don't get drunk with w**e which can ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit [which is life ABUNDANT]."

9-7-26 MONDAY Proverbs 21-22Proverbs 21. V.1: Just as we saw with seemingly random acts like rolling the dice, God is al...
09/07/2026

9-7-26 MONDAY Proverbs 21-22

Proverbs 21. V.1: Just as we saw with seemingly random acts like rolling the dice, God is also in control of proud Kings and movement of armies! That is why Paul told Timothy, “When you pray, first pray for those in authority that you might live quiet and peaceful lives.” Derek Prince was serving in the British army in North Africa in WW2. While Derek and his fellow infantry suffered short rations and oppressive heat, the British officers ate high on the hog and lounged in their tents with w**e, women, and song. Morale was low, as Rommel, the Desert Fox, handed them defeat after defeat. Derek was a new Christian; but he prayed God would give them new commanders who would honor Him and through whom it would be consistent with God’s character to bless them in battle.
Winston Churchill did replace the failed commanding officer, and the new commander ordered his junior officers to eat and drink and bivouac with the men. Morale improved and the tide turned and ultimately Rommel began a retreat across North Africa. Paul instructs Timothy to pray for Godly leadership, because as we are seeing so clearly in America today, the nation will be blessed or cursed based on its leadership.
As we approach the presidential elections, pray, and vote for those who honor God by opposing the murder of babies in the womb, who defend freedom of religion here and around the world, who will strengthen free market capitalism and oppose Marxist socialism, who will dismantle the shadow government of hundreds of thousands of unelected bureaucrats and work to end welfare and balance the budget, who will close the border and send home criminals who have come here illegally, who are dedicated to law and order and to rebuilding our military, while defending the right of Americans “to keep and bear arms”. Your life, and that of your family and friends to ‘live quiet and peaceful lives,’ depends in large part on those to whom you give the power of “We the People.”
V.2 says everyone thinks they are a good person, but God says, “I’ll be the judge of that, because I know your heart.”
“Plowing” in V.4 is the Hebrew word for “lamp” and should read: “The lamp of the wicked is darkness.” Jesus said it this way: “When the light that is in you is darkness, how great is your darkness.” About whom did Jesus say this? The self-righteous Pharisees, the folks in v.2. President Reagan joked, “It is not that our friends on the left are ignorant, it’s just that so much of what they know is not true.”
Vs.9 and 19 go together, but I advise you not to quote them to your wife. “It is better to live quietly in a tiny room in the attic than to live in a huge mansion with a loud-mouthed griping woman! It is better to live alone in the desert than with an aggressive argumentative woman.” These verses always make me think of that fellow who was told by his doctor that he only had 6-months to live!
“Doctor, doctor, isn’t there anything I can do?” the patient implored.
The doctor thought a minute and said, “Well, you might go out and buy an old beat-up pickup, and marry the meanest, ugliest, woman you can find, and move to Oklahoma.”
“Would that cure me?” the fellow questioned.
“No,” said the doctor, “but it will make that 6-months seem like an eternity!”
And, of course, the same is just as true when the husband is contentious and overbearing. In fact, Jesus will say that God through Moses made provision for divorce because of the hardness of people’s hearts!
V.11 says punishment of crimes is important, as a warning to others in the community not to act that way. “You start looting, we start shooting,” does work! Crime is skyrocketing in major cities who have defunded their police and have elected DA’s who will not prosecute crimes, and judges who hand out minimal or suspended sentences for egregious, violent offenses!
V.14 may be true, but it is seldom right. You will remember how Jacob sought to pacify Esau with lavish gifts of livestock.
V.20: “There is wealth and plenty in the home of the wise [who budgets, pays his bills, saves, invests], but a fool’s money burns a hole in his pocket.” I had a friend, ten or so years older than me who had been a welder in the oil field and made good money. But he always had to drive the newest pickup, and when he went with his friends out to a bar, he had to be a big shot and buy drinks for everyone. Then, in his late 50’s he had a heart attack and was physically no longer able to make a living. It was then that he lost everything and had to move in with his mom. But, before he moved in with her, she said he would have to go to church with her, and there, he got saved. And Mr. Bigshot became a kind, gentle, humble man. He told me how ‘stupid (his word, not mine)’ he had been to spend every penny he made on immediate gratification, as if the good times would never end.
V.25-26: See Proverbs 22.13 below.
V.31 The war horse was the tank of that day. A man on a horse had a huge advantage over a man on foot, but always remember, whatever the odds, “Safety is of the Lord.”

