Emotions and Healing #2

God's Healing Series #7

Fred R. Coulter

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A lot of these things are known outside of the Bible by experience with people. Let's look at some of the things that we haven't covered and put them together in a way that we're going to make sense out of it. Let's see how things, especially in the way of emotions, can build up.

First of all, we're going to go from envy, to anger, to wrath, to bitterness. Those are the steps in which things come. We're going to spend a lot of time in the book of Proverbs.

ENVY:

The Scriptures say, 'As a man thinks in his heart, so he is.' It also says, 'Every way of a man is right in his own heart.' That's why you need the Word of God to show you what is right and wrong. How you feel may not necessarily be right or wrong. It may be a very deceiving thing.

Proverbs 14:30: "A sound heart is the life of the flesh, but envy the rottenness of the bones." Remember, in part 1 of Emotions and Healing we read in Prov. 3 how that loving God, serving God and keeping His commandments is 'health to the naval and marrow to the bones.' "…envy is the 'rottenness of the bones."It can cause you a great deal of ill health. There have been even some known cases that I have read about where it was advised people to repent of their envy and perhaps they would be able to reverse osteoporosis. Not all cases are true that way, but in some cases that has been done.

Envy can really shrivel and dry a person up. Why? Because if you're envious of someone else, you're not thinking what you can do! There are things that each person can do that's different from someone else. If you're envying someone else, you're really wishing you could be like that person when you ought to be who you are.

Here's one for today. Proverbs 23:17: "Do not let your heart envy sinners... [especially when you have nothing and they have everything] ...but be in the fear of the LORD all the day long." In other words, if you love God, if you fear God, if you keep His commandments, that's greater than all that we could have.

Let's go to a very interesting Psalm to show the thought process. Especially with television, it is so easy to do today, the TV program Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous shows the houses they have and they're just great, huge palaces:

• the wealth
• the paintings
• the furniture
• the lands
• bank accounts

and all this sort of thing. It's very easy to stir up envy in people. Let's see the process.

It can happen to anybody. That's why if somebody has something, be happy for them. In time God will bless you in His own way. Besides knowing and understanding the Word of God, you have more wealth than all of the riches of the wealthy. Occasionally, some wealthy people even come to the point of saying, 'I would rather have a happy marriage than all this wealth.' Here's an example of someone looking at the envy that they had and then coming to the right understanding of God.

Psalm 73:1: "Truly God is good to Israel, even to those who are pure of heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped, for I was envious at the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (vs 1-3). Then he began comparing himself with them. What does Paul say about comparing yourself among yourselves? You're not wise! Why? Because then it leads to envy!

Verse 4: "For there are no pangs in their death... [Look! Everything's going well with them!] ...and their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men... [if they are, they can buy their way out of it] ...neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore, pride is as a chain about their neck..." (vs 4-6). I cannot help but think of the haughtiness of the godfather John Gotti when he was going to trial in New York. He just flaunted everything before all of the law, attorneys and the U.S. government.

Verse 7: "Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than the heart could wish for. They scoff and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth.... [anything they want they get] ...Therefore, his people return here: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, 'How does God know?.…'" (vs 7-11).

Here's something that we need to always remember: God lets the wicked prosper so when they fall, it's going to be just like Pharaoh. God raised up Pharaoh for the very purpose of what He was going to do when He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. "…How does God know?…."

"'…And is there knowledge in the most High?'" (v 11). Does that not sound quite a bit like Christianity Without God by Lloyd Geering? Yes, indeed!

Verse 12: "Behold, these are the wicked, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches." Like they say today, it's just 'coming out their ears'; anything they want they can get.

Verse 13: "Surely I have made my heart pure in vain..." In other words, I don't know about this following God's way and God's commands. I've done everything God wanted me to do and I'm not prosperous. I don't have any of these things. Why does God give it to them and not to me? You see how envy comes in? That was his envy!

