Thursday, January 31, 2008

February 1

Feb 1 - Today from Proverbs 1 we look at verse 2
"For attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight."

The object of which the Teacher speaks in this verse is, of course, the Proverbs. One of the first things we note about the Proverbs is that they are intended to provide wisdom, discipline and understanding.
Wisdom is loosely defined as understanding life the way God meant it to be.
Discipline is sound instruction - even stern chastisement for the purpose of correction.
Understanding is proper perspective. I would like to share a few thoughts regarding this term. Without proper perspective, one could not attain wisdom nor could one be properly disciplined. Understanding requires clear objective definition. This brings us to a great malady in the postmodern Western culture in which we live. It is the malady of relativism. It is so subtle, that we barely perceive it's destructive forces at work all around us - even in Christ's Church. How can we truly understand how we are to relate to God and to one another when we cannot agree as to how scripture is to be interpreted? The church rarely studies the Bible from the objective intent of the authors as God inspired them to write. They have adopted the subjective, self-important, postmodern, ‘feel goodism’ method of filtering God's Word through their own life-experiences. Typically, the small group Bible Study sits around and reads a passage and then asks the question, "What does that passage mean to you?" Everyone then shares a subjective interpretation through their own understanding and life-experience. This is not Bible study, this is postmodern relativism. The group now has about as many different interpretations as there are members of the group. But where is the clear definition? Where is the proper perspective? "It doesn't matter. What matters is how the passage speaks to you." (sic). There is no sound instruction or even stern chastisement in a passage when the subject is allowed to do their own interpretation. The passage must be interpreted from the context in which it was written by the author, and must be in the perspective of the totality of God's Word. Few believers have the ability to interpret the Bible in such a fashion today. Why? Because few churches are offering sound Biblical teaching courses. We have adopted a method by which the enemy needs not openly take our Bibles from us and destroy them, we do the destruction ourselves through improper interpretation. We no longer hear God's voice speaking through the author's of the Bible. We hear our own voices speaking through our own interpretations of the Bible.
May God be merciful to His Church and raise up a new generation of Teachers who properly understand the importance of wisdom, discipline and understanding, and who "correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).
"No prophesy of scripture came by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophesy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1: 20, 21).

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

January 31

Jan 31 - Today from Proverbs 31 we look at verse 16
"She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard."

Being both a man and a husband, it is difficult to personally apply verses 10-31. So, whenever I read this chapter I frame it with Paul's words from Ephesians 5 where he speaks of the relationship between husband and wife, and in verse 32 he says, "This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and His church." As a member of Christ's church, I can definitely use personal application to the Proverbs 31 wife.
In the verse before us we see a wise, thoughtful, and industrious wife. Too seldom do we think of the church as industrious. "She considers a field." To consider something is to carefully think through it. What field is the church to consider? Areas of possibility where there currently is no productive activity. "She buys it." To buy is to invest oneself. The church is to invest herself in areas where there is currently little or no kingdom productivity. "She plants a vineyard." Ah! Here is what the church is to do in barren fields. In John 15 Jesus says, "I am the vine and you are the branches." We are to extend His vineyard. Sounds quite simple doesn't it? If the church is to be a 'wife of noble character', then one of her characteristics is to be considering her field of labors, and busying herself in planting the gospel in those fields.
Too often the church is content to sit in her small field and enjoy her own fruit. "Why risk investing in larger fields? We have all we need right here." In the eyes of our 'Husband', that is an ignoble thought. He has fully invested Himself in the harvest, and He wants His bride to be of the same heart and mind.
'The Prayer of Jabez' has become a book of considerable focus. Everyone who reads it and comments on it, but few have let it penetrate - particularly in a corporate sense. The bride seems to have no sense of industry. Does she no longer consider fields? In her history, our church has planted several vineyards throughout the area. Most have grown to become healthy and productive churches.
"Those were the days," say the old-timers. Why not today? We are still commissioned and empowered to make disciples. Where has our corporate nobility gone? When did the church stop being community-minded and focus on being congregation-minded?

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

January 30

Jan 30 - Today from Proverbs 30 we look at verse 5
"Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him."