Proverbs 22. Sadly, most politicians need to read and heed v.1.
The NT says God is no respecter of persons. The last half of verse 2 is quoted in the Declaration of Independence, “All men are Created equal…” And all of us, rich and poor alike, have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All of us need to repent and give our lives to God. It is just so hard for the rich to do so [harder than a camel getting through the eye of a needle, according to Mark 10.25]. Even the rich must become poor in spirit to be saved.
V.3 A prudent man foresees the coming evil and hides himself (or makes preparation): but the simple go right on like the good times will never end and are punished (suffer the consequences). Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Universities are set up to teach people God’s prudent plans for their finances: 1st 10% is God’s, next 10% goes to accumulate an emergency fund equal to six months wages. The rest goes for current expenses and to pay off loans and credit cards, etc. But the simple buy cars and homes too big and too expensive so that their budgets are stretched thin in good times, and collapse in bad times. And they become slaves to their debts (v.7).
AND most of all, the prudent man prepares for eternity by repentance of sin and faith in Christ Jesus, while the fool lives only for the present and is punished for eternity.
V.4: Humility and faith in God are riches and honor and life! And they keep us from the dangerous and hurtful entanglements of v.5. (Froward is the person determined to do it his way.)
V.6 and v.15: “TRAIN up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him.” We are not just raising kids, we are to be TRAINING them. To train them, just as we saw yesterday in the training of killer whales to perform on cue, a parent has to know what kind of man or woman they want their child to become. Just dropping them off at Sunday School once in a while won’t cut it. Christ must be modeled before them day and night, teaching them how to apply God’s word when you get up, when you go to bed, when you leave home, when you get back home. That is TRAINING.
The Hebrew word translated ‘train’ is the Hebrew word for ‘palate’. In those days when a mother was ready to wean her child, she would make a vegetable paste, and with a glob of it on her finger, she would smear it like peanut butter on the roof of the child’s mouth (his palate) so he could not help but swallow it. In this way she would develop a taste for it in her child. Parents, TRUTH should not be optional. You must give your child a taste for it before the world gives them a taste for its lies.
We earthly parents should never slap a child. Our touch should never convey anything but love to our children. Always use an instrument of correction; I used a wide white belt that I bought in college when the cool guys were sporting white boots and white belts with their leisure suits. All that quickly went out of style, but I kept that white belt hanging in the closet for s***kings. Our children called it “Miracle Whip”. It was so wide it distributed the force of the blow, so it stung but never injured, and it made a big POP!
Never once did I ever yell at my children, nor ever did I ever s***k one of them in anger. If you are yelling at your kids or slapping them or s***king them in anger, you are doing it wrong. The Bible commands us Dads ‘not to provoke our children to wrath.’ When you hit a child in anger, you provoke anger in that child. God never s***ks us because He is mad at us. All the anger He had about our sin He struck on Jesus.
And ONLY s***k for one of two reasons: disobedience and/or disrespect. I would take the offender into our bathroom and have them bring me “Miracle Whip.” I would share these and other Bible verses with them that tells a dad to discipline his children if he loves them. I would make sure they understood clearly why they were getting the s***king, and how many licks they would receive to pay for their crime (I don’t ever remember giving more than two.). I then had them put their hands on the bathroom sink counter while I administered loving correction. Then I would take my child in my arms and hold them and love them so they would be assured the debt was paid and all was forgiven. Each of my children said to me when growing up, ‘Daddy, you love me even when I am bad.’
Why did our kids call that belt “Miracle Whip?” Because it was white like the salad dressing, but also because they recognized the miraculous change in their thoughts, feelings and behavior when it was aptly applied.
Dr Spock said to give your children choices, so I told my children they could do what I tell them before the s***king or after the s***king. Spock was a fool. Don’t give your little ones choices. They are kids. They don’t know what choices to make. YOU tell them the choices to make and there will be peace in your house and in your children, and when they are older, they will make those same choices for themselves. You will save them and yourself so much confusion and future trouble and heartache.
NEVER give your child a command that sounds like a request. My children knew my commands calmly but firmly given to them would never be repeated. So, they never argued or complained, they simply complied. And peace and joy reigned in our home.
A new coach came to Haskell, and he came in my office to have his State Farm Insurance transferred to my office. As we shook hands for the first time he said, ‘Everybody tells me you have the best kids in town.’ Follow what God says for parenting. IT WORKS!
V.10 Tells us that 10% of the people cause 90% of the problems. Put them in jail and the whole community will have peace. Let them roam the streets, as we are seeing across America, and your community will be a dangerous place to live.
V.13 The lazy always have an excuse for inaction.
V.17: “Bow down your ear” means to focus, to make a concerted effort to hear to learn so you can do God’s will. The Bible says God bows down or inclines His ear to hear our prayers!
Vs.22-23: A BLM leader said there was nothing wrong with looting if the looters needed the loot they were stealing, because the businesses have insurance, so it doesn't hurt anyone. This same view was famously echoed by NY Congresswoman, AOC, and by VP Kamala Harris, who raised money to get looters and arsonists set free. Both called for cashless bail and defunding the police.
The Bible says ALL theft is evil. But God really takes it personally when you rob a poor person. Just as Jesus exclaimed when he saw the poor widow woman drop two measly mites into the collection, “Wow! Did you see that? She has given more than anyone here!” When you steal a poor man’s wallet, God sees it as Grand Theft because it is all he had…and v.23 says, God will take away the wealth of the man who steals from the poor.
V.24. Dr. Ben Carson tells how his illiterate, single, hard-working mother kept him and his brother from gangs of “angry men” who usually ended up dead or in prison.
V.29 is Capitalism, FREE MARKET CAPITALISM! “See a man diligent in his business? He will stand before kings (be a leader in his community, state, and nation.)” This verse says to choose your leaders from those who have worked and built a business, not from career politicians. A descendant of Aaron could not serve as a priest till he was at least 30 years of age, married, and working a job or running a business. So be wise and starting with early voting in October pray for and vote for the candidates who know business better than he or she knows politics.

