Read Proverbs 19:17  Someone said that God must like poor people because he made so many of them.  Well, that really isn't true, but there are a lot of poor people.  Some people are poor because they use all of their money to buy beer or cigarettes or drugs.  They never have any money left over to save or to buy things that they need.  Then there are people who are poor because they have had bad things happen to them.  They have lost their jobs.  Or they have lost their houses because they didn't have enough money to make the house payments. Then there are some poor people who are married to someone who uses up all of the family's money.  Some kids are poor because their parents have made bad choices.  It isn't their fault that they were born into a poor family.  Our verse last Thursday talked about the slothful person.  Do you remember what a slothful person is?  A poor person may ask you for some money.  They may say, "I'll pay you back next week."  But they may not.  They are poor.  Usually we look at the person and their situation to figure out whether they will pay us back or not.  But our verse says not to worry about that.  God will pay us back!  What that means is that the Lord will take care of us if we take care of His poor people. But we can't just give poor people all of our money.  All of our money would only help them for a few days and then all of us would be poor.  We need to help them to get a job, or to manage their money better, or to save more of their money for hard times that are sure to be ahead.  But being poor is actually their problem,; not ours.  We can help them some, but they need to help themselves.  Actually, they need to get to know the Lord and begin to attend church.  That would be much better for them than for us to keep on paying their bills and taking care of them.  There is an old saying, "You can give a poor man a fish and feed him for one day, or you can teach him how to fish so that he can feed himself for the rest of his life."  Do you know what that means?  Talk about it.

Read Proverbs 19:5  What is a witness?  A witness is someone who is called into court.  A witness has some first-hand information about an important decision that the judge and jury have to make.  They know something that no one else knows and they have to give testimony in the courtroom.  The witness has to faithfully tell what they saw and heard.  But, what if the witness lies.  Will the decision that the judge and jury make be fair?  Will the lies of this false witness affect the outcome of the court trial?  Will an innocent person be found guilty?  Will a guilty person go free?  When false testimony is given, everything turns out wrong.  The wrong person suffers and the wrong person gets to go free.  That is why God hates a liar.  God says that a false witness should be punished.  But the problem is that no one knows that the false witness is lying.  He gives his false witness in court and everyone believes his lies. He has gotten away with his lies.  Or did he... Think a minute.  Does God know the truth?  Does God know when a false witness is lying?  Someday when God judges every work of man, is the truth going to come out?  Will the false witness be found out?  Think about it.  Then the false witness will have to live with his lies for all of eternity.  That is a long time.  Although the false witness may think he is getting away with his lies before a judge here on earth, someday the false witness will be exposed as the liar that he is.  He may get away with his lies here on earth, but he will not escape when he stands before God the Righteous Judge.  God knows all and keeps a record of everything. So, tell the truth.  Be a faithful witness.  Serve God and you'll never be sorry that you did!

Read Proverbs 18: 22  Well I am pretty sure you don't like our verse for today.  Are you thinking about getting married?  Probably not.  But, remember this verse.  Put this verse in your memory bank and save it and remember to think about it some day.  The person whom you marry is so very important.  I am glad that I married Kathy Papastavro.  I remember years ago I was thinking of moving to Maryland to take a job as a maintenance man at a church.  My dear wife asked me. "Is this what you want to do with the rest of your life?"  I thought about it, and said to myself, "no".  I returned to college and finished and became a teacher.  That is what I thought  God had for me.  Twenty years later I told my wife that I felt God was directing me to go into mission work.  She said, "Whatever you think you want to do, I am behind your decision."  And so I did.  I am so glad that I have the dear wife that I do!  She has been faithful and helpful to me for 42 years now!  If God allows you to marry some day, remember our verse for today.  Look for a good wife - or husband - and make sure that they are obedient to God.  If you do, you will be blessed.  I am!