Verse 13: "…and washed my hands in innocence, for all the day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning... [Seems like I'm in trouble all the time. I can't get my head above water.] …If I say, 'I will speak thus'; behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children. When I thought to understand this, it was too painful for me" (vs 13-16). That's why envy doesn't work! Sometimes it is; sometimes it's a difficult proposition.

Here's how you get your senses, v 17: "Until I went into the sanctuary of God..." Same way with us. When we pray we go into the sanctuary of God—don't we? We say, 'Our Father in heaven' and we have direct access to God the Father in heaven above, which is the sanctuary of God—is it not? Yes! That's the only time you're going to get understanding, and that is when you come before God. Look at what they're trying to do in the world today to solve all the inequalities of life. That's the whole basis and premise of socialism and communism—isn't it?

• Have they ever really cured anything? No! Has it ever changed the heart of man? No!

When we're confronted with a problem like this, we need to take it to God.

David said, v 17: "…then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down into destruction" (vs 17-18). Sooner or later, it will happen. Look at the 12-year/1,000 year Third Reich. How did that end? Though it started out with great success—right? Same way with all the rich people in the world! When God begins to deal with this world, what are all these rich people going to do with all their gold and their silver? They're going to throw it to the moles and the bats! It's not going to be able to save them.

Verse 20: "Like a dream when one awakens; so, O LORD, when You awake, You shall despise their image." God is going to deal with them. He will! Let's use a current event of a well-known athlete, Kobe Bryant. All that money, all those endorsements, all those things and he never read the Proverb that says, 'The man who commits adultery is like taking coals of fire to his breast.' Was he set in a slippery place? Did God cast him down to destruction? He didn't destroy his life. But worse than that is to destroy your reputation and destroy your ability to earn 10's of millions of dollars in endorsements. You can go to example, after example after example.

Verse: 21: "For thus my heart was grieved... [he was upset, frustrated] ...and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant; I was like a beast before You" (vs 21-22). Yet, when he started out he thought he was right. When he started out he said, 'Look God, why do You give everything to them and nothing to me?'

Verse 23: "Nevertheless, I am always with You..." God is with you! What greater wealth could you have than God with you? It's very important to remember because God is able to provide whatever you need. Besides, I'll just paraphrase the Proverb: 'Better is the one who has little, with contentment, than one who has great wealth with all the strife and worry.'

"...You have held me by my right hand" (v 23). Isn't that a greater blessing to have God lead you? That you know God? Yes, indeed!

Verse 24: "You shall guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You I desire none upon earth" (vs 24-25) He came to his senses—didn't he? Of course, God had to lead him with His Spirit to understand it.

Verse 26: "My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever, for lo, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all who go a whoring from You, and me, it is good for me to draw near to God..." (vs 26-28). That's what to do for any trouble, any emotional problem, any of these things. The first step to bitterness is envy! If you can do what David did and cut it off at the first step, don't let it go beyond go beyond there.

"...I have made the LORD God my refuge, that I may declare all Your works" (v 28). There is the solution to it!

ANGER:

The next step is anger. If you're envious, sooner or later you're going to get angry. There's a 'right kind' of anger—which is righteous anger—that Paul said, 'Be angry and sin not.' Jesus even healed in anger. We're not talking about that right kind of anger. Paul also said, 'Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.' In other words: Whatever anger comes up, get it resolved before you go to bed. That way, you're not going to be lying there tossing and turning and upset all night.

Let's look at anger. We all have to learn. I've had to learn. I'm no different than you. It's easy to get angry—isn't it? Especially when you're right and more especially, when you know you are right—justified in being angry!

Proverbs 22:24: "Make no friendship with an angry man..." Someone who's angry doesn't have many friends either, really. Have you ever had a boss and all he is, is angry all the time? How do you feel? Have you ever been in a situation where you've had a yelling match and 'knockdown-drag out' affair? Don't you feel just so good afterwards? No! You feel miserable!

"…and you shall not go with a furious man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare" (vs 24-25). It's going to do something to your heart, your mind and your attitude. For those of us, including myself, who have a temper that needs to be overcome, it takes a great deal of overcoming. You're not going to overcome it all at once. It's not going to happen all at once. You've got to work at it. When that anger comes up, begin to control it.

