Proverbs 9

The way of life and the way of death call out to us everyday.They will call to you today. The less knowledge you have of the holy One, the more difficult it will be to distinguish between these two voices. Conversely, the deeper you know YHWH, the closer you are to Him, the clearer His voice becomes.

“My sheep know My voice.”

Mark 11:17

Then he taught the people, saying, “It is written in the Scripture, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for people from all nations.’ But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.'”

In the places we gather to pray, how much prayer actually takes place there? How much do we communicate with YHWH in our churches? Or is the bulk of the time spent there talking to each other? Is that OK? Does it matter?

Jesus replaced the Temple. He replaced the Torah. He is the Temple. We are all “portable sanctuaries” as Richard Foster calls us. So this seems to apply to us wherever we gather in the name of Jesus. Are we actually praying when gathered? Many people tell me that their small group experience consists of a couple of minutes of closing prayer after discussion of whatever. Sometimes not.

Is that OK?

Does it matter?

What if we prayed together? I mean really prayed together.

I have a friend in the hospital in a coma right now. More than once I have been involved in praying with other people there. I mean really praying. Holy heaven, did we pray. And we sang. We cried.

I’ll give you three guesses as to which was better for my soul: that crying out to God with His people, or listening to a well crafted sermon and dressed up people singing?

I’m just sayin’….

Here’s something to chew on from a very thoughtful friend of mine following our discussion of not just asking “What Would Jesus do?” but “What did Jesus do in order to do the things He did?” or “How did He train?”:

In my understanding, that training did not involve sitting in church spouting stale traditions described as “teachings”.  Actually it is probably likely that he had quite the traditional Jewish exposure, experience and training that was common in the time and struggled with it.  I went to see the movie “Son of God” a couple of weeks ago.  In one scene he tells the high priest (close paraphrase) “I will tear this temple down”.  Obviously not literally, but figuratively.  Torn down in the sense that the path does not pass though and require the approval of the “keepers of the law”.  This hierarchy and dogma as developed over centuries is the temple to be torn down.  All I know is that if I were to damn everything about this world I didn’t understand, I would be leading the parade to hell….

Mark 10:17-27

The young rich dude.

You can obey YHWH’s commands, live a decent life, and all the while be loving something more than Him. A simple test we may give ourselves is to imagine anything or anyone being taken away from us and then asking ourself if we would still love and follow Jesus.

Perhaps we follow the rules because we simply realize it is a good and more peaceful way to live, or because it makes more sense. But God asks the more important question, “Do you love Me more than anything or anyone else?” Following the rules is much easier if you do. And I agree with Brennan Manning (and Luke Mertes) that we will all someday face the all-important question from God of, “Did you believe that I loved you?”

Mark 10:28-30

Whatever you give up for YHWH will be returned a hundred times over to you. I have found this to be very true with regard to my time.

Proverbs 8:8-9

All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.

God’s word(s) and message are clear and comforting to those honestly seeking from their center, from their open, receiving spirit.

His word is rocket surgery and confusing as hell to those looking with the mind only, especially a closed one.

The person who has genuinely and tangibly embraced God, who has tasted and seen that He is good, is perhaps the most open person of all. For it is the close-minded person who cannot receive.

Have you just sat and received God? Allowed Him to shower you with His goodness while you did nothing? It’s pretty awesome. And way better than striving for it.

Proverbs 7:2

Obey my commands and you will live.

Jesus said this as well at the end of the Sermon on the Mount when He told them, “Whoever hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The stormy rains came and the floods rose up, yet that house stood firm in the midst of it.” [my paraphrase]

Obedience.

Action.

The words of Jesus and of Scripture must meet with the realities of everyday life to transform us into Him.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

Information gathering?

La de frickin’ da!!!!

Do we not have enough information already???

Application.

Now there is something in deficit.

We need God every second. What if we were to remain consciously aware of that fact and ask Him continually for help? Would He help us? Have you ever done this for a day? For an hour? Continually depended on Him?

He wants to change us.

He wants to work in us to stop speaking rudely to our family.

He wants us to stop gossiping and complaining about everything and everybody.

