How much better to get wisdom than gold,

to choose understanding rather than silver!

Proverbs 16:16

This book was written to help the simple gain prudence,

to help the wise gain discipline and add to their learning,

to help the young gain knowledge and discretion.

Are you reading Proverbs?

Surely you fit into one of those catergories.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:7

Let it not be said of God's people!

May the Lord bless you today as you seek his wisdom and understanding first!

Physics

Something new I learned today:

Adonai is a Hebrew word for God.

It is translated "Master" or "Sovereign" and sometimes just "God."

But what is interesting is it can also be translated "my lords."

No typo there: lords-plural. This is an old Hebrew idiom, from times way before Jesus was born to Mary. You see, God is not subject to our laws of physics. The people of God have known that for a very long time. But we sometimes forget that, at least, I do. It is great to learn things like this from time to time to remind me that God the Father is in God the Son who is in God the Spirit. That means He is all in all. That should be a song...

Anyway, if you are ever in a situation that needs a miracle: pray.

Because God your Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit are ever-present.

Adonai is always with me. Isn't physics great?

The Lord bless you today and show you something amazing!

Man shall not live by bread alone

but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

(singing allelu, alleluia!)

Matthew 4:4

This means we must consume the Word of God, right?

Not long ago, I watched a man I know well talk to his young child for about eating enough at dinner. He said, "You'll be hungry later when it is not time to eat."

The response was, "This is hard to chew."

The father said, "Just chew it little by little, and soon you'll be able to take bigger bites."

Parents know this is true, we've been through it ourselves.

Even if you're not a parent, you know that had you not learned how to eat small bites you would never have developed a big enough apetite to live on.

Yet, I have heard that same man say those same words about Scripture.

"Its too much."

"I'm not much of a reader."

"Read a whole chapter in one day?!"

The Father says, "My words are sweeter than honey to your mouth."

Psalm 119:103

The father says, "Just chew it little by little, and soon you'll be able to take bigger bites."

The Lord bless you and may you feast today on His Words!

Elohim

Jeremiah exclaimed,

"Ah, Lord God!

Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by

Your great power and by Your outstretched arm!

Nothing is too difficult for You."

Jeremiah 32:17 (NASB)

The NIV uses the words "Sovereign Lord" in place of "Lord God."

That word Sovereign or God is translated from the Hebrew "Elohim."

It means, appropriately, Creator.

It also means Judge.

It is the God that Jeremiah realizes can do anything...afterall,

He created the universe!

He is the God that we should know,

who speaks from His inspired Word!

It is also the the Name used in Genesis 1:1.

"In the beginning God created..." (You might have guessed that!)

The Lord bless you and inspire you today!

the eyes of man are never satisfied

I just read a GREAT book by Bill Gothard.

I have been studying the different names by which the Lord has revealed Himself.

"Qanna" is one of them, Jealous. He is jealous for our good...meaning He is jealous for us completely.

Because He knows what is good for us:

Him.

One thing Gothard discusses (pp. 73) is Love of the World.

He brings out many Scritpures in this book, but here cites

Proverbs 27:20

Death and Destruction are never satisfied,

and neither are the eyes of man."

Sure, Proverbs speaks often of the adulteress, but I think he is invoking much more in this proverb. Gothard discusses three lusts after which people seek:

the flesh, the eye, and the pride of life.

We all seem to struggle with at least one of these, if not a combination of them...

Solomon understands that any of these lusts is connected with Death and Destruction.

Will any of these destroy you?

Will you seek Our Jealous God to give you victory?

The Lord bless you and draw you close to Him!

YHWH Sabaoth

The Lord of Hosts...that is the Lord of Armies.

The Lord is powerful and awesome!

Look what happens when He is present:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:

“ Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

The whole earth is full of His glory!”

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

Isaiah 6:1-4

That was the seraph who spoke, and everything shook. Imagine if the Lord of Hosts spoke...

would you hear His voice?

The Lord of Hosts bless you today and cast out all fears with His perfect love for you!

even a fool...

Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent,

and discerning if he holds his tongue.

