No riding

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

NO RIDING

Prov 21:31

31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.

NIV

There is something interesting in this saying. The idea of horses. From our research we find the Lord had told the Israelites not to acquire horses, not to go back to Egypt to get more. Perhaps they may have had a couple of horses but were not supposed to have great numbers of them. Amoung the ancient nations, horses were used strictly for war. Oxen plowed the fields and pulled the cart, the ass and the camel carried the loads, mules and asses were used to ride. However Solomon acquired massive numbers of horses and chariots for the purpose of war.

1 Kings 10:26-29

26 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore — fig trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue-the royal merchants purchased them from Kue. 29 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.

NIV

What we learn here is although Solomon was the wisest of all men, he still transgressed the command of God. He should have never acquired all those horses as God told his people not to.

Deut 17:16-17

16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again." 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

NIV

This is exactly what Solomon did. The idea is the horse was used for war and having many of them gave the king the advantage over the army of foot soldier. How could even ten thousand men on foot win a battle against an army riding upon fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses? They could not. Here Solomon makes it clear he thought the horse, the power of man was the mighty arm that could win the victory, but alas that is not true, for the victory belongs to the Lord. Today we want to win our own victories under the power of our own strength. This might, this strength might come in various forms. It may manifest itself in our brain power, our intelligence, or in our ability to acquire wealth, or skills to advance in business, or even our knowledge of scripture. It is easy to trust in our own abilities rather than trust in God. We know our abilities and our weaknesses, we train ourselves to overcome our weaknesses, or learn how to lessen them, gaining more or new abilities. We even want the credit for our learned abilities, we might even have a sense of pride in them. We admire those who have great education, or numerous degrees. We admire those who are successful in business. We admire those who have great knowledge of the scriptures, or write many biblical based books and become famous among the Christian community. We admire those who have beautiful voices and are able to sing with the angels. Some become famous and we even pay to gather together to applaud their singing. There are so many ways we, as mere man, can think we have attained something. How foolish is all that. The victory is the Lords. All we are, all we have and all we do is due to the hand of God working in our lives. We think we can win on our own, but in fact that kind of thinking is being a loser. The real winner is he who trusts in the Lord. God has already told us time and time again that we are cursed if we trust in our flesh, our own ability, but blessed if we trust in him. Sure many relate that to salvation, we surely cannot save ourselves, but God is also speaking about life in general. This proverb is one of those instances. Jesus taught us not to worry about our life, not to strive for our own victory.

Matt 6:24-34

24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry , saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

NIV

Trust in the Lord for all aspects of life, for all things this life brings, praise him, thank him for to God belongs the victory. We cannot serve both our own abilities, and God. We cannot trust in our own horses to win the battle, even the battle against the forces of evil, the devil. We cannot win the battle against the foe of our soul, but God can and he does. He already won the victory over death and he will win every victory in our lives, if we but allow him to. That requires we set ourselves aside, set aside trusting in our horses. That means put the horses out to pasture and walk alongside God. 

God can

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

GOD CAN

Prov 21:30

30 There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.

NIV

Many men have tried to establish their own plan, their own wisdom, their own insight and it has always been found wanting, as it has not been the plan of God. We have a great example of this truth from none other than a Pharisee. When Peter and the other Apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin and told to stop talking about Jesus, Peter replied they have to obey God rather than man.

Acts 5:29-39

29 Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead — whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." 33 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed them: "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

NIV

We know because this was the plan of God that Peter and the others were successful and they were only flogged not killed and the gospel has been spread all over the world. But the Pharisee gave us the proof of the truth of this proverb. Many have started their own religious band and failed. We have seen this even in our age. Men start up some so called ministry, develop a band of followers, and it falls by the wayside in a number of years. The leaders either are found to be lairs, are arrested for some crime against their followers, then are imprisoned. Others seem to hang on, but their sphere of influence has diminished drastically. Then we have ourselves. Do we make our plans, do we develop our own wisdom, our own insight? It would seem this must be true otherwise we would not have such a multitude of denominations with differing views, with differing wisdom, differing insight, which are in a sense their own plan to live by. True they all might have the basics the same, salvation through faith in Jesus, but then the rest gets a little man-centered insight, man-generated wisdom. How do we know any of us have the right plan, the right wisdom and insights regarding God? The fact is the best we can do is listen to the Spirit. But then many say they do, and we still have differing views. Are they hearing conflicting insights from the Spirit? That cannot be, as the Spirit only testifies to the truth. What we can be sure is that God will always prevail. He will always get through all the man-created stuff and see to it his plan prevails. Man can do nothing without God. As much as we try, we will always be short of the absolute truth, unless we yield completely to God. This is giving up all we think we know, and letting God live in us as he designed us. We cannot fight against God in any way and expect to win. Even if we try to be a good Christian in our own strength, we will fail. If we try to obey all the commands of God with our own strength, we will fail. We will always feel a certain amount of guilt and shame because we are unable to keep ourselves totally free of some sort of sin. We cannot give ourselves grace. We cannot forgive our own sin. We cannot justify ourselves, we cannot make ourselves holy and blameless, but God can. So we are left with one truth, we cannot, God can.