He wants us to no longer live in fear. Of what people think. Of what might happen.

He wants to give us His peace.

He wants His joy to be in us and for it to be full.

He wants our life to be abundant.

We must put into action His words and actively employ His help. I am convinced that most Christians are hugely missing out on the life that really is life that is available to all of us. Right now.

Much seed truly falls on thorny ground as many are distracted by the cares of this world. I love that painting above–Will we focus on God and His beauty, love, and provision? Or will we choose to focus on all the things we don’t like and, henceforth, fail to notice the God of all comfort always with us, hanging ourselves by a noose of our own making (whether metaphorical or literal)?

Surrender to His ways is the only life-giving option for living here in the kingdom now. Jesus showed us what is available now through His very life.

I refuse to trudge through life in survival mode when new and abundant life is available to me now. As a lady who had a near death experience came back to say, “Life is a gift, not a chore.”

I want to sell all I have in order to buy that field with the priceless treasure in it.

Interact with Jesus about everything today. Discover His peace. Trust Him in every moment no matter how it looks.

Choose belief.

Experience shalom.

Mark 9:50

You are the salt of the earth.

As Christians, we are to enhance the taste of life for those around us.

Do you?

Proverbs 6:14,19

Sowing discord.

Stirring up hatred within families.

Biological or spiritual.

YHWH hates this.

He HATES this!

To cause division within family/community is evil. Our unity is so very important as Jesus prayed earnestly in John 17.

Always be looking to unite, repair, forgive.

Talk about others in love.

It’s one thing to seek wise counsel when you have issue with someone, it is quite another to “vent” about them or simply “blow off steam” as they say. This does no good. The enemy uses this extremely effectively. Be careful, be watchful of this in yourself and others. Work hard to see others the way God sees them. Ask Jesus what He wants you to see in a person before judging them or submitting to frustration with them. It is worth it to practice this.

Mark 8:11-13

The Pharisees came to Jesus and began to ask him questions. Hoping to trap him, they asked Jesus for a miracle from God. Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Why do you people ask for a miracle as a sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to you.” Then Jesus left the Pharisees and went in the boat to the other side of the lake.

Do you want a magic show or do you want Me?

Is My presence enough, or do you just crave what I can do for you?

Proverbs 5:22-23

An evil man will be caught [captured] in his wicked ways; the ropes of his sins will tie him up. He will die because he does not control himself [literally without discipline/instruction], and he will be held captive [or intoxicated; inebriated] by his foolishness [stupidity]. [EXB]

He will die without instruction.

How many today are not living life well due to a lack of instruction and therefore a lack of discipline?

Very few people I meet had a good success model at home. Very few have been trained to live well.  In our increasingly impersonal society, we are losing relational brain skills and, consequently, the ability to have relationships with much depth, let alone conversations with any meaning beyond weather and sports.

May we be the change we want to see.

Perhaps one or some of you need to start instructing others. Whether it be mentoring, teaching a class, being an example, spending time with someone…There is a great deficit in instruction and discipline on living life well, on living in God’s kingdom on earth.

What makes a good person is a heart of love for God and others.

People don’t know what they don’t know. We don’t ask the blind person at the art gallery why they’re not looking at the beautiful paintings on the wall.

People do not live well  for one of three reasons:

Ignorance.

Weakness.

Rebellion.

If ignorance, they must be taught.

If weakness, they must be strengthened.

If rebellion, they must feel natural consequences.

If people do not feel natural consequences, or have their heart regenerated by God, or see a better life and the way to it, they will not change.

Why would they?

Mark 7:6-9

Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right when he spoke about you hypocrites. He wrote, ‘These people show honor to me with words, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is worthless. The things they teach are nothing but human rules.’ You have stopped following the commands of God, and you follow only human teachings.” Then Jesus said to them, “You cleverly ignore the commands of God so you can follow your own teachings.” [NCV]

What a great commentary on what has happened in our Americanized pseudo Christianity.

There’s God.

There’s God’s commands.

Point to Him.

Point to His commands.

Do this mostly by example.

Stop.

Repeat.

Proverbs 4:2

What I am telling you is good, so do not forget what I teach you.

