Wise up!

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding – indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”  Proverbs 2:1-5.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: Proverbs 1-3, and Romans 7.

God gave Solomon wisdom.

I see clearness of thought.  Something brought down to my level.

There is so much in these verses that appeal to me.

It starts with an eagerness to know God better..

I am struck with the need for passion.  I cannot be a “casual” seeker.  I need to be “crying aloud” and “calling out” for more awareness of God.

Too often I want to sit reclined waiting for God to drop by.  God wants my pursuit of Him to be active.

I confess to wanting to know God better.  I want as much of Him in me as is possible.

Will I chase after Him with persistence?  Will I commit to knowing Him better each day?  Will I deliberately set myself up to gain a better understanding of Him?  So many questions!

God is where He is.  Will I move toward Him?

“Lord, wonderful passage.  I want more of You.  I seek You now and during this day.  I ask for moments in which You are all I’m thinking about.  I ask for moments in which I gain insights from You.  You are all I need.  Fill me, Father.”

God tells us how to know Him better.  Will we take action?

 

 

Unwise in his old age

“They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’” 1 Kings 11:2.

“As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.”  1 Kings 11:4.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: 1 Kings 10-11, 2 Chronicles 9, and Romans 6.

The first word I associate with Solomon is “wise.”

No question, Solomon was very wise.  Why was he so wise?  Solomon was allowed, by God, to ask what he wanted.  Solomon asked for discernment in his choices and the ability to know right from wrong.

When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, it says in 1 Kings 10 that she was “overwhelmed,” but what she heard and saw.

But now in today’s verses we have an older Solomon.  It is sad to read what has happened to him.  He has turned into one of us!

What causes Solomon’s downfall?  Disobedience.  God told him, and all the Israelites, not to intermarry and they do anyhow.

How could they be so foolish?  Inside each of us is a voice urging us to disobey God.  In the heart of the godless, that voice is the voice they respond to often.  In the heart of the Godly, it is a voice recognized for what it is…….Satan.

However, even the Godly have weaknesses.  No way are those weaknesses the same for all of us.

I find the voice of Satan to be softly persuasive.  There’s no yelling and screaming.

The common words I hear from Satan are: “Don’t worry about doing this, you’re strong.”  Solomon bought into that treacherous road.  He probably thought that because of his wisdom he wouldn’t be negatively impacted by all the godless wives he had.  But it didn’t work out that way and Solomon fell out of favor with God.

I cannot assume that I am wise.  I am not wise apart from God.  I need to remember that only as I am connected to Him am I able to please Him.  I will never please Him flying solo.

I need to confront the voice of Satan with James 4:7: “Submit yourselves, then to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

“Lord, thank You for Your Word.  Thank You for the many role models Your Word contains.  Solomon is a good example of a positive role model and a negative role model.  I want to please You forever.  Prick my conscience when I am loose from You.  That is not where I ever want to be!  I need You every second.  Take me over right now, I beg.”

I want to be wise in my old age.

 

How can I please God?

“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’”  1 Kings 3:5.

“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David.  But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.”  1 Kings 3:7.

“So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.  For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”  The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.” 1 Kings 3:9-10.

Verses chosen from today’s Bible reading: 1 Kings 3, 2 Chronicles 1, Psalm 78, and 2 Thessalonians 2.

This lengthy chosen Scripture is one that I have used many times before.

This whole thing centers, in my opinion, on the Lord being pleased with a particular behavior.  I want to know what pleases God and replicate it.

If I put myself in Solomon’s place, with God’s willingness to give me whatever I want, what would I want?

Solomon’s answer pleased God because he didn’t answer selfishly.  He saw a bigger picture: I will be leading Your people and I’m not up to the task.  I need the best help possible; Your help.

If God liked the removal of selfishness in Solomon’s case, then I must find a way to incorporate the structure of such a request into my prayers.

Often my prayers are selfish.  Give me this.  Give me that.  I want my health.  I want my family’s health.  All requests with a small-picture, selfish drive to them.

Wouldn’t a better approach be to recognize that God wants my vision to be enlarged?  In that Big Picture, I recognize my inadequacies and ask for His help in dealing with all situations.   I claim no talents to get things right without Him in any situation.

I must want God to help me govern my life in the same way that Solomon asked God to help him govern His people.  I must actively seek to know what I should do.  I must want to get right and wrong right.

I believe that God will honor such a request based on the way He reacted to Solomon’s request.

“Lord, I cannot rightly manage my life without You.  I plead for Your discernment so that I live for You.  I plead that You will help me get on the right side of right and wrong.  I want You to be pleased with me.  Help me, I beg, to do that.  I love You, Lord.”

