Proverbs 10: Wise vs. Foolish

  

 The wise vs. the foolish (10:8–9, 13–14, 19–21, 23, 26): The wise are careful with their words and actions; the foolish care only about what they want.

⁸ The wise of heart will receive commandments,
    but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

I love that we have to position ourselves to receive commandments, through Wisdom.  This is an active choice, something to be pursued, and grasped.  Wisdom of the heart requires action and diligence!

⁹ Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
    but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

This little proverb brings to mind a story from this past week – my oldest son is a goofball. There was a film festival at his school and he made a film to submit for judging.  While others spent days, weeks, hour after hour making their films---my son channeled his “inner goofball”  and knocked out his film in a few hours. He came in second place and received a prize!!  After the festival was over, he found out that one of his friends had tipped the bidding and had voted for him numerous times. 

This was not ok with him. He got in touch with the teacher and let her know that he had won unfairly and that the prize belonged to someone else.

--->The teacher was dumbfounded at his honesty.

---->The next day he was invited to the luncheon for the winners, because they so appreciated his honesty and could not believe the level of integrity that he had shown.

A proud momma moment for sure. Our character and integrity are our calling cards.

¹³ On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found,
    but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.

¹⁴ The wise lay up knowledge,
    but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

The wise lay up knowledge, and it is found on the lips of those that are in this Holy Obedience to the Ordinary.

The mouth of a fool isn’t laying up anything – it seems that it spills out – a much different picture than “laying up” – or storing up wisdom and releasing it at the proper time.  

¹⁹ When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
    but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

²⁰ The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
    the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
²¹ The lips of the righteous feed many,
    but fools die for lack of sense.

I think we have all felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit telling us to be still and to be quiet. The discerning spirit of what to say and what not to say can be a tough place to acquiesce our will.  I have been on the receiving end of those whose words are many, as of late, and it is a hard place to stand through the onslaught of too many words – revealing too many things- and dishonoring too many hearts.  Discerning lips are wise indeed!

Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool,
    but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
    so is the sluggard to those who send him

Have you ever noticed that to one who is not seeking a Holy Obedience to the Ordinary – it is ok to have little white lies, and big black lies salting their language?  Doing wrong is a joke and not to be taken seriously- getting caught is what has to be taken seriously.  The heart of the wise seems to be one of restraint and control- not rushing into everything head first and picking up the pieces afterwards.  The heart of the wise seems to watch and wait, to pray and to ponder- to speak out pearls of Wisdom at   the right time.

Proverbs 9:13-18

 

 

The Way of Folly

¹³ The woman Folly is loud;
    she is seductive^[c] and knows nothing.
¹⁴ She sits at the door of her house;
    she takes a seat on the highest places of the town,
¹⁵ calling to those who pass by,
    who are going straight on their way,
¹⁶ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
    And to him who lacks sense she says,
¹⁷ “Stolen water is sweet,
    and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
¹⁸ But he does not know that the dead^[d] are there,
    that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Today we meet another woman, “Folly”.   Folly is boisterous, she murmurs, growls, roars, cries aloud, mourns, rages.  She causes a commotion and stirs things up.  This is all from the word, “hamah”.  She is simple and knows nothing.

This simple being takes herself a seat on the highest seat in town.  Isn’t that the way of the proud and arrogant?  Isn’t this the number one sin we can assign to satan himself?  Doesn’t Jesus tell us to take a seat at the foot of the table and assume nothing?  It is far better to be invited to the head of the table. (Luke 14:10)  Folly TAKES the highest seat. I feel my disdain for her and the affront to Wisdom as an assault to my senses.

Know this: She sits herself at the highest places and SCREAMS at you and I…demanding our attention and bullying our emotions.  She is no lady.

She entices with secrets and scandal, with intimacy and lust:

¹⁷ “Stolen water is sweet,
    and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

We, living in the presence of Wisdom know that she only offers death, a separation from God. 

Proverbs 9:7-12 Evangelism:No longer a Dirty Word!

⁷ Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
    and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
⁸ Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
    reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
⁹ Give instruction^[b] to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
    teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
¹¹ For by me your days will be multiplied,
    and years will be added to your life.
¹² If you are wise, you are wise for yourself;
    if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

Do you find this to be true?  The Bible refers to casting our pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).  Do you find that those that do not walk with God, get very angry about God and His ways?  So how, in heaven’s name, do you reach these precious lambs with the Gospel?   I have been pondering this question as of late, as I am teaching a class on “Evangelism and World Religions”.