It takes about 21 days for memories to be stored in the brain in such a location and manner for them to “stick.” To implant something in this way, you must chew on it and review it for a few weeks.

This is how we are able to “not forget” what we are either taught or what we want to become a part of us. You want to have God’s truth in you, I mean really in you? Memorize a passage of Scripture and say it everyday for 21 days straight. It will be a part of you and always available for recall. (As long as it is not mindless repetition, mind you.)

Or to geek out and use some more clinical terms: The new thought moves into the nonconscious metacognitive level where it becomes part of our internal perception. This process is called automatization. Just sayin’…

(The nonconscious metacognitive mind is filled with the thoughts you’ve been building since you were in the womb, and they form the perceptual base from which you see life. You operate, for peace or for toxicity, from your nonconscious mind, whether you like it or not. So if you don’t do some heart work on that level–focused attention and repetition, or let Jesus in that “room,” your mind will not significantly be renewed. This is some of the depth and science behind the word “believe” as used by the biblical writers, as I understand it.)

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. [NIV]

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

We are told in Scripture to guard many things–eyes, feet, tongue. But we are told to guard our heart more than anything else.

Why?

In Jewish writing the heart is a person’s center, their character, their core personality, not just a biological organ. We could say (even biologically) that the heart of health is a healthy heart. You can live without some organs. You can even donate an organ, as my friend Larry did recently. But one organ you can’t live without is your heart. No one goes in to donate their heart. Not while they’re still alive at least.

In Scripture we see that salvation is not a matter of living up to a code of ethics, but rather, a matter of the heart. The purity of heart that Jesus spoke of had to do with inner aspirations and the secret desires of each person. After the heart is right with God, good conduct flows from its hidden springs. We must always talk heart first, conduct second. This is the order of things.

How do we guard our heart?

We guard our heart by taking our thoughts captive. We pay attention to our thoughts and think about our thinking. We repel sinful, unhealthy thoughts and welcome godly, healthy ones. We cannot substantially work on this while on the go. We have to stop and be still, listening to God and ourselves in the quiet. This is the needed setting of the table before being able to feast at God’s banquet of peace and health.

From our hidden spring (heart) is our actual belief and thinking. These are our lenses through which we see life and even create our reality you could say.

When we really believe something/have faith in something, we act on it as if it is true. Our belief literally processes into measurable physical realities in our brain that form the substance of nerve networks upon which we act. This is what neuroscience is now finding.

This is why it is so vital to guard our heart, for from it flow all the actions of life. It is what determines if we are indeed a good tree which will of course bear good fruit. Good actions always start with a good thought. Bad actions always begin with a bad thought.

What are your most hidden aspirations and secretest desires?

Do you guard your thoughts? If so, how?

Mark 6:45-46

Immediately Jesus told his followers to get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida across the lake. He stayed there to send the people home. After sending them away, he went into the hills to pray.

No matter what, even after much work or distraction, Jesus made sure He got His time alone in the quiet to pray. It was very important for Him to have time alone with Papa YHWH.

It’s almost as if He understood 21st century brain science.

Or was just crazy in love with and dependent upon His Father…

Proverbs 3:5-7

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 

When we follow the precepts on living as given by the Designer, we can then live a very good life.

I like how a friend of mine said that we have not been equipped with the tools to live a selfish life. That is why the self-pleasing life can never work. It will never be in harmonious coherence, for we have not been fitted for it. What we have been equipped for is the God-Life. What we have the tools for, what we have been built for, is to live a life lovingly dependent on God.

Since we have been fitted for the With-God Life [Immanuel], we will experience shalom,harmony, coherence, and clarity when we actively seek out and live this way. This life transcends circumstances. That is how Martin Luther King was able to hug his assailant after being pummeled by him. This is how Jesus was able to forgive His enemies and murderers.

Our life runs best on the fuel of Divine dependence, love, and forgiveness.

Mark 5:25-34

She came up in the crowd behind him and touched his clothes.

Jesus knew at once, inside himself, that power had gone out of him.

Jesus was (and still is) a conduit for God, for He is, in fact, God.

