Proverbs 1:5-6

It takes desire, time, and effort to really learn, increase in wisdom, and get to know God. These Proverbs require hours, even days and years to soak in, understand, and assimilate into our life. This is the nature of Scripture, for it is spiritual and, therefore, must be read from our hearts, not just our intellect. The Holy Spirit inspired these words, so only the Holy Spirit can totally and accurately speak thru them. You must listen with the ears of your heart if you are to gain much from these words.

It is only in the kind of listening in which we are truly open to learning something we didn’t know or realize before, as opposed to the type of listening in which we are merely hoping to bolster what we already (think we) know, where we actually gain, grow, and mature as children of God.

Try really hard to always listen from the position that you don’t know everything already, from the posture that you have much to learn and everything to gain.

Matthew 1:6

It’s wild to me that Bathsheeba is in the lineage of Jesus. It says to me loudly and clearly that no matter how badly you screw up, God can and will redeem and use for good whatever He will. Nothing is beyond His redemptive power…NOTHING. Makes me think of how big of a jack-hole that Paul guy was before Jesus got a hold of him.

Proverbs 31:8

As Christ followers, we are to speak up for those with no real voice in our society–the poor (those with no means), the oppressed…This is just what we do.

Is there anyone in your life you are truly helping?

Proverbs 31:26,30

A good wife is one who fears the Lord.

All I want from my wife is that she puts God first in her life–before me, before our girls. Then I know all is well.

John 21:6-11

The net was not torn.

That many fish should’ve torn that net.

Do what Jesus says, the way He says to do it, in His strength and not yours, and you will have the abundance and capacity to do whatever He asks you to do.

Being filled with Him will make burnout impossible.

People burn out on their own energy, never God’s infinite supply.

Proverbs 30:5-6

Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection. Do not add to his words, or he may rebuke you and expose you as a liar.

The true seeker of God needs very little.

God’s grace is sufficient, His word enough.

The more you feel you need may very well be evidence that it is “more” than God that you are seeking.

How can there be more than God when He is everything?

It can only be in our ignorance and twisted conviction that we need something else or, just as ridiculous, God and…

Has God given us enough in order to know Him sufficiently? Do you trust this to be true? Or is He some sort of cosmic mind-messing game-player who provides insufficiently while commanding us to find Him, even though we’ve not been given enough data to really even start looking?

Trust.

I believe He asks for our trust in Him and in His providence for all we need, whether it be food, clothing, and shelter, or whether it be enough evidence to know Him as He would desire to be known.

Once we realize we have all we need from God (enough), we move from a sense of ignorance to a sense of mystery. From “I know not” to “I know not, but it is known.” Yes, God is incomprehensible, yet has He not provided enough for us to know Him as He would have Himself be known by His created image-bearers?

Do you trust in Divine Providence? That God has given us enough?

Or do you need more? And if more, what would be enough?

Proverbs 29:1

One who becomes stiff-necked, after many reprimands will be shattered instantly–beyond recovery.

The Hebrew literally reads, “A man of reproofs who hardens his neck shall suddenly be broken, and no healing.”

“Man of reproofs” seems to indicate those whose lives are characterized by reproofs, by offered correction and constructive criticism, and yet they simply do not respond to any of it.

“Stiff-necked” is an idiom that means “extremely stubborn.”

The obstinate person refuses to learn.

“Those who are repeatedly warned about behavior that has potentially dangerous consequences but do not listen (are stiff-necked) will find all of a sudden that the consequences have caught up with them, and they will have moved beyond the point where an easy fix is possible,” says Biblical Studies Professor Tremper Longman in his interpretation of this verse.

This proverb does not only point to the bad end of some people, but is a plea to the wise to not reject criticism.

Wise people can hear the actual content of criticism and apply it to themselves in order to learn, in order to grow. Wise people accept it because they desire to grow as a person, even if it hurts a little.

Foolish people cannot get past thinking all criticism is some sort of attack on their personality, an undermining of them as people. Sure, that might be the intent of some, but surely not all who give critique. Foolish people do not hear well. Perhaps because they have refused to listen for so long, their ability to hear anything of substance may be dulled and atrophied to the point of moral deafitude (totally made up word).

The very wise can even listen for the profitable nugget lying hidden beneath the scathing surface of vitriol from an ill-motivated attacker. They know life is deeper than than this person’s childish offering, so that is where they are always looking–the depths, where wisdom may be hiding and God is probably speaking.

John 20:17

I’ve always wondered why Jesus told Mary not to cling to Him. For one, He was going to see her again. This was not their final meeting. Two, she had a task to do-to tell the dudes He was going to His Father. Third, the form they had come to know and love would not be the permanent form they or all followers thereafter would hold on to. It would now be the Paraclete.

We have the best Counselor ever.

Proverbs 28:13

The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

Whoever confesses AND renounces their sin will find mercy.

We easily and conveniently forget the renouncing part, don’t we. Turning to Christ will always include a turning from sin. The closer we get to Him, the more clearly we see the darkness of sin and therefore, the more we will hate it.

Proverbs 28:26

The one who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.

