Proverbs 8:6-8

Proverbs 7:10

The woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, and guarded of heart.

“Guarded of heart” here, as the Hebrew suggests, means that this woman does not give herself emotionally or spiritually. She offers herself physically though. In that way she is very open indeed, but holds back in any truly intimate way. Therefore, it will cause a rift, a tearing in the mind of both, as it goes against God’s design for our sexuality.

This is what neurotheology is showing us more and more–the dis-integrated mind. More specifically, the pre-frontal cortex, which is where integration and emotional health are to take place.

Giving yourself to this extent physically, but holding back emotionally and spiritually will quite actually tear you apart. It will foster dis-integration, double-mindedness, making you unstable in all your ways.

You can extrapolate what tearing must go on with regards to pornography as well. There, you are giving yourself physically to a picture, a computer screen, where there is not even a real chance of intimacy at all. All you’re really screwing is your mind.

To have a full sexual relationship with somebody is to give physical expression to what is meant to be a covenanted relationship–that is, stable, faithful, permanent. To say physically, “I am giving myself to you,” while emotionally and spiritually holding back from covenanted commitment is in fact to live a lie–a split in the personality which is ultimately stressful and destructive.

-David Atkinson

Matthew 7:13-14

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

A friend emailed me last week that she was listening to K-Love and they asked the question, “Could you go a day without your i-Phone?” And the consensus was “No. No, I could not go a day without my i-Phone.” Even the DJs agreed. Is this what we’ve come to? As Christians in 2014 America? That we must follow the masses? That we must “keep up”? Keep up with what?

Matthew 7:13 was my friend’s answer to her own rhetorical question. If the masses are doing it, chances are it is the mind-numbing, “sheep-walking” road to destruction. Not the mere possession of an i-Phone, mind you, but the having to have one everyday at all times to get by mentality is what we’re looking at here. We don’t have to do anything the world would have us do. The only thing we have to do is listen to Jesus (Luke 10:42), to seek first God and His kingdom (Matthew 6:33). When you think about it, and you should definitely take the time to think about it, there’s not many things we have to do, just a few–love God, love others, listen to Jesus, golden rule–and the rest of life will take care of itself.

The road to life is hard because it is lonely in the grand picture of the world. This is why we must daily encourage one another on this narrow road we travel. We must remind each other of where it leads–to life, and life abundant and eternal.

And “sheep-walking.” That is Seth Godin’s term. I find it more descriptive than “sleep-walking” through life. Just turn off your brain and follow the masses–all the way to destruction. Even preaching or performing miracles can end in destruction (21-23) if done without truly knowing God, without obedience to His will as directed by His Holy Spirit. How one can perform miracles without true belief is hard for me to comprehend (perhaps it refers to people who are all outward with no inward commitment to the will of God). Nonetheless, Jesus tells us it is possible, and we therefore must heed His warning, for He was and is the revelation of God, of Truth.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd that we can and must sheep-walk to. We would be wise to build our house on Him (24-29):

The concluding parable makes clear that  Jesus has been offering the disciples a solid foundation of teaching on which to build their lives and ministry. But it is up to them to put His words into practice. Otherwise, they are like the fool described so often in Proverbs, who is not the intellectually challenged person, but rather the person who lacks good moral judgement. It is not common sense that Jesus’ wisdom calls us to, but rather a Christian sense, which only makes sense in the context of a Christian vision of the world, a belief system attested to by ethical commitments and behavior.

-from The Renovare Spritual Formation Bible

Proverbs 6:6-11

The sluggard is lazy, constantly making the soft choice, losing one opportunity after another after another after another, day by day, moment by moment, until he lies there helpless in his wasted life.

