Wisdom And Fools

Proverbs 16: 21, 23

The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words [make one pursuasive in] promot[ing] insruction.
A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and [makes] his lips [pursuasive,] promot[ing] instruction.

If I want to have any influence in others' lives, if I want to show how beautiful and wonderful our God is to the World; then I need to have wisdom. Not the world's wisdom, but true wisdom from the Designer and Maker of this realm. 

Proverbs 9:10: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the holy [One] is understanding.

So I must have reverential respect (fear) for the Lord God, then I will begin to understand the wise way to go, the words of wisdom I am to speak. Because: 

Psalm 111: 10: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding (or good success) have all they that do His commandments. ...

Just knowing them is not enough. It takes obedience. I must do what He says, if I want to have success in my endeavors. 

Jesus talked about two men who both built houses. Both were building a nice home to live in with their families, to fill with beautiful furniture, etc. But one paid attention to the foundation underneath it, and the other one didn't. So when the storms of life happened to both of them, the one house (life) withstood the tumult, and the other was destroyed (see Matthew 7:24-27; and Luke 6:46-49). 

The foundation upon which we build our lives is the determinate of whether we will succeed in life or be destroyed. Jesus prefaced both tellings of this story with saying that just knowing what He said was the sand under the one house, and obedience to, doing what He commands, is the rock foundation under the other house that withstood the same storms that destroyed the other. 

But I need to remember:

Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

 The Book of Proverbs uses the word "fool" for a person who is morally deficient, not necessarily mentally deficient. These "fools" can be very highly intelligent, even geniuses, and very talented; but they have no understanding of God's holiness and purity, which we see here as a high moral compass. 

They see nothing wrong with the most depraved and unhealthy lifestyles imaginable; yet judge godly people as hateful for not approving these disgusting acts. They are showing their despising of wisdom and the instruction that would teach them better. 

To deal with these people takes much godly wisdom. Jesus said not to cast our pearls before swine, lest they trample them and turn and attack us (Matthew 7:6), which has happened all too often, as we see in the press. 

But Jude says that we are to save them with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh (Jude 23). If this isn't hating the sin while loving the sinner enough to endanger oneself, I don't know what is. 

So, Father, I need Your wisdom in all that I do and say, whether in this blog or in my spoken words or in my emails and texts. Help me, Father, to think before I speak or type; think how the words I will convey will be received by the hearer. To think about the words I use that they will accurately present Your Truth and Your Love and Your Justice, Your mercies and grace. 

Let me break through the gates of hell that shield my loved ones from understanding Your wonderful ways, Father (Matthew 16:18). Give me pursuasiveness in dealing with them, and the victory in Christ through His precious Blood and my personal testamony of Your goodness to me (Revelation 12:11). 

And may we all bless Your holy Name. May we all worship You in Your holiness and majesty. May we all delight in bowing our knees before Your Throne, my God and my King and my Lord. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Desiderata

Romans 12: 18

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 

Well, this is the kicker. As far as it depends on me! I need to watch myself, I need to be the one who is in control of myself, because I certainly cannot control anyone else. 

I need to take great care with my words, to use words of Life; encouragement, appreciation. Not words of death; criticism, complaint, condemnation. 

My attitudes toward others need to consider what is good and pleasant and desirable in each one, not what I disagree with. 

O my Father, help me see others with Your eyes, show me Your image in even those who are running from You and Your ways. Let me perceive the beauty You placed in them in Your likeness. Help me see past the ugliness and harshness and twistedness, to see what You see in them. 

Then, Father, let me share Your words with them, Your words of hope, of miraculous comebacks, of Life! And work in their hearts, Father, to draw them to Yourself, to turn them around and give them a brand-new life, as You did for Saul of Tarsis, as You did for me! 

You are our God of Miracles! Every time You save someone, it is a miracle of grace! You heal our hearts, our minds, our bodies, when we do things Your way, when we obey what You tell us to do! 

Let me not interfere; keep me out of Your way, my Lord God. Just let me do what You would have me do, and step aside to let You do Your thing. Just let me say what You would have me say, and shut up! 

Then You will receive all the glory, all the honor, all the credit for everything You do. For it is You Who are doing and working out Your great Plan of the Ages using every individual choice, every personal decision of every man and woman. 

