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.