To me, God Himself is not tangible. I don't believe I personally know anyone who has physically touched God. Yet this proverb claims that God is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Just how does one go about doing that?
If this is a fundamental truth, then I guess we should first discern exactly what God shields us from, and how do we appropriate the refuge He provides from it. What do you think?
I would say that because the proverb begins with the proclamation that God's Word is flawless, that this would be a key to our discovery. Believing in God is not enough. We must believe God. To believe God is to take refuge in Him. His Word shields us from deception. If we will believe that His word is truth (John 17:17), then it will be very difficult to be deceived by the errant ways of the world, or by doctrines of demons. A refuge is a place of protection from danger. The danger which is the ultimate threat is not from those who can destroy the body only, but from the One who can destroy both the soul and the body in hell (Matthew 10:28). God's Word not only brings judgment upon those who do not receive its truth; it also provides mercy and life for those who do. To abide in His truth is a refuge from deceit. Those who remain deceived will in the end find no refuge at all.
A final thought - the N.T. speaks in numerous places about the wrath of God, which is being stored up for the unrighteous (i.e. 1 Thes. 1:10). Not a pleasant thought. Often the instruments of God's wrath are his enemies, and we believe that in the last days Satan will be unleashed. There will be only one refuge in those days, and that is the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:14). He is our only refuge because He has already experienced the wrath of God, brought against our sin in His own body. He rose victorious over the power of and penalty for sin, and in Him, and Him alone, do we find eternal refuge from the wrath of God .

Monday, January 28, 2008

January 29

Jan 29 - Today from Proverbs 29 we look at verse 1
"A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed - without remedy."

You know, we all face 'suddenlys' in life. Out of the blue we experience some kind of trauma that leaves us reeling; an accident, a health issue, loss of a loved one, loss of employment, etc. They come so unexpectedly. But, there are some 'suddenlys' that should have been anticipated - because they were prefaced by cautionary warnings. People tend to be stiff-necked when their interests are self-serving. God created man to serve God and to serve his fellow man - in the very best sense of the term 'serve'. It is God's nature to serve, and we were created in His image. Sin perverted that image and made man self-serving. We can see the similarity between this proverb and that of 28:18 where it says; "He whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall." Another 'suddenly'.
"Don't drink and drive." -Hey, I can handle it okay.
"WARNING: Smoking cigarettes can cause cancer." -Hey, we're all going to die of something anyway.
You've probably heard all of the stiff-necked excuses just as I have. In fact, before I met Jesus, I used to give them. People tend to ignore clear warnings every day - and people die because of it every day. But this proverb goes even deeper. This 'suddenly' speaks of destruction without remedy. Now, that's scary! When I face the suddenlys of life, I want to have the confidence that the outcome is in my Savior's hand. How can I have that confidence if I have been ignoring HIS rebukes? Ecclesiastes 7:5 says; "It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools." We must stop thinking of a rebuke as something repulsive. When a rebuke comes from a friend, it is a loving word of correction. Let us open our hearts to the sweet rebuke of the Spirit of Christ when he speaks to us concerning harmful and perverted self-serving ways.
A stubborn and perverse person never regrets the end while in the process. The regrets only come at the end - when it's too late. And the end comes so suddenly! Wisdom constantly looks to the end while processing the now. This is best done in the constant light of the scriptures, which are PROFITABLE for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).

Sunday, January 27, 2008

January 28

Jan 28 - Today from Proverbs 28 we look at verse 11
"A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death; let no one support him."