True or false

DEVOTION

PROVERB

TRUE OR FALSE

Prov 21:29

29 A wicked man puts up a bold front, but an upright man gives thought to his ways

NIV

It is one thing to try to make people think we are alright, it is entirely another thing to know we are alright. Is this saying those who put on a façade are wicked? To put on a strong face, to make believe to be strong, the life is great, all as it should be, is the meaning of the Hebrew word translated bold. Having this type of outward continence all the while feeling a sense of emptiness, of lacking of true happiness, as well as an actual sense of guilt. But not knowing how to relieve the pain that causes the suffering within may be the real shame in that type of life. We know they have had the opportunity to know how to relieve the pain, but they have suppressed it by their wicked ways. Does the wicked person actually love their wicked ways? Why then would they put in a bold face? Why would they want to hide the real self? Maybe they do not want people to think of them as wicked? Perhaps that is the truth in the bold face, the false front, the façade. Yet we know there is an emptiness within them, they are missing the joy of the lord. They are missing the confidence we believers have in our eternal state. We have given thought to the true meaning of life, our real purpose for living. We may not have known that at the moment of our accepting Christ in our lives. There are many reasons people come to Christ. Some to escape hell, some to have their guilt of sin taken away. Some to find the answers. It is difficult to determine why every believer came to Jesus. Maybe some just grew up in a believing home and that is all they ever knew. But the point here is that once we accept Jesus, we give thought to how we live. We investigate the word of God, we study his ways, his plan for our lives, and his purpose for our lives. We consider, we ponder, and we give thought to how we live so as to be the person he intends us to be. This would also imply that we do not put on a bold face. This would imply we live with or in transparency, that is people get what they see, when the see us. We do not build those false fronts. This is why we can say when one member of the body is in pain we all are and when one member rejoices we all do. How can we than unless we are transparent, at least for the most part. It still appears many believers hide their sins from one another. Do we put on a bold face at church? Do we act all upright and holy, that we are great Christians, doing and serving and being all Godly like, all the while hiding secret sins? Is that being wicked rather than upright? Sure it may not be needed to expose every aspect to our sin to the whole congregation, but the fact is we do need to admit we are not perfect people, nor will we ever be totally free of sin in this body. Our righteousness is in Christ, we are hidden in him, he is our strong tower, our fortress, our refuge, our ever present help. This is truly given thought to who we are and who God is. No pretending to be upright, we have the confidence we are upright in the sight of God because of our faith in Christ. While one person lives false, we live true. 

Gossip

DEVOTION

PROVERB

GOSSIP

Prov 21:28

28 A false witness will perish, and whoever listens to him will be destroyed forever.  

NIV

There is a little discussion among the translators about this one as the Hebrew words might have several meanings depending on how they are seen in context. This translation has a foot note that says “or/ the words of an obedient man will live on”

The King James version states:

28 A false witness shall perish: but the man that heareth speaketh constantly.

KJV

Other versions have inserted "listens to the truth will endure". So it seems there is a duel way in which we could see this proverb. First we always know the false witness will perish, that is a given. To spread false rumors about someone is being nothing more than, first a liar, and second maligning someone’s character. How could anyone who speaks in such a manner not perish? A believer, a follower of Jesus Christ would never say such things about another person. However, it is even worse. During the time of Solomon making this statement there were not followers of Jesus, but only followers of the Almighty God. So then even those people who believe in God, but are not born again followers of Jesus, would or should not speak in such a manner, for if they do, they will perish. The second half of this proverb is where the not so given resides. If we approach it from the first version of the NIV, then we would have to say anyone who listens to the false witness, which implies believes that what that false witness says, will also perish. To accept the lies about someone, agreeing with them regarding the despicable character of another is in fact being despicable. What it comes down to is gossips will perish. But the person who speaks the truth will live on forever. We know the truth, the gospel message. Jesus is the truth. If we vary from speaking about Jesus we might well be in danger of perishing. That is not to say our salvation has been taken from us, but it is to say we are walking away from it. We cannot be believers in Jesus and partake in gossip, either speaking it or in listening to false unfounded rumors about what someone said, or did. If we are to love everyone, the love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love protects, love trusts, it hopes and preserves. Being a follower of Jesus means we will always speak kindly about others. We will not listen to the gossip, not partake in, but rather disapprove in a loving way of course. The fact is we like taking about other people. It makes us feel good to speak about either how someone else chooses to live, or their problems or troubles. The problem is we never really know all the truth of their situation. We might only have half of it, from listening to one side, or one version, and then not really knowing if that version is the truth or a false version of the truth. So then we find ourselves listening to a false witness, and we know the end result. This is not to say we should shut people off, or not be concerned about the lives of those who come in contact with, but we need to be careful as to what we listen to and the condition of our ears. Are our ears tickled by what we hear? Do we want more information, to what end? We have always said if we are not part of the problem and we are not part of the solution, we do not need to know the particulars of the situation, otherwise it is just gossip. Let us be careful what we listen to and what we speak. 

Sacrifice

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

SACRIFICE

Prov 21:27

27 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable — how much more so when brought with evil intent!

NIV

Why would a wicked person bring a sacrifice to God? Being morally wrong, a bad person would even want to bring a sacrifice to God? Then to do it with an evil intent makes it even more detestable. We could say that we in some sense are morally wrong people simply because we commit sin, even though we desire not to. But that is not the case, because of our faith in Jesus, God has declared us righteous, holy and blameless. Therefore we are left we those who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior as being the wicked. Now it might be possible there are religious people who are still classified as the wicked. We should consider not being religious, if that is true. It might be possible there are people who attend some church and simply live as any other unsaved person lives. They might even give in the offering and this might well be who this proverb is directed towards. Some religious people might even read the bible, and miss the point made here, because they believe their religiosity makes them holy. We cannot ever get caught up in that trap. We know we have sin in our lives, we know we cannot be righteous in and of ourselves or because we attend church. We know it is by faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved. Our sacrifice is acceptable to God because of Jesus. But if we get into the mindset that we give to get, we are in deep trouble. This whole idea that was spread in the 70’s and maybe even in the 80’s which might still be around today, that we cannot out give God may have developed from and/or into an evil intent. The purpose of that teaching was to give more and more to this particular ministry, which was supposed to be giving to God, then God would make sure the giver received far more money that he gave. That is nothing but an evil plot or intent. The other false teaching was the seed faith concept which was pretty much the same thing. Whatever we need we should give. If we need love, give love, but the whole of it was the author of this idea was wanting us to give him money, as if he was doing the work of God, then we would get money. It is all an evil intent by someone to get rich on the backs of the spiritually weak. Another false teacher was selling timeshares in an empire he and his wife were building for supposed believers. All an evil intent to fleece the flock. We have to always be on guard against the evil plots of the wolves in sheep’s clothing. We have to stay true to the course God has laid out before us. We give simply because we want to. It is not paying God back, it is not trying to buy his love or earn any brownie points. Giving does not make us a better Christian. Our sacrifices should be out of our love for God. True much of the funds we give go to support the works of the local church. But we need the local church, we need that place of gathering to worship together, to strengthen and encourage each other. In the days of the New Testament church they met in homes. Somehow, sometime, those meetings evolved into needing a building, or a place larger than homes would afford. Not sure how all that happened but here we are today, some churches with massive expensive structures, with multiple pastors or employees that need massive amounts of money to operate. We are not sure if this is what God meant about evil intent, but it seems something is not right there. Let us always be about God, about his way for our lives. Let us not get caught up in the trappings of this world, even doing church as the world does. Let us bring our gifts, our sacrifice to God from a heart of devotion to him and him alone, not for anything other than because we love him. We should not even bring it out of a sense of obligation or duty, but only out of love. 

