Thoughts for the Day

Prov. 12:5-7 (NIV)

5 The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

 6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

 7 Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm.

The book of Proverbs contrasts the thoughts and the words of the righteous against those of the wicked. Looking at these verses carefully, we notice that sin and righteousness both proceed from the heart, then they become thoughts in the mind and finally they become deeds. The deeds manifest according to the thoughts, as to whether they are good or evil. Notice the progression. Sin begins in a man's heart, then a man will have thoughts about the sin, then the mouth will speak of those sins, then the man will actually commit those sins. The same is true of righteousness as it will proceed from the heart, then form as righteous thoughts, then he will speak of those thoughts, and finally he will act upon them, and bring them forth as righteous deeds. 

Jesus speaks these words in Mark 7:20-23: (NIV)

20 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.'

 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

23 All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

How can we have a change of heart and be free from sin' The Bible tells us that we are all born with sin in our hearts, and the only way we can be free from sin and its evil deeds is to be "born again." That can only come if we choose to confess our sins and ask God to forgive us. Then we must invite Him to come into our lives and give us a new heart. As we surrender our life to Him and die to our way, the power of the Holy Spirit will break the power of sin in our lives.

Verse 6 of our Proverbs study tells us that the wicked will plot murder with his mouth, while the righteous will prevent the same evil with his mouth' How' through our prayers. As we pray in faith for the safety of our families, and speak God's protection over them, we are actually destroying the plans of the wicked. (Psalm 91 is a chapter in the Bible that promises us protection and we can read it over us, and also speak it for those for whom we pray). Verse 7 says the wicked are overthrown, while the house of the righteous will stand.

We must guard our hearts and not allow evil things to come into our spirits. Wrong things will produce evil fruit. We must rebuke evil thoughts from our minds with the Word of God and also resist evil thoughts and keep our minds on the things of God in order to walk in victory.

James 4:6-7: (NIV)

6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.