As Time marches on, it marches in step with Your timing, Father, to prepare for the culmination of this Age of Man, to march into the Earthly Kingdom of our King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Human Spirit

Proverbs 20: 27

The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one's innermost being.

The spirit in a person is God's lamp--like a prism that directs His light into all the deepest recesses of a person's being. 

I think of the movie, The Dark Crystal; and it occurs to me that as the crystal in that story had been damaged, broken, and was therefore dark; so our spirits are darkened by our broken human nature, and cannot shine out God's light. 

When we are born into God's family, His Holy Spirit comes in and "heals" or "repairs" the "crack" in the crystal to make it whole, and then our spirits can function as God intended them to, in illuminating our whole life to His scrutiny and to our understanding of ourselves. 

My Father, Your Spirit shining through the prism of my spirit has brought light upon what I had formerly ignored in denial. 

O Father, continue to show me my failings, so that I can confess them and forsake them in my life, living a new way day by day, moment by moment--Your way of Truth!

Then my life can be an example for others to follow, as Paul said to follow him as he followed Christ. People tend to follow other people they can see, so let them see Christ in me. 

Then let me hear, "Well done!" when I face my Judge. 

And I will praise and exalt Your holy Name and give You all the worship, glory, honor and blessing throughout all eternity forever and ever!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Eyes Of The Lord

Proverbs 15: 3

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

God is always everywhere, because we are inside Him (Acts 17:28; In Him we live, and move, and have our being). So He is always aware of every person, every word we speak, every thought we think, every molecule that we are made of. He knows our attitudes, our physical and mental health, and every interaction that we have among us and Himself. 

There is nothing that we can hide from Him. So we might as well just be totally honest with Him and admit when we are wrong. When we realize this, we are humble before Him and let Him be God. 

Then we will realize that all His rules and precepts and commandments are all for our own benefit, so we can all get along and enjoy all the prosperity He put into this Earth we live on. 

We will build our World according to His Love, in loving Him back and loving each other as He loves us, and taking care of where He provided for us to live. 

But we as a human race will never do that until Jesus returns and sets up His Kingdom here, and enforces all His rules justly and timely. 

But maybe we can have our own little worlds operate more smoothly, as we live our own lives as an example for others. 

O my Father, I praise You for Your omni-presence, that You do see every detail of each of our lives.

I know that You record every detail of a person's live in the brain of that person, as well as in Your Book.

O Father, I pray for Your peace to be upon my house (my family, wherever they live). Please help us! 

We are all desperate for You, whether we realize it or not. Please open the hearts and minds of each of us to recognize how desperate we are for You! 

Draw us all to Yourself; forgive, strengthen, save, transform. Take us out of darkness into Your glorious Light! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Hatred, Love, And Forgiveness

Proverbs 10: 12

Hatred stirs up dissention, but love covers all wrongs.

________

V. 18

Whoever hides hatred with lying lips ... is a fool.

26: 26

Enemies ... whose hatred is covered by deceit ... 

8: 36

... All they that hate [Wisdom] love death. 

________

I John 4: 10-11

This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning Sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

I Peter 4:8

Above all things, love one another with fervent love, for love covers a multitude of sins. 

Matthew 6: 12, 14-15

And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. 

So what is hatred, what is love, and what's the connection with forgiveness?

Hatred has been called the opposite of love, as they are frequently contrasted. 

But both hatred and love can be very passionate, alive feelings. 

We know what love is by the way God has demonstrated His love for us, in sacrificing His most dear for our benefit; by sending His Son to take our death, individually, so His blood could wash us clean from sin, and God can now forgive us. So Love is sacrificial, to the end of forgiveness. 

God's forgiveness results from our being cleansed from every fault, made perfect, fit to live with Him in His home, Heaven.

So our love for one another must also require that we forgive one another. To refuse to forgive is to carry a grudge, which hurts only ourselves, and projects hatred toward the offender. 

John calls himself, "the disciple Jesus loved," and his letters lay out his understanding of the principle of Love. He says,  

I John 2:9-11

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

So the one who forgives and does not carry that grievance, but lets it go; that one is walking in God's enlightenment. But the one who carries the grudge is still walking in darkness, and doesn't realize what they're doing, or God's great love for them. 

Forgiveness is the test of love. To sacrifice for and forgive is to love as God loves us. Anything else is just human love, or even hatred. 

