Proverb of the Day

Appendix

2009-01-23T11:09:00.004-05:00

I have now posted my complete calendar of personal meditations in Proverbs. To go to any specific day of the year, use the 'Blog Archive' list at the left to open the month and the day you would lilke to read. Below is an appendix of all of the verses from the book of Proverbs that have been used in this meditations commentary, and the month and day on which they were featured. Thank you for joining me this past year, may God bless the years ahead as we endeavor to serve with Him in seeing His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

Ken Sweers

Appendix

Proverbs
1:1-4 January 1
1:2 February 1
1:5 October 1
1:7 March 1
1:10 April 1
1:17 April 1
1:19 May 1
1:20, 21 June 1
1:22 December 1
1:23 July 1
1:25 November 1
1:28 August 1
1:31 August 1
1:32 September 1
2:1-5 March 2
2:5 December 2
2:6 January 2
2:7 September 2
2:8 October 2
2:9, 10 February 2
2:11, 12 November 2
2:10 June 2
2:12-14 May 2
2:16, 17 July 2
2:20 April 2
2:21, 22 August 2
3:3, 4 September 3
3:5, 6 March 3
3:11, 12 February 3
3:13 June 3
3:13 December 3
3:16 November 3
3:21 May 3
3:24 April 3
3:25, 26 July 3
3:27 October 3
3:31, 32 January 3
3:34 August 3
4:1 August 4
4:2 November 2
4:3, 4 February 4
4:7 February 4
4:8 December 4
4:10-12 April 4
4:13 January 4
4:14, 15 June 4
4:18, 19 March 4
4:23 May 4
4:24 September 4
4:25 July 4
4:26 October 4
5:1, 2 March 5
5:3, 4 May 5
5:5, 6 August 5
5:8 November 5
5:11, 12 February 5
5:13 July 5
5:15 September 5
5:16 December 5
5:20 October 5
5:20, 21 April 5
5:21 June 5
5:22, 23 January 5
6:1-3 May 6
6:4 September 6
6:10, 11 July 6
6:12-14 November 6
6:16 March 6
6:16-19 December 6
6:20-22 January 6
6:26 February 6
6:26 April 6
6:30 February 6
6:30, 31 June 6
6:32 February 6
6:32 August 6
6:34 October 6
7:1, 2 January 7
7:5 November 7
7:6, 7 July 7
7:8, 9 March 7
7:10 May 7
7:11 April 7
7:13 August 7
7:14, 15 December 7
7:16-18 October 7
7:19, 20 June 7
7:21, 22 February 7
7:25 September 7
7:27 October 7
8:1-3 January 8
8:4 June 8
8:5 May 8
8:8 September 8
8:10, 11 March 8
8:12 February 8
8:13 April 8
8:17 August 8
8:18 October 8
8:22 February 8
8:30, 31 November 8
8:32 December 8
8:36 July 8
9 – overview December 9
9:1 June 9
9:1 November 9
9:1, 2 July 9
9:6 May 9
9:7, 8 February 9
9:9 September 9
9:10 January 9
9:12 October 9
9:13 April 9
9:13 August 9
9:17 March 9
10:2 August 10
10:5 October 10
10:9 November 10
10:12 July 10
10:17 April 10
10:17 June 10
10:20 March 10
10:23 May 10
10:24, 25 February 10
10:27 December 10
10:29 January 10
10:31 September 10
11:1 October 11
11:2 April 11
11:6 March 11
11:11 May 11
11:16 December 11
11:17 September 11
11:17 November 11
11:22 July 11
11:24 January 11
11:25 June 11
11:27 February 11
11:30 August 11
12:3 November 12
12:11 April 12
12:14 October 12
12:15 February 12
12:16 May 16
12:17 June 12
12:18 March 12
12:19 August 12
12:23 December 12
12:24 January 12
12:27 September 12
12:28 July 12
13:2 November 13
13:4 August 13
13:6 April 13
13:7 January 13
13:9 October 13
13:12 May 13
13:13 July 13
13:16 March 16
13:20 February 13
13:21 December 13
13:23 September 13
13:24 June 13
14:1 August 14
14:4 July 14
14:9 April 14
14:12 January 14
14:15 June 15
14:20, 21 March 14
14:23 February 14
14:27 December 14
14:31 September 14
14:32 May 14
14:35 October 14
14:35 November 14
15:1 June 15
15:2 March 15
15:3 September 15
15:8 July 15
15:10 December 15
15:12 February 15
15:17 November 15
15:22 October 15
15:28 March 15
15:29 January 15
15:33 April 15
15:26 May 15
15:30 August 15
16:1 August 16
16:2 May 16
16:3 December 16
16:4 March 16
16:7 September 16
16:8 July 16
16:9 February 16
16:20 June 16
16:20 October 16
16:21 April 16
16:26 November 16
16:28 January 16
17:1 October 17
17:3 September 17
17:7 January 17
17:8 December 17
17:10 February 17
17:14 April 17
17:15 August 17
17:16 March 17
17:17 July 17
17:19 May 17
17:21 June 17
17:23 December 17
17:24 November 17
18:1 December 18
18:2 May 18
18:7 July 18
18:9 January 18
18:12 November 18
18:13 April 18
18:14 June 18
18:17 April 18
18:18 February 18
18:19 March 18
18:19 September 18
18:21 October 18
18:23 August 18
19:1 September 19
19:2 October 19
19:3 April 19
19:6 March 19
19:11 January 19
19:12 July 19
19:15 November 15
19:17 June 19
19:19 May 19
19:21 December 19
19:27 February 19
19:28 August 19
20:4 February 20
20:5 April 20
20:8 November 20
20:14 March 20
20:15 August 20
21:16 April 21
20:17 May 20
20:18 June 20
20:19 September 20
20:22 October 20
20:23 December 20
20:25 January 20
20:26 July 20
21:5 March 21
21:7 October 21
21:8 January 21
21:9 February 21
21:13 September 21
21:15 December 21
21:18 November 21
21:19 February 21
21:21 June 21
21:22 July 21
21:27 May 21
21:30 August 21
22:1 July 22
22:2 October 22
22:3 December 22
22:7 November 22
22:9 February 22
22:10 January 22
22:13 May 22
22:15 June 22
22:24, 25 March 22
22:28 April 22
22:28 August 22
22:29 September 22
23:4, 5 July 23
23:6, 7 March 23
23:7 June 23
23:10, 11 September 23
23:13, 14 October 23
23:15, 16 July 23
23:17, 18 April 23
23:23 January 23
23:26, 27 May 23
23:29, 30 August 23
23:31, 32 December 23
23:33 November 23
23:35 February 23
24:3, 4 August 24
24:5, 6 April 24
24:7 February 24
24:10 January 24
24:16 March 24
24:17, 18 June 24
24:19, 20 May 24
24:21 November 24
24:23-25 December 24
24:29 September 24
24:30, 31 July 24
24:33, 34 October 24
25:6, 7 August 25
25:8 January 25
25:9, 10 May 25
25:13 July 25
25:14 February 25
25:15 September 25
25:19 April 25
25:21, 22 November 25
25:25 October 25
25:25 December 25
25:26 March 25
25:28 June 25
26:2 December 26
26:4, 5 June 26
26:7 May 26
26:8 April 26
26:9 August 26
26:10 July 26
26:11 September 26
26:12 October 26
26:13 March 26
26:15 March 26
26:17 February 26
26:20 January 26
26:22 January 26
27:1 April 27
27:2 July 27
27:5, 6 August 27
27:7 June 27
27:10 September 27
27:14 February 27
27:15 November 27
27:17 May 27
27:19 October 27
27:21 December 27
27:22 March 27
27:24 January 27
28:1 April 28
28:2 March 28
28:3 August 28
28:5 June 28
28:6 November 28
28:9 July 28
28:11 January 28
28:13 July 28
28:19 February 28
28:20 October 28
28:23 May 28
2825 December 28
28:26 September 28
29:1 January 29
29:3 November 29
29:4 March 29
29:7 December 29
29:9 February 29
29:11 June 29
29:12 July 29
29:13 April 29
29:16 October 29
29:18 May 29
29:19 August 29
29:20 September 29
30:2, 3 December 30
30:5 January 30
30:10 May 30
30:11 September 30
30:12 July 30
30:15, 16 June 30
30:17 September 30
30:21-23 November 30
30:24-28 April 30
30:29-31 August 30
30:32, 33 March 30
30:33 October 30
31:3 March 31
31:10 March 31
31:13 December 31
31:15 October 31
31:16 January 31
31:23 May 31
31:25 July 31
31:31 August 31

January 23

2009-01-22T23:03:00.001-05:00

Jan 23 - Today from Proverbs 23 we look at verse 23

"Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding."

To buy something is to barter or trade something that you have for something you desire even more. To sell is for you to give up something you have in exchange for something you consider to be of reasonably equal value.
It is strange that even in our slang vernacular 'buy' has come to be a positive term and 'sell' has come to be a negative term. When we hear something that we believe is credible, we say, "Yeah, I'll buy that". It seems to mean that we will trade our old concept of whatever the subject matter is for the new concept that we just heard. A Positive term. On the other hand, when someone betrays us we say, "He sold me out". It seems to indicate that the person valued something else above your friendship. A Negative term.Now let's apply this to today's verse.
To "buy the truth" means that we will practically discard unproven concepts for proven ones, even when the unproven seem more self-gratifying. Truth is to be valued more than pleasure. To obtain a valuable truth, we have to trade something - and to the flesh it may seem costly. Too abstract? Okay, let's throw out a concrete example: John grew up believing that the better he lived a moral life, the better his chances were of him getting to heaven. He worked hard to follow the Ten Commandments, to attend church, and to do good deeds. Whenever he 'fell' he became very insecure and worked all the harder to win back God's approval. John greatly valued heaven and pleasing God was his ticket to get there. Then one day he came across TRUTH; He discovered that his sin separated him from God, and there was no way he could ever do enough good to get to heaven - but he also discovered that God loved him and desired a personal relationship with him. So much so, that He Himself paid the price for John's sin by dying in his place on a cross. All John needed to do was to confess his sin, his inadequacy to overcome it, and to simply receive the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus by faith. Now John saw something of greater value than heaven, and he was willing to gain that truth by giving up his old concept. What was of greater value for John? A personal relationship with the One who lives in heaven. John 'bought' it and gained what he had been struggling for his whole life. A Positive thing.
"Do not sell it." To sell something means that you would have to trade it for something of relatively equal value. There is nothing of equal value to the truth. You would have to be self-deceived in order to give up a truth you hold for anything else. In Genesis 25:27-35, Esau had the truth. You can be sure that his daddy Isaac told Esau of the great value of his birthright. But Esau 'sold' his birthright for something that only temporarily satisfied his fleshly appetite. It wasn't a 'just kidding' thing. God took it very seriously. Hebrews 12:16, 17 says that afterwards when Esau wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected - even though he sought it with tears. He 'sold out' his blessing (the truth), when he gave in to the immediate desires of his appetite. Pretty serious stuff - and definitely a Negative thing.

HOW do we hold onto the truths that we possess?
By getting wisdom,
by practicing discipline,
and by understanding why it is truth.

January 22

2009-01-21T23:04:00.001-05:00

Jan 22 - Today from Proverbs 22 we look at verse 10

"Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended."

If you are ever in a gathering where there is arguing, insults and strife, you will find at least one mocker personality at the center of it. Wisdom says to 'drive out the mocker'.But doesn't the Bible teach that we should be peacemakers? That we are to love others and do all we can to restore them?
Yes, it does. When you 'drive out the mocker' from the rest of the folks, you have made a huge step toward peace. The love we are commanded to love with isn't an emotion. It is a decision to do what is best for the object of your love. Here we see two objects, the gathering and the mocker. If we love the gathering, we want to see that the strife, quarrels and insults are stopped. This is done by removing the source - the one or one's who have no respect for authority, and who have little or no regard for the feelings of others.
If you want to love and restore the mocker, that's fine. But do it outside of the fellowship of the gathering, where their arrogance will no longer be a threat to the rest.
A word of caution: This proverb is directed toward leaders - those with proper authority. In the context of the sum of God's Word, we are not to live in an anarchical society. There is to be order, and within that order there are appointed positions of authority. In a government, there are law enforcement agencies. In a business there are corporate directors and managers. In a church there are officers of the church (Bishops, Pastors, Elders, Deacons, etc.), and in the home there are parents. All authority comes from God (Romans 13:1). Those who abuse it will one day give an accounting to God. Those who resist or show no regard for it will also give an accounting.
I have observed that driving out the mocker by the proper authorities is a universal principle. It works in the family, in the work place, on mission trips, in the church and in government. It may not seem to be 'politically correct', but it is a principle of wisdom. It is preventative maintenance. By not driving out the mocker, you go into damage control, which is much more difficult and more costly.

January 21

2009-01-20T23:07:00.001-05:00

Jan 21 - Today from Proverbs 21 we look at verse 8

"The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright."

Some proverbs seem so obvious at first that one wonders why they were even written down. This is one of them. In fact, The Living Bible states the obvious in its modern paraphrase:
"A man is known by his actions. An evil man lives an evil life; a good man lives a godly life."
See what I mean? But as we stop and think on a little deeper level, we see that there is more than first meets the eye here. I believe there is a lesson in discernment for us. As we go through life, we are to be discerning as to which people we allow to influence us. None of us wants to believe that we are influenced by 'evil' people. The problem is, evil people do not wear a sign around their neck which says, "I AM EVIL". The Bible says that even Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Evil can be very subtle. To help us here, it might be good to define evil as a noun. The dictionary says, "Something that causes harm, misfortune, suffering or destruction." One of the two most common words for evil in the Hebrew agrees with this definition. The other most popular term relates to rotting - a degenerative term. Even with these definitions, it is somewhat difficult to discern evil in its early and deceptive stages at times. So this proverb turns the focus on the actors rather than the actions. Are the actions going to turn out to be productive - or destructive in the long run?
Again, Proverbs most often deals with the rule of life - not the exceptions. So, as a rule, when you are unsure of whether an idea or activity is proper, you should observe the character of the person who is trying to influence you rather than the idea or activity the person is attempting to get you to embrace. If it is a person of integrity, his conduct will be consistently 'upright'. The picture in the Hebrew here is 'straight'. We use it in our modern vernacular; "You can trust him. He will be straight with you." That is said of a man who has a solid reputation as being up front with you, regardless of the consequences. Another example is when one notices the Doctor hedging the diagnosis and the patient says, "Tell it to me straight Doc." The patient isn't interested in a dance of deception, even though the Doctor is trying to spare their feelings. Upright people deal straight, and they leave a legacy. Look at the trail they leave in life. Do people of integrity who have known them for a good period of time speak well of them? Have they made relationships, partnerships and fellowships better off because of their active influence? It's a good bet that you can trust the influence this person can be in your life.
On the other hand, you have the devious character. In the Hebrew, 'devious' is just the opposite of 'straight'. It means to turn about, to change, to pervert. It gives one the picture of one weaving and dodging, unable or unwilling to give a clear and concise answer. Devious people can be charming or they wouldn't be much of an influence. But they also leave a legacy. If you want to know whether you should follow their influence, look at the trails they leave in life. Is there a trail of harm, misfortune and destruction in previous relationships, partnerships or fellowships in which they were an active influence? You can bet that if you allow yourself to be influenced by this type, you will end up getting hurt, or even worse, you will end up being an agent of 'rotting' in your own spheres of influence.
There's more to this Proverb than first meets the eye. God wants us to be discerning as to what kinds of ‘influencers’ we take up with.

January 20

2009-01-19T21:57:00.001-05:00

Jan 20 - Today from Proverbs 20 we look at verse 25

"It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later consider his vows."

'Dedicate' - devoted to a special purpose. We can dedicate many things; time, money, energy, objects. . . the list is inexhaustible. How could we be 'trapped' into dedicating something? In the majority of cases, I would say through our emotions; anger, pity, desire, sorrow, pride, discouragement, and most of all greed. Emotional decisions are very tricky and often spontaneous. We usually don't logically think through what the long term consequences would be when we let our emotions rule in a decision. This is a great benefit to con artists. People who make important decisions by their emotions are known as 'suckers' - and as the old saying goes, "There is a sucker born every minute." Once the money is handed over or the contract signed - you're 'dedicated' to it. Later on, when emotions wane and logic settles back in, you begin to 'consider your vows', and you realize that you didn't make such a good decision after all.Wisdom and maturity go hand in hand. As one matures, they learn not to be emotionally manipulated into making important decisions. In fact, verse 18 fits along with this verse; "Make plans by seeking advice." If you are emotionally involved in a major decision, seek the advice of trusted friends or reputable professionals to see if it is a sound decision. When there are areas where you do not have the needed wisdom in a situation, you can benefit from the wisdom of others who do. One final thought, "Do not make critical decisions when you are emotionally unstable." Stick with the situation until your emotions are under control and you are able to begin to clearly reason through it. It takes practice - but wisdom is practical.

January 19

2009-01-18T22:05:00.000-05:00

Jan 19 - Today from Proverbs 19 we look at verse 11

"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense."

"A man's wisdom gives him patience." How does that work? Again, we have to understand just what wisdom is. It is more than correct knowledge, although one cannot have wisdom without correct knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to apply correct knowledge. In order to do that, one must know how it fits into the greater scheme. I guess we could use a jigsaw puzzle as a limited analogy. If the pieces of the puzzle were correct knowledge, and you possessed all of the pieces, it still wouldn't do you much good unless you knew how they all fit together. As we grow in wisdom, we not only accumulate the puzzle pieces (correct information), but we practice putting them together in proper order. A little simplistic, but at least it gives some understanding.
Now perhaps we can better see how wisdom can give patience. Wisdom looks at the 'big picture', understanding that the situation one is currently dealing with is only a small piece of it. This is the foundational thought of the proverb; the second is built upon it. Without the understanding of a bigger picture, we want to immediately react to a personal offense. We want to be sure that the offender 'pays', so we often take matters into our own hand and retaliate. When someone insults, we lash back. When someone takes unfair advantage, we bristle and look for a way to get even. When someone gossips about us, we do all we can to discredit their character. When we can only see the small piece of life we are dealing with, and have no thought of God's greater scheme of life, we react to insure that personal justice is served. This is, of course, all 'self-serving'. Retaliation is almost always a pride issue.
In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount He was teaching kingdom principles. He was pointing people to the big picture. He was moving people from the limitations of personal justice to the liberty of mercy and grace. In Matthew 5:38-42 He says, "You have heard that it was said 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth'." Here Jesus was speaking about the limits of personal justice. People are prone to want revenge instead of justice - they want at least two teeth for a tooth. God limited 'natural man' to just punishment. You didn't have to demand a tooth for a tooth; it's just that you couldn't go beyond a tooth for a tooth. Then Jesus goes on to the big picture. He says, "But I tell you, if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Jesus goes from limited personal justice to the power of mercy and grace. As a mature and wise believer, one has the knowledge and the capacity to forfeit their personal 'just rights' in order that it does not interfere with their witness. It is an 'ornament of splendor' (glory) to overlook an offense in order to promote peace and to give witness to God's mercy. The big picture also reveals that no offense goes unpunished. In the end, God will see that perfect justice is done. Either the offense will be paid through the shed blood of Jesus, in which case you have taken it upon yourself to 'punish' an innocent person, or, the offender will answer to God for the offense, in which case you will be vindicated.
It is to a man's glory to overlook an offense. Hopefully the offender will be influenced through such a witness as to draw near to God and find the same forgiveness as the offended did. If not, there is no ultimate loss - God will take up your case and in the end He will see that all wrongs are righted. Can't wait that long? You need to spend more time studying the big picture.

January 18

2009-01-17T22:06:00.001-05:00

Jan 18 - Today from Proverbs 18 we look at verse 9

"One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys."

On first read, the mind tends to think of occupation (which is applicable). But I would like to venture down another path. Much of our labors in this life consist of maintenance. If you are any kind of property owner, you have to spend time, energy and resources to properly maintain your property.
We live in a fallen creation whereby the second law of thermal dynamics has placed us in a constant battle with corruption. I don't have any resource books at hand to look up the technical wording of the law, but in the simplest terms, as I remember, it states that everything is in constant process of breaking down to its most base elements. This is why cars and bicycles rust (corruption). This is why wood rots (corruption). This is why paint fades and peels (corruption). Even 'environmental unfriendly' plastics and styrofoams will eventually break down - it just takes a very long time. When things are new, there are certain precautions we can take to delay the process of corruption. We can get our new car 'rust proofed' with a protective undercoating to keep salt away from the metal. We can keep our new car in a garage, protecting it from the other elements that expedite corruption. We can get floor mats (and sometimes seat covers), to protect the upholstery from excessive wear. Then we have to pull maintenance on the car to extend its limited life. We get it lubed and get the oil changed. We get it washed, and periodically get a protective coat of wax on it. We keep the tires properly inflated (under-inflation causes excessive wear - corruption). As the car ages we replace worn (corrupted), belts and hoses, worn tires, and other parts that cease to function as intended. This is all work. "One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys." We would be appalled if someone approached our new car, tore off a fender or two, slashed the tires, dumped sand in the crankcase, and tore out the carpeting. That would be one who destroys - easily identifiable. But if a person bought that car and never pulled any preventative maintenance, that car would look good and function properly for only a fraction of the time it was intended to last. For all practical purposes, that person 'destroyed' the car simply because he was 'slack in his work' in conducting proper maintenance. Oft times these types are a little harder to identify - especially when it is ourselves.
This isn't a lesson on car maintenance - we just used that as an analogy that can be applied to relationships. That's right - relationships take work. Our human nature has also been corrupted - by sin. And the root of sin is pride - 'me first'. The 'natural' base element of the fallen nature is 'my way'. When two or more people enter into a relationship, the 'natural' tendencies of the elements of that relationship are to break down to 'my way'. A destroyer is pro-active. Their demand is "My way or the by-way!" Potential long-term relationships are quickly destroyed by their demands
But there is a much more subtle way of destroying a relationship, and that is by the way of the 'corruption' of inactivity. Don't work on preventative maintenance. Let the small things go. Ignore the places where the relationship is worn thin. Stop listening to the other. Don't bother to work on understanding the other. Stop working on looking for the best in the other. Stop working on encouraging and nurturing the other. Yes, maintenance in a relationship is all work - but it's much more worth the effort than changing the oil and waxing your new car. When you work on a relationship, there are wonderful dividends. YOU are growing in character, and becoming more like the One who redeemed you - who never experienced corruption of the soul. Jesus, who is the express image of the Father, never yielded to the 'me-first' attitude when considering a relationship with you. He put you first. He died in your place, so that you COULD have a relationship with Him. We don't have to say to Him, "It's my way or the by-way" in order to destroy our relationship with Him. All we have to do is stop working on that relationship and it will gradually become so corrupted that it is no longer functional. He still puts us first in His relationship with us (His mercies are new every morning). That relationship reaches its fullest potential when we reciprocate by putting Him first by 'dying to self', and to living for Him. Yes, it's all work - but there are wonderful dividends. Have you considered having the Eternal Creator and Sovereign King as your friend? As One who desires to have a relationship with you? It's ALMOST incomprehensible - except He tells us it is true. And He NEVER lies.

January 17

2009-01-16T21:47:00.000-05:00

Jan 17- Today from Proverbs 17 we look at verse 7

"Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool - how much worse lying lips to a ruler." (NIV)
"Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince." (RSV)
"Excellent speech becometh not a fool; much less do lying lips, a prince." (KJV)
"Truth from a rebel or lies from a king are both unexpected." (TLB)

I don't understand why the NIV chose to use the word 'arrogant' in this passage. Arrogance is self-importance, which to me IS suited to a fool. In this particular passage, the KJV is most loyal to the original language. I think The Living Bible has caught the implication of this verse by use of the word 'unexpected'. Every once in awhile a foolish-type person may come up with a gem of a thought and give proper expression to it. But it is unexpected because it is not in character with a self-absorbed person. As unexpected as this may be - it is even more unexpected that a ruler would lie to his/her subjects. I don't think the author is referring to a tyrannical self-imposed ruler, as they will do most anything to hold and/or increase their power base. I think the author is referring to a ruler of integrity; one who leads his/her subjects because they have gained the trust of the people. Trust is an amazing paradox of life. On one hand it is so incredibly strong it can hold a nation together in even the toughest of times. On the other hand, it is so fragile that a mere single action or word can destroy it in an instant. A wise leader knows this, and a wise leader knows it is better to quickly confess a mistake to their subjects than to try to cover it up with lies. They may be able to cover it for awhile, but truth is eternal, and is always waiting to expose the lie. Once exposed, the trust is broken and a lifetime of work can be destroyed in an instant.
People don't expect trusted leaders to be deceitful, and that is what an intentional lie is. People can expect that leaders are not perfect, and are subject to make mistakes - even big ones. But they do not expect their leaders to lie to them. Children do not expect their parents to lie to them. Trusted employees do not expect their employers to lie to them. Parishioners do not expect their Pastors or Priests to lie to them. Citizens do not expect their President to lie to them. When trust is broken, there no longer remains a foundation on which relationships can be maintained - much less built. Much can be forgiven in any relationship, but a lie is devastating - and it takes patient dedication and a long time, perhaps years, to restore trust. Trust is something you cannot demand of another. It is earned and is one of the most valuable assets one can have in any relationship. Treat it as such and you will be an effective leader in whatever endeavor God has called you to in life.
Now if you happen to be a fool, people don't expect much of you anyway. You can just continue on in your self-absorbed, self-serving ways and you will never have to worry about the responsibility of being a leader. Some people are like that. They are called lonely. They may be surrounded by people - but they are still lonely. We were created to be involved in relationships, and true relationships are built upon trust.

January 16

2009-01-15T22:03:00.001-05:00

Jan 16 - Today from Proverbs 16 we look at verse 28

"A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends."

As you go through the book of Proverbs it becomes very clear that God does not like gossip! The dictionary defines gossip as "idle chatter", idle in this case meaning "unfounded rumors". The King James Version of this verse doesn't contain the word 'gossip', rather is uses the word 'whisperer'. Hebrew is a very picturesque language, and this picture serves well. Gossip isn't something you publicly proclaim because it is unfounded - the 'gossiper' would come under scrutiny. The better way to get their little morsel out into the public arena is by speaking in small secluded groups in low tones - whisperers.
We all know from experience what gossip is - I can assure you that we have all been involved in it. There are 'gossipers' (those who speak) and there are 'gosipees' (those who readily listen). A gossiper would be shut down quickly if gossipees refused to listen. Gossip is the idle chatter. All who are willingly involved in the activity are guilty of gossip.
Who are the victims of gossip? The first victim is the gossipee. They have just been prejudiced against another person or group by receiving unfounded information - which means it has not been properly investigated and confirmed. If that were the case, it would no longer gossip. It would be 'truth' and open for public knowledge. It wouldn't have to be whispered any more. Most gossip is based on opinion anyway - it's subjective and is meant to influence people to move toward the opinion of the gossiper.
The other victims are the (usually) innocent victims of gossip. They are usually unaware of the unfounded rumors going around about them, and soon they find themselves either being avoided, or possibly objects of hostility. The reason God is so upset with gossip is because once the 'seed' has been planted, it is so terribly difficult to get all of the roots out - many an innocent person's reputations have been permanently affected by gossip.
How should we deal with gossip?
*First, stop and think. Ask yourself this question, "Does this fall into the category of gossip?" If it does, do not become a willing participant.
*Second, challenge the gossiper and ask good questions. "Where did you hear this?" "How do you know it's true?" "Why do you think this knowledge important to me?" "Shouldn't you go to that person and clear this up?" etc.
*Third, DO NOT PASS ALONG UNFOUNDED RUMORS. If, for some reason, the subject matter affects you or your life and it is important to get the facts, go to any and all authorities involved and do your own investigation. Make sure you are moving on solid ground.
Wisdom continually works on the principle that preventative maintenance is far less costly than damage control. Sometimes in dollars, sometimes in time, and always in effort. Shutting down gossip is good preventative maintenance - saving emotional damage and personal reputations.

January 15

2009-01-14T22:19:00.001-05:00

Jan 15 - Today from Proverbs 15 we look at verse 29
"The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayers of the righteous."

As a member of the New Testament church, I take confidence that my righteousness is in Christ and that in Him my prayers are heard. But, when the Proverbs were written, the gospel was still a mystery hidden in God. What did righteousness mean to them? Could it be that of studying the code of the written law, and then attempting to keep that law? I don't think that this is the answer. Jesus referred to this as the 'righteousness of the Pharisees' and said unless one surpasses this kind of righteousness, one will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20). The rich young ruler had this kind of righteousness and Jesus said "You're close, but you're not there yet." (Luke 18:20-22). Saul of Tarsus had this kind of righteousness - he called it 'legalistic righteousness' (Philippians 3:6) - and discovered that he was actually an enemy of Christ. He ended up considering such righteousness 'rubbish' (Philippians 3:8). He became the apostle Paul and opened the gospel to the Gentile nations, teaching them that true righteousness comes from God and is by faith (Philippians 3:9). Ah, there is the key. Although the mystery of the gospel was not yet revealed, Old Testament believers found righteousness in exactly the same way.
In verse 8 of this chapter it says "The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayers of the upright pleases Him." By viewing the two thoughts in this verse as a contrast, we could say that prayer is a sacrifice. Why would the wicked offer a sacrifice to the Lord? It would be to appease Him for their wickedness. The wicked live self-serving lives. They can go one of two ways; they can totally ignore God or they can offer sacrifices to God to give Him His share so that He will not inflict punishment upon them. Feeble thinking? Let the Holy Spirit search your heart and see if you have ever engaged in such an act. I have - Lord have mercy. The sacrifice of the prayer that pleases God is very different. It is an act of faith. It is giving up time in which one could be doing something in his area of personal interests to spend worshipping a God he cannot see and speak to Him about issues he has little or no control over. That, my friends is faith. And that is a practical demonstration of values (which always asks the question, "What is important?"). The wicked sacrifice to appease God. The righteous sacrifice to draw near to God.
In our proverb for today it says God "hears the prayers of the righteous". Doesn't God hear the prayer of the wicked? First, let's define the word 'hear' in this instance. It doesn't mean 'to detect sound by the ear'. God 'hears' everything by this definition. In this instance it means 'to give a hearing', to be an attentive listener. To my knowledge, there is only one prayer the wicked can offer to which God will give a hearing, and that is contrite confession of sin. Anything else they have to say, particularly in the framework of bargaining with God, God detests. In contrast, the righteous come to God in contriteness. They honor God and seek to know and please Him because He is God. They desire knowledge of the truth in order that they might walk more closely with Him. Certainly this attitude pleases God because God desires fellowship with His children. He is an attentive Father to those who seek Him in this manner. This is the attitude of the heart of the Old Testament saints, and God counted it to them as righteousness. They placed their trust and faith in God, and when they made mistakes in their relationship with Him (sin), they would come with a contrite heart and plead God's mercy. Their relationship with Him was of the highest value and time in prayer proved it.
Today we have the revelation of the gospel, with a better Sacrifice, with better promises and with a better High Priest (read the book of Hebrews). Our behavior reveals how much we value these things. "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:22-25)

January 14

2009-01-13T22:48:00.001-05:00

Jan 14 - -Today from Proverbs 14 we look at verse 12

"There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

In John 14:6 Jesus boldly says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." The principle of this verse and of Proverbs 14:12 are quite obvious from the point of evangelism - that of proclaiming the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. There's no wiggle room. There it is; it's Jesus or death. The Living Word totally disarms the postmodern feel good mantra of 'Many paths to one God'.
But is there a sound principle contained in these two passages for the believer? For one who has already accepted the gospel and professes Jesus as Lord and Savior? Oh, most definitely. We ask ourselves, "Can a believer be deceived?" If the answer is yes, then one must seek to guard against deception. There lies the principle of these passages for the believer. Let's use the analogy of a narrow road for truth. Not so narrow that we would quickly lose our balance while navigating it, but narrow enough that we must pay close attention in our journey upon it. On either side of this road is a ditch. If one fears the ditch on the right, the ditch on the left becomes the greater threat, and vice versa. That is the ploy of deception.
The character of the ditches is not static. They can vary greatly. For example, the most popular character for these ditches in the Christian realm would be that of 'legalism' and 'tolerance'. One ditch says that unless you keep some list of legal rules, you can't be a very good Christian, and an angry God will punish you. The only shadow of grace in this ditch is the cross, but even that is obscured by the tall weeds of austere judgment against any form of sin (found on any particular 'list' of the legalist). The other ditch is tolerance, or that which I refer to as the ditch of 'sloppy agape'. It is a love that is so loose and void of God's justice that almost anything goes. The tenants of this ditch don't want to hurt feelings or offend. "Let's all just love each other and get along." In this ditch God's order and justice are obscured. Those who end up in either ditch are unaware that they are even stuck in a ditch. They are deceived into thinking they are on the road of truth.
Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life." When we study His life and His teaching we find that He was neither legalistic nor was he tolerant to a fault. In fact, you will discover that He couldn't tolerate legalists! When we end up in a ditch, we become separated from the fullness of relationship that God desires with us. And we separate ourselves from those who remain on the road of truth. That's what death is - separation.
A few years back there was the rage of 'What Would Jesus Do' (WWJD) bracelets. It was popular and faddish to wear them, but it seems that few who wore them really disciplined themselves to study and learn what Jesus really would do. Most just continued in the way that seemed right to them. Some believed that Jesus would condemn the ‘wicked’ (the homosexuals, the abortionists, those who drink and smoke. . .whatever). So, they did too. Some believed that Jesus just loved everybody so much that He would accept them anyway and He died for my sins so what's the big deal. So, they did nothing.
What did Jesus do? He didn't condemn sinners; He showed them the way to the Father. He didn't tolerate sin, He forgave and said, "Now go and sin no more." He didn't subjugate but became a servant and blessed those who misunderstood and persecuted Him. He didn't leave the world like He found it. He changed it with the truth. He calls us to be agents of change as well. We are empowered to be His witnesses, and to usher in the presence of His kingdom through Godly example, through servanthood, and through worship in spirit and in truth.
Beware saints. There's death in the ditches. Keep your relationship with Jesus a priority, and you will find that your journey on the road of truth is not all that difficult.