Read proverbs 18:21  Wow!  These are powerful words here on our verse for today!  Sometimes we don't remember the power that our tongue has.  Words that we say can really hurt someone.  Or words that we say can really encourage someone.  I remember instances of each.  When I was in junior high I went to the Bill Rice ranch in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  I was only in the seventh grade and it was high school week.  I was in a cabin with good and bad boys.  On the first night the music director, Bud Lyles, announced that they would having a choir the next night.  Anyone who wanted to come to practice was invited to do so before the service the next evening.  So I showed up.  One of the college students scoffed at me and said, "What are you doing here?  You aren't even old enough to be at this camp let alone sing in the choir."  I was crushed and left and didn't sing in the choir the rest of the week.  Of course, I got over it and I sing all of the time now.  But that night back in 1961, I was hurt.  Sid's word hurt me.  They were only words, but they hurt me.  But I also remember good words that helped me.  Dr. Fred Brown used to preach often at Tennessee Temple College, where I attended.  One night as he preached he said, "If you don't like the person that you are, grow another person inside of you that you want to be."  I remember that night in 1967 that I decided to become a happy person.  I didn't want to be grumpy or complaining.  So i decided that I would be a happy person.  Dr. Brown's words helped me.  They helped me to become a better person.  I still remember his encouraging words.  Be careful what you say.  Your words can help or they can hurt. You can say wicked words or you can say blessed words.  As Solomon said in our verse, out tongue has the power of life and death.  How will you use your words?

Read Proverbs 18:17  When I was much younger and it was raining outside and I couldn't go outside to play, I used to get bored.  Have you ever been bored?  I had nothing to do.  Well once I got the smart idea that I was going to play a game of checkers against myself.  I was going to play both the red and the black team.  I would move a red checker and then move a black checker.  But soon I realized that a game played that way would not work.  Any plan that I thought of for the red checkers to win, the black checkers already knew about it, because I was also the black team.  And anytime that the black checkers thought of a clever move to trap the red checkers, it never worked.  That is because the red checkers could always get out of the trap because they already knew the trap that the black team was planning.  I always knew what the other team was thinking.  Sometimes we need to think like the other person.  We usually know what we are going to do.  We usually know what we are going to say.  But sometimes we need to stop and think what the other person is going to do or say.  We often think that our idea is best.  We think that the game that we want to play is best.  We think that the TV program that we want to watch will be the best.  But our verse reminds us to listen to others.  Listen to what they think and what they want to do.  Our way is not always best.  we need to listen to others too.  Think of when you should listen to others.

Read Proverbs 18:13  In order to make a decision, you need to have the facts.  For example, what would you say if I asked you, "Would you like to buy this candy bar from me?"  If you would say, "Yes" you are in trouble.  You are the kind of person that Solomon is talking about here in our verse.  You should first ask a few questions like, "How much does it cost?" or "Where did you get it?" or "How old is it?"  Would you buy a candy bar if it costs $10,000?  Of course not!  Would you buy a candy bar that I got out of the dumpster behind Kroger's?  Yuck!  Of course not!  What if I had a candy bar laying it the glove box of my old truck for a year.  Would you buy that candy bar?  Absolutely not.  Solomon is reminding us in our verse to think first before you answer a matter.  When you jump and decide something before you hear all of the facts, you are not wise.  If someone offers to sell you something that seems to be way too cheap, ask some questions first.  Ask where he got it, how did he come to have it, or why is he selling it so cheap.  When someone tells you a story that doesn't seem possible, ask them some questions before you believe it.  That doesn't mean we should not believe everyone.  We should trust some people, but not others.  When your mother serves you supper, you don't need to question her about where she got the mashed potatoes or how old the meat is.  You can trust your mother.  You don't need to worry about the food that she gives you.  But someone that you don't know - well that is a different story.  If a stranger offers you free candy, what should you do?  That's right - run away and tell some adult whom you trust.  What should you do if your Grandaddy offers you free candy?  That's right, take it!  You can trust Grandaddy.  Think when you hear something and know all of the facts before you decide.  Be smart - don't be like the man in our verse who is too quick to answer.  He ended up being made fun of and laughed at because he answered too quickly.

