TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - October 27, 2025 - Proverbs 15:11-15 - The Eyes of the Lord and the Healing of the Heart

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

Proverbs 15:11–15 exposes the unseen realities that govern both heart and countenance. Nothing—neither Sheol nor the human soul—is hidden from the Lord. The scorner’s refusal of correction reveals rebellion, while the wise cultivate humility and hunger for truth. A joyful heart shapes the face, sustains the spirit, and transforms every circumstance into a continual feast. In this Morning Manna study, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart unpack how divine omniscience, teachability, inner discipline, and contentment form the core of a life that walks wisely before God and men. Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart                                              You can partner with us by visiting FaithandValues.com, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961.                                                MEGA FIRE reveals the ancient recurring cycles of war and economic collapse that have shaped history for 600 years. These patterns predict America is now entering its most dangerous period since World War II. Get your copy today! MEGAFIRE.World Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves! AmericanReserves.com It’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today! Amazon.com/Final-Day Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! books.apple.com/final-day Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. Sacrificingliberty.com

Well, good morning, everybody, to this nice, wonderful Monday. We are delighted to have you here on Morning Manna, and we have started a new book in the Book of Proverbs. We're actually now in our second lesson of chapter 15, and today we're going to be looking at verses 11 through 15. Let's pray, invite the Holy Spirit. We have to have us present. presence. Can't do anything without his presence. And after we pray, Doc, we'll read these five verses

and we'll jump into the study and see what the Lord has for us today. Almighty God, our Father in heaven, we bless you and praise you and glorify you. Father, we are delighted to come before you to be taught by your spirit. So Holy Spirit, take charge of this morning manna Bible lesson, anointed and bless us with knowledge and wisdom and understanding of your word

in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. And welcome to this Monday edition of Morning Manor. We're glad to have you here with us today. As Rick mentioned, we are in Proverbs chapter 15 today. And we're going to pick back up on verse 11. And so if you've got your Bibles,

let's open them up right. now. And if you'll read along with me, I'm reading from the King James this morning. And it starts off here, pretty bold. Hell and destruction are before the Lord. How much more than the hearts of the children of men? A scorner loveth not one that reprieveth him. Neither will he go unto the wise. A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken. The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge. but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness. In verse 15,

all the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. I like that theme of the merry heart there, Rick. That's something I can really get along with in Proverbs. That's right. Yeah, I said this is our second lesson. This is our third lesson in chapter 15. You know, we actually, we started last week,

And so we're in our third lesson now of chapter 15, the book of Proverbs. Hell and destruction are before the Lord, how much more than the hearts of the children of men? The Aramaic Peshida translation says, The grave and destruction are open before the Lord. How much more the hearts of the children of men? And the subduigent version is Hades and destruction. are manifest before the Lord, how shall not also the hearts of men? I like the Septuagint translation.

Yes. Which is the accurate one. So let's begin with the first part of this verse, verse 11. Hades and destruction are manifest before the Lord. James, hell and destruction are before the Lord. So the verse opens up, opens up a window into the mind of God that hell, Hades and destruction are before him. Hell as show.

It's referring to the unseen world of the, dead. Destruction is abatting. And it points to the realm of ruin and judgment. So both

are invisible to human eyes. Yet completely exposed to God's gaze. Amen. Doc, what do you make of this? God beholds those who are in the realm of the dead to me this whole verse just means there's nothing that's hidden from God nothing at all so many people try to keep secrets

you know we have all these different we think we have secret sin there's no such thing as a secret sin God sees what's going on in hell and he sees what's going on inside of men's hearts too There is nothing hidden from God, nothing at all. So the grave, the abyss, eternity, all of them are as open before him and visible to the Lord as daylight is to us.

Yes. So to me, this imagery is highlighting, it's magnifying the Lord's omnipresence. The boundaries between life, death, and eternity simply don't conceal anything from him. Yes. He sees through walls. He sees through ages. He sees through death, the grave.

He sees everything. And again, this knowledge of who the Lord is and his power and what he sees that actually motivates us to obey him. Yes. As you said, Doc, you know, there's nothing that's not seen and that should humble us that nothing is hidden

from the eyes of the Lord. Right. His sight, not only does he see the physical things, he sees the invisible things, and he sees beyond surfaces. He sees motives, desires, intentions. The phrase before the Lord implies judgment and accountability.

that it Hades and destruction are manifest before the Lord In other words, there's a destination for the wicked for those that receive the judgment of God the scripture here in multiple places throughout scripture confirms that there is an afterlife

for the wicked this idea that somehow we turn into dust or we become a vapor. The scripture argues so much against that that there is a destination. This is one of the verses that confirms that. And so in doing this, there's a dual purpose here in that if hell and destruction are before the Lord and God can see everything that's going on there, how much more inside the hearts of men that could cause you to end up in the place of hell and destruction. And so, Doc, if he, if the Lord can see Hades, the realm of the dead, he can see

