Matthew 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
Christ has just completed the Sermon on the Mount. In this verse, we are told the response of the people who heard the commands of Christ. We are told that the people were astonished. According to […]

Matthew 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
What is the most important thing to you? Where is your heart? Are you more concerned about your house here on earth than you are about your mansion in heaven? […]

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Is your heart right before God? When you have a pure heart, it means that you sin less because you understand that sinning grieves both you and God because of the damage it does to your relationship. A pure heart is a heart […]

Proverbs 31:26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
One of the characteristics of a person who has virtue is that they have filled their heart with wisdom. Scripture tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, does the mouth speak. Your mouth will not speak […]

Proverbs 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
What are the desires of your heart? If you are not careful, you will find that your heart can deceive you and cause you to long for things that you really do not want or that […]

Proverbs 23:26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
Where is your heart? What are the things that you desire? God desires you heart. You need to turn it over to HIM and allow HIM to control your longings.
What is the most important thing to you right now? If we […]

Proverbs 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
You will not obtain knowledge of the ways of God simply because of how good looking you are. You will not obtain knowledge of the ways of God simply because your parents go to church. You […]

Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Who is the judge of your life? If you are the judge, you will never condemn yourself. If you are the judge, you will always find excuses for your behavior. If you are the judge, you will […]

Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
God knows the heart of a child. God understands why a child is doing what he is doing. Is the child being destructive or is the child trying to show her love in a way that […]

Proverbs 15:28 The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
Are you careful to think about what you are going to say before you say it or are you one who often opens mouth and inserts foot? Too often we do not think about what we […]

Proverbs 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
In this passage, we are given a warning to avoid loose women. You have heard that Christ commanded us that a man who lusted in his heart after a woman had already committed adultery with her. In this […]

Proverbs 6:18 A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
In this passage, Solomon gives us seven things that are an abomination unto the Lord. The fourth item in this list of abominations is a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations. God desires that our hearts be pure before him. Many people argue that just because they do not […]

Proverbs 2:2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
In this passage, Solomon is listing out the things that you must do in order to understand the fear of the Lord and to find knowledge of God. You understand from scriptures that you are to add knowledge of the […]

Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.
How many times have you heard the phrase that David […]

Psalms 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
Is it your heart’s cry to understand who God is? Do you take the time to discern what God is doing in your life? It is easy to say that you are a Christian, but […]

Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
It does not matter what you do, you cannot create for yourself a clean heart. Your own wickedness has dirtied your heart and you have no righteousness to make it clean. You must accept the righteousness […]

Psalms 45:1 My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
How is your heart today? Is it your desire to have a close relationship with God? Have you so filled your life with the things of […]

Psalms 35:12-13 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
Do you want to know why David was called a man after God’s own heart? This […]

Psalms 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Examine your life. You know the commands of the Lord; is the words that you speak acceptable to the Lord? Are you even meditating upon God�s word? God has given you a conscience by which you are able to examine your life to see where you have fallen short of HIS glory. It is your responsibility to come before God and examine your life from HIS perspective. You understand that HE is your strength.

God has redeemed you and given you the power over temptation. However, if you constantly choose to live your life for yourself, you will quickly find that you do not have the strength to overcome the wicked one. Instead, you need to be like David who constantly came before God and measured his life according to God�s standards. While David understood that it was impossible to live his life according to God�s perfect law, it was David�s desire to maintain a very close relationship with God.

Psalms 14:1-2 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none the doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

You may not have said it with your lips, but have you ever doubted that there is a God. You may have been going through a trial and it just seemed like God was not with you. It did not matter how hard you tried, how hard you prayed, it seemed like you were deserted, like you were in the valley of the shadow of death.

It does not matter how difficult it gets, you must never allow your heart to doubt that God loves you and that HE is with you every step of the way. Job had great wealth. God allowed Job to lose his wealth, his health and his family. Yet throughout this great trial, Job refused to deny God. Job understood that he came into this world with nothing and that he would leave this world with nothing and as such, he would trust God until God took his last breath away.

Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Jesus asked his disciples who the multitudes thought HE was. The multitudes thought that he could be John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. Jesus then asked the disciples who they thought HE was and Peter replied that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus then explained that Peter understood and believed that Jesus was the Son of God because God had revealed it unto him.

It is interesting to note that the multitude saw Jesus and thought that God had raised some prophet from the dead. They were not thinking that Jesus was a new prophet but instead was a resurrected prophet. They had heard the stories of God working through the prophets but rather then look at Jesus as the Son of God or even as a new prophet, they were stuck in the past and had determined in their heart that Jesus must be someone else.

Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

Have you ever said something mean to another individual and then shortly there after told them that you were only joking? While you may be telling the truth and did not actually mean what you said, according to Christ that come the Day of Judgment, you will have to give an account for every idle word. It does not matter that you did not mean the cruel words; you must still answer to God.