God and His infinite love flowed freely thru Jesus of Nazareth.

He was at all times connected to His Father. Jesus allowed nothing to inhibit His relationship with YHWH. He was more connected than any other human, and lived a life of power as a result of it.

Are we not also conduits for God because of Jesus?

Can’t the Holy Spirit, who is God, flow freely thru us as we kill all that gets in the way of a perfect, uninhibited connection to God? All the low-value garbage that competes so aggressively for our connection?

Then our very presence can be a healing to others who are hurting and searching for something more than the pathetic, short-lasting  pseudo-joy the world offers them. I believe in healing–physical, spiritual, and emotional. We can heal others. But there is a trade-off. We must give up our selfish pursuits in order to become conduits of God’s healing and love. Only as we fill ourselves with God, and therefore, crowd out all that is not Him, will we then become agents of healing. Only then will we start to see people the way God must see them–always with love, always with compassion, always with pity (the good kind, of course!). We will begin each day and encounter with a “yes” instead of a “no.”

Our love will be deeply gracious, always forgiving, and ever hopeful.

Mark 4:26-27

Then Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like someone who plants seed in the ground. Night and day, whether the person is asleep or awake, the seed still grows, but the person does not know how it grows.” [NCV]

This is one of the most comforting and empowering of passages to me. My responsibility is to give the word of God, to give truth. I do not and cannot make it grow in someone’s heart. That is God’s part.

This hearkens back to the “bearing fruit” picture used in Scripture. I believe all of God’s creation speaks of Him, not in a spiritual sense only, but also in a literal and physical sense. The more we study the physical characteristics of creation, the more we can get to know its Creator. So bearing fruit then is not force-feeding, for a tree does not throw its apples in someone’s mouth. It bears them. It produces them from its root system via drinking water from a source that is provided by a greater Source.

And I do believe our prayers are part of that God-designed process of fruit bearing. In another passage, it seems to indicate that we can till the soil and put manure in it to make it more conducive for growth. Perhaps that is speaking simply of prayer.

Nonetheless, I do not make the seed grow in someone’s heart. God does that. I just do my portion.

Takes some unnecessary pressure off, does it not?

Proverbs 2:1-6

While wisdom is readily available to all, the active words such as “accept,” “store up,” “call out,” “search for” make it clear that the disciple must be focused and diligent in the quest for it.

The search for wisdom begins with an attitude of reverent submission to God (“the fear of the LORD”). It continues with the disciple’s persistence and diligence, and it actually leads to the knowledge of God. This outcome is assured because God reveals Himself to those who diligently seek Him.

-from The Apologetics Study Bible

Mark 3:31-35

Anyone who does God’s will is my brother! And my sister! And my mother! [KNT]

Jesus tells us that spiritual ties are stronger than natural ones. Our true family is made up of those doing what God wants, those who are following Him with their whole heart. Thru God, our spiritual family heals the hurts from our biological family and fills the gaps where they missed us in some way.

And none of our parents or family are perfect, let’s be honest. None of us are perfect parents either. None of us are strong in every aspect of humanity. Therefore it is imperative for the holistic growth of our children that we are immersed within a spiritual family to fill in the gaps we may or may not be aware of. This is an easy move if we truly want the absolute best for our children.

If my girls are only around me and their mother, they will be products of us, for sure-which is cool and fun to a degree, yes, but why would I want them to be exposed only to us? I know many wonderful Christ following parents whom I trust and value greatly. Why would I not desire my children to be around them and gain more godliness thru their unique lives and perspectives? How much more whole will our girls be for having experienced others doing God’s will and filling in the gaps where we are lacking.

I was so happy to have our girls spend a weekend with one of those families last month, knowing they were in good hands, not just because they’d be safe, but because they would be immersed in a goodness that is, at the core, in line with our values, yet beautifully different in the details.

Proverbs 1:1-7

For learning about wisdom and instruction…The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…

In the biblical wisdom literature we find principles governing daily living that, when rightly understood, can lead us to God. These principles, given by a loving God through the means of natural human wisdom, reveal God’s will for our lives and how we can live harmoniously in the world.