The sluggard and the righteous

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

THE SLUGGARD AND THE RIGHTEOUS

Prov 21:25-26

25 The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.

26 All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.

NIV

Here is one of those unusual situations where two verses were needed to complete the idea. It appears there are two classes of people, the takers and the shakers. Those who refuse to work and expect those who do to support them. Yet it would appear the righteous, the shakers, are continually willing to give without reservation and quantity. But if the righteous give without sparing why then will the sluggard’s craving be the death of him? If he is being supported generously why should he work and why would he be brought to death? What about the age old saying, “You can give a man a fish and he will eat today, but if you teach him how to fish, he will eat the rest of his life”? No one knows as to this sayings origin, however its wisdom is obvious. Yet the sluggard would not even be willing to learn to fish, he simply refuses to learn to support himself and simply craves more than he has. But the wisdom in this proverb is regarding the difference between the two. It is not that the righteous give to the sluggard’s cravings. It is a show of the difference between these two kinds of people. One is a craver, the other is a giver. One thinks only of his own needs the other thinks of the needs of others. We might be tempted to think about this only in regards to material wealth. We see those who stand on corners or exit ramps with signs asking for support, while not applying for all the signs that say “Now hiring”. Are they truly in need, and we who have should really freely give? Perhaps, it is not for us to judge their condition. Just give without sparing. But then money is not the only thing the righteous should give without sparing. What about time? What about wisdom. Here is the idea of this. If a sluggard’s craving are the death of him, then the giving of wisdom, the gospel message, will bring him life. If the sluggard’s hands refuse to work, if he refuses to try to find life for himself, seek out the Lord, then he will indeed see death. But the righteous will liberally give the words of life, not sparing them from anyone. Just an idea that could be the meaning here. Yet it would seem it does refer to the material aspect of life. If that is true, then here is where greed and judgement enter into the life of us believers, the righteous. Do we judge those who would be considered sluggards? Do we withhold because we have judged them as lazy, or those who are working the system rather than their hands? They are on welfare, food stamps, housing subsidies and other government support and driving a nicer car then we have, yet they would be the sluggard as defined by this proverb because they refuse to work with their hands and they crave for more.  It does seem we have a problem in our society which may not have existed in the time of this proverb, although there were beggars then too. How do we give without judging? Who exactly should we give to? There are several agencies or church or religious organizations which must weed out the true needy from the sluggards. But again is that simply trusting in someone else to do the judging? Are we supposed to judge before giving? Does this mean we give to the sluggard? Maybe this just means we should be givers period. That would mean giving to whatever or whoever the Lord directs us to give and how much, no matter how much we have.  Is this about the rich young man, who appeared righteous, following all the commands, but then when Jesus told him to give, he went away sad, because he was greedy, not wanting to give that which was his. Whether it is giving material goods, wisdom, knowledge, or emotional or spiritual support, we are to give and do it without sparing, that is without holding back. This is a hard lesson, but it comes down to following the leading of the Lord in our giving. When prompted, we should give. It is that simply. 

Arrogant or humble

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

ARROGANT OR HUMBLE

Prov 21:24

24 The proud and arrogant man — "Mocker" is his name; he behaves with overweening pride.

NIV

We have already seen something like this, in that Solomon wrote that pride comes before destruction or in the King James Version, the fall. But here this prideful man is also considered arrogant and then called a mocker. This is the word that is used as to make mouths at. It is a scoffer, or one who gives God lip service. This is the person who says he trusts in God, but lives as if he trusts in himself. This is being arrogant in the fullest sense. This person might well believe in God for salvation, knowing they cannot save themselves, but as far as trusting God to provide all their needs, that is entirely a different story. They might even think that non-scripture is true, God helps those who help themselves. But actually it is what is considered a phantom verse. In fact It was Benjamin Franklin that made that saying popular in his writing of Poor Richard’s Almanac. This is so against all other scripture which tells us that cursed is the man who trusts in flesh.

Jer 17:5-6

"Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

NIV

Anyone who trusts in his own abilities is not only foolish, but arrogant and is mocking God. This would apply to every aspect of our lives, not just for salvation. If we trust in our education, our trade skills, our sales ability, our knowledge of the world and/or the scriptures, or our ability to produce an abundance of money for our future. No matter what we trust in , if it has anything to do with ourselves, we are being arrogant and foolish and are operating in an overweening pride. This means a passionate outburst of arrogance. It would be someone who strongly believes they are right, they use scripture out of context to support their wild ideas of self-reliance. They refuse to see the truth. We cannot afford to have any arrogance at all. If we think we are rich, we are poor and naked. If we think we are smart, we are not. If we think we have anything because of our ability we are being unaware of his provisions. We cannot trust ourselves in any way, for without question, we fail God all too often. How can we trust ourselves if we cannot do all that God desires for us to do because we are imperfect in our humanity. True, in the spirit we are already made holy and blameless in his sight. Not because of us, but because of Jesus. But in the flesh we are weak and unable to attain this pureness, this holiness, this righteousness. So then why would we trust this flesh for anything else? We must trust God completely or don’t trust him at all. How can we ever think we can only partially trust God, which is trust him for one thing, but not for another. We cannot serve both God and money, or self.  It has to be either or, not part one and part another. Either we trust him or our self.  If we trust ourselves for anything we are cursed. If we trust him completely we are blessed. Arrogant or humble, that is our choice. 

Calamity

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

CALAMITY

Prov 21:23

23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.

