August 15, 2026 -- Proverbs 14:14 -- Examine your thoughts

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The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways,
and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
Proverbs 14:14 ESV
 
What is a backslider? He is someone who turns away from the good things of the LORD. He is a person overtaken by the cares of the world so that his faith gets choked out. He is a man who tries Christianity, finds it hard, and decides to go his own way. Solomon is writing these proverbs for Israel, the people of God. Israel has been given the Word of God and the Law of God. They have everything they need to bear good fruit. But do not. The words of this text must serve as a warning for believers to examine their words and their ways to see if there is any area in their lives where they are backsliding.
 
Notice also, that the backslider’s descent into wrong begins in the heart. His heart lusts after something. Her mind is nursing some desire that is out of step with the believer’s appointed pathway. They want something out of step with the LORD’s commands, and instead of confessing their twisted longing to the LORD, they seek ways to justify their behavior.
 
A good man examines his desires. A woman after God’s own heart, upon discovering a longing will ask, is this right? If I act on this, will this action honour God? If the answer is no, a good man, a good woman will repudiate that longing or desire. Such a person is good precisely because of his ready submission to the leading of the Spirit of the LORD. As the Bible teaches, without the Spirit of God directing us we can-do no-good thing. Our hearts are naturally out of alignment with God, and our unexamined actions will immediately follow slippery habits rather than pathways of holiness.
 
To "be filled with the fruit of his ways" is repeated for both the backslider and the good person. Bad thoughts lead to backsliding actions. Godly thoughts lead to godly actions. Our longings and ideas bear fruit. Stinking thinking bears the bad fruit of stinking words and actions. Those who are filled with the Word of God will inevitably, by the presence and power of the Spirit, produce good words and actions thirty-fold, sixty-fold and even one hundred.
 
Father in heaven, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Spirit of the Living God, fill me with the word of God. Fill my imagination with the Living Word, Jesus, so that my desires and my actions will be godly. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/ENQYKMQEe6c?si=sH4ldfhvQDpBQoxA Lord Let Your Glory Fall
 

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