Abadden, Abaddon, the place of destruction, then the scripture says, how shall not also the hearts of men? If he can see those things, certainly he can see our hearts. he knows our thoughts he knows our our motivations he knows our desires he knows our temptations he knows our weaknesses all is before the eyes of the lord right so what is saying is the same divine gaze that can survey the abyss the grave the sight of the dead the same eyes that can peer into the place

of the dead can also peer inside your heart in your mind that there is nothing in the entire universe that the Lord cannot go and see it's

comical that politicians and national security executives officials military officers will go into secure rooms yes where they say nobody can hear nobody can see or hear anything except for lord right and they'll go by names like the deep stake which really means the secret state right right well guess what one day all those secrets are going to be exposed every single one of them. So these powerful men and women

go inside these secure rooms to make plans to carry out wars and attacks and assassinations. And they said what we planned in that room, nobody knows about it except the Lord.

Amen. He saw it all, he heard it all. He recorded all of it. So the reasoning is simple if even the invisible realms lie open to God how much more the hearts

of the children of men right you know there's a verse I've been you know we just finished up our devotional series on Job here and there's a verse in Job that stands out it's Job 266 it says Hell is naked before him and Abadon hath no covering

Hell is naked before him and Abadon hath no covering So hell is wide open Avadon is wide open How much more the hearts of men Yes So God knows not only

what we do But why we do it Yes He reads intention before we have actions before there are words that come out of her mouth. He already knows the intention of the heart. So it's foolishness

to think that you can conceal anything from the Lord. Mask only full people. The world is full of people who wear masks. But the Lord knows who's behind them. the mask. His focus is the heart because the human heart is the center, the fountain of all conduct, every sin, all faith, all motives begin in the heart. You know, we're not numbers to him. We're souls. He made us. And he has the, he has the password to our hearts. You can't lock him out. He's got the master code. Some people think that they can conceal their heart, their

minds from the, from the Lord. You can't. He's got the master code, the master password. You know, He's got a back door. He can come in any day he desires. Let's see what the commentator said. John Gill, one of the early Baptists, he said, hell and destruction are naked before him, as if laid bare without covering, the hearts of men, though enclosed in flesh,

are as visible to his eye. Albert Barnes, Presbyterian. No darkness, no distance, no disguise can exclude the divine eye. The heart's secret thought is clearer to God than our words are to men. Alexander McLaren, the heart is the true, the heart is the true show. Deep, dark, full of mysteries. Yet to God, it is plain as glass. Wow.

The heart is hell, is what he's saying. Yes. Man. It's deceitfully wicked. William are not, free church of Scotland, to know that God sees is the best preservative against sin. The remembrance of his eye keeps the conscience awake. And then we'll finish this verse with Charles Spurgeon.

The pit is naked before Jehovah, and our hearts are no less open. Oh, that we might live as men who dwell in the full blaze of his presence. Proverbs 15, verse 12, King James, a scorner loveth, not one that reprooveth him, neither will he go unto the wise. The Septuagint translation says, An uninstructed person loves not those who reprove him, neither will he keep company with the wise. So let's begin with the first part of the verse.

The scorner, the mocker, is a person whose pride, mocks faith ridicules holiness makes fun of righteousness his first mark is resistance he does not

love the one who reproves him puts up a wall resistance see reproof is an act of love it's an act of mercy but the scorner perceives it as an insult

The scorner confuses correction with condemnation I see narcissism in this verse narcissists are scorners scorners are narcissists yeah I could see that

doc narcissists you cannot suggest anything to a narcissist because they automatically, in their mind, process it as you're condemning them, you're criticizing them. They have a absolute fear of being criticized, terrified of being criticized, of being corrected. You know why? They have to maintain an air of superiority. And the superiority is to hide their inferiority. How ironic. It's really twisted.

Their thinking is very twisted. It's sick. So a scorner who is also a narcissist will resist kind-hearted correction because what they hear coming through their head are not your words. They hear condemnation. Right. And to be clear, reproof is not just criticism of somebody. It's easy to criticize somebody. But reproof, the implication is you're trying to help correct someone but with love.

That's the thing. There are people that try to correct you, but a lot of times it's not in love. But a reproof is someone's trying to correct you in love. But the scorner rejects that. So, Doctor, the reason they rebel is they're rebelling against humility. Yes. And repentance requires humility. Right.

But if you're humble, and if you repent, repentance is saying, I was wrong, I have to change direction. Right. For a narcissist, that is a confession. that they are not superior. Right. And they can't do that, can they? No. They have to continue,

they have to constantly project a false self. Their false self hides their true self. They're terrified that you're going to see through the wall and see the true self. And so they have to,

they're hiding their true self. And their true self is inferior in their mind. They know, they, they, they, internally, they see themselves as inferior. I'm not saying that they are. They see themselves as inferior. But to hide it, they act superior. Right. And they're always on the attack.