9-4-26 FRIDAY Proverbs 17-18 Proverbs 17 begins, “I would rather peacefully enjoy a crust of bread, than a big juicy ste...
09/04/2026

9-4-26 FRIDAY Proverbs 17-18

Proverbs 17 begins, “I would rather peacefully enjoy a crust of bread, than a big juicy steak in a fancy house where everybody hates each other.” [Note: The Hebrew word that the KJV translates, ‘sacrifices,’ is sacrificial MEAT. As we see in the NT, meat offered in pagan temples, as well as the meat offered in The Temple in Jerusalem was the very finest grain fed beef, goat, sheep, or fowl.] Paul said in 1 Timothy 6.6, ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain.’ Real wealth is knowing the love of God and of family and of friends.
V.3: Everything God does in the life of the believer is to refine and purify our hearts to make us more like Jesus (Romans 8.29). The heart is the very core of your soul. Plants have a body. Animals have a body and a soul (mind, emotion, and will), but man has body, soul, and spirit, for ‘God is Spirit’ [John 4.24], and we are made in His image. The Spirit intersects with the soul at the heart level. Faith happens when truth gets into your heart and makes mind, emotion, and will one. For example, a person may know with his mind that smoking is dangerous, but he is not emotional about it and he continues as an act of his will to smoke a couple packs a day. But one day he develops a chronic cough and finally goes to the Doctor to find that he has lung cancer. He is told his prognosis with surgery, chemo, and radiation is good IF he stops smoking. If he keeps smoking, the Doctor says, “You will die about a year from now literally coughing up chunks of your lungs.” Now, knowing experientially how dangerous smoking is, that knowledge wrapped in the emotions of fear and dread and feelings of ‘how could I have been so stupid to spend so much money smoking myself to death?’ becomes at that moment a change of will: “I will live! I will never smoke another cigarette!”
It is only when all three: mind, emotion, and will—become ONE in the heart, that life changes. When I was an insurance agent, I had several people over the 32-years I was in business come into my office dragging an oxygen tank, smoking a cigarette. They would lift their plastic oxygen mask to cough that deep gurgling cough, greet me and tell me what they needed, then take a long draw on their cigarette before lowering their mask to get some breaths of oxygen. They knew it was killing them, but that knowledge and the fear it had once engendered had not set their will, and over time their fear turned to acceptance and resolve, and not many months after, in each case, I would get word that they had died.
We best take v.5 seriously; it says that those elitists who call God-honoring, gun-toting, hard-working, America-loving, middle-class and poor families, ‘Christian Nationalist Domestic Terrorists’ are mocking their Maker. And all you right-wing red necks, of whom I am one, better stop calling Biden and Obama and Talerico all those nasty names. All who are glad when calamity befalls others will suffer calamity themselves!
God takes our treatment of the poor and the powerless personally, so be warned or be encouraged. That is why the Bible says that those who dig a pit for the righteous will themselves fall into the pit they have dug. And a cup of cold water given in the name of the Lord will in no wise lose its reward. Moses was constantly begging the Israelites to remember that when they said they wanted to kill him and Aaron, they were really speaking against God. And even though time and again Moses would intercede for them, because they persisted in their hatred and rebellion, ultimately God brought calamity upon them.
The same is true today when one wishes evil upon a national, state, or local leader, a pastor, priest, or person. Christians need to stand for truth and right, but always and only by ‘speaking the truth in love [Ephesians 4.15]’. And the Bible says we are to love, honor, and be patient with all men (1 Peter 2.17)…it is called civil discourse. Or we will experience the truth of v.14. You can’t ever get that water back in the bucket!
V.6 is a great theme for Grandparents’ Day, coming up the third Sunday in September. If your grandparents are still living, be sure and honor them on Grandparent’s Day Sunday.
V.10 ‘A single word of constructive criticism changes a wise man more than a hundred lashes does a fool.’
Wow, have we have seen v.15 in action in the last few years?! The left had weaponized the DOJ, the FBI, and the CIA, using them to intimidate witnesses, imprison hundreds of patriots, prosecute political rivals, quashed investigations of treason on a recovered laptop, used social media to censor dissent. They exonerated one official who clearly broke the law and obstructed justice by ignoring a Congressional subpoena and destroying 30,000+ digital documents and emails by smashing an illegal secret server in her bathroom, and by destroying her cell phones with a sledgehammer. At the same time they set up sham investigations on trumped up charges to ‘cancel’ their political opponents, raiding their homes in the middle of the night, destroying their reputations, ruining their lives, and devastating their families. They “justify the guilty wicked and condemn the good and innocent. Such weaponization of government agencies are an abomination to God. God wants liberty and justice for ALL.
V.17 is beautiful: “A friend loves at all times (even when it makes him a target of injustice, too). And God gives us families who will stick with us when no one else will.” BUT we all need to be careful not to take our families for granted. I have heard husbands and wives speak to each other in tones and words they would NEVER use when speaking to a friend. Proverbs18.19 says, “once you do offend your brother (because it is such a betrayal) it is harder to restore that relationship than it is to storm the walls of a castle!” I have done funerals where we could not have the memorial inside because the family members refused to be in the same room with each other, or where we had to seat the family in three separate sections. It is sad. So sad.
V.22 is one of the most quoted Proverbs: “A merry heart does good like a medicine.” What does a good medicine do? It heals. In Nazareth, Jesus read out of Isaiah, “The Spirit of YHWH is upon me, to … heal the brokenhearted.” How do you make a sad heart glad? By knowing down deep in your heart that God loves you and He is in control, and He is working ALL THINGS together for your good...knowing it so deep down in your heart that it becomes so enveloped in emotions of love, joy, peace, hope, that your will is captured and motivated to shout out God’s promises and sing God’s praises.
V.27-28 SPEAK for themselves, so I will be one who ‘shutteth’ his lips!