Read Proverbs 18:9  Do you remember what a slothful person is?  A slothful person is lazy and will not work when he should.  A slothful person will not go outside and mow the grass.  He makes excuses like, "It's too hot outside.  I'll mow the grass when it gets a little cooler."  But later in the day when it is cooler he says, "I can't mow the grass now because I need to do my homework."  That doesn't mean that the slothful person is going to do his homework.  He is just using his homework as an excuse not to mow the grass.  To be sure, he is too lazy to do his homework too.  Finally, he gets around to mow the grass - except that it is dark outside.  Too bad!  Our verse goes on to say that the slothful person is brother to a great waster.   When the tomatoes ripen, it is time to pick them.  But what do you think the slothful person says?  He puts off the work of picking the tomatoes as long as he can.  He waits several days.  But when he finally gets around to picking the tomatoes, what do you think he finds?  He finds rotten tomatoes.  His laziness has wasted the tomatoes.  When you are lazy, you waste things.  God's Word is true: If you are slothful, you are brother to him that is a great waster.

Read Proverbs 18:2  Here we go talking about a fool again.  Our verse says that the fool has no understanding.  That doesn't mean that a fool doesn't know anything - he just doesn't have understanding with what he knows.  He knows things he just doesn't know what they mean.  It's like the fool knows how to add and subtract money, but he doesn't understand how to save his money.  He just wastes it and has nothing, even though he knows he will need money to pay for his food tomorrow.  He knows but he doesn't understand.  But our verse goes on to say that the fool does know one thing: he knows how to have fun and how to be selfish.  Our verse says that the fool tries to discover his heart. That means that what he wants to do in his heart, that is what he does.  He gives in to his feelings.  He never tells himself no.  Do you know people like that?  Whatever game they want to play, they play.  And everyone else around them has to play their game with them.  Whatever video they want to play, they do.  They don't let other people play.  They are selfish.  They do not tell themselves no.  Every once in a while we need to tell ourselves no.  It is good practice.  We need to listen to others.  We need to let others go first.  We need to let others be in charge.  It isn't that we don't want to be in charge; it's that we should not want to let ourselves to be in charge of us.  We should be in charge of ourselves.  Don't be like the fool in our verse and let our hearts tell us what to do.  Don't just give in to your feelings.  Do the right thing. 

Read Proverbs 17:28.  Proverbs doesn't have much good to say about a fool.  But here in this verse it does.  How strange.  There is a story about two brothers who were wicked men.  They stole, sold drug, and lived evil lives.  One of them died and the other brother asked a minister to say some nice words at his brother's funeral.  The minister said that he couldn't find anything nice to say about the dead crook.  The brother told the preacher that he would give him a lot of money to do his brother's funeral with only one condition: the preacher had to call his brother a saint.  The preacher agreed.  At the funeral the pastor began, This man was a crook and a thief and a liar.  But compared to his brother, he was a saint."  Solomon had nothing good to say about a fool except: when a fool holds his tongue, people think he is wise.  He really isn't wise.  It is just that if the fool doesn't open his mouth, he won't say anything foolish.  And if he doesn't say anything foolish, others think he is wise.  Do you remember the poem that I used in Proverbs 15:13?  Here it is again:

A wise old owl sat in an oak
The more he heard the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard
Why can't we be like that wise old bird.

Think before you speak. Everyone will think you are wise.