NIV

There is not much more we could say about this, as it speaks volumes to keeping a lid on some of our thoughts and feelings. It seems way too easy to respond in the wrong way when talking with someone who simply only sees everything from their point of view. If we say something which opposes them, wham, calamity strikes. There is a time and place to speak up, but for the most part most people do not want us to voice our opinion when it does not match theirs. But silence is not the answer either, especially when it comes to sharing the gospel message. Satan would want us to guard our mouth and tongue for certain then. Yet it is possible to experience calamity if we voice the message in the wrong place at the wrong time. Again, there is a place and time for the message to have the best effect and the Spirit will guide us in that matter. However in our interactions, our conversations with people about the more mundane matters of life, we should be on guard about blurting out words that could cause a calamity. It might be best to just listen, just listen and then just listen. If at some point a request for a response is given, it may well be best to consider just what would be the best response, not want we think, but the best response that would keep a calamity from ensuing. This in most cases would be a response that pleases the ears of the requester. It makes for a poor relationship or open communication, but then how many people are really interesting in open communication when that would mean they are hearing something they do not want to hear. No, it is best to keep the mouth shut, and the ears open, and maybe just nod and smile. That is unless we enjoy calamity. 

Strongholds

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

STRONGHOLDS

Prov 21:22

22 A wise man attacks the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust.

NIV

Wisdom is always preferable to strength. It is possible to be both, but this saying is making the point strength alone has no value. Those who put their trust in their own strength will be pulled down. This certainly implies those who reject the power of God in their lives and rely on their own abilities, their own skills to make their way in life. They have built their life as a fortified city, but wisdom will prevail against them. We can argue with them until the cows come home and it might be simply like speaking to a brick wall. This does not relieve us from the responsibility of sharing the gospel message. However it is the wisdom that comes from God that will tear down their strongholds. This wisdom from God is Jesus. He said that he would built his church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against him. James tells us if we lack wisdom, we are to ask God and he will give it to us liberally without finding fault.

James 1:4-5

 5 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.

NIV

So then it is possible that we can attack the stronghold of the mighty with the wisdom given to us by God and we can prevail. Yet on a more personal level, do we build any strongholds within our heart and mind? Do we build the stronghold of good works, or good deeds? Do we build the stronghold of self-reliance for our needs or wants? Do we build a stronghold of security through money? Do we build strongholds of education or knowledge? Do we build strongholds of physical appearance? There are so many ways we can construct a stronghold in our heart, yet the wisdom that comes from God can tear them down. He attacks our strongholds and pulls them down one by one until all we are left with trusting in is Jesus. It would be far better never to attempt to build any in the first place. This is once being freed from the bondage of the law, not to put ourselves back into bondage to some law of our own. Let us simply be wise and leave all our trust in Jesus. 

Pursue

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

PURSUE

Prov 21:21

21 He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.

NIV

A very positive statement. The idea is first we should pursue righteousness. What is righteousness, or better yet the question should be, who is righteousness?

Phil 3:7-11

7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

NIV

The scriptures are full of this word righteousness. We are admonished to pursue it over and over again.

Matt 6:33-34

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness , and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

NIV

When we follow after the righteousness that comes from God our lives will be filled with first the love of God, then our love for God and finally our love for our fellow man. But this all hinges on the fact that we are pursuing righteousness. In the sense that Jesus is our righteousness, then we should be pursuing Jesus. True we have him in our heart if we ask him, as to say we are saved because we accepted him as Lord and Savior. But are we making him the first priority of our lives? Is becoming more like Jesus our first and foremost driving force of our life? We should consider if we are more engaged in the self-sustaining efforts of life, that is fame and fortune, maybe not even the fame, but just the pursuit of making an abundant life for ourselves, then we are not pursuing after Jesus. Yes, we need to work. Yes we need an income to support our way of life. Yes, we need the food, clothes, cars, homes and all the other stuff. But Jesus tells us to seek him first and foremost and he will add all the stuff to us. Have we gotten a little out of whack in our method of life? If we want true life, everlasting life, as well as the good life in the here and now and prosperity and honor then we seek the righteousness that comes from God first. Everything else is secondary. How easy it is to become distracted from our first love. How easy it is for life itself to become a distraction. How easy it is to become anxious about tomorrow, about next year, or the years to come. How easy it is to become so engaged in the worries of having enough money to have the things we want. Life just has a way of pushing itself up front and in our face. But we need to sit back, relax, take a breath and see the hand of God at work in our lives. We need to take hold of that truth, he is our all in all. He is the reason we have life in the first place. He created us to be his crowning glory. We belong to God. Our lives are in his hands and therefore we need to pursue him, pursue his righteousness in our lives. This should be our number one course of action in our lives. Then we can enjoy the peace of God, the rest of God, the love of God, the prosperity of God, the honor of God. To have God give us honor, to have him say, as he did of David, “This is a man after my own heart” That is a true honor. Let us seek, let us chase after, let is pursue God.  

Ready

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

READY

Prov 21:20

20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.

NIV

At first we might be tempted to see this as the one scriptural basis for storing up wealth as a wise thing while not storing it up as foolish. Our scholars of old have enough of the good things of life, they want to embrace the idea of this storing up of material things for future needs. They say we should live modestly in an old house keeping the safe full of funds, rather than buying a big house and not being able to maintain it. However we know that simply is not the case because of so many scriptures telling us not to store up wealth, not to put our trust in money, but to put our trust in God. Sure there is something to be said about being a good steward of what God has given us. But God has told us he will freely supply all our needs according to his riches in heaven, so then why would we have to be a good steward and store up what he will freely keep on giving? The idea is not just his suppling our material needs, but he freely gives his wisdom, his divine influence, his insights in to the truth. We certainly would not want to store that up, but rather give it away to as many as possible. There is a higher meaning to this proverb. The story of the ten virgins and their lamps, five who had extra oil and the five who did not tell us about the truth of this saying. It is the wise person who stores up that which is to be desired most, the wisdom of God. We should be ready to store up the divine influence of God upon our lives so to be ready to do his calling. The foolish person simply devours his own desires, having nothing of the wisdom of God and is not ready for the calling, as were the five virgins whose lamps were going out because they were not ready when the bridegroom called. All their oil was devoured. But we have enough of the oil of God stored up in our hearts so we are ready when the call comes. We have the greatest treasure, the pearl of great value stored in our hearts, Jesus. Because of him, we are ready. 

