Page 24 - Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2011

“IT IS BETTER TO GO TO THE HOUSE OF MOURNING…

22
11

…THE HEART OF THE WISE BUT THE HEART OF FOOLS
IS IN THE HOUSE OF IS IN THE HOUSE OF

MOURNING, MIRTH.”

I have always had a propensity for being humorous.
However, I will never forget sitting in the funeral of an old pastor and
hearing story after story being told of what a prankster he was. We all

laughed, for the stories were funny. However, the more I listened,
the more quickened I became that I would not want to be remembered as a pastor
for having been so very funny. That day I was greatly convicted that mirth, although enjoyable,

has no eternal value, only a temporal one.
Far better, I determined that day, for this teacher of God’s Word to be remembered for something of
eternal value such as this beautiful testimony found in the Scriptures:

“MY COVENANT WAS WITH HIM, ONE OF LIFE AND PEACE, AND I GAVE THEM TO HIM
THAT HE MIGHT FEAR ME; SO HE FEARED ME AND WAS REVERENT BEFORE MY NAME. THE

LAW OF TRUTH WAS IN HIS MOUTH, AND INJUSTICE WAS NOT FOUND ON HIS LIPS. HE
WALKED WITH ME IN PEACE AND EQUITY, AND TURNED MANY AWAY FROM INIQUITY.

FOR THE LIPS OF A PRIEST SHOULD KEEP KNOWLEDGE,
AND PEOPLE SHOULD SEEK THE LAW FROM HIS MOUTH;

FOR HE IS THE MESSENGER OF THE LORD OF HOSTS.”
Mal.2:5-7

We may not all be teachers, and rightly so, as we have greater accountability before God (Jm. 3:1).
However, we all have accountability according to what God has given us as realms of responsibility
( 2 Cor. 5:9-10, Matt. 25:14-15) There is a passage in the Old Testament that I have always viewed as quite
prophetic for the sober times in which we live. It speaks of the spiritual awareness possessed by the
sons of Issachar:

“…THE SONS OF ISSACHAR
WHO HAD UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES,
TO KNOW WHAT ISRAEL OUGHT TO DO…” 1 Chron 12:32

The apostle Paul gives the church similar counsel as to how we should walk in the midst of evil days:

“SEE THEN THAT YOU WALK CIRCUMSPECTLY, NOT AS FOOLS BUT AS WISE,
REDEEMING THE TIME, BECAUSE THE DAYS ARE EVIL.

THEREFORE DO NOT BE UNWISE, BUT UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WILL OF THE LORD IS.”
Eph 5:15-18

It is the Beatitudes that express 2 T im . 3 :1 2 -1 3
clearly what is God’s will for His

people who live in the midst
of very difficult
and stressful
times

(2 Tim.3:1-5)