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I’m going to be writing my way through Proverbs so I thought I would share some here. This first chapter gives us strong warnings to listen to instruction and teaching. How many times do we hear good instruction but it goes in one ear and out the other. When you are dealing with life and death it is best to pay attention. Look at the benefits of attaining wisdom and discipline.

 

Prologue: Purpose and Theme

1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight;
3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young-
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance-
6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools [1] despise wisdom
and discipline.
Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Do you pay attention to warning signs when you are driving? How about crossing the street, cooking meat, washing your hands? What about the simple warnings regarding how we are to live?

Warning Against Enticement
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.
11 If they say, "Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul;
12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, [2] and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse"-
15 my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths;
16 for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood.
17 How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves!
19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.

Go ahead and reject wisdom and see what you have in store. It is laid out pretty plain and simple.

Warning Against Rejecting Wisdom
20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares;
21 at the head of the noisy streets [3] she cries out, in the gateways of the city she
makes her speech:
22 "How long will you simple ones [4] love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
24 But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
25 since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you-
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me.
29 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord ,
30 since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."

Footnotes
1:7 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote one who is morally deficient.
1:12 Hebrew Sheol
1:21 Hebrew; Septuagint / on the tops of the walls
1:22 The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs generally denotes one without moral direction and inclined to evil.

When Jonah failed Him the first time God did not give up on him. We can read the most encouraging words that a failing child of God can hear… “And the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time.” I have three thoughts about this.

1. This book of Jonah sets forth the resurrection as you can see if you study it. When the “wicked and adulterous generation where looking for a sign”, Jesus referred them here. “Jonah… so Jesus” is the fine comparison made by our Lord.

2. Salvation is not by works. Jonah 2:9 – “Salvation is of the Lord”

3. Gods purpose of Grace can not be frustrated. If Jonah had refused to go to Nineveh the second time, would God have destroyed the city? God would not have been limited by Jonah’s refusal. This book shows Gods determination to those who will hear and accept it.

God will not cast us aside for faithlessness. “And the Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time.” Lets pray that the Word of the Lord comes to us a second time.

 

(what, you did not know there is more information about Nineveh?)

Luke 11:9-10 (New International Version)

⁹“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

It is possible to lose every desire except the desire to be with the Lord, as you read the Word, & pray. I am speaking of the pressing tasks, the calls, the work that needs to be done. You can realize the simple peach of the real priority. Here and now it is really short lived. A few hours if we want it.

I heard, or read, that we have as much of God as we want. When I understood that, I determined I would seek him with all my heart, soul & strength. Does that mean 24/7? Sorry, no. I’m not there yet. I still, daily have frequent moments when I realize I have not been praying, talking with my Father. More often though I realize a worship song has been playing in my mind. Our God is an awesome God, he reins.

You are who you are before God, nothing more and nothing less.

No matter what you think you are… when you come to the end of yourself, and you have nothing left to hide behind… That is all I’m saying.

Yearning is the most important thing a person can do, because a person who does not yearn for anything will never achieve anything. Yearning is not, however, simply hoping for something with an attitude of despair. It is a burning desire that motivates one to action. According to Jewish tradition, one of the first questions a person is asked when arriving in heaven after their worldly sojourn is through is, "Did you yearn for the redemption?" The word for "yearn" is "tsipita," which also could be translated as, "Did you attempt to see." So yearning that is correct involves seeing the outcome in as real a way as you can. Thus, you will believ that it can become reality. From there, it must follow that you will strive to fulfill that yearning. Thus, when we are to be asked, "Did you yearn for the redemption," we are in effect being asked, "Did you strive to bring your corner of the world, however large or small that may be, closer to redemption by making it a better, more redeemed, place."

"Esa einai el heharim, me’ayin yavo ezri = I lift my eyes to the mountains, from whence comes my help."

Man has an insatiable thirst for spirituality. Sometimes he gets  confused, and thinks he can quench that thirst with material things. This insatiable thirst shows us that man is capable of unlimited achievement in spiritual matters. Do we believe in ourselves enough to try?

Watchman Nee tells about a new convert who came in deep distress to see him. "No matter how much I pray, no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot seem to be faithful to my Lord. I think I’m losing my salvation."

Nee said, "Do you see this dog here? He is my dog. He is house-trained; he never makes a mess; he is obedient; he is a pure delight to me. Out in the kitchen I have a son, a baby son. He makes a mess, he throws his food around, he fouls his clothes, he is a total mess. But who is going to inherit my kingdom? Not my dog; my son is my heir. You are Jesus Christ’s heir because it is for you that He died." We are Christ’s heirs, not through our perfection but by means of His grace. – Watchman Nee.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can human beings do to me?" – Hebrews 13:5-6. TNIV

In the frigid waters around Greenland are countless icebergs, some little and some gigantic. If you’d observe them carefully, you’d notice that sometimes the small ice floes move in one direction while their massive counterparts flow in another.

The explanation is simple. Surface winds drive the little ones, whereas the huge masses of ice are carried along by deep ocean currents. When we face trials and tragedies, it’s helpful to see our lives as being subject to two forces–surface winds and ocean currents. The winds represent everything changeable, unpredictable, and distressing. But operating simultaneously with these gusts and gales is another force that’s even more powerful. It is the sure movement of God’s wise and sovereign purposes, the deep flow of His unchanging love. – Unknown.

Come with me to a third grade classroom….. There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It’s never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they’ll never speak to him again as long as he lives. The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I’m dead meat." He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy’s lap. The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!" Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else – Susie. She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You’ve done enough, you klutz!"

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "You did that on purpose, didn’t you?" Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too."

May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good. Remember…..Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

Each and everyone one of us are going through tough times right now,  but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the  faith.

•God has given us 86,400 seconds in a day. That is some SERIOUS Success Capital

•That is 1,440 minutes in a day to massively Succeed for God’s Glory and Holy Kingdom Plan.

•Here is a Secret: Most people SPEND their Success Capital known as TIME- not Invest it.

•They spend all day doing unproductive things in their own power, burying their Capital in the ground

•TIME is THE Success Capital we must INVEST and get a return on for God!

“My times are in thy hand.”
Psalms 31:15

The best thing you have in this world is Today. Today is your savior; it is often crucified between two thieves, Yesterday and Tomorrow.

Today you can be happy, not yesterday and not tomorrow. There is no happiness except Today’s.

Most of our misery is left over from yesterday or borrowed from tomorrow. Keep Today clean. Make up your mind to enjoy your food, your work, your play. Today anyhow. You can do anything if you’ll only go at it a day at a time.

If you’re betrayed, heartbroken, why take a day off. One day will not matter. Today put away your festering thoughts. Today take some simple joys. Today be a little happy in the sunshine. You can do it. It’s the burden of the coming days, weeks, years, that crushes us. The present is always tolerable.

Whoever planned this life of ours did well in giving it to us one day at a time. We don’t have to live it all at once. We’ve only got to get through till bedtime. Every morning we are new again.

Why let life oppress you? You don’t have to live your life, only a day of it. Don’t let life mass against you. Attack it in detail and you can easily triumph.

The Past is what we make of it. It is the temper of the Present that qualifies it. It depends upon how you consider it, whether it brings you despair or encouragement.

The poet says we rise by stepping on our dead selves. And as for the Future, the best preparation for it is an unafraid Today. If you are to die tomorrow, the best way to be ready is to be faithful to today’s duties, and to enjoy heartily Today’s simple pleasures.

Today is yours. God has given it to you. All your Yesterdays He has taken back. All your Tomorrows are still in His hands.