January 13

2009-01-12T22:06:00.000-05:00

Jan 13 - Today from Proverbs 13 we look at verse 7

"One man pretends to be rich, yet he has nothing: another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth." -NIV
"There is he that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing; there is he that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches." -KJV
"Some rich people are poor, and some poor people have great wealth." -TLB

I have shared three translations because I am not convinced that the NIV gives the best sense of the principle intended. I will share what I believe to be the principle involved; you may draw your own conclusions.
I have in my possession a very small book entitled The Orphans & the Raven. It never made the best seller’s list. I doubt whether it even went into a second printing. It is a story about an obscure family of which the father and husband was a Reformed Pastor in Communist Romania. To make matters worse, the family was ethnically Hungarian, whom the Romanian nationals despised. The father was arrested and imprisoned for his faith in Jesus Christ. The mother and eight children were exiled to a village in a dominant Romanian ethnic village. They were assigned to a one-room mud house, which had no roof. You can't get much poorer than this family was when they arrived at their 'new home'. The mother however was rich in faith and in grace. In spite of all her hardships and enduring the scorn of their neighbors, she ministered love and grace to the villagers at every opportunity. Gradually the villager's attitudes changed toward this 'widow' of persecution. Many began to minister to the needs of her and the eight children. Eventually she became esteemed in the village, and actually brought many to a saving knowledge of Christ. For six and one half years her husband endured extreme hardship and even torture in the Romanian prisons and was finally released. Reunited with his family, they moved back to the Hungarian area of Romania and he once again began to follow his pastoral calling. That is where the book, which the mother wrote, ended. The children grew up to be very strong believers and continued to strengthen the persecuted church of Communist Romania. Then, in December 1989 the Communist regime of Romania fell. There were riots in the city where the family now lived and served. The people were about to overtake the building of the offices of the Securatate and other Romanian officials and drag their former oppressors out and beat them - probably to death. The father of the family made his way through the mob and walked up the steps of the building and raised his hands. Many recognized this respected Pastor who had himself spent time in the filthy prison below the building. A silence fell. He admonished the crowd to show grace to the officials. If they carried out their plan, they would be no better than their former persecutors. He pleaded with them to return to their homes and thank God for this day and not to make it a bloody bitter memory. The crowd listened and slowly dispersed.
My copy of the book is autographed by the Pastor. His name is Ferenc Visky. One of his sons is the Regional Director for Dorcas Aid Eastern Europe - and a very good friend of mine. His name is Paul Visky. I have also met several of the other children during my time with Dorcas. When they speak of those years of exile, they all say the same thing; "Those were some of the richest years of our lives." Incredible! Though their parents 'made themselves poor' by being faithful to their Lord, they were some of the richest people in the world. The wealth of those years lives on today in the lives of their children and grandchildren. I too am richer for knowing this family.
I am very grateful for the abundance of material goods I enjoy each day. But I have met enough of the truly rich in this world, like the Viskys, to know that the material wealth I enjoy somehow makes me a little poorer in my relationship and dependence upon God. Don't get me wrong, I am not in despair about my blessings. It's just that I know that I have never quite experienced God's grace on the level that these folks have. It's a comfort to know that if a time ever comes when it will be needed, that my Father in heaven has abundant grace. Overcoming grace. Ferenc Visky and his wife Julia practiced faithful discipleship before the extreme grace was needed. The patterns practiced in safety became a vital lifestyle when persecution came. All of the money in the world couldn't have helped them. But they were rich in something beyond the feeble riches of this world. They knew their Savior intimately. He never left nor forsook them. What a friend we have in Jesus!

January 12

2009-01-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

Jan 12 - Today from Proverbs 12 we look at verse 24

"Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor."

We must begin with a thought of clarification. There are two points of focus in this proverb. There is ETHIC (system of moral principles and values), and there is MOTIVATION (an incentive to action). For those seeking wisdom, I believe the focus is always to be the ethic. When one's focus is ethics, the motivation is to live a life worthy of Jesus Christ and pleasing to Him (Col. 1:10).
For those who are following the way of folly, I believe the focus would be motivation. This kind of person is obviously not interested in a relationship with Christ as by definition they are more interested in living a life pleasing to themselves. I can't imagine that anyone in this world would find it pleasing to end up in slave labor.
Let’s review a very important principle in Bible study: A person seeking to grow in wisdom, to live a life pleasing to the Lord, will always seek the ethic in any instruction of the Lord. The ethic in this proverb is 'diligent hands'. It's a work ethic. To 'rule' is to be viewed as a general result, but not the motivation. Any time a disciple of the Lord begins to focus on results as a motivator, he is in a dangerous position of trying to manipulate God. In Matthew chapter 4, Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. Satan himself tried to get Jesus to shift His focus to results when using a scripture with a promise (verse 6). But Jesus refused to alter His focus when He answered with a scripture that taught ethic, "Do not put your Lord God to the test". In today’s proverb, the principle for a disciple of God’s Word is to develop a good work ethic. This is pleasing to the Lord. "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor. 1:31). If you approve bank loans, do it for the glory of God. If you enter computer data, do it for the glory of God. If you are a CEO of a large corporation, do it for the glory of God. If you mow lawns, do it for the glory of God. If you are at home raising your children, do it for the glory of God. Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Let that be your motivation.
If God rewards you to 'rule' in some area, give Him glory. But let that be a result, not a motivation.
On the other hand, negative results can also be a good motivator. People who end up in slave labor tend to either become motivated to get free, or they become hopeless and bitter. Do we still have slavery in our culture today? Yes, we do. Not in the same sense as we did before the emancipation 150 years ago, but people are still enslaved non-the-less. They are usually lazy, undisciplined people who tend to chase fantasies (verse 11) rather than to develop a good work ethic. Some become enslaved to loan companies (government loans, credit card companies, etc.). These people now work to pay off huge sums of interest rather than securing the future for themselves and their children. They are enslaved. Or there are the socially enslaved who live off government support programs. These are the people who can become hopeless and bitter if they are not motivated to get out and develop a work ethic. They cover their hopelessness with an attitude. They are enslaved to a hideous system that robs them of dignity and reduces them to a statistic. Either of these 'slave-types' can be overcome if they are motivated to develop a strong work ethic.
As disciples of Christ we can see at least two practical lessons here: 1. Commit to develop a good work ethic. No matter what we are doing, we can do it for the glory of God. 2. We can seek to encourage those who are financially or socially 'enslaved' to seek hope in the development of a sound work ethic and help restore their hope and dignity.
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” –1 Thes. 4:11,12.

January 11

2009-01-10T21:59:00.000-05:00

Jan 11 - Today from Proverbs 11 we look at verse 24

"One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty."

I have had the privilege of traveling to many oppressed areas of this world, and of observing the real cultures of those areas. I sometimes took occasion to visit the areas of historical interest, but most of my time was spent in working with and serving the indigenous churches of the common people. Much of the service was focused on the poor. Now, when you're in a third world country to begin with, and you are in touch with the poor of that country, you begin to understand the incredible needs of most of the population of the world.
Even though I have seen some extremely poor areas, I am still very careful when I use the word 'poverty'. I am convinced that poverty is not a condition, it is a mindset. Being poor is a condition. Being impoverished is a mindset. I have met people who have more than adequate material resources, yet lived in poverty. I have met people who have little or nothing of this worlds goods, yet had a quality of life. It is refreshing to be in their company. I would go so far as to say that poverty is a spirit. It is something one can sense in the spirit. I once knew an old farmer and his spinster sister who lived near the rural service station my dad operated. The old man would come over to the station with a five-gallon can and get it filled with gas for his tractor. He always came on 'double stamp' day (For you younger folks, retailers used to give away premium saving stamps with cash purchases. You then saved up books of stamps and could redeem them for goods from the stamp companies. S&H was probably the most popular.) He would also always want any premiums we gave away with a fill-up. He never seemed to be clean-shaven. His clothes were always filthy. He had electric to his house, but he usually burned kerosene lamps to save money. He pumped water by hand to water his few cows. Everyone felt sorry for the old couple. One time when he got sick, we went to bring him a lunch. Going into the house was an unforgettable experience. There were stacks of newspapers and magazines from years and years back. There were cartons and boxes of who knows what, all over the place. There were 'walking-paths' through the various rooms. The old man passed on first - his sister soon followed. I don't know who the heirs were, but when they began to clean the place out, they discovered cans and boxes full of cash money. I heard that when all was said and done, there was over a quarter million dollars hidden on the property. That was a LOT of money in those days. I have encountered a lot of poverty in this world in the 35-40 years since that time. But that was my first real encounter with the spirit of poverty. Here was an old man who would do his best to get all that he could out of a transaction. Our signs said "Free (gift) with a fill-up of 8 gallons or more". He would fill up his five-gallon can and argue for 10 minutes until he got his premium. I finally stopped arguing and always gave him the premium. He would even walk over in the pouring rain to buy his gas because it was Tuesday, so he could get his double stamps. He lived in the dim light of kerosene because he could save a few pennies by not turning on an electric light. He had tens of thousands of dollars stored in shoeboxes and coffee cans in the very rooms where he trimmed the wicks of his kerosene lamps. A spirit of poverty bound him.
On our first trip into Communist Romania in 1987 we had to be very careful in making contact with the Christian contacts of Dorcas Aid. If it were discovered that Westerners were visiting their homes, they would be taken in and interrogated by the Securatate - and that usually was a very unpleasant experience. The Christians were persecuted. Not always openly, but the authorities made sure they were punished. Their children could not go to the universities. The parents got the lowest jobs. Staples such as milk and meat were very scarce, and Christians were the last to get any - if at all. These contacts never knew when a Dorcas team would arrive. They never knew why a Dorcas team was there. Usually it was to collect information on prisoners or conditions. Sometimes a team would bring medicine, which the contact had to deliver. Our task was to bring food parcels and clothing to these families, have a short visit, pray with them, and leave - never expecting to see them again. It was an incredible experience. We were told to bring in the food parcels last. If you brought them in first, they would make a meal for you from the contents. Can you imagine?!? I will never forget the family we visited in Timisoara that summer. They lived in a tiny little apartment with the barest of furnishings. But it was spotless, as were the members of the family. Their clothes were faded and somewhat threadbare, but they were clean and pressed. More than the apartment and clothing was the sparkle in the eyes and the sense of peace in the home. We could hardly communicate as they knew only a few English words, and we knew even less Romanian. But we had a wonderful time. They wanted us to stay for lunch (yes, before we brought the food parcel in). Mama went to the small refrigerator and proudly took a frozen 'chicken' out that she wanted to prepare for us. It looked like a plucked pigeon. The meat was purplish and there was lots of freezer burn. We could tell by the way she was holding it and talking about it that this was a great treasure. We told them that we couldn't stay that long. She was genuinely broken-hearted. She was willing to give this family of strangers the last meat in the house - and probably wouldn't see any again for a long while. We said good byes - and oh, one more thing. We have some items we were asked to drop off. We went out and carried in the food and clothing. The prize was four large tins of powdered milk. The mother began to laugh and weep all at once. She explained as best she could that another Dorcas team had left behind a tin of powdered milk months ago. The day before we arrived she used up the last of that tin. She apologized to her little six-year-old son and said there would be no more milk for breakfast. He told her not to worry, he prayed to God and God said he would send more soon. She took it for a child's fantasy. And now there are four large tins in the house! Even before we left they were dividing the goods and making plans on which items should go to which families in the area. It appeared that very little was going to stay in this apartment - save one big tin of powdered milk.
"One gives freely, yet gains even more."

January 10

2009-01-09T21:42:00.001-05:00

Jan 10 - Today from Proverbs 10 we look at verse 29
"The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous, but it is the ruin of those who do evil."

In meditating on this verse I see three elements:
The way of the Lord.
The righteous.
Those who do evil.

I also see two effects:
A refuge.
Ruin.

Three elements, two effects. That means that one of the elements is a cause: The way of the Lord. Strange, isn't it? That the way of the Lord can cause both a refuge and ruin? The way of the Lord is unchanging. God's perfect will is the first cause. When God willed to create, the effect was creation. The element of science that refuses to acknowledge God is still searching for the first cause. What could they possibly be searching for apart from a sovereign being???
All wisdom is included in this first cause. In Proverbs 8:22 & 23 the writer has personified wisdom and speaks in the first person. Wisdom says this; "The Lord brought me forth as the first of His works . . . I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began." This is the way of the Lord. Those who seek, find and live in God's wisdom find a refuge. Those who ignore and oppose God's wisdom find ruin. The way of the Lord is the cause of their ruin. That's somewhat difficult to grasp at first. Let's look at a simple analogy. Let's say the way of the Lord is a moving vehicle. It is transporting a passenger from one point to another. It provides heat when it's cold outside. It provides cool when it's hot outside. It provides shelter when it’s stormy outside. As long as the passenger remains in the vehicle he has a refuge. But, let’s say the passenger decides that he wants to go his own way, so he opens the door and jumps out. As he rolls down the tarmac he curses the vehicle for all the pain it caused.
"But," you might say, "The cause of ruin was jumping from the moving vehicle." Yes, it was a cause, but not the FIRST cause. The first cause was the moving vehicle.
As I said, the analogy is simple. As with all spiritual analogies, it will break down at some point. It is only meant to demonstrate the axiom of cause and effect and the theory of first cause. (If one were a scientist, one would continue to go backwards from the moving vehicle; What action caused the vehicle to move? What actions caused the engine to produce power? Back - back - back until he hits a big wall. The big wall of first cause, which is the Sovereign Creator he so stubbornly denies.)
Getting away from science, let's get back to practical everyday living (we have already identified the first cause). The more we determine to seek out and live in the way of the Lord, the more we will enjoy the refuge of our relationship with Him. In Luke 12:22-32 Jesus comforts us with the knowledge that the Creator feeds the birds of the air and clothes the grass of the fields - and we are much more valuable to God than they are. If we will but trust and abide in Him, we needn't worry about our lives - God will provide. He says in verse 32, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." The kingdom is the way of the Lord. We cannot expect to profit from the refuge of the kingdom when we want to continually jump out and go our own way in this world.

January 9

2009-01-08T22:02:00.001-05:00

Jan 9 - Today from Proverbs 9 we look at verse 10
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

First, we must consider that there are indeed two kinds of wisdom. The first is a wisdom of this world (James 3:14-16). It may be identified as savvy-ness, street-smart, cleverness, etc. - the identifying factor of such wisdom is that it emanates from selfish ambition. It is often admired by others who themselves are self-ambitious. Jealousy and covetousness often accompany this admiration. People who 'successfully' display this kind of wisdom appear to get what they want in life – often at the expense of others. Obviously this is not the kind of wisdom being spoken of in this proverb. The wisdom here is the wisdom which comes from heaven - 'pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere' (James 3:17). This kind of wisdom endures and one who successfully displays this kind of wisdom is an asset to mankind.
The fear of the Lord is to revere Him - to hold a profound awe and respect for Him. It encompasses the spirit of the first four commandments which is articulated in the 'great commandment', "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). This is the beginning of wisdom. One cannot expect to gain wisdom from above if one does not revere the One who is enthroned above. When one truly reveres God and His Word, one easily surrenders one's life to Him.
The very fact that something is a beginning suggests that it is not an arrival. It's the place to start. In order for one to grow in wisdom, one must gain understanding. Of what? Of life the way the Creator meant it to be. The best way to understand life the way God meant it to be is to grow in the knowledge of Him. When one of His disciples asked Jesus to see God the Father, He replied, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9). If we want to know God, we must watch, listen to, and follow the Son. The best way to do this is to regularly study the gospels. Read some good commentaries on the gospels. If we will commit ourselves to this, we will grow in understanding life the way the Creator meant it to be - the Son lived it. The world system has been corrupted by sin. It is indeed a wide path - wide enough to accommodate every conceivable philosophy and religion there is. But you will not find the Son of God or His true disciples on that path. They walk the path of wisdom and understanding. One cannot even find this narrow path until one surrenders. This is the purposeful act of laying down one's self-will and seeking to find and do His will. Once one has made this decision, one is on the narrow path, the path of true enlightenment.
Discipleship is a lifetime commitment. The process doesn't end until we pass over to our eternal home with Him. Even then, the process will not end; it will just be gloriously and infinitely different.

January 8

2009-01-07T22:49:00.001-05:00

Jan 8 - Today from Proverbs 8 we look at verses 1-3
"Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud."

Even though this passage can easily stand alone, I am persuaded that it is a continuation of chapter seven. In chapter seven we just 'watched' an unsuspecting young man become lured and ensnared by an adulteress. There was no one person there to call out to him and warn him of the trap he was entering. The writer anticipates the question of the reader; "Doesn't wisdom raise her voice?" The question is, "Isn't there some sort of 'guidance system' available, even when there is no one around to alert and counsel you when being confronted by temptation?"
The answer is, "Yes". But, in order to benefit, one must 'listen' (verse 6). 'Where paths meet' are places where decisions must be made. 'Besides the gates leading into the city' is where the city elders sorted out information. Wisdom calls for one to 'stop' and think through the situation. Again, not simply seeking the pleasure of the moment, but looking far ahead. It is a determined action, a practiced skill. Even though there was no person around to warn the young man in chapter seven, had he stopped and carefully listened, wisdom was right there where the paths met. He didn't bother to listen. His ear and senses were tuned into the folly of pleasure for the moment.
Children can be trained in wisdom. They can be taught to think through a situation. It takes patience and repetition, but it can be done. Once the patterns are in place, dad and mom don't have to be there at every 'intersection' to warn the child of consequences. The child has learned to listen for wisdom's voice. I wish I had been more proficient in training my own sons in wisdom - but I wasn't that good at it myself in those days. I think one of the best ways is to learn how to ask good questions and let the child think through to proper answers. In my early days as a disciple, I was more prone to give all the answers first. It kind of conditions a child to either let you do the thinking, or to tune you out. Children need to be stimulated and challenged. In relating to my grandchildren, I am amazed at the incredible lines of logic they display. Because of their limits of knowledge, they don't always arrive at the correct conclusions, never the less, they use surprisingly sound logic to get to their conclusions. Just by interspersing thought-provoking questions in regular conversation, I have been entertained, delighted and sometimes shocked at their processes of reasoning. By equipping them with good information, they come to the correct conclusions more and more. They want to know the answers, but they like to find their own way to them. As I said, it takes patience and repetition. As a dad, I guess it was easier for me to drag my sons to the conclusion than it was to guide them to the conclusion. As a granddad, I have developed more wisdom and patience.
Fortunately it's never too late to learn to listen for wisdom's call. It wasn't too late for me, and it wasn't for our children. It's just much better to learn it earlier than later. Our heavenly Father is always there to guide us into wisdom. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt." (James 1:5, 6) When do we ask God for wisdom? When we are at a place where paths meet. Just the process of stopping to ask helps us to enter into a reasoning process. When we ask, then we must listen. We must think past the momentary and look to longer-range conclusions. If the young man in chapter seven knew God, and had stopped and earnestly asked for wisdom, "God, what should I do here?" and then thought through what was happening and what would be the possible (probable) long range effects of entering into the temptation he was facing. . . the story would have turned out much differently!

January 7

2009-01-06T22:36:00.001-05:00

Jan 7 - Today from Proverbs 7 we look at verses 1 & 2
"My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye."

Some of the mystery of this Proverb was cleared up for me when years ago, somewhere in my studies I discovered what the "apple of your eye" is. It is the black center - the pupil. From this we can begin to see the practicality of the metaphor. To guard the pupil of the eye is first of all a reflex. You could touch it with effort, but your bodily reflexes do all they can to stop it. Your 'instincts', if you will, know how sensitive and valuable that tiny part of your body is. Of all of the hundreds of square inches on your body, only these two tiny dots allow light into the body. Without them, you would have no sense of light. There would be no sense of form or color of the world in which you live.
Jesus uses this metaphor in Matthew 6:22, 23; "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness." God's teachings (the scriptures), are the only objective source of spiritual truth that we have. We need to guard that truth, for by it we are able to walk as enlightened people. By it we will not stumble by deceitfulness. Jesus says a strange thing at the end of verse 23; "If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" That's the irony of the deceitfulness of all false religions and vain philosophies of man; people think it is light. We have no way to judge it until we encounter the true light - the revelation of the scriptures. In Ephesians 6, the apostle Paul refers to God’s Word as the sword of the Spirit – the weapon of our spiritual armor. In speaking of our weapons in 2 Corinthians 10, he says "They have divine power (to) demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God." The true light of revealed scriptures exposes and consumes the darkness of ‘false light’.
We are first to store up God’s commands within us. That means when God reveals truth, we must receive it. Then we must guard His commands, knowing that it is through them alone that we can function as He purposed. The ultimate Truth is Jesus Himself (John 14:6). He is the Light of the world (John 8:12). Those who do not receive Him and live in a relationship with Him will one day find out 'how great is that darkness' in which they chose to live. Embrace God's Word. Cherish God's Word. By doing this on a consistent basis, one will indeed develop and maintain a 'good eye'. Such an eye is truly worth protecting.

January 6

2009-01-05T23:03:00.000-05:00

Jan 6 - Today from Proverbs 6 we look at verses 20-22
"My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you."

Our first encounters with instruction are from our parents. Proverbs is neither a book of law nor a book of promises. It’s a book of wisdom. It mostly deals with life as it should be, or why it isn't always as it should be. Parents are to be very careful to be moral agents in teaching their children about life. Most parents are. Children should follow parental instruction in the area of morals because parents have lived a lot more of life than their children. And if parents are indeed growing in wisdom as they process years of life, it means they will increasingly be functioning as God purposed. Just as our heavenly Father, they will always be looking to serve the best interests of their children. The apostle Paul writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God." (1 Thes. 2:11, 12). It is a great model for parents to follow.
When a child can trust that parents serve their best interests, a child will usually learn to follow instruction. (Yes, I said usually. They are free moral agents, just like we are.) A Godly parent who earns the trust of their child and instructs them in wisdom will indelibly impress moral behavior somewhere in that child's character. As Godly parents, we are to do our best to instill wisdom in our children. We are to live exemplary moral lives before them. We are to allow our children to make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes. We are to love them unconditionally, and to pray over them all the days of their lives. Our job is to properly love them. It’s God’s job to make them good.
I can tell you from personal experience, that even when a child goes into rebellion - even deep rebellion - the indelibly etched instruction and exemplary model of the parents can eventually prove to be a huge factor in seeing that child come back. And again - never underestimate the power of prayer. In fact, you can fashion a prayer out of this passage for your children;

"Lord, bind your moral law upon the hearts of our children. Let your word guide them when they walk, protect them when they sleep, and speak to their hearts when they awaken. And Lord, grant me grace today to do my part - to instruct them in your ways, to be a Godly example unto them, and to love them unconditionally. Amen."

January 5

2009-01-04T23:15:00.001-05:00

Jan 5 - Today from Proverbs 5 we look at verses 22 & 23
"The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly."

There is a continual theme about the contrast of discipline/life and folly/death throughout the book of Proverbs. There is a reason for this; "Repetition is a good teacher." Proverbs isn't meant to be a quick read-through like some kind of novel. It is to be studied a little each day. I can remember as a child what a drag it was memorizing my times-tables. Day-by-day, week-by-week. The two-times were quite easy. The nine-times worse. The twelve-times a nightmare. But eventually I had them stuck in my mind. For almost twenty years I worked in a lumberyard. I worked with twelve-times all of the time - feet to inches, inches to feet. I don't even have to think about it any more. My wife was recently employed by a fabric shop. She is getting proficient in nine-times; square feet to square yards, square yards to square feet. Repetition is a good teacher. God wants us to quickly calculate that which is discipline and that which is folly. He wants it to become second nature for us. He uses repetition too.
The root word for 'folly' in the Hebrew language is 'perverse'. Sound familiar? To be perverse means to be self-willed. To be self-willed is folly. Folly brings about death - separated from God and from the wonderful purposes for which He created us. Discipline in this case is not self-discipline, rather it is 'instruction' or 'chastisement'. It is the correction of a loving parent. It is discipline only if it is received. Self-willed people will not receive discipline and they end up 'ensnared', tangled in the cords of the very sin that separates them from a relationship with God. Not a nice picture.
As believers we have two things going for us. We have clear enough instruction through the Word of God and we have the indwelling Holy Spirit to 'prick’ our conscience when we would seek to exercise our own will against that of God. The problem comes when we chose to ignore His voice and go with our own folly. Sometimes our folly appears to be wisdom, but we are warned not to lean on our own understanding. "There is a way which seems right to man, but in end it leads to death." (14:12). Repetition. The Word of God is to take precedence in every matter - His Word brings life. His Word keeps us from getting ensnared and tangled in the cords of sin. It is worth studying - over and over until it becomes a part of our thinking process.

January 4

2009-01-03T20:31:00.001-05:00

Jan 4 - Today from Proverbs 4 we look at verse 13
"Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well for it is your life."

The first question that comes to mind is, "When would I 'let go' of sound instruction?"
Verse 10 instructs us to 'accept' instruction. The KJV uses the word ‘take’. It is more than just being in the general proximity of something. To accept instruction means we take hold of it. To use an analogy from our modern day, let’s say your sitting in your living room watching some of your favorite fare on TV and a guest walks in. You turn and look, maybe give a nod, and then turn your focus back on the program. The guest might be in your home, but you have not received your guest. It is the same with sound instruction. Sitting in church and listening to a message does not equate with receiving the message. To receive means to embrace and take hold of it. To put it to use. That is how God’s instruction bears fruit in our lives. So, why would I let it go?
I can think of three immediate reasons; Fear, lust (any desire of the flesh), and laziness. I am ashamed to admit I can be guilty of all three. That is not a statement of surrender to sin. By God's grace and through His mercy I am committed to mature and to grow in victory - but it's a struggle at times. Holding on takes an effort. In the front of one of my Bibles I wrote the text "Tempted? - Matthew 26:40". I guess it was in one of those times of effort. The text reads, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." It's still the best way I know of to guard instruction. When I stumble, I really don't forget what is right. It’s more likely that I don't call upon the One who promised strength to guard right in times of weakness . . . those times of fear, lust or laziness.
Life is in Christ. He says that His instruction is life. It makes sense. His instruction is for our best. Our best comes by being in a vital relationship with Him. All else pales in light of that wonderful truth. How simple it seems to pray in times of temptation. How difficult it is in times of reality. It's a discipline, and it is what disciples are called to.

January 3

2009-01-02T21:46:00.001-05:00

Jan 3- Today from Proverbs 3 we look at verses 31 & 32
"Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways, for the Lord detests a perverse man and takes the upright into His confidence."

I have had my current devotional Bible for many years now, and have read through the Proverbs dozens of times in it. So, as you can well imagine I have all kinds of underlines, stars, comments and even question marks in the margins. Years ago I had penned this comment to the end of verse 32, "WOW!". Every time I read this verse, I still think, WOW! Why? Doesn't it amaze you that the sovereign, eternal Creator of the entire universe would take a mortal, imperfect and sometimes undependable man into His confidence? It does me. So my next thought is, what kind of man would God take into His confidence?
An upright man. What does an upright man look like? Well, we can be sure he's not violent, for that is the contrast in this thought. There is also another key word - "perverse". In the Hebrew it literally means 'turn aside'. Perverse means to turn away from what is right or good. It's a conscious effort. God did not create man to be violent. The 'upright' man is the man who is moving in a right direction, toward the purposes for which God created Him. A perverse man is one who has turned aside from those purposes. Violence is a result of that perverseness. When a man begins to act in a self-serving manner, he increasingly displays emotional and even physical force to get his own way. This is perverse. We were created to serve God by loving one another.
I want to be an upright man. I am astounded that God would even consider confiding in me. If He considers it, I want to benefit from it. The best way I know how to be upright is to seek to know Him, and to understand His will for my life. I can do this by constantly studying His word. By spending time with Him in prayer. By confessing and repenting of areas of disobedience I discover through these disciplines. By seeking His grace through the power of His Holy Spirit to enable me to live in the manner for which He created me. Granted, there are times when I slip, when I am undependable - but by His grace I am growing. His mercies are new each day. He is faithful. What a joy to know that in spite of my failures, He still confides in me. I sure love Him!

January 2

2009-01-01T21:59:00.000-05:00

Jan 2- Today from Proverbs 2 we look at verse 6
"For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."