Here’s three things Proverbs says about the sluggard:

1. The sluggard will not make up his mind (v.9). How long will you lie there? He has no definite answer. He will not give an honest refusal, but he deceives himself by an endless sequence of little compromises.
2. The sluggard will not finish things (26:15). On the rare occasion when he finds the motivation to get going, it is too much for him, and the impulse dies. He does not stick with a task all the way through to a strong finish. He is a shallow person.
3. The sluggard will not face things the way they are (22:13). Rather than embrace the challenge of life, he dreams up excuses: “There’s a lion in the streets!” he says. A lion down on Main Street? I doubt it. What’s really out there is a life, a job, a mission to fulfill for Christ.

[This is taken from the book Proverbs: Wisdom that Works]

Matthew 6:33

Seek first the kingdom of God.

Let your care for your souls and another world take the place of all other cares: and let all the concerns of this life be made subordinate to those of the life to come: we must seek the things of Christ more than our own things; and if ever they come in competition, we must remember to which we are to give the preference.

-Matthew Henry

From day one this has been the principle guiding truth for The Ripple Effect. We asked ourselves, “What if this is true?” What if we put God first in every aspect, minute, and decision of our lives to the best that we know how? What would happen?

We firmly, experientially believe that if you put God first, seeking Him, His kingdom and  ways foremost  in your actual daily living and thinking, that you will have everything you need–that, beyond needs, you will experience abundance of Life that far surpasses mere existence, but metamorphoses into a life of meaning, purpose, and joy.

God desires to hear from us and share in every detail of our daily lives. When we converse with Him, ask for help, share our experiences, we begin to live at another level of awareness. We begin to live in gratitude and peace.

I’ve been thinking that God’s love may be about the only unconditional blessing from God (thank God it is unconditional!). But this elusive life of peace that everyone so deeply desires, but looks anywhere but God for to no avail, is conditional…upon our total surrender to God, upon our obedience to Him, upon our drawing near to Him.

We are told to seek first the kingdom of God, not to merely believe it exists and then sit around waiting to have all our needs met. Not only the needs of food, clothing, and shelter, but of love, peace, and joy.

As we often challenge here at The Ripple Effect, try talking to Jesus more than you talk to anyone else, just for a day even. Try to think about Him more than you think about anyone else, even for an afternoon. Then observe and reflect on what happens in you and in your life. Start to take notice and become a witness of your emotions and circumstances rather than a victim to them.

There is no true inner peace in anything but God alone.

It is our hope, and our sincere prayer, that these daily writings point you to that truth, to God alone through Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 5

Here is the key concept we must understand, and it applies to all of life: the gospel calls us into both form and freedom, both structure and liberation.

Sex is like fire. In the fireplace it keeps us warm. Outside the fireplace it burns the house down.

-Robert C. Ortlund, Jr.

Matthew 5:19

Whoever refuses to obey any command and teaches other people not to obey that command will be the least important in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys the commands and teaches other people to obey them will be great in the kingdom of heaven.

Your life is a teacher, an instructor to others that carries much more weight than your words.

However, if your life reflects God, your few words will matter greatly.

By holding on to a sin, by coddling a vice, you automatically teach others to do the same.

The preacher who speaks condescendingly toward his wife or displays anger at other drivers teaches his flock to also do this, despite what he may say on Sunday.

Love God with all your heart. Love all people. And you will be teaching others to do likewise without having to open your mouth. Every command falls under this.

Matthew 4:10

Jesus said to the devil, “Go away from me, Satan! It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'”

If only I would do this every time I am tempted, discouraged, or start to doubt. Tell Satan to get the hell out of here, then recite Scripture.

I’d be better off.

I will be better off.

Matthew 4:17

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Change your hearts and lives, because the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Anything that hinders or offends one’s relationship with the Father is to be parted with.

Proverbs 4:1-9

In the Old Testament, the priests taught the law of God, and the prophets declared the word of God (Jer. 18:18). But the fathers and mothers gave their children the wisdom of God (Prov. 1:8; 6:20). Their tone is urgent: “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom” (4:7). The strong expressions “hold fast,” “keep,” “get,” “love,” “prize,” and “embrace” set the tone of the section. We grow wise not by brains but by bold decisiveness. Do we want the mind of God, ultimately revealed in Christ? We may, we must, receive his wisdom through the gospel. Getting it will cost us, but not getting it would cost us infinitely more (Matt. 13:44–46).

from The Gospel Transformation Bible

We grow wise not by brains but by bold decisiveness.

