Proverbs 5:22

An evil man will be caught in his wicked ways; the ropes of his sin will tie him up.

The great lie:

Going against our Creator’s loving guidelines will bring you freedom.

Actions contrary to the laws of the universe as set up by the Maker of said universe will only become the ropes that tie you up, robbing you of the freedom He bought for you and wants to give you out of His great abundance and love.

Luke 23:45

The veil of the temple ripped down the middle.

Why did the veil rip?

So we could make more rules?

To establish the right denomination?

To show the correct doctrine and tradition?

What was accomplished by this cosmic act of Jesus of Nazareth?

Direct access to the presence of God for EVERY human being.

It is available to all 7 billion people right NOW.

This was simply unavailable to all people before this event. Hard to comprehend this. Hard to comprehend how Jesus’ work has been both abused and neglected.

From what I understand of ancient Judaism, only one priest could enter the presence of God once a year in one special place.

God is no longer “confined” to the temple. We can see Him anywhere, anytime. No place or time is more sacred than another. Easter Sunday is no more sacred than, say, Thursday October 16th. The most beautiful cathedral in the world is no more holy than the northwest corner of my dirty garage.

Proverbs 4:13

Always remember what you have been taught, and don’t let go of it.

Proverbs 4:20-23

My child, pay attention to my words; listen closely to what I say.

Don’t ever forget my words; keep them always in mind.

They are the key to life; they bring health to the whole body.

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

Proverbs 4:25

Keep your eyes focused on what is right, and look straight ahead to what is good.

Is someone on your nerves right now?

Ask yourself which you are doing more:

Talking about them, or praying for them?

One of those sends out positive energy and takes you from incoherence to shalom.

The other sends out negative energy and perpetuates division and ill feelings.

Which do you want?

Luke 22:20

“This cup is the new covenant in My blood which is poured out for you.”

Covenants were ratified with the blood of sacrifice. At the Passover in Exodus, the blood of a lamb was used. On what we call “Good Friday”, the perfect Lamb of God was quite literally the end all be all perfect sacrifice poured out for humanity.

Jesus’ death inaugurated the benefits of the new covenant. Jesus died on behalf of and in place of his disciples. His death cleared the way for people to be rightly related to God, a relationship in which God also pours his Spirit on them through Jesus.

Behind the action stands the loving commitment of God to take the initiative and suffer sacrifice in order to restore a broken relationship with humanity.

These blessings were for those who acknowledged that Jesus is the promised Messiah and sought the forgiveness and enabling life he offered.

These quotes by Darrell L. Bock are a great reminder and summary of the gospel, of what we as Christians believe and trust.

I’ve been thinking and reading a lot this week about our covenantal relationship with God. That it’s more about who we love than what we believe. That at its foundation is trust. In a covenantal relationship such as a marriage, trust is foundational. If you can’t trust your spouse, you’re on the shakiest of ground. It’s been said of relationships, “If you don’t have trust, you don’t have anything.”

What is not foundational to relationships is completely understanding the other person. Raise your hand if you completely understand your spouse. OK, I see no hands.  Now raise your hand if you completely understand God. Riiiiight. Yet how often we think we need to figure it all out. Can we completely trust God, or our spouse, without totally understanding or comprehending him or her?

I think so.

I’ve come to realize and experience that this is what God desires of us. Trust in Him, whatever may come, however things may look. This is what I want from my children, for sure. I’d like for them to understand me, yes, but I really want them to trust me that I know and want what’s absolutely best for them. Trust that my “rules” are put in place to form you into being a good person, not to deprive you of anything good.

Love and trust.

…one of the many differences between “magical” and biblical faith is that magic is about engaging in behaviors that ultimately benefit the practitioner, while biblical faith is about cultivating a covenantal relationship with God that is built on mutual trust.

(Magic is generally understood to involve people engaging in special behaviors that empower them to gain favor with, or to otherwise influence, the spiritual realm in order to get it to work to their advantage.)

-Gregory A. Boyd

Proverbs 3:1-4

My child, never forget the things I have taught you.

I need constant reminders of truth.

This is what we do for one another.