Proverbs 18. Remember that old HEE HAW skit? Nurse Goodbody brings a fellow wearing overhauls with big bandages around both of his hands in to see Doc Campbell. As Doc Campbell is looking at the poor fellow’s injuries, the man whimpers, “Doc, will I be able to play the piano.”
“Sure, you will,” the Doctor assures him.
“That’s great news!” the fellow suddenly beamed, “I never could before!”
I would sure like to be able to play the piano. My wife and all three of my children can play the piano! For me it was never more than a wish; but for them it was a decision to which ‘they separated themselves.’ They spent hours alone, learning and practicing, to develop and hone their skill.
I told my students when I taught school that God created them for greatness, but most of them would never achieve it. We all, due to our sin nature, tend to just settle for average. We waste way too much time on TV, Facebook, video games, etc.; time that could be invested in learning valuable new life skills (wisdom) that would bless and benefit ourselves and our families. Most of us live our lives simply reacting to life rather than being proactive. Those who do become great, often are almost forced into it by the hazards and hardships they encounter. But, there are a few who are the exceptions, as in this verse, ‘who walk circumspectly, not as fools, redeeming the time [Ephesians 5.15].’
Abraham Lincoln’s stepmom taught him to read, and he set about to educate himself to become a lawyer. As a young man he worked in a general store. Several of his friends came by just before closing one hot summer’s eve saying they were all going swimmin’ and wanted Abe to go with them. But Lincoln said he had to study his law books. One of the fellows laughed and asked, “Why do you study so much? You think you gonna to be the President?”
Abe smiled and said, “Probably not. But, if the opportunity ever presents itself, I want to be ready.”
V.4 says a person’s words can bring death (few people could swim in Solomon’s day and they were afraid of the danger of ‘deep waters’ …see also v.21) or life (a flowing brook…clean, pure, life-sustaining)…and is a summary of James chapter 3: “The tongue is a small part of the body but it holds great power.”
Vs.6-7, “fools calling for violence and destruction,” were seen in the looting and burning and murder carried out by Antifa and BLM after George Floyd died: “Burn it all down! Death to America! Pigs (police) in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon! All my heroes kill cops! Kill a white on sight; their silence is violence!” And today are being seen in the more than 2,000 Antisemitic Pro-Palestinian protests and riots here in America since the October 7th murdering, ra**ng, burning Hamas invasion of Israel. The left is constantly calling for violence against the right, while claiming it is the right who are violent because they attempted to ‘peacefully protest’ at the Capitol, and they speak up at School Board Meetings, and they pray outside abortion clinics.
V.9, The two Evil Socialist Brothers: One lazy brother wastes time, the other fool brother wastes resources.
V.10 says the name of YaHWeH is a strong tower. A person’s name stands for who he is, his character. God is jealous of His name. That’s why commandment #3 is “Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH, your God, in vain, for God will not hold him guiltless who dishonors His name.” But that is also why we can run into that tower of God’s promises, knowing God loves us, He is in control, and He is working everything together for our good. He is not about to let one promise fail or allow us to fall! The word translated ‘safe’ in the KJV is literally ‘set on high’ or ‘above it all.’ Romans 5.17 says you and I are “To reign in life by Christ Jesus.”
