Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - "Fantasy League" – Friday, 1 November 2014 - Scripture: Proverbs 12:1-16

Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - "Fantasy League" – Friday, 1 November 2014 - Scripture: Proverbs 12: If You Love Learning
1 If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it—
    how shortsighted to refuse correction!
2 A good person basks in the delight of God,
    and he wants nothing to do with devious schemers.
3 You can’t find firm footing in a swamp,
    but life rooted in God stands firm.
4 A hearty wife invigorates her husband,
    but a frigid woman is cancer in the bones.
5 The thinking of principled people makes for justice;
    the plots of degenerates corrupt.
6 The words of the wicked kill;
    the speech of the upright saves.
7 Wicked people fall to pieces—there’s nothing to them;
    the homes of good people hold together.
8 A person who talks sense is honored;
    airheads are held in contempt.
9 Better to be ordinary and work for a living
    than act important and starve in the process.
10 Good people are good to their animals;
    the “good-hearted” bad people kick and abuse them.
11 The one who stays on the job has food on the table;
    the witless chase whims and fancies.
12 What the wicked construct finally falls into ruin,
    while the roots of the righteous give life, and more life.
Wise People Take Advice
13 The gossip of bad people gets them in trouble;
    the conversation of good people keeps them out of it.
14 Well-spoken words bring satisfaction;
    well-done work has its own reward.
15 Fools are headstrong and do what they like;
    wise people take advice.
16 Fools have short fuses and explode all too quickly;
    the prudent quietly shrug off insults.
"Fantasy League" by David Roller
Wicked or upright? Which one would you choose? Of course, we would all choose upright.
These sixteen verses of Proverbs 12 are each a comparison; each one demonstrates the benefits of choosing uprightness rather than wickedness. In each case, there is a correlation between the upright path and a favorable outcome. In other words, being good pays off. Whether it’s being good toward our spouse, God, or an animal; through our speech, our plans, or our humility; righteousness is rewarded.
Conversely, negative consequences doggedly pursue the wicked: they’re overthrown, they’re despised, they’re cruel, and they’re blind to the truth.
So why doesn’t everyone choose to be upright instead of wicked? Verse 11 gives us a clue when it speaks of “those who chase fantasies.”
Ever since the craftiest of all creatures tricked Eve, alie has dangled before us. Most people are not tempted by a choice between “wicked or upright.” Rather, the temptation is to choose the fantasy; to believe that the fruit will make us like God Himself. People don’t always choose to be wicked–they choose the fantasy, the false, the mirage. Then they live with the consequences because the fantasy, by its very nature, is wicked.
Hymn for Today:

"I Have Settled The Question" by Haldor Lillenas copyright 1919k Renewed 1947 by Nazarene Publishing House.
1. I remember when the Lord spoke to my soul,
I could feel the heavy burden from me roll
When He spoke the gracious words, Wilt thou be whole?
Then I settled the question forever.
Refrain:
I have settled the question, hallelujah!
I will never turn back from the narrow way.
I am going through with Jesus, hallelujah!
Till I reach the gates of glory some sweet day.
2. I no longer walk the ways of sinfulness,
But I daily tread the paths of righteousness
Since the day the Lord has come my life to bless
I have settled the question forever.
Refrain:
I have settled the question, hallelujah!
I will never turn back from the narrow way.
I am going through with Jesus, hallelujah!
Till I reach the gates of glory some sweet day.
3. I will choose the holy joys that always last,
And reject sin’s pleasures that will soon be past,
To the treasures of true worth I’m holding fast,
I have settled the question forever.
Refrain:
I have settled the question, hallelujah!
I will never turn back from the narrow way.
I am going through with Jesus, hallelujah!
Till I reach the gates of glory some sweet day.
4. Others may deny the Lord and live in sin,
But the race that I have entered I must win,
Through the pearly gates I mean to enter in,
I have settled the question forever.
Refrain:
I have settled the question, hallelujah!
I will never turn back from the narrow way.
I am going through with Jesus, hallelujah!
Till I reach the gates of glory some sweet day.
Thought for Today:

“My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?"(Galatians 5:16-18).
Prayer Needs:
That many people in Suriname will come to know Jesus the Christ, Yeshua the Messiah, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
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