Whose We Are, Not What We do!

Proverbs 16:6-10 Amplified

⁶ By mercy and love, truth and fidelity [to God and man—not by sacrificial offerings], iniquity is purged out of the heart, and by the reverent, worshipful fear of the Lord men depart from and avoid evil.

What a roadmap we have been given by Solomon!

By:

·      Mercy: Forgiveness given to one who could be punished

·      Love: deep affection

·      Truth: Testimony and judgement

·      Fidelity: Faithfulness

To God and through God iniquity is purged from our hearts.  We can’t sacrifice enough, do enough good deeds, try and harder – it is through the saving grace of Jesus Christ that we can partake in the process of sanctification.

Sometimes we get busy though, don’t we?  In our churches and in our ministries, finding our worth in what we do, rather than in whose we are. We can get lost in the doing and forget that our worth is in His being.

As we enter into the reverence and worship of our Lord, our frequencies change.  We get dialed into the Life giving awareness of the Holy Spirit and we turn off the chatter of our one enemy. Our song becomes His song as our “souls doth magnify the Lord”.

I thought we would look at Mary today, a young hand maiden of the Lord’s that magnifies the qualities that Solomon speaks of here today:

Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat

⁴⁶ And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
⁴⁹ for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
⁵⁰ And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
⁵² he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” Luke 1:46-55

Mary soul magnified her God and her Spirit rejoiced in God, her Savior.  Mary refers to her God here, before the birth of Christ as her Savior, her deliverer. As she is impregnated by the Holy Spirit, she is delivered into the worlds definition of chaos—an unwed, young, unmarried woman.  Yet, she trusts in her God and in His purposes for her life- her deliverer has called her to an unexpected journey.  She displays all of the character qualities that Solomon speaks of: through His mercy, love and truth and faithfulness, she responds in kind.  She refers to God as her Savior, or deliverer, as she begins to carry the worlds Savior.

Let’s pray”

Lord help us to respond to You as Mary does.  Without understanding the full plan, she bows her will and her life to Your will and Your ways. We pray that obedience is our nature when you call us into unexpected places and uncomfortable spaces.  We want to grow in You Lord, we pray that each moment is seen as a divine decision of obedience and truth, faithfulness and mercy-à and that we walk accordingly.

Upside Down, Right Side Up World

Proverbs 16: (AMP)

⁵Everyone who is proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting and exceedingly offensive to the Lord;
Be assured he will not go unpunished.

Phew, that one just sort of hits you right between the eyes , doesn’t it?  We can’t water it down or sugar coat Hos word.  Our God detests when we elevate our station and haughtily consider others. The word here for “hates” is tow`ebah, meaning “A disgusting thing, an abomination. “

These are strong words against pride and arrogance. The KJV adds a little wrinkle to this proverb that the other translations do not:

⁵ Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

It seems clear that through pride and arrogance, we place ourselves on elevated platforms and we join hands with others that seem important, powerful and influential in our worlds. Entire infrastructures and governments are built in this way- squelching out the highest places that God should only inhabit.  Pride and arrogance center on self.  I remember in the seventies there was this entire movement of “Looking out for number 1”.  This is the world’s economy, where we are all staked against each other for the biggest piece of the pie. In this mindset, if you have a big piece of pie, there is less for me.  This is a dog eat dog mentality of climbing to the top,

In God’s economy, looking out for number one is feeding His one lost sheep.  It is bowing down to help a widow or orphan. In humility and service, we offer all that we have to His number ones.  We feed them so much pie and offer to give them a take home container so that they can feast upon His goodness when they are alone and they can contemplate His faithfulness in the quiet of their hearts.   

In this economy, though we give extravagantly – the pie never diminishes, but actually multiplies. We give extravagantly and we love recklessly, and we are fed with blessing upon blessing, upon blessing.   Welcome to the upside down, right side up of Kingdom living, where for me to live is Christ and to die is gain!! (Phillipians 1:21)

Let’s pray:

Lord, help us to trust in Your economy.  The world demands elevation, while you demand humility.  Both are diametrically opposed to each other.  To live in one economy is to live in opposition to the other. Kingdom living takes faith. Multiply our faith today Lord, from the smallest mustard seed, let the mightiest of trees grow. Help us to hold each other up and love recklessly. Help us to support each other and encourage each other in their gift sets – walking away from petty jealousies and competition. Thank you for Your word that directs the ramblings of our hearts and minds and keeps us on Your path of righteousness.  May this day bring a smile to Your lips as we bow in service to our King.