This appears to be a simple enough statement. By itself, it would seem that all we have to do is ask the Lord for wisdom in some matter and He simply doles it out. But, when you read verses 1-4 you get a different picture. As a rule, God doesn't just 'drop' wisdom on people. We have to work at it. We have to accept His words and store up His commands. We can't do that without studying. We have to call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding. This means that we need to be in dialogue with God. We have to look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure. This means it's not generally laying right on the surface - we have to work at it and dig it out. Just like achieving anything worthwhile in life, we need to work at gaining wisdom. We have to remember also, that the only true source of wisdom is God. All of our efforts at growing in wisdom must be centered on Him. When we ask Him for wisdom in some matter, we then must frame the possibilities for direction or solution with questions like;

"What principles do we find in God’s Word regarding the subject?"
"Would the direction I am taking reflect the character of Christ?"
"Is the principle driving my thought process an opinion or a conviction?"
"Does the solution reflect my love for God? My love for my neighbor?"

As we process through situations in life by asking such questions, we need to be in constant dialogue with God by seeking His Word and listening to His Spirit in prayer. When He speaks through His Word and confirms by His Spirit, we have but one option – to accept His will and obey His voice. It is through obedience that we gain knowledge and understanding.

January 1

2008-12-31T23:01:00.001-05:00

Jan 1 - Today from Proverbs 1 we look at verses 1-4
"The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young."

The wisest man who ever lived knew that his wisdom was a gift from the Creator, and that he had a responsibility to use this gift to help others. Being inspired by the Spirit, Solomon purposefully took the time to compile what he felt to be some of the most comprehensive of the three thousand proverbs he spoke (1 Kings 4:32). He begins the book by spelling out these purposes.
To begin, we see that wisdom and discipline are paired together (also in verse 7). They both require effort. Anything worthwhile achieving in this world takes effort. One of the antitheses of wisdom is simplicity. When the proverbs speak of a simple person (i.e. verse 4), it is reference to a person without moral direction; that is, a person who drifts in the flow of the world system. The Bible teaches that man is born with a sinful nature and if left to follow his own natural inclinations, he will gravitate toward evil behavior. It takes effort to resist that natural flow toward evil. For the believer, the Bible is our source of moral principle. Keeping of the moral law does not in any way get a person into heaven. That was never the purpose of moral law. What the learning and observance of moral law does do is keeps a person, and/or an institution, and/or a society, orderly and functional in the way God intended life to be. The essence of sin causes pain and misery. The essence of moral living causes peaceable and productive living. A moral lifestyle is not natural, it takes effort.
Wisdom has much to do with morality. Wisdom is learning and applying the principles of life from God's perspective. This indeed takes discipline. Romans 12:2 teaches that the natural mind is conformed to the patterns of this world. It takes little or no effort to conform to what is natural. We are called to transform our behavior by renewing our minds to see life from God's perspective. The terms 'transform' and 'renew' clearly speak of discipline and effort.
King Solomon also tells us that the rewards are worth the effort. Even nature tells us that if one puts quality effort in at the front end for the right reasons, the results are quality satisfaction. Take any worthwhile achievement in life, and the formula works. For years I was a wood worker and cabinet builder. If I wanted to create a quality piece, I had to put quality effort and thought in at the front end of the project. I had to choose the best wood, glue and fasteners for the particular uniqueness of the project I was working on. I had to take time to draw up a workable plan, and to think through the steps and procedures several times before I ever picked up a tool. I had to try to anticipate any and every challenge the project might create, and how I would meet or solve the particular challenge. I learned tricks of the trade from other woodworkers. I read books on woodworking. I gained practical experience over the years that would help me to be better prepared and more efficient as I took on new projects. I did all of this so that when the project was complete, it would be beautiful, functional and enduring. There was always great pleasure in a job well done. The rewards were worth the effort.
Living a moral life is no different. I looked up 'moral' in the dictionary and found one of the definitions to say, "based on likelihood rather than evidence." When I undertook to build a custom cabinet, there was no evidence to work from. Everything depended upon likelihood. All of my choices of materials, my planning of procedures, my experience and disciplines were no evidence that I would turn out a fine piece. But the likelihood was that I would end up with a beautiful, functional and enduring piece because of the clear and disciplined boundaries in which I worked. Accomplished people put great effort into building a cabinet, playing a round of golf, baking a pie, playing a piece on the piano, repairing a damaged heart, painting a picture, learning a new move on a skateboard, writing a policy . . . or whatever their area of skill might be. Shouldn’t we then put forth effort and discipline in building moral character so that we can see quality and satisfying results in the lives of our children, of our grandchildren, of our community in years to come?
Moral living won't get us to heaven. Only the blood of Jesus can accomplish that. But moral living will bring some of heaven to the world in which we live. I think that's worth the effort.

December 31

2008-12-30T21:52:00.001-05:00

Dec 31 - Today from Proverbs 31 we look at verse 13
"She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands."

As is my custom when looking at this portion of Proverbs 31, I couple today's verse with that of Ephesians 5:31, 32, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church." Although the principles of Proverbs 31:10-31 hold true in the development of a wife of noble character, for our studies purposes I choose to view them as great principles of ministry for the church.
The principle for the ministering church in today's verse is this: The church is constantly looking for opportunities in the 'raw materials' around her, and eagerly working to see them transformed into useful products. This activity clearly takes an attribute that we call an 'outward focus'. As we contemplate the elements of the analogy between the Proverbs and Ephesians passages, we can conclude that the wool and the flax were not simply lying on a counter in the home. The wife either harvested the raw materials herself, or she purchased them in the marketplace. In either case, she had to go outside of the home to find the materials. There was commitment and effort involved.
When Jesus set the example in ministry for His disciples, He did not spend all of His time in the synagogues and the temple. He taught and preached in those places, and occasionally ministered. The majority of His ministry was out in the streets and neighborhoods. He was constantly making a effort to find the raw materials from which He would build His church. Even His living parable of making His disciples 'fishers of men' reveals this principle (Luke 5:1-10 & John 21:1-14). He did not stand on the bow of the boat and command the fish to jump in the boat. He had the weary disciples cast their nets into the waters and then go through the physically taxing process of hauling in the catch. So important was this lesson that He gave the living illustration twice -- once early on in His ministry before His resurrection, and once after to confirm its message.
The wife of noble character lives out this principle in her household. Her ministry not only honors her husband (verses 12 & 23), and cares for her household (verses 15 & 27), but it benefits the community (verses 20 & 24). She busies herself in the community, seeking and selecting the raw materials that have potential, and works with her hands (verses 17 & 19), to turn them into useful products. This is a picture of a healthy and vital church. The church is called to do more than to look after the members of her household. She is to be active in the community, looking for opportunities to take unused or unrefined resources and turn them into assets which add value to the community. The church is to be clever in her ministry. And, the church is to be eager to do it. That means ministry is not pushed down on the priority list. It is a witness to the world of the wisdom, compassion and care of the Husband, our Lord Jesus Christ. It gives the church credibility and favor in the community, and it gives credibility to her message. When the church looses her 'outward focus' and places ministry far down on the priority list, the church becomes dysfunctional. No matter how nicely they decorate the boat, the fish are not going to jump in. She needs to mend her nets, listen for His instruction, eagerly throw them out into the waters, and see what God will do.
There is plenty of flax and wool out there in the community waiting to be transformed. May Christ’s bride recommit herself to the task of developing the potential around her. May the Church honor Christ in the coming New Year.

December 30

2008-12-29T20:49:00.001-05:00

Dec 30 - Today from Proverbs 30 we look at verses 2 and 3
"I am the most ignorant of men: I do not have a man’s understanding. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One."

If we read this with a Western mindset, we see a man lamenting his own buffoonery. He is frustrated because of his inferior intellect. But this was not written with a Western mindset. It was written by an Eastern scholar, a learned man of great understanding. How then can he make such a statement? Is he being sarcastic? Is he being pretentiously humble? No, he is being very honest. Much more honest than most of us most of the time. He is a man that has weighed the secrets of his own heart and has come up desperately wanting. Who truly knows a man’s heart but the man himself? If the world around you could look into the deep secrets of your thoughts and intents, how would you measure up to the person you present to the world? It is a very scary thought, isn’t it? The Lord declares in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" As our Teacher looks deeply into is own heart, he comes forth honestly about the state of his heart. Coming to grips with a deceitful heart without cure puts a man on a path of searching – how can he ever know truth when he is beset with deceit in his very deepest being? He gives an answer in verse 5, "Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him." There is no deceit in God’s word – but the truth is often hidden. Man seldom, if ever, truly prizes that which is lying around in abundance. But that which comes by way of focused effort becomes a valued and cherished possession. God reveals His truth, but He often allows us to struggle to find it.
The first truth God reveals to us is that of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is God’s final word to man. He is the complete fulfillment and expressed will of the Father’s heart. This revelation comes not with words of human wisdom, but through the wonder of the cross (1 Cor. 1:17). Through Christ comes the Spirit of Truth. It is by His Spirit that we are able to mature in wisdom (understanding life the way God meant it to be). There is a cure for the heart, but it is not found within ourselves. It is found in Christ Jesus. There is a place where we can gain knowledge of the Holy One, but it is not in our own understanding. It is in His revelation. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor 2:14. In order to gain understanding of the Holy One, we must first be honest about the state of our own heart. Once we are truthful about its condition, its sets us on a spiritual quest, an earnest and diligent searching. A quest that can only be truly reached when we end up at the cross where the Living Word intersected time and eternity. There He invites us to experience it as well. Apart from the revelation of the Spirit, it is just more foolishness.

December 29

2008-12-28T22:36:00.001-05:00

Dec 29 – Today from Proverbs 29 we look at verse 7
"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern."

Jesus revealed one of the great paradoxes of His day when He revealed that the self-righteous are not righteous at all. They are, in fact, wicked. This was also true in the day of Hezekiah, when these proverbs were collected, and now in our own day when we meditate upon them.
The self-righteous in Jesus’ day meticulously studied and kept the written law code without ever seeming to realize what was at the heart of the law. Jesus peals back the hypocrisy of the self-righteous in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). He begins several points by saying, "You have heard that it was said . . ." This refers to the teachings of the self-righteous experts in the law. He then continues, "But I tell you . . ." Jesus then peals back the letter of the law to reveal the spirit of the law. Later in His ministry he is confronted by an expert in the law who asked what he might do to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25). Jesus answered, "What is written in the law?" The expert gave an excellent answer, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus confirmed the excellence of the answer. But it wasn’t enough of an answer to satisfy the expert. He wanted to know just exactly what qualified one as his neighbor. Then Jesus tells one of the most popular stories in the New Testament – the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus was, in essence, saying that anyone in your path who is suffering injustice is your neighbor. It has very little, if anything, to do with their pedigree or their geographical location. Loving your neighbor is having mercy on those who in your path have experienced misfortune.
The self-righteous avoid, ignore, and look down on the unfortunate sinners and rabble. If you want their attention, you must improve your pedigree and move into their neighborhood. You have to become like them. If you do not, they show no concern for your station in life. This is wicked. Jesus says to the self-righteous in Matthew 23:15, "Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." Becoming one of them (the self-righteous) is not the goal God has for you.
Do you want to be converted to true righteousness? Then you must emulate the true Shepherd. He did not avoid the socially disenfranchised – He went to them. He did not ignore the condemned and the crippled – He forgave and healed them. He did not look down on the prostitutes and the tax collectors – he cleansed and forgave them. He actually cared about them.
In God’s eyes, we are all sinners. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. The self-righteous is no more deserving than is the prostitute, or the leper, or the tax collector, or the homosexual, or the AIDS victim, or the abortionist, or the kid who stole your car stereo, or . . . well, you fill it in. God’s mercy extends to all through Christ Jesus. If you are in Christ, then you are called to be an agent of His mercy and to seek to bring justice (equity), to those less fortunate souls who lie within your path of ability. Don’t fret about running out of resources. You are a channel of an endless source of mercy. As you let it flow out, He lets it flow in. That is a picture of living water, it is water that flows.

December 28

2008-12-27T20:16:00.001-05:00

Dec 28 - Today from Proverbs 28 we look at verse 25
"A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper."

Proverbs for the king and those who dealt with the king. This was the purpose for which Hezekiah's aids collected the proverbs of chapters 25-31. Today they remain just as relevant for leaders and those who aspire to leadership. Leadership in God's economy is servanthood. Great leaders are to be great servants. Think of the greatest leader of all. . . the Lord Jesus.
There was a clever man who tirelessly labored to secure a fiefdom in the midst of a kingdom. He desired nothing more than complete security for himself for the years he was given on this earth. He would achieve this by control over a select group who would do his bidding. He was clever in that those who served him within his fiefdom were convinced that they were better off with him than they were on their own - and in some ways they were. He offered certain benefits, but even then, the underlying motive was to benefit himself by keeping his vassals true to himself. He is a greedy man.
The KJV of this verse uses the term 'proud heart' in place of 'greedy man'. In this instance 'proud' literally means 'room in every direction'. Room only for himself. Every motive, even of those acts that may appear to be charitable or sensitive, is to serve self-interests. What we have just described in the story of the clever man is a model of the world system. From the suzerain systems of the ancient East to the feudal systems of medieval Europe to the tribal systems of Africa and the near East to the corporate systems of the modern West - greedy men seek to dominate their fiefdoms through whatever means possible. It is the chief result of pride and sin. Unfortunately, the church too is riddled with leaders and would-be leaders with proud hearts - men who seek control to push their own agenda. They are often difficult to identify, because their actions can appear to be righteous, but the discerning can detect them through the scrutiny of the primary indicator - a servant's heart.
The church is to be uniquely different from the world system. Our Law Code is founded in one word; LOVE. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus said that all of the law and prophets hang on this single great concept. In the proud man's heart there is room in every direction only for his rule and his way. In the believer's life there is to be room only for Christ's rule. Many who appear to thrive in the world system are in fact poor and wretched creatures who are in bondage to the very system upon which they rely - they just don't know it. But, unless they have their eyes opened in this life and see the big picture of God's plan, they will one day stand before God and suddenly understand their predicament, and will join those who are doomed to eternal weeping and gnashing of teeth. They are not to be envied, but rather to be pitied. The rewards of the world system are found only within the system, and will one day pass away. The rewards of serving God and serving our fellow man under His guidance are eternal. That is true prosperity!
"The greedy man stirs up dissension." That is the nature of pride and sin. The servant of the Lord is a peacemaker - not through surrender to the enemies of God, but through surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God." (Matthew 5:9).

December 27

2008-12-26T20:36:00.001-05:00

Dec 27 – Today from Proverbs 27 we look at verse 21
"The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives." (NIV)

"As the refining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise." (KJV)

Application of carefully regulated heat by the attending smith refines the quality of a precious metal. The crucible and the furnace spoken of here are tools of the craftsman. I believe this proverb has as much to say for the one giving the praise as it does to the one receiving it.
For the one receiving: Precious metal is tested in the crucible. Every metal has its own melting point. When heated to that point, the refiner can gauge the purity of the metal by observing. Every man is tested when being praised. Does he show humility by giving God glory for his ability? Is he inspired to be worthy of the praise given by being even more diligent? Does he strive to develop and maintain integrity in his endeavors so that those who give the praise are not disappointed? If a man given praise consistently displays these traits, he is a man of wisdom. He understands the ‘testing’ of praise.
For the one giving: Praise is to be used as a tool of refining. Praise should be carefully applied to encourage and to inspire others to develop their potential good. When used casually or recklessly, it can do just the opposite and encourage others to pride and eventually to disappointment. Praise is meant to be a means, not an end. If the recipient begins to believe unwarranted praise, he will develop a false sense of having achieved excellence, and will no longer be motivated toward excellence.
There is a delicate balance between praise and encouragement. The apostle Paul was very good at finding this balance. Along with a word of praise he would often give an indicator of why it was praiseworthy. The indicator then becomes the focus and motivator – not the praise. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 is a prime example; "We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." Here Paul praises the believers for their good works and their endurance, but the indicators are that which inspire them – faith, love, and hope, none of which emanate from self. He praises them for their ability to develop and apply that which God provides.
Every parent, every mentor, every leader needs to strive to learn and apply this balance, much as a skilled metallurgist strives to learn the delicate application of heat to his crucible. In doing so, praise can indeed be useful in refining the character of those we influence.

December 26

2008-12-25T23:02:00.001-05:00

Dec 26 – Today from Proverbs 26 we look at verse 2
"Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest."

The curse spoken of in this proverb is not some incantation executed by a sorcerer in a demonic ritual. The closest definition from the original Hebrew means 'vilification'. It is the act of one verbally speaking ill of another, with a particular emphasis on demeaning the character of that person. It is the opposite of verbally praising someone. The apostle James writes in chapter 3 verses 9 and 10; "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."
This proverb does not address the one who curses so much as the one who is cursed. Every living being is susceptible to being cursed, no matter how nice they are. It is the human condition. People misunderstand one's motives, people disagree with one's processes, people see one in the way of their ambitious goals, people disagree with one's views - so people resort to character assassination in order to gain an edge in persuading others to side with them. People are good at cursing others. A person who is committed to grow in wisdom from above is a person who genuinely fears the Lord. If a person is walking in integrity of character, that person's focus is on their relationship with the Lord and has their confidence in the Lord. It may be unsettling to be the recipient of an unfounded curse, but it should not have an impacting effect on one's character whose confidence is in the Lord. The response of a mature believer is to either ignore an unfounded curse, or to bless the one who has pronounced the curse. The subtle warning in this proverb is for a disciple to keep an undeserved curse just that - undeserved. If one becomes offended by an undeserved curse and effects a retaliation, one has come under the power of that curse because they have relinquished their confidence in the Lord and taken matters of justice, or what's worse, revenge into their own hands. In effect, they have damaged the character of Christ in them, and allowed that which was dead in Christ (the carnal nature), to resurrect and take control. It is a matter of spiritual discipline to live the reality of Galatians 2:20; "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
A fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow is a presence, perhaps even an irritant. But if they are not allowed to land, sooner or later they will move on. If we will not allow an undeserved curse to land by maintaining integrity of character, sooner or later it will fade away. If you are the recent recipient of a curse - someone attempted to vilify you, tried to damage your good character - how should you respond? The answer that comes to you from the light of God's Word in a private meditation must be put into practice in order for it to bear fruit. So, what is your answer? How are you going to respond? God gives grace to all who are willing and are bold enough to take an obedient step of faith. Try it.
One final thought. Is there such thing as a 'deserved' curse? Perhaps not, but there may be unappealing areas in our lives of which we are not aware. I once heard this 'proverb' from a wise man; "If someone calls me a jackass, I usually just walk away and don't let it bother me. But if three people call me a jackass, I go to the mirror and take a good look at myself." If fairly honest or unbiased people are speaking 'perceived' curses about you, perhaps it is a sign that you need to go to the mirror of God's Word and take an honest look at yourself in that area. Just a thought.

December 25

2008-12-24T23:02:00.001-05:00

Dec 25 - Today from Proverbs 25 we look at verse 25
"Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land."

Proverbs for the king and those who dealt with the king. This was the purpose for which Hezekiah's aids collected the proverbs of chapters 25-31. Today they remain just as relevant for leaders and those who aspire to leadership. Leadership in God's economy is servanthood. Great leaders are to be great servants. Think of the greatest leader of all. . . the Lord Jesus.
We all enjoy hearing good news. In the midst of the realities of a fallen world and all of the pain and corruption caused by the fracturing effects of sin (self-serving ways), good news is indeed as refreshing as a glass of cold water to a parched thirst in a dry and weary place. Good news from a distant land intensifies the refreshing. In the beginning of the war in Iraq we experienced the incredible ability to follow battlefield events in real-time as we had TV reporters imbedded with the troops and broadcasting the war in Iraq live from multiple locations. Even today, we get updated reports of events as they happen.
In contrast, in the days in which the proverbs were written, communications came by way of runners. There was no 'real-time' news of events. As the battles raged, the peoples of the nations involved would wait with great anticipation to see the figure of a runner on the horizon. Kings and leaders would often try to anticipate what the news would be in accordance with the number of runners or the character of the runners. If the news was favorable, the military leaders would usually send a favored runner, as the runner would often be rewarded. If the news were unfavorable, the runner chosen would be of lesser importance - perhaps even expendable if the news were bad enough. We can see the cultural reality of this in 2 Samuel 18 were the battlefield news of the death of Absalom, David's rebellious son, was to be delivered to king David in Jerusalem. Commander Joab knew how the news would affect David, so he sent a Cushite to run. A favored runner, Ahimaz, thought David would be delighted with the victory over the rebel, and desperately sought to be the runner. Joab says, "My son, why do you want to go? You don't have any news that will bring you a reward." Ahimaz thought he had some 'fresh water', but Joab knew that the water was tainted with bitterness.
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" (Isaiah 52:7). Great leaders are great servants. As believers in Christ, we are chosen and called to be a Royal Priesthood (2 Peter 2:9). We are to be runners for Christ the King, and our message is to be in the spirit of the priesthood; to intercede for sinful man on behalf of a gracious God. We live in a world of 'weary souls'. Weary from trying to please self, weary from trying to please others, weary from trying to please God. It's maddening. We have the best news possible; that God made peace with us through Jesus Christ. "Peace on earth, good will toward men." That is our message. We bring it from a distant land - from the home of the Father. It is a matter of perspective. It is really the lost who are in the distant land, and we bring the news to them from the heart of God; "God loves you and offers you immunity from your sin through the death of His own Son." Only this time there is no bitterness in the Father's heart, for the Son lives! He was resurrected and lives to restore all who will believe on His Name. Indeed, "Our God reigns!"
Today we celebrate the first coming of Messiah, Jesus Christ. The world celebrates Christmas, but they do not celebrate Christ. It is a great opportunity for the Church. We must stop bearing an attitude of 'serve us', and develop the attitude of 'service'. He came to redeem - and to set an example unto the redeemed. Let us faithfully carry His message through our service.

December 24

2008-12-23T20:53:00.003-05:00

Dec 24 - Today from Proverbs 24 we look at verses 23-25
"To show partiality in judging is not good: Whoever says to the guilty, "You are innocent"- peoples will curse him and nations denounce him. But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessings will come upon him."

God never instituted or condoned vigilantism. The right to judge civil matters is a matter of civil authority, and civil authority is ordained of God. (Romans 13:1, 1 Peter 2:13, 14). In our modern culture there are many levels of civil authority; the most basic being the family unit and perhaps the broadest being the United Nations. Each civil unit is to have an ordained authority to 'punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.' (1 Peter 2:14). Vigilantism itself is lawlessness and stands to be judged by proper authorities. For example, when a child takes 'justice' into his own hands in the family unit, it is the parent's responsibility to correct the matter. If his action was retribution against a sibling, and the sibling indeed was guilty of violating household principles ('Thou shalt not take thy brother's seat when he rises to go to the bathroom.'), the sibling who made the initial violation needs to be properly corrected. BUT, the child who practiced vigilantism needs also to be corrected. If not, civil order will deteriorate into chaos. Every household with multiple children understands this concept well.
The cultural model of this type of authority in Bible times is known as a Suzerain Covenant of Human Obligation. The suzerain was a powerful king of a region who wielded authority over lesser kings ('kings' in the earliest days were generally rulers over cities and outlying villages). The lesser kings were referred to as vassals. The suzerain king would extend a treaty to his vassal kings that stated; (1) his supreme authority (greater army, more allies, better resources, etc.), (2) a history of or an offer of benefits for their alliance (usually protection from other suzerains or alliances), and (3) his demands (a law code). If the vassal king agreed to the terms, he would accept the treaty on behalf of his people. If he refused the terms, it was at the great peril of his people. If a vassal king bent or ignored certain stipulations of the treaty in order to favor one of his subjects and the suzerain king found out, the entire vassal kingdom would usually suffer. Suzerains had to be brutal in order to sustain their position. Justice was in the form of an 'iron fist' (i.e. the Roman Empire). This is the point the Teacher is making. When a vassal civil authority showed 'partiality in judging' he was placing all of the people at risk. Should such actions be uncovered the 'peoples will curse him and nations denounce him.' Nations in that day were people groups and were allied together through treaties.
Integrity in leadership is extremely important in God's economy. Leaders are to serve justly. There is to be no partiality in justice. Even God's mercy comes through the exacting demands of His justice. "The wages of sin is death." declares Romans 6:23. No wiggle room there. In order for justice to be served, a life must be taken. The only way one can justly die in another's place is if he is perfectly innocent. Enter the unblemished Lamb, born on Christmas Day, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was without sin and He took our sin upon Himself at Calvary's cross. Justice was served. Now, if we believe it, we are beneficiaries of the rest of Romans 6:23, "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." A free gift to us, but at an unspeakable cost to Himself. There is to be no partiality in justice. There is mercy, but there is always a cost to mercy. Civil authorities are to execute justice - even judgment. But as individuals, we are to extend mercy. The cost of mercy? We must die to self; self rights, self satisfaction, self importance, self pity - all of it. We are to live for Christ.
Those who have been given responsibility in any civil arena of leadership are obligated to God and to those they serve to be without partiality and to serve justly - including dealing with 'vigilantes'; those who would take judgment into their own hands. If not, they endanger many innocent people. However, as individuals we are to be agents of God's mercy. If not, we become vigilantes and stand to be judged.
"Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!" (James 2:13).

December 23

2008-12-22T21:56:00.001-05:00

Dec 23 – Today from Proverbs 23 we look at verses 31 & 32
"Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper."

This proverb is not a statement against drinking wine. Wine was, in fact, considered a sign of God’s blessing in the Old Testament. Jesus turned water into wine as His first miracle. Wisdom sets her table with wine. Paul instructed Timothy to take a little wine for the sake of his stomach. There is no Biblical prohibition for drinking wine, but there is strong admonition against drunkenness. The line of delineation between the two is found in purpose and in moderation.
Wine is not meant for use as an end to itself. Its purpose is not for ‘getting drunk’. The Teacher highlights this purpose in the previous verse. He calls it "lingering over wine" and "sampling mixed bowls of wine." Here, there is no other element in purpose save that of drinking wine. Perhaps the student could make the argument of desiring to be a ‘wine connoisseur’. Such a connoisseur studies the color of the wine, the effervescence, the smoothness of the body – all the things described in verse 31. "Be careful," warns the Teacher. A true connoisseur simply develops a discriminating taste. He understands that fine wine is meant to complement fine food. He does not ply his skill simply to drink wine.
Besides complementing a meal, wine taken in moderation has proven to show some benefits to good health – particularly in keeping arteries pliable and clean. Even modern medical studies will back this up. I don’t know what ailed Timothy’s digestive system, but apparently Paul thought a moderate amount of wine would prove to be helpful there as well. None of this is to condone drunkenness.
About the only passage of scripture that implies license for drunkenness is for the purpose of alleviating pain. In Proverbs 31 King Lemuel’s mother taught him that drunkenness was not for people who carried responsibilities of leadership. She said "Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish." Even today we sedate those who are in extreme anguish and are dying. But, unless you are in a situation that requires the drastic measure of sedation, you have no Biblical license to get drunk.

December 22

2008-12-21T22:10:00.001-05:00

Dec 22 - Today from Proverbs 22 we look at verse 3
"A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it." (NIV)
"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." (TLB)

With a quick check in the Oxford dictionary I came up with this definition for prudent: 'careful to avoid undesired consequences'. The American Heritage dictionary offers this additional insight to the definition: 'careful for one's own interests'. Neither dictionary attached any moral aspects to the definition. When I looked it up in the Hebrew Concordance, it came out about the same - no moral implications. Even evil people can be prudent, and often are. But their prudence is contained within a limited sphere of this lifetime. Our prudence must be based on a much further outlook. We are citizens of heaven and what we do in this lifetime will bear eternal consequences. That is a very difficult concept to keep in view on a day to day basis. That is why practicing daily devotions is such an important discipline. God's Word gives proper perspective to life.
With the definitions given above, we can see that personal prudence is based upon personal values. Even the 'simple' have base values. If the prudent man and the simple man were walking together down a road and they saw a semi bearing down on them, I think it would be safe to say that both would jump in the ditch. They both value their lives. I think this proverb goes beyond the obvious common values and speaks to the subtler things that threaten them. This is where the prudent and the simple are separated. I used The Living Bible paraphrase of the verse because I think it reveals an interesting insight when it says, 'the simpleton goes blindly on'. The simpleton isn't necessarily stupid, he is blinded by his own shortsightedness. His main interests are only immediate. He doesn't avoid undesired long-term consequences because he does not see that far down the road. The prudent does. Why is that? Because the prudent values long-term interests. He studies them out to see how they might be enhanced, threatened or affected by the choices he makes today. By getting as much good information as possible, he can then anticipate that which might affect his interests and act accordingly. He lives beyond the end of his nose. The more one learns, the farther one can anticipate. Interests and values are closely related. The more we value something, the higher our interest should be. Now we have come full circle, back to the value of daily devotions. If we value the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me," then we should make an effort to protect that primary interest in our life. The command isn't an egocentric demand from a tyrannical God. It is a statement of instruction from a loving Father. It's like a parent saying to a child, "You shall not play in the middle of the street." That parent isn't trying to control the life of the child; he or she is trying to protect the child from an immanent danger that the youngster is too young and inexperienced to anticipate.
In light of eternity and of life as God intended, we are all too young and inexperienced. The best investment of time we can make to protect our eternal interests is to spend it with the eternal One. He will teach us how to look far ahead. He sent His Holy Spirit to illuminate the path beyond our own understanding. He will reveal the dangers that lie ahead, and He will be our Shelter in times of trouble. When a blind beggar named Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus for help (Mark 10:47), Jesus stopped and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said, "I want to see." Jesus immediately opened his eyes, and Bartimaeus followed Jesus along the road.
This is my testimony. I hope it is yours. One of my highest values and interests in life is to continue to follow Jesus along life’s road. Even when I am unable to anticipate the dangers ahead, He has. By following Him, I can at least look prudent.

December 21

2008-12-20T21:54:00.001-05:00

Dec 21 - Today from Proverbs 21 we look at verse 15
"When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers."

Our God is a just God. Many fail to believe this because He is all-powerful, and there is so much injustice in this world. It doesn't make sense. That's because the times are not yet complete. We live in a world system corrupted by sin. Injustice reigns where rebellion against God continues. Wisdom, strength and wealth are not meant to be substitutes for justice. However, when yielded to God's direction and purposes they become instruments of His justice.
Wisdom is understanding life the way God meant it to be. Without understanding God's original purposes for man, there can be no justice. Strength involves authority and enforcement. When coupled with wisdom, justice moves from the realm of possible to probable. Wealth is influence and ability. When joined with wisdom and strength, together they all form a reliable system of justice. When these resources are implemented for God's purposes, justice becomes a joy for those who seek to live life the way God intends, but become a terror for those who desire to live in self-serving rebellion.
Why? Because God's original purpose for man was to live in a vital relationship with God and to serve his fellow man. For those seeking to live in such harmony, justice is a guiding friend. For those seeking to live out self-serving and rebellious ways, justice is an oppressive and unrelenting enemy.
This proverb does not speak of two kinds of justice, rather it speaks of two kinds of hearts. Justice is an attribute of God and thus is eternal. Although injustice seems to reign in this world for a time - it will not always be so. One day the Lord will return to firmly establish justice - forever. On that day terror will surely strike in the hearts of the rebellious. There will be no hiding or escape, only final judgment. Everlasting joy will be the reward of the righteous - those who love and practice justice because their hearts were changed when they accepted Jesus' gift of life.
As servants of God and of our fellow man we need not wait for that day. "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." (Hebrews 3:15). We can, and must, begin to practice justice today. Justice is not getting even, or even seeking to get my 'fair share'. God promised to provide my needs. Justice is seeking to bring equity into the lives of my fellow man.
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight." -Jeremiah 9:23, 24

December 20

2008-12-19T20:07:00.000-05:00

Dec 20 - Today from Proverbs 20 we look at verse 23
"The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him."

