Proverbs 14:2

Those who walk uprightly fear the Lord

This fear is not a matter of being frightened, but rather of awe, being moved by God’s transcendent power and majesty. Trust in and love for the divine power and the resulting obedience and relationship are implied by this “fear of the Lord.”

-from The Spiritual Formation Bible

Matthew 14:13

When Jesus heard it [John the Baptizer was killed], He went away from there in a boat to a deserted spot by Himself.

We see from the accounts that this is Jesus’ default in times of trouble. Going to His father to be alone with Him. I am growing in this myself and noticing the great comfort that is brought by our Papa. Instead of doing what is “normal” for you in a time of stress, choose instead to get alone with our Father and cry out to Him. I believe He desires this of us and is ready to meet us here and enjoys comforting us. He is the God of all comfort.

Why is it we, even as  Christians, tend to go everywhere but directly to God first for comfort?

Matthew 14:17-18

“All we have here,” they said, “is five loaves of bread and two fish.” “Bring them to me,” He said.

“All I have are these talents, Lord, these few skills.” “Bring them to me and I will multiply them beyond what you have imagined. Hand them over to Me in trust and watch Me do great and mighty things with what you have.”

Proverbs 13:12-19

A longing fulfilled is a tree of life and sweet to the soul.

Fulfillment vs. Frustration.

This section shows how wise actions and foolish actions lead to contrasting outcomes: a sick heart or a life-giving tree.

Wise actions include obeying God’s commands, heeding wise instruction and correction, acting prudently, and serving reliably. Such behavior will result, respectively, in reward, a fountain of life, favor, healing, and honor–a truly “sweet” outcome!

[from The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary]

Proverbs 13:20

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

You become the average of the three to five people you spend the most time with.

Matthew 13:3, 11-17

He had much to say to them, and He said it all in parables.

Why did Jesus speak in parables?

It’s difficult for me to grasp fully, but the allusion here is so that those who are truly open and seeking truth will understand and be enlightened. And those who are not open, who are set in their ways, will not even have the capacity to hear or see what is being communicated. This is, at least in part, due to the fact that their pride won’t even allow them to look into these deep treasures any further than what a shallow, haughty glance would be able to discern.

I am learning more and more the truth that–God wants to be wanted. God desires to be sought after and pursued. He is for those desperately seeking and desiring Him, desiring Truth. He is not something to be tacked on to what we are already doing, to the life we are living on our own. No, He desires to be our everything, and He wants to heal and fulfill and give us joy.

Proverbs 12:3

The root of the righteous will never be moved.

Joy in all circumstances is one of the things Jesus brought to us, I believe, if only we acknowledge it. Embracing the Father in each moment is joy. Abandonment to God for all outcomes, trusting all will be well in the end.The opposite is a discontented distancing from each present moment. It reminds me of Yoda’s rebuke of Luke:

“Never his mind on where he was! What he was doing!”

Proverbs 12:25

Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up.

Again we see the importance and goodness of encouraging someone daily.

Matthew 12:11-12,29,33

The brilliance of Jesus speaking in metaphors.

Again and again I hear of scientific studies proving Him as true and all knowing of the human heart. We tend to learn more, it has been shown, from indirect metaphorical communication than direct truths thrown at them. Go figure. We learn much more thru stories and “success modeling” as my friend Rex puts it. And as has been said with raising children and teaching others: truth is absorbed from being caught more than taught. Your offspring tend to do more what you do than what you say. Hopefully those two are one and the same.

If you want to pass something along to others effectively, tell stories and model what you teach.

Proverbs 11:12

Whoever belittles another lacks sense, but an intelligent person remains silent.

“Silence is a spiritual discipline to be practiced not just in meditation when we are alone and listening for God’s guiding voice, but also when we are with others and need to hold back words that are harsh, hurtful, or boastful.”

-From The Spiritual Formation Bible

Belittling or despising someone backfires horrendously from its obvious intent to elevate yourself and debase the other. The actual result of this senseless action is the revelation your own stupidity, for we are all connected and made up of the same stuff. None of us has the corner market on awesomeness. Your own imperfection is highlighted by your voiced lack of understanding. So let’s just stop putting people down, and therefore drawing attention to our lack of sense with the sirens of stupidity, from this day forth.

