31 Days of Wisdom and Worship – Day 5 – Pastor Ryan Binkley

Wisdom and Worship-Day 5

 

“For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, Lest you give your honor to others, And your years to the cruel one; Lest aliens be filled with your wealth, And your labors go to the house of a foreigner; And you mourn at last, When your flesh and your body are consumed, And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction!”

Proverbs 5:3-12 NKJV

 

When it comes to temptation the words of wisdom are very clear.  The promise of pleasure is short lived and the end result is bitterness, death, and the doorsteps of hell.  I think every young person, single person, married person…ok, everyone should read all of Proverbs 5 and just think about the pain that comes from sin.  It promises to please and serve but only enslaves and dominates people’s lives.  There is no hope when you go down the dark path of sin.  You give your honor to others and your years to the cruel one, your wealth will be gone, and your health will be consumed.  Temptation comes to everyone but wisdom gives some good counsel on how to avoid it forever.  First, He says remove your way far from her and not go near the door of her house.  I don’t know what tempts you or one of your loved ones but we have to remove ourselves far from it and not go near the door way of it.  What does that mean?  Very practically, shut down the doorways to sin and go the other way.  I remember when I first gave my life to the Lord and struggled with my eyes, that I turned off my cable television and did not watch it for over a year.  There was a season where I needed to protect my eyes and heart in a special way and I didn’t need to go near the door of just worldly television.  Sitcoms reminded me of my past, there was a lot in normal shows that just made my mind struggle, so I removed my way far from a doorway of temptation.  It was a few years later that I learned freedom and was set free from my past completely, but just setting up some boundaries kept my heart and my mind from struggling.  Solomon continues in the latter part of the chapter, stating that what every one needs is discipline.  We need discipline to guard our heart, our ways, and life and we need to love Instruction and correction.  Keep your ways far from the doors of temptation and God will keep you, and bless you with with life, health, and freedom.

 

 

Worship

 

“Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.

 

Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; Make Your way straight before my face.”

Psalms 5:1-3, 8 NKJV

 

“Lord, I praise Your name this morning!  I thank You that you hear my voice. You are worthy of all of my praise and adoration.  I am looking up to You and declaring that You are my God and I am giving you every area of concern for my life. You will hear me in the morning just praying and praising your name.  You have my attention and my life and my love is set on You forever and ever. Father, lead me in the ways of righteousness and keep my foot from stumbling.  Make my paths straight and keep me from harms way.  I will forever follow you and all of my days and ways belong to you. Amen”