Proverbs 18:28

Sometimes its better to just be quiet.

A few people who coulod have used this advice:

Balaam (Numbers 22:28-31)

Job's friends (Job 42:7)

Peter (John 18:25-27)

I have been the fool various times, as well. Maybe I'll learn...

The Lord bless you and teach you when to keep silent!

who fears the Lord...

He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress,
and for his children it will be a refuge.
Proverbs 14:26
How secure is your fortress?
Do your children feel safe at home?
I don't mean just safe from the world, but let's consider that:
What's on your television and your DVR?
What's on your computer?


Are your children safe from you?
What's on your lips?

These are things parents must consider daily.
Have we made mistakes. For sure.
Will we make more? Definately!
Want good news?
Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil.
Proverbs 16:6
Sounds like work!

May the Lord bless you and teach you to avoid evil!

a wise tongue

Reckless words pierce like a sword,

but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 12:18

This makes me think about the woman at the well in John 4.

I know...we usually like to quote verse 24, but I am reminded of verses 15-18.

Now, most of us, if we said something like that, would have pierced this woman.

But Jesus had the tongue of the wise. He did not just blurt that out.

He showed her his love for people first. Then, He let HER say it.

There is a way to convince people of their sin without calling them sinners.

Notice, also, in verse 12 that she asked Jesus a question which He could have easily and truthfully answered "Yes," but does much better than that. Jesus indeed had the tongue of the wise.

Let us follow Him!

The Lord bless you and show you His wisdom today!

Thanking God

I saw this post on Facebook this morning.
Its a great idea!
But how often do we actually spend a whole minute thanking God? A minute doesn't sound like a long time. A minute has somehow become more of an expression, a figure of speech. As long as we actually do an action, we say that we "took a minute" to do it. Have you ever spent 60 seconds specifically thanking God? Have you ever said thank you to anyone for 60 seconds?
Let's pause here for a min...um...moment...
I am not trying to lay a guilt trip on you.
We often take time to think of ways to say thank you, to think of what we are thankful for, to write notes of thanks...but it is harder than we realize to actually spend a minute SAYING "thank you."
You know who did a good job on that?
The Psalmists.
Check out Psalms 105, 106, 107, 136.
Some of those might even take 2 minutes to read!
The Lord bless you and give you MUCH to be thankful for!

flawless

"Every word of God is flawless;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Do not add to his words,

or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar."

Proverbs 30:5

I really like the idea of the word of God being a shield.

We speak often about how helpful the word of God is,

how beautiful and truthful the word of God is.

We occasionally speak of the authority of God's word.

But every word is flawless, and HE is a shield to those who take refuge in HIM!

How? Try Ephesians 6:16.

He is our protector; that's what authority is for.

May the Lord bless you and be your shield today!

the Good Shepherd

"I am the good shepherd;
I know my sheep and my sheep know me..."
John 10:14
If we do just a little research on sheep we find that sheep are inadequate creatures when it comes to taking care of themselves. Most people consider them to be just plain dumb. But...here is some good news for us. Scripture compares us often to sheep, and often compares the Lord to our shepherd. Indeed, in John 10 Jesus refers to himself as our Shepherd. He also reminds us of something that can be easily missed when we consider the ways of the sheep: they know their shepherd.
The real question is:
Does Jesus know you as one of His sheep? If He does, then you know His voice.
You know when someone else is calling you.
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."
The Lord bless you and may you hear His voice Today!

We know His voice!

Sharpen...

As iron sharpens iron,

so one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

I know this is a well known Scripture, but it was in my reading today.

I can't help but remember a lesson I once read:

"iron doesn't sharpen iron"

Wait.

Iron sharpens iron with heat.

Man does not sharpen man.

Man sharpens man with the heat he has:

What gives us heat?

Fire...as in the Holy Spirit.

The fire of the Lord cleanses, refines, polishes.

I could give a host of Scripture verses for that, but you could find them yourself, I'm sure.

One of the best (imo) is 1Peter 1:3-9.

The Lord bless you today and use you to sharpen another!