Matthew 11:28-30

“Are you having a real struggle? Come to me! Are you carrying a big load on your back? Come to me-I’ll give you a rest! Pick up my yoke and put it on; take lessons from me! My heart is gentle, not arrogant. You’ll find the rest you deeply need. My yoke is easy to wear; my load is easy to bear.” [Kingdom New Testament]

Interestingly, I just read something about this very passage yesterday. What is not typically given in reference to this popular section of Scripture is its context. Jesus was talking to people bearing the heavy burden of harsh, demanding religion. He had just been rejected in several cities, even after performing many great signs, because of their prevailing view of God and religion.

Jesus invited them and invites us to lay down our heavy burdens of man-made religion that is not of Him, even if it does have His name attached to it. (You’ve probably heard the phrase “Christian in name only”) He gives rest to your soul, not stress or demand.

True religion calls you to God Himself.

It was difficult for many in these cities, as it is for many of us today to turn away from our deeply embedded false narratives of God that come via our families, culture, and religious backgrounds. But when you do give it up, the freedom is exhilarating. Discovering the true Jesus will always give peace, joy, and rest to your soul. It is beyond wonderful, and there is no turning back to the back-breaking demands of burdensome religion after you have truly tasted and seen that the Lord is good [Psalm 34:8].

Proverbs 10

Our words are powerful and can be very life giving. An encouraging word to someone goes a lot further than you usually realize. Make a practice of intentionally encouraging at least one person everyday and see what happens.

Proverbs 10:19

Where there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is wise.

May our words be few, full, and well thought out.

Matthew 10:37-39

“If you love your father or mother more than me, you are not worthy to be my followers. If you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy to be my followers.

If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.

If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”

Many people have a tough time with verse 37 because they mistakenly think they have to have more emotional feelings for Someone they can’t see than they have for their own children.

That isn’t really the meaning of this verse. We love God through obedience and devotion. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands.” Though I do believe emotional feelings for God will grow over time as we move closer to Him, and that our relationship with Him is not simply one of dutiful, transactional acquiescence, I also believe that we show our love for God through devotion and obedience to Him.

We are to be more devoted and obedient to God than our children, parents, or spouse. We do not have to try to conjure up lovey-dovey feelings for God so as to be in compliance with this passage.

If you devote so much energy and time to your children, catering to their lives constantly, and it leaves you no time or energy left over to simply be with or talk to God, then that is a problem most likely.

If you allow your parents’ esteem or lack of it for you to dictate how you feel about yourself or to determine your self-worth, then you are loving them (even if in some twisted manner) more than God.

God says who you are and what you are to do with your time and energy first.

Give everyone else the leftovers. And guess what. Those leftovers will be better than your first fruits best because they are runoff from the overflow of God’s Spirit.

Proverbs 9:6

Leave simpleness, and live, and walk in the ways of insight.

This is not asking us to leave the simple for the complicated, but rather to forsake the shallow life for one of depth. This is what Jesus calls us to.

We can hang out around the surface of comatose enslavement to our emotions, or we can walk thru the valley of suffering of both our lives and the lives of others and yet find God there, still, and really live, by embracing it. Watching the movie Shadowlands a while back, I was reminded of C.S. Lewis saying he wasn’t so sure God wants us to be happy. But to love and be loved. I took him to mean happiness in that shallow sense where we have all we want, so to speak. Isn’t life deeper than “having all we want?” Than everything going “my way?”

Unconditional love is being loved no matter what, not getting everything you want.

What’s that William Wallace quote? “Every man dies. Not every man really lives.”

Matthew 9:8

When the crowds saw it they were frightened, and praised God for giving authority like this to humans.

Here we have Jesus forgiving the paralytic man’s sins as well as healing his paralysis. When the power of God is made manifest thru someone, it is kinda scary and also commands praise to Him for it.

The mysterium tremendum ac fascinosum, am I right?