I asked the question on my FB page to describe in one word: “Evangelism- and to please be honest. "  The Christians I knew answered with words such as:

Spreaading seeds

Sharing the Gospel

Pick Me

Love

Revival

Message of Love

Sharing Faith in Christ

Treasure Hunt

Billy Graham

And then, the darker replies from Christians:

“…honestly the first thought wasn't a word, but a feeling. A negative feeling toward what evangelism has become.”

“…Talking to strangers is not my idea of a good time, however, I love to smile at someone, acts of kindness when I can, stuff like that is my comfort zone / personality.”

Preach

Pushy

Bible Thumper

Preachers that yell a lot

Ouch…so, if we as Christians are not “feeling” the pull/lure/love in evangelism….what do non-believers think of the word “Evangelism”?

Extreme

Fundamentalism, against modern thinking

Jehovah’s Witness

We think we are out loving the world and the world thinks we are pushing fundamentalism in extreme amounts. 

So, how do we evangelize and reach H is lost?  I love what Patty Taylor said, 

“If you'd asked me this question just four years ago I would have said, "Oh, I'm not an evangelist." Yet, I know Jesus commanded us to go into all the world. However, for me, the though of preaching the gospel on street corners made me nauseous. I don't want to be a used car salesman or have his reputation! Today, I understand that share the price Jesus paid in words should come organically in conversation. It shouldn't be our first goal. Love God, Love yourself, love your neighbor. In that order (you cannot love your neighbor if you don't love you). Becoming like Jesus should be our focus. From that will flow a well spring of love for others. When we become intimate with God (the Trinity) then we cannot help but to love ourselves and in turn have God's love for every person we see and we will probably hear God's voice so much more clearly we would be able to speak to someone's need that we other wise wouldn't be aware of and pray for them and watch Holy Spirit touch their hearts. This, to me, is evangelism. It's starts at home in the secret place with God and then flows from there naturally, organically, to my family and then to the outside world.”

Love God- it starts in you.  As Ghandi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world" Let the transformation happen in you through relationship with a Holy God.

Love yourself. Easier said than done.  You cant help a hurting heart if you are broken in pieces, gasping for breath. Let His relationship bring you into deeper understanding of the wonder of His creation - YOU. 

Love your neighbor- this becomes a natural outpouring of the transformation that is happening in your heart. 

Jesus did not avoid the untouchables - He sought them out .  I pose the same question I did on FB: What does evangelism look like for you?  And please be honest!

Proverbs 9:1-6

 Warning- there are a lot of ponderings through Scripture today!

9 Wisdom has built her house;
    she has hewn her seven pillars.
² She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;
    she has also set her table.
³ She has sent out her young women to call
    from the highest places in the town,
⁴ “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
    To him who lacks sense she says,
⁵ “Come, eat of my bread
    and drink of the wine I have mixed.
⁶ Leave your simple ways,^[a] and live,
    and walk in the way of insight.”

Here we see where Wisdom lives- we experience her house.  It is solid, made with seven pillars (seven represents completeness, perfection) to hold it up- this is not a tent that moves to and fro at a moments folly. Her house is meant for inhabitation. 

Why seven pillars?  Please know that this is my ponderings and nothing more.

In 8: 12 – 14 we saw that Wisdom lived in a house with 7 other attributes: 

I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power.

What about the seven spirits of God listed in Isaiah11:2-3 ?  (and referred to in Rev, 3:1, Rev. 4:5, and Rev. 5:6) Many believe that this reference is to the Holy Spirit and how He manifests Himself,  through the seven Spirits of God, ad will be found resting on Jesus Himself.  From Isaiah:

² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

I kept on coming up with 6 attributes as the Holy Spirit is not an “attribute”, but part of our Triune God.  So that the seven spirits of God would be:

…. the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of power, the Spirit of knowledge, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord, and the Spirit of delight in the fear of the Lord.

It seems that these seven spirits of God, all house the seven attributes that Lady Wisdom lived with in Chapter 8.  This would put our Lady as one of the attributes of Holy Spirit, who is our guide and our counselor.  Again, these are just my ponderings.  How fun is it that there are so many mysteries in the Bible and we get to treasure hunt through them!

I love that Lady Wisdom is more than 1 :

³ She has sent out her young women to call
    from the highest places in the town,
Lady Wisdom can be multiplied and expounded- calling from the highest places in town.  His ways are not our ways and His ways are the higher ways.  As we align with Lady Wisdom I would like to think that we can become one that goes out and lives a life that personifies Wisdom and beckons others to the higher ground.

In these few passages we see that she is setting a banquet table for the simple to come and eat- leaving the simple ways behind and entering into LIFE.  This banquet table has shades of the banquet table that is to come through Jesus, as He sets us in the presence of our enemies. 

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever. – Psalm 23:5-6

How sweet, that we see a picture of someone sitting at a table, with overflowing life, goodness and love – dwelling in he house of the Lord.