Men of Honor

Had the boys and several of their fathers last night.

What we did:

pizza

Joshua & Caleb

learned how to sharpen knives

As we talked about the spies, these young men tried to imagine a single cluster of grapes so big it had to be carried by two men. (Numbers 13:23)

One great insight shared by one of the fathers:

We talked about how Joshua went right up to the man with a drawn sword (Joshua 5:13).

"This was an angel, commander of the army of the Lord. He didn't look like any of us."

Can you see the faith Joshua must have had that God would keep his promise?

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Joshua 1:9

Being a disciple...

Great High School Class last night!

I came prepared with a lesson, as usual, but I didn't need it.

The Holy Spirit was moving in the young people.

Before I had a chance to tell them where in the Bible we would be starting, one of the teens asked me a question. I said, "That has nothing to do with the topic."

No, I didn't.

Actually, I said, "Let's look at that."

Then, it turned into a beautiful discussion about God's grace and holiness.

Friends, there are no bad questions about God.

There is no wrong time to seek His wisdom.

Would we have John 3:16 if Nicodemus didn't come to Jesus after hours?

Would we know that John the Baptist was the Elijah to come if John's disciples didn't ask Jesus if He was the one? (Matthew 11)

Would we have the "Lord's Prayer" if the disciples hadn't asked Jesus to teach them how to pray? (Luke 11)

May the Lord bless you and draw you to ask all your questions!

BTW-no, those aren't my teenagers. Notice there are 12...

Psalm 20

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;

May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

I love to read Psalm 20!

This is a song of blessing...David might have written it to be sung to himself. (See verse 9).

Do you know someone who can bless you just by being present? Maybe YOU are a blessing to someone just walking into the room or situation. Why not add to that, make it a double blessing? David wrote many blessings into his poetry. Sometimes we need the extra help, don't we?

We will shout for joy when you are victorious

and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.

Will you?

Do you?

May he send you help from the sanctuary

and grant you support from Zion.

What if YOU are the help and support being sent?

Are you ready for that?

"Love and faithfulness keep a king safe."

May the Lord bless you and may others glorify God because of your good works.

Offended?

A man's wisdom gives him patience;

it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

Proverbs 19:11

Have you ever been offended?

I have often eondered after I calm down from another's offense how long it takes God to calm down after I offend Him. I know God hates sin. But if we add to our sins the sin of not forgiving another when he sins against us (Matthew 6:15) how long will it take God to forgive us?

Patience is, afterall, fruit of the Spirit...

"Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil."

That is Proverbs 16:6. It reminds me of the words
Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount:
"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." Matthew 5:43-45.
It has nothing to do with us. It is not about turning that enemy into a friend, although that may happen and would be a blessing. It is about being sons of our Father in heaven. Being faithful means loving your neighbor AND your enemy. Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for...I have sinned much. The forgiveness of my sins has taught me to love and to fear the Lord.
May the Lord bless you and keep you, and may you avoid evil.

Speaking of prayer...

I have started a new small group for young men ages 9-14. We had our first meeting a week ago: we ate together, had a Bible lesson, then one man shared some knowledge about trees. I also challenged the young guys to memorize a passage of Scripture. This will be a regular thing every other Thursday for the young men and their fathers. The plan is to train them to positively impact their families and communities. We need your prayers!

"My salvation and my honor depend on God;

he is my mighty rock, my refuge."

May the Lord bless you and give you refuge.

PRAYERS

I have been looking into some of the prayers of the Bible lately. They are fascinating! Of course, we should consider the book of Psalms. Then there is the ever-popular Solomon's prayer for wisdom.

Those are great prayers!

I have been looking at others:

Genesis 18:20-33. Did you ever hear you can't negotiate with God? Abraham didn't know that.

1Samuel 1:1-18. Pain, passion, perspective. Have you ever met someone named "Pininnah?"

Daniel 10. What if Daniel "only" prayed for 14 days?

Now, look at Luke 18:1-8.

Why did Jesus tell this parable?

When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

May the Lord bless you and keep you, and teach us how to pray!