Coming to the Still Waters

Today's verses are Proverbs 4:10-13 which read,   v.10,11 - Hear, my son, and accept my sayings and the years of your life will be many.  I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths. A lot of focus is given on the one who is receiving the wisdom and to listen to wisdom.  We are to seek after it and go through the active process of acquiring it.  We purposefully avoid foolish things and ways to be on the path that is godly and glorifying to God.  We receive from Him the benefits of wisdom which include a life that is full of God-given joy even in the midst of the toil and turmoil of the world's wisdom.  The wisdom of God does protect us from foolish things that would shorten our years. What about the giver of the wisdom?  What about the one in the position to give wisdom to others that they have received?  Here is another active procedure of the one who follows after God.  The giver of the wis...

Today's verses are Proverbs 4:6-9, which read, v.6 - Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; love her, and she will watch over you. Solomon goes back to speaking of wisdom with the personal pronoun "her."   It takes the value of wisdom to another level rather than referring to this valuable commodity as an "it."   We are given two commands here and two promises about wisdom.  The commands are to not forsake her and to love her.  The promises are the guarding and watching over  that wisdom will do for you if you do not forsake and love her.   I know that we learn much from our mistakes and when we fall down and have to get back up.  Sometimes we learn from our failures and we attend the school of hard knocks.  The Bible is not refuting that method but it is also giving us another way to look at what is available to us to proactively put in place to not fall down.  Wisdom is something to actively walk in the path of, not fo...

Today's verses are Proverbs 4:1-5, which read,   v.1, 2 - Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding, for I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my instruction. Solomon is the author and compiler of the Book of Proverbs.  He is giving these instructions to his sons but also in turn for all of us as we read this inspired, inerrant Word of God.  If we are going to gain understanding then we first need to listen.  We need to stop to take the time to hear what the Father has to say.  The understanding that we will receive will come out of sound teaching of the Father and that sound teaching is to not be abandoned. How often do we not take the time to listen to sound teaching?  In today's world you need to search for it among all the sound bytes that we run upon.  We only get part of the story with the headlines and many times we get a very different slant on it if we don't go to the...

Today's verses are Proverbs 3:31-35, which read,   v.31, 32 - Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways.  For the devious are an abomination to the LORD; but He is intimate with the upright. The proverbs today give us some more practical actions to follow the wisdom of God.  These deal with the company that we keep.  This first one that deals with those who participate in violence seems so simple and logical but the reality is that we do just the opposite.  We make movies about the violent and make them the heroes of the stories.  We have romanticized the bad guy and many times wished that we were he or she.  We have gangs filled with young people who see the violent gang as their only family and participate whatever initiation to get in.  We even tattoo our bodies or wear certain clothing to identify with that group. To those who commit violence, they are an abomination to the Lord.  They are in a s...

Today's verses are Proverbs 3:27-30, which read, v.27, 28 - Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.  Do not say to your neighbor, "Go and come back, and tomorrow I will give it," when you have it with you. We get very practical today with the wisdom of God.  This walk with the Lord in which we are placing our feet into His footprints that bring security and surety has some guidelines when it comes to dealing with others.  Here is the first of some actions taken by the wise who are following after God. If someone is in need, described here as your neighbor, then give at that moment if you are able.  Don't wait for another day but rather offer the help instantaneously, this is the proverb.  We know what happens many times if we delay the resources for the need presented, we don't do it.  We may forget about it or we have Satan working overtime and relentlessly to offer excuses for us to pass it...

Today's verses are Proverbs 3:23-26, which read,   v.23 - Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble. What a great promise given by God.  If we follow after the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of God we will walk securely through this life.  Our steps will be sure because they are in the footprints of His.  We will not stumble because we are continuing to keep active in our pursuit of Him and His ways. This does not mean that the way will not be hard or that there will not be struggles, persecutions or sufferings for the Scriptures tells us that there will.  What this proverb is telling us is that in the midst of those dilemmas, we can walk secure and not stumble as we hold to His wisdom through it all. Don't wish to just be happy but rather pursue to be holy after God and the result is not a feeling that comes and goes with the external circumstances but a faith that stands and moves forward through them....

