June 2, 2013

^"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,  but fools despise wisdom and instruction."  Proverbs 1:7

 

You are prone toward doing foolish unwise things from time to time. So am I?

 

Just to reassure you we are not alone in out foolishness, consider:

 

A psychology student in New York rented out her spare room to a carpenter in order to nag him constantly and study his reactions. After weeks of needling, he snapped and beat her repeatedly with an ax leaving her mentally retarded.

 

In 1992, Frank Perkins of Los Angeles made an attempt on the world flagpole-sitting record. Suffering from the flu he came down eight hours short of the 400 day record, his sponsor had gone bust, his girlfriend had left him and his phone and electricity had been cut off.

 

Two animal rights protesters were protesting at the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn. Suddenly the pigs, all two thousand of them, escaped through a broken fence and stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death.

 
 

A man in Taormina, Italy was hospitalized after swallowing 46 teaspoons, 2 cigarette lighters, and a pair of salad tongs.

 

The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons, setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits.

 

Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, didn't pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with "return to sender" stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits.

 

John Ortberg says that there’s a simple reason that God put Proverbs in the Bible – it’s because we’re stupid! Let’s face it; we all do dumb stuff, don’t we? This book can help us become wiser in many ways.

 

Proverbs is a concentrated graduate course in the art of living. It’s not enough simply to be educated and have knowledge, as important as education is. We also need wisdom, which is the ability to use the knowledge that we have. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “wise” is used to describe people who are adept at working with their hands. Those who have wisdom have the ability to face life honestly and to live it so that God’s purposes are fulfilled in their lives. Wisdom is not theoretical but practical. A wise person does not just say wise words, he or she is skillful at living life to its fullest. Here are some of the life skills presented in Proverbs: Training for parents, purity principles, money management, relationship building, the power of words, the honor of humility, the dangers of strong drink, decision-making, the importance of hard work, peace-making principles and how to care for the poor.

 

Proverbs is a survival guide for people like us in times like these.

 

The Proverbs are good to know! Very good! But what you really must know is the God Who inspired them and His wisdom is reflect in them! The only way you can know Him is through a personal faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

 

If you have not trusted Him as your Savior - you REALLY need to wise up!

 

 

 

June 1, 2013

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

If you want to know the Lord you must fear Him. The first thing your need to know about the Lord is that He should be feared.

The word used for "fear" can mean anything from shear terror to a reverential respect for Who He is and what He can do. In fact, fear is evidence that you really do know His holiness and power.

Sheer terror is the result of knowing you will have to face Him at the Judgment without being prepared. That is a good reason to fear! You don't want to fall into the hands of an angry God.

Fearing God in this way should drive you to humbly confess your sin and repent of them. That leads to a reverential fear of God, like a Father rather than an Angry Judge.

Those who fear God keep His commandments:

"Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" Deuteronomy 5:29

Those who fear God serve Him:

"Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name." Deuteronomy 10:20

"But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you." I Samuel 12:24

"Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling." Psalm 2:11

Those who fear God are blessed:

"Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!"  Psalm 128:1

"Praise the LORD. Blessed are those who fear the LORD, who find great delight in his commands." Psalm 122:1

"The fear of the LORD [tendeth] to life: and [he that hath it] shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." Proverbs 19:23

Those who fear God hate sin:

"The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."  Proverbs 8:13

"Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." Proverbs 3:7

As evidenced in these verses the fear of God primarily in two ways, the fear of how God can hurt you or the fear that you will hurt God. How do you fear God?

There are a lot of things to know! We live in a world that is in perpetual information overload. Knowledge is a good thing! It has been said that "Knowledge is power". But our text makes it clear the first and best thing to know is the fear of God!





 

 

 

 

 

 

May 31, 2013

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

 

Doesn't it seem like our culture tends to over value knowledge and under value wisdom? In fact, I think we often equate knowledge with intelligence as though just learning something makes you wiser.

 

Solomon wrote in the Proverbs that knowledge begins with knowing God and wisdom results in knowing how to apply the knowledge to daily living. Applying your knowledge of God in daily spiritual discipline is the essence of faith.

 

The first thing wisdom knows is that God is the Creator of the universe. We saw from Hebrews 11:1-3 that Creation and God as Creator is knowledge that led the Patriarchs to faith. It should inspire faith within you! The appropriate response to the knowledge of God as Creation should be hoping in Him!

 

But not only must you fear Him as the Creator but know that He is also the Controller of everything as well!

 

Again, we turn to Hebrews 11 to make the case!

