Proverbs 11:12

People without good sense find fault with their neighbors, but those with understanding keep quiet.

Holding your peace keeps you from venting your acrimony and also from kindling it in others. It is a very wise person who can hold their tongue. And think of how much peace it keeps to do so.

We so badly want to talk about others, probably for the reason I was given in third grade, “to make yourself feel better by putting others down.” It’s been shown scientifically that “venting” actually does us no good. Rather, it simply recycles hurt, anger, and frustration, putting you in the place of it happening all over again. You think you’ll feel better, but it’s a myth. You’ve just fostered division on some level, the opposite of shalom. And shalom is what we seek, what our brains, hearts, and bodies want.

Let’s make our default setting to be communication directly with the person we have any issue with. Now I know this is a brand new rocket surgery idea, but let’s experiment and try this amazingly modern technique out today.

I love how Pastor Todd says, “When in doubt, over-communicate.” I’ve tried to make that my primordial action, to just call the person before anything festers. And don’t be talking to everybody else first!

Now there is such a thing as seeking wise counsel, but it is far different than contemptuously talking about someone.

John 4:31-34

Meanwhile, his followers were begging him, “Teacher, eat something.”

Jesus said, “My food is to do what the One who sent me wants me to do and to finish his work.”

It is satisfying to do what God wants us to do.
It is nourishing to finish work He gives us to complete.

For Jesus, it seems the greatest pleasure and satisfaction imaginable  was to do good to souls (Acts 10:38). For this was His Father’s work. It sustained Him.

Embrace Jesus in your weakness and hunger.

And you will be satisfied.

Proverbs 10

May our words be few and full.

Edifying and simple.

Truthful and wise.

We don’t have to say a lot, but just listen well, ask good questions, and say what the Spirit moves us to say. When I actually do this, I find it is not many words that need to be uttered, but a small amount, left to sink in and be absorbed by the listener, who I pray has a heart of “good soil”, ready to hear the Word of God and act on it.

John 3:13,27-35

And nobody has gone up into heaven except the One who came down from heaven, the Son of Man.

Nobody can receive anything unless heaven first gives it….The One who comes from above is over everything. The one who is from the earth has an earthly character, and has “earth” written all over it. The One who comes from heaven is above all….The One who God sent, you see, speaks God’s words, because He gives the Spirit lavishly. [KNT]

Jesus is from heaven, not from earth. He was sent here by YHWH. Therefore, everything He says is true and is how things really are.

Think about it for two seconds, if He is who He said He was while in bodily form on earth, then that means everything He said is truth. Not just true, but truth itself to which all other purported truths must be compared.

Whether we like it or not doesn’t matter.

Whether it fits our preconceived notions or paradigms doesn’t matter.

It just is.

We only see reality by the light of God. We do not see by trying to fit God in to what we already think is true. He is the light that shows genuine reality.

As Anselm said centuries ago, “For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand.”

All we can really do is bow before Him and say, “Thou knowest.”

And this makes our joy complete, just as it did John the Baptist’s, as we see in this passage. For surrendering to Jesus, is surrendering to God, which is surrendering to what is true, which is surrendering to love–a love we cannot find on earth. It’s the most liberating white flag you will ever raise.

John 3:36

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. [TNIV]

Two things I see from this very intense verse of Scripture that stand out to me.

First, the word “has” as opposed to “will have.” It’s not saying that whoever believes in Jesus will merely get to go to heaven when they die. It says that as soon as they believe, they have the eternal kind of life, the life of the coming age. Jesus Himself defined eternal life as knowing God and the One He sent, Jesus Christ (Jn.17:3). It starts now, in this age, to have the life of the coming age. Your values change. What excites you changes. I like how one author put it, that things such as racism will have no place in the coming age. In fact, it will make no sense whatsoever. Just as in this age, in our American “militant consumerism”, things of the kingdom make no sense–like the story I heard of Francis Chan, who gives all or most of his plentiful book sales money away, living in a modest house, when He could be basking in a seven figure income from what I understand. Why doesn’t he? Because he has the life of the coming age. He has embedded in him what is of eternal significance. But in this present age that makes no sense.

