Well, hello, roosters. I'm glad you could join us again on Morning Devotions with Brother Mark, where we're walking with you on your walk with Christ. Today is February the 4th, 2020. Yesterday I was talking to someone about the morning devotions, and they are new to watching them. And I asked them, I said, have you ever heard the roosters? They said, nope, I've never heard the roosters. So guess what? This morning I brought back the roosters. Yeah, it kind of tickled me, and I trust that tickled you a little bit. But anyway, here we go. We're going to continue our look in the book of Proverbs and thinking about how the book of Proverbs fits into our walk with Christ. And so today we will look at Proverbs in chapter number six. And you know, there's so much wisdom in the book of Proverbs. You know, at first I thought I would talk about the ant and then I thought I would talk about the naughty one described in this chapter. Then I came to Proverbs 6, and let's see, verse number, let's see, verse number 16. These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination to him, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren. You know, as I read that passage of scripture, I thought, you know, we need to talk about the six things that the Lord hates. It has to be the subject of our devotion, because we're walking with you on your walk with Christ. And if you're going to walk in a way that is pleasing to Christ, you must refrain from doing what God hates. You cannot continue to do what God hates and expect to be in a place of blessing. We need to remember as followers of Jesus that the things described here are not things which God dislikes. They are not things which God would prefer we don't do. These are things which God hates. And God hates the proud look. A proud look is one which looks down on others. A proud look is one that exalts itself. It is really the pride is the beginning of sin in the garden. The one with a proud look has a high opinion of their own merit. Gil had this to say. Pride is the first of the hateful things mentioned. It is the first sin committed, as is probable the sin of the angels and of the first man, and is a predominant evil in human nature, and is directly opposite to God and to His nature and against which he sets himself, for he resisteth the proud." In the book of James, chapter number four. And so God hates that. I'm not going to elaborate a lot because we have a lot to say. The next thing, a lying tongue. My parents taught me to always tell the truth. They told me they would always believe me until I gave them a reason not to believe me. They taught me to tell the truth even to my own hurt. And the reason is because when one tells the truth, they can be trusted. They can be relied upon in difficult situations. You can tell a lot about a person by how truthful they are. God hates lying because he is truth. He has never set out to deceive. He has never been less than completely true. When we speak the truth, we are emulating Christ. The next thing God hates mentioned is hands that shed innocent blood. God is a God of justice and righteousness. When someone sheds innocent blood, he is destroying the image of God. He is removing life from that which God has given life. They are destroying the image of God, and so God hates that. A heart that devises wicked imaginations. Why does God hate the heart that devises wicked plans? God hates that heart because God's plans are always good. God doesn't seek to do wickedness. He seeks to reprove it, to repair that which is broken because of wickedness. He hates this because it is contrary to who He is. Why does God hate the feet that run to mischief? Mischief is defined as evil. Why does God hate the feet which run to do evil? He hates those feet because He always does good. Everything which God does is good. God seeks to do good and not evil. God approves of the one who seeks to do good and not evil all the days of their life, just like the virtuous woman. God hates a false witness. Notice this is a second place where the words spoken are mentioned among the things God hates. This is an expansion of the lying tongue. This one does not just speak lies, but spreads those lies against others, damaging them. The next thing which God hates is the one that soweth discord among the brethren. Do you know the one who was always stirring up trouble? No matter the situation, they are not seeking those things which make for peace. They're seeking to stir the pot, doing something to provoke others, causing others to get angry. God is not happy with that. God is displeased with that. God hates that. He actually calls it an abomination. You know, that's something we need to think about. If you're always that ones that's gigging somebody, trying to get a rise out of them, trying to get them angry, trying to, you know, no matter how innocent it might be, you're doing something that God hates. You need to think about it. In your walk with Christ, if you want to please the Lord, you need to stay away from these things, which God hates. Let's pray. Lord, today I pray that we will listen to this wisdom, consider our lives, and refrain from those actions which you hate. Help us to walk in only those things which please you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Till tomorrow, Pastor Mark signing off.