Read Proverbs 17:22  I don't like to get a shot at the doctor's office, do you? I don't like to take medicine, do you?  But, when you're sick and can't seem to get any better, you will even get a shot or take medicine to get better.  That is what our verse is talking about.  No one likes medicine, but no one likes to be sick either.  But when you have a broken spirit, there is no medicine to help.  That is except a merry heart.  When you are feeling bored and you don't have anything to do, it is great for a friend to call and to invite you to do something with them.  When you are discouraged, it is good to have a friend to cheer you up.  When you feel like you just can't go on, it is good to have someone who can encourage you.  Sometimes a good laugh is just the thing.  A good laugh is, as the saying goes, "Just what the doctor ordered".  Laughter is good medicine for the soul.  God's Word is right.  A merry heart will lift your spirit. 

Read Proverbs 17:17  Our verse today is much like our verse yesterday.  It talks about good friends.  It says that friends love at all times.  It is good to have a friend to laugh with you and talk about funny things.  But it is even better to have a friend to stick by you when you are having a bad day and things aren't very funny.  Everyone likes you when you are having a good day, but only your best friends stick by you when you are having a bad day.  That's what friends are for.  They enjoy the good times, and they stick by you in the bad times.  The last half of our verse uses a new word: adversity.  Adversity means anything that is contrary or something that goes the wrong way.  For example, when you pet your dog, you stroke your hand down her back.  You can't rub your hand up her back - that is rubbing the wrong way.  Adversity means things are rubbing you the wrong way.  Our verse says that brothers are born for adversity.  When you have a problem - and I mean a real problem - you can count on a dear friend.  Someone who is either a real brother or like a brother.  We all need a few friends who we can count on.  We'll learn more about a true friend in Chapter 18.

Read Proverbs 17:9  Have you ever had an embarrassing moment?  You felt like crawling in a hole, didn't you?  Do you remember when one of your friends had an embarrassing moment?  When a friend trips and falls and spills their drink at McDonald's your first thought is to laugh, because it is a funny situation.  But then immediately, you feel sorry for them, and you probably run over to help them up and then quickly help to clean up the mess.  That is what our verse is talking about.  It is talking about two opposite reactions to a situation.  When your friend has a problem you can either make fun of them, or you can try to help them out of the problem.  Solomon says that a true friend will help their friend out of the problem.  A false friend will laugh and tell someone else about the problem so that they will laugh too.  But when a friend sees you and another friend laughing at them, they will no longer trust you.  You have hurt their feelings.  They will no longer be your friend.  Remember, when problems come, you can either help solve the problem or you can gossip about the person who has the problem.  You can either help your friend, or you can laugh at your friend.  Actually, if you laugh at your friend, they are your former friend.  Get it?

Proverbs 17:5  Have you ever made fun of someone?  It is easy to pick on someone who is not able to defend themselves.  They may walk with a have a limp.  They may wear thick glasses.  Our verse talks about someone who is poor.  One of the kids on your baseball team may not have much money.  He may not have a great bat and glove like you do.  Some of the other boys may make fun of him because he is poor.  But Solomon says that when someone makes fun of someone else, he is making fun of their Maker.  Who made the poor child?  Did you have a choice about what family you were going to be born into?  Did the poor child have a choice about what family he was going to be born into?  When you make fun of another person God sees and knows.  When you are glad when something bad happens to someone else, God sees and knows.  Don’t be mean to others.  After all, God sees us and He remembers when we mess up and need His help.  How do you think the Lord feels when we make fun of one of His children?

Read Proverbs 17:1  Our verse for today talks about choices.  Let’s try some choices:  Would you rather be a lion or a bear or an elephant?  Why?  Would you rather be a famous person or a rich person or to be left alone?  Why?  If you were in a fight, would you rather have a pistol or a shot gun or a machete?  Why?  Solomon gives us a choice here in our verse.  You can have a big house with plenty of food or a little house with just a little food.  But with the big house comes fighting and fussing.  But with the little house and dry food comes peace and quiet.  Solomon made his choice in our verse: he would rather have just a dry crust of bread with peace and quiet than to live in a big house with plenty of food with strife.  I agree with Solomon.  I would rather have family who love me than live in a big house filled with angry relatives.  Which would you rather have?  Why?

