Wisdom Keys. Pastor Benjamin Foster

well greetings everybody we give you greetings from the Divine Encounter Church and uh just wanted to uh do a Bible study give you some insight and wisdom from God's word that you can meditate upon and that will benefit you all week long all week long so we we just want to share with you from God word we're going to look at Proverbs Chapter 12 on today uh Proverbs chap 12 and we want to look at a few verses from Proverbs Chapter 12 just uh want to give you some wisdom uh keys that will help you along the way that would be a blessing to you so let's open with a word of prayer dear heav father we thank you for this day and we thank you for time to study your word time to look into it oh God we ask that you would just bless us in our Bible study open up our understanding give us insight and wisdom so that uh we can grow from your word oh God give me your anointing oh God and abundance to be highly effective oh God and uh give your people to absorb your word like sponges and take take it in and absorb it and utilize it in Jesus name amen all right so we're looking at Proverbs chapter 12 and we want to start at verse one we may bounce uh here and there uh here a little there a little as the scripture says but we're going to gather some wisdom from God's word word he says who so loveth instruction loveth knowledge who so loveth instruction loveth knowledge but he that hateth Repro is brutish okay to love instruction specifically corrective instruction uh that is good and that's pleasing to God God it shows and it demonstrates that you really love uh knowledge when you get to the place where that you love knowledge to the extent that you are willing uh to uh take correction you you don't just value knowledge and information that is uh POS positive for you but you get you can get to a place where that you value knowledge and information that's even corrective or negative in some way when you get to that place that is evidence that you have grown in wisdom that is evidence that you really love knowledge that's what that is that means that you really love knowledge so that's that's where we got to be we got to get to the place where that we we're not bothered in any way we're not bugged by the fact that uh someone is seeking to correct us uh we're not uh it doesn't bother us it doesn't affect us in a negative way it doesn't cause us to feel in some sense that we're being mistreated no we got to get beyond that we got to get to the place where that we see that when somebody is giving us instruction that is even corrective that we got to take it seriously and we have to Value it we got to Value it uh just like we value information that Mak makes us feel good because it's positive and uh it's somehow uh the information is somehow saying that we are doing things right we got to Value it just like that correction is very powerful because correction uh corrective words what they do is they get you back on track they get you back on track they help you to to see where you have gone in the wrong direction they help you to see where you have veered off of the correct path and when you Veer off of the correct path it's very dangerous to you whether you realize it or not it's very dangerous when you Veer off of a correct path you know when it comes to Automotive accidents and people dying as a result of Automotive accidents you know what the number one reason is that people die in automotive accidents you know the number one reason is they hit a tree they hit a tree in other words they're going along uh and uh they just get off the right path may not be by a whole lot but they somehow they just get off of the right path they go a little bit astray a little bit off and as a result of that little uh error they end up hitting a tree and trees are rooted very deeply trees don't budge you hit a tree with a car your car could wrap around the tree but that tree is not going anywhere I'm talking about a nice siiz tree that's been there for a good number of years trees they don't budge they have deep roots and your car hits that tree and it can kill you because the tree doesn't give it's not going to somehow move out of your way when you hit it so uh it's very crucial that you stay on the right path that you don't allow yourself to go a stray be very very damaging to yourself when you go astray so we got to stay on the right path at all times and one way that God keeps us us on the right path is by giving us words of Correction corrective words when God speaks a word to us whether through a preacher or through his holy spirit he speaks to us and lets us know hey you're doing something in the wrong way and you need to do it the right way you're doing something in a manner that is not good so this is what uh happens people uh are doing things the wrong way and God sends a word of instruct instructive correction then it goes on to say but he that hateth reproof is brutish what is brutish brutish means basically stupid a person that hates reproof you get to the place where that you are uh so lifted up and you're so arrogant that you hate reproof you're in a dangerous dangerous position because your hate towards reproof will cause you not to Value it in any way and it will cause you to reject it even when the reproof is accurate some people hate reproof and they just don't care care even if it's true you got to care enough to Value all reproof all correction all instruction you got to Value it enough and let's go on I want to look it at uh verse 11 this same chapter verse 11 he that tilth his land shall be satisfied he that tilth his land shall be satisfied what with bread to till your land means you work your land to till your land means that you put effort into getting your land ready so so that it can produce a harvest to teal your land means that you put in the hard work the time the sweat the energy that is necessary in order to cause uh your land to bring forth a harvest you see Harvest don't just come for nothing a Harvest doesn't