Here's the cure to anger and wrath, Proverbs 15:1: "A soft answer turns away wrath..." If you're shouted at, don't shout back. All you're doing is escalating it, especially when both parties think they're right.

"...but grievous words stir up anger" (v 1). All you're doing is making it worse! You don't do that. That's a hard one to learn. Besides, when you do, isn't it really difficult to repair the damage? Yes, it is!

Isn't this true? Proverbs 14:17: "He who is soon angry acts foolishly..." When do you make your most foolish mistakes? When you're angry! When you finally come to your senses, you have to go back and correct the mistakes.

When I was 15 or 16 I really had a temper and I'm no mechanic. I'll tell you that. I'm no mechanic, but I thought I was. So, I thought I would fix my motorcycle. I couldn't do it, and I got frustrated and angry. I'd throw the wrenches all around the garage and 'blankety, blankety, blank'—angry, hostile and just be in a big huff. Did the motorcycle come together the way it should have been? No! I couldn't figure it out. I had all the parts in boxes lying all around and I couldn't put it back together. Did I learn the lesson of overcoming anger? No! That didn't come until later, that's true! "He who is soon angry acts foolishly…"

You know what happened with the motorcycle? I couldn't repair it because they didn't know how to weld aluminum at that time. Even if I got it welded, if that were possible, guess what? I couldn't have put it back together;I'd have to have someone else put it back together. It was a 1932, Indian Four, in-line. I sold it for whatever parts there were. So, "He who is soon angry acts foolishly…"

When we go through these things, we don't think how these things affect our health; they affect:

• your mental attitude
• your stomach
• your intestines
• your bones

We never think of it.

This is the Proverb that I began to make some sense for what I to do, because this Proverb lays it all bare. Proverbs 25:28: "He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a broken down city without a wall." That tells the story very plain—doesn't it? What are you going to do in your life if you're always angry? It's going to make you sick! You have envy and then anger. We'll look at a couple more here and then we'll go to wrath. Wrath is the increase of anger.

This can be true with either men or women. So, this is not 'pick on women' time; please understand this. Proverbs 21:19: "It is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a quarrelsome and angry woman." Also true: 'It is better to dwell in the wilderness that with a quarrelsome and angry man'—works both ways. This is not 'pick on women' day.

Proverbs 29:22: "An angry man stirs up strife, and a furious man abounds in transgression." Have you ever watched a baseball game or a football game where someone loses his temper and a fight begins and stirs up strife and hatred? "...and a furious man abounds in transgression"

Isn't that true. Just suppose you're working with a crew of men. Every once in a while, if they're not doing their job, you have to correct them. That is true, because some people are not able to correct themselves. Furthermore, some people don't even care. Those are the kinds of people that you don't want to employ.

The way I see that God prefers that people deal with each other—of course, this is a mature level—is to have missions. Here's a job to do, go do it; check back with me when it's done. If you need any help, ask me. When you have employees that's the way it should be and that's the way it needs to be.
How is the crew when the boss is angry and then he leaves? There's a big, depressive cloud that just hangs after someone has just blasted out his brains and his lungs at somebody and is absolutely, furiously right in his own eyes, slams the door, and walks out. It's just, WHEW! It's hard to recover.

Unfortunately, within the Church of God, too many times sermons have been based on that! What happened to the congregation? The results are very true—right? You go home like a whipped dog with your tail between your legs. When you come to services and Church, God expects the one who is teaching to be able to up-lift, to edify, to inspire! Has enforced anger upon anyone really resulted in willing compliance other than fear of further anger? I'm speaking from experience.

Unfortunately, parents are really taught nothing before they have their children, and here they are, now what do I do? They're nice and sweet when they're little but as they grow up it's different—isn't it? Now what do you do? I've had my furious mistakes that I've made. You've had yours that you have made. Has it worked? Did it convince them? Were they overwhelmingly willing, come and give you a hug and say, 'Oh, dad, you're so right'? You've left them with no breath. You've left them with no inspiration. It doesn't work, and besides you just run around with a mean look all the time when you do that—don't you?