Through these passages God, much like a parent advising a child, reveals the patterns that help us gain an understanding of our own personal life (4:11-12), work with one another (15:1), and ultimately discover God Himself (2:5-11; 24:21-22). They emphasize normative patterns of living (chap 14). They teach us that joy and happiness, sorrow and despair are a direct result of the life we lead and the choices we make (7:21-27). “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but those who hate to be rebuked are stupid” (12:1). They represent a stored treasure of human experience that reveal the wisdom and grace of God (3:5-8).

These wisdom sayings ultimately lay the responsibility for the “good life” at our feet as we exercise the freedom God gave us to know and to serve Him. “Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding….The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens….My child, do not let these escape from your sight” (3:13,19-21).

These Scriptures focus on the practical choices we make in life and the consequences that flow from these choices. In contrast to other parts of Scripture, they do not focus on the more dominant biblical theme of salvation history-how we overcome our alienation from God. As a result of this shift of emphasis, some overlook the importance of these teachings. But in neglecting this wisdom literature we miss an important God-given resource for practical instruction on how to live a better life in the everyday world.

In clever, poetic, pithy or “catchy” sayings, these books emphasize a basic moral orientation that guides us in all aspects of daily living (2:1-5). They teach us the “things that are true on the whole and for the most part.” The writers’ confidence in life’s moral order gives rise to the cause-and-effect reasoning that dominates these Scriptures. If we are good, then good will befall us: “A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water” (11:25). If we are evil, then evil will befall us: “Wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, or dwell in a body enslaved to sin” (Wisdom of Solomon 1:4). The wisdom tradition of the Bible focuses on building character, promoting virtue, condemning vice, and teaching us ways in which we can do the right thing, for the right reason, at the right time, and in the right way.

-Emilie Griffin from The Spiritual Formation Bible

Proverbs 30:15-16

The leech has two daughters: “Give, give!” There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say”Enough!”

Sheol and a barren womb, a land that is not saturated with water, and fire that does not say “Enough!”

Why a leech?

Well, it sucks the blood of its host until seemingly overfull, and never seems to be satisfied. Interesting how even today we use the term “leech” to refer to someone who attaches themselves to a person in order to drain them of their resources.

The two daughters, Give and Give?

Scholarly scholars believe this refers to a leech’s suckers, admitting they have only one, but from a distance they appear to have two.

Then comes four examples of things never satisfied:

1. Sheol–this refers to the grave with overtones of the underworld. It is an entity never satisfied for there is always room for one more dead person. It is insatiable.
2. The barren womb–Having a child in OT times was of paramount importance, and a barren woman lamented deeply, and was insatiable since a child was all that would satisfy.
3. A land not saturated with water–Palestine is a land where rainfall is minimal (unlike Indianapolis this morning). Rain on parched ground soaks up the available water and never seems to get enough.
4. Fire–As long as there is combustible material, fire does not stop. Throw another log onto a raging fire, and it burns and burns.

So the examples in these verses all illustrate this principle of insatiable desire, and may have been intended to be used when confronting situations in which no matter how much is given, it will never be enough. This is just how some people are, which is draining to those around them. But as we know, they do not have to stay there.

Proverbs 31:26

She opens her mouth in wisdom, and covenantal instruction is on her lips.

The second part of this proverb praises the noble woman’s  speech which is characterized as “instruction” of hesed. Hesed is tough to translate into an English word which would capture the whole range of its meaning. This particular translation underlines the connection between this word and the covenant. The word itself does not mean covenant, but it characterizes the type of relationship that exists between covenant partners.

Other translations highlight “kindness” or “loyalty,” “faithfulness,” “goodness.” All appropriate, but “covenantal” is intended to cover them all, thus rendering a more full translation of this rich Hebrew word. It also safeguards against the idea that her words are just generally kind. They are kind by flowing from the covenant between God and His people.

Mark 2:2-4

A crowd gathered, with the result that people couldn’t even get near the door as He was telling them the message. A party arrived: four people carrying a paralyzed man, bringing him to Jesus. They couldn’t get thru to Him because of the crowd, so they opened up the roof above where He was. When they had dug thru it, they used ropes to let down the stretcher the paralyzed man was lying on.

