- araratchurch
- Nov 5, 2025
- 3 min read
“Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure. My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, That they may dwell with me; He who walks in a perfect way, He shall serve me. He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.”
Psalms 101:5-7 NKJV
Aesop said, “A man is known by the company he keeps.” Aesop was right. Consider, have you ever known somebody you thought you knew fairly well, but upon meeting some of their friends, you began to wonder if that was so? That is to say, their friends, the ones with whom they spent recreational time, seemed to be inconsistent with what you thought the person was about.
Well, I will say something that may surprise you: Don’t discount what kind of friends a person chooses; it can be a window into their private world, a glimpse of who they really are or want to be.
Now, I understand that we sometimes see what some call an “odd couple,” in terms of people who become good friends and yet seem to be very different from each other. But even in those cases, generally speaking, there will be a strong commonality that is not as apparent as their “surface” differences.
In some instances, the company someone chooses to keep may seem inconsistent with who they are, because there is something about those friends they somehow desire to be. For example, I have known people who liked to hang around rough or tough people because of their own insecurities. It seems that they wanted to be counted among the “rough-riders,” even though to be such, was inconsistent with other areas of life. However, when the inconsistency rests with the word of God, that can spell big trouble.
Now, I’m not going to take time to digress into explaining how we’re not talking about becoming an island unto yourself, never associating with anybody in the world. That’s certainly not what we’re considering here.
What I am talking about is the people with whom we closely associate, those with whom we are truly sharing fellowship.
Sadly, some people like to conflate choosing godly associates with being judgmental, with not reaching out to sinners. They conflate those totally different situations to defend the fact that they hang out with sinners and participate in their sins (sorry, I digressed after all).
The proverbial writer had a lot to say about bad company. Here are a couple of examples:
“He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.”
Proverbs 13:20 NKJV
“Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go, Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.”
Proverbs 22:24-25 NKJV
For the Christian, I think the best known example of advice concerning those with whom we should/shouldn’t associate, comes from the Apostle Paul:
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.””
II Corinthians 6:14-17 NKJV
In today’s portion from David’s psalms, we see David vowing to the Lord that he will only choose righteous people to be his associates, even those who serve him.
Obviously, David wasn’t choosing to be surrounded by righteous people in an attitude of superiority; although it can be heard that way by a cynical ear.
What David was doing, was aligning himself with God’s desires. Consider this statement David made in another place:
“For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You.
Psalms 5:4 NKJV
David wanted to please the Lord. He knew that part of pleasing the Lord, is walking righteously in ALL areas of our lives, whether out in the public arena or in the privacy of our own homes.
The hard fact is, we tend to incrementally align with close associates. Therefore, let’s make sure that our associations reflect godliness so that we can grow thereby.
Before going, let’s check one more time with the proverbial writer:
“As iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens [and influences] another.”
Proverbs 27:17 AMP
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The company you keep matters.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 3, 2025
- 3 min read
“For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ “
Psalms 95:7-11 NKJV
Have you ever heard someone referenced as being “bent on” doing something? Even if you haven’t heard the phrase, I imagine we have all interacted with people who are bent on doing something. Perhaps, sometimes, we are among those people.
Now, to be bent on doing something, means that the person has determined what they will do, and are not likely to be dissuaded from it.
Additionally, I have observed the phenomenon that once a person is bent on doing something, or bent on thinking a particular way concerning something, they will selectively interpret all future information, to further confirm the “bent.”
In other words, if you have decided to do something, and you hear negative comments about it, you are less likely to give that contrary information credence.
On the other hand, information affirming the “bent” is given great weight and deemed further support for what has been decided.
People who have allowed walls to be built up around their opinions, have basically been self-exiled to an echo chamber of their own making. That is, all they “hear” is what they want to hear; all they will “know” is what they want to know.
Now, as bad as having a closed mind or heart is in the general practice of life, having a closed mind (or in biblical terms, a hardened heart) against the Holy Spirit of God, can be disastrous to our eternal soul.
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”
Ephesians 4:17-18 ESV
In this passage from Ephesians, the Apostle Paul speaks of people being alienated from God because of the condition of their hearts and minds. As a matter of fact, we see the Lord speaking of the hardness of His people’s hearts, all the way through the Bible. As well, Jesus spoke of the hardness of people’s hearts when they failed to believe, or when they couldn’t understand what He was saying.
In today’s portion from David’s psalms, we see the Lord speaking through David, warning the people not to harden their hearts, as those who were in the wilderness had hardened their hearts, perishing because of it. Interestingly, this passage is quoted three times in the book of Hebrews!
It’s a very serious thing to allow your heart to be hardened when the Lord brings correction, or when things don’t go the way you want them to go. Indeed, if we allow our hearts to stay hardened, we have no hope of being able to enter into the rest of the Lord. That’s why it’s so important that we allow the Lord to search us and help us identify areas where we have closed ourself off from His voice, closed ourself off from His direction and/or correction.
Through Jesus Christ, we have rest from the labor of our trying to earn our own salvation. But, there is yet a greater rest to be entered. God forbid that we should allow hardness of heart—or anything else—keep us from following His voice all the way home.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
A hardened heart will never enter into God’s rest.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Nov 1, 2025
- 2 min read
“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.”
Psalms 86:5 NKJV
Have you ever known someone, been in a relationship with someone, who seemed to be always poised to jump on any mistake or offense in the relationship? Many times, these same people will—while berating concerning the current offense—spell out every past supposed offense in the relationship. Now, I’m not sure that any relationship can survive long wherein one or both of the people are always looking for a reason to berate the other.
Some people are always ready to jump on someone else’s offense because it keeps them in a position of power, the power of having something to hold over the other person’s head. That way, the other is always trying to “earn” their forgiveness.
Sometimes, the predisposition toward jumping on an offense is to manipulate. For example: to provide a ready reason to not do something they didn’t want to do anyway.
Sadly, I have actually known situations where one person in a marital relationship would punish the other—making them really grovel—over some indiscretion, all the while knowing that they (although their spouse did not know) had done something similar or even worse.
Aren’t you glad that the Lord doesn’t treat us the way we often treat one another?
Now, some people have a very distorted view of the Lord. They see Him as being that person who is looking for a reason to zap you. Think about it, if that were the case, all He would’ve had to do is to leave things the way they were; we were already under the penalty of sin with no way to redeem ourselves. Yet, while we were still in our sin, through Jesus Christ, He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. And, if He was still keeping a record of all that we had ever done, how could we stand before Him in judgment without already being hopelessly condemned?
“If You, Lord, should keep an account of our sins and treat us accordingly, O Lord, who could stand [before you in judgment and claim innocence]?”
Psalms 130:3 AMP
In today’s portion from David’s psalms, we see David declaring that the Lord is “ready to forgive.” In other words, it is His desire to forgive us; and He doesn’t make us jump through all kinds of hoops to receive the forgiveness. Additionally, having been forgiven, He definitely doesn’t hold our sin over our heads! It only takes a truly penitent heart to trigger the forgiveness God is already predisposed to give.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities…”
Psalms 103:2-4a NKJV
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The Lord is ready to forgive.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!