The writer of this Proverb used an extreme circumstance - but Jesus broadened the context considerably in Matthew 5:21, 22 where He says, "You have heard it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment." How many of us know someone who is harboring anger toward a brother (brother in this instance means fellow man)? Wow! Jesus moves us from the letter of the law to the spirit of the law, "Love your neighbor". We need to continually define 'death' in our own hearts as 'separation'. When one person hates another, there is a separation that occurs through judgment. In the civil law system, murder is certainly a greater crime than hatred. But in the moral law system, Jesus says they are equal. Now, back to our proverb. "A man tormented by guilt" is a person who has not experienced release from their guilt. There are only two options for such people; to die in their guilt, or to receive pardon for their guilt. The punishment for murder in the O.T. is death. Five hundred, or even five thousand hours of community service won't help. The torment of guilt most often begins with fear for one's own life. One becomes a fugitive. In the N.T. we discover that the sentence for any moral crime is death. "The wages of sin is death." Some people run from God their whole lives because they believe God is angry with them and that if they turn to Him He will carry out a brutal sentence."Let no one support him." The worst thing we can do for people who labor under the torment of guilt is to support them. "Hey, everyone feels that way some time or other. It's only human." Or, "Yeah. I don't blame you for hating him. He is a nasty wicked person who deserves to burn in hell." We must not support a non-repentant heart and try to ease their guilt. The best thing we can do is act as a peacemaker. We need to tell that person that there is a way to be free from the torment of guilt. We find the solution in verse 13, "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." Torment of guilt can be a tool of the Holy Spirit and an opportunity for a witness. For a nonbeliever, it is an open door to hear the good news, "God isn't angry with you any more. He has made a way for you to be free from the guilt of sin. . . " For a believer, it is an invitation to come to the throne of grace anew, to receive mercy. God's mercy is rich. Our only obligation is to humble ourselves and come to Him and confess and renounce the sin that torments with guilt. Once we do that, "He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us" (1 John 1:9).
There is no god like our God!

January 27

Jan 27 - Today from Proverbs 27 we look at verse 24
"Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that build your house."

A thought on priorities in life - they are not always what our first instincts would make them to be. In the case before us, it would seem that the first priority would be to build your house in order to provide a place of protection and shelter for the family. Once again, we need to place ourselves in the culture. If you are admonished to get your fields ready, you can easily assume you are in a rural agrarian setting. There are no grocery stores or supermarkets even in the cities of that day, so you can imagine what was available in rural areas! The families were completely dependent upon crops gathered from their gardens and fields, and upon milk and fleece gathered from their livestock. So, you can see that in this cultural setting, your fields and flocks must take priority. It's a small thing to dwell in a tent for a few weeks while the family makes sure the seasonal crops are planted and the flocks have proper grazing and protection. It wouldn't matter how nice of a house you built; the family would perish without a proper means of sustenance.
"Well," one might say, "given the cultural situation, the proverb almost seems too obvious to write down as a bit of wisdom. Under those circumstances you'd have to be a fool to build the house first."
That's one of the reasons the Proverbs were written, "for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young -" (Proverbs 1:4). Give an average young person $10,000 to do with as he or she pleases, and what do you think they would do? Invest it in a financial portfolio? Use it to defray college expenses? Invest it in a career opportunity? Or. . . do you think they might go buy a new car? A new entertainment center with a plasma TV and Dolby surround sound with the latest Play Station 3-D action pack? Or. . . would they just carry large amounts of money around and treat their friends and live it up doing whatever fits their fancy at the time? Get the picture?
I think we all have problems with priorities. We need to pray for wisdom, carefully choose our priorities in life, and then work at keeping them in order. As believers, one of our greatest priorities is our relationship with the One who loves us with an everlasting love. Do our actions follow suit? Or do we allow lesser things to eat up our time and affections. God certainly doesn't intend for us not to have times of leisure and rest from the often-hectic pace of life. But He promises that if we first seek His kingdom and His righteousness, He will add to it all that we need for material, mental and spiritual sustenance. It's a discipline - a wise discipline.

Friday, January 25, 2008

January 26

Jan 26 - Today from Proverbs 26 we look at verses 20 & 22
"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down. The words of a gossip are like choice morsels, they go down to a man's innermost parts."