 

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Hebrews 11:6-7

 

Noah is honored for his faith because he agreed to do something that had never been done before. Never had it rained before and he likely wasn't sure what rain was but God told him so he believed without seeing! That is faith, isn't it?! And who knows if he had seen a boat before since he was a farmer who lived inland. Since he probably hadn't seen one he most likely hadn't built one. He agreed to do it because of his knowledge that God is sovereignly in control of His universe! His fear of God was stronger than his fear of the unknown.

 

Noah's knowledge of God plus his obedience to God's sovereign plan turned his knowledge into wisdom! It turned his fear into faith!

 

Is there an area of disobedience in your life? If so, it is evidence that you don't have a proper fear of God. Either you fear man more than you fear God or you don't have faith that God is truly in control of the unknown.

 

 

 

 

 

                       

                                                    

May 30, 2013

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

 

 

The two aspects of fearing God can simply be expressed as the fear of how God can hurt me and the fear of how I can hurt God. You know that fear is a strong motivator for either the better or the worse.

 

 

The word used for "fear" in the original text would support that. It runs the gamut from being terrified by God's power to being respectful of it depending on its context. But it implies a clear understanding of  Who God is and the desire  to please Him or at least to avoid displeasing Him.

 

 

Because wisdom is intently practical I will avoid the temptation to dive into the depths of a very interesting word study and summarize it's truth in this statement "Wisdom is knowing what to fear and how that fear should be expressed in your life."

 

 

To state it even more concisely - FEAR UNDER DISCIPLINE = FAITH. So, faith is the proper expression of godly fear.

 

 

Implied in the  Hebrew words and the construction of the sentence are three ways to discipline your fear so that it is channeled into faith. I want to illustrate those by making the connection between these first seven verses of Proverbs 1 and Hebrews 11.

 

 

Fear Him As Creator

 

Fear Him As Controller

 

Fear His Character

 

 

In one of the best definitions of faith in Hebrews 1, there is a clear link between faith and creation.

 

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."  Hebrews 11:1-3

 

 

In describing the faith foundations for great men and women mentioned in this Hall of Faith, creation is mentioned as the bedrock of faith. If faith is "the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen", then you have have to believe in a God Who is able to create something out of nothing. And, in fact, that is precisely what they believed. They believed it because they had all the visual evidence of creation. A God Who could do that is a God you can put your hope in.

 

 

Here is how it works. Two people look up into a beautiful starlit night further illuminated by a radiant full moon. One person thinks, "Wow, whoever made all of this has to be very powerful and intelligent! I had better get to know whoever it is who did this!" The other person reasons, "If there is a supreme being who created this, he would be very powerful and I would have to be accountable to him. But I don't want to be accountable and I don't want to deal with consequences of my actions, so I choose to believe in a random beginning to the universe."

 

 

While both of these observers have a fear of such a powerful creative being, they each arrive at opposite conclusions. What is the difference?

 

 

The difference is that one disciplined his fear into humility while the other refused to be humble. Humility is a sign of wisdom because it obviously knows Who to fear!

 

 

Wisdom begins with a reverent fear of God for His Creative power and humbly disciplining that fear into faith.

 

 

That's what it means to "wise up".

 

 

Do you need to wise up?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 29, 2013

"The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight;  for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young —let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:1-7

 

Solomon's name meant "peaceful" and it certainly denoted his life and his reign. He is quite a contrast from his father, David, the great Warrior King who led a troubled life and knew very little peace.

 

Could his successful and serene reign be attributed to his embrace of wisdom? I would think so!

 

Do you recognize the value of wisdom? In case you don't Solomon lists some for you. See how many of these might help you "Wise Up"?

 

1) "the wise use of instruction"

2) "for understanding words of insight"

3) "for receiving instruction in prudent behavior - doing right, just and fair"

4) "for giving prudence to the simple"

5) "for giving knowledge and discretion to the young"

6) "to add to learning"

7) "to get guidance"

8) "to understand the wisdom of the wise"

 

Wow! Good stuff!

 

Each one would be a great addition to your life. All of them are available with wisdom!

There are 31 Proverbs or one for every day of the month. A proverb a day could keep foolishness away!
 

Foolishness is your natural state.and wisdom begins the moment become aware of it and concerned about it!

Are you ready to "Wise Up"?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 28, 2013

"The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple,knowledge and discretion to the young— let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. " Proverbs 1:1-7

As we launch into a Summer-long study of the Proverbs the essential question would be, "What are "proverbs?"