The second thing that jumps out to me in this verse is that those who reject Jesus as the answer do not see life. And this is my experience of observation all around me, that people who do not believe do not see. They “don’t know what they don’t know” as we say. They cannot even see a better way of living, an alternative narrative to this dominant, life-sucking one we are given by the world. Consequently, our task is urgent and so very needed, to show by living, the way of Jesus. The easy yoke and light burden of the alternative narrative He offers. Those who don’t see are lost. And ignorance is not always bliss. I don’t see joy in the ones who do not see Life abundant. Do you? Honestly? Do you see peace and contentment? We must model it. And proclaim it–no pressure on us–but trusting in the Spirit Who works in the heart. We just do our little portion, capable only of excrement on our own, but of great greatness thru Jesus Christ.

This verse, quite frankly, is a little tough for me, as I don’t love the word “wrath.” But it’s there. And I bow to Jesus, not the world. I will leave us with the words of Andreas Kostenberger, theologian, who has written much on the writings of John:

Coupled with the emphatic presentation of Jesus as sharing the identity of Yahweh, the one and only true God, the compelling message of John’s gospel is that there is no other god besides the one who is “the way and the truth and the life,” the one who unequivocally stated that “no one comes to the father except through me” (14:6). John’s gospel thus follows Isaiah’s teaching that because there is only one God, there can be only one Savior (Is.43:11,45:21). Anyone, therefore, who has not believed in Jesus the Christ and Son of God must urgently be implored to place his or her faith in Jesus, for there is no other way of salvation, and God’s wrath continues to rest on those who refuse to believe (John 3:36) and prefer their own moral darkness over the “light [that] has come into the world” (3:19-21). John (the Baptist’s) witness still rings true today: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (3:36; cf. 3:26-30; 1:15).

Proverbs 9:10

Wisdom begins with respect for the LORD, and understanding begins with knowing the Holy One. [NCV]

How can we begin to understand this life without knowing the Holy One?

We can’t.

YHWH is the front and center hero of the OT. He just is. He is portrayed as the Creator of all, the Provider of all that is good, the Source of life. Therefore, life only makes sense thru Him.

Creations of any kind make the most and truest sense thru the heart and mind of their creator. Think of a beautiful song of richness and depth. True, it can and may resonate with you and move you greatly. Yet you will only know its deepest meaning by getting to know its writer. First off, the writer can tell you from what this song was birthed. That alone is very helpful. But deeper than that, you can spend time with this writer, getting to know him/her and gain an even fuller understanding of the thought and experience behind the song to open it up in new ways for you.

The Bible is rich and deep. Getting to know its Author, tho, is key. Reading it is one thing. Knowing YHWH is quite another. Perhaps you just need to make the slight adjustment to read it in order to know Him, as opposed to reading for the purpose of information gathering or some new ideas on how to live your life a little bit better. Good things, but not the main thing.

The main thing is to keep the Main Thing the main thing.

What if you could ask Jesus, “What does God want from me?”

I believe He would say something like, “To know Him and to love Him. And to be known by Him and loved by Him.”

Revering Him makes all the difference for every one of us in the most personal way: “If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it” (v.12). As important as community is, I cannot borrow character from you, nor can you borrow character from me. Just being at church will not change us. No one gets a degree from Vanderbilt by hanging out on campus and blending in with the students. Even so, each of us must receive Christ personally. We must seek Him and engage with Him personally. He is how we change. He is how wisdom enters into us. And when He gives it to us, no one can take it away from us, no matter what they say or do.

-Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.

John 2:5

His mother spoke to the servants. “Do whatever He tells you to do,” she said.

Jesus’ mommy gives the best advice ever right here.

This goes for us too. Do whatever He tells you. And it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway– To do this, we must be listening.

Mary spoke to the servants.

We are His servants.

And servants do what they’re told to do. We don’t need to strain to figure out what to do, or what God’s will is. We must listen. Sadly we are not trained to listen well.

The first rule of Listening Club is to stop talking.

The second rule of Listening Club is to stop thinking.

Listen, and do what He tells you.

Proverbs 8:30-31

All of the OT speaks of Jesus. This sounds to me like LOGOS speaking:

“I was like a child by His side.
I was delighted [playing] every day,
enjoying [laughing in] His presence all the time,
enjoying [laughing with the inhabitants of] the whole world,
and delighted [playing] with all its people.”  [EXB]

John 1

John identifies Jesus as the “Word” [LOGOS] who existed before creation with God and who is Himself, God.