We tend to be quite confident as consumers in modern America. So confident, in fact, that we hardly think about being cheated by manufacturers. Consumer products must be clearly marked as to content, weight and volume and are regulated by state and federal agencies. When you buy a two-pound can of coffee, you don't have to go home and weigh it to see if you've been cheated. When you buy a gallon of gas (or 20), you don't have to worry if you've been shorted. We can tend to read right over this Proverb and never give it a second thought. But let's stop anyway. Is there a common principle here for us? A couple of principles come to mind.
Have you ever heard the term 'double standard'? That’s using one standard for a favored person or group, and another standard for the rest. Double standards do not please God. Being on staff in various public institutions, I have learned the importance of the term 'precedent'. It is a very frustrating term for people who desire 'favored status'. Public institutions should develop and maintain policy for the good of all the people. When an exception is made for any reason, how does one explain it to the next person who seeks exception? 'Profiling' can easily lead to use of a double standard. Prejudice is an ugly form of the double standard. Double standard can apply in personal, business, political and even spiritual life. We must be very careful in pandering to people who might curry 'favored status' with us whether it is because of their wealth, their position or their social status. 'God does not show favoritism' (Acts 10:34), and His children shouldn't either.
The other principle that comes to mind is that of issues. Have you ever heard the term 'weighting the issue'? It is a common every day practice with all of us - and it is the enemy of objectivity. It is difficult, if not impossible, to get the news 'fair and balanced' these days. People of influence can’t help but have opinions and agendas - including corporate network and publishing organization executives. Issues of the day become ‘weighted’ through their opinions and agendas. That is why they are considered 'powerful' people. Children and teenagers can be experts at weighting issues in order to tip them in their favor. "But all of my friends are going!" Parents try to throw in a counterbalance' "If your friends jumped off a bridge would you follow them?" In all fairness to the network executives and the kids, we are all experts in weighting issues. We desire a matter to go our way, so we give it an extra little appeal in whatever manner we can. We can even weight issues to 'help God' by exaggerating a testimony. There have been 'faith healers' that have been caught using audience plants by investigative reporters. Their excuse; 'We are building the faith of those who truly need real healing'. They were weighting the issue, and endangered their testimony and probably the faith of some poor souls whose objectivity was obscured by misdirected desire.
This little verse in Proverbs warns us that God frowns heavily upon use of double standards and of weighting the issues. They don't come with labels regulated by government agencies. We must be sensitive to His Spirit not to entertain the use of them in our own lives, and seek wisdom not to be manipulated by others who do use them.

December 19

2008-12-18T22:44:00.001-05:00

Dec 19 – Today from Proverbs 19 we look at verse 21
"Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails."

This proverb touches on the mystery of God and eternity. A mystery is an immutable truth that cannot be explained or fully understood. It requires an element of faith.
Man was created in and relates to the time/space continuum. Our human reasoning is bound by it. God exists in eternity. Time is contained in eternity, but eternity is not contained in time – it transcends time. Our past is called ‘history’. Our future is unknown. There is no past or future in eternity – they are terms of time. Eternity is omnipresent, and we will never fully understand it for as long as we are bound by time. In Isaiah 55:8 & 9 God said it this way, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than you ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." As the heavens transcend the earth, even so God’s ways transcend man’s ways.
Man goes busily about making his plans – taking lessons and experience from the past and plotting into an uncertain future. It’s the best he can do. Whether it be for good or for evil, he moves forward, making his impact in the world. Some influence a few, some influence nations. Six billion people, all making their plans. In spite of the magnitude of all of this individual and ambitious busyness, man will never overrule God’s purpose. His purpose transcends man’s activity.
So, what does this all mean for the believer? God created man with a free will, and we have complete freedom to exercise that will in the time/space continuum. God does not control or overrule it in time, He transcends it in eternity. When we choose to surrender our will to Him, and trust in the transcendency of His power and purpose – we benefit. We can take comfort in that whatever the circumstances, His purposes will prevail. We have authority to pray for the entrance and prevailing rule of His eternal Kingdom into the temporal circumstances of this world as He has instructed us to pray saying, "Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9, 10). We have the Blessed Hope, knowing that whatever is too great for us to bear can be given over to Him who bears all things for us, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9). We have peace even in the midst of great turmoil knowing that Gods expressed purpose for time has already been settled and there is no power in heaven or earth that can alter it, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen." (Romans 11:36). We are the redeemed, the children of the eternal God through Christ Jesus, and in Christ, we have already prevailed, "In Him you were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will." (Ephesians 1:11)
Take heart believers. Though evil may seem overwhelming for the moment, God will work out His eternal purpose through it. "He is able to work all things to good for those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28). Jesus came from eternity and broke into time through the incarnation, the mystery of Christmas. He will break into time once more to see time to its final end. "He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when times will have reached their fulfillment." (Ephesians 1:9, 10).
From Genesis to Revelation, God works through the plans of man to fulfill His purpose for man. Good plans, bad plans. Successful plans, failed plans. Righteous plans, evil plans. Grand plans, small plans. His wonder and power transcend them all, and in the end of time it will come out exactly as He purposed.

December 18

2008-12-17T21:56:00.001-05:00

Dec 18 - Today from Proverbs 18 we look at verse 1
"An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment."

Selfish people are lonely people. They may function in the midst of an abundance of other people, but even so, they live a lonely life. Selfish people are constantly seeking recognition - on their own terms. People like that have few friends. When one pursues selfish ends, there is no natural flow of quid quo pro in life.
Friendliness is an attitude that carries its own rewards. True friendliness has no ulterior motive; it is simply displayed from an inner contentedness in life. Friendly people seldom have anything to prove, and they often have lots to offer. They are people who have learned that 'it's better to be kind than to be right'. They are people who have learned that 'when you smile, the world smiles with you'. They are people who discovered how very little one can truly accomplish in this life by themselves.
I am of the conviction that true friendliness is an attribute of unconditional love. You give without expecting any return. In Luke 10:25-37, an expert in the law inquired of Jesus how he might secure eternal life. Jesus asked him what was written in the law. He replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your strength and with all you mind and, Love your neighbor as yourself." The man gave the right answer but viewed it from the wrong perspective. Because he was an expert in the law, he seemed pretty confident that he was okay in the first department. But he wasn't quite sure about the requirement of the second. "Who is my neighbor?" he asked the Lord Jesus. The text reveals that the man "wanted to justify himself." In other words, the man wanted to know exactly how to fulfill this command that he might save himself. Here we see the attitude of an unfriendly man. He did not ask how he might see others get eternal life. His interest was not for others, but for his own ends. If he had to love his neighbor in order to get to heaven, he wanted to know the definition of his neighbor so he could clearly pursue his selfish end.
Well, you know the rest of the story. Jesus told one of the most popular parables of all times in the story of The Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan is the example of a truly friendly person. He gave without expecting any return. He helped a person in a time of need just because the person needed help. Jesus revealed a great paradox to the expert in the law. We are not to attempt to identify our neighbors that we might pursue our own selfish ends in loving them; we are to be the neighbor who seeks to make the world of those around us a little better place to live. When walking down the sidewalk or hallway and you pass by a stranger, instead of looking down or away, look in their eye, smile, and give them a friendly greeting. Don't expect one back - just do it because the world needs a friendlier climate. When driving home in the rush hour and you see someone who needs a break to get into the proper lane, make a little room and wave them in with a smile. When someone who you know is struggling with an issue in life and their name comes to your mind, pick up the phone and give them a call, or get on line and send them a note, or pick up a friendly little card and drop it in the mail. We encounter little opportunities each day to be friendly - to make someone's day just a little better. When friendliness becomes a pattern of life, you will make a wonderful discovery; it's called the law of reciprocity. It begins to come back to you from the most unexpected places. In your efforts to make the lives of others a little nicer and warmer, you will discover your own life getting nicer and warmer. Friendliness carries its own rewards.

December 17

2008-12-16T21:57:00.001-05:00

Dec 17 - Today from Proverbs 17 we look at verses 8 & 23
"A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it; wherever he turns, he succeeds."
"A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the course of justice."

At first read, it appears that verse 8 is condoning and even encouraging bribery. Then upon reading verse 23, it appears that bribery is a tool of subterfuge and deception. Proverbs are often observations of life, valuable for the believer to know. Thus we cannot isolate verse 17 and make a Biblical doctrine that might state, "Whoever becomes proficient in the use of bribery will find success in life." That would be a mistake. In Exodus 23, God is giving His people direct commands. In verse eight He clearly states, "Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous." There is no Biblical doctrine condoning the use of bribes.
So what is verse 8 teaching us? It is teaching the same thing as verse 23 and Exodus 23:8. "Do not accept a bribe. A bribe is a charm to the one who GIVES it." Charm can be deceptive. It is often something in a person's character that is intentionally delightful, so that it covers the faults of the one who possesses it. "It blinds those who see." A person who lacks charm in their personality can achieve the same ends by using a bribe. The bribe becomes the charm that blinds people to the true character - or at least makes the true character of the giver of less significance.
People who receive bribes often feel that they are the ones who prosper. God is telling us not to fall for such deception. The people who receive bribes are exchanging something of great value for something of temporary pleasure. They are selling their integrity. It is the person who gives the bribe who walks away with added value. He not only has advanced his ambitious goals in life, he now has power over the person bribed. The person bribed lies exposed before the briber as a sell-out, and will never again have the strength of integrity to take a stand for convictions. This person has actually lost value in the transaction. The focus on verse 8 is not to be on the one giving the bribe, but on the one who is tempted to take a bribe. I read it to say something like, "Don't take a bribe - it only benefits the one who GIVES it. You will be helping him succeed in his deceptive means to a goal while you end up compromising your integrity."
God does not condone the use of bribery, it perverts justice. But it seems He is somewhat impressed with how well the 'people of this world' learn how the system works, and then apply themselves to working it for their benefit. Jesus tells the parable of the shrewd manager in Luke 16:1-15. The master in the parable actually commended the dishonest manager (v. 8) for his shrewdness in bribing the master's debtors. But it was only a passing admiration for a corrupt person who shrewdly used a corrupt system to induce people who were more powerful than himself. They corrupted themselves while helping the doomed manager to achieve his goal. Don't miss an important part of the lesson here; in the end the shrewd manager lost his position in the master's household. Jesus then lamented, "The people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light." As followers of Christ, we are not to be of their kind. We are to be the people of light. We are to use our gifts and abilities to achieve His goals, not our own. We are to 'bribe' (if I may use that term), the poor, the sojourner, and the disenfranchised that they might listen to the message of hope that we have. The people of this world (system) use their charm to effect self-centered, self-serving goals in this life. The people of light are to use their 'charm' to effect the entrance and expansion of the Kingdom of God. The people of this world use their charm to pervert justice and to destroy the integrity of others. The people of light are to use their 'charm' to establish justice and to restore integrity. Sometimes I wonder when Jesus looks down at His church -- particularly His church of means and prosperity -- if He still does not lament.
Wisdom does not take bribes, nor does it seek to use bribes to pervert justice. Wisdom uses its resources to bring hope and to restore integrity in a lost and broken world.

December 16

2008-12-15T23:48:00.001-05:00

Dec 16 – Today from Proverbs 16 we look at verse 3
"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." (NIV)

A-h-h-h-h. If there were only a sure-fire formula for success, one could patent it and become a multi-millionaire overnight. But alas, there is no such thing in this world of infinite uncertainties – or is there? Can we take this ‘promise’ at face value?
There is another promise, this in the New Testament, spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself. He said, "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:14). It would seem that Christians have been given a ‘Master Card’ with no limit in spending.
The truth is that both of the verses under consideration here are fully reliable. As with all scripture, they must be understood within the context of the whole of scripture. Any attempt to isolate them and interpret them within the context of the world system will eventually leave the student greatly disappointed.
Can we commit a self-serving work to the Lord? No. It’s a contradiction in itself. Can we commit a work to the Lord that has not first been brought to Him for consideration? We might ‘dedicate’ a work to the Lord in such a manner, but we could never ‘commit’ it to Him without His consideration. It just doesn’t work that way. Can we commit a work to the Lord that does not meet with His approval? Pure foolishness. In our proverb, the Teacher is instructing the student of wisdom to consider your plans before God before you execute them. The disciple who is confident that his plan has the approval of God can also be confident that God will be faithful to see it succeed.
The same principle holds true with Jesus’ promise to His disciples in John 14:14. To ask in His Name means to ask in the context of His authority, His character, and thus His approval. Simply to attach the phrase "in the name of Jesus" to a petition without considering His will and His character is an act of futility. It’s not a magic phrase – even for His disciples. It is a challenge for His disciples to abide in Him and to seek to discern His will and to live in His character. Disciples who live in such a manner can be confident that when they ask for His provision He will indeed comply as they seek to carry out and fulfill His purposes.

December 15

2008-12-14T21:36:00.000-05:00

Dec 15 – Today from Proverbs 15 we look at verse10
"Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die."

The path before us is the path of righteousness (verse 14). To many in our modern culture, stern discipline doesn’t fit well into the concept of God’s love. Today’s gurus tout the popular liberal banner of "True Love is Tolerance". Morality is relevant only to the fabrication of one’s own reality. They claim that ‘God’ comes to us in many forms and gives us many choices as to how we will worship Him. Because this wonderful universal God is so lovingly tolerant with the diversity in which man sees and worships Him, tolerance becomes a virtue that is high on the values list. Much higher than the narrow definition of morality as defined by the Christian community which patterns their moral code after the antiquated laws observed by the ancient cultures of the Bible. They teach that God loves those who are sincere in their pursuit of Him, no matter what path they have chosen. If all of mankind would just adopt this wonderful virtue of tolerance, we would all get along and we would all find our own way to God – He would make sure of that because He loves us so much. This is the old cult of ‘Universalism’ dressed in a new garb. It sounds so nice – but it defiantly flies in the face of God’s Word.
Stern discipline is a very real aspect of God’s love. We see it in the pattern of our own family life. A loving parent instructs their child in ways of proper behavior. As the child embraces and applies the parent’s instruction, there is peace and harmony in the home. If the child rejects the parent’s instruction and displays behavior that disrupts family life, the parent disciplines the child. Not because they hate, or even dislike the child, but because they love the child. They want to see their child grow to be an asset to the community, not a liability. They desire to see their child walk a path that will enhance the child’s character and bring honor to the family name. "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11).
Discipline is administered as a means of correction. Its motivation is to be that of love, not destruction. It is the attitude of the recipient of discipline who determines whether the discipline is corrective or destructive. Verse 12 in today’s chapter states that "a mocker resents correction." The mocker creates his own reality and pursues his own path in life. He mocks the moral code of God’s Word, and refuses to be corrected by it. The Teacher soberly warns that such an attitude will end in death. That’s where the ‘broad path’ of Universalism leads (Matthew 7:13). God is love, but He is not tolerant with those who reject His instruction and resent His correction.

December 14

2008-12-13T22:10:00.001-05:00

Dec 14 - Today from Proverbs 14 we look at verse 27
"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death."

The wilderness had suddenly turned into a foreboding vastness of danger. Danger from wild animals. Danger from heat exhaustion. Danger from starvation. Just a couple of hours ago all was well. Now fear gripped his heart. Yes, he was foolish. It was his own fault. He had set his pack way too close to the edge of the ravine. He tripped on a root -- or something -- and splayed out onto the dusty ground, face down. As he went down, he pushed the pack over the edge. It fell into the rushing torrent far below. He got up on his hands and knees and watched it bob in the churning waters until it disappeared around a bend. In it was his compass, his maps, his shelter, his food, his camp stove -- everything he depended on for survival in the wilderness. The only thing to do now was to carefully make his way down into the canyon and follow the river as best he could. Maybe the pack would get caught on an overhanging branch or something. Fear gripped his heart as he walked the ridge looking for a place to descend.
He stopped to rest and scanned the terrain. Wait! What was that? He happened to glance up on the ridge and he caught a glimpse of a reflection -- something glinting in the sun. He walked into a small clearing where he could get a better view. It was a small ranger station, and the sun was reflecting off the windshield of a . . . a CAR! A U.S. Forest Ranger's car! He quickly identified some landmarks and set his course for the station. He would be safe now.
The little illustration above gives us a good sense of what 'fear' means in the Proverb of today. No, it is not the fear the man felt for his future when he lost his pack. That is not how we are to fear God. It was the fear the man held for the Forest Ranger at the moment of discovery. A total trust and regard for an authority which represented safety, provision, and sound instruction. This fear was a powerful force. A force which turned the man from a frantic search for his lost pack in a deep ravine to a trek up a dominant ridge -- totally in the opposite direction.
"The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life." A fountain is not still water, it is not a trickle. It is a force. The fear of the Lord is a force in life. When our eyes are opened to the reality of God's authority, His safety, His provision and His sound instruction -- we gladly end our pursuit of the small self-contained pack of what we thought might be our hope. Instead, we turn our efforts in pursuit of God.
Sometimes those things we perceive to be critical setbacks in life are God's providential ways of getting us free of self-sufficiency. Sometimes He needs to separate us from temporary things. Things that we believe to be the essence of life in order to get us to scan the greater terrain. These can be turning moments in life - turning us to discovery, fear and dependence on the One who is Life.
Where are you today? What bobbing pack are you chasing after down the torrent of life? Why not take a moment and scan the terrain. You may discover something far more sustaining than what you believe that temporary pack contains. He is right up there on the ridge - in all likelihood He is in the opposite direction of your current pursuit. What He offers is so much more than our limited self-contained packs. He offers LIFE, and life abundant. Know God and understand His infinite wisdom and ability. Continually fear God, and your dangerous pursuits of the trivial will cease. It is a force that turns.

December 13

2008-12-12T23:01:00.001-05:00

Dec 13 – Today from Proverbs13 we look at verse 21
"Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous." (NIV)
"Evil pursueth sinners; but to the righteous , good shall be repaid." (KJV)

It is curious that the two translations we use today equate misfortune and evil. Our post-modern culture readily acknowledges misfortune, but rejects the thought of evil. They are, in fact, interchangeable when evil does not refer to a characteristic or an entity. In the original Hebrew the term is translated from a word that simply means bad. Upon closer examination, the root of the word means to spoil by breaking to pieces. It is to see something with great potential, made good for nothing. That is why Satan is evil. That is why fallen man is evil. That is why misfortune is so heartbreaking. That is why a couple of our American Presidents declared dictator-led and oppressive regimes to be evil. Things with great potential, made good for nothing. It is a sad and most undesirable condition.
"Misfortune pursues the sinner." This is a spiritual truth. A sinner may find ways to maneuver and dodge and put off being overtaken – but misfortune is a tenacious pursuer. One little slip, one relaxed moment, one miscalculation, and the sinner is doomed to receive his just payment. He is not a victim. He earned his misfortune. "The wages of sin is death," writes Paul in Romans 6:23. A wage is indeed something earned. Sinners may look like they are prospering. Sinners may at times even feel that they are prospering. But if they are not already, they had better be watching over their shoulder. There is something tireless and dreadful that is pursuing them, and they will never have the strength or ability to escape it. Its final blow is indeed death – eternal separation from God and His grace. There is no ‘hell on earth’ that can begin to compare with this death. But even before that final blow, misfortune can hit time and time again. Why anyone would want to live life with misfortune in pursuit is beyond me . . . or is it? I once lived that way. The deception of the temporal pleasures of life and the notion that I was an exception to the rule kept me merrily running ahead of misfortune, thinking that sooner or later I would win. According to Romans 6:23, I had already lost. It was only a matter of time.
Thank God, there is a second part to Romans 6:23. "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." It is the only escape. I earned death, but could never earn life. It had to be a gift – something not earned, or even deserved. It is found only in Christ Jesus, the One who purchased the gift with His own life. The potential God created in me that sin made good for nothing (evil) was restored in Christ (righteousness). He is my righteousness. He has restored value and purpose to our lives. And as we continually pursue that purpose, He will prosper us. That means He will provide all we need to fulfill His purpose in and through us. When we give of His love and grace to others, in any form, He replenishes us. We will never run out as long as we follow His lead. He gives and gives and gives again. The reward of the righteous is not the goal of the righteous, it is the well of resources from which the righteous bestow God’s blessing. Whenever we give in His Name, He repays that we might give again.

December 12

2008-12-11T22:25:00.002-05:00

Dec 12 – Today from Proverbs 12 we look at verse 23
"A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly." (NIV)
"A prudent man concealeth knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness." (KJV)

At first read, this proverb appears to contradict common sense. Isn’t it a good thing for the prudent to introduce their knowledge into the public pool of thought? Why would it be wise to keep knowledge to one’s self? The answer, I believe, lies in the contrast of the statements presented. The second statement in the proverb more clearly introduces the issue that the method of introducing one’s ideas into the public pool of thought is as critical as the content.
A proclamation is a public declaration in the strongest of terms. In the original Hebrew the word proclaimeth reveals the sense of actually accosting a person with a pronouncement. If one is a dictator or a potentate one can indeed successfully foist their will upon the public through proclamations because it is backed by threat. But even then, men who seek liberty begin to contend in their hearts against such oppression. God created man with a free will and a free mind. God created man to live in community. God created diversity in mankind. All of this points to the fact that in God’s plan, He meant for man to develop an exchange of ideas in order for man to socially advance. In the center of this community called mankind was to be its Creator. He gave man value and purpose, and He would dwell in their midst to guide the entire process. It’s a wonderful picture. A picture that was fractured by the introduction of sin. Wisdom is to understand that picture of God’s original intention for man, and to seek ways to communicate those purposes for man in an amiable fashion.
Proclamations do not make for a good venue for the exchange of ideas. Proclamations carry a sense of authority, someone attempting to foist their agenda. The intended recipients of a proclamation have no venue or format to provide the input of their own views. This is quite critical, particularly if the proclamation is to directly affect change in the recipient’s life. People like to be involved in the process of change. Even if they must endure some hardship to bring about needed change, they need to ‘buy in’ to it. Without the opportunity to dialogue, this needed element is lost and the potential for conflict is greatly increased. The party who initiated the proclamation loses favor in the sight of those who must endure it. Even if the ‘fool’ who makes the proclamation has no authority to back it, people tire of being around such know-it-alls. Fools carries the attitude that there is no need for them to listen to other points of view – they have already stated their case! The reason their proclamations are so often just foolishness is because they are unwilling to consider the views of others, thus failing to add to their own knowledge.
The prudent, on the other hand, keeps their knowledge concealed. The Hebrew term concealeth here portrays the picture of a covering of clothing. It gives one the sense of mystery, appealing to man’s sense of curiosity. Rather than foisting one’s knowledge on another, it is more prudent to entice the other to draw it out. This stimulates the exchange of ideas. Jesus was a Master of this technique when conversing with people (i.e. the Samaritan woman at the well, Nicodemus, His disciples in various situations). Knowledge was hidden in Christ. He knew how to whet the appetite of his audience so that they would draw the knowledge out. We still dialogue with Him in this manner today. In order to mature in our faith, we must dialogue with Him. His Word holds an untold wealth of knowledge. It is ours for the ‘digging’.
If we want to introduce the knowledge of the gospel into the public arena of thought, we will never succeed simply by blanket proclamation. We must follow the lead of the Master, and engage people where they are at. We must draw them into an exchange of ideas, a dialogue. We must keep our knowledge concealed and then uncover it as it is requested and required. In this manner we can give the intended recipients an opportunity to weigh its truth and validity against that which they already hold to be true. If they reject it, at least you can part on an amiable basis instead of in a conflicted relationship. Who knows, you may have other opportunities, as long as the bridge is intact.

December 11

2008-12-10T22:40:00.000-05:00

Dec 11 - Today from Proverbs 11 we look at verse 16
"A kindhearted woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth."

"How are you feeling now?" asked the family physician.
A couple of weeks ago the man came in complaining of dizziness and headaches. A routine examination revealed very little. Yes, he had been under quite a bit of stress lately. The doctor prescribed some mild sedatives and told his patient to ease his stress load for a couple of weeks and then come back.
"Just great Doc," replied the man sitting on the examination table. "I guess it was just the stress."
They talked a bit, the physician exhorted his patient to keep his stress levels down and to take daily walks to help. The man promised he would and walked out of the office. Just before reaching his car he almost lost his balance as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He knew that a crashing headache would soon follow. It happened every day, sometimes now two or three times a day. But he wasn't going to tell his doctor -- he might be diagnosed with something far worse then stress.
Today we get a diagnosis of values. One needs to be very honest with one's self in order to gain a correct conclusion. The Great Physician asks us; "Which of the two people in this verse do you most seek to pattern your life after: The woman who has the respect of people, or the very rich man who uses his power and authority to make things go his way?" Just to put the diagnosis into a little more perspective, you must place yourself in the culture of the era in which the Proverbs were written. Women had no public rights. Independently, they didn't contribute to politics and justice at the city gates, they didn't teach, they didn't wheel and deal in the business world, they couldn't expand their holdings -- in fact, they were very often exploited by cunning and powerful men who reduced their worldly holdings. If they didn't marry, they didn't fare well. If they married and were widowed, they didn't fare well. Their culture did not recognize any public or political rights for a woman. Men definitely had a great advantage in that department - and they learned how to use it at an early age.
Now we can get a feel for the great contrast of these two people in today's Proverb. The woman may have respect, but she has not gained any public or political rights. It is only the people's respect for her that may get her anywhere at all. The man has great wealth. Wealth had the same effect then as it does today - power, prestige and privilege. The man gained and wields his wealth in an arena of powerful men. He may be considered ruthless, but he has much more respect in the community then the kindhearted woman can even dream of! Wealth and power gain respect. . .
Now be honest, is that your line of thinking? I mean deep down where nobody else can see or listen, would you opt to be the wealthy man? Would you be willing to sacrifice a little integrity in order to gain the power, prestige and privilege of the wealthy? Don't walk away from the Great Physician today without letting Him properly diagnose you. You may have a very serious heart condition which will one day cripple you - or worse.
Here is the truth. One day we will all stand before the Great Physician, and all of our worldly entrapments will be removed. The only thing left will be who we are. What we have will not be in the picture at all. The kindhearted woman already stands before God without any entrapments, so there will only be joy and wonder for her on that day. But the ruthless man will no longer have the adjectives of wealthy, powerful and prestigious. Those things will be removed. He will stand before God only as a ruthless man. How much joy and wonder will he experience?
A lesson in diagnostics. We must not get off the examination table until we have been completely honest with the Great Physician. And we needn't worry, He already knows the truth, and He loves us. He just wants us to know so that we can begin treatment immediately. What is the treatment? Just listen to Him, He will tell you.

December 10

2008-12-09T23:03:00.001-05:00

Dec 10 – Today from Proverbs 10 we look at verse 27
"The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short."

To fear the Lord means to have a profound awe and respect for Him. Fearfullness is a little different. That would be as if we had lived our lives never respecting Him, dying, and then coming face to face with Him. Because of Jesus, we can look forward with joy in meeting Him as we live in respect for and awe of Him today. But how does that add length to life?
The obvious is that it adds eternal length to life. "Whoever believes in Him (Jesus), shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). The life of the wicked ends on the day they draw their last breath in time. In their ignorance and total disregard for the value of life, some boast that they ‘would rather party in hell then serve in heaven.’ They have no idea what it will be like to exist in the absence of grace - there will be no parties. Man was created for the express purpose of communing with God in a loving relationship. Although sin cruelly distorted that purpose, it never changed it. I cannot imagine what it would be like to exist in eternity without ever finding any fulfillment, only torment. If we really think about it, we should not wish such an existence on any man. How grateful I am that Jesus found me and restored me.
But, is there also a practical aspect to this proverb? I think so. The fear of the Lord calls for discipline of the flesh (the sensual life). If we were to let our senses have their way, we would rather quickly kill ourselves. In many ways we are. We overeat and stress our hearts as well as our joints. We eat the 'good-tasting' foods and clog our arteries with cholesterol. We enjoy a good uninhibited buzz and drink too much alcohol, slowly destroying our vital organs. We enjoy even more intense buzzes and take drugs that fry our brains. We light nicotine infested weeds and suck the acrid smoke into our lungs, which only serves to cut off valuable oxygen supplies to the body and greatly increases the chance of cancer and heart disease. We engage in casual sexual activities that introduce and proliferate horrific diseases. We fly on adrenaline rushes and take life-threatening risks to get them. We lust for money and the power and the pleasures it can buy and we work when we should be resting or relating. . . and this is only a partial list. How strange this thing called sin, it has the illusion of intensifying life and all the while it is taking life.
To fear the Lord is to become a disciple of the Lord. He created life, and He best knows how to sustain it - even this temporal life in the flesh. Discipline. Moderation. Self control. He gives grace for all who will submit to His offer.
Two children go out trick-or-treating on Halloween. They both come home with a large bag of candy. One child indulges his flesh and has an incredibly intense sugar feast that night and all of the next day. The other child chooses only one or two pieces and enjoys them. On the third day the first child has an empty bag, an upset stomach and some strange emotional symptoms from an overload of sugar in his system. The second child has a bag full of candy and many days to look forward to enjoying it. The analogy breaks down, but it makes a point. Discipline and moderation will add length of days. Uncontrolled indulgence will cut days short. Finding grace to moderate and discipline is a benefit of fearing God.

December 9

2008-12-08T21:42:00.001-05:00

Dec 9 – Today from Proverbs 9 we reflect on wisdom

Here we observe the use of the literary technique of personification while looking at the concepts of wisdom and folly. Both call out the same invitation to the same audience; in verse 4 it's wisdom, and in verse 16 it's folly; "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgement.
But as you read on, you begin to see that their motives differ. Wisdom desires to instruct. Verse 9; "Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning." It is the teachable person who benefits from wisdom. Learning and discipleship call for patience, perseverance, submission, and is a lifelong process.
Folly on the other hand is the way of life's short-cuts. Verse 17; "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!" Why spend all the time in learning to dig and form a well when you can just steal the water? "Those poor 'disciples' of wisdom waste all that time learning how to read the topography to try to discern where the best place to dig is," says folly. "Then they spend all that effort digging and shoring up the hole with stone, and if they get lucky, they may end up with water. Even then, they are never sure if it will be sweet water. Why not just wait and see who hits a sweet well, and then when nobody's looking, just dip in! There is more water than they will ever need for themselves anyway."
People like that never learn about life. They only learn the ways of folly. Some day when it is critical that they know how to read the topography, they won't have a clue - and there won't be any nearby water they can steal.
We all start out simple and lack judgment in some area. And both wisdom and folly call out to us. The choice remains to be our own. Do we submit to a wise teacher and patiently learn the processes and lessons? Or do we get clever and look for the short-cuts in life? "Get the maximum out of life with the minimum effort," says folly. It sounds good until the day of 'suddenly' comes - when the resources we drew from and leaned upon in order to avoid developing our own resourcefulness are gone. That's when one discovers that those who chose to be the guests of folly "are in the depths of the grave" (verse 18).
You will see this theme continually, throughout the book of Proverbs. That which seems to be the easiest and most trouble-free way ends up being the way of death. One needs wisdom to discern these things, and "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. . ." (verse 10).

December 8

2008-12-07T22:04:00.001-05:00

Dec 8 – Today from Proverb 8 we look at verse 32
"Now then my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep to my ways."

