Warnings and Instructions

Proverbs 27; I die daily devotional.

¹⁷ Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another. ¹⁸ He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, And he who cares for his master will be honored. ¹⁹ As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.

I think it has nearly been more than a few years since I was a maintenance engineer of a German company by the name of Gaedeke at a 14-story class double AA office building close to Frisco Tx before leaving to help a friend startup a moving company that will hopefully succeed to achieve the million dollar status projection and then go beyond, but I won’t forget the iron tools used to give keys their identity for a possessor. I was the… “keymaster”! Well it felt that way after watching “The Matrix Reloaded” representing the cause of Neo to save Zion! That was my ambition, to save people from corporations that suck the life blood out of capitalism, but I’d missed the mark by a long shot considering I was engineer to help maintain its present course. That’s time past, my trajectory has changed, or … it’s simply dissolving … expanding rather, in the heat as the iron that represents my soul is forged into a sword that belongs to Christ my Lord.

IRON SHARPENS IRON

Hammering keys into their identity wasn’t all I did, but believe it or not, it was what I enjoyed the most as an engineer. It was during that time that I was inspired to organize what I called… “Salvational Engineering”.

I would pick up trash around my neighborhood with a neon orange or green long sleeve shirt that had “Numbers 21:6-9” and “John 3:12-15” painted on them. And now as I write this devotional out, I especially enjoyed punching those keys into their identity because symbolically that is exactly what Christ is doing with those that believe in the testimony of His Name. As we believers come together to converse the kingdom of God on earth until Jesus come, the Word of God sharpens us into the tool of salvation. A key that proclaims the name of Jesus Christ and the gospel.

IT TAKES TIME

But see, the thing is, it takes what feels like an eternity to make a tool perfect for it purpose. “Why is that?” I think to myself. Well, from my experience it’s because I didn’t start out as a tool in the kingdom of God, but was born as tool of sin that is separated from God until… yes until I decided for myself that I would read the gospel without an indoctrinated view, but purely from a heart willing to believe, and as long as I’m separated from God the pain of death is no more than a tool forged to serve its purpose. Jesus holds the keys!

^{Rev 1:17} When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. ¹⁹ Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.

We are now alive to a purpose like that of salvational engineers, ever being trained as blacksmiths to sharpen each other into the Word of God by the name of Jesus Christ. Use us Lord, please. In your name, Jesus. Amen.

• How do you need to be sharpened?
• Who are you sharpening?
• Are you willing to believe?
• Are you a key of separation or reconciliation?

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Resources

Proverbs 27(NASB)—blueletterbible
¹ Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth. ² Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips. ³ A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them. ⁴ Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, But who can stand before jealousy? ⁵ Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed. ⁶ Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. ⁷ A sated man loathes honey, But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet. ⁸ Like a bird that wanders from her nest, So is a man who wanders from his home. ⁹ Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend. ¹⁰ Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away. ¹¹ Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, That I may reply to him who reproaches me. ¹² A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, The naïve proceed and pay the penalty. ¹³ Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger; And for an adulterous woman hold him in pledge. ¹⁴ He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be reckoned a curse to him. ¹⁵ A constant dripping on a day of steady rain And a contentious woman are alike; ¹⁶ He who would restrain her restrains the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand. ¹⁷ Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another. ¹⁸ He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, And he who cares for his master will be honored. ¹⁹ As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man. ²⁰ Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied. ²¹ The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, And each is tested by the praise accorded him. ²² Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him. ²³ Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds; ²⁴ For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations. ²⁵ When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, ²⁶ The lambs will be for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field, ²⁷ And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your maidens.