One year ago today I was returning from our first Ripple Effect retreat at St. Meinrad. While there, I was shown again the importance of surrounding myself with pointers to Jesus. We are bombarded by the world’s philosophies and ways as soon as we walk out the door. At the monastery, however, I am struck by how I am bombarded with Jesus, and after a day or two, it’s almost as if it is work to think in the flesh. There, everywhere you look, is a reminder of Christ. The crucifix in the weight room is pure awesomeness.

I understand why it is good to bind these truths around your neck.

Now I’m “that guy” who has a cross hanging in the car, icthus on the front of the car, bronze Jesus on the bookshelf, plastic Jesus in the living room, icon by the front door, and on and on. I want those reminders for my heart everywhere.

I believe God made us a portable sanctuary, and I want to decorate every corner of it with His beauty and truth.

Luke 21:34

“So watch out for yourselves,” said Jesus, “that your hearts may not grow heavy with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life, so that that day comes upon you suddenly.”

Dissipation-a wasting by misuse; mental distraction; amusement; diversion; dissolute way of living especially excessive drinking of liquor; intemperance.

I hear Jesus saying:

“Do not let your heart become heavy with the cares of this life. Whenever you feel weighed down by the worries of this world, I want you to immediately think of me, come to me, talk to me, rest in me. For I am above this world, beyond this world, transcend this world. I am the only one who can give your soul the true rest you are searching for. No one can give you what I can give you, what I want to give you-if only you come to me of your own surrendered will. I made you and I know you like no other person can possibly know you. Therefore I can give you what no other person or thing can possibly give you.”

Proverbs 2

The sincere pursuit of true wisdom will inevitably lead to God.

Luke 20:41-44

Then Yeshua said to them, “How can they say that the Messiah is Ben-David? For David Himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘ADONAI said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”‘ David then calls Him ‘Lord’; so how is He his son?” [TLV]

This is kind of a difficult passage to get a handle on. After much lucubration last night, well, I’m still a little confused. But not as much! And let me tell you, nothing outweighs prayer and listening when it comes to Scripture reading. Study is good, but praying it, meditating upon it, and listening to the Holy Spirit through it–way better!

The take-away for me here is that God is always transcending our pre-conceived notions of Him, as well as our own images of God. Encountering God is ever new, ever surprising, as Jesus was ever surprising to the Jewish people of His day.

It was a quite popular mindset in the Judaism of the first century that the Messiah would definitely come through the line of David, and under him the golden age would come and Israel would become the greatest nation in the world. It was a dream of political power (and quite understandable when you study the history). Some great descendent of David would come and be an invincible captain and king. So this idea of the Son of David was mixed with world dominion, military prowess, and material conquest.

Jesus came to set the record straight.

Very straight.

Jesus told them, and tells us, to revise your idea of Messiah, of God. I love in the movie Get Shorty how John Travolta’s character, Chili Palmer, would answer the question “Who are you?” with “I’m the one telling you how it is.” Well, we see he stole that line from Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the one telling us how it is. Setting us straight. Telling us the truth about God.

In this pericope, Jesus is saying, in essence, “You think of the coming Messiah as Son of David. True, He is. But He is far more than that. He is Lord.” Jesus, quoting from Psalm 110, emphasizes that He is Lord of David, indeed, Lord of all. Jesus interprets Scripture as God meant it. Being born in the lineage of David is not as important as Him being greater than David, greater than all, Lord of all. He tells them to revise their thoughts and expectations of Messiah. He tells them to abandon their fantastic dreams of world power, and visualize the Messiah as the Lord of the hearts and lives of humans. They had too little an idea of God. Thankfully that never happens today…

I love William Barclay’s commentary on this passage: “It is always man’s tendency to make God in his own image, and thereby to miss the full majesty of God.”

God’s mercies are new every morning. God is new to us everyday–if we allow Him to be. We don’t get God more and more figured out. We get more and more blown away, surprised, and humbled by Him. Any true God encounter will leave you humbled to your core, in reverential awe. If not, then perhaps you’ve encountered someone else. Don’t get me wrong, there’s also a confidence that goes with encountering God, and a deep sense of being seen, known, and loved. But He is the almighty Creator of the universe, and of you. Meeting that person tends to cause slight trembling, temporary loss of speech, and the sudden desire to take your shoes off.