What do I want from God?  Solomon’s answer pleased God.  I must be sure that my answer pleases Him, too.

St. Lucia

I want to live right

“May the Lord give you discretion and understanding when he puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.”  1 Chronicles 22:12.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: 1 Chronicles 22-24, and 1 Thessalonians 3.

David offered this blessing for Solomon, his young son.

Solomon would be succeeding David as ruler.

How we all need the qualities David prayed that Solomon would have; discretion and understanding.

Our lives are filled with decision making.  We must get our choices right.  But how do we know what choice to make?

The starting point in our lives must be with God.  We must be close to Him in every way possible.  Then when a decision is to be made, I already have Him onboard in my life.  His thoughts are more likely to be my thoughts in that arrangement.

Sometimes “right” and “wrong,” are clear.  Sometimes not.  However, if I am close to Him, I believe that the “right” things will be more obvious.

“Lord, I need You full-time in my life.  Apart from You I will mess things up.  I beg for Your correction in my life.  Get my attention so that I will stay close to You.  Bless me, I beg, as David did Solomon.  I need discretion.  I need understanding.  Have Your Way with me, Father.”

We need God-given help to live right.

St. Lucia

 

 

 

Resizing God

“Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”  Ecclesiastes 5:2.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: Ecclesiastes 4-6, Psalm 18, and Ephesians 3.

If I can imagine God size-wise, I would be imagining Him as huge.  Every other quality of His would be beyond my comprehension.

We are not equal with Him.  He’s not just another person in the rooms we’re in.  He is God.  He is in control of everything.

We can gain advantage in this world by “knowing somebody.”  They are able to get into places we couldn’t enter on our own.

How are we in the presence of Almighty God?  I often find myself in praying telling Him what to do.  Dispatching Him to the “fires” in my life.  But should I be doing that?

God knows everything about me.  He knows that a family member is having cancer surgery this week.  If I “dispatch” Him to the family member, I am acting as if He is not omnipresent.

This verse suggests that my words with God should be few.  The more words I use in conversing with Him the greater likelihood that I will sound like Peter as the Transfiguration.

I believe that God puts thoughts into my head.  If I want to know what He wants me doing I must be listening to what He has to say.  Otherwise, I will continue along my ways without Him.

“As Samuel said, ‘Speak, your servant is listening.’  Enable me, Father, to hear You.  Forgive me for dominating our conversations with my selfishness.  I want to please You.  I want to know Your will.  I want to be Spirit-directed in everything I do this day.  I commit to You, Father.  Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.”

Do you dispatch God places when You pray?  If you believed that He is omnipresent you would know that He’s already there.  If you believed that He was already there, how then would you pray?

+9 same old

 

 

Come clean!

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”  Proverbs 28:13.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible study: Proverbs 28-29, and Romans 16.

The Good News is that Jesus took care of ALL my sins when He died for them on Calvary.

Because my sins are gone I have a new life without them.  I don’t have to sin and I don’t have to carry sin around.

So when I know that I have sinned, I have several options: (1) I can admit it and seek to clean up the mess, or (2) I can carry the sin with me in one form or another.

How often do we haul sin around?  And we shouldn’t.

First of all, sin has lost its power over us.  Second, we are told that sin is not part of the new life we have in Him.

We must strive to have a “clean heart” before God.  We cannot haul sin around.

Sometimes in a relationship there is a problem.  It must not be allowed to fester.  We know when things are amiss.  We feel it.  The fire for the Godly is cooled down.  We feel loose from God.  And we can’t let it last.

That makes this a good verse.  If I carry sin I am making a mistake.  Plain and simple.  I have no cause to carry sin.  It’s been taken care of.  It CANNOT be part of a new life in God.  Get rid of it!

“Lord, thank You for the brilliant words of Solomon that You gave him.  Forgive me for carrying sin.  Enable me to come quickly to grips with sin so that it doesn’t take an undeserved hold in my life.  I want to be clean in Your sight.  Guide me, O thou great Jehovah.”

Your sins are gone.  You’ve been set free.  Live like it!

+10 bad eating habits

Beware of autobiographies!

“Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.”  Proverbs 27:2.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: Proverbs 25-27, and Romans 15.

I will admit right off the top that I swiped that title from a line in a commentary on this verse.

I was complemented twice very recently for some work I had done in our front yard.  I was caught off guard by it.  Why?  I wasn’t looking for it or expecting it.

There is a ungodly tension in our existence when we seek the praise of others.

We live in a society where in schools plenty of “cheap” praise is handed out.  Many add to the collection of “Good job’s” at home.  Sometimes the praises are warranted but otherwise are we simply trying to falsely elevate their self-esteem?

There is Scripture that gets after us for being motivated by the praise and recognition of others.  God does not bless that arrangement.

