Where will these 2 lead you?

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.

All of these can be ours, and each of them will lead us somewhere.

When pride comes, then comes shame. What is pride, and what is shame? The word pride here, comes from a word that means, to boil, to boil up, to seethe, and it literally means to be arrogant. Pride will lead you to, or is followed by shame. Which means, disgrace, and confusion, humiliation, embarrassment, and to be discredited, loss of face.

On the other hand, and this is much better news, with the humble is wisdom. Humility, is to be of a lowly spirit. or to be deferential, respectful, submissive, unassertive, not overbearing, and not proud. When we have humility, we will have wisdom, which means to have skill, and to have your wits about you, and to act wisely, to have common sense, to act rationally, and not be foolish, or stupid.

In verse 13, we are told that the integrity of the upright will guide them. Integrity, comes from a word meaning clean, good character, moral, decent, fair, righteousness, and truthful. These are the ways of the Lord. He cleanses us from our sins, and He leads us in the paths of righteousness. He leads us to be this way, and then we find ourselves being guided, or going in the correct path, and in the straight way.

Lastly, and here is what all of us want to avoid, and that is to be perverse, or to have perversity in our lives. It means to twist, to pervert, to distort, to overturn, to ruin, to be crooked in our dealings with others. This kind of living will bring destruction into our lives. It will absolutely devastate our lives. It will rob us of blessing, it will cause us to have wasted lives.

The good in our lives comes from the Lord through the Holy Spirit, working through God's Word, to produce fruit in our lives, and the bad, comes from our own fallen natures. The Bible calls it our flesh.

Here's some more good news......Our Lord, who is the Good Shepherd, wants to and will lead us this very day into humility, and into integrity. We can follow Him today. Let's do it.

Father, we used to sheep without a shepherd, and sometimes we even feel that way today, and may be acting like sheep without a shepherd. But, we know You are our shepherd, and we know that we can hear your voice, and that You want to and can, and will lead us today into the paths of righteousness. We want to follow You...

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

Application/Promises

1.We hear our Shepherd through His Word.

2. He knows each of His sheep.

3. He cares for His sheep.

4. We can follow Him.

5. The Holy Spirit is our helper.

6. Paths of righteousness lay ahead today.

7. Let's let Him lead us today.

8. Humility, Wisdom, Integrity, and Guidance are for us.

9. God can un-twist your heart.