 

Did  you realize the book of Proverbs are just part of the Bible’s wisdom literature? There are actually three books in the Bible that belong to the category of wisdom literature. One of those books, of course, is Proverbs, our study the next few months. The other two books are Job and Ecclesiastes, which look at the darker, more cynical side of wisdom.

 

Let me give you a definition of proverbs. Proverbs are short, memorable sayings whose meanings are relevant to many different situations.They are "truth taglines", easy to remember and directly applicable to life situations.

 

Every society has its own set of proverbs that represent the collective wisdom of that society. Let me give you some other examples that come from our culture.

 

"Look before you leap."

 

"Easy come, easy go."


"A penny saved is a penny earned."


"Live one day at a time."

The Bible’s book of Proverbs represents the collective wisdom of ancient Israel. And because as Christians we believe the whole Bible is inspired by God, the collective wisdom of Proverbs represents God’s angle on wisdom. Most of the proverbs comes from king Solomon, the guy who was the king of Israel during her golden reign. But Proverbs also has wise sayings from other people as well.

It’s likely that the book of Proverbs started as a book to help parents instruct their kids in life skills. In fact, the first nine chapters of Proverbs are a father instructing his son in how to live wisely in the world. So Proverbs was originally a parenting strategy as moms and dads tried to equip their children to live God centered, successful lives according to the grain of God’s creation.

But it’s also likely that Proverbs later became a textbook in ancient Israel to prepare people to serve as leaders. In this sense, it was a textbook for equipping emerging leaders who could serve as advisors in government posts. By the time of King Solomon, there were several counselors or sages who were known for their common sense and wisdom.

Now it’s important to understand how to apply the wise sayings from Proverbs to our lives. The sayings we find in the book of Proverbs are generalizations about what’s true most of the time. They’re guidelines for wise living, but we should resist turn them into rigid, absolute promises. These sayings tell us what usually works in most circumstances. But the proverbs don’t work in every, single circumstance. In fact books of Job and Ecclesiastes in the Bible both deal with those situations when these wise sayings don’t seem to work.

So we shouldn’t read Proverbs as if these wise sayings are absolute promises or laws. For example, one proverb tells us, "A gentle answer turns away wrath" (Proverbs 15:1). That’s true most times, but it’s a generalization. It’s not always true, but all things being equal, it’s true in more circumstances than it’s not true. So it makes sense to give a gentle answer when someone’s really mad, but this proverb is not a guarantee that a gentle answer will always defuse anger.

Let me give you another example: One of the proverbs tells us, "The years of the wicked will be short" (Proverbs 10:27). That’s true more often than not, but it’s not true in every single case. In most cases, a lifestyle of wickedness cuts a person’s lifespan short. But, as Ecclesiastes observes, this isn’t true in every single case.

So these are generalizations, observations about how life works in most cases. This is very important to understand, especially when it comes to verses about parenting and marriage.

The Proverbs are wise sayings that are relevant to many different situations.

Today we begin our study of the Proverbs and I issue the challenge, "Wise up!"

May 27, 2013

"Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices. And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place." Hebrews 10:17-20

"And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”Hebrews 8:12

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again." Isaiah 43:25
 

The first holiday of the Summer season, Memorial Day. Several things will be predictable, most people will overdo it and most will get sunburned.
 

It is great that we have a holiday set aside to remind us of the cost of our freedom and to remember those who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom. There have been a lot of wars and a lot of deaths. 25,000 in the Revolutionary War, 570,000 in the Civil War, WWI - 117,000, WWII - 408,000, Korea - 53,000 and Vietnam - 58,000. The Gulf Wars are 5,000 and counting.
 

Saturday night I went to a very moving ceremony at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery where 15,300 soldiers lie buried. It is a solemn place to visit any time of any day, but on Memorial Day moments after sunset with every grave marked by luminaries and a trumpeter playing taps - it was deeply emotional moment. That sight is etched on my memory forever.
 

You cannot drive past a cemetery this week-end without seeing decorated graves. It is important to remember.

 

Now that Memorial Day has come, I want to take a moment to comment not on what we should remember, but on something that has been forgotten. Not only do we focus on what has been forgotten but on Who has forgotten. God, Who is the all omniscient and everlasting God has chosen not to remember something - our sins. That is huge!
 

How can that be? How can God forget?
 

He has chosen to forget what is forgiven. Our Scriptures remind us that when we receive the forgiveness of sins through His Son Christ, He not only forgives those sins but He forgets about them!
 

So, during this week-end of remembering honor the memories of those who died for your freedom, also pause to be thankful for something that has been forgotten - your sins!