LOCKET VERSES        WEEK 38

What is valuable to you?  To the world, it seems things of value must be measured in monetary terms, their worth must be calculated in dollars and cents.  Is it any wonder that when someone covets those things, there is only emptiness and the lust for more with each worldly gain.  For the Christian, things of value should be much different: family, friends, church, blessings from the Lord, God’s favor and His salvation.  All these things have value that can never fade away.  Likewise, when we think on the things that are called precious, meaning of highest value, we can look at the collection of the world.  There is gold, and a multitude of rubies... diamonds, silver, and much more.... BUT the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.  As God compares those things to which He gives His estimation of preciousness, in His collection of jewels of great value, are the lips of knowledge.  I inherited my grandmother’s ruby ring.  It became very precious to me.  I loved to look at the deep rose pink jewel and watch it catch the rays of light and from deep within shine them out in many different directions.  When we have lips of knowledge that speak forth God’s wisdom and graciousness, we must be like that to Him.  We can become like a beautiful jewel shining in His sunlight of love.  When we take into our hearts the depths of knowledge and speak it forth again, think of how that is like the reflected light of my ruby.  It will shine forth in many different directions, affecting all who encounter us.  The more we turn to the brilliance of His light of knowledge, the Scriptures, the more reflection will be given forth.  The knowledge shed abroad from our lips will color our "corner of the world" with that rosy glow called serenity, peace and comfort.  You know, my finger unadorned by any jeweled ring, can not shine forth any rays of light.  In our own "flesh" we can not have lips of knowledge, we are like that empty finger.  No matter how much of the knowledge of the world we try to apply to our lives, it will not shine forth in brilliance like the jewel of God’s wisdom.  When we allow the Lord to place His "jeweled ring" around us and clothe us with His righteousness and wisdom, then we can be as God intended: lights in the midst of a dark world.  Then we can let our lights shine.  What was your first make-up?  Mine was a pink lipstick.  Even as a young teen, I wanted to adorn my lips.  I knew that it would add something of beauty to my physical being.  Far greater is the beauty of knowledge applied to our spiritual lips.  I have used the illustration before, but it bears repeating: Think of a beautiful woman standing before you.  She opens her mouth to speak and out of it comes words of cursing, anger, lack of true knowledge and grace.  What happens to her beauty in your eyes?  It has certainly lessened.  But, instead, let her speak forth words of comfort, grace and wisdom from the Lord, and she becomes even more beautiful in your sight.  Today, are your lips speaking forth the knowledge of the Lord?  Are they beautiful in His sight and in the sight of others?  Have they become precious, more precious than gold or rubies?  Pray that they will, and then consciously work at reflecting His love and light.

I love to cross stitch and when I read this verse it sounded like one that should be on a cross stitch plaque with a beautiful flower strewn road pictured around the verse.  What a wonderful verse to memorize!  One of the first things that struck me about this verse is the fact that the individual mentioned followed after two things and God blessed him with three as a reward.  He followed after righteousness and mercy, and found life, righteousness, and honor.  How very like the Lord to give us more than we could ever imagine in reward for faithfulness.  My dear friend Linda, my missionary co-worker for years, always prayed that she could serve the Lord with her life.  God gave her many years of missionary service, and then, as an added blessing, a wonderful marriage and a lovely daughter.  More than she had ever imagined!  Another missionary co-worker, Barbara, prayed that the Lord would use her as a missionary to Brazil.  God answered, and when she arrived on the field He gave her a tremendous love for the people and the blessing of a close Brazilian lady friend to serve alongside of her.  More than she could have imagined.  When my husband was away from the Lord, I prayed every day that he would come back to church and to the Lord.  When he did come back to church, he not only rededicated his life to the Lord, but within two months, surrendered to full time service and entered Bible college.  All I had asked for was a husband to stand by my side in church!  God answered with more than I could ever have imagined!  When we determine in our hearts to follow after the righteousness and mercy of God, to seek it with all our being, to set it as a guiding light along our pathway of life; God will abundantly bless us with His true and rich blessings beyond all that we could imagine or think!  God has wonderful promises for those who will follow after Him.  Consider just a few of the promise verses: Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord... he shall come unto us as the rain. Hosea 6:3.  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12.  If any man serve me, let him follow me: and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. John 12:26.  Jesus is called the Lord our Righteousness in Jeremiah 23:6.  Not only is one of the attributes of the Lord righteousness, but He is righteousness itself!  Psalm 119:137 says: Righteous art thou, O Lord...  To follow after righteousness, then is to follow after the Lord.  The world can not offer us a speck of righteousness in its true form, because the only valid and pure quality of righteousness is found with the Lord.  God promises that if we follow after Christ, and claim Him as the Lord our Righteousness, God will give to us His righteousness!  Our verse says, we will find it!  After wandering in the darkness of sin, when we meet Jesus in salvation, suddenly we find that we are covered with His righteousness.  No matter what we were like before, what we had done, or where we had been, we are declared righteous!  O Glory Halleluiah!  In addition, there is a very strong idea in our verse regarding our life after salvation.  As believers, if we earnestly follow after the righteousness of the Lord, He will continually grant us measure upon measure of His righteousness.  This will help us to make wiser decisions, live a purer life, abstain from sin, and have victories everyday.  I certainly need that, don't you!  When we follow after His mercy, He will grant us life.  It is because of His gift of mercy that we can have eternal life.  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us. Titus 3:5.  When we find Christ, we find life; eternal life and abundant life here on earth.  Beyond all this, the Lord will grant us honor!  How truly marvelous and so like the Lord, to grace the lives of His children with honor.  Truly the children of the King of Righteousness and Mercy should be honored!  Think of the results of finding honor in your own life!  Honor from the Lord removes all shame and unworthiness.  He has made you fit for heaven and fit to live as a child of the King here on earth.  In following the Lord, each of us has found the honor that the world vainly searches for.  While they look for it in possessions and power, we can find it as a bright jewel in our treasure chest of blessings from God.  It is that gift of our verse that is above and beyond all that we could imagine.  Just think, the God of all Glory has given you honor.  That thought could just change your day for the better!  "Lord, help me to live this day in honor, respecting Your honor in my life before all men.  Whatever I say or do, let it bring honor to Your holy name."