They're always scorning. They're always criticizing. Why? And definitely they're shaming. Always shaming. me. Shame is at the top of their list. Right, because shame minimizes you and lifts them up in their perception.

Yes. They have to shame you because you're probably going to shame them. That's the way they think. They're thinking, you're going to shame me. Why do they think that way? Because they shame everybody. Right. So they assume everybody else is out to shame them.

and so it's a first strike mentality I'll strike first with shame to hide my own shame to hide my own shame yeah and this aversion to correction is not just a mental exercise this is a moral exercise they're making a a a choice a sinful choice not just a you know a thing a choice they're making in their head they are making a sinful choice to avoid correction. Doctor, they're actually allergic to truth. Skoiners would rather, they would rather be flattered in sin than healed in correction. Yeah.

Boy, you got that right. And so at the heart of it is pride. The pride says, I can't reveal myself to anybody. I can't be transparent. So the pride makes them project a false self. Because humility would allow people to see them as they are. And they're terrified of it. So for scorners, and I'm telling you, this is a representation of,

this is the description of narcissists. especially the passive-aggressive narcissists, the covert, covert, passive-aggressive-aggressive-narcissus, every rebuke, however gentle, is interpreted as an attack. You cannot correct them, no matter if you cover your words with melted butter, they will not go down smoothly.

The narcissists, who I believe that this verse is talking about, they will receive your gentle reproof as a brutal attack. That's right. So in the final analysis, these people are unteachable. their hearts are locked against the very wisdom that could save them from the miserable state that they're in they'll go through their lives miserable and they've got to find other people to make miserable and they go through their entire life in a state of misery and making other people miserable rather than to humble themselves and seek the wisdom that could deliver them from that horrible state.

They're unteachable. You can't reach them. So, godly reproof is the mirror of the soul. Amen. The wise use it to see clearly. But the scorner shatters. the mirror for fear that he or she will see clearly who they are but the wise person will hold up the mirror and say you know what i do have a big word on my forehead that's reality i got to deal with this but the scorner the narcissist will crack crack the mirror right

I'd rather break the mirror than to see it. You don't have to remain a scorner. At any point in time, you can say, I am taking another direction. I'm choosing another path. They don't. They don't. The scripture says that if any man lacks wisdom,

let him ask a God who gives liberally. Well, first of all, you have to admit that you lack wisdom. That requires humility. and then you have to ask God. That acknowledges that you can't come to wisdom on your own. You need God to give you wisdom. Both of them require you to say, I'm helpless in the matters of wisdom.

I'm helpless. The only thing I can do is say, Lord, help me with wisdom. That's it. But they won't do that. These people don't get to, they don't arrive at this state overnight. They're not, you know,

I don't even think they're born that way. Maybe some psychologists will argue that they are. But I believe that they gradually grow into this mindset. I believe it's a, it's the consequence of a lifetime of making wrong decisions, suppressing the truth, resisting the Holy Spirit. To the point they get to, they get themselves. They create a prison cell that they built themselves. Yes. And then they throw away the key. And they're living inside their own prison. Yes. And it comes to a place in time where you can't reach them. So sad. They think you're in prison. They're looking at the people outside of the prison and they think you're in prison.

neither will he go unto the wise so pride not only resents correction but it avoids the righteous altogether yes because they know the scorner the narcissist knows if i associate with godly wise people i'm going to get more correction. Right. And my implication and extension here is not just wise people, but the author of wisdom himself, God. That's right. They, neither will they go unto the author of wisdom. They won't. Because what's the Holy Spirit going to do? Correct. Hold the mirror up. Yeah. Reprove them and love. That's right. And so the whole process continues, okay? You can't go around other you can't go to wise you can't associate with wise godly people because their wisdom will see what's in you and if they offer godly loving rebuke correction the narcissist

scorner will interpret it as an attack right so they just stay away from them and what they do is that they surround themselves with flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz the Wicked Witch had flying monkeys What do you mean by flying monkeys what did the witch do in the Wizard of Oz

when she wanted to attack somebody she would send forth her flying monkeys remember they'd go flying out the windows they were going to somewhere to attack somebody an enemy of the witch. Somebody that the witch sought to destroy. And she'd send her flying monkeys out of her haunted house with her, with an instruction, go, torment that person. So narcissists, scorners, negative people have flying monkeys. And these flying monkeys are human. These are the people

that actually believe them. Right. They go along with them. They go along with it. They believe whatever they say. And so the narcissist, the scorner, has one or two or three enemies that he or she is determined to bring down. And what they do is that they're telling the flying monkeys, they're telling them lies about these people. They're slandering. It's slander. and then they send forth the flying monkeys go out into the community and slander my enemies go forth flying monkeys and spread the slander next time you encounter somebody slander you

that's what that's what you need to picture in your mind the flying monkeys are going out of the of the haunted house to destroy your name I can just hear the music, too, playing. And that's it, da, da, da, da, da, da, da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da. And that's exactly how it works, too. But the scorners and scoffers, not only do they avoid wise people, but they're avoiding the wisdom of God. And there's going to come a point where God's going to say, I've tried, I've done enough. I've given you as much opportunity to access my wisdom, but you continue.