The Choice

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

A CHOICE

Prov 21:19

19 Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.

NIV

This is not much different than what we just saw in 21:9, except here instead of the corner of the roof, it is the desert. Both are places exposed to the elements and are considered a better place than in the company of a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife. The question is why would a wife be quarrelsome and ill-tempered? Is the blame on the husband? How can we ever blame someone else for our attitudes and/or our behaviors? The other question which we should consider is did this man marry a quarrelsome and ill-tempered woman. It is doubtful. But at some point in what should be a union of not just the flesh but the spirit, this woman turned into the quarrelsome and ill-tempered person. What can be the cause? Why the change in personality? Why the decision, why the choice to become this way? Again, does she blame her husband for her ill-temperedness? This should not be, as she has the choice how to behave, as we all do. Why do we allow others to control our attitudes and behaviors? It is not just the woman, although this proverb is all about the woman. We all have the opportunity to act in accordance with our own choices. We should not be about living in response, but living pro-actively. Sometimes it seems that many of us believers see God as living in response to us, as if he is some genie in the bottle waiting for our request. God is not a God of response, he is a pro-active God doing and acting on our behalf. No one asked him to send Jesus to be our Savior. For that matter no one asked him to be created. No one asked him to love us or make heaven and hell. If we want to be more like Jesus we should be living a pro-active life which means not a responsive life.  If we do respond to others it should be with love, rather than ill-temperedness. The husband here also has a choice. Here Solomon suggests it is better to live in the desert. It is interesting that Solomon had so many wives, why he did not just rid himself of the quarrelsome ill-tempered one. Maybe he did in the sense of removing himself physically, emotionally and spiritually from her, while still supporting her materially as he should. Maybe the desert represents that type of separation, living in isolation. Nevertheless we should see both have a responsibility to the other. This is not to say every marriage can be without some disagreements and maybe even some moments of heated talks. But the point is if we are in union with each other, physically, emotionally and spiritually, we will always come back to that place of living in love and harmony. We all have the choice as to how we live. 

The Ransom

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

THE RANSOM

Prov 21:18

18 The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright.

NIV

This is sort of a strange saying. How are the wicked a ransom for the righteous, especially the unfaithful for the upright. Does God punish certain people in order that we might be saved? It would seem our scholars of old are only focused on God cutting off the wicked in so they will not destroy the righteous. Is that the way God protects us, destroying wicked men so they do not hurt us? Maybe, but that really is not what is going on in this proverb. That simply is not the case at all, but what does this mean? We could understand that when Christ took all our sin upon him, in that sense he became, wicked. Then he was a wicked ransom for us. But he was not unfaithful ever. However in the Hebrew, the word translated unfaithful means to be a transgressor, or to offend. This too would define someone who was a sinner. If Christ took all our sin upon him, he became sin.

2 Cor 5:21-6:1

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

NIV

If Jesus became sin, he was in fact, under the definition of sin, wicked and was indeed the ransom for us.

Mark 10:45

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." 

NIV

The whole idea of being made sin, includes all the wickedness, all the transgressions, or unfaithfulness of mankind, and being the ransom for all who would accept it. We have been ransomed from death itself.

Hos 13:14

14 "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?

NIV

There is nothing we can do to escape death. There is no manner of lifestyle we can perform in order to escape the grave. We have no power within our own self to attain eternal life. We, all mankind, are condemned because of sin to death. However, God ransomed us through Christ. All we have to do is accept what Jesus did on our behalf. This is a free gift of God, he and he alone could satisfy his own need for justice. There is no “right enough living” that would free us from the grave, but Christ was our ransom. 

Richer or poorer

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

 RICHER OR POORER

Prov 21:17

17 He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich.

NIV

Many might have a bottle of wine and a bottle oil in the pantry and that certainly is not going to make a person poor. Yet it was more customary in the time of Solomon for people to attend banquets and the host would anoint his guest with what then was called an unguent or fine oil. The cost of which was worth three hundred days wages of the common working class person who harvested fields. We are seeing here the love of a life of luxury being shown opposite the love of God. This goes hand in glove with the scripture which tells us we cannot love God and money. It is impossible to love both. True riches are in Christ, those who seek after the wealth, the pleasures of this would will never gain the wealth of eternal life. Which would we rather have flowing from us, wine and oil or springs of living water? Although a person might have great material wealth if they do not have Jesus as their first priority, they are poor and naked.

Rev 3:17-18

17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

NIV

It is not that God desires us to be impoverished. He certainly has told us he would provide all our needs, all we need to do is ask and believe, not doubt. If we doubt we are like the double-minded man and we can expect nothing from God.

James 1:4-8

 5 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. 6 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. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

NIV

This double-mindedness is saying we trust God to provide, but we look to our own resources for security. James is specifically speaking about wisdom here, which speaks directly opposite to our spending great monetary amounts to gain what we think is knowledge that will yield us something in return. When all we need is to ask God for wisdom which will yield a far greater return. Yet the principle is the same. Jesus tells us to ask anything in his name and the Father will give it to us.

John 14:12-14

2 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name , so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name , and I will do it.

NIV

So who should we put our trust in? Should we seek after the pleasures of the world or the pleasures of God? We cannot do both, it is inconsistent with the teachings of Christ. We cannot desire the pleasures the world has to offer without being wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Do believers think storing up wealth is good stewardship? That also is inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus. How can we tread so close to the ideologies of the world and think we are pleasing to God? The only poor which is good is to be poor in spirit. Knowing God is our all in all, he is the only source of both eternal life and the life we live in the here and now. Nothing else truly matters. Let us always be about seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. He will take care of adding all the other stuff. 