Here is a great illustration of a hunger for God. Here is a real desire for Him and faith in what He can do. We do what we really want to do, and we let nothing stay in the way of it. And as we’ve said lately, Jesus can only work with desire, e.g. He could not do many miracles there because of their unbelief. (As always, I defer to mystery as there have been many situations where YHWH called those who were not necessarily looking for Him, i.e. Paul the apostle. But you know what I mean here, I think.)

God is looking for those who seek Him, those who seek Him from their heart, not just their intellect. Think of playing hide & seek. What do you do as the seeker? You look hard for the person(s). You look under and behind things until you have found them, if you’re really playing at all.

There is God’s part, and there is our part. Belief is obviously a main ingredient for our part. There is the mystery of “I have chosen you, you have not chosen Me.” I see desire, hunger, thirst that comes after belief, or regeneration of the heart by the Holy Spirit. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. A genuine hunger and thirst is sought to be satisfied. Here is our part, our following hard after God.

So along these lines, I’ve been thinking about Jesus Paid It All, and also that discipleship is costly. I love the paradoxes of God and Scripture. There’s no way around them. Embrace them or else be confounded into oblivion!

The picture I’ve had the past few days that is helping me is this: Let’s say the most amazing experience you can ever have here is climbing Mt. Everest. And let’s say the fee to scale it is an impossible 1 trillion dollars, an amount we are likely never to see ourselves, let alone ever earn. But some long-haired dude, who is the absolute nicest, most loving guy you’ve ever met, pays the entire fee for you. Apparently he’s loaded. So does that automatically put you on top of Mt. Everest? Of course not! You’ve got to train your fat booty off and put in considerable effort, at the cost of no longer eating donuts and sitting around watching tv for hours, so that you are in shape to get up that monster. But oh how worth it when you are there. How exciting the journey! I’ve been up only around 13,000 feet on a couple of my hiking trips, able to see about a hundred miles in every direction, and that was breathtakingly beyond words to describe the feeling and experience of being up there. The hard work involved to get my 200 pound extra large butt up there made it much sweeter than if I was dropped there by helicopter.

You get what I’m saying, Jesus paid our impossible entrance fee, for entrance into the presence of God which was not available to all people before Jesus tore that curtain in two. But it is up to us to take full advantage of what He purchased for us. It is worth every ounce of effort to go against this ridiculous, seemingly incompatible society to follow Jesus, to put Him first every day and fill ourselves with God and the things of God, crowding out all that is not God or of God. We are going against the stream that screams at us to stay busy doing so many things, some good, some valueless.

“The stream that screams.”

I like that. I’m gonna use that.

Let’s fight together to train for Everest. We can’t do it on our own. It is worth the sacrifice to experience the presence and goodness of God in a tangible way in this life, to experience shalom. But I do not believe we are carried to the top of the mountain. It does not appear to be God’s design. Thank God (literally) that He paid that entrance fee!*

I would like to share a text message I got yesterday from someone who gets this and asks good questions on seeking:

“Those who seek Me diligently find me”…This clearly states that there is a human responsibility to seek God before the blessing of His presence (right?) It’s not a “let go and let God” but there is a responsibility on our part, to do the will of God and run after Him (as hard as that can be at times) and in return, you will find Him.

Meaning the Holy Spirit will be so present in you? God won’t seem like a distant intangible being, but truly like a father?

YES!!

Ok…so it’s kind of like God calling our bluff on a “raise my hand and say the prayer for an eternal safety net to be in place”…He will not be found in that. It’s a diligent hunt for God (Bible, prayer, meditation, fellowship, church, worship, obedience) in the meantime the knowledge of Him is grown intellectually but more importantly through the Holy Spirit, a language that fills in the (large) gaps left when you try and understand Him solely on an intellectual level. Love sprouts, He waters it. The love and faith grow and the unbelief and doubt dwindle until there is nothing but a full on love relationship?

*I realize that this is not a perfect analogy, but hope it is at least somewhat helpful in comprehending this mystery!