Today's verses are Proverbs 3:19-22, which read, v.19, 20 - The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He established the heavens.  By His knowledge the deeps were broken up and the skies drip with dew. Creation didn't just happen, it happened by the wisdom and understanding of God.  God founded and established both earth and the heavens.  Those words are action words tied to activity that happened before the event was to take place.  God used His wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to create what we see in such a way to sustain itself for our benefit for a determined amount of time.  The deeps were broken up so that land appeared for us to live upon and the skies drip dew to replenish that land that provides the food that sustains our lives.   The wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of God run deep and back to before we were or anything that we see was.  It is not only tried and true but it has history that is being r...

Today's verses are Proverbs 3:13-18, which read,   v.13 - How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. Well it begs the question "How blessed is he?"   The word "blessed" means to have a happiness because of an advancement in life.  You have been following after the words in the previous chapters and verses and therefore you have a happiness because of the results seen for walking in the wisdom and understanding of God.  This blessedness is attached to action for it says "who finds wisdom" and "who gains understanding."   This happiness is the result of something that has been walked after.   v.14 - For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. The one who follows after the wisdom and understanding of God is happier or more blessed than those who follow after the money.  It is interesting that wisdom and understanding are given a personal pronoun here ...

Today's verses are Proverbs 3:9-12, which read,   v.9, 10  - Honor the LORD from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. Here is a list of what we are to do.  Do not forget God's teaching and keep His commandments.  Do not let kindness and truth leave you but bind them around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart.  Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge God.  Do not be wise in your own eyes but be in a healthy fear or spiritual respect of awe of God and therefore turn from what He calls evil. Now we add another to the "to do" list.  Honor the Lord with what He has given to you.  Even if you feel like you don't have much, God tells you to take what comes in first to make that gift before all else.  The example given is an agricultural one but you get the pict...

Today's verses are Proverbs 3:5-8, which read,   v.5 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. A very familiar verse but also a very tough verse to apply.  We all love the "trust in the Lord" because that is like the motto on our currency "in God we trust."   We give that out as advice to others when we hear of their dilemma.  But what does it mean to trust in the Lord with all your heart? The start of it is to lean not on your own understanding.  It is to recognize that God's understanding is better than your own.  It is actively and purposely going with God's wisdom and instruction rather than your own which could be just the opposite at times.  If I am going to trust in the Lord with all my heart then I have to lean on His understanding because it is all my trust on the Lord and nothing is left after my "all" has been given.  v.6 - In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make ...

Today's verses are Proverbs 3:1-4, which read,   v.1, 2 - My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Here is a commandment with a promise.  It is very similar to the promise attached to the commandment to honor your father and mother.  Two instructions are given here for the wise to do. The first is to not forget God's teaching and the second is that the not forgetting allows your heart to keep what you haven't forgotten.  How do you not forget?  Maybe it is the famous tie a string around your finger; maybe it is the post it note that you have stuck to your refrigerator or computer screen; or maybe it is the process of memorizing Scripture to have His words tucked away in your heart.  However you remember and not forget is not the point but that you put into practice the activity of remembering His teaching.   For me the no...

Today I thought for our devotional I would post and read a blog by George H. Guthrie called "Passion for God's Word Changes the World."   Before we hit chapter 3 of Proverbs I thought this was fitting to go along with this drive to be active in knowing God.  Here is the link to the blog:  http://georgehguthrie.com/new-blog/2016/6/26/little-mary-jones-the-founding-of-the-british-bible-societies In 2013 while on research leave at Tyndale House in Cambridge, UK, I had a chance to examine the holdings of the British and Foreign Bible Society personally. The collection, housed in the Cambridge University library, was curated by a friend of mine. In addition to very old copies of the Bible (including first editions of Tyndale's New Testament!), there were shelves of translator notes and Bible's from missions contexts around the world. And there too was Mary Jones' Bible, which I held in my hand. A little over 200 years ago, Mary Jones lived in a beau...