WRATH:

Let's see about wrath. That's kind of anger multiplied a little more. God talks about His anger against the sinners, and then He talks about His wrath that He is going to do—the 'seven last plagues or the wrath of God.'

Here's the atmosphere that it leaves, Proverbs 27:3: "A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both. Wrath is cruel and anger is overwhelming, but who is able to stand before jealousy?" (vs 3-4). You see how they all come together?

I remember one time in Pasadena where we were there for a Bible study and it was an attempt to explain away the philandering adultery of one of the leading evangelists. Of course, the underground truth was circulated around with everyone. When it came time for this Bible study, everybody knew why they were there. Everybody was waiting for the admission of truth. The leading minister got up. You all know who he is, he has three initials to his name—HWA. He stood up, he leaned over the table and he literally glowered at everyone and said, 'You are all a bunch of dumb sheep!' Of course, he didn't admit anything, but what happened? "A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both" (v 3). That's how you felt when you went out.

I tell you what, the atmosphere at that Bible study was so absolutely icy cold that it was just unreal. I'll tell you what occurred in my mind: Yes, we may be dumb sheep, but God doesn't want us to stay dumb sheep forever! That was the thought that came to my mind. Envy, anger and wrath—all right here in Proverbs 27:3-4—shows how it is all tied together.

Once you hold on to that—and you can add to it resentment—when you are a recipient of those things, you can build up resentment and bitterness, and anger can lead to bitterness, too—especially when no one cooperates. Why do you suppose they don't cooperate? We haven't made them willing! God doesn't want to beat you into the Kingdom of God. He's going to beat the wicked. He wants you in the Kingdom of God because:

• you desire it
• you love Him
• you're willing

Let's look and see how the next step comes along and bitterness really becomes a problem.

BITTERNESS:

Job is a perfect example of how a person can be right in the letter of the Law, but totally wrong in relationship before God. Isn't that what happened to the scribes and Pharisees? Yes, indeed! They were so right that they rejected Jesus. They can't understand their bitterness to this day.

Job 7:11: "Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul." What happens when a person gets bitter? Everything ferments! Everything becomes sour! Was Job right in his own eyes? Yes, he was! Think of it; you're sitting there covered from head to toe with boils, and you thought you were doing everything in your life right. Like he said, 'What did this profit me?' He had bitterness! What does bitterness do?

Job had to learn a lesson. Job repented. That's fine, so can anybody else who has bitterness; just get over your 'hang-up.' If you have had bitterness in your heart because of church wars:

• Did you ever change a church with of your bitterness?
• Did you ever convert the person to what is right because you are angry?
• Did you have peace of mind and health?

Look at how many people who have had bad health because of problems within churches, not only our past experiences, but also other churches. I've got a stack of stuff on why I left this church, that church, the other church. The biggest reason why those things take place and people get bitter is because they look to a man instead of God! When a man fails, you say, 'I'm right!' The commitment you have given to a man, you should have given to God. That's what happens.

You don't want to get the bitterness, because bitterness will lead you through an experience like Job did. When people are bitter, they know they are right! I remember I was talking to a minister one time who was very bitter. I didn't know he was bitter. I said, 'This particular minister I know of made a lot of mistakes and I'm sure that by the time he died, God led him to repentance.' He just came unglued! The vitriol, hatred and bitterness just spewed forth like someone took an axe to a wooden cask in the days of temperance, busting open the keg of whiskey and letting it spill everywhere.

Of course, the worse smell in the world is whisky that becomes rancid. That's just how it left me in talking with this man. Whew! Boy! When I hung up the phone, I just wanted to shake my hands of it and clean out my ears of it. It left this man unable to function. He couldn't even stand to hear the name of this man without coming unglued. What if God forgave him? What if he really repented? Well, hurray! God is great! Look what happened to that poor individual because of it.