Is this the House that the Spirit of God has erected, through the seven Spirits of God – where Lady wisdom lives and calls us to?  I don’t know-but I love the pnderings of how these jigsaw pieces fit together.

What I do know is that Lady Wisdom is a place to inhabit- not a resting place for a night.  She is meant to be the place that we operate out of and that we call HOME.  When we aren’t home, we know it.  When we aren’t operating out of Wisdom, I pray that we will all know it.

Proverbs 8:32-36

³² “And now, O sons, listen to me:
    blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³ Hear instruction and be wise,
    and do not neglect it.
³⁴ Blessed is the one who listens to me,
    watching daily at my gates,
    waiting beside my doors.
³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life
    and obtains favor from the Lord,
³⁶ but he who fails to find me injures himself;
    all who hate me love death.”

And now- in this fallen world- far away from the Garden- she says to us LISTEN TO ME.   Blessed are those that keep my ways.  There was an answer for us, before there was time.  Father God, Our Jesus and Holy Spirit gave us Lady Wisdom to walk with us and beside us, to guide us – before the first molecule was created. Jesus was the answer from the beginning- and Lady Wisdom was to be a companion- a companion that encompassed the wonder of God.

Imagine that the first rock was created in an atmosphere where the fear of the Lord inhabited. The Bible tells us that all things glorify His name:

Habakkuk 2:14 "For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea

Psalm 96:4-9 For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary

Psalm 65:5—13

⁵ By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
    O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas;
⁶ the one who by his strength established the mountains,
    being girded with might;
⁷ who stills the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    the tumult of the peoples,
⁸ so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it;^[a]
    you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
    you provide their grain,
    for so you have prepared it.
¹⁰ You water its furrows abundantly,
    settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
    and blessing its growth.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty;
    your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
¹² The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
    the hills gird themselves with joy,
¹³ the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
    the valleys deck themselves with grain,
    they shout and sing together for joy.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Psalm 96:11

Psalm 89:11-12

The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
    the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
¹² The north and the south, you have created them;
    Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.

All of creation praises His name, each in their own way—because each thing that He created was created INTO the fear of the Lord.  Wisdom was in the atmosphere as the world and all of its wonders was created. How could the earth not sing for joy in the Lord, as she is part of the very fabric of the atmosphere of creation?

We were created into this very same atmosphere of wonder and awe, reverence and fear of our God- rejoicing in His creations.  This is part of our DNA, it is all we have ever known.

Luke 19:39-40 says that if the disciples were silenced – the rocks would cry out for the Glory of God.

“39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." 40But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!"

In a dark world, the darkness seeks to quiet our voices through rebuke , chastisement and mockery. Let’s stand with Lady Wisdom and delight in His creations, glorifying His name and the wonders that He presents to us on a daily basis. He has not stopped creating, can we catch the wonder of Lady Wisdom as we see the tulips blooming?   Can we rejoice in His inhabited world as we see the green, spring grass blooming? Can we delight in all of the children of man- even the dirty and broken, as we bend down to breathe wonder back into their hearts?

Lady Wisdom we ask that you would instill in all of us the very essence of your nature- that delights in God and in all of His creations.  We ask for a wonder and delight in His children, a zeal to gather His lost and offer the wonder of creation.

Proverbs 8:22-31: She Was There From The Beginning

²² “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work,
    the first of his acts of old.
²³ Ages ago I was set up,
    at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,
    when there were no springs abounding with water.
²⁵ Before the mountains had been shaped,
    before the hills, I was brought forth,
²⁶ before he had made the earth with its fields,
    or the first of the dust of the world.
²⁷ When he established the heavens, I was there;
    when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ when he made firm the skies above,
    when he established the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he assigned to the sea its limit,
    so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
³⁰     then I was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his delight,
    rejoicing before him always,
³¹ rejoicing in his inhabited world
    and delighting in the children of man.

We see here that our Lady Wisdom was created at the very beginning of His creation.  She was created- so we know that Lady Wisdom is not the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit is part of our triune God- who was and is and ever shall be. She was created before the beginnings of the Earth, as one of God’s first creations.  The word here is, “chuwl” for her creation: To twist, dance, whirl.  Can you delight with me as we see our Lady Wisdom’s creation, as she is formed?

Imagine this – her intent was to be a partner to Adam and Eve, and all of mankind – as an attribute of God. Fear of the Lord existed before there was an Earth to hold us.  We were born into a Garden where the fear of the Lord lived, and through her, we would possess all of her promises!

We see her squealing with delight, next to God, as she creates:

“….then I was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always.”