you to reject it. So, Doc, these narcissists, these scorters, they live in self-imposed exile from the truth. Yes. They're in exile from the truth. Wise people like to associate with other wise people. Right. And you've never met a happy narcissist. no never

there's no joy these people avoid the wise because the very presence of the wise convicts them therefore they just stay away from them and if if they hear other people

talking positively about a wise person they send their flying monkeys out slander slander weaken that person's influence

distribute the hate weaken their influence so the scorner the narcissist surrounds himself or herself with flatterers

these are the flying monkeys who echo his or her opinions So it's an echo chamber. They're living in an echo chamber. The only people there are the people that hear the scorner's voice. This person's avoidance of wisdom and people who are wise. What it shows us is that this rebellion is not intellectual, it's not mental, it's moral.

Right. It is the person's heart's refusal to bow before God. Because bowing before God is surrendering. And these broken, twisted people who are narcissists, who are scorners, mockers, negative people, they can't cope with the fact that they're not. perfect and so they can't bow because bowing means surrendering and they are they are obsessed with being in control so those who who resist fellowship with godly people gradually slowly they

they drift away from light and they move incrementally into darkness. And they eventually live in a prison built by pride. But look, this is scary because a soul that's cut off from the voice of wisdom eventually perishes. That's at the heart of this message. John Gill said he he hates not only reproof but the reprover though the one is his medicine and the other his friend

yes wow Charles Bridges said the scorner will not be taught for he must first be humbled his pride bars the door of wisdom against himself Albert Barnes says The fool's hatred of reproof is proof of his folly

The wise man's love of it is the crown of his prudence William are not Reproof is a friend knocking at the door The scorner bolts it and dies alone Wow Vivid I just picture someone just getting up and bolting the door

I'm not letting wisdom in I'm not letting correction in I'll just stay in here and die I'll just rot Charles Spurgeon Let's see if he's any lighter doc Spurgeon said He who cannot bear a warning

has signed his own death warrant. Wow. No, he stepped it up. The wise court correction, the wise court correction as the road to perfection. Verse 13, King James,

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken. The Septuagin says, When the heart rejoices, excuse me, when the heart rejoices, the countenance is cheerful, but when it grieves, the spirit is cast down. The Aramaic Beshita, a joyous heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart, the spirit is wounded. Excuse me.

So let's talk about a merry heart. a merry heart makes a cheerful countenance it just means that inner joy eventually shows up on the outside right and what a contrast from verse 12 verse 12 you've got the person that hates reproof and then you go right to the merry heart here

yes and that's why I was saying And, you know, you've never met a happy narcissist. You've never met a joyful narcissist. That's true. Look, there's just people you can just look at their faces and you can see the state of their heart. Yes, it's written on their face. The word Mary means gladness, that is rooted in peace.

Gladness that has its roots in peace. Not just happiness. Not just smiling, but it's a happiness, a gladness that springs up from peace in the heart. Amen. And that peace springs from harmony with God. a cheerful countenance is evidence of a tranquil conscience yes peace with god radiates through the person's face yes joy sanctified by faith transforms the person's demeanor it shines forth even through affliction

Yes, through affliction and pain, yes. You know, as a pastor, I've had the opportunity to sit at the bedside of a lot of people through the years at hospitals and in their homes when they're on the last stages of life. And what a difference between the believer and the unbeliever that you notice. the unbeliever their countenant I mean the believer there are countenance

it's almost at times like they're glowing as they approach heaven the unbeliever you can see written on their face the worry the lines even sometimes the fear

because they don't know and there's also been times after praying with people Rick that have been in that situation where you see their face change. Yes. As if a light came on inside of it, and it did. And so a merry heart, a merry heart, a truly joyful heart, is radiated in the face.

That's true. Doc, I was thinking about my grandmother when a few days before she passed away, my grandparents, lost a child sometime, sometime around the end of World War I. And, Doc, I don't know if their child's little girl named Mildred. I don't know if she died of the Spanish flu. I just remember my grandmother saying she had a high fever when she died in her arm. She was three years old. Wow.

But I think it was 1918. and her name was Mildred. Anyhow, I was standing next to my grandmother's bed, and we all knew that, you know, her days were numbered, and she knew it too. And I asked her, I said, are you okay? You're all right? You're okay to leave? and her doctor her face just I'll never forget it her face just broke out

in this big glowing smile and she says I'm going to see Mildred praise God that and I thought about it for 60 some years she she missed her daughter

missed her baby girl and now she was going home to see her daughter praise God but the smile I'll never forget the smile she was anticipating her death

because she was going to embrace her daughter it's like I've been here long enough loving all of you but I've got to go my daughter's waiting on me praise God but see only a saint

can can think like that and speak like that by sorrow yeah go ahead i'm just saying i have so much as approaching death how about in life how about in life you know it's such a sad state of affairs to see so many depressed unjoyful christians so-called christians out there that there's no joy in their life that there's no happiness in their life that their life is a drudgery, that their life is a continual uphill climb. But the scripture is very clear that the joy of the Lord is our strength.