As Christians, it is so very important for us to realize that there is no true counsel that is outside of the Lord’s wisdom and direction.  Our modern world is very intrigued with counseling.  Even earnest Christians can fall easy prey to the wiles of the world because of this trend.  In most systems of counseling, sin is often called by a different name, such as: difficulties, variant lifestyles or many other things rather than the sin that it is.  For this reason, it is vital that the Christian seek the counsel of the Lord.  Without acceptance of sin as sin, there will be no real confession and, therefore, no cleansing and no true victory.  Remembering this, we should notice that our verse for today does not primarily deal with where we seek counsel, but rather that no other counsel can stand that opposes that of the Lord.  Near the end of the verse, we find the word against.  The verse assures us that there is NO wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.  Throughout the ages, men have tried to discredit the Lord and His Word.  The modern day cynics, accusers of the brethren and attackers of God’s Word, may feel that they are speaking from modern wisdom and new advances in science, but the author of their attacks is that "old serpent the Devil."  Even in the Garden of Eden, his deception of Eve began with an attack on the Word of God and actually on the Person of God.  He tried to plant doubt in Eve’s mind when he said, Yea, hath God said...  Throughout the ages, in one way or another, he has continued to try to plant doubts in the minds of men by saying the same old thing, "Yea, hath God really said?"  This doesn’t just question the validity of Scripture, but is designed to make us doubt the very existence and power of God.  Satan knows that if he can make us doubt in one area, our minds will become a fertile ground for the planting of stronger seeds of doubt that will soon grow into the choking vines of distrust and disbelief.  It is not only the unsaved that he speaks to, but to Christians everyday.  He knows that if he can get us to accept "wisdom, understanding or counsel" outside of the Lord and contrary to His Word, we will be defeated in our Christian lives.  How subtle this process can be.  It can include things from our past schooling, even family traditions and teachings that we hold dear.  It could be present day teachings, even from such places as television and ladies magazines.  Anything that tries to exalt itself against the counsel of the Lord can only be designed to lead us away from the truth and power of God’s wisdom and way for our lives.  No matter how often men have said, "There is no God," their words against the Lord have not stood.  There is a God and He is in control!  I know it, and you know it, because you are saved by His mighty power.  When we became Christians we took a stand against the lies of the world in relation to the reality of the Lord.  Everyday, we need to take the same strong stand against the wiles and teachings of the world that would try to trick us into believing their counsel, wisdom or worldly understanding against the way of the Lord.  How prevalent in American Christian life this deception is, will probably only be known in full when we stand before the Lord in all His glory at the Judgment.  In the years that I have been a missionary and a pastor’s wife, I have seen countless Christians give heed to the counsel of the world rather than to the clear directives of the Lord.  It has been used to justify divorce, refusal to restore relationships, wrong directions for life, lack of confession of sin, and failure to see sin as sin in an individual’s life.  It is probably one of the biggest areas of lack of Christian victory that I have seen.  Everyday, each one of us has Satan and the world whisper in our ears their lying doubts and misleading deceptions.  Take a firm stand today and declare with Solomon: There is NO wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD or against His Word for my life.  "Lord, help me to have a sensitive heart and mind to discern the misleadings of the world.  Help me to be so certain of Your Word and Your counsel that I will follow it against all others.  I know that the only true victory to be found is in the Lord, and that in the end of time no other philosophy or words will be able to stand against You.  Make me vigilant and strong in resolve to walk in Your wisdom and understanding and counsel alone.  Don’t let me be tricked into defeat!"