There is only One who you can totally trust, for He knows you better than you know yourself. Only thru knowing Him can we know ourselves and be transformed.

We so need Jesus to show us our damaged parts that keep us from knowing Him fully. Those parts we can’t even see right now on our own because of our blindness. Because of our damage.

Only thru a bold openness and sincere desire to change will we be able to see what needs to be healed and liberated.

Listening.

Listening is key.

To the Holy Spirit’s whisper.

To others who know and care about us.

To Scripture. Coming to Scripture open and listening, not with preconceived notions.

Many people do not hear God speaking to them because they go in thinking they already know what He is going to say. So there is a shutoff that keeps them from hearing the beautiful voice of God. Go to Him in the reality that you do not yet know what He wants to say to you today. You can’t know. He is God. How often He has a kind, gentle, encouraging word for us, but we do not hear it because we make God in our own image.

John 19:1-16

Oh the dangerous temptation to regard secular acclaim above divine approval.

Who cares what people think when you are pleasing, from your heart, the only One who ultimately matters?

Say what you will.

Think what you will.

Tozer said the meek man understands the world will never see him as God sees him, and he has stopped caring.

In the fitting words of Run D.M.C. – “I’m down with the King!”

Proverbs 27:12

A sensible person sees danger and takes cover; the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

I’ve read that prudence is taking the time to weigh out a situation, looking at the possible courses of action and what is likely to come of them, and then making the wise choice.

It’s the old “Stop and think for two seconds” technique.

Just stop and consider what you are doing.

Unless severely brain damaged, we can ALL do this.

“God warns before He wounds.”

May we have eyes to see and ears to hear the warnings that are lovingly placed in front of us for our safety and well being, as well as the grace to make the wise choice.

Proverbs 27:21

A hot furnace tests silver and gold, and people are tested by the praise they receive.

Response to praise reveals who a person really is. Do you get the big ego and then go lazy? Or do you thank God and continue working even harder to serve others after receiving affirmation?

How do you respond to praise? In your heart?

Are people drawn more to us or to God?

Who do you want people to be drawn to?

John 18:28

Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters themselves; otherwise they would be defiled and unable to eat the Passover.

These dudes were trying to get the Son of God killed, yet were worried about being ceremonially unclean because they really wanted to eat the Passover meal.

Seriously?

Wait. Do we ever do this?

Do we deny someone in need because it may make us late to the Sunday gathering?

Do we avoid spending time with a brother or sister because we have meetings or we need our “Me time”?

And let’s be honest, “Me time” usually consists of watching TV or some equivalently no-treasure-in-heaven-non-joy-building-time-waster or NTIHNJBTW’s as I like to call them.

John 18:37

“The whole reason I was born and the whole reason I came into the world is this: to bear witness to the Truth. Every single individual who is rooted in the Truth is listening to my voice.” Jesus the Messiah

Don’t you just love it when we come across a rather unambiguous pericope such as this?

Straightforward.

What are you gonna do with this?

That Jesus believes (as he now says) that “my voice” is the vehicle of world Truth is wonderfully centering for believers who have made Jesus Lord. Truth-seeking disciples will listen to this singular voice as avidly as children listen to stories. In the voice of Jesus, disciples are convinced, they have the most truth-filled words ever given. Disciples who love science, which is the search for truth, will give themselves, therefore, to mining the meaning of Jesus’ Words.

-Frederick Dale Bruner

Proverbs 26:11

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.

Here is some good and penetrating commentary by Warren Wiersbe on this:

Fools don’t learn from their mistakes, but go right back to the same old mess. Experience is a good teacher for the wise but not for fools. This verse is quoted in 2 Peter 2:22 as a description of counterfeit believers who follow false teachers. Like a sow that’s been washed, they look better on the outside; and like a dog that’s vomited, they feel better on the inside; but they still don’t have the divine new nature. Consequently, they go right back to the old life. Obedience and perseverance in the things of the Lord are proof of conversion. Foolish tendencies in each of us are part of our sin nature. Recognizing them and depending on God’s remedies for these flaws are the first steps toward wisdom, forgiveness, and eternal life.

John 17:3

“This is eternal life: that they may know You the one true God, and the One You have sent-Jesus Christ .”

This, for me, is one of the most important verses in all of Scripture.

Here our Master defines for us eternal life. It’s not merely living forever. It is deeper than that. It changes our old understanding of John 3:16, enriching it, rendering it more tangible.

I defer to the eloquent A.W. Tozer for some exposition on this verse:

In religion more than in any other field of human experience a sharp distinction must always be made between knowing about and knowing. The distinction is the same between knowing about food and actually eating it. A man can die of starvation knowing all about bread, and a man can remain spiritually dead while knowing all the historic facts of Christianity. We have but to introduce one extra word into this verse to see how vast the difference between knowing about and knowing. “This is life eternal, that they might know about thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” That one word makes all the difference between life and death, for it goes to the very root of the verse and changes its theology radically and vitally.