It's our very strength. It's what lights us up inside. And the mark of a believer should always be joy. I mean, should always be joy. I mean, there are stories in Fox's Book of Martyrs where people, who were, you know, on the very edge of deaths being sacrificed for their faith were delighted, delighted at the opportunity to share their death with Christ. Yes.

That comes from living a life of joy. Duck, his verse says, by sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken. Sorrow here speaks of deep abiding emotional pain. Right. The kind that sinks beneath the surface of words is sorrow, grief. Emotional pain that can weigh down the soul until it collapses. Right. That word broken there, Rick, is the same.

same word that's used in the Old Testament for crushing grapes. So to get wine, you have to, the grape has to be destroyed, has to be completely destroyed. The juice even pushed out of the pulp. That's the picture here, that sorrow does that crushing of the inner soul. So the broken spirit is one that has been inwardly crushed. Yes. And when joy departs, the person's endurance weakens. And eventually the heart becomes a collapsed sanctuary.

Look, life is tough. Life can be mean. we have to guard our hearts that we don't allow grief to overtake us sorrow the enemy of our souls desires us to be in that state to be broke when i say broken i mean crushed right until you're there's nothing left Yes So heavy sorrow Will cloud our perception

It will dull our hope It will fracture our courage Until we're Mentally, spiritually, physically weighed down And we're barely functioning in life Notice that Solomon doesn't hold back on this

He says hey, grief happens. That sorrow happens. And it happens to everybody. Everybody is going to face that crushing at some point. But it's interesting that he pairs this with the merry heart. Yes. And Doc, I've been in that deep sorrow, that crushing.

I've been there. I have felt it. Me too. and you delivered by the by the Lord yes he'll show up in your life and give you an opportunity to get out of it sadly some some Christians don't take advantage of that opportunity right they live in it they live in it look maybe you know somebody and I do. I'm thinking of somebody right now in my life

who has lived in a state of grief for years over the loss of a family member. Can't shake it. Can't get rid of it. Just lives in grief. That's not godly. That is not godly. And I've seen Christians stay in in a state of grief for years over the death of a spouse or a child or a parent.

And I'm not being insensitive. I know how much it hurts. But prolonged grief is not biblical. It will rot you out from the inside. if your departed loved one, your spouse, your parent, your child, whoever it is, who passed away, if that person was saved in Christ, then you should be joyful. Yes, there's a time in the immediate proximity of the person. death, of course you're overtaken

with grief. Yes. That's natural. And the Bible says this. I'm thinking in Psalm 30, verse 5, where it says that tears may last for a night. But joy comes in the morning.

There's a time to grieve. There is a time for it. But there's also a time for grief to end. You shouldn't be grieving five years later. There's something wrong. Missing the person? Of course you miss them.

Of course. But grieving. No, you shouldn't be grieving. Where you're not functioning in life. Where you're becoming isolated. Where grief becomes your identity. Yes, that's it. Grief becomes your identity.

Charles Bridges says, the joyful heart is sunshine within the breast. The broken spirit darkens every prospect and paralyzes every effort. Albert Barnes says the verse connects moral and physical health. The inward man governs the outward. Broken spirits bring decay. Gladness brings life. You know, it's interesting, all these commentators,

they lived in the 17-1800. and they said, you know, there's a connection between your attitude and the way you live and your health. And now here in the 21st century, they say, you know, there's a connection between your attitude and your health, as if it's something new that came along. Well, let's see what Alexander McLaurin said. He passed away, I think, 1905. joy is the outward sign of inward health true religion makes the face bright because it makes the heart right

Amen I like that G Campbell Morgan he passed away I think 19 I want to say 45 maybe 41 sometime in the early 40s genuine gladness is the reflection of communion with God

sorrow apart from him is the shadow of death William or not The heart is the spring of life When it is clear and full The countenant sparkles When it is poisoned with sorrow All life languishes Yes

And then Charles Spurgeon A happy heart is a hidden treasure Shining through the eyes But sin Sorrow unhealed Will bow the spirit Until it breaks Two more verses

Verse 14 The King James The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge But the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness The prosciedah The heart of the wise seeks knowledge But the mouth of fools feeds on folly

In the Septuagint translation The heart of the righteous meditates on faithfulness but the mouth of the ungodly answers evil things I'm going to start with the beginning here the heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge you don't have a one-time acquisition of wisdom that's right it's a continual pursuit

sure you may have gained wisdom 20 years ago but if you stop pursuing you have you have arrested development right likewise foolishness too same way foolishness yeah because that word feeds feedeth on foolishness means to graze like a sheep grazes you know and eats same thing on wisdom it you it's continual you're continuing grazing wisdom or your grazing foolishness

Docis is the heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge the heart the seat of your will your thoughts your affections if the seat of your thoughts emotions will affections have

understanding you will seek knowledge So the opposite is true. If you don't have understanding, you won't seek knowledge. It's because the heart that has understanding craves truth. It's a nourishment. It's like having a sweet tooth. You just have a craving for more truth. That's the morning mana class.