Our choice

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

OUR CHOICE

Prov 21:16

16 A man who strays from the path of understanding comes to rest in the company of the dead.

NIV

Again this is surely a look into the free will of man, rather than the predestination of God. Here we see someone, in this case a man, however that is in the sense mankind, who was once enlightened. This is a person who has been saved. A person who knows salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and then walks away. This is not the occasional failing to live upright. This is not the falling short of the glory of God. This is not a person who desires to please God, but commits an act of unrighteousness in the body. When we are in union with Christ, as one man puts it, we are in Christ and he is living in us within our inner being, our spirit. But our flesh, our thoughts and sometimes our behavior is less than perfect. This is not straying from the path of understanding because we understand God and we understand our failings and also understand the forgiveness of God because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. But there are people who have had that understanding and decide to forgo all they understand and leave it behind to live a life of complete self-satisfaction. They decide to either denounce or ignore the truth of God. They push God out of their lives, they throw out the Spirit and make their own self the leader of their lives. In doing so they will come to rest in the company of the dead. This has been defined also in the New Testament.

Heb 6: 4

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

NIV

If they fall away, he has strayed from understanding, it is impossible to come back. They will be among the company of the dead. In the Hebrew the language implies they shall remain in the congregation of the dead. This means not coming back from the dead. There will be no resurrection of these dead. Now that does not mean they will not still stand before the judgment seat of God, but they will not be resurrected in the sense of being resurrected as Christ was, into a glorified state. We believers will experience this resurrection as Christ was. We will be in a glorified state, in fact, in the reality of God we already are because we are in Christ. But those who walk away from Christ, who kick him out, will not experience the glorified state of eternal life. They will experience death, not just the first death of the body, but the second death of the Spirit, the lake of burning sulfur and therefor they will remain in the congregation of the dead. It is possible for a believer to become a non-believer. God has given us the choice as to which destiny we will have. He invites all, but he does not force any. He will not ever forsake us, but he allows us to forsake him. From the very beginning he gave Adam that choice. Adam could not eat from both trees, it was one or the other, but he had the choice and he choose poorly. Because of Adam we all die, but because of Christ we all can live. We still have the choice to live after Adam or after Christ. Death or life, the choice us ours. We choose life. 

Joy and terror

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

JOY AND TERROR

Prov 21:15

15 When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

NIV

We certainly can see this truth in the world we live in. Those of us who live in accordance with the laws of the land find a sense of joy in the administration of justice by the government. It would be a terrifying place if lawlessness were the norm. What if a band of marauders roamed the streets taking whatever they wanted from whoever they wanted to, even freely killing those who opposed them without fear of any justice? Some believe this was the way of the Wild West in our earlier days of nationhood. But when there is justice, when the government establishes justice for those who would do evil, it brings terror to them. At least we would think so, once a man makes that final walk after spending twenty years on death row. But there is a deeper truth here. Let us think of the justice of God. The Hebrew would translated justice truly means judgement. This is want justice does, the judgement of a crime and the administration of punishment. Justice or judgement also acquits the innocent. In the final day of the judgment of God, justice will be done. Those of us who are in Christ will be, actually have already been, declared innocent. If we are in Christ, which we are, and Christ is perfectly innocent of all evil, being fully God and fully man, then we are also perfectly innocent and we will experience great joy on that day. We will hear enter, good and faithful servant, into my rest. We will also witness the evil, those who refused the grace of God, be told they wickedness has condemned them to be cast into the lake of burning sulfur. How can that not bring terror in their hearts? They will be standing before the presence of the Almighty God who they refused to acknowledge during their life on earth. They will know how wrong they were, but it will be too late. They did not accept what Jesus did for them and therefor they must now pay the penalty for their sin. Jesus had already paid it for them, if only they would have accepted his act of righteousness. But because they did not, they now stand condemned. It is sad to think we might know some of them and may have to watch them being cast away. We know there will be no tears in heaven and certainly we will be overjoyed to be among those entering into his rest. But at the same time we might have been able to assist some of those being cast out to find the grace of God, to find Jesus. Are we doing enough to share the good news? Do we find ourselves simply in a Christian bubble, protecting ourselves from the world? Have we not been told to go forth into all the world and preach the good news? This does not mean simply to support a few missionaries in foreign countries. This means we are to go into the world around us and preach the good news. This is where we live, where we work, where we play, where we shop, wherever we go, we should be ready in and out of season with a message of hope for the poor and suffering evil doers who are condemning themselves to the lake of burning sulfur. God is patience not wanting any of them to be cast out. His Spirit is at work convicting all men of their need to repent. His Spirit is at work in us, giving us direction and voice as to who we can speak the words of hope to. As we rejoice in the justice of God, let us help others to have reason to rejoice rather than experience terror. 

Soothe and Pacify

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

SOOTHE AND PACIFY

Prov 21:14

14 A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.

NIV

This seems to speak to lust or someone who covets. Anger is a very strong emotional feeling, but here we see that a gift or a bride given in secret will sooth such emotion. The reason it is done in secret is to conceal the sin of lust of the one filled with anger and wrath.  If it were done openly then all would know the reason of the bride. Yet sometimes that is done openly such as the case of Jacob and Esau. Jacob certainly was giving a bride to soften the heart of Esau. But how does this relate to our lives? What can we learn about either ourselves or the people we need to interact with? Perhaps the lesson we could learn would be to first always seek peace with others. This would prevent having someone angry with us and in need of some sort of pacifying. But the fact remains some people get angry over the dumbest things. If that anger is directed at us because of something we did or said, then it is up to us in secret to make some form of gift to soothe this anger. That would be a secret meeting to express regret in creating a situation which caused them to become angry. It is always best to ask to be forgiven in secret, so as to not draw public attention to their angry feelings. Sometimes people get angry for good reason, although it seems there should never be a good reason for anger. Maybe righteous indignation, but not anger. Righteous indignation is when someone is offensive in their manner or speech about Jesus. Anger is about someone offending someone else. Nevertheless if we are to be blessed then we are the ones who should be the peacemaker. We are always responsible to make peace. We are told as far as it depends on us, live in peace with all people. So then it will always fall upon us to make the effort to soothe anger, to pacify great wrath regardless of the reasons they exist.   