We don’t seem to see this much these days in America. We are so into praising people here, even Christians. Why? Are we still so self-reliant? What if we really depended on God to do things? [To change lives, not to do things we ourselves are empowered to do.] What if we prayed for things with that holy expectancy that He will actually carry it out? Praying without really believing it will happen is a waste of breath isn’t it?

I crave to see and be a part of the power of God that demands His praise and not my own.

They praised God for giving authority like this to humans.

We are capable of so much more than we realize. The power that raised Jesus from the dead resides within us. And if we are turned toward God, away from sin, abiding in Him, we will be in position to experience that real power. We will experience His authority over everything, that He has overcome the world in which we have troubles. (I do not pretend to know how this works, nor am I saying that it is God’s will always to heal. That is all well above my pay grade.)

Few people are focused on one thing long enough to experience much cosmic energy from it.

I am convinced that if you spent just a half hour in silence before God every week, completely in abandoned focus on nothing but Him, that your life would drastically change. Your life would be drastically, ridiculously different.

Proverbs 8:17

Those who diligently seek me, find me. Finding Me does not come from a skimming, cursory, half-hearted search. Jesus said the same about the kingdom.

Proverbs 8:34

“Happy are those who listen to me” hearkens to John 18:37- “Those who belong to the truth listen to my voice.” -King Jesus

Matthew 8:13

Let it be done to you according to your faith.

The only power we possess is our faith because it mediates God’s actual power. It’s not about the amount of your faith (see mustard seed) so much as the object of it.

Proverbs 7:7-9

To go near what tempts you is acting without sense. If you haven’t already, take the time to identify where and when you are most vulnerable . What are the circumstances when you fall? What’s the situation? We must be on watch when we are tired, when we are alone, when we are bored…

You would be very wise to make note of any of these patterns of temptation, and then do all that is within your power to stay far away from them. Don’t give the devil a foothold. Close every door thru which evil can freely enter.

Does this mean we don’t leave the house? Of course not. We all know and can see with just a little effort where we are most likely to succumb to that which robs us of life. Cut off its chance to steal from you.

Matthew 7:24-25

The wise man built his house upon the Rock.

No matter who you are, or what your circumstances, if you listen to Jesus and act on what He said, you will be able to withstand anything life can throw at you.

Proverbs 6:22

When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

Whatever we fill ourselves with dominates us. The writer here encourages us to fill ourselves with godly instruction [your father’s commandment and your mother’s teaching]. The “they” can be whatever we fill, allow, and ruminate over. That is what leads, watches over, and talks with us. And it is what we, tho many times subtly, CHOOSE.

Our thoughts are so very important. What we allow ourselves to be bombarded with is of vital jugularity [made up word].  If in our head we regularly think of what a scumbag we are, or the heretical lie that we don’t deserve forgiveness, then that is what will lead us and talk with us as the Proverb states. That is what will color our lives.

The voices in our heads are many and loud. They can and must be defeated intentionally. What do you fill your head with? What dominates your thought life?

It is in solitude and silence where we allow ourselves to be loved by God, to let Him determine who we are and where we stand. Don’t let anyone or anything else determine who you are!!! Our life is hidden with Christ in God. Feed this truth so as to drown out all the voices telling you that you are some other false, unworthy self. That toxic excrement will destroy you! But only if you allow it to, only if you neglect to feed yourself with what is true from YHWH/Son/Spirit, what and who loving Daddy says you are. And He says you are infinitely loved, worthy, and accepted in His Son.

Matthew 6:22-23

The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is honest and clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body turns out to be dark. So, if the light within you turns out to be darkness, darkness doesn’t come any darker than that.

A healthy, or single, eye versus an evil eye.

In the culture and time here of the first century, this referred to a generous person versus a stingy one. Or a singularly focused person as opposed to a multi-focused one [serving multiple masters]. And this passage basically speaks to the darkness of a stingy person. When you are stingy with your time or money, how much good are you withholding from the world around you? For those of you not good at math, the answer is a lot. A lot.

Matthew 6:33

“make your top priority God’s kingdom and His way of life”

And He will take care of everything else you need, for He already knows what those needs are. Do you believe this? Do you live this?