Today our verses are Proverbs 2:20-22 which read,   v.20 - So you will will walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. A different path is set for the upright and a different crowd is to be around.  The fool goes the way of darkness and hangs around those with perverse words and ways.  The wise puts himself or herself in step with those who are good by God's standards and follows their lead as they follow after the Lord. This is a command of God.  "So you will walk" are His words to us.  It is not "it would be good if you would" or "I kind of wish you would" or "what will be will be" but rather this is a direct command to put yourself with a godly crowd on the path of uprightness.  Remember, our faith is not passive but active and we "work out our salvation" by living it out following God's wisdom.   v.21 - For the upright will live in the land and the blameless will remain in it;.....

Today's verses are Proverbs 2:16-19, which read,   v.16, 17 - ...to deliver you from the strange woman, from the adulteress who flatters with her words; that leaves the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God;... Yesterday we learned that wisdom will guard you from the evils of this world.  The first was the company of others who want to divert you from the path of uprightness to the ways of darkness.  They use their tongues to speak about the "delights" of evil.  Their agenda is perverse and their ways are devious. Today we are told that wisdom will also guard us from another great evil of all time and that is sexual sin.  It is and has been rampant throughout time to go against God's plan in this area.  It also uses the tongue to speak of things contrary to God's design.  Adultery many times leads to divorce, the leaving of the companion of your youth, who you started out with.  The sin to forget or disreg...

Today's verses are Proverbs 2:10-15, which read,   v.10-12a - For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you, to deliver you from the way of evil,...   These verses give us some description of what wisdom will become to the wise who listen and obey the Lord.  The heart in scripture is another way to say the whole inner being, your mind, emotions, and will.  Wisdom will be at the center of your thinking, feelings, and determination of direction.  This knowledge of God and from God will be pleasant.  You will look forward to knowing more.  You will see the positive impact that it has on your life.  For example, you will see the 10 commandments as not a bunch of "thou shall not" s but what they are protecting you from. Wisdom has a guarding and watching over you effect.  It keeps you out of being in the way of evil.  It keeps yo...

Today's verses are Proverbs 2:6-9, which read, v.6 - For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. Where is the sources of wisdom?  It comes from the Lord.  It comes from His mouth.  It comes from the Bible.  A sometimes neglected book in our homes and away from being in our hands.  We have it now on our phones, it is in our pockets and purses, but it sometimes is just a reference book to be referred to rather than devoured by us.  The book that contains the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding is treated like Wikipedia to make a quick reference rather than a great true historical novel that never ends with its lessons to apply. v.7, 8 - He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and He preserves the way of His godly ones. For those who know God, love God, and obey God, God continues to bring out wisdom to be used as a shield, a ...

Today's verses are Proverbs 2:1-5, which read,   My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God. Look at all the verbs of action.  Here is the list: will receive, treasure, make, incline, cry, lift, seek, and search.  Again, your salvation and the following of the Lord is not a passive activity but an active one.  What you have received from the Lord because of His action of love through the cross of Christ is to be followed by our action to long after Him as we are in Him.  Let's go through each verb phrase and put some definition or example to it. "will receive my words" - an acceptance of His words as super important to your l...

Today's verses are Proverbs 1:32, 33, which read,   v.32 - For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. We have two last verses of this first chapter that sum up the difference of outcomes of the fool and the wise.  The fool is wayward and complacent.  He or she starts out as naive and is wandering aimlessly through this life.  They are ignorant of the fear of the Lord but not without witness that there is a God.  What they do with that witness takes them to the next level as a fool of complacency and saying "I will do something about that tomorrow." Are you wayward?  Do you have specific direction in your life?  What or who is pointing out the purpose of your life?  Do you know what you should do and how you should live but you have put it off until tomorrow?  Are you complacent?  I have seen over the 30 years of preaching that many within the membership of the church...

Today's verses are Proverbs 1:28-31, which read,   v.28, 29 - Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD. Last time we noted that the fool rejected the Lord's calling, stretched out hand, counsel, and reproof.  The fool's choices led to calamity, dread, distress, and anguish.  What do you do when you are in calamity, dread, distress, and anguish?  You call out to the Lord.  How does God respond to the fool who has rejected wisdom, knowledge, reproof, and counsel? God will not answer this prayer.  The fool is praying to just get out of the bind he or she is in.  The fool is looking for a quick fix to the dilemma he or she has gotten into.  The fool is not choosing the fear of the Lord.  If he or she was then he or she would not longer be a fool.  To choose the fear of the Lord is to have a...