In Greek philosophy the “word” was the principle of reason that governed all things.

In Jewish history, the “word” was often associated with God’s wisdom [see Proverbs 8-9], but even more directly with God’s self-expression.

Everything Jesus said, did, and thought was exactly what God would have said, did, and thought.

We could say that Jesus is “God’s Talk.” Just as our audible words reveal our inaudible thoughts, the audible divine-human Jesus revealed the inaudible mind of the God of the universe.

Proverbs 7:1-3

My son, remember what I say, and treasure my commands. Obey my commands, and you will live. Guard my teachings as you would your own eyes. Remind yourself of them; write them on your heart as if on a tablet.

We need daily reminders of truth, of why we are here.

Reminding.

We need reminding.

Luke 24:12

But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Bending down and looking in, he saw only the cloth that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in. Peter went away to his home, wondering about what had happened.

Sometimes it’s good to just wonder at God, instead of trying to come up with the answers to every question.

Proverbs 6:20-23

These commands are like a lamp; this teaching is like a light. And the correction that comes from them will help you have life.

God’s instruction, rules, and laws are good and life-giving, not life-taking.

Freedom is not the absence of rules, but the presence of discipline.

Luke 23:50-53

There was a good and religious man named Joseph who was a member of the council. But he had not agreed to the other leaders’ plans and actions against Jesus.

See, not everyone on the council was a total jack-hole.

Not everyone at those mega-churches is a shallow boob.

Judge not.

Do you know them personally? All of them?

No.

So you don’t know their hearts.

We tend to think of all the religious leaders and tax collectors of Jesus’s day to be in the category of “Horrbius Terrabius” as my daughter Zayra would say. But what about this Joseph? Or Nicodemus? Or Zacchaeus? Or Matthew?

Be careful not to lump people into huge categories for your own high and mighty delegation of status.  This is prideful, ugly, divisive, and wrong. Who are you to say what people are? There is only One qualified to render what people are. The One who made them!

And may we never forget, that with the measure we use for judgement, it will be used on us. I don’t know exactly what that looks like, but it sure makes me stop and think.

Luke 23:54-56

When after six days God finished the work of the “old Creation”, He rested. After six hours, our Lord finished the work of the “New Creation”, and He rested on the Sabbath in Joseph’s tomb.

-Warren Wiersbe

Proverbs 5:12-14

Then you will say, “I hated being told what to do! I would not not listen [My heart despised] to correction! I would not listen to my teachers or pay attention to my instructors. I am close to being completely ruined in front of a whole group of people.

Here we see the uncoachable, unteachable person. Sooner or later this person will come to the brink of utter ruin. When they are completely undone and dismantled. All because they would not listen. They would not pay attention. They hated being told what to do.

What pride.

What arrogance.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I hate being told what to do”? How did that turn out for them? What kind of life did they live? Fruitful? Fulfilling? Have you ever said that? What was your mindset at the time? Healthy? Do you say that now?

What about humbly accepting correction? Is that peaceful?

I think it is.

We defend ourselves and stand our ground because we think we are pure awesomeness on our own. What other explanation is there? We’re in love with our own perceived perfection and can’t stand the thought of being challenged. We think we’re in need of nothing. Well Jesus did not come for those in need of nothing (the “healthy”), but for those in great need of rescue (the sick).

This is called narcissism, and it is rampant in our society.We love ourselves, but not in a godly way. We worship ourselves. I was told once that the Satanic Bible is all about the worship of self.

Narcissism kills joy. It divides.

Division within the family of God is hated by God.

He hates it.

HATES

IT.

On verse 14, public dishonor had more meaning in ancient times than today, implying a permanent judgement on one’s personhood and social status. Thus being on the verge of complete ruin. But the beauty is the recognition of it. “I am undone,” as the so-called prodigal son said. That was the beginning of his healing. He had to come to that point to have any hope.

“I am helpless on my own, so I’ll go to my father.”

Good. Freakin’. Plan.

The only plan that works.

If you can help yourself, you don’t need rescue, you don’t need Jesus. Until you’re totally dependent on Him, you’re on your own, and that sucks.

Luke 22:19

This is My body, given for you. Do this in memory of Me.

May we never forget that Jesus gave Himself for us.

Gave.

Himself.

For us.

Remember this. Often.