For all this we would not underestimate the importance of mere knowing about. Its value lies in its ability to rouse us to desire to know in actual experience. Thus knowledge by description may lead on to knowledge by acquaintance. May lead on, I say, but does not necessarily do so. Thus we dare not conclude that because we learn about the Spirit, we for that reason actually know Him. Knowing Him comes only by a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit Himself.

Proverbs 24:19-20

Don’t be agitated by evildoers, and don’t envy the wicked. For the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

People seem to thrive on worry.

I constantly overhear fretting over the president, mayor, governor, family, terrorists…

Is it really worth devoting so much fruitless negative energy?

And by negative energy, I mean whining.

Pray about it, get involved in the solution, or shut your mouth. Really. Let us not be the Christians bitching about everything out there. Rather, may we be love-filled joy starters, praying, acting, with few words and great love.

Focusing on our loving relationship with God will give us less time and energy left over to complain about everything. After our own transformation, our energy will start to flow in a direction where it matters and become a catalyst for genuine transformation of the world beginning with the healing of those around us.

Let us not forget that God’s plan for the healing of the nations is His followers. That is us. And we will only do this thru connecting to Him, our power Source. Our Everything.

John 15:5

“Apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

Jesus said He did nothing apart from the Father.

When will we learn that we can do nothing apart from Jesus?

How much do you rely on Jesus day to day?

A new world opens up when you do. When you become a co-laborer with Christ. I have seen such pure awesomeness when I choose to trust Christ to work with me and do the things I cannot do on my own. When, abiding in Him, I sincerely trust Him to do what I ask in His name. This must be experienced, and when it is, it is a paradigm-shifter. You not only cognitively realize, but you experientially feel, that this. Is. Real.

John 15:21

“..they don’t know the One who sent Me.”

After belief, I can think of nothing more important than knowing God. Knowing Jesus. Knowing the Holy Spirit.

“This is eternal life, to know You the one true God, and the One You sent, Jesus Christ.” -Jesus [John 17:3]

We judge from afar those whom we do not know.

But the people closest to us, whom we know inside and out and love dearly, we defend and stand by….no matter what.

Proverbs 23:17-18

Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of YHWH all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

If you find yourself envying someone, turn it into fear of the Lord, who is able to destroy the soul if He so chooses. In His incomprehensible infinitude He created the soul, which means He could also destroy it. Yet in His incomprehensible, infinite love, He keeps us forever.

Just pondering this gives me a more proper perspective on things and enables me to recognize more clearly what life is all about. The chief end of humankind, the catechism tells us, is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, not self and other people.

Anything in comparison to the presence of God is utter excrement.

John 14:2-3

“There is plenty of room to live in my Father’s house. If that wasn’t the case, I’d have told you, wouldn’t I? I’m going to get a place ready for you! And if I do go and get a place ready for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, so that you can be there, where I am.”

Meditating on this passage a while back I realized that the “place” Jesus was going to prepare was the actual presence of God, not necessarily a physical dwelling. He was going to the cross to make ready this presence that He lived in, available to us.

John 14:22-23

Judas spoke up. (This was the other Judas, not Iscariot.) “Master,” he said, “how will it be that you will show yourself to us and not to the world?” 

“If anyone loves me,” Jesus replied, “they will keep my word. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

What does it take for Jesus to reveal Himself to us?

Love Him.

Really love Him.

Do you actually LOVE Jesus?

If you do, He will show you life in the most vibrant and truthful and insightful of ways…a higher consciousness, if you will.

John 14:26

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, the One the father will send in my name, He will teach you everything. He will bring back to your mind everything I’ve said to you.”

I don’t NEED any human to teach me about God.

See also 1 John 2:26-27 –> I am writing to you about the people who are deceiving you. You have received the anointing from Him; it abides in you and you do not need to have anyone teach you. That anointing from Him teaches you about everything; it is true, it isn’t a lie. So, just as He taught you, abide in Him.

It’s nice to be taught by human teachers, but the Holy Spirit is the best Teacher.

It just takes more concentration to listen to the Holy Spirit. But it is well worth the effort.

John 14:30

“I haven’t got much more to say to you. The ruler of the world is coming. He has nothing to do with me.”

Literally, “He has nothing in me.”

I can only be tempted by what I permit to be in my mind.

Jesus kept His thought life so pure that the devil had nothing to use against Him. Jesus’ desire was so profoundly to be close to His Father, that there were no desires for satan to latch onto to effectively entice Him with.

The closer we get to Christ, the more other desires will fade away. Which is the truest freedom, isn’t it? We always say the Christian life is not abstaining from a buncha things you want but know you shouldn’t have. It is drawing so close to Jesus Christ that you sincerely see desire for anything but Him die away. There is no more appeal.

The worst and most tempting part of sin is that…you like it! You love it, in fact. If you didn’t, it would not be a temptation. Think of something you have no desire for. Does it tempt you to engage in? Of course not! For me, I have zero desire to attend a Nascar event (no offense to anyone).  So there is no fight whatsoever when I see a billboard for some race in Indy. Well that is what can happen with our temptations and sin if only we pursue God. If only we run hard after Him and make Him the focus of our life. It takes time, and we may not reach perfection in this life, but why not go after it?