Why do you come here for an hour or five days a week? Because you've got a sweet tooth for truth. Oh, there's a sweet tooth for truth. Man. There's a book. That's a T-shirt. There's a book title, Sweet Tooth for Truth. But that's why you're here.

You got a sweet tooth for truth. You got a craving. You just got to get some more of it today. Your soul is hungry for truth. And we're trying our best to bring out truth from the word. We're doing our best. There's probably people doing it better than us, but we're doing our best to bring out truth to give you something to eat.

We're preparing breakfast for you five days a week. Come to the manor diner and get yourself a nice breakfast. And apparently it's good because people keep coming back. wise people are not content with surface knowledge they dig deep they know that there's something more important below the surface see this bible study is not for this is not for everybody no you have to desire truth to stay here an hour five days a week right because social media's social media has trained people in the last 20 years just get it in less than a minute right and move on to the next thing here's the next thing and here's another thing and here's something

else it's always going always your attention is always shifting and everything And yet we have hundreds, thousands of people that show up every day and graze on the word. Graze on the word, graze on the wisdom of God. I've had social media promoters and marketers and so forth tell me, Rick, you've got to learn to produce bite-size media content. No more than a minute. And I know what they're telling me is right in terms of the world's ways, but I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to reduce the word of God down to a morsel.

And I've had some people say, well, if Jesus were here walking the earth today, how would his ministry be different? certainly he would use social media and like for real you really think he would he would put the sermon on the mount into short videos

30 second video clips that's how he's going to teach the sermon on the mount people will what would you think he would do he would teach the word and you get people who say yes but modern people wouldn't sit there for hours listening to him that's true Jesus would allow them to leave he's not going to change he is not going to change

certainly he's not going to change to cater to the whims of superficial people he's going to say here's the truth do you do you desire it so the pursuit of knowledge is not a curiosity it's a devotion it's a desire to know god to know his ways to know his heart seeketh they seek that implies diligence effort

perseverance the wisdom is the reward of diligent seeking right? right that's right it's right it's the reward

you can't there's no such thing as instant wisdom you just can't you can have instant noodles instant bread but you can't have instant wisdom you have to digest it you have to seek it first

and then you have to digest it. It is not instant. That's right. But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness. A fool's mouth feeds itself on foolishness.

In other words, they have to be more of themselves. They already are fools and they have to eat more foolishness to be more of a fool. The fool consumes what is corrupting his soul. That's the irony of it, Doc. The very thing that's destroying them is what they eat.

It feeds habitual eating. Both are habitually eating, the wise and the foolish. The question is, what are they eating? So the full habitually indulges on foolishness. It's a sugar diet. It's empty carbs, no nutrition. They feel full, but there's no nourishment. Their chosen diet is foolishness.

I mean, say, hey, have you ever heard anybody say, I'm going to go on the fool's diet? And yet, that's exactly what they're doing. They order a fool's meal. Because the fool's mouth. governs him his speech reveals his appetite fools fools devour'd vain talk they devour gossip they devour controversy deceit they they devour just silliness foolishness right there were The words reveal their palate. You listen to what people talk about and you know what they are spiritually eating.

The stuff that the wives reject, the full relishes that says, give it to me. Yes. I'll take it. And why I say, no, I don't want that stuff. You know, I guess I have another analogy, but, you know, it's like you have this delicious salad or a plate of donuts. The healthy person says, oh, I'll take the salad. The unhealthy person says, I'll take the donuts. This is the way it is with what?

wisdom and foolishness. There's a plate of wisdom and a plate of foolishness. The wise says, I'll take the plate of wisdom. And the fool says, I'll take that plate of foolishness. Both get what they eat. You are what you eat. That's what this message, this proverb is saying.

You are spiritually what you eat. What are you dining on? So again, we've got a group of people here dining for one hour today on wisdom. You're not dining on spiritual donuts today. Oh, I can send you to places online where you can get a spiritual donut. There are a lot of them. Wisdom feeds the heart, folly feeds the mouth.

One grows in grace, the other one grows in shame. To feed on folly is to starve the soul while fattening your pride. So, Doc, the fool's speech is both his diet and his disease. Yes. He consumes the things that destroy him. John Gill said the heart of the wise seeks, seeks that which may edify the fool's mouth devours what gratifies the flesh.