What a great thing to keep us on track, pointing True North. Eucharist is a special act of appropriating Jesus’ death and resurrection. It makes it real to us and the body of believers. It is no small thing, far from meaningless.

Be sure to always remember in your heart that Jesus gave Himself, His body, for you, for us, to reconcile us to God. We can be in relationship with our almighty Creator only due to the end-all, be-all sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth.

He got the total beat down for YOUR sin. Not just your sins, but your sin. He saves you from your sin nature. And He alone saves you. On your own, you can only sin. But in His strength, you can do great good in this world. Only in dependence on Him.

This is so much to wrap my head around, but one practical way I see this play out is recognizing my utter powerlessness in a given situation and asking God for divine help, and then trusting fully that He is indeed going to help me. Trusting that He is Love, loves me, is for me, and is willing and happy-as-happy-can-be to help me.

I do not feel as tho it is some egomaniacal power trip for YHWH, but rather cosmic and unconditional Love that looks forward to being there for me in every situation I acknowledge Him in. Ask and you shall receive. Ask believing.

It is so very important to know God. To know what He is like, as revealed thru Jesus. (To “know” in the Hebrew Scriptures meant to be in deeply intimate relationship with the other. This is why we talk/joke about knowing someone in the biblical sense as referring to sexual intimacy.)

It would be odd if we told our spouse or other loved ones that we wanted to spend time with them and experience their fellowship regularly but did not want to know anything about them-their characteristics, accomplishments, personal histories, likes and dislikes, and plans for the future.

Yet when it comes to God, people often imagine it is possible to have a personal relationship with God apart from theology.

-Michael Horton

And remember, the word theology simply means “the study of God.” That is a good thing. How can you have a quality relationship with someone you know very little about?

I believe God wants us to know all we can about Him while spending exuberant amounts of quality time with Him.

Proverbs 4:23

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. [NRSV, ESV]

Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. [NCV]

Every person is really what he or she secretly admires. If I can learn what you admire, I will know what you are, for people are what they think about when they are free to think about what they will.

Every one of us is the sum of what we secretly admire, what we think about, and what we would like to do most if we became free to do what we wanted to do.

-A.W. Tozer

Proverbs 4:26

Ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure. [ESV]

Make straight the path of your feet, and all your ways will be sure. [NRSV]

I can’t get over how much I read in the Bible about paying attention. About awareness, focus, vigilance. It just keeps popping up all over the place. Even modern brain science keeps confirming the efficacy of this simple admonition to pay attention to what you’re paying attention to. Think about your thinking. Take a moment to ponder where you are and where you are going. Consider what path you are currently on. Stay awake by thinking about what you are doing. Don’t fall into sleepwalking mode.

I always go back to that brilliant article I read in The Onion years ago entitled, “Studies show That All Of America’s Problems Would Be Solved If They Just Stopped And Thought For Two Seconds.” HAHAHA! Still cracks me up, and yet so true in many ways. We’re so darn busy moving “forward” that we miss the moments and forget what the Gehenna we are even here for.

Take time today to stop and think for two seconds, maybe even three if you’re feeling sassy.

AWARENESS.

How vital I am finding this in ministry.

LISTENING.

Goes hand in hand.

Take a day to just listen. Not only to people, but to God, the birds, the wind, and everything around you.

The word translated “ponder” has the connotation of rolling out, as in a road. Thus some translations render it as “Make straight.” So if we take our own advice and think about this for two seconds………what does the Holy Spirit say to us in this?

To me, I think of the focus and effort required to take the time to remove things, like say, 1st & 2nd grade girls’s toys, from my path so that I can walk straight without stepping on a sharp-edged toy that causes my eyes to pop out of my head and filthy words to emanate from my mouth.

Take the time to ponder your path, where you are going, what’s in your way. Patiently remove the obstacle, the encumbrances. As I consider what is keeping me from walking a straight path to kiss my daughters goodnite, I also think of “What is keeping me from a straight path to following God with all of my life?”

Stop and think for two seconds.

“What is the point of my entire life?” -Sam Blandina

Ask yourself this regularly everyday.

Ponder.

Pay attention.

Luke 21:3-4

He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had to live on.” [NCV]

“For they gave a tiny part of their surplus…” [NLT]

Following Jesus is not so much difficult as it is costly.

God doesn’t make it especially hard, so that only the strong or smart can do it. It’s simply costly. To whomever, no matter how smart, dumb, rich, or poor they may be. It will cost them.