Just Hold On!

Proverbs 16:4

The Lord works out everything to its proper end—
    even the wicked for a day of disaster.

Our God has made all things, and all things were created to glorify His name.  Even the rocks will cry out! We have all been created for a purpose and a passion to glorify His name and to make disciples of the nations.   Through His providence He will see all things through to the end.  In this day, in this moment, you may feel like you have been left behind, are invisible, or have been long forgotten. Remember the words of Solomon when he reminds us that all things are worked out to their proper end.

In John Gill’s exposition he reminds us that, “Everything is appointed of God; he has foreordained whatever comes to pass; there is a purpose for everything under the heavens, and a time fixed for the execution of it.”  Dearest one, I am here to remind you today of these promises of God.  It is all in His timing, under His sovereignty and in His providence – but, this too shall end and a new day will dawn.  There is hope in your tomorrow, because we are granted this hope through the Holy Spirit as an expectation of good.  It may be dark and it may feel like the dawn will never arrive, but the Bible, our Manual for Living and Love Letter, explains that He will work all things out for good for those that love Him. (Romans 8:28)

Sometimes it can feel like evil wins and deceit reigns, but Solomon reminds us that nothing exists outside of the will of God. If Solomon tells us that there is even a day of disaster planned for the wicked, I want to urge you to see that your circumstance is not bigger than the hand of God. It certainly is not bigger than the heart of God. I urge you to try and release your trust into Him and in Him working out your circumstances to their proper end.  He sees. He knows and He is already in your tomorrow.

Let’s pray:  Thank you Lord for ordering our days and ordering our steps. Thank you that You lead us into our tomorrows.  We give you all of the situations and circumstances and believe that you will work everything out to its proper end. Thank you that You are God and I don’t have to be.

Keep Dreaming!!

Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

³ Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans.

Commit (galal: to seek and to trust) what we do  (ma`aseh) to the Lord.  Let’s look at what this word, “ma`aseh, includes:

1.     deed, work

1.     deed, thing done, act

2.     work, labour

3.     business, pursuit

4.     undertaking, enterprise

5.     achievement

6.     deeds, works (of deliverance and judgment)

7.     work, thing made

8.     work (of God)

9.     product

Have you noticed?  This list I pretty comprehensive and includes all that we put our hands to and even that which we are pursuing! It includes that which has been achieved and that which we are dreaming into.  We are to seek Him and trust Him with all of this.
We can seek Him and not, entirely, trust Him as we are walking it out.  It might not look like we wanted it to.  There may be roadblocks we hadn’t anticipated. It may be taking a lot longer than we would have ever dreamed. Seek and trust in the process, through the challenges and through the wilderness, through the lapses of time…..through the uncertainty. Because, truth be told sometimes things take some time.  In our ever present world of instant gratification, I tend to want things NOW.  Intellectually, we know that His timing is not our timing…but, as we are walking we are thinking that He must have forgotten, we must have heard wrong.   Remember Abraham as he walked three days, with his son, to Mount Moriah, with no word from the Lord.  He just kept walking, alone with his thoughts. He did not swerve to the right or to the left, he kept walking with his last promises and marching orders, issued from the Lord, close in his heart.  Thank goodness for our cloud of witnesses, that can help us through our present times with examples from their lives.

We may not understand but we can keep walking in His promises and His last instructions. When we do this and we keep our eyes on Him and the works of our hands and the ambitions of our hearts- on Him….we are promised that our thoughts shall be established (KJV) .  We commit the works of our hands, and He establishes our thoughts, or “machashabah”.  This means that He establishes our plans and purposes.

I am reminded of a clock, with all of the gears dependent upon each other for it to work. As we commit the works of our hands and our dreams to Him it begins to move a cog….He, in turn establishes our plans and purpose and another cog is put in motion.  This moves the hands of the clock, with a heavenly time keeper. He controls the time of these plans and purposes.  I would like to encourage you today to not give up.  Keep walking, keep dreaming, keep working-committing all of these things to Him.  I have to believe that He receives them as a sweet aroma of obedience and blesses with purpose.

Let’s pray:

Thank you Lord for the Wisdom given in the Proverbs.  Someone may feel that they are weary from the journey and ready to give up, turn around and throw in the towel.  I pray that they would receive an encouraging wind today as You refresh their spirit and remind them of Your faithfulness.  Thank you for planting dreams within us and unfolding them throught he commited works of our hands. Oh how we love You Father, Son and Spirit!