just come for no reason at all but a harvest comes because a person is doing something uh in order to cooperate with that Harvest being produced you have to do the right things in order to see a harvest produced okay there's the right there's right things and there's wrong things this verse tells us that he that teals his land is going to be satisfied with bread okay so what are the things that we can do to till our land well one thing let's define what we're talking about when we when we talk about land when it says to till your land is talking about uh the land of the things that God has entrusted to you and God has G given you special ability for when God has given you a special ability and a given area God is expecting you to cultivate that ability when God has given you a talent in a given area God is expecting you to make use of that talent and be certain that you get better and better better with that given talent in other words you shouldn't think that you're just gonna uh arrive at total Excellence without any effort and without any sweat and uh and tears no it's going to take your sweat it's going to take your effort it's going to take your tears in order for you to develop into the person of excellence in a given area doesn't come easily no it doesn't come easily it takes effort on your part it requires Focus determination and diligence on your part and so don't think that things are just going to come easily this is what Proverbs 12 and 11 is really dealing with person that tills his land is a person that works what God has given to them so your land is is basically what God has entrusted to you is what God has given to you to uh to utilize uh and to work uh in your life okay when you uh till that land that means that you're putting effort uh and you're putting focus on the development in that given area your if your talent is sports God has given you an exceptional uh ability to play sports God is expecting you to make use of that talent and develop it because if you don't develop that talent and you just let it sit is not going to benefit you and it's not going to bring you any bread nope it won't BR bring you any bread if you don't develop it it's going to take effort on your part it's G to take you cultivating that gift that God has given to you so it takes effort on our part it takes great Focus we shouldn't think that it's just going to come easily it's going to take telling and I remember what it felt like working in a garden growing up because we had a large garden pretty large piece of land uh in our next to our house that was a garden it wasn't just a little small garden it was a pretty big one and in the summer we had to go out and work in the garden that was one thing that we had to do and tilling that land and working that land was not easy at all you sweated uh you really had to uh go through something every year in that summer season and the Heat and the humidity uh and in pushing uh the tools and working that land it was it was not easy could really wear you out and so that's what it means uh that's what you got to think of when you think of telling your land don't think of something that's easy don't think that it's something that you can just do without any Focus or effort no you got to work it and you got to pay the price you gotta pay the price to tell your land if you're an athlete means you're going to have to uh get out and practice if you're if you're a basketball player you're G to get out there you got to dribble that ball and take a lot of shots you're going to take a lot of time out of your daily schedule you're gonna have to take time out of your daily schedule to develop that gift and if you consistently do that of course you're G to get better but if you don't then you will fail the person is a uh the person has a gift uh to uh for Education they're they have a gift in the area of Education uh and you know maybe they're a great teacher they have great abilities in the area of teaching they got to develop that gift G to take them time effort energy and focus to develop that gift they're gonna have to acquire a lot of knowledge teachers have to constantly make sure that they're up to date on their knowledge they got to know their subject matter because if they don't know their subject matter then they can't teach it to somebody else they got to know the information that they're seeking to teach and train others in so then there's uh uh education um and there's constant learning that a person would have to do in order to be effective uh as a teacher constant learning constantly acquiring information and knowledge and making sure they're up to date on things so that's tilling your land preparing yourself getting yourself ready uh for the task that God has for you that's tilling your land getting yourself ready preparing and if you till your land according to this verse then you're going to have bread one so that what that tells you is this one way that God wants to feed us give us our needs Brad speaks of your needs that's one thing it speaks of it speaks of you getting what you need to survive uh and uh what you need in order to keep going you need bread on a daily basis food okay the way that you get your food is tied to your tilling your land it's tied to what God has entrusted to you what God has gifted you with God has gifted you with certain things that will provide for you if you will cultivate them and develop them God has given you unique talents and abilities that are on the level that you can uh you can make a living if you use those things you can actually make a living and uh support your family if you make use uh of what God has gifted you with so God has given you gifts abilities and talents he didn't just give you those talents for nothing he gave them to you for you to develop them and to H them and to improve them and if you will do that then you will get bread from it is what he's telling us but he that follow with vain persons is void of understanding if you follow vain persons