March 23 - War & Wisdom.

Proverbs 23:6-8
“Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.”

As the old and truthful adage goes, actions speak louder than words.

Regardless of the words we or others say, the choices we make in our reactions and inactions reveal the true state of our hearts where war often takes place.

Psalm 55:21
“The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.”

Does war rage within your heart today? 
We may be able to hide our thoughts from those around us, but there is One Who always knows our hearts.

Matthew 9:3-4
“And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?”

Mark 7:6
“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”

War and Wisdom cannot reside together without conflict. 
We must proactively choose between walking in the Spirit or giving in to the lust of our flesh.

Galatians 5:16-17
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

Evaluate the state of your own heart today.

James 3:13-17
“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”


Bible Reading:
Deuteronomy 11-12  |  Mark 9  |  Proverbs 23