Can you imagine this extra glimpse into the beginning of our created world?  Does it make you smile as I am smiling now?  I can “see” her on the wind, glorifying His name out of reverence, love and respect as He creates mountains and tulips.  A jettison of twirling exaltation over the creation of the Weeping Willow.  And the awe and wonder of the Master Creation as He breathed His life into the first man.  I imagine she stopped and held her breathe – eyes wide as Adam came to life.  Did she dance with the angels as he stood up and declared the majesty of God?   She was now:

³¹ rejoicing in his inhabited world
    and delighting in the children of man.”

The other side of her word: Chuwl is : writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained.  How she must have travailed as the bite was taken, as  mankind was plunged into separation. I wonder how her dance changed when sin entered the world? Did the air around her get heavier, offer more resistance to her whirling and twisting? Did the colors around her fade as darkness presented itself?  Did she wilt just a little? Did she look to the eyes of the Father for direction?  Did she grieve for what once was?  Did her dance become focused and intent on the children of man and leading them through the darkness?   She was allowed to stay with us, a voice and path, an attribute of God directing us to the ways of the Lord and higher ground.

Can you capture this creation scene in your journal?  Remember that collage is a fantastic way to capture the Garden, and all that you “see” in your mind, and getting it out and onto paper.

Exactly How Are We Acknowledging Him?

Last night I started teaching a 6 week course in "Evangelism" and looking at other religions.   The Bible is clear that we are publicly acknowledge Jesus Christ. What is not laid out for us in this passage is HOW we acknowledge Jesus Christ in our lives.
I have had some thoughts lately, actually a lot of thoughts lately, about who Jesus is and how we, as Christians, portray His message to a hurting world.

There is a man on the UNC campus that holds up signs and shouts at the students that they are going to hell.  They, affectionately, call him "Gare Bear" and watch his antics- filming him...not for his message but because of HOW he has chosen to acknowledge Jesus Christ.  Gare Bear's bigger message is lost behind his shouting and signs.  Perhaps, if he put the signs down and entered into the arena of "grace" there would be a better impact for the kingdom?

There is a lot of activity here over the HB2 Bathroom law.  In short, the LGBT community needs a safe place to go to the bathroom.  In Charlotte a law was passed that allowed anybody that was identifying as a gender, in that moment, different from the gender they were born into - could use the bathroom they were identifying with.
The law was passed at a County level, the law was repealed at a state level....
and there are two sides biting and hurting each other.  We have all become "Gare Bear" in our pursuit of what we think is right.
Steven Schwartz wont bring his musicals,, such as "Wicked" back to Charlotte because of the discrimination of the LGBT community.
Paypal will not build in Charlotte because of the discrimination of the LGBT community.
....and the signs are made and the positions are engraved and the shouting commences. 

Private companies get to make their own decisions. Steven Scwartz, PAypal, Chik-fil-a and Hobby Lobby all have made public declarations of their beliefs.  We get to choose what products we use. 

I must be honest- I dont want men in my bathroom with me.  I wont feel safe.  I know that the LGBT community does not feel safe now.  The way the law was presented -one side has to loose their feeling of safety.  This law has us all biting each other with insults and injury.  The way it was presented there could not be a winner.  The law, as presented does not honor BOTH groups. The way it stands now - everyone can use any bathroom - and the very people that the law was created to defend are still in jeopardy. 

If we are to honor each other, it seems to me, and I am not a politician, the  best way to do that is with "Family Bathrooms', like the ones that Target has.  These bathrooms are a lifesaver to moms with younger children, to moms with older parents, to those with wheelchairs and scooters - the extra room is fabulous,  and to the LGBT community - where everyone's  privacy and safety are ensured.   The privacy and safety of families are ensured, the privacy and safety of the elders are ensured, the LGBT community is safe.  This bathroom does not discriminate, nor isolate.  It, simply, locks- so that you can do what you have to do in safety and privacy.

In our pursuit of acknowledging Jesus Christ I have seen behavior that I am ashamed of, on both sides. Imagine, if you will, that the woman about to be stoned is one of our very own taken from the LGBT community.  Would you have thrown the first rock?  Would I have thrown the first rock?   Don't I deserve to be the one about to be stoned, because I sin a thousand times a day and grieve the heart of God with decisions I make? Jesus meets all of us with truth.  He extends His hand to everyone.  Why do we act as if He is only available to those that we deem worthy of His message, His love and His dying on the cross? We all have to stop insulting and hurting- both sides...listen....
We have all fallen prey to an argument that can't be won. It's time to put the signs down and meet in the middle- where grace, honor and respect live.  This is how I think we can acknowledge Jesus Christ in our hearts and through our lives, while evangelizing through love.

Thus ends my ponderings.  <3