that is per people that don't value their time people that waste away their lives lives people that waste away their days and their years if you follow those kinds of people and you pay attention to those kinds of people and listen to those kinds of people what's going to happen to you you're gonna be in trouble what this verse is telling us you're void of understanding you lack understanding it's dangerous to have a lack of understanding it's a very dangerous thing so you you want to be a person that has knowledge that has understanding of how to handle the Affairs of life um the Bible says my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge so if you're void of understanding you're in danger of Destruction that's a very dangerous thing because you you just don't have the knowledge that you need things that we don't know and don't understand can be highly highly destructive to our lives you can get messed up because of things that you just don't know that you should know you don't know what a yield sign means when you're driving that could mean you're a very life you don't know what a red light means that could definitely mean your very life okay uh we got to know things we got to have basic understanding okay if you don't understand God's word you're really in grave danger you don't understand the basics of the gospel and why Jesus died for your sins you engrave danger okay uh there's many people who are lost in this world today because they don't understand the gospel and they didn't seek to understand the gospel see it's not that they just didn't understand the gospel but is that they didn't seek the knowledge of the Gospel they didn't seek the knowledge of who Jesus really is they didn't value pleasing God and pleasing his son Jesus Christ they didn't value the gospel the lack of value for the gospel will cause you not to understand it it will cause you not to know it the way you're supposed to know it you don't know the gospel it's not God's fault here in America you don't know the gospel is not God's fault it's really your own because you you're not seeking it out the Bible is the world's bestselling book you have no excuse for not getting into the Bible and reading it for yourself you got no excuse you got no excuse for not turning on a good gospel preacher because there's so many preachers that are out there that are proclaiming the word here in America there's no excuse for you not to understand the gospel and know what it's all about so if you don't understand it it's not God's fault it's your fault so my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge it's not God's fault that we lack knowledge either knowledge is all around us knowledge of divine truth is all around us God makes it available to us as human beings but we've got to Value it we got to Value it because things that you don't value you will not give time to you won't pay attention to those things that you don't value it's all about what you value what you treasure as Jesus said for where your treasure is there will your heart be also where your treasure is that's where your heart will be is your treasure in God or is your treasure in this present world and what it has to offer so you can be satisfied with bread if you'll work your land but he that follow vain persons is void of understanding if you hang around people like that is dangerous that means that includes even people that you watch virtually that are wasting away their lives you watch them on the Internet and watch their YouTube channels and they're all they're doing is going around wasting their lives that can have an impact on you because you're becoming a companion of that person by watching their content by following them and watching what they have to say you're becoming a companion to that person person without even knowing it without even realizing it you're becoming that person's companion and the Bible says he that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed so we don't want to walk with foolish people because it will end in destruction so you got to watch who you give your time to be careful who you give your time to and verse 14 Proverbs 12 and 14 is has more wisdom for us more insight that would help us it says a man shall be satisfied with God good by the fruit of his mouth a man will be satisfi with good by the fruit of his mouth in other words your words the words that you speak can result in you having satisfaction with good the words that you speak can bring about great good in your life it's the words that you speak what you're talking about these can result in great good for you so we can be satisfied with good when we say the right things when we say things that are based on the word of God and we force ourselves to speak things that line up with God's word we're gonna bring about good in our own lives you bring about good in your life by the fruit of your mouth it's the words that you speak is what you say that's what it is is what you say with your mouth see the things that you say with your mouth are an indication of what is really down going on on the inside of you if you speak words of doubt that means you got doubt issues on the inside of you if you speak words of faith that means that you have faith on the inside of you she speak words of fear it means that you have fear on the inside of you if you speak words of hate it means that you have hatred on the inside of you so you got to watch your words be careful about the things that you're saying and what it is that you speak on a consistent basis always monitor your words monitor the things that come out of your mouth pay attention to those things be careful what you say be careful the things that you allow to come out your mouth because if you keep saying things over time you can bring about those things in your life you say negative evil things over time you keep saying those things repeating those things concerning your life and it gets down into your heart and you're in trouble because you're then