Evil will not depart from the house of him who returns evil for good. Proverbs 17:13
For about the past week, the Lord has been teaching me something a little different, more so from a different angle. That is from the side of not being right with God and siding with the world. And as much or more so how being educated in the world is completely opposite of being educated in wisdom and God. It is a deep teaching, one that cannot be articulated into words completely. It is like everything of the Lord, it needs to be taught by him to you directly. It is one thing to read the bible, and another to understand and live it.
For example for about 25 years I read the bible and it never dawned on me that when Adonai gave the 10 commandments, with the first one being do not have other Gods before me. That my catholic religious views of praying to saints and Mary was evil. Somehow in my mind it did not mean praying to them, or having statues and bowing down to those statues. And God knows I did not do it to be disobedient to him, it was the doctrine I was taught since day one.
But in the eyes of the Lord this is evil, and because you are praying to people or spirits which cannot do anything to help you, nor is it for your good. Nothing happens, unless the devil makes it happen to give you what you ask for, knowing where it will lead.
The thing is this, I suggest you take time and read Proverbs, but do so after asking the Lord to teach you what he wants you to know and understand about wisdom and lack of it. Because that is what the book of proverbs is all about. But be ready because when he shows you his truth and light (wisdom) he does so in daily dealings. And those dealings are often difficult to deal with. And then he will retest maybe many times over until you get it right. And sometimes in your test you must stand up for what is right and then others let it go.
Two examples as of recent. First mine, which is the ongoing craziness of some of my owners and their demands and or expectations. One of them went off again on the same path using words that are destructive, and twisting things to try to get her way. The other day she hired some guys to do a small project laying some brick. She did it over top of some stone, which was not what I would have voted for. Then she comes back and expects all of us to pay for it as part of the association. And then she calls it all trash work.
That’s besides the point some, because the real point is for many of the first times she did this, I responded and was frustrated or upset by her comments. I responded with truth, making points. Because a lot of the stuff she is complaining about is stuff she changed and left half way done and in bad condition. But here is the point of the Lords teaching this time around as summed up by Proverbs 17:27-28 “A knowledgeable person controls his tongue; a discerning person controls his temper. Even a fool, if he stays silent, is thought wise; he who keeps his mouth shut can pass for smart.
Keep in mind the Lord at times told truth and almost got stoned for it, and eventually was hung on the stake. But he also kept his mouth shut at times, like in front of Pilot. At the last go around I made my points and said I am out, you guys do what you want around the project, do it your way, I do not care and want nothing to do with it or you.
So this time, I stayed quiet, did not say a word and won’t. On Saturday another one of the buyers was here and started to discuss the federal zone, I basically said the same to him. I am out, I did what I said I would and now it is up to whomever to finish it how they want. I finished it but in a rough rustic way, in a way that they can come in and put some additional berms and plants in to spruce it up.
So back to proverbs and the Lord’s teachings of it. When you start living it because of things you do in this world, while he is showing you the verses, this is the teaching of wisdom and when you see how it works out in your life, you are amazed and it changes you. This is the process the Lord uses to set you free from everything from sin to your anger or frustration or crying for yourself. He builds you up and makes you strong. But only if you are seeking and knocking on his door, begging for his wisdom. And then being a good student and learning what he is teaching and not turning back.
On the other hand he continues to show me how these people do not do that and how foolish they are. They are living the evil as it is written in Proverbs over and over. Verses like these spell it out: “Evil will not depart from the house of him who returns evil for good.” And “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both alike are an abomination to Adonai.”
I have had the fortunate or unfortunate experience of these. It sucks going through this and frustrates the hell out of you when you get attached. The lady above told me to my face “you’re not going to heaven.” And I never asked why she felt that way, nor to give any evidence of her comments. Because in the truth I see her evil ways which many of the things Proverbs says are her. Plus she still is catholic worshipping her saints and Mary, drinking heavily and smoking their weed. The point is why would I care about her opinion? I only care about the opinion of the Lord, because he is the only one who gets to judge me. And being he has already been teaching me for 20 plus years and has led me out of a lot of sin and dysfunction and washed me clean in his blood. And guides me daily because I listen. I like my chances in front of him when I meet him face to face.