Charles Bridges, The understanding heart hungers after truth as daily bread. The fool's appetite is for folly, and he gorges himself upon it. Gorgees himself. Adam Clark, the wise man's heart is an ever-open school. The fool's mouth is an open sepulcher. Albert Barnes, knowledge is to the wise as food is to the healthy body.

Fools, diseased in taste, prefer poison to nourishment. Alexander McLaurin, the one hungers for truth and grows, the other hungers for sensation and decay. Appetite determines destiny. William are not. True wisdom is a living hunger after God's light. Folly feeds upon ashes, yet calls them bread. Charles Spurgeon, the wise man's study is his feast.

The fool's jest is his meal. What we love to think about shows what we truly are. Okay, one more. It's slightly over the hour. Verse 15, King James, All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry, heart, half a continual feast. All right. So we were just talking about the fools gorging on

foolishness. And now we're talking about those that have a merry heart going back now here. A merry heart combined with wisdom is a continual banquet, a continual feast. The World English Bible says all the days of the afflicted are wretched. but one who has a cheerful heart enjoys a continual feast. All the days of the afflicted are evil. Not because the circumstances are evil, but because their outlook is evil. Yes.

It's what I call stinking thinking. They just have, I can't. bear being around negative thinking negative talking people I just want to run out out the room the moment I get in a situation where people are negative I got to get out of here I don't want any of that stuff on me I mean you feel like you got to go home and take shower so doc their days are afflicted not because their circumstances were afflicted but because they're at Intitude is evil.

Yes. Afflicted means they're way down. They're discontentant. They're griping. They're complaining. They're not grateful. They're troubled. They've got grief.

They've got all kinds of problems. Yeah. you know people when they're with these bad attitudes blame other people they blame circumstances they blame god but they never take ownership of it right maybe i'm the cause of this rotten attitude nah surely not well talk there's a there's a light switch in the brain happy miserable happy miserable It's, I, to me, it's so plain, it's so visible to me that everybody's brain has a, a light switch. And you are in control of the switch.

You can't blame anybody else. Right. So the same sunshine. that gladdens a joyful heart scorches the despondent heart. Perception determines experience. Understand this. Perception determines your experience. You can put two people in the same negative environment,

and one of them comes out smiling. And the other one is devastated. Doc, Robert Schuller called me Saturday. And I was thinking about him, and this is truth, I was thinking about him Friday evening as I was driving home, and I thought, I have not. I've not talked to Robert Schuller in months. I'm going to call him tomorrow, Saturday.

Well, 9 a.m. he called me, which was 6 a.m. in the Pacific, yeah, which was 6 a.m. on the Pacific coast. The moment I saw his name on my caller ID, you know, I answered, I said, Robert Schuller. He goes, you know, had that unmistakable Schuller laugh. And he goes, Rick, blessings. I woke up this morning at 6 a.m. And the Lord said call Rick. Call Rick. I can just hear his voice in my head right now.

I said, Robert, the Lord told me yesterday to call you. He says, well, I beat you. I did it first. All right. But in that conversation, it was about an hour. He told me about a friend of his. And, Doc, you might know this show. I don't see a lot of shows, so I'm like, you know, I'm still watching 1940s.

You should catch it up, okay. What was it called? The Unseen, the Invisible Billionaire? Have you ever heard of this? Is it the invisible billionaire, the unseen billionaire? I don't know if he said Netflix or, I think it was a Netflix film series. Anybody know what I'm talking about? The invisible, I'm looking to separate it.

The invisible billion, or maybe it's millionaire. Maybe, I don't know, no, I think it was a billionaire. Yes, the invisible billionaire. No, that's not it. I'm sorry. I'm trying to... There was a book called that years back. Huh.

A guy by the name of Daniel Ludwig. Well, this guy is, you know, recent, okay? And anyhow, I go on with the story. Robert Schroeder knew this man and this man and this man the basis of his TV show was

they would drop him off and he would just say pick a city pick a town all right they would take him there drop him off and he only had $100

And I think within 30 days, he had a business that was valued at $1 million. And each episode, he did the same thing. They would just drop him off in a town where he knew nobody and gave him $100. And he had 30 days to start a business that had a market value of $1 million. dollars undercover billionaire undercover billionaire it's on discovery right now is it

yes that's it what was his name Glenn Stearns that's him Glenn Stearns I'm and you're the premise is exactly right

you drop him off in the middle of Timbuktu with $100 and he has to build a million dollar business in 90 days that's it

Glenn Stearns, so a friend of Robert Schuers, okay? Why am I telling you this? Because this man, it didn't matter where you put him. His mind, his thinking was, I'm going to get through this and I'm going to create something. I'm going to create a business. I only have $100. See, Doc, you do that to the average person, you destroy them. Right.