Both "the good name" and "the loving favor" in this verse could be thought of in relation to salvation.  When we are saved, we are given the name of "Christian" and we receive the loving favor of the Lord.  Those two things are worth more than all the great riches and gold that the world can offer.  An interesting thing about the riches of the world is their fleeting quality.  In the West, there are many "ghost towns."  Today you can visit those towns, sometimes called boom towns.  Usually, these settlements were begun because of the nearby discovery of gold, silver, or some other precious commodity.  Soon after the discovery, hundreds of people would flock to the area.  Some of them would come as prospectors, hoping to strike it rich.  Others would come to profit from the new found riches: store keepers, saloon owners, and mine workers.  Soon an entire town would be built, every occupant dependent in one way or the other on the wealth gained from the ore deposits nearby.  In many cases, the rich vein of gold or silver would sooner or later run out.  Then, because the entire town was in existence only because of the profit from the mines, all of the residents would move away.  Today all that remains are empty, windswept, and sun worn buildings as reminders of the fleeting loyalty of riches.  What a difference it is with the Lord.  His riches are promised to us for eternity.  His loving favor can never "run out."  No matter what we do, or how far we dig ourselves into trouble, the Lord’s loving hand is reached out still.  No matter how long we live, or how far we stray, we are forever claimed by the Lord as His own, part of His family, Christian by title and by record in His books in Heaven.  Gold, silver, great riches can be lost in a moment of time by the world, but we can never lose Christ.  In Him are hid all the riches of eternal glory and they are ours as we dwell in Him.  After we are saved, we still need to heed this verse.  Some of us can so easily forget the true value of the riches we have been given so freely in Christ.  That is why so many Christians slip away from the mountain top of serving Christ.  It is why they can be so easily allured by the things of this world.  They forget to see the true value of those things that are eternal as compared to the temporary value of the things of the world.  The loving favor of God is a freely offered gift.  However, we should not let that assured fact make us lose sight of our responsibilities.  We should be living each day constantly seeking to please Him who loves us so.  I love my children, that love is unconditional and forever theirs, just because they are my children and I am eternally bound to them in love.  But there is that special measure of loving favor that I feel toward them when they do those things which are exceedingly pleasing to me.  Perhaps we need to remind ourselves of this human emotion of parent and child, and apply it to our Heavenly Father.  How much must He feel loving favor toward those that live their lives in such a way as to exceedingly please Him.  Even of His own Son, the Father said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.  Jesus always did those things which pleased the Father.  In our own lives, we should seriously take stock today.  Are we doing those things which please the Father?  Is that unique quality of loving favor bestowed on the obedient and loving child, gracing our lives?  To live each day pleasing the Father and basking in His love should be the motivation for each one of us!  Many a Christian, after realizing an area of sin that they have been involved in, will bow their head and say, "I feel so ashamed."  Why do they feel that way?  It is because they realize that wherever they go and whatever they do, they carry the name of Jesus with them.  How much better to live a life where we can proudly hold our head up and say, "Yes, I am a Christian."  The good name that we possess, should be well guarded.  Many a soldier of ancient times went into battle following the banner of their beloved king.  They fought for his good name.  As soldiers of the Cross, we should fight the good fight in our spiritual life with honor, bravery and diligence, remembering Whose banner we are following!  "Lord, today let me live my life so as to bring honor to Thy Holy Name.  Help me to remember the illustration of the child that pleases his parents, and make choices in my daily life that please You.  Thank You for Your unconditional love.  I also thank You for that special measure of loving favor that is reserved for those that love Thee as obedient children.  Help me to strive to gain that favor."