But what the people do not understand is because they do not know him, and he has not taught them. They remain in their sins and dysfunction. Creating problems for other people because of their worldly doctrinal views. Which may be a part of a church system like the catholic lady. Or it may be like one of my other couples who do not go to church, but have a background in “christianity” and side with evil, because the evil man is their friend. Or a third option, one who practices “calvary” and is very worldly. The last one does not cause me many problems anymore, because when I confronted him in truth and made it clear to him I do not do things like that. He understood and backed down. And as a matter of fact this weekend when we were together, he said we all agreed to let you do what you did and then we finish it off later (when speaking of the federal zone that the first lady keeps complaining about. And this guy was pissed because she changed a lot of what I had done, leaving it looking like trash. These two do not get along. Actually my wife does not speak with her either.
I speak to her but keep my distance, and stop engaging in her foolish deals, which when she changes things, like the work I did in the federal zone which she made look like trash, then blames me for it. Keeping my distance keeps my peace. Keeping my mouth shut instead of sticking up for myself, keeps my peace. As I tell my older daughter all the time, because she is having some problems in school with kids “bullying her.” The other people’s opinions are none of your concern. Let them talk and let whoever thinks what they will because of the talk. That advice is the same for me.
Now a second thing that happened to my wife, so she is also learning this lesson. She had a tough thing happen because of me (actually it is a small deal but it became huge in her head). She has had similar problems with me like this before and was mad at me for months, and wanted to leave me. She felt betrayed because i did not stick up for her and lie when she did not do what she was supposed to.
This time however the Lord stepped in and told her, “it is your fault, you should have changed it months ago when you knew it was a problem and not now.” The other thing the Lord made known to her was it was his doing, and so was the last time. That he puts us in these situations to teach us things. She did not learn this lesson because she read these verses on Sunday in church (although we did). She learned this lesson because the Lord stepped in and showed her.
Which brings up a third point, I have tried to explain these things to her many times, she would not and could not hear it. As the Lord keeps showing me, no one can learn from my experiences, you must go through them yourself while seeking the Lord’s will and way. And when you do he opens your eyes to the wisdom of God. But also I have been praying for her sanctification, that the Lord would show her his truth and so she can understand. And because she was seeking and because of my prayer. And a little because of the timing of hearing the verses from Proverbs just beforehand. The Lord was able to make his point, which set her free of a few things. And taught her a lot.
This is the main point the Lord makes to me over and over. You cannot learn the ways the Lord wants you to live unless you know him and let him teach you these things. And the teachings come with suffering, but that suffering is producing for you a glory that far outweighs it all. Let it do its work in you, do not ignore the workings of the Holy Spirit and quench the Spirit, but instead let him work into you what you need to work out.
The examples I share (which is exactly what the true “church” is about. Are not to educate you, that is the Lords doing. It is to tell you what to expect so when the Lord comes and speaks to you, you do not blaspheme the Holy Spirit calling him an evil spirit. Because the church system teaches you to blaspheme the Holy Spirit when he shines his darkness into your light. The church system does not want you to know God, they want you to know their version of a god who is much easier to follow, not so demanding and expecting you to be perfect. A god who accepts your human nature and sin instead of telling you to overcome your human nature and sin.
One of the other teachings today was about the talents (again) from Matthew 25. And how the lazy servant defended himself to God about why he hid the talent instead of investing it or using it to gain more. He blamed God and made excuses for himself, which, how many of us do that? I did in my human nature in my old days. And I also took all the credit for my successes, giving me a big head.
I know what is evil in the sight of the Lord, and what he expects from us. Not because I am special, but because I hear and obey him. Which makes me special in his eyes. This is what he expects, to hear and obey so he can cleanse you and purify you and make you Holy, righteous in your actions. You cannot do it without Yeshua the Lord. And this is why he is the “way, Truth and Light, and why no one gets to the Father except through the Son!”
No matter how good you are at following the law, and how many times you read your bible and go to church, that is not following the Lord, it is following another path which will keep you in sin and lead to death. Only Yeshua can save us and lead us into life eternal. Are you allowing him to have his way with you, like my wife and myself? Or do you remain in your sinful complaining ways which keep you in sin?