The Poor

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

THE POOR

Prov 21:13

13 If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.

NIV

Our first thoughts would be our salvation is dependent upon us giving to the poor, but then that is simply not true. Then maybe God will not answer any of our prayers unless we listen to the needs of the poor and give to them, but that also is not true. Jesus said to ask anything in his name and the Father will give it to us. There was only one condition, to ask in the name of Jesus. There is only one condition for salvation, to confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. So then how is our cry not answered if we shut our ears to the poor? It would seem caring for the poor would be a natural response to being a believer in Christ. But is there a principle at work here? Whatever we give, God gives us. If we give love, we get love. If we give mercy, we receive mercy. If we give grief or strife, we receive grief and strife. This is the seed faith concept Oral Roberts wrote about. Yet then we would have to say our entire relationship with God is dependent on what we do and want we do not do. The just seems to be all about saved by works, or rejected because of no works. Yet what about the poor? We would have to look at the poor in two concepts in order to make any sense of this proverb. First we would think of the financially poor, those without the needed money to sustain their lives a manner which someone deems less than normal. But then who is that? What is normal? Who decides which one is poor and needs their cry listened to? Is not that kind of poor relative? We are financially poor compared to a millionaire, or billionaire such as Bill Gates, or Bill Clinton, or Barak Obama, or Donald Trump. Someone who lives in a grass shack with a dirt floor and no electrify has much less than we do.  How do we determine who the poor are that we are to listen to their cry? What about our cry? Has the millionaire listened to our cry? So then this may not have anything to do with being poor in the sense of lack of money. Jesus made an interesting statement.

Luke 4:18-19

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,   19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."   

NIV

He was quoting from Isiah, but Jesus left some of Isiah’s words off. It is interesting how much we learn from these words and all the words that Isiah spoke.

Isa 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,   2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

NIV

It seems the poor are those who do not know the Lord. They are without the needed relationship for eternal life. The poor need to hear the good news. Jesus was anointed to preach the good news to the poor. Sure Jesus feed the five thousand, but also preached the good news to them. This is the concept many of the bible missions to the poor use. They feed them after they have heard a message about salvation. We have heard so much about having to meet the physical needs of someone before giving them spirit food. But the real need is that spiritual food which is the only food which leads to eternal life. Yet still does that mean if we are not listening to the spiritually needy, God will not listen to us? Perhaps if we are so self-absorbed and our life in Christ is all about us, and we have this us four and no more type thinking, then maybe God is not pleased with our style of Christianity and we are not being listened to. What about the give and it shall be given unto you? It seems it always comes back to doing the will of the Father. We should be giving in one way or another, that is then in opposition to storing up for ourselves. Either giving money to poor, but then who is the poor, or giving the good news to those who do not have eternal life. Is then our prayer life completely dependent upon our works? If that is the case, we need to get busy. If it is not the case, then what should we do? It seems we still need to get busy doing that which the Father has sent us to do and it has to do with the poor. 

Consider this

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

CONSIDER THIS

Prov 21:12

12 The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin.

NIV

We are a little confused with this and all the other translations as we look at the original Hebrew in the interlinear text. There are words not included in the Hebrew text which have been added for supposed clarification such as “the” and “one”. It may be the word order carries that implication and we are going to have to defer to those who have spent a lifetime doing translations of Hebrew. Yet it seems strange to Capitalize Righteous One and have a footnote denoting it could be man instead of one. However a man could never bring the wicked to ruin. So then we are left with the Righteous One, who would have to be God. He takes note or as the Hebrew text says, wisely considers the place, the dungeon, the family, the court, house, the word carries a wide application, but nevertheless it would indicate God wisely considered where the wicked are in their relationship to him. He sees and ponders on their position in his creation, how they have walked their own path and where they are spiritually. This again shows us he has allowed them to make they own choice to be wicked. However there it a time coming they will indeed come to ruin. We all have the choice to determine our own destiny. The wicked may well fell they are doing their own thing, living for the pleasures of this world. They might seem to be making it big, being on top of the world, living the good life, having all the physical pleasures they can gather to themselves. But a day of reckoning is coming, the sheep and the goats will be gathered to the throne of God and those of us who have been labeled sheep, because we belong to the Good Shepherd, will be told to come enter into his rest. But the goats, those who rebuked Christ, who refused his offer, and went they own way, will be cast into the lake of burning sulfur to their ruin, perish, which is the second death. This should give us great reason to rejoice for we are counted among the righteous rather than the wicked because we are in Christ. But at the same time we should not have an attitude that the wicked are going to get what is due them. We should consider they still have time to come to Christ. God is patience wanting all to be save and that none should perish. This should give us a reason to get out of our comfort zone, our attitude of us four and no more, and speak up about Jesus, about the Good News, for their sake. How can we just go about being saved and living, working among so many who are lost without making some effort to bring them to the saving knowledge of Christ? Yes, it is the work of the Spirit to convict men of the sin. But how will they hear unless someone tells them? Conviction of sin is the first step, but then they must know what to do, having been convicted, besides feeling guilty. They must hear the good news their guilt has been overturned by Christ and they can be declared innocent. Let us walk in step with the Spirit so we can be aware of someone under the guilt of sin. Then we can show them the way to freedom.  This is something to consider. 