I finished reading Tribes by Seth Godin this week, and in it he writes that in all his experience he has found that leaders have only one thing in common–the decision to lead. Within the sea of seemingly infinite diverse personalities, physicality’s, histories, and handicaps, the one thing they all shared was the decision to lead. In fact, that’s the only thing they really shared. This is what makes a leader.

Decision.

Godin says that one is not a leader because he or she is charismatic, but one is charismatic because he or she has decided to be a leader. We get this backwards.

We make so many excuses.

This observation takes excuses off the table.

If you’re not living abundantly in Christ, there is no one else to blame. The reason is because of your own decision not to.

Shalom is always available.

Always.

Will you choose it?

Are you providing a welcoming home for peace?

What is your decision?

Proverbs 4:20-27

We make progress toward wisdom by staying intensely focused: “Let your eyes look directly forward” (v. 25). Many distractions in this world would draw us away. How can we remain loyal to God through it all? “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (v. 23). Jesus may have been thinking of verse 23b inJohn 7:38: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” True life does not flow into us from external circumstances; true life flows out of us from the internal fullness of the Holy Spirit.

from The Gospel Transformation Bible

True life does not flow into us from external circumstances; true life flows out of us from the internal fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Fill yourself with God everyday, every hour, every minute. What else is there? This life is our training for the fully realized, inevitably approaching kingdom of God. In His kingdom, the only way to live that makes any sense at all is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and live according to God’s precepts. All else causes rupture and dis-integration because it goes against design, against peace.

Proverbs 1

Heed good advice, counsel, and wisdom before things go really south, before it’s too late, before you paint yourself into a corner where the choice is made for you.

Is there something you’ve been hearing for a while that you’ve put off acting upon? Has someone, or multiple someones, been warning you about anything? Is there a theme that keeps recurring in your life that you need to pay attention to? Something you’ve heard many times that you ignore?

Choose wisdom while you have a choice!

Proverbs 2:7

He stores up resourcefulness for those with integrity–a shield for those who walk in innocence…

Though none of us are without sin, there are those people whose lives are marked largely by ethical rightness and legal obedience. These are the “innocent” spoken of in Proverbs who are closely related to “the wise.”

For these people, God provides resourcefulness. I like this definition for resourcefulness: “An inner power that helps one escape a fix.” Now we can see why it may be compared to a shield in this verse. It protects one from the vicissitudes in life. If (when) problems arise, the recipient of God’s wisdom will have the wherewithal to deal with it. This resourcefulness indeed shields and protects those who possess it.

Proverbs 3:11-12

Don’t get angry when God corrects you. This is a sign that He delights in you! He cares!
Be thankful for His corrections. Seriously, actually tell Him thank You. See what happens inside of you.

Matthew 1:1

Matthew presents Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who fulfilled Israel’s prophecies, completing her story.

He is the Son of David [Israel’s greatest king] and Son of Abraham [father of the Jewish nation].

So Matthew is clear that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah since the Messiah was to come through the line of David. That Jesus was a Son of David is all over the NT. It is not ambiguous about who Jesus is.

Also of note, in Genesis genealogies were named for the first person cited, but Matthew names his genealogy for the person in whom it climaxes, Jesus Christ. In Genesis, descendants were dependent on their ancestors for their historical significance. In Matthew, Jesus’ ancestors are dependent on Him for their historical significance.

Matthew 2:1-12

It is interesting that pagan stargazers were more in tune with what God was doing through Jesus than Jewish insiders who were anticipating His coming.

Matthew 2:23

Out of the stump of the line of Jesse will grow shoot–yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.

