The Deception of Drink Prov 23:29-35

Proverbs 23:29-35

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? 30 Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. 31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! 32 In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. 33 Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. 34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. 35 "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?"   We dog-sat a Beagle for a few months last summer.  She was a sweet dog... loving, fun, playful, but sooo disobedient.  If a door was open a crack, she was out and running.  the more we called, the farther she would run.  Finally, we had to give her up to her own devices, and just pray she would come home on her own.  She did, eventually, but she wouldn't come into the house unless we tricked her and dragged her in against her will.  Once she was in, she was happy and content.  Her owner, my good friend, was the same way.  She knew that alcohol was killing her, but she quit rehab said that "God told her to come home".  The word came last Thursday.  She was gone.  My friend was dead.  I knew she was in trouble, but she didn't like what I had to tell her.   She was a believer in the Lord, but she couldn't break the addiction that held her so tightly in its grip.  She ended up choosing what would destroy her instead of living the life she was meant to live... one of safety, security, comfort and surrounded by love.  We all grieve for her.  We, who tried so desperately to save her from herself.  But in the end, it was not enough.  
Like her beagle, when the door opened a crack and she saw a way to escape rehab, she ran.  The more we called, the farther she ran.  The more we pursued, the more she hid.  So we had no choice but to leave her to her own desire.  We continued to pray for her, to ache for her, but in the end she had enough money to destroy herself and she did.  
It's odd that the dog was her reason for wanting out of rehab, and it is the dog that is now alone in the shelter because she got what she wanted.   Lord, help us to obey, even when it's not what WE want at the moment... especially when it's not what we want.

Prov. 19:18 Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.  Discipline, in today's society is a dirty word.  I brings up thoughts of child-beating, and rigid, loveless strictness.  In short, discipline has gotten a bad name.  We all discipline ourselves in a myriad of ways... we go to work on time, we do the dishes, we wash clothes, we curtail our recreational driving to save on fuel expense, we live on a budget.  Discipline is just TRAINING.  
Our children need training, as we all do.  Children need to learn self-control.  Not Mom-control (though parents who constantly re-direct toddlers instead of teaching self-control seem very controlled by their offspring), not situation control - none of us have situation control, though we try to, but SELF control.  "In that there is hope."  Hope that the young person will someday be able to rule their own desires.  It begins as soon as a child begins to walk... "Don't go in the street."  "Stay on the sidewalk."  "Come here."  These are life-saving commands, but only if they can be obeyed.  (Obey - another word verboten in our culture)  
Without teaching self-discipline, parents are a "willing party to" their children's death.  Ouch!  That cuts deep!  But it is so true... young movie/rock stars who are manager-controlled, or Disney-controlled, at 18, suddenly have no external control.  If they have not been taught self-control, they have no holds barred and frequently crash and burn at a very young age... we all know of child stars who are dead or dying of addictions.  
We must teach our children to deny themselves.  This exercise works for toddler.  Place a nick-knack on the coffee table and tell the child "No, don't touch".  (For parents who object on the grounds of entrapment, I refer you to Genesis, Chapter 2, where God himself puts a tree in the middle of the garden where Adam and Eve can see it, and touch it, but tells them NOT to eat of it.)  Then just wait and watch.  If the child touches it, give a little slap to the offending hand.  It usually doesn't even need to be painful... just so the child knows it is a rebuff.  Repeat the "No!, Don't touch!" command.  If the child touches it again, repeat the hand-slap, but not any harder than before.  If the child goes a whole minute without touching the object, praise them and give a reward!  Then, put the object away for training later.  If the child continues to touch, reward after a smaller amount of time, but always before the disobedience.  If the child continues to disobey, put the object away for next time.  Never give a reward unless the child is successful.  Repeat often, and with different objects.  The "come here" command is one that also needs to be trained, and could save their lives.  Conversely, if it is not taught effectively, could kill them.
So, discipline your children, for in that there is hope.  Do not be a willing party to their deaths

Proverbs 22:22-23  Do not exploit the poor because they are poor, and do not crush the needy in court; for the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.


Years ago we were selling a property.  Our attorney demanded $2,000 MORE dollars to do the closing than the sum to which we had all agreed.  We were out of state, the attorney was holding all the cards and we all knew it.  The buyers were there with cash - but not enough to pay his raise in fees.  My husband had only recently been laid off from his company, and was, at that time unemployed, but we felt there was nothing we could do, except trust the Lord.  So we agreed to pay.  We are STILL paying, since that was our agreement. 