Responding Rather Than Reacting

Proverbs 16:2

All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
    but motives are weighed by the Lord.

I read this Proverb and I am struck by the simplicity of it, yet….the question seems larger than the Proverb. When we are trying so hard to “get it right” and we feel that we are operating out of a pure hea t- and we aren’t -what hope do we have in “getting it right”? Yes, we need a Savior, but…how does this translate into my every day, my moment by moment?

We could all approach the same situation with a different perspective.  Each one of us has a lens, or a filter, that we view life through. This lens is formed day by day, experience by experience, and it shapes how we view our world. It molds into our relationships and into our reactions.  Every situation we encounter is filtered through this lens as the sum total of our experiences on earth.

The lens that we filter through can’t always be trusted.  As an example, our lens can be one of a victim and all situations that filter in will be seen through the standpoint of a victim. The lens can be one of jealousy, and all information processed will be through that filter, and processed according to the filter’s impression of the event in question.  

We try to walk out this Christian walk and we try to do the best we can, but our reactions keep tripping us up. We are in the same old reaction before we even have a chance to sit up and look around.

Let’s think about responding, rather than reacting. Let’s think about slowing down and allowing the Lord in to test the motives of our heart.  The Holy Spirit is guide and counselor, when we invite Holy Spirit into our filter- we can see clearer- without the shadow of our own experiences clouding our view. To hold our tongues and our temper and to seek His ways.   The Holy Spirit is not a prankster that wants to trip us up – He is our Holy Spirit- one third of our triune God.   The Holy Spirit was promised to us by Jesus and He is:

The Spirit of truth and omforter:

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; He is the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it does not see Him, neither do they know Him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:16-17)

He will guide us, in spite of our filters, into the deeper mysteries and ways of God:

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 1 Corinthians 2:10-13

My original question is answered through this reflection. We do need a Savior, and our Savior has given us the Holy Spirit to abide within us.  When we slow down and respond to what is being thrown at us, we have a chance to allow the Holy Spirit to direct our thoughts and our plans.  We invite the mysteries of God into our everyday experiences and allow Him to shine through.

Let’s pray together:

Holy Spirit, we invite you into our everyday circumstances, we invite you into our ordinary- to teach us truth and the mysteries of God in our everyday interactions.  We bow our hearts and our wills with a Holy Obedience to the ordinary

Do Not Worry

My Calendar Subject For Approval

 

Proverbs 16:1

Taken from the message, “Everything with a Place and a Purpose”

16 Mortals make elaborate plans,
    but God has the last word.

In order to savor the nuggets of wisdom that are coming forth, I thought we would switch over to bite sized nuggets, rather than a firehose of information.  I have been overwhelmed writing each week, feeling like there are so many places to explore and not enough time.  So, we are switching to “one a day”. I know this presents a problem for those of you that journal in your bible, as you cant do a visual for each Proverb in your Bible.  Might I suggest a sketchbook, if you don’t already use one? I know this is a switch, and I am here to brainstorm any way that will help you get the most out of this study!

 Today we will look at 16:1. The connotation of the word “arak” here is to lay things in order, to arrange, to plan.  As women, we certainly do plan don’t we? We can plan entire days, weeks, seasons without checking in with God to see if our plans align with His plans!  Have you ever felt like you were swimming upstream and the Grizzlies were swatting at you, biting and chomping at your flesh?  Maybe we swam where we weren’t supposed to be!

I can’t tell you how many times I have had to come before the Lord and show Him my calendar and show Him what I have done, and ask His assistance in clearing out that which I wasn’t supposed to ever take on. If I am doing something that is pure horror for me, that I dread….I have found that I was never meant to take it on.  I was wearing someone else’s blessing and it, simply, did not fit.  David could not wear Saul’s armor, and I was not meant to inhabit another’s blessing. It is unimaginable how many times I have had to have a “course correction” with my schedule.

We purpose our days and our seasons, our projects and our tasks…but the Lord disposes( gets rid of) . We can’t go about a single thing without the blessing of God. God easily can and often does intersect our purposes.  I believe that when He intersects our purposes, He is taking away so that we might step into the fullness of Whom He created us to be.

How do you offer your schedule to the Lord for His pruning? Do you find it hard when something is “taken away” from you, making room for God’s intentions?  Yeah, me too! Solomon is wise to remind us today that whenever our steps are orchestrated through a heavenly calendar, our steps are blessed indeed!