We should work as if God is watching….because He is.  God’s “Well done’s” are what we are working for.

Another point from this verse is that we should not hesitate to hand out deserved praise.  I’m not talking “cheap” praise.  During each day there usually are folks who do stuff well for us.  Do we recognize it?  Would our spouses keel over if we gave them a verbal pat on the back?  Try it and see what happens!

“Lord, You are worthy of non-stop praise from me.  Forgive me for being lax on the “Thank You’s.”  Forgive me for not seeing the good things others do for me and for forgetting to be thankful to them.  I have so much to learn.  Guide me.  Teach me.  I love You, Father.”

A primary concern is to earn God’s praise.

+9 yard work helped

Got plans?

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”  Proverbs 19:21.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: Proverbs 19-21, and Romans 13.

How slow are we at figuring this one out!

Go back to when you were a kid; every now and then you would decide that the next day you were going to do a certain activity.  Were you always able to do it?  Didn’t think so.  Why were you unable to do the activity?  A higher power (your parents?) had another plan for your tomorrow.

God knows ultimately what will happen in my next second, never mind tomorrow.  How should that make a difference in the way I live?

If God has the ultimate say in everything, I want to be tightly tuned into Him.  How foolish it is for me to make plans and then run them by Him!

A better approach would be to let God know up front that I want to do whatever He wants me doing.  My plans, apart from Him, are quicksand at best.

I look at the path of my past and realize that much time has been wasted going my own way.  Why did I ever think that I actually controlled my future?  It will be God’s Way whether I’m on board or not!

It is ingrained in our culture that “we should be all that we can be.”  But the thinking is minus God.  What misguided guidance!

“Lord, take over the direction of my life.  Forgive me for planning apart from You.  Forgive me for wondering why my ways lead to so many negative things.  I need You every second.  Take me over.  I love Your leadership.  I want it full-time in my life.  Glory to You, Lord.”

Things are going to God’s way whether we plan it or not.  Why plan without Him?

+9 steady high

 

Are you the smartest person in every room?

“Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.”  Proverbs 18:2.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: Proverbs 16-18, and Romans 12.

Do you come across as an “expert” on just about everything?

Have you stopped listening to learn?

I sense that with myself as I get older.  I assume that age has blessed me with wisdom.  I’ve been around longer so therefore I know more.

There’s Solomon, in today’s verse giving me a title: “Fool.”

A fool will not listen to the advice of others.  A fool gets especially riled up when someone finds fault with what they’ve done or will be doing.

What would a Godly person do in those circumstances?  I believe that a Godly person starts out remembering that God is in every room they’re in.  If God is in every room with me, what would He want me doing?  I MUST start by recognizing His presence BEFORE I even get into the room.  I MUST also declare that I want to use His Words in any conversation I’m in.  In other words, I want to rightly represent Him in that room.  There is no opening for my becoming a fool in that arrangement, is there?

“Lord, I want Your Words to be my words wherever I am.  I want Your discernment as the opportunities to choose between listening and speaking arise.  May I rightly represent You wherever I am.  Help me, I beg!”

Rightly represent God in every room you’re in…………or be the fool Solomon is talking about.

+9 Way too much

 

Thoughts to live by

“Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord, and humility comes before honor.”  Proverbs 15:33.

Verse chosen from today’s Bible reading: Proverbs 13-15, and Romans 11.

It looks like two different thoughts to me as are found in many of the verses in Proverbs.

Both parts of this verse are filled with essential advice for the believer in the Good News.

Good News?  The Messiah has come and removed what separated us (sin) from God.  We’ve been rescued from it.  Our task on earth is to be part of rescuing those in our midst and preparing the earth for the Messiah’s return in which He will finish the rescuing job.

So we are into the “how-to-we-live-before-He-returns” stage.  Hence, the good advice of this verse.

If I want God’s wisdom I have to exchange my attitudes, will, feelings, deeds, and goals for His.  I don’t bring anything to the table.  It’s all Him.

In the other part of the verse I’m told to defer always to God.  I must get it through my head that every good gift I ever get, or am productive with, has been given to me by Him.  I lose the nerve to even suggest that I had anything to do with success.

Honor received when not sought is the best kind.

Time is often spent wondering what we should be doing.  If we would start with these two thoughts (from today’s verse) in mind, I am sure that we would spend a lot less time wondering, don’t you think?

“Lord, I praise You for Your insights.  Thanks for the wisdom You gave Solomon.  Help me to live in awe of You.  Help me to seek You only and be Your love slave this day.  I love You, Father.”

Do you wonder what God wants you to do?  Proverbs 15:33 is a good place to get started with.

+9 Fasting may be in your future