It does not matter if only you hear your idle words or if they spread like wildfire and are heard around the world. You are going to be judged by God for every word that is uttered from your mouth. Earlier in this chapter, we see that Jesus knew the thoughts of the Pharisees and he was able to confront their false opinions as to where Jesus received HIS power. If Christ could hear the thoughts of men, what makes you think that HE cannot hear every word that you speak?

Matthew 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

It all begins at the heart. A good man has a good heart and the result is good things. An evil man has an evil heart and the result of his life is evil. As your heart goes, so goes your life. You can have an evil heart and attempt to fool people for some time, but the wickedness of your heart will eventually reveal who you really are.

Christ teaches a lot about the heart during HIS ministry. You know that out of the abundance of the heart does your mouth speak. You know that you are to love the Lord your God with all your heart. You know that if you look at a woman and lust after her you commit adultery in your heart.

Matthew 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

During the Sermon on the Mount, Christ commanded you to not lay up for yourself treasures on this earth. Instead, Christ commanded you that the treasures you lay up for yourself should be the heavenly treasures that will last forever. The reason Christ gave for this commandment was that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Christ is not saying that you cannot live in a house and own a car. Christ is commanding you not to horde and collect things above that which you need. Christ desires that rather then spending your time, talent and treasure on things of this world that will eventually be destroyed, you should spend your time, talent and treasure upon the things of God that will build for yourself an eternal reward.

Matthew 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Satan�s second attempt to tempt Jesus came with the misuse of scripture. Satan knows that Jesus is the Son of God but that still does not stop him from attempting to cause Jesus to sin. If Jesus had cast HIMSELF down as requested by Satan, there is no doubt that Jesus would not have died. When Jesus was on the cross, HE acknowledged that all HE had to do was say the word and twelve legions of angels would come to HIS aid. Nonetheless, Jesus understood that HIS power was not in doing what was best for HIMSELF, HIS power was given to HIM to draw the world�s attention to the Father.

Proverbs 31:26b and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

The sixth benefit that Solomon would receive in marrying a virtuous woman would be that the words of his wife would naturally be filled with kindness. Solomon was to be a wise man and examine the life of his bride to be very carefully in order to ensure that virtue filled her entire life. Jesus told us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth does speak. Because the virtuous woman has filled her life with virtue, kindness is the fruit of her mouth.

The virtuous woman has demonstrated prior to her marriage that she is an independent individual who is able to properly manager her affairs so that she is not idle. One would naturally think that just because this virtuous woman was so self-sustaining prior to marriage that she would naturally lord over those around her. However, the law of the virtuous woman is the law of kindness and mercy. She has an excellency of spirit that enables her put God and others first. While virtue enabled her to be diligent and to not waste the time, talent and treasures that God had given her prior to her marriage, virtue also did not allow her to become proud of her achievements.

Acts 25:2-3 Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him, and desired favor against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.

Paul had been in prison for two years. However, when Festus arrived in Jerusalem, the first thing the Jews requested of him was that he hold judgment of Paul in Jerusalem. This request was coming from the high priest and the chief of the Jews. Nonetheless, even though their vocations were spiritual in nature and required that they know the word of God, these men had alterative motives. These men desired to kill Paul. They did not care for Paul to have his day in court. They knew that they could not get to Paul as long as he was in Caesarea, but they hoped if Paul was brought to Jerusalem, he could be killed as he traveled along the way.

II Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue;

Faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity are eight qualities that Peter calls the great and precious promises. These eight qualities are a gift from God to enable you to be partakers of the divine nature. However, these eight gifts are not passive in nature but require that you diligently apply them to your life.

For the last year, you have been studying the first of these eight precious promises, faith. It is your duty to God as HIS child to increase your faith to draw closer to HIM. However, faith is not the only precious promise that you are to obtain. All eight precious promises should be sought and obtained by you and applied to your life so that you might live a life pleasing unto God.

I Kings 3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

Solomon was king over the nation Israel. One day he went to Gibeon and he made a thousand burnt offerings unto God. That night God appeared unto Solomon and asked him what HE should give to him. Solomon did not ask for long life, riches, or for deliverance from his enemies. Solomon asked for wisdom to judge God�s people. God was pleased with Solomon�s request. God promised Solomon that because he did not ask for himself, God was going to give him his request for wisdom and he was going to give him long life, riches and deliverance from his enemies as long as Solomon walked in the ways of God and kept his statutes.

Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

God told Abraham that he was to sacrifice his only son Isaac upon an altar. Abraham and Isaac were traveling to the location of the sacrifice when Isaac asked Abraham where the sacrifice was. Abraham�s reply reveals the faith of Abraham in that he understood that this sacrifice was a test by God. Abraham could have said that Isaac was the sacrifice or he could have stated that God would provide the sacrifice. However, Abraham stated that a lamb would be provided. This reveals that in Abraham�s heart, he was obeying God, but that he fully expected God to stop the sacrifice and provide a lamb instead.