This is the personification of wisdom speaking. When reading this verse, the Beatitudes that Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount immediately came to mind (Matthew 5:3-10). The Beatitudes were offered as keys to the kingdom of God. Proverbs were offered as keys to wisdom. Both offer the promise of blessedness to those who keep to their ways. God’s Word is seamless, and there is a very clear correlation to wisdom and kingdom living. Wisdom is understanding life the way God purposed it. In the Beatitudes, Jesus is calling the people of Israel back to the purity of God’s purposes. Volumes of inspired and inspirational material have been written on the Beatitudes. Wisdom claims them.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit . . ."
Wisdom is in keeping with a humble spirit, deeming the needs of others as a priority.
"Blessed are those who mourn . . ."
Wisdom learns more about life at a funeral service than at a festive party.
"Blessed are the meek . . ."
Wisdom surrenders all power and influence to the control of God.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . ."
Wisdom seeks to keep learning about God and His ways.
"Blessed are the merciful . . ."
Wisdom does not judge in keeping his fellow man in debt through unforgiveness.
"Blessed are the pure in heart . . ."
Wisdom seeks to purge from its heart that which dishonors God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers . . ."
Wisdom seeks to live at peace with all as far as it depends on its ability.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness . . ."
Wisdom is willing to endure anything for the furtherance of God’s kingdom.

Blessed are they who pursue Wisdom, and keep to her ways.

December 7

2008-12-06T21:03:00.001-05:00

Dec 7 – Today from Proverbs 7 we look at verses 14 and 15
"I have fellowship offerings at home; today I have fulfilled my vows. So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you."

Verses 6 through 23 of this chapter tells the sad tale of a simple young man who was ensnared by a wayward wife (adulteress). The story reveals that from the adulteress’ point of view, in spite of her seductive words, he was really just a random victim. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But part of her clever seduction was to stroke his ego a bit by telling him that she specifically came out that evening just to find him. This was a half-truth. When she said, "I looked for you and have found you," she was saying "I looked for a victim and found you." His simplicity and his ego would never allow him to hear it that way, and that was just the way she wanted it.
Before stating that she was out looking for him, she provided the reason why. She makes a reference to a cultural norm that would readily be recognized by the students of the Teacher – the fellowship offerings.
When a devout Hebrew brought their peace offering to the temple, the greatest part of the flesh was given back to the offerer to be taken home and feasted upon with friends. It was to all be eaten that same day with none left over until the morning (Lev. 7:15). This kind of meat was a rare and enjoyable treat. In the culture of the day the adulteress was, in essence, saying to the young man, "I have plenty of excellent provisions at home, and it’s too much for me to enjoy by myself. I am by law to eat it in fellowship with someone, so you immediately came to mind. So, I came looking for you and now I have found you. Oh, lucky me. Oh, lucky you!" She goes on to share that her husband isn’t there to share because he left on a long business trip, leaving her all alone. Being the simple young man that he was, he fell for it, and paid the price.
The Teacher uses this illustration to teach his students what to beware of in the art of seduction. This particular portion reveals a couple of important lessons:

1. The seducer uses convincing practical elements, (in this case, even that of a traditional ceremonial religious practice) to hide any threat the offer holds.

2. The seducer couples that with an appeal to the ego – making the victim feel special and privileged to be in such a position as to even consider the offer before him.

It’s the one-two punch of a seducer, only the pain comes much later. Verse 21 defines these seductive tactics as persuasive words and smooth talk. They can be very deadly to one who does not walk in the ways of wisdom. Life is replete with seducers, and the simple are their greatest victims.

December 6

2008-12-05T23:15:00.001-05:00

Dec 6 - Today from Proverbs 6 we look at verses 16-19
"There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers."

One day (Matthew 15), as Jesus was walking amongst the people, teaching and healing their sick, some Pharisees and teachers of the law came from Jerusalem to straighten Him out on a few things. They could not help but acknowledge Jesus as a Rabbi and great teacher, but His disciples were not chosen from the best schools or of pedigree families. They were fishermen, commoners, and one was even a former tax collector. If Jesus was to be a Rabbi in Israel, He must properly train and discipline His own disciples. For starters, they did not ceremonially wash before they ate. What kind of example was that to the people?
I am convinced that had they come to Jesus in private with an open mind, Jesus would have addressed them much differently. But their intention was to belittle this respected Rabbi in the eyes of the people. Because they chose a public venue to challenge Him, Jesus gave them a public reprimand. He revealed their hypocrisy in just one example. Then He revealed their hearts with just one scripture as He quoted from Isaiah; "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." These learned leaders of Jerusalem were experts on the letter of the law, but had no concept of the spirit of the law. "It's not what physically goes into a man's mouth that makes him unclean," Jesus continued. "It's what spiritually comes out of his mouth that makes him unclean." It was a great opportunity for the Pharisees and teachers of the law to humble themselves and examine their own hearts. But the text reveals that they were not convicted in even the smallest way. They were offended!
His disciples, on the other hand, wanted further clarification. That's the heart of a true disciple. "Teach me Lord. I want to know you and better understand your ways." Jesus complied, and made it very clear; "The things which come out of the mouth come from the heart. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean.'" These have nothing to do with 'rules taught by men'. They have everything to do with God's order and His moral law. His moral law is meant to serve to protect human dignity and the value of every human life. The spirit of the moral law honors the fact that God has made every man in His image, and that God alone is the Supreme Judge. The Pharisees let tradition become law and lost sight of the fact that love is the perfect fulfillment of the law. If these learned leaders of Jerusalem can become self-deceived, you can be sure that we can too.
"A man who stirs up dissension among brothers." The Pharisees would be appalled to think that they were in service of the devil. Yet, in their attempt to discredit Jesus and turn the people away from Him, that is exactly what they were. That's pretty obvious to us now, here in the twenty-first century, because we know Jesus is the Messiah. Yet there is not an institution today in our modern culture that is more plagued with dissension than is the institution of the church. It appears that here are too many self-appointed leaders feeling they need to uphold traditions to the death, and yet have little or no concept of the spirit of the law. In their self-righteous, self-appointed zeal they make their case, build a following, and use whatever leverage they can acquire to right whatever situations motivate them. Soon the body is divided and the war is on. These great campaigners would never consider attacking Jesus as did the Pharisees, but they have no qualms about dividing and tearing apart Jesus' body. God hates it. One needs not to be a leader to be guilty. Any who enter in and follow dissenters share in the guilt. Dissenters have no power without followers.
God has set authority in His church for the purpose of unity. God's Word gives those who disagree with the authority proper venues of approach. Covert dissension is not one of those approaches. If the church will honor God's Word as the authority for church structure and discipline, there will be very little harmful dissension in the church. One thing is sure, stirring dissension among the brothers is odious to God because of all of the pain, discouragement and bitterness it produces amongst those for whom He loves and died. Once again, this is not an exercise for us to look for what God might hate in others. We are to look for corruption in our own hearts. Let us look into our hearts today and see if we are contributing to, or have been party to dissension in His body. When Jesus reveals any corrupt condition of our heart we can do one of two things: We can become offended, or we can humble ourselves and confess and repent. He leaves us with the choice, and He will respond accordingly.

December 5

2008-12-04T22:04:00.001-05:00

Dec 5 – Today from Proverbs 5 we look at verse 16
"Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?"

This question immediately follows an admonishment to the student to drink water only from his own personal resources, "Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well." (verse 15). Water was (and is), a primary basic staple of life in the Mid Eastern culture, and was crucially important to family life. So important was the family water supply to their health and security, that it was actually a crime to steal water from another person's well. Thus a man was not to dip into another’s well simply to satisfy his own desire. In doing so, he threatened the well-being of another’s family. Here the water is a metaphor for intimate relations, and the admonishment is to refrain from having intimate relations with the wives of others. Where verse fifteen warns against drinking from another’s well, today’s verse warns about liberally distributing your own water around town. It’s the same call to fidelity from a different perspective. Now the student is called to place the same value on his own household. If his water supply is critical to the health and security of his own family, why would he go about distributing it as if it were of little or no value to his loved ones? Why would he threaten the well-being of his own household?
"It’s my water, am I not free to do with it as I please?" No. You have committed your water supply to the care of only one household through a sacred covenant. It is in fact, no longer yours to do with as you please. If your values do not dictate it, your covenant commitment certainly does. When a couple marries, God reveals that the two have become one flesh (Genesis 2:24), and that their bodies no longer belong to themselves alone but to one another (1 Cor. 7:4).
Although this verse applies specifically to a married person, it does not let the single person off the hook. This is not all the Bible has to say about sexual relations, it is but one discourse of many. It is meant to teach the student about the values of fidelity in the marriage covenant, life the way God purposed it. To allow the cravings of the flesh to dictate one’s actions will bear certain consequence. It not only brings harm to one’s self, but to many others – most of whom are innocent victims. These victims may bear emotional scars for years to come, and often they are children.

December 4

2008-12-03T23:03:00.001-05:00

Dec 4 - Today from Proverbs 4 we look at verse 8
"Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you."

The subject of this verse, of course, is wisdom (personified). Wisdom is understanding life the way God meant it to be. Chapter four is a father's lengthy and descriptive plea for his children to seek and pursue the path of wisdom early in life. In verse 18 he tells them it is like 'the first gleam of dawn'. Keep moving on that path, and it will get continually brighter in clarity and understanding.
The two thoughts in today's verse are somewhat of a play on words. In the first, the Hebrew word for 'esteem' here literally means to 'mound up'. In the positive sense, it suggests a picture of a path or a highway, where the earth is mounded up above common ground level in order to provide the traveler with a relatively smooth and passable way through what would otherwise be difficult terrain. The Hebrew word for 'exalt' here literally means to 'raise up'. Thus the play on words; we must do the work of mounding up wisdom if we want to benefit from wisdom in raising us up through the rugged and difficult terrain of life. We mound up wisdom by seeking it out, and then applying that which we find. We cannot walk the mounded path of others. We can receive wisdom from others as we mound up our own path, but each person is responsible for their own path.
The second thought does not have to do with height, but rather with weight. The Hebrew word for 'honor' here means to 'make weighty'. We use the concept in our modern vernacular when we say things like, "His word carries a lot of weight around here." That usually means that he is a person of honor. We address Judges as "your Honor" because of the weight their words carry. The Hebrew word for 'embrace' here means to 'enfold'. Think of the picture of an envelope enfolding a letter. The greater the content of the letter, the more weight the final sealed envelope will be. The envelope itself does not increase in weight, it is the contents of the letter which determines the final weight. Thus the play on words; if we will enfold wisdom into our lives, wisdom will increase our honor. We cannot stuff the wisdom of others into our envelope. We can receive wisdom from others and make it our own through application - only then does it become weighty in our own lives.
Wisdom is a great asset to any person. I pray that as parents and grandparents, we too will have the same passion to direct our offspring to seek and to love wisdom, that they may find a stable path through the difficulties of life, and to do so honorably.

December 3

2008-12-02T23:23:00.001-05:00

Dec 3- Today from Proverbs 3 we look at verse 13
"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding."

Wisdom is a treasure that must be sought after. God gives it freely, but only to the diligent seeker. James 1:5 promises, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." Who does God give generously to? The diligent seeker. James 1:6 & 7 goes on to teach that the petitioner must not be double-minded in his pursuit of wisdom, for the double-minded will not receive what God promises. That bears looking into. Just what does it mean to be double-minded?
Earlier in today's chapter of Proverbs is one of the most familiar verses in the Bible; verse 5. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." One who claims to be trusting in the Lord's promises while placing that promise in the context of one's own understanding is a double-minded person. God's promises are to be placed in the context of the totality of His Word. It is not genuine faith until we have heard from God as to how we are to approach or pursue any matter. We receive His promise only by following His instruction in appropriating the promise - not merely by claiming it "in Jesus' Name". "In Jesus' Name" means in His character. For example, one believer cannot sue another "in Jesus Name" because that is totally out of the character of Christ. In staying within context with God's Word, we can prove this from 1 Corinthians chapter six. One cannot refuse to pay taxes "in Jesus' Name". In staying within context with God's Word, we can prove this from Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2. These letters were written to believers who were being persecuted by the pagan authorities to whom they paid their taxes. These are just a couple of illustrations of a solid concept: We cannot claim God's promises when we try to achieve them in our own understanding. This is double-mindedness, and in doing so we will not receive what God has to offer in the situation. Not 'can not', but 'will not' - in such situations our will is already settled by our own understanding, there is no further pursuit of God's will.
In order to find wisdom, we must let go of our own way and seek God's way. We seek it in His Word, we seek it from mature believers reputed for their wisdom, and we seek it in the character of Jesus Christ. A few years ago believers all over this land were wearing WWJD (What would Jesus do?), bracelets. It was a public display of a thoughtful slogan, but it didn't seem to affect the character of the church all that much. But, that is a very good way to pursue wisdom. If you want to know what Jesus would do, read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and Galatians 5:22, 23. There you will find the true character of Christ. If you ask God anything while displaying that character, you will be in a position to receive it because you won't be asking for the wrong thing. Wisdom is solidly based in love. Love puts the best interest of other first. If you ask God to curse your enemy, He will not answer that prayer. If you ask God to bless your enemy, you have His full attention - but does He have yours? Are you now willing to be a blessing? Wisdom will show you how.
"Blessed is the man that finds wisdom." The church simply must learn that we are blessed of God in order that we might be a blessing. Wisdom is discovering life the way God meant it to be. Our wisdom is meant to facilitate our service to others. . . not to stay a rung or two above them on the 'ladder of life'.

December 2

2008-12-01T22:02:00.001-05:00

Dec 2 – Today from Proverbs 2 we look at verse 15
"Whose (the wicked – verse 12) paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways."

Crooked paths. Why would this be such a disdainful picture for the student? What exactly are the ‘straight paths’ that the wicked leave (verse 13)? Let’s first consider the obvious – particularly for the culture in which this was written. In the culture of that day, the overwhelming majority of transportation was by foot. People moved from place to place by walking paths. The straight path got you to your destination faster. The crooked path required more time and more energy. The straight path allowed you to see much farther ahead. The crooked path blocked your view at the very next turn. The straight path allowed little opportunity for ne’er-do-wells to lie in wait to ambush you. The crooked path provided many opportunities for them to hide and lie in wait. It is obvious that the wicked – those with malicious intent – would want travelers to choose the crooked paths. It much better suited their purposes than did the straight.
The only other place we find this Hebrew word for ‘crooked’ in the Bible is in Isaiah 59:8. Here we get a little better insight into the preferred path of the wicked. "The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace." Isaiah is speaking for God against Israel – particularly against their leaders. God provided a straight path for the nation when He gave them a strong moral code through His law. This code protected the rights of all and was encapsulated in the Great Commandment, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself." This provides all of the benefits of the straight path. The leaders turned them into crooked paths by corrupting justice for their own self-serving purposes. If you were to read the rest of this chapter, God goes into detail as to how they had distorted His ways. This is, in fact, the literal translation for the word ‘crooked’ in both verses – distorted. The wicked do not obliterate the path. This would deprive them the opportunity to lie in wait for their victims. Rather, they distort the path, providing clever twists and turns in it whereby they can hide and attack the unsuspecting traveler who wanders onto it. It is a great analogy, and one that bears sober contemplation.
How then does one avoid wandering onto this path? By pursuing wisdom. This is exactly what verse twelve says at the beginning of the discourse we are looking at today, "Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men." In the following chapter we read two very familiar verses, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5 &6). The wicked would love for us to lean on our own understanding. It will draw us onto their crooked paths every time. Wisdom is trusting in the Lord even beyond our understanding. This is the way of the straight path.

December 1

2008-11-30T23:04:00.001-05:00

Dec 1 – Today from Proverbs 1 we look at verse 22
"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?"

The book of Proverbs reveals that there are basically four types of people in the world. Chapter one calls children (of all ages), to strive to become wise. This is the first type of person. Today’s verse reveals the other three types; the simple, the foolish and the mocker (or scorner – KJV). Wisdom (personified) calls out to each of them, revealing the basic characteristics that make them the way that they are. They are characteristics of choice – they have no excuse.
The simple love simple ways. Fighting against social currents is too exhausting. Developing abilities to excel and make things happen is too bothersome. It is easier just to stay in the flow of the mainstream and accept whatever comes your way in life. Generally speaking, the simple are only harmful to themselves.
Fools hate knowledge. We must go back to verse seven to get a clearer understanding of what this means. Verse seven teaches, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Fools may casually assent to the possibility of God, but they do not revere God. They don’t take Him serious. Fools look to take from life what they can, and trust only in their own devices. Life is a game to them, and each fool has their own rules and outcomes as to what determines a winner. Fools cause greater harm than do the simple. Generally speaking, they are not malicious – the harm they cause is a by-product of their own self-serving ways.
The mockers are the power-mongers. They are not satisfied to gain from life merely by means of their own devices and self-rule. They seek to extend their rule to include others, and to impose the rules of their game upon others. They mock God by becoming a god. They mock the purposes of God for man by imposing their purposes for man upon men. Mockers bear malice in their hearts toward any who would seek to infringe upon their self-made fiefdoms or to unseat them all together. The mockers in the world inflict the greatest damage upon mankind. They become wife-beaters and child-abusers. They become corporate powers who step on the ‘little people’ in order to advance their personal goals in life. They become political manipulators who work the systems to increase their power base. They become dictators who oppress entire nations. They become terrorists who will not tolerate anyone who stands in the way of their goals. If you carefully read the book of Proverbs, it mirrors the teaching of the Bible in that the mockers are to be sought out and brought to justice by the proper governing authorities (the Bible does not support vigilantism). When the mockers are properly struck, the simple ( e.g. Proverbs 19:25, "Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence.") – and even the foolish – take note and learn that it is unwise to ‘graduate’ to become a mocker.
Of the four types of people on earth, only one brings good rather than harm to the innocent, and that is the wise. No wonder the Teacher would have us pursue wisdom – it glorifies the Father.

November 30

2008-11-29T23:00:00.001-05:00

Nov 30 - Today from Proverbs 30 we look at verses 21-23
"Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes a king, a fool who is full of food, an unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress."

"Three things . . . four" was a poetic literary tool of the day to inform the student that the list of illustrations was not complete, but was assembled to serve as examples. As is common with Eastern philosophy, thought is conveyed by illustrations and the learned were to extract the concepts. Here we are given four illustrations. The student is challenged to look for the common denominator within the illustrations and develop the multi-dimensional concepts contained therein. The first common element found in the examples is already stated; they 'cause the earth to tremble'. Even this is an illustration. It brings to mind an earthquake - an uncontrollable situation that makes it difficult to keep your feet under you. Thus the four illustrations before us reveal a multi-dimensional concept of uncontrollable situations that make it difficult for those involved to maintain stability in life.
Wisdom is understanding life the way God meant it to be. Thus, we begin from the premise that stability in life comes by living out God’s purpose for us in life. God purposed that man was to live in a serving community, and was to worship God alone. The second common element we see in the illustrations is promotion. Social instability comes when people are promoted to places of greater honor, authority, or influence, and are not emotionally or spiritually mature enough to handle their newfound positions in accordance with God's purposes. Their self-centered shortcomings are now going to cause instability in the lives of those affected by their influence. Because they do not possess a servant-heart, it is certain that they will abuse their authority or influence in ways that will cause 'the earth to tremble' for those who live in proximity to them.
By carefully thinking through the four illustrations, how well do you think that the main character in each illustration will display a humble heart before God and set themselves to properly serving their fellow man?
The lesson for the student? If through God's providence, you should find yourself promoted to a position of greater influence or authority, remember that there is responsibility attached to that position. The first responsibility is to God - to live humbly in His presence and to consider your position as an office of His service. He is to lead. The second responsibility is to those who are affected by your position. You are responsible to see that their world is not shaken by any self-serving attitude, but rather that they find stability in your service to them.
In Luke 12:42-46, Jesus gives His own illustration of servants who have been promoted to positions of responsibility. The faithful and wise manager will give his fellow servants their food allowance at the proper time, thus assuming responsibility of the Master's goods. They will be duly rewarded. The unfaithful will become impatient and distracted and will abuse their position and use the Master's goods for their own pleasures. On that day, it won't be good for them. He ends the illustration with this concluding thought found in verse 48, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." When Providence promotes us, Providence also gives us greater responsibility. Responsible to draw near to God and learn from Him, and responsible to our fellow man to serve him as God would have us serve.

November 29

2008-11-28T19:53:00.001-05:00

Nov 29 – Today from Proverbs 29 we look at verse 3
"A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth."

The surface lesson of this proverb is quite clear. Every parent in pursuit of wisdom rejoices when they see their children growing to follow this same path of light. Parents of substance endow their children based on their sense of values. To see their children squander that endowment on self-serving pleasures, which only tend to consume, brings just the opposite – concern and grief.
The deeper lesson of course, is to see ourselves as the child in this proverb, and to see God as our Father (the first petition in the Lord’s model prayer). This focus gives dimension to all of life. If God is our Father, what is it that He desires of us? With what gifts and values has He endowed us? What behavior brings Him joy? What behavior brings Him concern and grief? Why should I care? All of these question – and more – deserve our sober consideration when we pray, "Our Father who art in heaven."
Jesus taught volumes about the principle involved in this proverb. One of the most pointed and popular teachings is that of the prodigal son found in Luke chapter 15:11-31. As a Middle East Rabbi, Jesus was a Metaphorical Theologian. Our Western culture is much more acclimated to the style of Conceptual Theology. The basic difference is that where Conceptual Theology begins with an idea and then uses occasional illustrations to better define the idea, Metaphorical Theology begins with an illustration and then draws out the deeper ideas from that illustration. In the West, the concept is primary and the illustration is secondary. In the East the metaphor is primary and the conceptual interpretation is secondary. Without this understanding, we will never fully appreciate the Proverbs – or Jesus’ parables. Jesus was not using illustrations as an attempt to teach simple lessons. He was a Theological Rabbi and was a Master at what He did. In the story of the prodigal, Jesus was revealing the station of every person on the face of the earth, and of the heart of a loving Father. The lost son needed to be found. He was not found when he realized his state of poverty and hopelessness and turned toward his Father’s estate to become a common servant in order to survive. That was only an awakening to the riches of the Father. He was found only when the loving Father received him back and restored full sonship out of the abundant mercy and grace of His heart. The forsaken Father did not disown the son and turn His back on him. His eye was ever on the horizon, waiting for His lost son to be found. Only the Father could find this foolish son who squandered his endowment. The Father was concerned and grieved at His son’s actions – but He never shut the door on him. It is my story. I hope it is your story. We never found God by trying to restore that which we squandered. Impossible. He found us by restoring us to His family. The parable only teaches the aspect of being found. We must study the whole of the scriptures to understand the profound truth that He was only able to restore us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. This parable exemplifies the love of a concerned and grieved Father for a lost and wayward son. The cross of Jesus tells the rest of the story.

November 28

2008-11-27T22:03:00.001-05:00

Nov 28 - Today from Proverbs 28 we look at verse 6
"Better a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverted."

I am not a Hebrew scholar, but as I look at the terms the Teacher uses in this verse, I can see a possible play on words. The term poor is derived from a term which literally means slacken or dangling. Put into the context of the verse it would portray a person who is weakened through lack. The word blameless speaks of completeness and integrity and could better be translated uprightness (KJV). Thus by using the word-picture of literal translation, the first statement brings to mind a picture of a slack rope dangling straight up and down from some sort of fixture.
The term rich is derived from a word that means accumulate. The word perverted literally means knot. Placed in the context of the verse it means distorted. Thus by using the word-picture of literal translation, the second statement brings to mind a picture of a rope which has accumulated knots and lies distorted from its original state. (It is interesting that Jesus drove out the perverted moneychangers from the temple with a whip made of knotted cords.)
This matches perfectly with the narrative of the Bible. God created man upright and useful for service to God and to his fellow man. Sin distorted God's original purposes and intent for man, and man became perverted by accumulating for himself.
This proverb speaks of values. Certainly not world values. When in the world is it ever better to be poor than to be rich? And who is it better for? As believers, we are to constantly remind ourselves: Our purpose and goal in life is not to live comfortably, but usefully. The straight up and down slack rope is much more readily useful to God and to others than is the rope lying all knotted up. There is no sin or shame in being rich, only in accumulating riches strictly for one's own comfort and enjoyment. Such a person is of little use to God and to His kingdom. One can be rich in goods without being an accumulator of goods. They can live in integrity and be ready for use when God leads. They do not 'own' their goods, they are 'God's stewards' of the goods in their possession. They seek to use their abilities and their resources to see God's justice (moral equity) prevail in a perverted world. But, there are very few of them.
If you have a concordance available, I invite you to look up the word rich, and then all of the passages in the gospels that contain the word. These are passages in which Jesus addresses the rich. I count twelve passages, and none have anything to say about the rich being blessed of God or useful to God. That was their choice, not God's.
In one of these passages Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mt. 19:23)
The disciples were astonished. The intertestamental Jews of Jesus day had perverted the gospel to where the people believed that only the rich would enter the kingdom of heaven. "Who then can be saved?" they asked.
Jesus as much as replied, "I said it is hard, not impossible. With God all things are possible." Even to take the knots out of the rich and restore them to usefulness. Take Zacchaeus for instance. . .

November 27

2008-11-26T22:33:00.001-05:00

Nov 27 – Today from Proverbs 27 we look at verse 15
"A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day."

Believe it or not, we are going to draw a doctrinal position from this proverb. It relates to one of the Apostle Paul’s favorite subjects – law verses grace. The law takes on the role of the quarrelsome, or more properly, contentious (KJV) wife. The root of the Hebrew word for contentious in this verse actually means to rule by judgement. In the analogy presented, the wife is unceasingly contesting the statements and decisions of the husband. He is never good enough to ultimately satisfy her. After a sustained amount of time, it becomes maddening. Like the constant dripping of water on a rainy day, it soon becomes the overwhelming focus of the senses and emotions. The more one tries to shut it out, the more pronounced it becomes. So it is with the law. By seeking to use the law as a means to save ourselves, it becomes a contentious wife. Every decision, every action is scrutinized under her ever watchful eye. No matter how hard we try, it seems we are never good enough to satisfy her. Soon the law becomes our taskmaster, the overwhelming focus of our senses and emotions. We seem to no longer be able to sense the other things all around us that God made for our enjoyment – just the constant contending of the law. Drip – drip – drip. Our strength is no match for her. We cannot divorce the law, because divorce itself is breaking the law. How then can we be freed from her?
Paul uses this very analogy in Romans chapter seven to answer this question. The solution; one of the two in the marriage must die. The law cannot die, for it is righteous and eternal. The only other alternative is you (and I). Paul gives the illustration that by law, a married woman is bound to her husband for life. Only through the death of her husband is she free to marry another. Then he reveals the wonderful spiritual truth of the analogy, "You also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death." (Romans 7:4&5) Paul is saying that the fault was never in the law, it was in our sinful nature. We remained in bondage to the law because we could never satisfy the law (drip – drip – drip). Only by putting the old nature to death could we be freed from bondage to the law. Paul goes on to say, "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit (grace), and not in the old way of the written code (law)." (verse 6, parenthesis mine). In Christ we died to the law – having no way to satisfy its demands. He satisfied them for us. Now, instead of being bound by law, we are free in His grace. The fruit of the Spirit is not a set of new laws to be kept, it is the result of an abiding relationship with Christ. The deathly fruit of the law is the result of the weakness of our flesh (old nature). The ability to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives is the result of dying to self and appropriating His power at work in us through Jesus Christ our Lord. By His grace, we are freed from the ‘constant dripping’, and free to enjoy Him forever. The law is satisfied.

November 26

2008-11-25T21:57:00.001-05:00

Nov 26 - Today from Proverbs 26 we look at verse 12
"Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."

Proverbs for the king and those who dealt with the king. This was the purpose for which Hezekiah's aids collected the proverbs of chapters 25-31. Today they remain just as relevant for leaders and those who aspire to leadership. Leadership in God's economy is servanthood. Great leaders are to be great servants. Think of the greatest leader of all. . . the Lord Jesus.
Leaders are inherently called to be mentors. Moses learned this important lesson from his father-in-law Jethro (Exodus 18). He was burning himself out attempting to 'do it all'. Jethro advised him to chose 'capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain - and appoint them as officials' over various groups of people (verse 21). Now Moses responsibility was to mentor a few instead of trying to micro-manage a multitude. It was doable. The apostle Paul knew the importance of this principle. We see him instruct the young Pastor, Timothy; "The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." (2 Timothy 2:2). Timothy would have to expand his influence in the church through mentoring.
The role of mentor is inescapable if one is to fully accomplish their responsibilities as a leader. A good leader must have the ability to discern the right people to mentor into positions of authority and influence. It's not always such an easy task. Much of this chapter shares certain indicators to look for as discerning leaders choose their candidates.
It would seem ludicrous to entrust a fool to a position of leadership or influence. The fool's shortcomings are quite easily discerned; they live for themselves. If leaders are indeed to be servants, then fools cannot lead. But there is a type that is much more difficult to discern, 'one who is wise in his own eyes'. What they say often seems to make sense. They can lay out a very convincing case for their preference in a matter. They are very apt in philosophy, and are able to sway men with their craft and self-formed convictions. But, they are stubbornly unteachable, and they are dangerous. They don't appear to serve self. They appear to have the best interests of the people at heart. Only a closer examination will reveal that their motivation is not in serving God, but they are, on some level, serving man rather than God. The big flaw in their character and their approach is that they depend on their formulated philosophies more than they depend on the revealed Word of God. Woe to our churches who embrace such leaders. These leaders tend to choose and mentor new leaders of the same mould. No matter how good it may sound, wisdom is not found in the philosophies of man. We must heed the advice of Jethro and Paul and choose or follow proper leaders who will make the tough decisions by honoring God's Word.
"There is more hope for a fool" because a fool has lots of opinions but is seldom embedded in deep convictions. Fools can be corrected through chastisement. It is possible to bring a fool into line. It is much more difficult with one "wise in his own eyes". Such a person will not be corrected. Rather, they will draw a battle line. If, in the end they do not 'win', they will withdraw from the leaders - and often wage war against them from the outside. This can be a very wounding situation in the church. The caution to leaders then is never to give them a position of influence or authority to begin with. Such people need not be barred from fellowship, they simply need to be held in check. The Teacher does not say the situation is hopeless for them, he only says there is more hope for a fool. There is, in fact, hope for all in Christ Jesus.

November 25

2008-11-24T21:24:00.001-05:00

Nov 25 - Today from Proverbs 25 we look at verses 21 & 22
"If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you."