Fools, sluggards and malicious people. That's what Proverbs 26 seems to be all about. They live all around us (and sometimes inside of us). How do we recognize them and how do we deal with them?
The Bible has a lot to say about conflict in relationships and most of it has to do with loving confrontation. As long as it is confrontation, it confines the conflict only to the parties involved. When gossip gets into the equation, the conflict spreads like fire. With gossip, people who had no business being involved are now engaged in taking up the offences of others. Once this happens, outsiders add their own thoughts and prejudices, and join the fray. Gossips are malicious people. Stop the flow of gossip and there is no longer any fuel to spread the conflict.
Now, with gossip being so destructive, one might think it would also be repulsive. But here is the paradox! Verse 22 says, in essence, that knowledge is power, and people just can't help in wanting a little more power. It’s human nature. If people know some juicy tidbit about someone else, it gives them a sense of just a little more power - because OTHER people want to know it too. Now THEY have a choice morsel to bring to the party, and they feel they can gain some social status because of it. So, one throws their stick of coveted knowledge into the dying embers of another’s misfortune and the flames flare up once more. If others are impressed with the contribution, they hunger for more information. The contributor becomes the center of attention. What power!
As a believer, our sense of value and our security is in Christ Jesus. Having a little more kindling to throw into the flames of conflict to impress others should no longer be a driving need in our lives. In fact, this kind of behavior actually grieves the Holy Spirit, whose desire is to heal and to make peace. We need to discipline ourselves not to become involved in gossip, and we need to learn how to effectively cut off the gossip vines when they wind their way into our sphere of influence. Our task is not to add to the fires of conflict, but to be peacemakers. It is the peacemakers who will be called the sons of God (Matthew 5:9).

Thursday, January 24, 2008

January 25

Today from Proverbs 25 we look at verse 8
"What you have seen with your eyes do not bring hastily to court, for what will you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to shame?"

I see the principle here as a reference to the court of life. The situation is not necessarily a room with a judge and jury, but it certainly denotes a processed decision of which the outcome will significantly affect the life or lives of others. When confronted with such situations, it is wise to ask the following:
1. Is it necessary that I get involved?
2. Can I be as honestly objective as possible?
3. Can I be unbiased in my presentation?
The proverb reminds us that even what we see with our own eyes can be misinterpreted through our own limitations of understanding, and/or our own prejudices. It is the difference between reporting and editorializing. Can we observe an action without putting put our own interpretation to the action? If some person, or some type of person that we either dislike or distrust conducts the action, the likelihood is that our interpretation will be prejudiced (this is where the term profiling got a bad name). That is why the Lord cautions us not to be hasty in pitching in our 'two cents worth' when it involves the character and reputation of another person. We are 'taking them to court' when we speak and judge others by using incomplete, or worse, prejudiced information. This is a most difficult sin to master. It takes both wisdom and grace.
Wisdom understands that truth stands forever, it cannot be undone. If we give harmful testimony (1) where it is not needed, (2) that has not been objective or (3) that was prejudiced against another - one day the truth will be revealed. It may take place in this time but certainly in the presence of the Great Judge. Either way the truth will put us to shame if we made a wrong judgment. As we grow in wisdom, we learn to be cautious in bringing our testimony into situations that affect the lives of others.
Jesus says in John 7:24; "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." And in Matthew 12:36, 37; "But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned."

January 24

Today from Proverbs 24 we look at verse 10
"If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!" Strength. What kind of strength? If it were physical strength, this proverb couldn't universally apply - some people are physically weak and can do little or nothing to change that. No, this proverb refers to strength of character. How do you stand when troubles come? How do you keep going when all seems lost? You dig deep into the character that was formed in you as you trusted God through previous times of trouble. Maybe it wasn't as traumatic or as devastating as the current situation, but staying in any challenge builds character. It's the school of life. God allows trials to test our faith. Walking away from, or taking the easy way out of a difficult situation keeps our strength of character 'small'. It never gets any exercise.
Life isn't easy, and it certainly isn't meant to always go our way. People who believe or act like that have little character. Nobody really wants to have such people of little character around when things get tough. On the other hand, those who have stayed the course and learned the lessons of life by going through life’s trials are good people to have around when you hit a wall. They can help give you perspective.
Let's move ahead one book to Ecclesiastes. There in chapter 7 verse 4 it says, "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, the heart of the fools is in the house of pleasure." Little about life is learned in the house of pleasure. It is an aberration; a place designed to retreat from the reality of life. Go to a funeral and contemplate all that's going on there, and you have entered the true theater of life.
Are you in a time of trouble today? Look to the people around you who have been tempered in the trials of life and you will find encouragement. In the same chapter of Ecclesiastes in verse 8 it says, "The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride." Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. Let patience do its work, it is a tremendous character builder.