They don't know what to do. This is what I'm saying. You can put two people in the same circumstances, the same environment. One is smiling, say, hey, look at all the opportunity. The other one is saying, this is the worst place I've ever been in my life. Right. I like to tell the story of the two shoe salesmen that the shoe factory sent to Africa. Yes.

And so they're over there 30 days. and they called the two salesmen to get an update. And the first salesman says, man, I haven't made any sales at all. They don't wear shoes here. They're all barefoot. They just don't wear shoes, so they're not buying shoes. I haven't sold a pair of shoes.

But they check in with the other guy, and he's going, don't bring me home. I'm selling shoes like they're going out of style. Everybody's barefoot. They all need Jews. And so it's a difference in the attitude as a circumstance. That's right. So perception determines experience.

Amen. To the afflicted, to the negative, to the scornful. Every inconvenience is an opportunity for a new calamity. Every delay is an opportunity to go deeper into despair. but when the soul rest in God they are at peace and

they can deal with afflictions but the days of the afflicted seem evil because their heart is cast down they're looking everything that they look at is through the lens of pain with the righteous everything that they're looking at is through the lens of pain.

the lens of praise and thanksgiving. Amen. So the afflicted life is not only a state of suffering, but it's a it's the symptom of being separated from the joy of the Lord. Then the second part, he that is of a merry heart,

hath a continual feast. Ah, dog. So God turns this person's life into a perpetual celebration. That's right. A merry heart. This isn't more than just laughter. It's an inward happiness, a divine contentment.

The merry heart doesn't feast on luxury, but on gratitude. So these people, take joy and they convert ordinary moments into communion with God in other words every breath, every word

everything is in a perpetual state of communion with their maker they're giving thanksgiving for everything that's why I always thank the Lord for rain I hear so many people gripe about the rain

I think the Lord must get tired of hearing people gripe about the rain when it's raining I'll just say Lord thank you for this beautiful rainy day I don't want to I don't want to start my day out going oh it's raining again you think the Lord wants to hear that he's sending your rain to bring forth plants and food and flowers and drinking water, okay? And we're here going, it's rainy, you know.

Oh, thank the Lord. Praise him. Your heart should be continuously grateful. The grateful can have a banquet with a loaf of bread. Yes. All right, let's see

what the commentator said. John Gill, all things appear dark to a discontinent spirit, but he whose heart rejoices in God lives in a continual feast, though his table be bare. Charles Bridges, the mind creates its own sunshine or its own storm. Joy in the Lord is a feast the world can neither give nor take away. Adam Clark, the poor in spirit, if they are sad, sour and fretful make their own misery. The joyful heart keeps holiday all the year.

Yes. G. Campbell Morgan. Affliction is not in the event, but in the interpretation. The merry heart reads Providence through faith and finds abundance in scarcity. William are not. Gratitude is the soul's banquet. the man who counts his mercy the man who counts his mercies

never runs out of bread and Charles Spurgeon the godly man carries a feast within him his joy is not laid on the table but hidden in his heart where none can steal it all right doc

that's it for today all right well this is a great lesson here and once again a very practical reality of living proverbs out on a day-to-day basis here and I hope that you take the information that we gathered today and put it into practical use in your life we're living the gospel through living out the wisdom of proverbs I just want to remind you before we leave here we've got rick's book megafire available right now at megafire.orghumacire all one word no space in there like on the book

megafire.world and get your copy of Rick's book, Megafire, America's Next Fourth Turning Crisis. To me, this is a guidebook and a handbook for navigating the next decade because it talks about cycles. Listen, this plus joy in your life, and you got it made, baby. You really do. This is a great help. Let me just share with everybody real quick. I'm making major decisions of my own life based on this book. How are you, Doc? You know some of those decisions I've made, Rick. I'm making major decisions in my life based on this book.

Accelerated timelines and everything because there are things happening in the world we can no longer ignore that there are patterns that are taking place and believers need to be discerning and be preparing for rapid changes, taking place in the world around. If the only change is taking place

is in the area of artificial intelligence, if that was the only thing, you need to prepare just for that. But there's so many other things that are going on to, economic, geopolitical, changes in the climate, changes in the solar patterns. All these things are going to impact

decisions for the whole world. But as believers, you can be prepared. but you can also face anything that's coming ahead of us here with the joy of the Lord. Amen. Praise God. You can get it at megafar.world. Yes, sir.

And get a couple copies and pass them around. And if you can give a donation, a larger donation, I'll personally sign the book for you. It's right there on the website, megaworld.com. Amen. Megafire.

Dot world. Megafire. Mega fire. World. Yeah. No.com. You don't need a dot com. The dot world is the extension.

So megafire. Dot world. So all right. Well, that concludes our Monday edition of Morning Manor. We invite you to be back here with us tomorrow morning, 8 a.m. for the Tuesday edition. And we'll learn more from Proverbs chapter 15. God bless you.

We love you. And we'll see you tomorrow. Have a merry heart today. Amen. See you tomorrow.