But worth it.

It costs everybody. And the kingdom of God is available to everybody who wants it. Whoever is willing to count the cost and pay it. And by cost we just mean your time, desire, energy. Jesus already paid the ultimate cost that you could not possibly pay.

So what is it costing you?

If you feel no cost, you may re-evaluate if you are really following Jesus. Because it will always be costly. Just something to think about….

for two seconds….

or three…..

Proverbs 3:3-4

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. [ESV]

Steadfast love and faithfulness.

This is what God is.

We are to become more and more like God. To grow in steadfast love and faithfulness. We are to be formed around Him, not Him around us. Nowhere are we told to make God in our own image.

He is.

All we can really do is come before Him in reverent humility and get to know Him for who He is, and then conform to that image. Many conform God to their own image with no real seeking of who He is in truth and revelation. Then we follow after the god we made up.

I love how Rob Bell puts it, “We shape our god, and then our god shapes us.”

But why would we want to shape our own god when the true God is steadfast love and faithfulness?

It’s no wonder the writer here tells us that we will have favor with people. Who doesn’t enjoy steadfast love and faithfulness? Who doesn’t receive joy from someone who is an “Unconditional Love Machine”?

Keep on loving.

Keep loving everybody.

Continue being loyal no matter what.

Do what is necessary on your part to become more like God.

Drink continually from the fountain of God. Replenish often. So it may overflow onto the world.

What power or plan is there besides love that makes any real sense at all? That will last?

Also, this chapter begins with “My son” or “My child”.

God is speaking to us as His beloved ones, His adopted children. He was not stuck with us. He chose us, because He loves us, and now He is coaching us in how we can be fully alive, for His glory.

-Raymond C. Ortlund Jr.

Proverbs 3:11-12

My child, do not reject the LORD’s discipline, and don’t get angry when He corrects you. The LORD corrects those He loves, just as parents correct the child they delight in. [NCV]

Luke 20:17-18

Then Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this verse mean: ‘The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken, and the person on whom it falls, that person will be crushed!” [NCV]

Jesus is the foundation to all things whether you accept Him as such or not. He just is. He is the foundation to the church. And if not, well, that church won’t last–not in any powerful, healing, transformative way.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

-C.S. Lewis

Proverbs 2:1-11

It appears to me that one thing God does not work with is complacency.

If we are just fine with where we are at, there doesn’t seem to be much He can or will do with us. And complacency means one of two things in my estimation. Either you are just fine with not being like Jesus (conformed to His image), or else you think you already are just like Jesus, and therefore, pretty much pure awesomeness as is.

What can one do with someone who has no desire to move forward, to become mature in faith?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Until we truly see ourselves for who and where we are, and have a vision of where we want to be, as well as desire to go with it, nothing will change.

Notice the verbs in verses 1-4 getting stronger and stronger:

“If you receive…

treasure up…

making  your ear attentive…

inclining your heart…

call out…

raise your voice…

seek…

search…”

Wisdom and godliness is not our default setting. We will not get there by drifting.

And none of this is meritorious. The author starts this passage with “My son…” We are already accepted. None of this makes God love us more. Rather it is the path to the abundant life He has for us all. A good and free life in close relationship with Him. And this thru making us like His Son. That is the point of the Christian life, remember. Not accomplishments. If we become more and more like Jesus, what needs to get accomplished will get accomplished. His will will be done. The wisdom you need, freely flowing ever to you, will be clearly heard and seen. You will be effective for His kingdom. Not thru trying harder to be effective, but by making every effort to be closer to Jesus.

So this passage is in a sense asking us, “Are you paying attention?” and “What are you paying attention to?”

“Are you listening?”

Luke 19:26

Yes, the king replied, and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

Here again we see this theme of complacency. The worst thing this servant could do was-nothing.

The other servants were focused on investing. They were paying attention to investing, not on fear or what they could not do.

Invest your life in something, don’t waste it.

When I started volunteering for Outreach, Inc. I feel I had very little to offer in the way of education, experience, and skill. But what I did have I offered all of. And I was entrusted with more and more while I was there. I put forth great effort to learn and become better at working with homeless youth, and I feel God blessed that by giving me more and more to do, culminating in full time employment with a very unique population.

Thank you YHWH.