Proverbs 14:10: "The heart knows its own bitterness..." If you let anger, wrath and resentment build up into bitterness—and the thing that is difficult with bitterness, it's hard to let go—you've invested so much in it. You've invested emotional energy, mental energy and you have stripped yourself of your spiritual energy. When bitterness really comes out, you can bring it down and contain it for a while, but sooner or later it's going to come out. When it comes out, it's like a car going full speed in neutral. It's just burning everything up and you're going nowhere! If there's bitterness, you have to deal with it.

"...and a stranger does not share in its joy. The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death" (vs 10-12). You have yet to meet a bitter person who is not right in his own eyes—correct? Yes, indeed! They'll tell you:

• every fault
• every mistake
• every wrong
• everything that ever went

Okay, so that did happen. Now, what are you going to do? Can you change yesterday? No, you can't! But you can change today and you can make tomorrow better.

I have a motto: Never drag the problems of the past into today. There's enough to solve today. When tomorrow comes, don't drag today's problems into tomorrow. Why pollute time that has not yet arrived? Let the time that comes be clean from the pollution.' That's why Paul said, 'Do not let the sun go down on your anger.'

Here's part of the solution to it; here are  some of the things that you can do, Proverbs 17:22: "A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." Don't let bitterness get to you and envy and rottenness of bones, and don't let it just break you down like this man in the book How To Win Over Worry by John Haggai.He said he had a nervous breakdown, not from without but from within.

He went to the extreme. He took this: 'A merry heart does good like a medicine,' and it worked for him. I don't necessarily say we should do this, but he went on a laughing campaign. Just to laugh for the sake of laughing because he was so depressed that the only way out of his depression was to force himself to laugh. I guess it did something to help re-program his brain. I don't know, but he said it worked. I don't think that we should necessarily do that, but this is part of the cure right here.

(go to the next track)

Let's look at some of the solutions. In covering these things in relationship to health, healing and things like this, it's very important to realize that these things are only part of the whole picture! As we have seen, there are things that we have to do and there are things that we're responsible for. After all, God made us into His likeness, gave us a mind, created us to learn, be able to think, and also so we can overcome some of the weaknesses and difficulties that we have. It's something that each one of us is going to have to work on between you and God—if it involves others, between you and the others—that's what's important. These things are to help you so that you can have a right relationship with God and a right relationship with each other. Of course, that's the important thing—isn't it? Yes!

Let's look at some of the solutions. A lot of these we're going to find also in the book of Proverbs. It's very important that we understand the things that we are doing here, that this is not something where the minister tells you what to do and you check with him for everything that is done. These are so that you can go through the Proverbs, and with God's Spirit and with God's Word you can live your life right!

Proverbs 16:1: "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD." He gave you the means and the ability in how He created you, to do a lot of these things. Even unconverted people in the world know a lot about what I'm talking about here—don't they? Sure they do! By experience, they've learned it. We have to use the Word of God:

• rightly divide it
• put it together
• live by it

Verse 2: "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirits."

• How do you overcome all of these things?
• How do you change these things?

Here's the key. Here's the answer:

• whatever your weakness
• whatever your problem
• whatever the difficulty

Verse 3: "Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established." That's how to do it:

• leave them to the Lord
• pray about it
• ask God for help
  • He'll help you
  • God is right there waiting
  • He wants to help you
  • He's going to help you

Here's how you can affect a change of behavior, because over a period of time, these behaviors can be changed.

Verse 6: "By mercy..." That is God's mercy. Also, we covered the thing concerning mercy and forgiveness toward others—haven't we? If you go to God and ask God to forgive you, then you also have to forgive yourself. You cannot go around with a guilt complex and keep condemning yourself when God has already forgiven you.

"...and Truth... [Word of the Truth of God; that's why we are to study; use the Spirit of Truth] ...iniquity is purged..." (v 6). Of course, it's the sin within that needs to be taken care of. There's enough sin without, but it all starts within. If we can purge the sin within, then there's not going to be an outward display of sin either. That's why we're told in the New Testament, 'Bring every thought into captivity.'