Our Savior was called a Nazarene…He was from the tiny (about 60 acres, just 200-500 people) hick town of Nazareth. Hick (John 1:46) because it’s thought that Nazarenes were rather unrefined and disrespected due to their unpolished dialect, a lack of culture, and quite possibly a measure of irreligion and moral laxity. This is where Jesus grew up. How perfect is that?

Nazareth is not even mentioned in the Old Testament, by the historian Josephus, or in Rabbinic literature (Talmud), so it was doubted that it even really existed until an archaeological discovery in 1962.

Also of interest, many scholars believe that Matthew was referring to Isaiah 11:1 as far as prophecy being fulfilled; Nazarene being a play on the Hebrew word netzer meaning “branch” or “shoot” from Jesse–King David’s dad.

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of its roots.

Matthew 3:1-3

The way to prepare your heart for the Lord is to change your thinking. Think about your thinking. Pay attention to what you’re paying attention to.

Receiving Jesus goes with a turning away from all that competes with Him.

Proverbs 30:24-26

Wisdom does not depend on size or strength, e.g., Yoda.

Joint effort succeeds where the individual might fall.

Neither power nor a king is necessary for survival.

Proverbs 30:32

If you have been a fool by being proud or plotting evil, cover your mouth in shame.

There is toxic shame, but there is also healthy guilt to guide right behavior.

Toxic shame is a self-focused,painfully acute awareness that something is wrong with me. It is the felt sensation of deep inadequacy. And it kills.

In this verse, I believe we are looking at a healthy guilt. Shame in what one has done, not necessarily in who one is. We are image-bearers of God. When prideful or plotting that which is against His nature, we are ruptured and dis-integrated, bringing shame upon ourselves as a signal to stop and turn around. And it brings life.

Proverbs 31:20-31

[From The Jeremiah Study Bible]

In this section there are six key areas in which a woman can be a blessing:

• The way she works with her hands (20,22,24). This woman reaches out with her hands to work, help the poor, and provide for her family.
• The way she creates a home (21). This woman sacrificially builds a home, often unseen by the outside world but visible to God.
• The way she considers herself (22). This woman never forgets to treat herself with care.
• The way she invests in her marriage (23). If she is married, this woman is a key to her husband’s position and success in the community.
• The way she speaks (26). This woman speaks with wisdom and love.
• The way she exercises her faith (30). This woman knows and fears God.

Proverbs 29:7

The godly care about the rights of the poor; the wicked don’t care at all.

Do you care about the rights of the poor?

Do you care about the poor?

Do you have a heart for those who are spiritually poor or emotionally bankrupt?

Do you see that God wants you to minister to them?

If you do not have have a heart for those who are either emotionally, spiritually, or physically poor, then you have something in common with the wicked.

John 21:15-17

The beauty of restoration.

3 denials are healed with 3 affirmations.

God can and desires to restore and heal all of our wrongs and hurts.

He will never reject a contrite heart that approaches Him. But you must come to Him, for He is the only true healer of hearts.
And yes, there is some pain in the healing because of having to face our hurt, but it only leads to a greatness beyond our thinking.

3 bold faced denials of our Lord were healed, and that restoration led to the establishment of what we call the Church.

Nothing is beyond Yahweh’s healing, but it is conditional upon our contrition it seems.
A humble approach to His presence is more powerful than anything we can possibly do in our own strength.

Proverbs 28:23

Those who correct others will later be liked, more than those who give false praise.

“You’ll thank me later.”

Remember that phrase?

Back when I was a personal trainer, my clients did not like me very much when we were in the middle of intense training. They gave me dirty looks, yelled at me, cursed my name, etc. But later they thanked me. In fact, they actually paid me for this “punishment.” Why? Because I pushed them to growth and to become better, faster, stronger.

You know what no client ever thanked me or paid me for? Sitting around on the exercise equipment for an hour while I told them how good they look and how awesome they are. Although now that I think about it, I wonder if people would pay me for that now…

Anyway, you get the point.

Proverbs 28:26

Those who trust in themselves are foolish, but those who live wisely will be kept safe.