functioning by a spiritual principle and law which is that words that you speak and you believe words that you speak and you have confidence in you bring to pass you end up bringing to pass okay uh it's not enough to just speak words but when you speak words that you really believe because they're in your heart you really believe those words it's dangerous because if those words are evil you're going to bring evil to pass by speaking those things over time you're going to bring evil into your life if you say words that are good that are uh positive and uplifting and build you up over time you're going to be blessed and prosper you're gonna you're gonna go you're gonna get ahead because you're saying the right words you're saying the right things that are according to the word of God you got to be careful with the things that you speak okay uh you know when you think about salvation you enter into salvation by speaking with your mouth and believing in your heart Romans chapter 10 verses 9 and 10 that if Thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead Thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation with the heart man believeth unto righteousness so that's one key two things that that Romans 109 and10 make clear that one believing in the heart that's one part of it and then the other part is confessing with your mouth speaking it with your mouth those two things cause spiritual things to begin to manifest that's what happens though those two actions cause spiritual things to begin to manifest and to begin to come into being so that's how things are brought into being when God created the the universe the way that God created the universe is by believing in his heart and speaking with his mouth God believed and had faith in his words and he spoke spoke and said let there be light and there was light God just kept speaking that's how God created the worlds the universe the planets the galaxies as vast as they are God did it by speaking and having confidence in his heart believing in his heart it was a faith action God was demonstrating the principle of Faith he believed it down on the inside and then he spoke and when God spoke it began to happen things were set in order okay I believe that the Big Bang which science speaks of happened because God spoke and he believed and when he said let there be light I believe that that's when that big bang took place that brought things into existence that brought the universe itself into existence that big bang happened when God spoke with confidence in his heart and he uh caused it to be through his words and you as a human being are made in the image of God you're going to create your world by your words that's how you create your reality it's through your words and what you believe in your heart that's why what we believe is so important you know that I was talking to a young man on the streets of an arbor reasoning with him about the go El and he said you know what he was a very intellectual person I believe he was from uh nor I think it was Denmark he was from Denmark very intellectual man I believe his name was CNY I still remember his name syny from Denmark and as I was talking to him about the gospel and trying to get him to re to to reconsider his perspective uh I was talking to him to him about it what he said is what you believe is not that important it's not it's not all that you know you can you was saying belief is not that important but uh he's wrong he's dead wrong on on that issue he was basically saying you don't have to just believe on Jesus Christ in order to be saved he was saying you don't have to just believe on him in order to be saved that's just what the Bible says he was saying that what you really need to do is uh just uh do some good deeds that's basically what he was saying just Do just behave better you saying it's not important that we really believe the gospel and put our faith in Jesus just just become better people be nicer to people behave better and basically he was hoping that through behaving better that would result in him being okay with God he won't have any problems in the day of judgment not all about what we believe all this religion stuff that's not important but the truth of the matter is that what you believe is very important is crucial what you believe because what you believe really determines your behavior that's what determines your behavior what you really believe and what you really believe ultimately determines your lifestyle when you really think about it what a person believes is what really drives their lifestyle and God knows that that's why he wants us to believe the gospel he knows that is what you really believe that's going to determine your lifestyle it's going to determine how you act how you behaved how you behave and how you function in every scenario every scenario of life that you find yourself in you're gonna make decisions in that scenario based on what your world view is how you believe and so God tells us to believe the gospel because if you genuinely believe the gospel then you genuinely believe there's a heaven to gain a heaven to gain throughout all of eternity but you also believed that there is a hell that is to be avoided at all cost you would genuinely believe that if you genuinely had faith in what Jesus taught you believe his teachings you're G to believe there's an there's an eternal Heaven waiting for you with treasures and glories Beyond Your Wildest imagination and the uh the physical manifest presence of God and you'd be able to to see God face to face you would believe that if you believe the message of Jesus but if you don't believe that you won't believe you're not going to behave any better because you really don't believe there's something there for you in your heart of hearts in your heart of hearts if you don't really believe that there's a heaven waiting for you why would you change Behavior why would you live by the principles of God's word why would you be careful to follow God's word and