"...and by the fear of the LORD men turn away from evil" (v 6). The fear of the Lord is:

• worshipful awe that you know God is right
• you know His Word is true
• you can trust in it and rely in it
• you depart from evil

—whatever it is.

Verse 7: "When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." Have you ever experienced that? You know you can! It doesn't say your enemy is going to be your friend. It just says he's going to be at peace with you. In other words, he's not going to bother you. In some cases, God can take care of the enemy.

I look back at the things that happened in my life—and I'm sure you can in yours—that God has taken care of many enemies that have come along—hasn't He? Sure He has! God has the power to do it! God has the power to intervene! Look at Joseph. Who were his enemies? His own brothers!

• they faked his death
• sold him off into slavery
• he came into Egypt
• was falsely accused
• was thrown into the 'slammer'
• was in the dungeon

God raised him up at the last minute!

Then, when it was all over and done with, and the brothers were finally together—after Joseph revealed himself to them because they had to come and get the grain from Egypt—they really couldn't believe it. God finally brought peace—didn't He?

After Jacob died, his brothers were worried that now Joseph is going to take vengeance on them. What did Joseph say? He didn't say, 'Well, now that dad is dead, I'm coming after you.' No! They came to him and he said, 'I'm not God; I'm not going to hold this against you. You meant it for evil to me, but God meant it for good.' He was able to see the whole perspective of what it is. When we look at these things in life

• God is there
• God is behind it
• God can take care of it
• He can even make your enemies to be at peace with you

—at least, not be hostile.

Be satisfied with where you are, and ask God to bless you. Verse 8: "Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. A man's heart devises his way, but the LORD directs his steps" (vs 8-9). This is how you do this:

• You study God's Word
• You figure out what you need to do

God leaves it to you to figure out what to do! He's given His Word so you'll know what to do, but you have to put it together. Then:

• ask God to lead you with His Spirit
• ask God to direct you

He will! You can have faith, confidence and trust and trust that God will always do that.

Verse 13: "Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and they love him who speaks what is right." This is what you need to do for each other, speak the things that are right! As I mentioned before, one of the most important things in relationships—husband and wife and with each other—is to be forbearing.

• Do you have faults? Yes!
• Do I have faults? Yes!
• Do I make mistakes? Yes!
• Do you make mistakes? Yes!
• Does God know we do? Of course He does!

Then be forbearing, not judgmental. Like it says, 'If you see someone sin a sin which is not unto death—that's just a mistake or problem that someone may have—pray for them' (1-John 5).

• ask God to help them
• encourage them
• up-lift them
• help them
• point them to God

Remember this, it is always, always true:

• As long as there's life, there's hope!
• As long as there is life, there is always opportunity for repentance!

If God is dealing with you, God is dealing with the other person. God is dealing with people in the world, too, in many different ways at their own level. It's just that they haven't been called to salvation at this time. We leave all that in God's hands.

Verse 20: "He who handles a matter wisely shall find good..." You put this together:

• commit your works unto the LORD, your thoughts shall be established
• by mercy and truth iniquity is purged, by fear of the LORD men depart from evil
• a man's heart devises his way, the LORD directs his steps
• he that handles a matter wisely shall find good

It shows that these are the steps on how to solve these problems. The reason I'm bringing these out in relationship to healing is this: Lots of times, we bring sickness upon ourselves that we should not be having. We're doing it to ourselves!

With all of these things that I'm talking about, what can you do? What does it do to your body? They know, scientifically, it lowers your immune system! This is why I'm bringing these out. This is not to nail someone for their problems or difficulties at all. It's to say: Look! When we have sickness and we have emotional contributory things to our sickness, can we not—with God's Spirit and with God's help—ask Him to lift these things and then we'd feel better, and we're not bringing sickness upon ourselves? Sure!

"...and whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he" (v 20). There it is, some really good advice for us.