The appeal to Psalm 110:1 defines Jesus’ lordship as one vindicated by God, giving him an inseparable place with God and the execution of divine power and authority. It forces a choice. Either Jesus is who he claims to be or he is a blasphemer.

-Darrell L. Bock

Proverbs 1:1-7

The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Finally, the prologue lays down the basic foundation for wisdom; it asserts that wisdom begins with the fear of Yahweh. One properly fears Yahweh because he is the most powerful being in the universe. Only fools would not be afraid of a being who has the power of life and death over them. Such persons do not understand their place in the cosmos and thus do not know how to act in the world. All other wisdom builds on this point, and there is no wisdom without it. Indeed, in the words of M.L. Barre, “Fear of Yahweh…is the first step–‘square one’–in the quest for a meaningful existence.”

-Tremper Longman III

Proverbs 1:32-33

For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.

Notice the contrast between the “complacency” of fools and the wise being “at ease.” “Complacency is counterfeit ease,” Raymond C. Ortlund tells us. I like that description. He goes on to say that Jesus is dangerous, but also the easiest person in the universe to get along with. He is easier on you than you are on you. And the price you pay for the true ease of Christ? Reverent listening. It’s that easy, and it’s that challenging.

The act of listening is easy, but in this modern, frenetic society, it is like standing next to an airplane trying to listen to someone on your cell phone. (The airplane engine is running in this example for all you literal and exact people out there like my daughter Gabriela who may be reading this). What’s better and clearer is to get away from the plane to hear.What’s best is to meet in person in a quiet place.

I like Ortlund’s conclusion to this section:

Jesus took these words from Wisdom personified into his own mouth as Wisdom incarnate.He too warned of a storm coming. He told us that everyone who hears him and obeys him will be like a wise man who builds his house on rock (Matthew 7:24-27). When the storm comes, it doesn’t matter, because the rock of grace will hold. But everyone who does not listen will be like a foolish man who builds his life on sand–the sand of “Don’t rush me,” “I’m not that bad,” “I’m too busy right now,” “Maybe later”–the constantly shifting sand of Self. And when the storm comes, that house falls, and catastrophic is its fall.

Luke 19:11-27

The parable of the ten servants.

It seems we will be judged for squandering any of the resources we have been given, whether it be our time, our talents, or our money…

How do I spend the majority of my free time?

What do I do with my gifts? Writing, speaking, listening, teaching, organizing…

Where does my money mostly go after paying for food and shelter?

Proverbs 31:25

Strength and honor are her clothing; she laughs at the future.

We know the future brings uncertainty, difficulties, and obstacles, yet this woman is so confident in her wisdom (implying a relationship with YHWH), that she is able to laugh without fear at it.

She is ready because she has rooted herself in what is good and lasting.

As Psalm 1 tells us, spiritual development and freedom come from journeying on the right path (a long obedience in the same direction), and being rooted in God as our source of energy and the good ways He has gifted us indicating how we may rightfully navigate reality in our real lives now, day to day.

*Interesting note, I just read that Psalm 112 is the male counterpart to this poem of Proverbs 31:10-31. Never knew that.

Luke 18:1-8

The parable of the persistent widow.

Will the Son of Man find faith on earth?

Jesus tells His disciples to not lose heart no matter how things look, no matter how long justice seems to take according to our finite minds.

Will you stay faithful to YHWH and anticipate His justice despite great injustice such as this Isis evil?  Will you remain true to the end, believing in the second coming and new heavens and earth?

We don’t talk of this as much these days it seems, but this is what Jesus appears to be indicating here–to be faithful and persistent to the one true good God in the face of what is so horrible and seemingly never ending. Do not grow weary in doing good or in prayer. The importance of prayer is stressed in this passage by Jesus Himself. Persistent prayer is powerful in ways we probably don’t even know, not least of which is the changing of our own hearts.

I believe so much of Scripture is about trusting God no matter what. Trust in the midst of whatever is going on, good or bad, is key to living the Christian life. Trust implies that you are acknowledging God’s presence and care. He is for us, no matter how dark it appears.

Will He find us faithful until He returns?