In December of 1989 a cruel dictator was overthrown in Romania. It was an incredible 'revolution' as without any formal organization people gathered in the streets of the cities all over the country to pray. The regular army was sent in and eventually told to fire on the people. Most would not, so Dictator Caucesceau's Special Guard was brought in to punish the people. A strange thing happened - the regular army turned on the Special Guard and Caucesceau's regime was quickly overthrown. The Christian relief organization with which I served at the time had been encouraging and supporting the persecuted church of Romania for a decade. In 1990 I made my second trip into Romania - this time to a 'free nation'. While visiting one of our contacts in the Transylvanian region, he told us an amazing story. The regular army moved into the city where he lived. Originally, they were to break the people up and keep them out of the streets and in their homes. It was very cold, and the soldiers were feeling the bitter effects of the Romanian winter. The Christians in the city got together and made sandwiches and hot tea and brought it out to the soldiers daily. Never had the soldiers experienced anything like this. When things became politically critical, instead of turning on the people of the city, the soldiers defended them. It was a living example of this proverb.
If we are to love our enemy, why would we desire to heap burning coals on his head? That sounds cruel. That sounds like revenge.
One must remember that in Bible days people did not walk around with butane lighters or have a box of matches sitting on the kitchen shelf. Fire was important for heating and cooking. The preferred source of heat was charcoal - still the most common form of household fuel in rural Africa, India, and other oriental regions. If a family's fire went out, it was common to go to a neighbor to get some live coals for use in starting a fresh coal fire for cooking or for heating in the cold season. How did they carry the glowing coals? In traditional Eastern style, they would place a thick pad on their head with an appropriate vessel on top. The neighbor would place the burning coals in the vessel and the beneficiary would carry them home on his head. Now does the proverb make more sense? The burning coals were not an instrument of torment, they were a necessity for elevating the quality of life. However, there is an added dimension to the proverb. If the recipient were to contain the coals on his head for too long, it would eventually get uncomfortable. Kind of like the soldiers receiving hot tea and sandwiches day after day - they began to get uncomfortable with their mission. It was the discomfort of unconditional love that turned enemies into protectors.
This is still a kingdom principle for the church today. It is called grace. Instead of damning the off-scour elements of society and distancing ourselves from them, we need to seek God to find ways in ministering grace to them, to the point where they become uncomfortable with their 'mission' in life. Criticism makes enemies. Condemnation burns bridges. Servanthood destroys enemies by making friends of them. Grace builds bridges. People are made in the image of God. We must respect that. Jesus did.

November 24

2008-11-23T19:37:00.001-05:00

Nov 24 - Today from Proverbs 24 we look at verse 21
"Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with the rebellious."

Every once in awhile we need to contemplate what it means to fear God and other legitimate authorities. In our modern culture it is quite common to see bumper or rear window stickers which boldly declare "No Fear". That is some impressive bravado, but a person who truly has no fear is a person who is destined to live a short life.
There is a fear that can be considered an emotion. I grew up with four brothers and one of our favorite pastimes was to hide somewhere in the dark and wait to startle the first unsuspecting brother who came into the proximity. Even when you think you're prepared, you can't help but jump a few inches as your reflexes react to a shout and a grab in the dark. That kind of fear can get adrenaline flowing (as well as other things that tend to increase ma’s laundry load). That's not the kind of fear referred to here. God does not hide around corners waiting to jump out at us. The fear that we are considering here is contemplative.
Let's take fire as an example. To know that the properties of fire helps to develop a healthy fear of fire. We know that fire consumes flammable materials and spreads in the process. Thus, we know not to start a fire in the middle of the living room. Rather, we keep it contained in a fireplace. We know that it causes great pain and destruction to the flesh, so we are careful to keep our bodies from making any significant contact with it. Thus, we have a fear of fire. Not an unnatural fear (phobia), but a healthy fear. One would be a fool to say they have 'No Fear' of fire.
To fear God is to contemplate the 'properties' of God’s character. He is supreme. With His Word He created the entire universe. With His Word He upholds the entire universe. He is the ultimate Judge. His Word is certain. He is from everlasting to everlasting and none will ever usurp His authority or overthrow His throne. Ever. He is holy - unique and set apart from all creation as sovereign and eternal God. With His finger He can cast out the most powerful of demons - even Satan himself. With the command of His lips He can destroy all the armies of the world. There is NONE like God. One would have to be the ultimate fool to say they have 'No Fear' of God. Yet, there are many. Sin has perverted their view to where they believe they can choose to create their own reality, to make their own rules, and answer to no one but themselves. They fear fire more than they fear God. They are the rebellious.
The Teacher warns us not to join with the rebellious - yet we are tempted every day. Have we relegated God and worship to perhaps a few moments a day and an hour or two on Sunday, while the rest of the time we live in our own created reality? Do we choose what we want to watch on TV (or worse, on the internet)? Do we determine what we will do with our leisure time - of which we have far more than generations preceding us? Do we choose what we will do with our discretionary money - of which we have far more than generations proceeding us? Do we seek to increase our comfort and our security - while we think little of being useful to God?
Wisdom is to understand life the way God meant it to be. Wisdom also includes a healthy fear of God. We are to contemplate His character and His will, and we are to readily submit to Him - for He is worthy. How can we even begin to contemplate the enormity of His character and His will? We see Jesus.
"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father living in me, who is doing His work." -Jesus, John 14:9, 10
He doesn’t jump at us in the dark to create fear. He brings us into the light that we might contemplate the goodness and glory of the Father. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." (Proverbs 1:7)

November 23

2008-11-22T18:25:00.001-05:00

Nov 23 - Today from Proverbs 23 we look at verse 33
"Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things."

What compels people to get drunk on alcohol or to get high on 'recreational' drugs?
In verses 29-35 the Teacher writes a short discourse on drunkenness. Today's verse describes the effect that overindulging alcohol has on the mind. In reading the verse, it would not seem that anyone would desire such a state of mind - yet it is the very effect described which attracts people to partake.
Let's examine the two effects. Strange sights. In the original Hebrew, the word strange literally means to turn aside. It was most often associated with foreigners who were required to turn aside at an inn for the evening. They were far from home, and were strangers in the place where they were traveling. Confusing things. A better translation would read perverse things (i.e. KJV). In the original Hebrew this word was derived from a root word meaning turn about or contrary. To be perverse is to be directed away from what is right. Self does not desire to be confused, but self certainly enjoys being turned away from right living according to God's original purposes. Thus we see the initial effects of alcohol and drug abuse are very appealing to self - the fallen nature of man. It is a source of escape from the real world in which one lives, they become travelers in a fantasy world. It is a stimulant to embolden them to fully live in a self-indulging setting - even if it is only for a time. People who are unhappy with the realities of life in a world of responsibilities that require self discipline readily turn to a substance which will allow them to escape. To take refuge in a surreal realm where self becomes all important and all consuming - the world of substance abuse.
I knew that world - intimately. At the tender age of 19, I was taken from the life I knew and was catapulted into the military. After a few months of 'canned training', I found myself serving a tour of duty in Viet Nam as an infantryman. I didn't volunteer to be there, and I certainly didn't want to be there. A professional soldier I was not. I looked for opportunities to 'escape' the reality of the world in which I found myself, and there happened to be an abundance of marijuana around. I discovered the world of drugs. I never smoked pot in combat conditions and I never graduated to what is known as 'hard drugs'. I simply found an escape from the realities of war when the times warranted by inhaling the pungent smoke of 'weed'. I made it through the tour and returned to the States. Six months stateside and I was out. When I got home, I discovered that there was a readily available supply of marijuana right here in west Michigan. I resumed my use, now in much more pleasant conditions. I will never tell kids that there is no pleasure in doing drugs. That would be stupid - it's the reason people do drugs. The issue with drugs - including alcohol and pot - is that it perverts life. We are to be agents of life in a fallen and needy world. Substance abuse moves us to a realm of surrealism where we not only avoid life, we become users of life. Self-serving people use up emotional resources, time resources, relational resources and material resources. Substance abuse is the epitome of self-indulgence.
After I got married and had two sons, I limited my indulgences to very controlled circumstances - but that did not diminish the consuming effects. It was only when I came to know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior did I realize what a waste of time and resources such activity was. I never touched pot again. I would be lying to you if I told you I never consumed alcohol again. I enjoy an occasional glass of fine wine with a meal, or a cold beer with a burger. But I do not get drunk. I keep my intake very limited. I want to maintain self-control of my faculties. If I am in the company of people who take offense at consumption of alcohol, I can easily refrain - it is not my master.
It is no longer my desire to see strange sights or to encourage myself in perversity. I now know the Lord Jesus, and live in the reality of His truth. He has restored me to the heavenly Father and has given me the privilege and duty to serve my fellow man. He has given me His Holy Spirit to strengthen me and to guide me. He has given my life value and purpose, and will one day come to take me home to be with Him forever. I no longer feel the need to escape this life. I now want to live it - for Him.

November 22

2008-11-21T23:25:00.001-05:00

Nov 22 - Today from Proverbs 22 we look at verse 7
"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

Wisdom is in serving others as God leads. We are to serve with the time, talents and treasures with which God endows us. In this there is value in being free from unnecessary, and particularly unwise contracts of any kind.
A contract is a binding agreement between two or more people. Those considered important, especially in today’s business world, are written out in specific legal terms and then signed by the agreeing parties. This makes the document publicly binding and enforceable in the governing justice systems. One of the most common of this type of document is in the money lending business. The introduction of the credit card has increased money lending almost exponentially. Millions of times each day people are signing a binding loan agreement when they sign off on a credit card transaction. If unable to cover all transactions at the end of the month (which is the general rule of credit card use), they place themselves into bondage to the loaning institution of which the card represents. They are no longer free to use the treasures God endows for God's purposes of serving. They are now bound to pay off exorbitant amounts of interest to a greedy and impersonal master.
To say "The rich rule over the poor" is an observation of the fallen world system. The rich exploit the poor. They have an abundance of excess money, and they are gladly willing to lend it to those who believe they don't have enough - with interest, of course. In this manner, they become masters of the masses. The Teacher is warning his students through this observation. He is saying that it is better do without and to be free than to become a servant to the moneylenders.
Such behavior causes conflict between the seen and the unseen. For the borrower it becomes important enough to enslave one's self to have those temporal possessions that impresses others and satisfies the temporal desires of self. What is unseen is incredible strain in family relationships, frustration, worry and bondage to a merciless master. I speak not out of theory - I have been there.
Wisdom is to be content with such as it has and seeks to stay free in order to serve as God desires. When easy credit came into the marketplace following World War Two and the little plastic credit card became an American icon only a few decades later, what was thought to be a blessing to a people of a great nation has proved to become a curse. It is not readily seen - but we are a nation in bondage. Even the church has lost much of its ability to be free to serve as God desires because we have altered our values.
"I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:12, 13
"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." -1 Timothy 6:6-8
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." -Hebrews 13:5
If we have become enslaved to the lenders it is because we have become a discontent people. We have become a discontent people because we have embraced the values of the world.

November 21

2008-11-20T22:54:00.001-05:00

Nov 21 - Today from Proverbs 21 we look at verse 18
"The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright."

At first reading, this verse seems a bit difficult to comprehend. The study Bible I use has a reference by the verse that points to verse eight of chapter eleven, which states, "The righteous man is rescued from trouble, and it comes on the wicked instead." This helps to bring some clarity to the composition of the thought, but what does it mean?
First, we must always remember that the book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom, not of promises. Wisdom is loosely defined as 'life the way God meant it to be' and can point to promises, but life in this temporal world is not the way God meant it to be. This particular proverb points to promise. It is an encouragement - a call to patience and perseverance - pointing to the Blessed Hope. In the context of the fullness of God's Word, the righteous will indeed be ultimately and fully rescued from all trouble - but not necessarily in this life. Jesus gives us a promise concerning troubles; He promised that we would have them! "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). Jesus points to the blessed hope. He has overcome the world. "Yet at present we do not see everything subject to Him." (Hebrews 2:8). The wicked still appear to carry out their evil exploitations with impunity while many righteous suffer. We can loose heart when we look with temporal eyes. ". . . now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:6, 7). God has given us eternal eyes through His Spirit. Jesus absolutely will return, and will have His reward with Him; eternal life, without troubles. What about the wicked? "They will have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead." (1 Peter 4:5). They may have gone to the grave with impunity, but they will not enter eternity with it.
Peter's first epistle was written to the church undergoing severe persecution. He never told them that if they had enough faith, they would rise above it. He told them if they would be faithful to Christ, their faith would be tested and refined by the persecutions. His instruction to them was to live as God intended them to live, exercising wisdom even in the midst of severe troubles:
"Prepare your mind for action; be self-controlled; set your hopes on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1:13)
"Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us." (2:12)
"Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God." (2:16)
"Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." (3:14, 15)
"Be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins." (4:7, 8)
"Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." (4:10)
These are the imperatives to believers undergoing deep troubles. . . or even light troubles. This is how His church should behave in any and all circumstances - it's life the way God meant it to be.

November 20

2008-11-19T23:00:00.002-05:00

Nov 20 - Today from Proverbs 20 we look at verse 8
"When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes."

In Eastern theology the Teacher begins with an illustration, the student is challenged to draw out the concepts. This small proverb is pregnant with concept.
The eyes. The Teacher is not referring to the globular organs seated in the middle of the face. He is referring to interpretation of what is seen. The Old Testament contains hundreds of passages that verify this concept. Let me site the earliest example:
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked." (Gen. 3:6,7) The first humans weren't like baby kittens, created with their physical eyes closed. Something changed when they rebelled against God and yielded to the tempting work of the Serpent - their perception changed. They suddenly interpreted the things they saw in a completely different manner. The world didn't change at that moment. Their bodies didn't change at that moment. What changed was their world view. God was no longer the center, man was. Sin entered in and corrupted man's vision. Their eyes were opened to a humanistic world view, and their souls became full of darkness. The death that God warned them about was plural; two deaths. The death of man's spirit was immediate, there was now a separation in the intimate relationship man had with God. Man would now also experience physical death, when his soul would eventually be separated from his corrupted body of flesh.
Jesus teaches about the world view in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:22, 23:
"The eye is the lamp of your body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" The Renaissance is often referred to as an age of enlightenment. It was the humanistic revival parallel to the Reformation of the church in Europe that took place in the 14th through 16th centuries. Both revivals lay claim to enlightenment. One was true light, the other was darkness that was embraced as light. Those who rejected 'religion' all together threw the baby out with the bath-water. They traded what little light was left in the Roman Catholic Church for the 'enlightenment' of the glory of man. The fathers of the Reformation traded the 'enlightenment' of the religious traditions of man for the true light of God's Word. Through them God restored the eyes of the Church. Once again the body of Christ was pretty much walking in the light.
Philosophy and religion continue to vie for the right to be the eyes of believers today. They only corrupt the eye and let in darkness claiming to be light. Leaders on any and every level ("When a king sits on his throne. . .") who must make leadership decisions (". . . to judge"), that are just and that honor God ("winnows out all evil. . ."), he or she must use a Biblical world view (". . . with his eyes"). Wisdom is not to lean on our own understanding of matters, but to view life as God meant it to be. He has revealed His purposes for us, He has given us a clear moral code, He has given us basic instruction of procedure, He has written and preserved it in His Word, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. The world is ignorant. They have an excuse for walking in darkness. The Church has no excuse.

November 19

2008-11-18T22:32:00.001-05:00

Nov 19 - Today from Proverbs 19 we look at verse 15
"Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry."

I am always somewhat surprised at the paradoxes of life - even the one's previously encountered. The first thought in today's proverb is one such paradox; "laziness brings on deep sleep". One would think that a lazy person would have pent up energy and become physically restless - but just the opposite is true. I must admit, I have slipped into 'laziness' more than once. Laying in bed on a Saturday morning, nothing pressing, no time commitments . . . I talk myself into staying there and going back to sleep. The longer I lay there, the more I feel like staying there. Finally, I roll out very late in the morning. I dig out something to eat, flop onto the couch and turn on the TV to see what's on. I happen onto a movie that catches my attention and sit there for another hour or two. I haven't even properly dressed yet. My mind starts shutting down. "It's getting too late to begin any projects. Anyway, I deserve a day off." I start flipping through the channels hoping to find something that catches my interest - another movie, a baseball or football game, whatever. Another hour or two goes by as I help myself to any snacks I can find. By now it's late afternoon and I begin to kick myself for wasting an entire day. Am I energized to get out and do something constructive? No. I take a nap! How can I be so dogged and tired when I didn't do anything all day? It's a paradox - and I am surprised all over again that laziness brings on sleepiness. I despise wasted days, and I get very frustrated with myself when I allow one to happen.
It is also strange that I can be pretty worn out by Saturday, and I am very tempted to pamper myself and stay in bed - but I force myself up at a decent hour anyway. If I don't have a plan, I make one - do something constructive on the front end of the day. By the time I complete the task, I am energized and ready to continue. I can have a pretty productive 'day off' and feel good about myself. I was able to get things done that I wanted to get done.
We weren't created to 'do nothing'. Even when our self-serving nature thinks it would be a treat to do nothing, we degenerate when we give in. Laziness breeds apathy. Apathy becomes a bondage of the mind. It is the same with our spirit.
We sometimes feel like it may be nice to take a 'day off' from God. Wouldn't it be great just to forget all the moral responsibilities around us and serve ourselves for once? "I'll get back into my discipleship mode tomorrow again." We don't exactly turn away from God, we're just going to take a break from pursuing Him. "Tomorrow I will be re-energized and will pursue God with zeal." The paradox strikes here too - rather than being re-energized, we find ourselves ensnared in apathy. We 'wake up' one day to discover that it's been awhile since we spent real quality time in a personal devotion. Our prayer-life is anemic. Going to worship on the Lord's Day is an option instead of an anticipation. Those who are in need around us can just fare for themselves. Our monetary support of the ministry of our church wouldn't support a kid's Fun Meal. Our spiritual laziness has put us spiritually asleep.
There is a remedy - it's known as self-control and discipline. When we think it might feel good just to lay in the bed of self-serving desire and take a day off from God, it's time to effect our will over our feelings and climb out anyway. Whether we feel like it or not, we need to implement a plan to do one constructive thing in the course of discipleship. Take out your Bible and commit to a fifteen-minute study in a favorite passage, and then meditate on it for another fifteen. Go to a quiet spot and commit yourself to spend ten minutes in 'praise' prayer, recounting the wonder of God's love for you and what He did to prove that love, and then spend another ten in opening your heart to Him to seek His leading. Look around you and find a need - and then see what you can do in His Name to provide for that need. Soon your spiritual weariness will disappear, and you will find yourself re-energized. It too is a paradox. The solution to spiritual weariness is not a 'break' from discipleship, it is a recommitment to discipleship.
We weren't created to 'do nothing'. We were created to know and enjoy God and to serve our fellow man. It is in the fulfillment of purpose that we find spiritual energy.

November 18

2008-11-17T20:01:00.001-05:00

Nov 18 - Today from Proverbs 18 we look at verse 12
"Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor."

When pride involves self, it will eventually end in downfall. Why is that? Because pride is when one attempts to elevate self to a superior position. In the Hebrew, the term literally means to 'mount up'. It was pride that stimulated man to attempt the tower of Babel; he was going to mount up to heaven in his own ability and strength. Man was doomed to fall from such a position. Where ever man attempts to exalt himself, it is there that he is self-deceived. He has built a house of cards that will not stand because it stands contrary to God's purposes and intents. How can any mortal man ever conceive the idea that he can successfully rise above and prosper against the purposes of the eternal Creator? Satan himself attempted - and failed.
Humility is just the opposite of pride. Rather than elevating self, it elevates others. Jesus clearly brings forth this principle in Luke 14:7-11. He basically says that when invited to a wedding feast, one should not appoint himself to take a place of honor at the table. One who is deemed more important may show up and you will have to take a lesser seat. It is better to take the least important seat at the table, and if he so deems, the host will move you to a better seat. The proud (self-important), will be humiliated and the humble (those who elevate others), will be promoted. It's a kingdom principle that goes much deeper than the social order of seating at a wedding banquet.
The apostle Paul wrote it this way in Philippians 4:3, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." People who live that way are seldom disappointed and often pleasantly surprised. And they are the kind of people others like to be around.
Allow me to give you a simple example from personal experience. As a rule my wife and I keep Thursday evening clear for our 'date night'. In the midst of our crowded schedules we committed to keep one night apart just for ourselves - to catch up on each other's lives and to keep our relationship focused. We usually go out to one of the local restaurants and have a nice leisurely meal together. This experience happened on such an evening. Soon after we were seated a young man came to wait on us. I would guess he was one of the local college students. He asked how we were doing and we responded with the cordial, "We are doing just fine. And how about you? How are you?"
"I am just awesome! My name is Doug, and you have the privilege of having top service tonight! Now, what can I get you to drink?"
Doug set himself up. By proclaiming himself to be awesome and top service, he had to either be awesome or there was no other direction to go but down - and boy did he. He served our meals without table service. He neglected to get my wife a refill on her soda after asking her if he could. When she finally got his attention while some friends at a nearby table were distracting him, he replied in a too loud voice, "I know." By time her refill came she was finished and we were ready to go. 'Awesome Doug' scored very low on our service scale - and even worse he promoted himself to be at the top of the scale. We were merciful and gave him his 15%, but we walked out of the restaurant with a very low opinion of Doug's opinion of himself. He may be a good kid - but if he were more humble, others might see that goodness. Instead of looking for the person that Doug truly may be, he caused us to look for something that he is not - awesome and top service.
I share this illustration not to put Doug down. I share it as an illustration of something that lives in us all - our pride. Pride cries out for others to see us in some ideal manner. This results in others seeking us only in such a manner. When we cannot live up to the ideal of our pride, we fall. Why raise expectations for everyone? Why not start out in humility, and allow people to discover for themselves the goodness of God in each of us? This is accomplished by having the heart of a servant. People don't really care to hear us boast about how qualified or how good we are. The true character of God is revealed in our humble service to others.
"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." -Matthew 5:16

November 17

2008-11-16T19:42:00.001-05:00

Nov 17 - Today from Proverbs 17 we look at verse 24
"A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth."

According to the original Hebrew language, the definition for discerning in this verse is to mentally separate, or to distinguish. The KJV uses the term 'a man of understanding.' The Bible teaches that we live in a fallen world and everything in it is tainted by corruption. This world system functions in spiritual darkness. Man is on a continual quest for enlightenment. He searches everywhere. He seeks enlightenment through religion. He seeks enlightenment through science. He seeks enlightenment through knowledge. He seeks enlightenment through mysticism. He seeks enlightenment through his own psyche. Throughout the centuries man has pushed his shopping cart down the aisles of 'awakening', picking and choosing from any or all of these various forms of discovery, and then puts together his own form of enlightenment. In spite of all his effort, without viewing life the way God intended it, the light he so fiercely embraces is still darkness. Jesus makes clear reference to this in Matthew 6:23 where He says, "If your eyes are bad, you whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
There is only one way by which man is able to separate the light from the darkness. The Psalmist declares, "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:105). Then there's God's revelation through John; "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." (John 1:1). "In Him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men." (John 1:4). "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." (John 1:14). "I am the way the truth and the life." (Jesus, John 14:6). "Your word is truth." (Jesus, John 17:17).
In order for any man to have proper understanding, he must have God's revelation of life. In the Old Testament, man could know God's revelation through ‘the law’, the written Word. The gospel and the outpouring of His Spirit was still a mystery. The law and the prophets were still the only light in the world. A discerning man was discerning because he kept wisdom in view. He studied God's law and applied it to his life. This gave him the light he needed to separate that which was deceit from that which was truth. It was not able to save him, but it was able to keep him on the safe path, the path of understanding. No wonder the Psalmist expressed such love and compassion for God's word in Psalm 119. Virtually every one of the 168 verses mentions God's word in some fashion or another.
Our first task as believers is to discipline ourselves to keep wisdom in view. We are to seek God and His Light through His Word on a regular basis. If we don't, the darkness will creep in and the light will gradually diminish without us even knowing it. We will lose our ability to separate moral right from wrong, and we will wander off the path of understanding. It's not a good place to be -- even for a blood-bought, heaven-bound saint! KEEP wisdom in view. As New Testament believers, we have an added benefit. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit who has baptized us into Christ Jesus. We have the opportunity to walk with Him each day in a living and vital relationship. ABIDE in Christ. He is perfect wisdom. We have access to the discernment of the Holy Spirit. What a blessing!
Our second task as believers is to bring the Light to those who continue to stumble in the darkness. Jesus revealed that He didn't come to judge them, neither should we. Instead, He brought them Light. He preached and taught the kingdom of God for over three years. When He sent the Holy Spirit, following His death and resurrection, He ignited the word Peter preached and three thousand people received the Light of Life that very day (Acts 2:41). Peter reaped where Jesus sowed. Our task is still to labor in His fields, both sowing and reaping. Imagine all of the people around you today, pushing their shopping carts up and down the dead-end aisles of darkness in this world, seeking for some way to enlightenment. Everything they put in that cart and place their trust in is death. Apart from the gospel, they are already condemned. The Light you bear does not condemn -- it pardons. Share it. If they reject it, you have done your best. Who knows, someone may come in the future and reap that which you have sown. When that happens, God gets the glory! And that is the reason for our being.
Keep wisdom in view for yourself, and seek to bring others to the Light so that they too might grow in understanding.

November 16

2008-11-15T19:29:00.001-05:00

Nov 16 - Today from Proverbs 16 we look at verse 26
"The laborer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on."

Have you ever observed a believer serving with tenacity and fervor in an unappealing situation, and wonder how they could possibly stand it? It's probably because even though it may be somewhat repulsive to you, they actually have an appetite for it.
An appetite is a great motivator. Food is a critical element for living. Man labors in his field of training and experience to earn his 'daily bread'. Fortunately, most of us have more than enough to eat - so our appetites extend to things other than food and life's necessities. We get 'hungry' for luxuries and accessories. We get 'hungry' for recreational things. We get 'hungry' for a bigger house, a newer car, a summer (or winter) home, a big-screen plasma TV, a boat, ability to spoil the grandkids, cosmetic surgery, membership at the club, . . . well, you know the list. We get hungry enough to get a second job, or for the spouse to earn a second income in the home. People wouldn't put up with all of that frustration and inconvenience unless they had an appetite for something.
Hunger for food is universal. Appetites for other things vary according to the individual's tastes and values. Everyone is wired a little differently. It's the same with spiritual gifts. If you want to see people roll up their sleeves and dig into some area of ministry, just get them working in an area that they have an appetite for. It's like when you have put in a long hard day and at about dinner-time your stomach is rumbling in anticipation. You sit down to a good meal and dig in. When you're finished, you are satisfied - fulfilled. That's what it's like when you are serving in your area of giftedness. The desire to be satisfied and fulfilled drives you on. Did you know that we were created to serve? Sin messed that up, but Jesus Christ came to restore it.
When God made you, He gave you a spiritual appetite for something. That's what a spiritual gift is. You will never really find fulfillment unless and until you begin to feed it. Every believer should be in the process of discovering, or in the process of utilizing their spiritual gifts in God's kingdom. A spiritual gift may be a natural gift taken one level deeper. It may be something that you never had any desire or interest in until you came into a relationship with Christ. But you can count on this - God gave you something to use in service in His kingdom. There is an abundance of material out there to help identify spiritual gifts - and even more opportunity to use them. A very wise old Hungarian Pastor once told me, "There are no unemployed in the kingdom of God - only the idle." Folks, that's a sad truth. I think the reason there are so many 'idle' disciples in the church is because they have not yet discovered what they are hungry for. By the way, you don't have to start out big - just get started. You may have to experiment some to find your gift, but it’s worth it. Keep at it. You will be amazed at how God's grace flows once you put your hand to serving in your area of giftedness. After all, if you could accomplish it in your own strength it probably wouldn't be a spiritual gift, now would it?

September 15

2008-11-15T09:21:00.001-05:00

Nov 15 – Today from Proverbs 15 we look at verse 17
"Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred."

Once again the Teacher sets forth a lesson on values. Values asks the question, "What is most important?" In relation to today’s proverb, the Teacher asks, "What is most important, that which satisfies the stomach, or that which satisfies God?" When framed in this context, we quickly answer the obvious. "That which satisfies God, of course." But when framed in the more subtle context set forth in the proverb, the practical choice becomes more difficult. More often than not, the student does not equate the two comparisons in every-day living. We are often willing to sacrifice a little of our integrity in order to satisfy a desire of the flesh. It’s called compromise – one of Satan’s most effective tools.
Our values are not so much found in the declarations we make as they are in the actions we take. "You shall know them by their fruits," Jesus says in Matthew 7:16. Values are defined by actions taken through decisions made. The choice the Teacher offers in today’s proverb is between a plate of greens and a plate of veal cutlet. The Hebrew word interpreted as vegetables here is very narrow in definition. The KJV interprets it as herbs, which is much more definitive than the broader context of vegetables. The meal offered is a plate of greens, enough to sustain life. But it certainly lacks the culinary delight provided by a choice cut of roasted veal. There is no moral value involved in simply choosing between the two. The moral value enters in the circumstances surrounding the meals being presented. When it involves a choice of placing the needs of another first (love), or satisfying my own desires at the cost of meeting the need of my personal neighbor (hatred), I am confronted with a moral choice. Why is it better to choose to deny the desires of my appetite in order to live well with my neighbor? Because my neighbor’s well-being is more important than my stomach.
Values are choices one makes, not desires one experiences. The values of the righteous are to be based on the moral code of God’s Word. God’s Word became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived out this principle to the most extreme conclusion when He left the glory of His position at the Father’s right hand and came to befriend and restore us by becoming a servant. A servant obedient to the Father – even unto death. His values are unmistakable. His decisions were consistently enacted on the basis of those values. His life continues to bear fruit in accordance with those decisions. I am a benefactor who will be eternally grateful that He chose to deny Himself in order that I might benefit. What love is this, that the Son of God would die for me? My choices now determine whether I ‘dine’ in the presence of His love – no matter what the serving, or whether I will compromise and choose a more delectable serving – no matter whether He is there or not. The choice lies in the object of importance – His presence or the menu being offered. It’s a matter of values.

November 14

2008-11-13T22:17:00.001-05:00

Nov 14 - Today from Proverbs 14 we look at verse 35
"A king delights in a wise servant, but a shameful servant incurs his wrath."

There are two levels of thought here, but only one principle. There is the level of the temporal - that which is seen, and the level of the eternal - that which is unseen. The principle is that of servant hood.
When we consider ourselves servants, our focus should turn to duty rather than to wages and promotion. A wise employee (servant), seeks first to fully understand what his duty is in the position he is to fill. The employee is then expected to commit himself to fulfill that duty to the best of his ability. The employee committed to integrity in his service will seek to further his understanding and increase his skills in performing his duty. Such an employee will certainly delight his employer, and will serve as an asset to the organization. A good employer will recognize the integrity and excellence of the service of the employee and will hold fast to all employment agreements. The employer may even choose to reward the employee's excellence. The employee has no right to expect such reward - he was merely fulfilling the duty for which he was employed. Anything he receives beyond the employment agreement is grace.
In Luke 17:7-10, Jesus gives the illustration of a servant who worked hard in the fields all day and returns to the master's house. Jesus then queries his disciples, asking them if they thought the master might say to the servant "Come along now and sit down to eat." Preposterous! The thought would never enter the disciples' minds. Any person in the Middle East in that day would never expect such a thing. Instead the master would tell the servant to prepare the meal, clean up, and then serve the master's meal. That was the fully expected duty of the servant. There would be no debt of gratitude on the master's behalf simply because the servant was carrying out his duty. Jesus closes with this statement to His disciples;
"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ''We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"
There is no implication that there was a love relationship between the master and servant in the illustration. The servant fulfilled his duty because it was expected of him. The master provided all of the servant's needs because it was expected of him. But, we are in a love relationship with our Master. We serve Him because He is worthy. We discovered that He loves us, He redeemed us at the cost of His own shed blood, and He offers us sonship in His own family. Our duty then is to worship Him alone, and to serve our fellow man. Wisdom has taught us that this is our purpose. Even though God loves us, He owes no man a debt of gratitude when man performs his duty. In our relationship with God we are to serve out of duty, not out of expectations of reward for our good works. God has promised to provide our needs, anything we receive from Him beyond that is grace - and He gives abundantly.
There is incredible freedom in being a servant and in understanding our duty. Discouragement comes by way of unmet expectations. When we perform our duties with expectations of reward, we can get discouraged. When we perform our duties to the best of our ability out of gratitude to our Master, we find fulfillment. A true servant lives in contentment because he understands that the Master will provide for the task. I struggle to reach the day when I can consistently say along with the Apostle Paul:
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:11-13

November 13

2008-11-12T22:40:00.002-05:00

Nov 13 - Today from Proverbs 13 we look at verse 2
"From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful have a craving for violence."