I think the opposite of both passionate hatred and passionate love is apathy, no passion at all. God noticed that the church in Laodicea was neither cold nor hot: I would rather you be cold or hot. So then, because you are luke-warm (apathetic), I will vomit you up out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:14-16). 

(There's not much that makes God feel an upset stomach, but apathy is one. For other things, just do a search on "abomination.") 

O my Father, thank You so much for Your great Love! You have done everything you possibly could do to show Your Love for us, in drawing us with Your kindness, and sacrificing Your very best and most beloved so that we could be made fit to live with You in Heaven. 

You want us to be with You, as Jesus said in the seventeenth chapter of John: Father, I will that they also, whom You have given to Me, be with Me where I am, that they may see My Glory... (17:24). 

Teach us all how to love one another as You have loved us, Father. Show each one of us how to see one another with Your eyes, to forgive as You have forgiven us, and to celebrate each others' good qualities while forgiving and letting our faults slide into the background. 

Father, You have loved me with such great, passionate Love, that You call me the Bride of Christ, to be Your bride throughout all eternity; to have that tender, close relationship of a Bridegroom and bride on their honeymoon, lasting throughout all eternity, forever and ever! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Let Them Know They Are But Men

Psalm 9: 19-20

Arise, O Lord, let not man triumph; Let the Nations be judged in Your presence. Strike them with terror, O Lord; let the Nations know they are but men.

King David here writes of other Nations around Israel, but today he could have written of the inner machinations of a bureaucracy; extensive tenticles reaching into every part of the citizens' lives. Some of this government is good, but much of it is just to further the politicians' power at the expense of the people. 

Many of these men and women do not admit that they are mere men and women, but consider themselves as gods who are not subject to the same laws and rules as the rest of the people. They promote policies that they claim to be "for the people," but only serve to line the pockets of those promoting them, as they reduce the freedoms that the Constitution grants the populace. And in the process, they are destroying people, Nations, and economies. They are robbing the people, and the people are the frog in the pot that is being heated gradually--and the water is very near boiling, killing the frog as it sits contentedly. 

Wake us up, O Lord! Open our eyes to see what is going on! Raise up men and women who know You and understand Your ways to take over the reins of government and implant the policies that would be for the genuine good for the people, in rightousness and honest judgment! 

And Your Name will be glorified, honored and praised for Your great wisdom, compassion, and power.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

A Little Folding Of The Hands To Rest

Proverbs 6: 9-11

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. 

Proverbs 19: 15

Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.

Proverbs 20: 13

Do not love sleep, lest you become poor; open your eyes and you will be satisfied with food. 

Proverbs 24: 33-34

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. 

As I read 20:13 I was falling asleep in my chair! And God repeats 6:10-11 in 24:33-34, because He knew I needed it reinforced! 

How many times have I sat down just to rest my eyes "for a moment" and fell sound asleep! 

How often have I stayed up too late and had a hard time getting up in the morning! How often have I "slept in" when I didn't have to go anywhere that day! 

How many days have I just schlepped around the house without even getting dressed! 

O my Father, You impressed me with this concept years ago, and I am still working on my ability to have the self-control to maintain some kind of schedule so that I won't waste away the hours and moments and days You give me. 

Father, give me victory over laziness and slothfulness. I seem to get better for a while, then fall back into it again, but not as bad. 

Father, before You came to me and redeemed me, I was trying to be a better person, but each time I fell back then was worse. 

Now I find that my relapses in this matter are not like the other problem I had before, that You healed me of, and I've remained healed. Now when I grow weary and want to sleep in, it's a one-time occurrence, not a continuous habit. 

And the days that happens are getting fewer and farther between. Continue to help me, Father. Show me each day the good work You have for me to do, so that I will be encouraged to be ready each day for whatever You have for me. 

Strengthen me, Father, to accomplish the tasks before me each day, to prepare for what is coming in days to come. Both the work You have for me to do, and also to lean on You when the hard times come. Help me to be fully prepared for both. 

Let my life be a good example to follow, to lead others to You, Father, and into Your ways. Let my walk agree with my words, so that integrity will hold me together. 

And You will receive all the glory, Father. You will be praised and honored and blessed by every tongue in all Creation; in Earth, under the Earth, above the Earth, and in Heaven, and throughout all the New Heaven and New Earth through all eternity, forever and ever!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!