Let's understand something very important: It doesn't matter the source of where it comes from for advice to you, if it's true. I've been corrected by many people and many brethren coming and saying, 'What about this?' and 'What about that?' Yes, indeed! If it's true, it's true! The truth is what is important, not the bearer of the truth in your relationship of how you think of them. If it is right, it's right.

Proverbs 15:12: "A scorner does not love one who corrects him..." Correction is not easy, it's difficult, especially when you know you're right. I've done that; you've done that.

"...nor will he go unto the wise." The solution is to just take that the other way: Do not be a scorner, but love whatever correction that comes if it's going to help you, and go to the wise. Whoever has good wisdom in whatever you're dealing with, go to them; that's fine. I can help you with the Bible, but there are other people who know so much more about other things that maybe you need to know about, go to them.

Verse 13: "A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken." We don't want that. Let your heart be up-lifted with the Spirit of God. Be happy and joyful.

Verse 14: "The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness." All you have to do is watch TV and you'll see that's true.

Verse 15: "All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast."

• These are the solutions that we need.
• This is what we need to look to.

Verse 30: "The light of the eyes rejoices the heart... [you can tell that's a sincerity that comes from a person] ...a good report makes the bones fat."

• be encouraging
• be up-lifting
• say the things that are right and good

That's what God wants. You'll find your life will be a whole lot better for it.

Let's look at some of the things we need to do for using our tongue. Like James said, 'the tongue is a small little thing, but it is a world of fire.'

Proverbs 12:14: "A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth... [going to come back to you] ...and the reward of a man's hands shall be given to him. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who listens to advice is wise. A fool's wrath is known at once, but a prudent man covers shame. He who speaks truth shows forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit. There are those who speak like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.… [to help, to encourage, to up-lift] ...The lips of truth shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment" (vs 14-19).

We can put all of this together with everything that we have covered. Here's what we need to do, Proverbs 21:21 "He who follows after righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor."

Verse 23: "Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles." There's another one that says that even a fool when he is quiet is thought to be wise. There it is right there.

Let's look at couple of more. We've covered an awful lot in going through the Proverbs one after another. It's a little quick. So, you can go back and go through it and study through it.

Proverbs 25:11: "A word fitly spoken..." You can do this to encourage someone: If someone is discouraged, give them a kind word and encourage them. That'll help them.

"...is like apples of gold in pictures of silver" (v 11). Quite descriptive—isn't it? That's what God wants. That's what it means in the New Testament to speak the truth with each other, love each other and so forth.

Verse 12: "As a ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon a hearing ear…. [because the things that need to be changed, they will hear and change] …Like cold snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to his senders, for he refreshes his master's soul" (vs 12-13). That's what you want.

• you want to have your soul refreshed
• you want to be right with God
• you want to do the things that are good

That's what we need to do, brethren.

Proverbs 27:2: "Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth... [don't toot your own whistle or your own horn] ...a stranger, and not your own lips."

I wanted to cover these things concerning the physical things and the emotional things we do because those all have a bearing. When we come for an anointing and for healing, then we know that when we lay it before God, there may be some other things we need to repent of rather than just asking God to be an automatic healer for us.

All Scripture from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter.

Scriptural References:

• Proverbs 14:30
• Proverbs 23:17
• Psalms 73:1-18, 20-28
• Proverbs 22:24-25
• Proverbs 15:1
• Proverbs 14:17
• Proverbs 25:28
• Proverbs 21:19
• Proverbs 29:22
• Proverbs 27:3-4
• Job 7:11
• Proverbs 14:10-12
• Proverbs 17:22
• Proverbs 16:1-3, 6-9, 13, 20
• Proverbs 15:12-15, 30
• Proverbs 12:14-19
• Proverbs 21:21, 23
• Proverbs 25:11-13
• Proverbs 27:2

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Proverbs 3
• 1-John 5

Also referenced: Books:

• Christianity Without God by Lloyd George Geering
• How To Win Over Worry by John Edmund Haggai