There have been many times I have wished for a good (and honest) attorney.  Many wrongs go unpunished since the poor (and the new middle class-poor) cannot afford to defend themselves much less prosecute wrong-doers.  

Though I have read this verse many times, only today did I see that "the Lord will take up their case..."  He will accept their case in court, as it were.  He is our advocate, not only before the Father, but in the court of LIFE.  Verse 23 says "He will plunder those who plunder them". (the poor) 

When I look at our financial situation, and our family and work situations, I realize that we are below poverty level by many standards... we would qualify for food assistance, energy assistance, probably Medicaid, but we have chosen to trust the Lord, and not the government.  AND we have everything we need!  We have food, because we distribute food for the food bank; we have shelter because the Lord lead us to some people with a run-down property who needed to sell. (And we LOVE to fix up old places).  We have vehicles that are paid for, and run  (thanks to the Lord's blessing and my husband's mechanical skills - which grow each time we break down!)  WE ARE BLESSED AND JOYFUL.

But, I wonder about this attorney, this man who would sell his integrity for a mere $2000.  Is his family happier and healthier because of the $50 per month we are STILL paying him?  Or is the Lord plundering his family, his fortune and his soul?

Supply and be supplied!

Prov.11:25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.  I find this verse fascinating.  It goes against logic.  The more one gives, the more one receives.  As unlikely as it seems, I am benefiting from this  principle even today.   As I load a thousand pounds of food for the food pantry, unpack and store it, and give away another thousand pounds, I realize that I am surrounded by food I would not be able to afford without the Lord multiplying our meager donations.  I don't buy top sirloin, but since I distribute top sirloin, I also get to eat it occasionally.  Each and every week the Bread of Life Food Bank distributes 1,000 lbs of food to our community.  All who help out also receive what we need, and I hope the recipients also pass on God's goodness.  THAT is the way to extend a miracle... by keeping it going.  Paying it forward.  Enlarge the spout where the glory comes out.  The more we give away, the more God gives us.  Take that to the bank!

Proverbs 4:23-27 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.   Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.  Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.  Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.  Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. 


A good friend is killing herself this week.  That is a shocking statement, is it not?  But I know that she has been waiting for the means, which have just arrived.  She now has the resources to drink her pain away.  Why is it that family is not enough?  Why are friends not enough?  Why are our best efforts not enough to change her path... a path she has not only chosen, but repeatedly defended?  I refuse to give up.  I will continue, until her last breath (or mine-whichever comes first) to try to get her the help she needs.  


I have to wonder... if she had guarded her heart, would she be where she is today?  Maybe someone else stole from her.   Maybe she was deceived, as we all are in some way.  Did she ever know the prize that awaits her?  Does she, even now, know the treasure that SHE IS???  No, she does not.  No matter how many times we tell her, she will never believe it until she is secure in the arms of her savior... please, Lord, let that happen while she is still alive... let her know the great life that is available in YOU.  Show her, Lord, your goodness for  THIS life... the joy of knowing you, and that you have a plan.  "For I know the plans I have for you.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans for hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

King David wrote in Psalm 25:15-17,"My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish.


I should get going... I may have to break her door down to help her.  With a future this good, how can I let her go?  When the plans for her life are so filled with blessing, how can I give her up to such pain and torture when it may be in my power to help?  I can't.  I refuse to fail.  I will do battle for my friend. 

Proverbs 1:7  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

There are some things that you  know that you Know that you KNOW.  The fear of the Lord is one of those things.  When you ask and receive over and over again, it reinforces the fact that our Lord is attentive to his children's cries.  Yes, there are testing times when the teacher is silent... when your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling... when the teacher's silence is really saying, "Did you learn what I taught you?  Are you trusting me?  Will you keep trusting me when you DON'T get what you want?"  Only in the testing can we really know how deep our faithfulness is!  Is it only skin deep?  Are we only faithful to God when he's a vending machine... (we put in our time/prayers/good works and he delivers whatever we ask for)? 

A good parent uses good things to teach, and bad things to teach, too.  God uses everything.  Haven't you read it?  "And we know that all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28   There's a song on Christian radio now that talks about 45 in a 35 (MPH speed zone - getting a ticket)  It says, "It's not the stuff that I would choose, but this is the stuff You use."  (to teach us; to make us better)  Nothing but the best tests for the children of the King.