to follow the principles therein you wouldn't do it there's no way that you would do it and if you don't believe that there's a hell you really don't believe there's a hell in your heart that's going to affect the way you behave that's going to affect your lifestyle you're gonna you're gonna act differently because you just you don't believe there's you don't believe there's a hell you don't believe the message of Jesus Christ and one of part of the message that Jesus brought that the world doesn't discuss much they'll discuss the fact that Jesus was a man of Love they'll discuss that Jesus taught us to be loving and non-judgmental but they won't talk about the fact that Jesus warned about hell they won't talk about that they won't talk about how that Jesus warned often about hell he warned about it he said that hell is a place where that their worm dies not and the fire is not quenched in other words the fires of Hell Are Never Satisfied uh Jesus said what shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul Jesus he warned about hell he didn't just talk about the good things that people like to hear about but he warned about hell and if people really believed in heaven and really believed in hell they would change their ways permanently and I don't care if a person is a Christian claimed to be a Christian claim to be born again and Holy Ghost filled I don't care if they claim to be that if they don't really believe the gospel the message of Jesus Christ it will be evident in their behavior it'll be evident that they just don't believe it it'll be obvious because you'll see that they will not follow the word they'll they'll compromise and they'll do things that they feel like doing when they feel like doing it and they just won't care they won't care they won't be concerned at all because they'll be thinking you know what in their heart of hearts though they with their mouth they might claim to believe the gospel in their heart of hearts they don't believe it I grew up in church hearing the gospel but and about heaven and hell but in my heart of hearts I did not believe it and I submit to you that anybody in this world who is living their life uh in Disobedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ anybody who is in that predicament they just don't believe that's the root cause the root cause of people behaving any old kind of way and uh as though there is no God is that they don't really believe what God has said that's why God emphasizes faith and the how that the just shall live by faith there's nobody in their right mind that would risk an eternity in hell and risk missing out on an eternity in heaven there's nobody that would do that in order to just have the pleasure of sin and nobody would do that the problem is they don't believe and that's the root reason why people end up lost and end up dying in their sins they just don't believe they just they they may tell you they believe oh yeah I believe that I believe that Jesus uh died for my sins and that there's a heaven in Hell they'll tell you they believe that but they don't really believe it when I was unsaved if you had asked me do you believe in heaven and hell I would say yeah I believe those places exist do you believe uh uh in the gospel I would say yeah I believe that Jesus died for our sins and I'm would tell you I believed it but I didn't really believe it see this is the deception you can't genuinely believe the gospel and remain in sin because believing in your heart will result in righteousness if you believe it in your heart the way that God wants you to believe it it's going to produce righteousness you're going to change your ways okay you'll confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead you will be saved with the heart man believeth unto righteousness how does a man get saved with his heart he believes resulting in producing righteousness so if people would just genuinely believe the gospel they would change their ways you got to make a decision that you are going to genuinely believe the gospel and then follow it follow it the rest of your days and so I want to pray a prayer just in case there's one who is hearing this message on today and you recognize that you are in sin you've not given your life to Jesus Christ and you don't really believe the gospel you may tell people you believe it but you don't really believe it I want to give you a chance to really believe I want to give you a chance to make a decision to get off of that broad path that leads to destruction and get on the narrow path that leads to life I want to give you that chance today pray this prayer and mean it from the bottom of your heart I'm concerned about your Eternal Soul today pray this prayer this is the prayer that you can pray dear Lord Jesus I ask you to come into my heart and to save me I believe in your death burial and resurrection and I believe that you atoned for the sins of the world once and for all so I make a decision today to repent turn from my sins and to trust your gospel for the rest of my days in Jesus name amen so if you pray that prayer today that is the first step in the right direction you're going to need to follow up you're going to need to get into the word of God you're going to need to pray consistently study God's word I recommend you start with the New Testament begin to read through it and ask God for greater understanding so that you can live the Christian life we invite you to the Divine Encounter Church visit us in person we meet on Sundays at Wasa Community College in the Morris Lawrence building room ml150 so come on by that's 3 pm on Sundays you don't have to get up early you don't even have to put on an expensive suit expensive dress or anything like that you can come in and nice casual outfit and we'll welcome you and we'll give you the word of God and we'll give you insight and wisdom from God's word uh so come by and visit us as the Divine Encounter Church I'm Pastor Benjamin Foster and God bless you and we're signing off