In the instruction of His Word, God wants us to know how to gain riches, honor and life.  The answer is by humility and the fear of the LORD.  The way of the world teaches just the opposite.  Several years ago there was a fad in instructional seminars.  One of the most popular concerned assertive techniques.  The theory was that to be successful, a person had to learn how to aggressively assert themselves in every area of life: private, career, marriage, the full scope.  People began to wear tee-shirts that said "Number One," meant to assert "I, myself, am number one."  I was teaching Junior High School at the time and several of my pupils came to class wearing versions of the slogan.  Others wrote it on the side of their papers.  I noticed a lack of spiritual desire and cooperation among the students.  Friendships began to suffer.  Quickly, I started a "lecture series" on why the slogan and teaching of "I am number one" was wrong, and Who really should be number one in our lives.  Every young person but one in the class truly took the lessons to heart.  We had a new spirit of friendship and a renewed interest in the things of the Lord.  Cooperation and respect for one another, including for their teacher, grew and the rest of the year was a real joy.  The one student who seemed to fail to accept the lesson, had trouble the entire year.  His self-centeredness and lack of desire to be humble and obedient, hurt himself most of all.  He was not a success, in fact, he was the very first student I ever recommended be failed for a school year.  He was a very sharp young man, but his attitude controlled his entire school performance.  By lack of humility and spiritual desire, instead of the riches of rewards, he had to suffer defeat.  But, praise the Lord, the others seemed to understand.  It was very rewarding to teach those that had a desire to learn.  Their riches were gained in many ways: enjoyment in class, increased learning and spiritual growth.  God’s lesson is always true.  When we are humbled before the Lord and recognize Him as worthy of all honor and respect; success and joy will be ours.  The world’s teaching will only leave us the losers, empty of joy, vainly searching for success.  The Lord gives us the proper view of the issue in Isaiah 57:15: For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.  Those that dwell in heaven, are shown as having humility and fear of the Lord, those two important ingredients of salvation.  These must be experienced in our life to have eternal life and eternal rewards.  Only by coming before the Lord in humble confession of sin and our need for a Savior, can we know His cleansing power that makes us fit for Heaven.  Let us not forget the way we were at the moment of salvation.  Remember the contrite heart and the overwhelming respect for the Lord that caused you to kneel at His feet.  Pray that you will never forget that feeling, because each one of us needs it in our everyday life.  If we are to lift His Name up and give glory to the Lord in our life, then we must come before Him with humble hearts.  Humility will help us to view ourselves honestly.  It will help us to establish proper relationships with others.  We will be more easily entreated by those we love, less likely to be stubborn and more likely to see our own failures and shortcomings.  Truly God’s people can only live in harmony with each other and with God, when the spirit of humility and true fear of the Lord is operating in each of their lives.  Think of how important it is today to claim the Lord as "Number One" in every area of your life.  Do you want true riches and honor and life more abundant?  Then ask the Lord to work the spirit of humility in your life.  Let Him root out the spirit of self pride and replace it with His love and gentleness.  The rewards are waiting for these who have learned the lesson: pride cometh before a fall, but those that bow themselves before the Lord in humility, God will lift up!

My husband’s grandmother was a lady who had lips that spoke forth graceful words.  I am certain that many young ladies in her church wanted to know how they could be like her.  The secret is in this verse: she loved pureness of heart.  When we love something, we desire to have it.  If our desire is to have a pure heart, then we will constantly strive to be free from sin.  We will strive to please the Lord in all things.  Our minds will be stayed upon the things of the Lord and not the things of the world.  We will fill our heart with praise and knowledge of the Lord.  We will consistently come to the Lord for cleansing from sin and the filling of His Holy Spirit.  These are the steps we must take to have pureness of heart.  Since this area is so important for Christian ladies, let’s make an official list with appropriate Scriptures to memorize.  Take this list as a challenge and let each one of us work on the lessons it contains.  What better places our homes would be, if they were filled with gracious words.  How much less possibility would there be of trouble in our churches, if all spoke with words of grace and encouragement.  How many more would be led to the Lord if they were witnesses of Christians speaking with grace seasoned with salt.  How important a thing our lips are!

