Proverbs 23:12   Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12, NKJV This is a simple admonition here, yet if we will look at it carefully, it will yield to us some very helpful information. The first thing we see is that we are to apply our heart to discipline. The word "apply" here means "to bring to." Thus, God is saying that we need to bring our hearts to something. Here we read that what we bring our hearts to is discipline. The word "discipline"...

Psalm 118:13-14 You pushed me violently, that I might fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. Psalm 118:13-14, NKJV In verse thirteen we learn that the author was pushed hard to the point of falling. This wasn't merely an accidental nudge or a bump, but a violent action intended to knock the author over in order that he might not get up again. The enemies that surrounded him in the prior verses were seeking his destruction. Not only was...

Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18, NKJV The world in which we live is a fallen world, a place of suffering and trials and times of heartaches and problems, a life of difficulties and sickness, a season of disappointments and death. Afflictions and anguish stalk our path like a hungry pack of wolves, and they are no respecter of persons or position, clime or creed, wise or...