Oh, my goodness, does V.13 not speak to the media’s rush to judgment time and time again before the facts are all in? V.17 is mirrored in James 1.19, “Be swift to hear, but slow to speak and slow to wrath, for the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God.” It is ‘a shame and foolishness to them’, yet they keep right on reporting malicious made-up lies, trying to shore up their evil agenda, rather than calling for calm until the police have time to investigate fully. There is no longer a presumption of innocence; just a rush of the woke mob to vile, violent injustice.
V.14 is overcoming adversity. Zig Zigler said, “A man’s altitude is not nearly as determined by his aptitude as it is by his attitude.” For this verse we could cite the inspiring stories of the first woman ever to address a joint session of Congress. Her name was F***y Crosby, America’s most prolific songwriter. Her eyesight was taken from her by a charlatan posing as a doctor when she was only 3-year-old. Or Joni Eareckson who became a quadriplegic when she broke her neck in a diving accident at age 17, yet became a world-renowned speaker, musician, and artist. Or Nick Vujicic who was born without arms or legs, yet can swim and surf, and has inspired audiences around the world. Thousands of people have come to faith in Christ and had their lives and families restored because of the ministry of just these three whose Spirits overcame their infirmities.
V.15 says that the heart gets wisdom from the ear, just as Paul tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of God. The eyes are Satan’s chosen portal of attack, but the ears are God’s portal for ‘the hearing of faith [Galatians 3]’ for salvation and strength.
V.20-21 again tells us of the power of the tongue, but here the emphasis is on what God intends your tongue to do for you. You have probably heard the old maxim: ‘Be sure your words are sweet; you may have to eat them.’
V.22: For Jennifer’s birthday one year I got her a T-Shirt on which I had had emblazoned, “GOOD THING!” I like to sing her that song, “In This Life” that says in part, “If it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart, that the only dream that mattered had come true: in this life, I was loved by you.”
V.24. Want to have friends? You have got to get out where people are and be friendly. That means think about how much they need your encouragement, your strength, your wisdom, and your help. Who is the ultimate friend “who sticks closer than a brother?” The One who said, “No greater love has any man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15.13)” The One who died for us when we were his enemies [Romans 5.8], to make us not only his friends, but his forever family!
Romans 8 assures us, “He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Jesus, knowing how much we would need His encouragement, His strength, His wisdom, and His help, left heaven’s glory for earth’s grit and grim, lay down his crown to take our cross, became our sin that He might make us the righteousness of God [2 Corinthians 5.21]! Jesus has friends in low places, and thank God Almighty, I am one of them!

Address

751 FM/875
Midlothian, TX
76065

Opening Hours

Wednesday 7pm - 8:30pm
Sunday 8:30am - 11:45am

Telephone

+13256607298

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Mt. Peak Community Baptist Church posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Place Of Worship

Send a message to Mt. Peak Community Baptist Church:

Shortcuts

Share

Category