Determining that fruit is an outcome containing creative seed that bears after its own kind, we continue to look at the creative power of words. Perhaps there is nothing more demonstrative of this concept than that of being a parent. Parents are sowing seed into their children 24/7. I became acutely aware of this when my son began driving. Whenever our family traveled by auto, I was the driver about 99% of the time. Without realizing it, I was seeding an attitude into my boys concerning other drivers with the fruit of my lips. When my son began to drive, and I rode with him, I was shocked to hear and see all of my improper attitudes displayed in his attitude. How could I rebuke him? I sowed that seed! As I thought about it, that seed was sown into my life by my dad. What if I had made a conscious effort to employ the power of the Holy Spirit to manage a 'crop failure'? What if instead of making wise remarks in front of my children about the perceived ineptness of other drivers on the road (a craving for violence?), I would have yielded my lips to the Holy Spirit and displayed patience and kindness (good things)? Perhaps then my son would have been one of those rare drivers who shows consistent courteousness to the other drivers on the road. Instead, he had taken on my arrogant, competitive edge. I didn't really like what I saw in him - and I never saw it in myself until I saw the fruit of my sowing it in him. That did not excuse him for his behavior, but it sure made it more difficult for him to be a courteous driver.
One of the truly good things in the life of a parent is to see their children grow in good character. This proverb reveals that the choices of words we use in the presence of our children can be one of the most dynamic influences in this process. Not just when we are trying to get their attention to teach or instruct them - but 24/7. The seed finds soil whether we realize we are sowing them or not. When mom and dad are in 'the other room', or in the front seat of the car, they are not isolated. Little ears are constantly on the alert. Fruit is offered, seeds are sown, little hearts emulate the ones they naturally trust and admire most. Something of the parent's own attitudes of life become ingrained in the lives of their children. It's an awesome responsibility.
True story. My sister-in-law was in the choir in her church. One Sunday morning during practice, the little daughter of one of the other choir members showed up wearing a beautiful frilly little dress. "My, what a beautiful dress you have on today," said one of the ladies. "Yeah, but I've gotta be very careful because it's a b--ch to iron," replied the little girl.
Mom, of course, was mortified. That seed quickly came to fruition in the wrong place at the wrong time. Had she not heard it in the original context, mom would have probably wondered where her little girl ever picked up such coarse language.
Thank goodness for each of us there is One who can break the chain of poor attitudes and corrupt seed. When we appropriate the grace that Christ so freely offers, the old passes away, and we become a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Instead of the corrupt fruit of self-centeredness being offered, the good fruit of the Spirit begins to take its place. In that fruit is contained the seed that bears after its own kind. The chain is broken.
My language and attitude toward other drivers is significantly different these days. I am a new creation. My sons are not consistently there now to witness that change as I am driving. It makes me wonder if the fruit of my dad's driving attitude is going to continue to influence my grandchildren's driving attitudes? It makes for a great incentive for prayer for a crop failure. Nothing is impossible with God!

November 12

2008-11-11T23:01:00.001-05:00

Nov 12 – Today from Proverbs 12 we look at verse 3
"A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted."

The twelfth chapter is loaded with counsel on the value of integrity – a very common theme in the book of Proverbs. In our verse for today we are given a clear and defining picture in the original Hebrew. The word used for established draws a picture of an object that is perfectly perpendicular to its base. One can think through the implications the Teacher is making here. The object needs no visible supportive attachments to remain standing. There is no stress at the foundation, and no fear of toppling. In contrast, consider the Tower of Pizza. The foundation has settled on one side to where it is precariously leaning. The situation has given it world-renowned attention – but it also has caused the Italians a great amount of anxiety, effort, and money to keep it standing. Even today, after all that has been done, it is fearful that it might topple at any time. It has no integrity.
The wicked may appear to be established, but there is something terribly askew at the foundation. Even the most ‘prosperous’ (sic) of the wicked have no rest for their souls. They are constantly watching over their shoulder, worried about who might topple them. It takes a lot of effort for the wicked to remain standing, there is constant stress somewhere at the foundation of their personal security. Their temporary confidence lies in temporary things that help to support and stabilize their position in life – but in the deep corners of their souls, they know how fragile the balance is. No one fears toppling more than do the wicked.
The contrast is the security of the righteous. The righteous are those who practice moral values in light of God’s Word. Where the wicked devise their own moral code, which becomes the unstable ground like the Tower of Pizza was built upon, the righteous accept the moral code of the Creator. This code is the unchanging and stable bedrock of God’s purposes for life itself. Jesus condensed the entire moral code down to this, "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself." It is the great commandment – the royal law. Without the objective source of truth that God reveals in His Word, man quickly begins to build his life on the shifting sands of philosophy, opinion, and circumstances. Such a structure will never stand the test of time – much less eternity. The key to living the righteous life is to trust God explicitly – even above current philosophies, opinions and cultural trends. The man who does this does not fear toppling. When the storm is passes, even he is amazed that God’s Word is bedrock, and he still stands. God is able to make the righteous stand.
Jesus may have alluded to this proverb when He shared His own illustration in the parable of the wise and foolish men who built their houses on two different bases; the wise on the rock, and the foolish on the sand (Matthew 7:21-27). The lesson is as timeless as God’s Word.
Where does your house stand? Is it as secure as you would like it to be? Unlike the Tower of Pizza, there is a solution.

November 11

2008-11-09T14:21:00.001-05:00

Nov 11 - Today from Proverbs 11 we look at verse 17
"A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself."

The choices we make regarding others will always have an effect on our circumstances. Kind acts are an asset not only to the beneficiary, but also to the benefactor. Cruel acts are a liability not only to the victim, but also to the perpetrator. "Count on it," says the Teacher.
To the self-serving, kindness just for the sake of being kind is deemed a waste of resources. They figure if there is no immediate benefit or self-serving ulterior motive, then there is no benefit to being kind toward another. Kindness is merely one of the 'tools in their bag' meant for manipulating and not a true characteristic.
What then is kindness? It is a genuine attitude void of pride. Kindness is laced with mercy. The literal translation for the word 'kind' here reveals a picture of one 'bowing at the neck.' It shows courtesy, as regarding another as an equal. Kind people are comfortably approachable. Jesus was kind to all. Even though their disdain for Him grew, even the very richest and learned of His day felt comfortable in approaching Him. Jesus Himself was a Rabbi - a highly regarded Teacher of the Law. He was identified with the group of 'righteous' known as the haberin or the associates. These were the societies of scrupulous Jews who pledged themselves to the study and strict observance of the law. This would include the societies of the Scribes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Not many associates in Jesus' day were kindly toward the 'sinners' in the land. The 'sinners' were the common people, known as 'the people of the land'. For the masses of sinners, the associates were not approachable - except for One that we know of; a Rabbi named Jesus.
What a wonder this associate must have been to the people of the land in His day. He received them. He ate with them. He touched them, healed them, forgave them and blessed them. Even the worst of them; the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lame and the lepers, were beneficiaries of His kindness. Such kindness was unheard of from the 'righteous' of the land. But how did that benefit Himself? Many of them turned on Him when the chips were down. They crucified Him!
The benefits eventually came. They came on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 were broken under conviction and repented of their selfish and sinful lives and were added to His family (Acts 2:36-41). The benefits continued as His family grew among the nations (Gentiles!), and through the generations. The benefits continue to grow today. Oh, the blessed kindness of our Savior!
I don't believe that any of us would have seen Jesus as the beneficiary of His kindness on that historical day of Good Friday. All of His kindness seemed to have gotten Him nothing but trouble. It seemed it was the cruel associates who appeared to have won the day. But now, as we look back, I don't think that any of us would see the self-righteous associates who were standing by looking on at the events of the day, as the ones who benefited. Indeed, the events of next seventy years would reveal that they brought great trouble upon themselves. Yet even some of these were found of Him and discovered the secret of His kindness - Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, a Pharisee named Paul, and others - and they became agents of His kindness. I am convinced that they also benefited themselves; "Well done good and faithful servant. Come, and share your Master's happiness." (Matthew 25:23). What better benefit could there be?
Kindness is not an expenditure, it is an investment. We may not see any immediate returns, but we can be sure of this; the returns are sure. He is faithful.

November 10

2008-11-09T14:19:00.001-05:00

Nov 10 – Today from Proverbs 10 we look at verse 9
"The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out."

Integrity is one of those terms that everyone kind of knows what it is, but hardly anyone can give a clear definition. In the past I have looked at this word and the best definition I could come up with is, "Doing the right thing for the right reason on a consistent basis." Doing 'the right thing for the right reason' still needs an objective basis from which one can determine what 'right' is. For a believer this objective source is the Word of God. Jesus says in John 17:17, "Your word is truth". Psalm 119:160 says, "All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal."
Here's the meat of this Proverb; "Truth is eternal. Everything else will be exposed and dealt with." If a person is honest, even to his own hurt, that person will be vindicated. But the person who tries to manipulate others and cover up their self-serving motives, that person will be found out. They may get away with it for awhile, but the truth will ultimately prevail because it is eternal.
1 Corinthians 11:31 says, "But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment." That's what a person of integrity does - they constantly judge themselves. When a man of integrity finds himself guilty he keeps the account short by quickly confessing to God, make any restitution necessary, and turns away (repents) from such behavior. By doing this on a consistent basis, he grows and establishes himself in integrity. Conviction is not meant to bring condemnation. Romans eight is a chapter of incredible assurance for believers, and begins by stating that "there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Why? 1 John 1:9 teaches that confession brings mercy. When we confess, the guilt is removed. Restitution is the evidence that our confession comes from a sincere conviction. Repentance keeps our heart toward God.
A person of integrity is not a person who never makes mistakes; it’s a person who properly deals with and learns from their shortcomings. The believer who can go to another and say, "I have done you wrong, and I am sorry. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" is a person of integrity. These kind of believers can walk securely - secure in the knowledge that they are accepted before God and secure that they need not fear anything hidden in the darkness of their soul which might be exposed at any moment by the light of truth. The old adage is true; "Confession is good for the soul."
A wise person is a person who walks in integrity.

November 9

2008-11-08T22:05:00.001-05:00

Nov 9 - Today from Proverbs 9 we look at verse 1
"Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out her seven pillars."

This verse tells us that wisdom is firmly and finally established. The number seven is the number for completeness or perfection. This verse is telling us that wisdom lacks nothing. It never did, and it never will. The Teacher writes in Ecclesiastes 3:14, "I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it." Wisdom personified speaks in Proverbs 8:22 & 23, "The Lord brought me forth as the first of His works, before His deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began." Our verse today is simply one more effort of the Teacher to instill this great and immutable truth.
Anthropology is such a fascinating field. Should the Lord tarry, I wonder how generations several hundred years from now will view this age of postmodernism. Under the guise of Enlightenment, it seems that mankind is continually moved and carried by invisible waves of its influence. History seems to be the better vantage point for viewing these ebbs and flows. The current generation does not appear to be fully aware, but the severity of these ebbs and flows are related as to how well the culture is 'anchored'. If it is not anchored to some common absolute, the chaos becomes more severe. Today's Postmodernism places highest values on personal preference and tolerance. "You establish your belief system and I will establish mine, and we will respect each other's systems. This will bring harmony to our culture and to our world." (sic). In putting such philosophical musings into practice, all anchors are pulled up and the culture begins to drift and ebb and flow into a chaotic state. The only intolerance in such a culture is with those who refuse to pull up anchor. They are perceived to ‘hinder’ the evolution of human experience. James sensed this human condition when he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in James 1:5 & 6, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But, when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." Believe and not doubt what? To believe that wisdom is firmly established and that God's ways are immutable. To say, "My reality is truth and your reality is truth, and therefore we must respect each other's realities," is intentional double-mindedness that perpetuates moral chaos.
God created a good world out of chaos. Sin entered into that good creation and initiated a direction back into chaos. God intervened with His Moral Law to control the move back into chaos until the promised Messiah came. Jesus partially restored good into the creation in time by receiving the penalty for the cause of this chaos in His own physical being. Ephesians 1:9 & 10 says that He will fully restore all things to good at the end of time. Chaos will ultimately and finally be thrown into the pit. What will we, who have received the goodness of His restoration, be fully restored to? We will be fully restored to God's original intentions and purposes for mankind - wisdom from above (James 3:17).
Who will stand firm in the midst of moral chaos today? Those who walk in wisdom and are anchored in Christ will stand firm in His strength. Wisdom is understanding life the way God meant it to be. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is not evolving out of human experience. It has been established from the foundation of the world. Apart from the fear of the Lord, and from man seeking to walk in His wisdom, the only thing evolving out of human experience is more chaos.

November 8

2008-11-07T22:10:00.001-05:00

Nov 8 – Today from Proverbs 8 we look at verses 30 & 31
"Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind."

Verse 1 of this chapter finds the Teacher using the literary technique of personification – giving something inanimate a voice in order to clarify the object lesson. In this case, wisdom is personified in the feminine gender. She reveals that she was brought forth as the first of the Lord’s works, before He began creation (verse 22). In today’s passage, she is at His side, observing His crowning achievement of creation – man! The sequence of this chapter reveals that God did not bring forth a purpose for His creation as He created, and certainly did not make up a purpose for it after He created. Wisdom is essentially understanding life the way God purposed it – and wisdom was the first of His works! Before He spoke anything into existence, He already had the purposes all worked out. In all of His creation, only one creature was made in His own image, and that creature was the ultimate purpose of all of the rest of creation. God created man in His own image in order that God could expand His love to someone who could return it. Thus He created man with a free will and with the capacity to choose to love.
It is certain that if wisdom did have a personality at the time of creation, she indeed would have delighted in this creature God called man. He perfectly glorified (reflected the character of) God. God’s purpose was for man to multiply and to live in a serving community as He abode in their midst. Sin fractured this delightful setting, and man no longer chose to love God and serve his fellow man. Sin had corrupted man’s heart to love and serve himself. The wisdom that ‘served at God’s side’ was traded for a darker wisdom, that which James refers to as ‘the wisdom of this world’ (3:15). A wisdom based on temporal values and man’s own limited understanding.
Wisdom never lost her voice. Even today she calls out to all who will listen. God did not give up on mankind. Instead, He restored man to His original purpose at the cost of His own Son’s life. In the story of creation the Holy Spirit created life out of chaos through God’s spoken word. Today He restores the chaotic heart of man to life through the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. Man can be ‘born-again’ to his original purpose in creation through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It makes no sense in the wisdom of this world – no more than it makes sense that God spoke life out of chaos in the beginning. But to all who will trust in the Word of their Creator, they can be restored and can once again hear the clear and pure voice of wisdom. She still delights in this marvelous creature whom God called man – and now even more so as God ‘re-created’ him from a dead and chaotic state. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17).

November 7

2008-11-06T22:02:00.001-05:00

Nov 7 - Today from Proverbs 7 we look at verse 5
"(Wisdom and understanding) will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words."

It is supposed that Solomon composed most his proverbs early in his reign. In his proverbs he often alludes to the dangers of being ensnared in the act of adultery - here he devotes an entire chapter to it. Adultery is the subject of one of the Ten Commandments. The seventh command admonishes, "You shall not commit adultery." You're on very solid ground when you base the teaching of wisdom on one of the Ten Commandments. In spite of all this, Solomon's downfall ultimately came through his weakness with women. We read these sad words in 1 Kings 11:3 & 4, "(Solomon) had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God."
Perhaps Solomon attempted to justify his actions in that his father David was a polygamist (although it is quite clear that there were many consequences in David's life for this behavior). Perhaps Solomon justified his actions in that his marriages were politically expedient in expanding the size and influence of the land of 'God's people'. Regardless of the motive - it was a self-serving attitude and it violated God's law. The spirit of the law is to keep sexual relations within the confines of a covenant relationship (matrimony), one man with one woman. Jesus clearly states this was God's intent from the beginning (Matthew 19:4-8). Jesus should know, He was there at the beginning.
The New Testament writers expanded adultery to fornication - or all sexual immorality. It includes adultery, but stands for any sexual relationship outside the bonds of one-man/one-woman matrimony. This relates to all manner of extramarital sex including pre-marital sex, homosexuality, pedophilia, bigamy, polygamy, and bestiality. Besides any obvious reasons for keeping integrity in this area, it extends into the mystery of the spirit realm. Paul touches on this subject in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. Paul quotes the first revelation of the mystery from Genesis 2:24 where God says, "The two will become one flesh." There is an unseen bond that takes place in a sexual encounter. The second revelation of the mystery is found in verse 17 where Paul writes, "He who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit." and verse 18, "he who sins sexually sins against his own body." Paul is asking the believer if he wishes to engage the Lord in an act of sexual misconduct. The final exhortation . . . "Therefore honor God with your body." That too is the spirit of the law.
It is interesting that metaphorically speaking, the association of pagan idolatry with doctrines of the Christian faith are referred to as fornication (adulteries), in the book of Revelation (14:8; 17:2&4; 18:3; 19:2). Solomon's physical fornication led to his spiritual fornication. Now his legacy, which could have been a shining example to the generations, was forever tainted and corrupted. God's intent is not to humiliate Solomon, but to warn us that we too can attempt to twist God's Word to make it fit our selfish ambitions - but in trying, we will end up as nothing less than spiritual fornicators.
So, we must ask ourselves; "Is that which is so appealing to myself today worth corrupting my legacy?" The simple young man of Proverbs seven never bothered to ask himself this question - at least in the heat of the moment of temptation. If we will but honor God for the moment, He will honor us for eternity. His grace is sufficient for the moment.

November 6

2008-11-05T22:32:00.001-05:00

Nov 6 - Today from Proverbs chapter 6 we look at verses 12-14
"A scoundrel and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart - he always stirs up dissension."

To start, I would like to extract and couple the first and last thoughts of this comment; "A scoundrel and a villain always stirs up dissension." Always. It is my belief that the Teacher is not instructing the students not to become a scoundrel, rather he is instructing them to be discerning of a scoundrel. To stay away from them (not get relationally involved), because the outcome of the scoundrel's activity is consistently the same. More often than not, there is a seductive way about scoundrels. They have a charming air about them, and they are very convincing in drawing others into their mischief. We see reference to this in the middle section of today's scripture. He's not cloaked in some dark corner whispering a dastardly plot, he is very openly animated and enthusiastic about what he is presenting to his audience. (He is also very selective about where he is and who is in his audience.)
Things are not always as they appear. Consider the greatest scoundrel of all, "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Cor. 11:14.) How do we know when we are being duped by a scoundrel, being pulled into one of his/her schemes? We need to know two things: (1) Our purpose before God, and (2) the quest of the scoundrel.
First, our purpose: To love God with all of our heart, soul strength and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Love. Love bears fruit of righteousness. Love makes peace. Love provides for. Love lifts the other. Love puts other first. We are to live in a serving community in a vital relationship with God. We need to continually focus on and strive toward that purpose, functioning in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of unity and fellowship.
Second. The quest of the scoundrel: To stir up dissension. Self. Selfishness is fruitless. Selfishness causes divisions. Selfishness is more interested in 'serve-us' then in 'service'. Selfishness puts the other down. Selfishness puts self first. The Hebrew language in this passage is very graphic in regards to such a character. Scoundrel is one who produces no profit to society. They are takers, not providers. Villain is one who exerts himself in vain. The word vain has two definitions, and both are applicable here. One is 'to think highly of self' and the other means 'to no avail'. If our purpose is to be fruitful in service to others, it stands to reason that one who thinks highly of himself will exert himself to no avail in God's economy. He always stirs up dissension. Dissension is to quarrel, striving with another over preference or opinion.
Dissension is both a tool of the scoundrel, and a result of the scoundrel's activity. Divide and conquer. The pieces are not as strong as the whole. Without the introduction of a cause for dissension, the scoundrel will never achieve his self-serving goals. His/her first step in a scheme is to build a dissenting power base. He/she does this by pulling in unsuspecting comrades. "He winks with his eye, signals with his feet, motions with his fingers. . ." all cultural activities of comradeship; "letting you in on the action" (sic). He/she convinces others that "we are right in our stand and cause," and because we are right, it's okay to be unkind. Because we are right it's okay to bend the rules. Because we are right, it's okay to sow discord. It's amazing how easily even believers will abandon grace because it is more important to be right.
"Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." We do well to heed the lesson of the Teacher. The scoundrel does not wear the costume of a scoundrel. Often it is the costume of the righteous. The discerning then, must look at the heart; is the motivation 'fruitfulness through unity and love', or is the motivation 'my way because it's the right way'?
Avoid the scoundrels - even the righteous ones. They always stir up dissension.

November 5

2008-11-04T21:13:00.001-05:00

Nov 5 - Today from Proverbs 5 we look at verse 8
"Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house."

We will remove this verse just a bit from its context (pertaining to the adulteress), and expand the warning to the principle of most any object of temptation. "Keep a path far from it, do not go near a place of entry into it."
In His time of ministry here on earth, Jesus would personally confront sinners, forgive them, deliver them, and then leave them with this instruction, "Go, and sin no more." His grace is not cheap. We are not to be presumptuous with His mercy. I find from my own personal experiences, and from the experiences of many other believers, that once we have been deeply ensnared in some area of bondage, that area remains to be a target of the enemy pretty much for the rest of our life. Once we have been forgiven and delivered, it doesn't necessarily mean we are free from the enticement. It is usually just the opposite. We must be very careful after repentance from an area of sin. We need to hear the imperative of Jesus' command often; "Go, and sin no more."
The Teacher gives sound instruction as well, "Keep a path far from any area of temptation." I was once in a men's accountability group with three others. One was a young Pastor who in earlier years had become obsessed with pornography. The Lord delivered and forgave him, and he pursued a call to ministry. He was provided with a computer by the church, and at that time the internet was just beginning to become popular. He convinced his church that it would be a good resource for his studies. You can pretty much guess the rest - he found a path that led right to the door of his area of weakness. He got drawn back into the trap and became ensnared in pornography in the privacy of his own office. By God's providence, he was in a Christian accountability group right at this critical time in his life. He was very ashamed, but very honest with us regarding the circumstance. We promised we would stand by him and pray with and for him, but he had a tough decision to make; we required him to give up the internet (there were no ‘filters’ available in those days). He agreed. After weeks and months of prayer and being personally accountable, he once again found freedom and a clear conscience to boldly proclaim God's Word to his congregation.
Our hearts may long to follow the Lord in obedience, but the flesh is weak. The flesh desires gratification, especially of that which it once tasted. The exaggerated memory of the pleasure of sin can tend to blot out the guilt and misery it created. When Israel was in bondage to Egypt, Exodus 2:23 says they groaned and cried out for help because of their slavery. God heard their cry and delivered them. God then led them into the wilderness to reveal Himself, His purposes for them, and to teach them to totally depend on Him. Time and again Israel grumbled and complained. They actually said such things as, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted." (Exodus 16:3). The exaggerated memory of the pleasure blotted out the misery they suffered in bondage. That is the power of the flesh.
We have a greater power, but we must access it in order to benefit from it. Jesus puts it in the simplest terms in Matthew 26:41, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." The first imperative is to watch. Keep your eyes on the path so that you know in advance where you are headed. As soon as you see yourself wandering into a dangerous area, pray. Prayer of this nature is a personal accountability to the Lord. "Okay Lord, I can see that opening this web site is going to fill my eyes and mind with intensely lustful pictures and thoughts." You are in direct communication with the Lord. Are you going to follow Him in obedience? Or are you going to push Him aside and allow your flesh to prevail? If you choose to obey, He will give you grace. "Thank you Lord, that through the shedding of Your own precious blood on my behalf, you delivered me from bondage to pornography. Thank you for the strength to walk away." Then do it. His grace is sufficient.
Pornography is just the example. The principle applies to all forms of temptation; gossip, slander, selfishness, dissension. . . read Galatians 5:19-21 . . . Paul gives a whole list of them. In all things we are to be led of the Spirit. We can only be led of Him if we will but listen to Him. Practice His presence and you will keep to a path that leads away from temptation.

November 4

2008-11-03T21:17:00.001-05:00

Nov 4 - Today from Proverbs 4 we look at verse 2
"I give you sound learning, do not forsake my teaching."

"What do you think?" Jesus asks his audience for their opinion on a matter, and then proceeds to give the details. "There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard."
'I will not,' he answered, but later changed his mind and went.
Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered. 'I will sir,' but he did not go.
Which of the two did what the father wanted?" (Matthew 21:28-31).
Jesus' asks for an opinion that should be obvious to His listeners - and it was. "The first," they answered. Isn't it quite obvious to all of us that we should not forsake the sound teaching of God's Word? Why, this proverb is hardly worth printing it is so obvious. Yet, how many times in a week do we forsake the obvious teaching of our loving Father?
Jesus is teaching that oral assent to the obvious is not obedience at all. It is action that ultimately determines obedience.
"Wow! That sure was some message the pastor gave this morning!"
"Amen brother. He was right on the mark today."
We walk away feeling good about our ability to discern a word from God - and then go right back into our old patterns. If God's Word does not effect some sort of change in our direction in life, it is as dead as if we had never heard it at all. This was the lesson Jesus was teaching the religious leaders that day.
"I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him." (Matthew 21:31, 32).
John the Baptist preached a strong message of repentance. The Word of God that he preached was meant to change the course of direction in the lives of the listeners. All of them. The 'sinners' who once said "No" to God changed their minds and changed their direction. The 'righteous' who constantly mouthed the word "Yes" to God never wavered in their self-righteous course. Why should they? They were already righteous. The problem with the 'righteous' religious leaders in Jesus' day was that they measured themselves by others rather than by God. If the tax collectors and prostitutes were the valley, the righteous were the mountain-top. But when you look at the earth, say from the moon, it is perfectly smooth. The valleys and mountain-tops are undetectable. We will never achieve perfect righteousness in our behavior in this life. We are to always be maturing through conviction, confession and repentance. The next time you sit under a clear and strong word from God, don't give it mere lip-service. Rend you heart before God and let His word do it's sanctifying work. REPENT, you ‘righteous’! Do not forsake His teaching.

November 3

2008-11-02T21:31:00.001-05:00

Nov 3- Today from Proverbs 3 we look at verse 16
"Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor."

This verse is to be placed in proper context of the attributes of wisdom, as it is referenced to verse 13 which begins, "Blessed is the man who finds wisdom." We use the simple definition for wisdom as, 'understanding life the way God meant it to be'.
It seems that wisdom has something to offer; long life, riches and honor. But, no where in this passage, nor in the narrative of the entire Bible, do you see believers instructed to pursue these things. Jesus clearly lays out the Kingdom principles in His Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:25-34 He addresses the pursuit of things - and reveals that it is the wrong pursuit all together. In verse 33 He speaks the very familiar quote, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Jesus Christ was not yet revealed in the day when Proverbs was written, but there was a clear focus of pursuit. Throughout the book of Proverbs the Teacher admonishes the student to pursue wisdom. Long life, riches and honor are benefits of finding and applying wisdom, just as they are benefits of living in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
It is important that we do not use these benefits as indicators of wisdom or of living in a right relationship with Jesus. If we use the benefits as indicators, we will fall into the error of pursuing the benefits, and of judging others according to how many benefits they apparently have. Christians seem to be very prone to fall into this trap. It is short-sighted and temporal thinking. I have met believers living in destitute third-world circumstances who had little more than the clothes on their back and a roof over their head. Yet, they displayed far more wisdom than most believers I know in our culture who drive nice cars, have beautiful homes, keep full cupboards and closets, play golf in their leisure time, go out to restaurants to eat a couple of times a week, and hold fat retirement portfolios. In addition, the life expectancy of the believers in many third-world countries is from 10-20 years less than that of believers in our country. Because we apply world values as indicators of wisdom and ability, we often treat our third-world family members as spiritually inferior people. Perhaps not consciously or purposely, but we do. I have spoken to scores of believers in third-world countries who have told me so. They are not angry or bitter about it - just puzzled. There is no third-world in the Kingdom. The church must not adopt world values in kingdom work.
This principle can also be adopted right in our own culture. We have 'class systems' here in the cities and towns where we live. We can tend to apply the same values in these situations. We use long life, riches and honor as indicators of spirituality. Shame on us! That is temporal thinking. In the Hebrew text the word used for long in this verse most often means forever. People may have shorter life spans because of inferior conditions, but this is nothing in light of eternity. We must not place temporal values on eternal things. Riches means to accumulate. Jesus expands on this thought in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:19, 20; "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth . . . but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." Our temporal wealth will mean nothing when we stand before God. We must not place temporal values on eternal things. Honor carries the thought of weight. There is substance to a person who grows in wisdom. They are not easily moved or shaken in even the most difficult circumstances. We must not place temporal values on eternal things.
Wisdom has much to offer, but she only gives as we pursue her and not her benefits. Jesus has much to offer, but He only gives as we pursue Him and not His benefits. What is the greatest indicator of all? It is a servant's heart. That is what we were created for. That is understanding life the way God meant it to be. That is the life Jesus modeled for us. That is the true meaning of love. If you see a person who appears to have health, riches, and honor, but does not display a servant's heart, you can pretty much guess that he is in a wrong pursuit.
How about you? For what are you expending your efforts of pursuit today? Are you pursuing Jesus, or only what Jesus has to offer?

November 2

2008-11-01T21:20:00.000-04:00

Nov 2 - Today from Proverbs 2 we look at verses 11 and 12
"Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse."

What are perverse words? To pervert something means to turn something away from its proper use or nature. Wisdom is the knowledge of the proper way. Perversion is to distort knowledge - usually for self-gratifying purposes. Sin perverts. Our words are to edify, to encourage and to bless others. Perverse words entice, wound, or curse others. Wicked men use perverse words constantly. Perverse words can be very deceptive and subtle. Discretion detects the motives behind perverse words and protects the righteous from the wicked ways of those who use them.
Discretion is the ability to tell right from wrong. Not only for ourselves, but it also helps us to detect evil motives in others. The beginning of this chapter gives a graphic description of how diligent we must be in acquiring wisdom. It uses plenty of verbs, which makes growing in wisdom very practical. The 'milk' of God's word is that which is easy to digest. It could also be called 'surface truths'. Digesting meat takes more energy, in both chewing and digesting. The meat of God's word is deeper and is found only by going after it and digging it out. It is that kind of practical study and application which enables one to grow in discretion and understanding. Hebrew 5:14 puts it this way; "Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
We don't gain wisdom through osmosis. We don't suck it up by sitting in a church pew. It doesn't seep into our soul from that Bible sitting on the end table. It doesn't leak into us from hanging around wise people. It comes from seeking knowledge of and from God, and then constantly applying that knowledge until it has trained (transformed), our mind.
Is it really worth all that bother and effort? It is if you value your relationship with the One who redeemed you. It is if you want to live a full life and not end up with an empty shell of a life that only echoes with faint memories and loud regrets. It is if you get married, have children, and want to provide for and protect your family. It is if you want to sleep peacefully at night. Yes. It is.

