Gary Gleans

We use comparison to help us understand things better.  Metaphors are comparisons that give us a type of illustration to understand truths or concepts.  Today’s chapter of Proverbs is full of metaphors that describe four types of people.  The idea is to help identify who these people are, understand what they are like, warn us about the dangers they represent and tell us how to respond to them.  We should do all we can not to be in any of these categories.   THE FOOLISH MAN: The foolish man should never receive honor because it is simply unfitting.  Those who try to curse the wise will find their efforts to be futile.  The only way a fool will learn is through the use of physical punishment just like an animal.  We must be very careful in how we treat the foolish man.  There are times that we should just keep quite because we know that they will not listen to instruction but there are other times that we must strive to correct them so th...

Noble is a word that we use to describe a certain class of people that are related by blood to the king or ruler of a nation.  However it is also used to describe the behavior that is expected of such people and can be practiced by anyone.  All of us should strive to be noble in our character and words.  There is a code of conduct that is expected of all men and when we do not follow that code we are criticized by and lose the respect of others.  There are different people in our lives that we relate with and should treat in different ways.  All of our relationships are affected by our behavior as well as our opportunities in business most importantly, our testimony before other people as well as our walk with God. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR AUTHORITIES: There is a certain dignity that a King must possess and demonstrate.  However, a king’s greatest desire should be for wisdom to do the right things.  God does not make all things readily accessible or ea...

Our desires tell us a lot about what is in our hearts and where we stand before the Lord.  At times our desires are for things that please the Lord and bring honor to His name, but there are other times that our desires are for that which is sinful and they can get us into all kinds of trouble.  No matter what our actions are, we would do well to evaluate the true desires of our hearts because it will help us to see our hearts and know where we need to grow and how we need to protect ourselves from our own evil desires.  We should constantly strive to develop the desires that will please God and make us more effective in our service of the Lord. DESIRE GOD’S WISDOM: God’s wisdom will determine the company that we keep because we will not desire to be with evil men that bring trouble on all around them.  Wisdom will help us to establish our homes, strengthen our nations and instruct our communities.  Our plans must be for that which is good and not scheming ...

Moderation is the result of self-control while exaggeration stems from the lack thereof.  Too much of a good thing can be a very bad thing so it is important that we learn to exercise self-control and live in moderation.  God has created us and all that is in the earth.  There are abundant pleasures that constantly surround us.  These pleasures were created by God for us to enjoy in moderation and in accordance with His Word.  When we begin to abuse those pleasures through exaggeration they become sources of pain and not pleasure.  There is a great deal to gain through the exercise of moderation through self-control. SELF-CONTROL IN OUR DIET: Eating is one of the greatest pleasures that we enjoy.  There is such a wide variety of food available to us and many more that we have only heard about.  When we are in the house of a wealthy person, the foods that are offered to us may tantalize us and tempt us to exaggerate and stuff ourselves full of...

Words are a gift from God that allow us to communicate with one another and reveal things to one another.  Words can also be used to bring harm and great pain to other people through deception or discouragement.   There are words that are easy to hear and words that are hard for us to hear.  That does not mean that the easy words are always good or that the hard words are always bad.  Sometimes the hardest word for us to hear is the best word for us at that time; or the easy word can be very harmful to us.  We must exercise great discernment in the way that we hear the words spoken to us and even greater discernment in the words that come out of us.  Today’s Proverb has some great examples of so easy and hard words or us to hear. WORDS OF WISDOM: Our character and reputation is far more valuable that any amount of wealth.  Our financial status is of very little importance God needs both in order to accomplish His will.  We must learn to ...

This Proverb begins and ends with the sovereignty of God and everything in between should flow from that reality.  God’s sovereignty is the over-arching truth that must dictate how we look at and live our lives.  Too often we live under the delusion that we are free to live our lives however we want without divine intervention.  The truth is that no matter how high we climb on the ladder of human authority, we are still under the control of God and are ultimately accountable to Him.  In light of that truth we ought to order our lives according to His will which has been revealed to us in His Word.  God’s sovereignty must have a profound impact on how we live our lives. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD: Sometimes we feel like our lives are spinning out of control.  The question we must answer is: who’s control?  Obviously, the answer to that question is: our control.  We get that feel of panic in the pit of our stomach when our circumstances flee from o...

Discernment is a vital part of wisdom.  A wise person has the ability to distinguish between things that differ; the ability to discern between good and evil, worthy and worthless.  As we go through life we all face multiple choices about what we will do and how we will live our live.  Our ability to discern, determination to choose correctly and discipline to follow throw on those choices will define whether or not we are wise.  God has been gracious enough to give us a standard in His Word by which we can measure these things, so if we truly desire to gain discernment, our attention should be given to the Word of God.  THINGS FROM WHICH WE MUST RUN: Alcoholic beverages are dangerous because they can easily lead us astray.  This does not mean that all who choose to drink them are living in sin it simply means that they run a greater risk of falling into a pattern of abuse that can easily lead to ruin.  Insubordination is a very dangerous game....