"My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:1-5
"For the LORD gives wisdom..." Prov. 2:6
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." James 1:5
I have read the Bible cover to cover a few times, and many books of the Bible several times over my lifetime. I've had many dry times reading. What I mean by "dry times", is that I seem not to get anything out of my reading. I've heard many Christians say the same thing, or they will say something like, "I don't get anything out of the Bible.", or "The Bible isn't relevant for me today." I would submit to everyone that during those dry times our heart is not mining or searching the scriptures as for hidden treasure. When I approach the Bible, and ask God to MAKE IT LIFE and really search and dig deep into the Word without fail I find life, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit every time. The Word says in the scriptures that if we do this, and search for wisdom, understanding, discernment, and apply our heart to it THEN we will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. In James, God says He will give us the wisdom liberally. That means...a bunch of wisdom is coming our way the more we dig into the Word. He also says, He'll give it without reproach which means He will give us the wisdom liberally without reminding us of our unworthiness. That's really powerful if you just stop and think about that for a moment. God isn't stingy with His wisdom if we're truly knocking, seeking, and asking. In Prov. 2:7 the Bible actually states, "He stores up sound wisdom for the upright..." It's stored up for us, and we just got to ask for it, and seek for it as for hidden treasure!!! That's pretty awesome.
Once God gives us this wisdom what do we do with it? How do we use it? What's it for?
"He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity, and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you..." Proverbs 2:7-11
Wisdom, understanding, discretion, and the Fear of the LORD when they truly enter our heart protect us, preserve us, and delivers us. Take a look.
"To deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perversity of the wicked." Proverbs 2:12-14
"To deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words...For her house leads down to death, and her paths to the dead; None who go to her regain the paths of life." Proverbs 2:16-19
We need deliverance in the world we're in from immoral men and women. We need deliverance from the enemy on a daily basis. That's why the LORD's prayer ends with, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Matt. 6:13. Proverbs chapter 2 provides keys to living a long, happy, healthy, fruitful life.
Let's seek God, and seek Him in the Bible as digging for buried treasure. If we do this, we have his promises mentioned in this chapter. Solomon ends the chapter like this:
"So you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the paths of righteousness. For the upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, and the unfaithful will be uprooted from it." Proverbs 2:20-22
I don't know about you, but I want to walk in the way of goodness, dwell in the land, and remain in it! I do not want to be cut off, and uprooted as unfaithful.
The good news of the Gospel is that through Jesus Christ we can do this IN HIM. IN HIM, we have access to the Father. We have unlimited access to God IN HIM. He broke down any wall of separation. All wisdom, understanding, discernment, and all the promises and blessings of God are available to us-IN HIM. I love Proverbs because they were written by Solomon the wisest man to ever live, but honestly Jesus was the wisest man to ever live! I put my trust IN JESUS not Solomon. Solomon would have been wise to listen to his own advice when he got older. Let's live with the wisdom, and power of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. IN HIM, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3). HE IS WISDOM! HE IS LIFE!
Monday, January 8, 2018
Monday, January 1, 2018
The Beginning of Knowledge (Proverbs 1)
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7
Today is January 1, 2018. New Year's Day! I started reading through my Bible a couple of days ago to get a jump on the new year. One of my resolutions is to be more diligent in my daily Bible reading, and get through the Bible this year. In 2016 I read through the Bible in 4 months, but last year honestly I probably didn't read an entire book just bits and pieces here and there. I need to get my fire back for God, and this is probably where it's going to start as I read the Bible. I started reading in Gen 1, Matthew 1, and Proverbs 1. Proverbs 1 stuck out to me this morning, and is a perfect chapter for New Year's Day.
The reason I say it's perfect for New Year's Day is because it gives the key to the beginning of knowledge which is the fear of the Lord. It also gives the key for foolish living which is to despise wisdom and instruction. These are two things I so desperately want to have in my life in 2018 for the entire year. 1) To Fear God and live with the knowledge of God 2) Not to be a fool, but to live wisely in all areas of my life.
This chapter basically teaches us how to live successfully in life, and how to royally mess things up.
In verse 20, wisdom begins to speak to us. "Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares, She cries out on top of the walls..." First wisdom calls to the simple and foolish, but they aren't listening, and the Bible says that the foolish hate knowledge. Wisdom says that if we turn at her rebuke that the spirit of wisdom will be poured out on us, and make her words known to us. But even after this encouragement by wisdom the foolish ignore the counsel and do not turn from evil. In fact here is what the Bible says, "Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;" Prov 1:29-32
If we "act the fool", God will sooner or later give us over to our own way and eventually it will destroy us. But, the ending of Proverbs 1 leaves us with the key to living successfully for 2018.
"But whoever listens to me(wisdom), will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil." Prov. 1:33
Let's listen and obey instruction, and the wisdom of the Word in 2018. Let's fear the Lord as the beginning of knowledge, and let's not despise wisdom and instruction. If we don't listen to this wisdom, we're really not going to have a prosperous year in 2018. Honestly, we may have to experience some consequences as a result if we don't fear the Lord. But, the blessing of the Lord comes to the ones who fear God, and keep His commandments.
"He will bless those who fear the Lord, Both small and great." Psalm 115:13
"Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways." Psalm 128:1
"The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil." Prov. 19:23
"Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments." Psalm 112:1
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments for this is man's all. Ecclesiastes 12:13
Today is January 1, 2018. New Year's Day! I started reading through my Bible a couple of days ago to get a jump on the new year. One of my resolutions is to be more diligent in my daily Bible reading, and get through the Bible this year. In 2016 I read through the Bible in 4 months, but last year honestly I probably didn't read an entire book just bits and pieces here and there. I need to get my fire back for God, and this is probably where it's going to start as I read the Bible. I started reading in Gen 1, Matthew 1, and Proverbs 1. Proverbs 1 stuck out to me this morning, and is a perfect chapter for New Year's Day.
The reason I say it's perfect for New Year's Day is because it gives the key to the beginning of knowledge which is the fear of the Lord. It also gives the key for foolish living which is to despise wisdom and instruction. These are two things I so desperately want to have in my life in 2018 for the entire year. 1) To Fear God and live with the knowledge of God 2) Not to be a fool, but to live wisely in all areas of my life.
This chapter basically teaches us how to live successfully in life, and how to royally mess things up.
In verse 20, wisdom begins to speak to us. "Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares, She cries out on top of the walls..." First wisdom calls to the simple and foolish, but they aren't listening, and the Bible says that the foolish hate knowledge. Wisdom says that if we turn at her rebuke that the spirit of wisdom will be poured out on us, and make her words known to us. But even after this encouragement by wisdom the foolish ignore the counsel and do not turn from evil. In fact here is what the Bible says, "Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;" Prov 1:29-32
If we "act the fool", God will sooner or later give us over to our own way and eventually it will destroy us. But, the ending of Proverbs 1 leaves us with the key to living successfully for 2018.
"But whoever listens to me(wisdom), will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil." Prov. 1:33
Let's listen and obey instruction, and the wisdom of the Word in 2018. Let's fear the Lord as the beginning of knowledge, and let's not despise wisdom and instruction. If we don't listen to this wisdom, we're really not going to have a prosperous year in 2018. Honestly, we may have to experience some consequences as a result if we don't fear the Lord. But, the blessing of the Lord comes to the ones who fear God, and keep His commandments.
"He will bless those who fear the Lord, Both small and great." Psalm 115:13
"Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways." Psalm 128:1
"The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil." Prov. 19:23
"Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments." Psalm 112:1
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments for this is man's all. Ecclesiastes 12:13
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