November 1

2008-10-31T19:20:00.001-04:00

Nov 1 – Today from Proverbs 1 we look at verses 25 & 26
"Since you ignored my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock you when calamity overtakes you –"

For those of us who know God, who have seen Him in the life and character of our Lord Jesus Christ, this just doesn’t sound like His voice. Actually, that’s because it’s not. Whose voice is it? By going back to verse 20, we discover that it’s the voice of wisdom. The Teacher uses the literary technique of teaching a principle by giving voice to an inanimate object. Wisdom ‘laughs and mocks’ when those who ignored her call in better times suddenly fall on hard times. The Hebrew term for mock in this passage means to imitate a foreigner or to speak unintelligibly. The point the Teacher is making is that if one fails to study and practice wisdom as they process daily life, they will not understand its basic principles and applications when it is most needed in life – in times of extreme difficulty and disaster. ‘Wisdom from above’ (based on the values taught in scripture), is indeed a ‘foreign language’ to the heart of man’s fallen nature. His fallen heart is tuned to the ‘wisdom of this world’ (the values embraced by this world system). When a person who never bothered to study the language of wisdom from above is thrust into a situation where only such wisdom can provide and protect – that person is doomed to suffer the consequences. Diligence studies wisdom and applies her instruction in such times. But many are complacent to study wisdom, and when her instruction is most needed, it is unintelligible – it makes no sense whatsoever. "The complacency of fools will destroy them" (Proverbs 1:32).
What then is God’s voice in such matters? He says, "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn form their wicked ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil way! Why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11). Here there is no doubt who is speaking, and there is no hidden meaning. Here God calls His people to turn from the deceitful values of this world system and embrace life as He meant it to be. In the ‘New Covenant’, sealed with His Son’s own blood, "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9). This is the voice of our Father. He is worth listening to.
Wisdom calls us to abandon ourselves anew to Him each day – regardless of circumstances. Don’t put off seeking wisdom because the circumstances of life do not demand it. That’s called complacency. When circumstances suddenly change and it is critical to apply wisdom, it may be too late. Her voice may sound very foreign to you.

October 31

2008-10-30T22:05:00.001-04:00

Oct 31 - Today from Proverbs 31 we look at verse 15
"She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls."

Before commenting on this verse, I would like to preface it with the text of Ephesians 5:31& 32 and from that truth, change one word from verse 10 of Proverbs 31:
"'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church. A church of noble character who can find?"
From verse twelve on, the Teacher describes what a church (wife) of noble character looks and acts like. Being that the 'wife' is an illustration of a spiritual truth, we are left to work out the spiritual concepts of nobility and virtue for the church. The Teacher points to a woman of high moral character. We then must seek to be a church with high standards of moral behavior if we are to honor our Lord (husband). Morality goes far beyond it's most common perception of dealing only with sexual behavior. It covers the entire range of virtue - how we are to behave toward our fellow man. Because we are working from the Word of God, and we are speaking of His Church, we are constrained to use only one standard of 'good' when we define good behavior. That standard is the moral code given us in God's Word.
The church of noble character then 'gets up while it is still dark'. What is the concept here? I believe it is related to time and not to darkness. The noble church is not to be idle. She knows that time is a gift from God, and that she must be a very good steward of the time allotted her. She does not waste time by being idle, waiting for a more proper time to begin to 'fulfill her purpose'. Now is the time. "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because your salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here." (Romans 13:11, 12). The virtuous church does not wait until she feels like being a virtuous wife - she knows that she is the virtuous wife, and the time for serving her Husband is now. Woe to the church who is waiting for the right opportunity and time to serve when suddenly the Husband returns and finds her idle.
The church of noble character 'provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.' What is the concept here? I believe the issue is priorities of provision. The church is to care for her own first, not neglecting those outside (verse 20). Jesus says the world will know that the church is made up of His disciples by their unconditional love for one another. That's a bit of a paraphrase of John 13:35, but it is accurate. Sin has made individuals in the world self-serving. That is our state when we are born in the flesh. Grace through Christ Jesus has restored the church to God's original purpose of others-serving. The evidence of God's original purpose for man is to be manifested in the church. Jesus was the example for the Church (his wife), she is to be the example to the world. That is how we glorify Him, by reflecting His character. If the church does not care for her own first, how can we bear witness to the world our love for one another? "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:10). When the church treats its fellow believers with contempt and withholds her blessings from them, she dishonors her Husband. When the church fails to make adequate provision for her servants (Pastors and staff personnel), she dishonors her husband. The church of noble character makes sure her own are cared for first, and then she looks for ways and opportunities to serve those outside of her household.
"A church of noble character who can find?" YOU are the church.

October 30

2008-10-29T22:01:00.001-04:00

Oct 30 - Today from Proverbs 30 we look at verse 33
"For as churning the milk produces the butter, and twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife."

Little is known about Agur, the author of chapter 30 of the book of Proverbs. If you have read the entire chapter today, you will see that his style is quite different. This chapter is a prime example of Metaphorical Theology, the dominant philosophical process of ancient Eastern thought - and still quite prevalent in the East today. The Western mind struggles with this process because we have been trained in Process Theology, or Systematic Theology, which began to dominate Western thinking when the great Greek philosophers prevailed and their influence spread throughout the great empire of Alexander the Great. Out of the Greek influence came Platonism, Aristotelism, scholasticism, rationalism, Hegelianism, existentialism, and finally process theology. Because of the radical differences in these two approaches (Metaphorical Theology and Systematic Theology), it sometimes becomes difficult for us in the West to understand or interpret the Old Testament scriptures, which were written primarily in Metaphorical Theology. This would include the Gospels, written by men who were naturally acclimated to this thought process. The apostle Paul was the apostle to the gentiles, who were much more under Greek influence. Thus, Paul used a much more systematic approach in his writings - the book of Romans being one of the finest pieces of Systematic Theology available.
Very briefly, the primary difference in the two thought systems is the approach. In the West, we begin with a concept, and then illustrate the concept with examples and analogies. The Eastern approach begins with a parable or illustration and then moves to conceptual interpretation of the illustration. This is the way Jesus taught theology because His audience was Eastern. It was the way they processed thought.
I am a Western mind, and sometimes (often), I still struggle through some of the theology of the Old Testament. It requires a new way of thinking. Agur was considered a very wise man in his day. He was not 'over the head' of his audience. He did not introduce concepts. He simply introduced illustrations which the Eastern mind would be challenged to apply conceptual interpretation. This is a key for us in most of the book of Proverbs, particularly in chapter 30. Today we are looking at verse 33. I am only going to go in perhaps one or two levels of conceptual interpretation of this verse. The Holy Spirit may take you deeper, because illustrations cover so much more area than a single concept.
The overriding concept I see in this illustration is by-products. When one churns milk, one should not be surprised that the chief by-product would be butter. When one twists another's nose, one should not be surprised that the by-product would be a flow of blood. The simplest of minds understands the concept of natural by-products. Yet, humanity still does not seem to understand that strife is a natural by-product of stirring up anger. We do something that we know will make another angry, yet we are surprised at how it produces long term strife. Am I right? We think that people should just get over their anger. We got our way. . . or our shot in . . . or our frustration vented . . . now just drop it. Human nature doesn't just drop it. We are surprised to discover that it wasn't the end of the game, it was only the first volley in a long game of strife. The game only ends when LOVE makes its entrance. "Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs." (1 Cor. 13:5). No return volley. Game over. Wisdom always acts and reacts in love. This kind of love only comes by the grace of God. It calls for us to surrender to Him that we might appropriate that which He offers through the power of His Spirit. It is the incredible paradox of the exchanged life - we surrender in order to get the victory.

October 29

2008-10-28T21:56:00.001-04:00

Oct 29 - Today from Proverbs 29 we look at verse 16
"When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall."

It seems that the concept of ‘wicked’ is politically incorrect these days. Why? Because identifying wickedness calls for a standard of morality, and a standard of morality erodes one of our highest post-modern social values - freedom. For instance; it is our freedom of speech that allows pornographers to erase moral boundaries, and without moral boundaries there is no wickedness (sic). In his pursuit of the wisdom of this age, man deceives himself and moves ever deeper into darkness. It is in the darkness that moral lines disappear. When believers in God's moral code attempt to bring light, they are persecuted. Jesus says to His disciples (even today), "No servant is greater than his master, If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." (John 15:20). Persecution can be in the form of rejection, mockery, isolation, harassment, and even physical harm. As wickedness becomes more acceptable and darkness more pronounced, persecution increases. So much so, that the righteous may begin to wonder if the wicked will prevail all together.
Today the Teacher puts those fears to rest. The wicked may prevail for a season, but eventually the righteous will see their downfall. Why? Because sin is corrosive. Sin rots the fabric of society to where eventually a wicked society can no longer hold together. The payback for immorality will eventually become greater then the pleasure of sin, and wicked man's house of cards will come tumbling down. History has proven this ever since man began to record it.
History has also proven that the righteous will sacrifice and invest into the Kingdom even when they know the dividends may not appear in their generation. They do not live in the darkness, for they see far ahead with an eternal perspective. Love (the God kind), does not simply serve self. In Bible times there were often fig trees along the roadsides to refresh weary travelers in season. Where did they come from? Those who originally planted fig trees by the roadside knew they would probably not live to eat the fruit - but future generations would. These planting servants may well have benefited from trees planted by those who had gone before them. They did not live a selfish life of pleasure hoping that the current trees would at least provide fruit through their lifetime. They took the seed of the fruit from which they had benefited and nurtured some new plants for the future. They invested themselves in service to others - others they may never meet in their lifetime. That is what the righteous do. Hebrews chapter 11 lists a number of the righteous from the Old Testament, and explains their fruit-bearing acts of faith that identifies them as righteous. In verses 38 and 39 God says this of them, "The world was not worthy of them. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what was promised." Unless we see with eyes of faith, we may never see the downfall of the wicked.
Faith calls us to action. The righteous are to "do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life." (Philippians 2:14-16). The righteous will never overcome the darkness by retreating. We are to let our lights shine, for the light overcomes the darkness. The light of the righteous is not indignation and judgment. The light of the righteous is God's grace. That's what those in darkness need to see. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Tired of the wicked prevailing in our sinful, post-modern culture? Plant some fig seeds out there. Follow God's lead in serving your community with good deeds. So what if you do not immediately benefit from it? Someone will - perhaps your grandchildren.

October 28

2008-10-27T23:13:00.001-04:00

Oct 28 - Today from Proverbs 28 we look at verse 20
"A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished."

Beginning with chapter 25 we are in the section of Proverbs specifically compiled for leaders, but the principles are applicable to all. In today's verse, we are once again confronted with motives in life.
This is a proverb of contrast. Here we see a faithful man, and a man eager to get rich. They cannot be of the same heart, for the consequences of their motives are clearly at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Thus we quickly conclude that a man who is eager to get rich will not be a faithful man. This little mirror in life is meant for us to reflect our own heart, so that we might get an accurate assessment of ourselves. What indeed is our true character?
Motives. There are some Teachers out there today who put forth a very appealing teaching from the scriptures that if we properly formulate our faith, we will become prosperous beyond our dreams. There is still at least one TV evangelist who constantly focuses on the assumption that the 'good news' is realized in miracles of healing and in gaining material prosperity. I come upon his program periodically, and I may watch and listen for ten or fifteen minutes to see how much of the 'good news' that Jesus preached is included in this evangelist's message. I seldom hear it, and when I do, it is almost always contaminated with an appeal to the miraculous in the material realm. These Teachers always start with the premise of the first half of today's verse. They always keep the premise of the second half out of the picture. This particular evangelist makes an appeal to his listeners every week for a 'faith commitment' of $1000 to his ministry. He then shows numerous testimonies from people who have already sent in their thousand dollars, and how God did some great miracle of healing or prosperity in their lives. The only one I see getting ‘prosperous’ is the evangelist.
The motive of the faithful man is to be faithful. Faithful to God's leading. Faithful in discipleship. Faithful to selflessly love and serve others. The faithful apostle Paul said "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things." (Philippians 3:8). This great apostle never made an appeal to his audience to 'sow into his ministry' in order that they might receive a material blessing from God. He knew that would be appealing to the base nature of man - a stumbling block in discipleship. He constantly called his audience to be faithful; to know Christ and to love and serve others. Even the Teacher of this proverb did not offer material riches as a reward. He simply says the faithful will be richly rewarded. For Paul the rich reward was "the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." (Phillipians 3:9). It was an inner joy that even the most damp and darkest of prisons could not extinguish. It was an inner peace that even shipwrecks, persecutions and beatings could not extinguish. It was an inner assurance that even betrayal, rejection and isolation could not extinguish. Paul's rich reward was to attain the character of the One he loved and served with his all, the Lord Jesus Christ.
A man cannot be eager to get rich and be faithful to the Lord at the same time. Jesus tells us it is impossible to serve two masters. One will always have dominion over the other in the heart. It doesn't take Christian faith to increase in the riches of this world. It takes Christian faith to let go of them. This is done in one's heart before God. It is a surrender of all self-serving control. It is not done once - but on a daily basis. Only then can we truly take hold of Him.

October 27

2008-10-26T22:03:00.001-04:00

Oct 27 - Today from Proverbs 27 we look at verse 19
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."

Back in the days when the Proverbs were written, they did not have mirrors as we know them today. If any were fortunate enough to possess a mirror, it probably would have been some sort of flat metal object with a highly polished surface. You can imagine the high possibility for distortion. But there was a flawless reflective process available to everyone - a dish or bowl of water set on a stable surface. By combining the property of water with the effect of gravity, the surface of the bowl of water would be flawless, and would perfectly reflect the face of the person looking into it. The Teacher could think of no better analogy for providing a picture of understanding the true character of a person. One can get some sense of who a man is by the things he owns. But that would still leave room for flaws in the reflection. One can get some sense of who a man is by his occupation. But that would still leave room for flaws in the reflection. One might get some sense of who a man is by what he says about himself. But that would still leave room for flaws in the reflection. One might get some sense of who a man is by what others say about him. But that would still leave room for flaws in the reflection. How can we best know who a man is? By discerning what is in his heart.
We can get some sense of who God is by observing the beauty and precision of His creation - but we still could not understand His character. We can get some sense of who God is by studying His law - but we still could not understand His character. We can get some sense of who God is by witnessing His miracles - but we still could not understand His character. We can get some sense of who God is by what others say about Him - but we still could not understand His character. How can we best know who God is? By discerning His heart. The chorus from the hymn Near to the Heart of God says 'O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God'. Hebrews 1:3 says it so beautifully; "The Son is the radiance of God's glory, and the exact representation of His being." If we want to know who God is; if we want to understand God's character; if we want to discern God's heart; we see Jesus. The heart of Jesus emanated the love and grace of God. The heart of Jesus was to search and to save. The heart of Jesus was to serve. We can get a sense of God's power and glory by observing His creation, but we can only truly understand His character by seeing Jesus' heart.
Jesus says to us, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples; if you love one another." You cannot fabricate the love of God, and you cannot fake the love of God. You can only receive it and let it flow from your heart. Paul writes in Romans 5:5, "God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." People can know something about us by what we own, by our occupation, by what we say about ourselves and by what others say about us - but people can only truly know our character by what is in our hearts. If Christ rules in our hearts, His character will be reflected. If we rule our own hearts, we misrepresent Him to the world. The greatest characteristic of His heart was love through service.
A man may espouse the great doctrines of God; he may be in church every time the doors open; he may place huge sums in the offering plate; he may be highly esteemed in the community; but his true character will be reflected in his heart. If he does not have a loving, serving attitude, he is not fit for the kingdom of God. Am I overstating the case? Read 1 Corinthians 13. It's God's Word.

October 26

2008-10-25T20:54:00.000-04:00

Oct 26 - Today from Proverbs 26 we look at verse 11
"As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly."

Why does a dog return to its vomit? Because it tasted so good the first time! Because the dog lacks the ability to reason why it vomited, it doesn’t realize that whatever caused him to be sick in the first place is likely to be in the contents of that very vomit. I know it’s a repulsive picture – but I think that is exactly what the Teacher is trying to accomplish here. I think he would have his students vividly remember how dangerous foolish behavior can be - and how utterly repulsive it is when the same behavior is repeated.
Because dogs are prone to eat spoiled things (I never understood a dog’s tastes), God designed the dog’s body with a protective reflex that expels that which would do it great harm and possibly kill the animal. (It’s better to be a little sick than dead.) Hopefully the experience is so traumatic that the dog will have lost his appetite for awhile and walk away. But sometimes the temptation is just too great, and the ignorant beast returns to that which is able to kill him and once again he ingests it. What a pitiful thing!
People have been endowed with a much greater ability to reason than have dogs. How much more pitiful when a person escapes from severe harm or death when they have acted foolishly, only to return once more and enter the same folly. Why not just be grateful and walk away? Because it tasted so good the first time! The fool never takes the time to reason that the consequences were a direct result of their self-serving, self-gratifying actions. It seems that often they never take the time to reason at all. They are driven by their senses, and when properly stimulated their first course of action is to satisfy whatever senses are in play.
Sometimes English can be a strange language. Take the word sense. It can mean having to do with the five senses of the flesh (hearing, sight, smell, touch, and taste). From this definition we get the word sensual. Or, sense can pertain to acquired perception (having good sense). From this definition we get the word sensible. Although God created us with both, the one that is to dominate is the second. The sensual fool is like the dog that returns to its vomit. The sensible man is the one who understands the poison in the vomit and is repulsed by it. Let us live as sensible men.

October 25

2008-10-24T22:30:00.001-04:00

Oct 25 - Today from Proverbs 25 we look at verse 25
"Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land."

The war in Iraq introduced a new experience in the incredible ability to follow battlefield events in real-time. For the first time we had TV news reporters imbedded with the troops and actually broadcasting the war live from multiple locations. Today we get updated reports of events from around the world as they happen. Often it is anxious, even disheartening. But every once in awhile, there is some really good news. We all enjoy hearing good news. In the midst of the realities of a fallen world and all of the pain and corruption caused by the fracturing effects of sin (self-serving ways), good news is indeed as refreshing as a glass of cold water to a parched thirst in a dry and weary place. Good news from a distant land intensifies the refreshing.
In contrast to the modern marvel of real-time technology, in the days in which the proverbs were written communications came by way of runners. There was no 'real-time' news from distant events. As the battles raged, the peoples of the nations involved would wait with great anticipation to see the figure of a runner on the horizon. Kings and leaders would often try to anticipate what the news would be in accordance with the number of runners or the character of the runners. If the news were favorable, the military leaders would usually send a favored runner, as the runner would often be rewarded. If the news were unfavorable, the runner chosen would be of lesser importance - perhaps even expendable if the news were bad enough. We can see this cultural reality in 2 Samuel 18. Here the battlefield news of the death of Absalom, David's rebellious son, was to be delivered to King David in Jerusalem. Commander Joab knew how the news would affect David, so he sent an unfavorable Cushite to run. A favored runner, Ahimaz, thought David would be delighted with the victory over the rebel, and desperately sought to be the runner. Joab says, "My son, why do you want to go? You don't have any news that will bring you a reward." Ahimaz thought he had some 'fresh water', but Joab knew that the water was to be tainted with bitterness for the King.

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'" (Isaiah 52:7) As believers, we are chosen and called to be runners for Christ the King. We are to carry the good news that Jesus overcame sin and death at the cross and rose again from the tomb. The battle is won! Sin has been dealt a mortal blow! OUR GOD REIGNS TRIUMPHANT!
We live in a world of 'weary souls'. Weary from trying to please self, weary from trying to please others, weary from trying to please God. It's maddening. We have the best news possible - that God made peace with us through Jesus Christ. "Peace on earth, good will toward men." That is our message. We bring it from a distant land - from the home of the Father. It is a matter of perspective. It is really the lost who are in the distant land, and we bring the news to them from the heart of God; "God loves you and offers you immunity from your sin through the death of His own Son." Only this time there is no bitterness in the Father's heart, for the Son lives! He was resurrected and lives to restore all who will believe on His Name. Indeed, "Our God reigns!"
We soon begin the season of Advent. We contemplate the first coming of Messiah, Jesus Christ. The world celebrates Christmas, but they do not celebrate Christ. It is a great opportunity for the Church. We must stop bearing an attitude of 'serve us', and develop the attitude of 'service'. He came to redeem - and to set an example unto the redeemed. Let us faithfully carry His message through our service.

October 24

2008-10-23T22:24:00.001-04:00

Oct 24 - Today from Proverbs 24 we look at verses 33 & 34
"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest - and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man."

This passage must be taken in context with verses 30-32 where the Teacher shares an experience where he passed by a field and vineyard belonging to someone who failed to properly care for them. They were overgrown with choking weeds and the protective stone wall that surrounded them was broken down and in disrepair. The Teacher did not simply shrug and walk on. He contemplated as to just how this potentially fruitful enterprise ended up in such a state. What a shame to have something with such great potential in one's possession, and then see it lie in an unproductive state! "Why?" he asks himself.
Today's passage is the conclusion of his pondering. It primarily has to do with two commitments to the land; vigilance and diligence. The Teacher is not forbidding proper rest, he is warning against resting at improper times. The passage could easily read, "A little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands to rest. . ." Brought into today's culture, it could read, "A little more TV, a little more shopping, a little more golfing . . ." name your own little more.
Just as there are two commitments at hand, there are also two applications. We have been given stewardship of our time, our talents and our material possessions. We are to be vigilant that we do not allow laziness and procrastination to overcome and rend them fruitless. How fruitful is four hours in front of the TV set? Is that the best use of our time? We have become a society that 'channel surfs', looking for at least the best of the worst. If we were disciplined to watch something on TV that might be decent or beneficial, then why do we need to channel surf? If we have been given spiritual gifts (and every believer has), are we diligent in developing and utilizing them in a manner that brings honor to God? Or do we merely intend to attend that task when there is nothing better to do? How about our material possessions? Do we seek to invest our treasure where there will be a return for God's Kingdom? Or do we seek more to spend our treasure for pleasure and convenience? Tough questions. Questions that deeply convict me. What am I going to do about it today?
The second application is closely related. The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:9, "For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." The we Paul refers to is the equippers; the apostles, pastors and teachers. The you Paul refers to is the members of the local body, in this case, the church at Corinth. God has greatly invested in the field of His Church, and He invested in order to see a fruitful harvest. In the same breath, Paul also uses the analogy of a building in order to bring out another facet of his illustration. The analogy of the field cannot properly be used to show how God will judge the church's vigilance and diligence in use of her time, talent and treasures. With the building he can. The building will be tested by fire (judgment of the saints), and everything that is not genuine will be burned up. All the hours of TV watching, of shopping, of playing golf, . . .whatever. If it was not of God and was not genuine of the faith, it will be removed. Only what is of God will remain. This is not a message of salvation or damnation - Paul is writing to the blood-bought church. It is a message of what will we take with us into eternity when we pass over; our character. Everything else will have been sent ahead as we followed God's lead. An equipper recently gave our church a profound thought to as we sat under the teaching of God's Word. It was this:
"What you do here will count when you get there."
You are God's field. He has provided everything you need to be fruitful. What a shame to have something with such great potential in one's possession, and then see it lie in an unproductive state. The choice is yours.

October 23

2008-10-23T08:17:00.000-04:00

Oct 23 - Today from Proverbs 23 we look at verses 13 & 14
"Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death."

First we must qualify what this proverb is not: It is not license for parents to arbitrarily beat their children. To give such license would be an excuse for venting frustration, anger and rage. Discipline of a child is never meant to be an outlet for the anger of the parent, it is to be controlled by the parent as a tool of corrective measure.
Now let's examine what this proverb is. It is corrective instruction to parents who believe that a child will eventually find the right path if left to their own ways. Some parents refuse to apply proper discipline for fear that they will alienate their children, or will damage them emotionally. The Teacher reveals that just the opposite is true. Children who are allowed to 'mature' (sic) without boundaries become prideful, self-centered, and are among the first to become disrespectful of their parents.
The 'rod' is an analogy for discipline that requires anguish. For a very sensitive child, this might be no more than a corrective word. For a strong-willed child, this might be a spanking. In either case, the measure is to be controlled and corrective - administered in tough love. A child needs to learn that when they disobey, the payback is greater than their self-serving pleasure. If they continue to grow with no immediate consequences of their inappropriate behavior, they will continue to ingrain such behavior into their character right into their adulthood.
The Teacher is addressing the reluctant parent - not the over-zealous. Some parents cannot bring themselves to inflict anguish on their children for fear that it will 'kill their spirit'. The Teacher is saying that this is a great misconception. If the situation warrants, go ahead and apply the needed discipline, it will not kill the spirit of the child. In fact, properly applied discipline will keep the child from developing destructive behaviors into adulthood that will bear far more serious consequences.
Pain is a part of life. It is an indicator that we need to correct something. If we touch a hot stove, pain indicates that we need to move our hand quickly or there will be serious consequences. Pain if a gift from God, and we need to learn how to utilize this gift as much as any other. God takes no personal pleasure in disciplining us with anguishing situations. He does it because He loves us, and He wants us to 'pull away' before we suffer even more serious spiritual consequences. As you study God's Word, you will see that any time painful discipline is applied, He always follows up with grace when the lesson is learned.
Not all pain in this life is disciplinary action from God. No more than all pain in a child's life is disciplinary action from the parents. But when we are experiencing extraordinary anguish in our lives, and we have conviction in our hearts, we would be foolish not to run to our Father and confess our error and ask for His grace to repent and make it right. That's his desire. That's called 'maturing'. That's what every parent should want of their child.

October 22

2008-10-21T22:07:00.000-04:00

Oct 22 - Today from Proverbs 22 we look at verse 2
"Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is maker of them all."

This proverb is not about how much or how little wealth God endows us with in this life. Rather, it is about pride and prejudice. People’s financial positions in life are a result of many factors. Most of the basic factors are out of our control. People who use financial wealth as a measure of the quality and value of a human life are in serious error. God is not going to judge any man by what he was able to accumulate by the end of this life. He will judge each of us according to what we did with the resources with which He did endow us. Any who happened to be in a position to have lots of wealth will also be held with lots of responsibility before God as to how they administrated their endowment. We came into this world with nothing, and we leave it with nothing. The only thing we will take with us is our character. That is the part of our lives that God is most interested in.
People of Godly character are people who realize that every human being is uniquely made in God's image. That's what gives a person value. Sin has fractured and distorted that image, but it is not material wealth that restores it. To think that man's greatest potential and highest achievement is realized in how much wealth he accumulates is the basis for idol worship - whether we claim to be believers or not. We are called to love God with our all and to serve one another in community. There are no qualifiers on who we are to serve. Our greatest example was our Lord Jesus. The gospels say little or nothing about His financial status, but constantly focus on His excellence of character. His character is later defined by the apostle Paul in his epistle to the Galatians. We know them as the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
I have had the marvelous privilege of traveling to numerous third-world countries and meeting some saints who had so very little of this world's goods yet were of the richest of character. To know them made me richer. The circumstances of life that daunted their ability to gain material wealth were the very circumstances that forged the character of Christ in them. Were they in any way inferior to the wealthy I sit with in church each week? Not at all. In fact, I suspect that on that Great Day, we will all discover that their wealth will far exceed ours.
That's just a guess of course.

October 21

2008-10-20T21:36:00.001-04:00

Oct 21 - Today from Proverbs 21 we look at verse 17
"He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich."

The Hebrew word for 'loves' in this proverb means to have 'great affection for'. Affection is most generally related to the emotions rather than the will. In our language, the root of the word affection is the Latin word affect, which means to do. The Hebrew word for 'pleasure' means 'lightheartedness and carefree'. Thus, as we contemplate what is being said here, we are talking about being brought into carefree action through emotional influences. Sounds pretty good up to this point, doesn't it?
Affect also means to bring about change. Thus, we can assume that the love of pleasure will bring about some sort of change. The Teacher says that the change will be exhausting. It will exact some sort of cost. The big problem with people who have a great affection for carefree living is that they seldom develop a sense of responsibility. Left to their own devices, they indeed will become poor. Instead, they often turn to deceitful and sometimes criminal ways in order to sustain their carefree lifestyles. And, if they ever were to tell themselves the truth, they would have to eventually admit that it isn't so carefree after all. The love of pleasure always exacts a cost.
Why is that? Because the return on pleasure is temporal. Pleasure is pure expenditure, there is nothing given back for investment. For example: A man can go out for an evening, enjoy some fine cuisine, get heady on a bottle of fine wine, listen to some fine music, dance with an enchantingly beautiful woman and feel like he has found a bit of paradise on earth. When he awakes the next morning he has little more than a headache, a lightened wallet, and some fading memories. He has nothing in hand to invest into his future. Pleasure exhausts resources. People who place pleasure high on their values list are people who live by emotional affections, and people who take little responsibility in life. They are either going to have to 'grow up', or they will become exhausted of resources or exhaust the resources of people around them. Usually both.
God does not forbid man any pleasure in this life. In fact he encourages it in moderation. (For a rather astounding example, read Deuteronomy 14:22-27). He simply wants man to keep pleasure in perspective and He asks that we enjoy our pleasures in His presence. Pleasures are designed to share in fellowship. God enjoys our fellowship. He asks that we live balanced lives, living responsibly. Our pleasures are to be a benefit of responsible living, not a priority.
The apostle Paul sets forth this principle quite well in 1 Corinthians 6:12. It is believed that the Corinthian Church's argument was that in being saved by grace, 'everything is permissible for me.' Paul adds the law of discipleship and says, "'Everything is permissible for me' - but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible for me' - but I will not be mastered by anything." Disciples are to live in a manner that honors and glorifies their Lord. Jesus never set pleasure as a priority, yet I am sure He and His disciples enjoyed numerous pleasurable experiences together. His first recorded miracle was at a pleasurable event - a wedding reception where God's people were celebrating His goodness in His presence (John 2:1-11). Jesus turned water into wine in order that this celebration before God could continue to its appointed end. But - it did end! Jesus and His disciples never shirked their responsibilities in order to keep the party going. That would not have been beneficial. Wisdom calls us to view and to live all of life in proper perspective - even the pleasures in life.

October 20

2008-10-19T23:01:00.001-04:00

Oct 20 - Today from Proverbs 20 we look at verse 22
"Do not say, I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the Lord and He will deliver you."

And from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:43-45a, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."
And from Paul' epistle to the Romans, chapter 12:17-19a, "Do not repay evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath."
Did you ever set up a row of dominoes in such a way that when you push the first one down, a chain reaction occurs and they all go down? That serves as an excellent illustration of how pride and sin work in this fallen world system. Ephesians 6:11 & 12 exhorts us to put on the full armor of God so that we might stand against the devil's schemes. Our struggle is not against people, but against the spiritual forces of darkness. Revenge is one of the devil's schemes. He influences and exploits evil men in attempts to set a chain reaction that will topple as many others as possible. As long as men act in pride, the row continues to go down. It is only when one acts in love that the chain is stopped. Satan is the epitome of pride. Love is as foreign to him as light is to darkness. When he plots his evil schemes, he never calculates the element of love. When God's people act in love instead of pride, it undoes his scheme, and God gets the glory. Will the prideful pawns of the devil 'get away' with their evil acts? That is up to the Supreme Judge. From the truths we read in the three passages above, we can be assured that our Father will make sure justice is served - His way. The important thing is that we do not play into the schemes of the enemy by taking justice into our own hands. When we do, the row just keeps falling - and we will never know how far it will go.
A 'pound of flesh' may seem very satisfying for the moment, but you can be sure it appeals only to wounded pride. And, you can be sure that there will continue a reactionary chain of events in the spirit realm which will trigger more evil. Love, mercy and kindness disarm the schemes of the devil, and gives entrance to the rule of the kingdom of Christ. If there is to be judgment and wrath, we are to leave room for God's wrath, it's not ours to personally handle. If we try, we'll just push the next domino.