Read Proverbs 16:32  Soldiers go through a lot in their training.  When a young man goes into the army he first goes through Basic Training.  He is put through weeks and weeks of difficult exercises and drills that are designed to mold him into a skillful soldier.  His drill sergeant yells at him and the recruit has to take it.  His drill sergeant isn’t yelling at him just to be mean.  He is yelling at his recruit to teach him to be tough.  When you see a soldier, you see a powerful, skillful, killing machine.  But our verse says that a man who can control his temper is even more powerful than that skillful soldier.  It goes on to say that a man who can rule his spirit well is better than a mighty general who captures a city in a battle.  Solomon says that self control is better than military might. 

Read Proverbs 16:31  This is a great verse because it talks about me!  I have a hoary head.  Can you guess what a hoary head means?  It means gray hair.  Most people don’t like gray hair because it means they are old.  But I like my gray hair because it makes people be nice to me.  I don’t have to work as hard as others because I am just an old man.  I don’t have to remember everything because everyone knows that I am just an old man.  I can take naps and go to bed early because I am an old man.  I like my gray hairs.  If you have been a Christian a long as I have, you know how faithful God can be.  I have learned to trust God.  You are young and just learning to trust God.  My gray hair is like my crown – a crown that the good Llord has given me to wear.  It is great!

Read Proverbs 16:24  When I was a little boy, I used to go to West Virginia for three weeks in the summer to stay with my grandparents.  Papaw had a small farm and worked as a plumber each day.  Plumbers put together the pipes in houses that bring in fresh water and take away waste water.  Papaw had a chicken house and sold eggs.  We had to gather the eggs and wash them.  Then we had to grade them, which means to put them in cartons by their size.  Papaw also had a hog which ate all of the table scraps.  He had a cow and a calf; the cow, which he milked twice a day and the calf, which he grew all year and slaughtered in the fall for meat.  From the house to the barn was a lane with bee hives on one side.  Hundreds of honey bees flew back and forth from the hive gathering nectar.  Those honey bees never bothered us as we walked by.  They were busy working to make honey.  Papaw gathered some of the honey in the fall leaving the bees plenty of honey to take them through the winter.  The bees made beeswax and put their honey in the honeycomb.  Papaw cut off some of the honeycomb for me to eat.  As I bit into the comb, the sweetest taste burst into my mouth.  The sweetness was wonderful.  King Solomon said that pleasant words are as sweet as that honeycomb to the soul.  Don’t you love to hear your coach say, “That was a great hit you just made.”  Isn’t it great to hear your mother say, “Good job!  I am proud of you.”  Don’t you like to hear your dad say, “You made me happy today with the way you treated your brother and sister.”  Those pleasant words are as sweet as the honeycomb.  Use good words to help others and to lift them up.  You can help them to have a great day!

Proverbs 16:18  Wow! This verse gives us a warning.  Someone who is proud thinks that they are pretty good.  May be even perfect.  But the trouble is that they aren't perfect.  When they let other people know that they are perfect, other people think, "Oh brother!  This person is soooo snooty!  They really think they are something!"  When I was in college, there was a young man who was just that way.  He thought all of the girls should be so lucky to have a date with him.  He was always combing his hair - even though he never had a single hair out of place.  He had the best of clothes - and he knew it.  He took voice lessons, even though he thought he didn't really need to.  So one day he was scheduled to sing a solo in chapel.  But when he went up to the platform and began to sing, he forgot the words and stopped.  So he started again, but he forgot the words at the same place.  The president of our college then stepped in and said, "Young man, sit down, learn the words and come back and sing another day."  The young man was humiliated.  But the sad thing about it is that everyone else was glad when he messed up.  The young man was proud.  He was haughty.  And our verse reminds us that a proud and haughty spirit soon leads to destruction and a fall.  Watch out for a proud spirit.  It will only get you into trouble.