Simple or wise

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

SIMPLE OR WISE

Prov 21:11

11 When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; when a wise man is instructed, he gets knowledge.

NIV

The first thing we need to understand is exactly who is this mocker. We know from our investigation when looking into the 1^st Psalm the mocker is one who makes mouth at, which is indicated toward God. To make mouth at God is no less than blasphemy. This could also be seen as one who teaches or preaches false doctrine, or false religion. A mocker, a scorner at the truth of God, making up their own set of beliefs to lead people astray becoming both followers and supporters of this false mouth. We certainly saw evidence of that in the scriptures and in our human history throughout the ages and now see it in our current society. Silver tongues speaking what the desires of the human heart wants to hear, rather than what it needs to hear. This proverb speaks to the issue of when one of this individuals is found out and punished for their crimes against God and society, the simple gain wisdom. Now we know who those followers of the silver tongue mockers are, the simple. This would indicate a simple minded person, unable to discern the truth of God for themselves. The simple minded are lead down a path of false doctrine like sheep to a slaughter. The mocker has been defined in scripture as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Matt 7:15

15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing , but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

NIV

The simple sheep allow this ferocious wolf to devour them up with his falsehoods. But they gain wisdom when this mocker is outed and punished. Now seeing the truth of the mockers false teaching, or at least the truth that the mocker was not true, the simple are now made aware of their need for true teaching. This is where true believers come it. This is where we who are not endeavoring to gain followers and supporter, but merely are trying to serve the Lord as he directs, give the simple the truth. We are able to instruct them in knowledge about God, about his word, about their freedom from the bonds of sin. Every true believer, every true follower of Jesus should be able to impart the knowledge of God in truth. The problem is there are so many voices out their preaching something other than the truth. This is why we have the Spirit and his gift of discernment. Yet it seems too many earnest seekers of the truth are listening to some silver tongued mocker spewing false doctrine on the airwaves. This is the importance of the gifts of the Spirit to the church. One is the gift of pastor/teacher. A local pastor, a local shepherd who knows his flock and his flock know him. A shepherd who lives his or hers life in front of the flock. Jesus said we know his voice and listen only to the shepherds voice. This is so important, yet even within this scenario we have all the different denominations with their slight differences in beliefs. But if the main points are the same, it is the same truth. We are sinners saved by grace. If we are going to see the kingdom of God we must be born again. Faith in Jesus Christ without adding anything to this faith, is all sufficient to be saved. What else do we need? Of course the scripture is full of instruction as to how we should live out this life of faith. Here is where the wise get their knowledge. Let us always be among the wise and never allow anyone to deceive us, making us the simple.   

Wicked or mercy

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

WICKED OR MERCY

Prov 21:10

10 The wicked man craves evil; his neighbor gets no mercy from him.

NIV

Let us pray we are neither this man nor live next to him. It is interesting the Hebrew does not have a word for man in this proverb. It merely states the soul of the wicked desires evil and does not find favor in the neighbor’s or associate’s eye. This might well have a conjunction with that contentious wife in the last proverb. She loves to fight, she loves to be quarrelsome, and she loves to disrespect her husband, she shows him no mercy.  Just a thought as this proverb has no gender in its tone. Yet this also applies to how we are toward our fellow man. The idea is that mercy is the opposite of being wicked. If we are not showing mercy, then are we craving evil? This Hebrew word translated mercy is very interesting. One lexicon simply states to be gracious, show favor, to pity. The other lexicon indicates it means to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior. Considering we should never have an inferior this would have to imply everyone. We have been admonished not to think more highly of ourselves then we ought as we all are sinners, some of us are simply saved by the grace of God because of our faith. So in that sense no one should be inferior to us, in fact, we are supposed to think or consider them ahead of us.  So then we are to show mercy to all who we come in contact with. Certainly acts of kindness are a part of showing mercy. But there is even a greater concept to consider. This is to be concerned about their lives, to listen to their plea for help. They may not actually be asking for help or acts of kindness, but in their words they share we can hear their plea. People are hurting, in pain because they do not know God in an intimate way. Their struggles in life, their issues with family, with their health, with their wealth, or lack of it, with their peace of mind and rest in their spirit. The greatest show of mercy would be to show them the kindness, the love of Jesus. Ask them if we can pray for them, and pray with them, over their live needs. Pray for the peace of Christ to come into their lives. When we do this, they will experience mercy. It is wicked to let them suffer in the agony of life without knowing the peace Christ brings. Let us not be that wicked, but be the person of mercy.  

Harmony

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

HARMONY

Prov 21:9

9 Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

NIV

It is pretty clear the meaning here, but still there is something which is missing. What we have investigated is the roofs of the eastern people were generally flat. They were used to retire to in the day, and sleep on in the hot nights. Many would have some form of furniture on their roofs. Some would have a canopy for shade, with tables and chairs under them. The point of living on a corner of the roof meant a person would then be exposed to all the elements, the storms, the wind, the heat and the cold of winter. This is considered a better situation then to live inside the house protected from all the storms, but having to deal with a contentious wife. This by no means relieved the man from providing the home for his family. However he was not going to engage this quarrelsome wife, thus insulating himself from her, removing himself from her attitude emotionally or mentally. This is the whole of the idea when within the New Testament instructions for family life are given. Men are instructed to love their wives, but wives are instructed to respect their husbands. Some translations use the word submit, however, in the Greek and the Interlinear, that verse does not have any word for submit, it was added.

Eph 5:22-24

22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

NIV

Yet the idea is the husband is the head of his family as Christ is the head of the church. The idea is that the wife should be toward her husband as the church is to Christ. This would also translate that a wife should be toward her husband as she is toward the Lord.  That would then be submission, obedient, respectful. A quarrelsome wife is none of these. Of course the message about how wives are to be toward their husbands is not a very popular message in the post-modern church. It was true that in that time of Solomon men might well have consider women with less respect, having no rights, no identity of their own, almost as property. If the wife disappointed the husband in any manner he could simply write her a decree of divorce and send her on her way. That is not the way in the New Testament after all the teaching of Jesus. He freed women from the oppression of mean men. He restored his original intent when he created both man and woman, making them equal but with different roles. Still he made man, then made a suitable helpmate for him. There is no place in a Godly home for a quarrelsome wife. It is not God’s intent for her to quarrel, but to be a suitable helpmate. Again this may not be a popular message in the post- modern church where women have been subjected to the influences of the world and the, “We are women, hear us roar” attitude. Men also have not lived up to the conditions laid out for them. They have relinquished their duties as being the head of the family as well as loving, in the New Testament sense, their wives. Yet the point here is aimed primarily at wives to be women who are not quarrelsome, to be women who respect their husband, living in harmony with him. Before pointing any fingers, or looking for any specks, they should make every effort to live in peace with their husband. Yes, men have much to do, but this proverb speaks directly to the role of the woman.  It has been said that if the woman isn’t happy the whole house isn’t happy. So then here the wife needs to forgo quarreling and live in harmony.