STEPS TO HAVING LIPS OF GRACE (Proverbs 22:11)

    1.     LOVE PURENESS OF HEART   Philippians 4:8

    2.     STRIVE TO BE FREE FROM SIN   II Peter 3:14, I Peter 3:15

    3.     STRIVE TO PLEASE THE LORD   I Thessalonians 4:1, I John 3:22

    4.     KEEP OUR MINDS STAYED UPON THE LORD, NOT THE WORLD   Romans 12:1-2

    5.     GROW IN PRAISE AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD   Colossians 1:10

    6.      SEEK THE CLEANSING AND FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT   Colossians 1:9 & 10, Philippians 3:15, II Timothy 2:21

Notice the special promise of our verse in Proverbs: if we love pureness of heart and demonstrate the grace of our lips, the king will be our friend.  A king would certainly not want to give his friendship to one who had a froward mouth, because that person could not be trusted.  In the royal court, someone who spoke rashly or improperly would not only be out of place, but also bring reproach on his king.  In the private life of a king, a friend would often be needed, one who could be confided in and deep needs shared with, all in the confidence that the person would, in return, share with words of grace, love and comfort.  If we substitute a capital K in King, we can gain an even deeper promise from this verse.  At salvation, by His grace, Jesus becomes our Savior.  In His High Office, He is Lord of lords and King of kings.  He is King over all creation and desires to be King of our lives.  But He also can be our dearest and closest Friend.  Very few Christians ever truly approach this precious and promised relationship with the Lord Jesus.  They get too tangled up in the things of the world and this life to realize what a Friend they can have in Jesus.  He is that Friend that sticks closer than a brother, the Friend who will always stand by us and uphold us, the One we can share our deepest thoughts and needs with, the One who gives the greatest joy of companionship, the Friend who will never fail us.  Stop and examine your relationship with our wonderful Lord.  Is it just one of Savior and servant?  Or have you grown to find Him as your special Friend?  Each one of us surely has a need to cultivate a deeper friendship with Jesus.  We need to spend more time with Him, trust Him more, communicate with Him in love.  Remember the steps listed above, they are a good start to discovering the joy of knowing the King as your friend.

The word picture of these verses is charmingly drawn.  In verse 17, we can almost see a child, attentively listening to their parent.  All their concentration is given as the parent teaches them.  You can almost sense them leaning forward to catch every word.  Without a doubt, the lesson being taught is reaching their mind and becoming a part of their very person.  Deep within, the training is taking root to become a firmly implanted idea.  The picture of verse 18 is more poetic and full of imagery.  From deep within the heart a bright jewel is drawn with great skill and loving care.  It is finely crafted, shaped and polished until it is that one unique sculptured jewel that will fit perfectly in the setting of the parted lips of the person.  As the master craftsman delicately lowers the jewel into its place, a thing of beauty is made.  Like a growing design, the color and shine of the jewel imparts itself to the lips in which it was placed until they became lovely and shining like the jewel of wisdom mined from the heart.  As the lips part to speak, it is no longer the jewel alone that shines, but every word that issues forth becomes like droplets of glistening precious stones in the air, beautiful to behold.  The word pleasant in verse 18, describes both scenes.  Pleasant it is to hear the words of one who treasures the wisdom of God deep within.  Pleasant it is to God to behold this beauty in the life of one of His own.  And how pleasant it is for the one who speaks the words.  Think of it: no remorse for words harshly spoken, no shame for things wrongly said, no guilt over hasty words of anger.  Instead, joy and peace within, as we allow the Holy Spirit to direct our words.  In Ephesians 4:29, is a wonderful admonition from the Lord concerning our mouths and how they should be used.  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  One year when I planned an area ladies’ seminar, God especially impressed this verse upon my heart.  The last phrase was used as the theme of the seminar: "Ministering grace unto the hearers."  Every aspect of our activities for that event was planned with the idea of demonstrating or teaching the lesson of that phrase.  Our church was to host the event.  For weeks every lady in our church, prayed that each one of us would be used by God to minister grace to all those in attendance.  We made lovely miniature corsages for each lady who would attend, we planned an elegant luncheon, beyond the ordinary meal, we decorated the church in two shades of lavender, we carefully chose the theme of each teaching segment of the seminar to go with the over all theme.  In the end, the sessions attempted to cover every area of a Christian woman’s life and how it could be used to minister grace to the hearers.  What we were teaching was really summed up in our verses for today.  To minister grace, we must first be apt listeners at the feet of our Savior.  Our concentration must be fully given to the Holy Spirit as He instructs us in wisdom and knowledge.  We must apply the knowledge to our hearts and work at making it a part of us.  Only then can God draw that lovely jewel of His wisdom, treasured deep within our hearts, and craft it to fit perfectly in our lips, to work through our lives ministering grace to the hearers and becoming a "pleasant thing" in our lives.  Search your heart today: are you being a minister of grace with all that you do and say?  Are your lips the setting for a jewel of great beauty?  Are they shining forth in reflection of that jewel?  Do others behold a creation of God’s beauty in you as you speak forth words of grace?  Let each one of us put ourselves into the two word pictures of verses 17 and 18.  What a joy to consider that we can become a pleasant thing in the sight of the Lord!