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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.

4. God is good and gracious. The most penetrating picture of God in the entire Bible is in Jonah 4:2-10. While the old testament has many examples of God’s wrath he is no vengeful deity in the book of Jonah.

5. Finally, this book shows clearly God is the God of gentiles as well as a great book on missions and world vision.

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?)

As Christians we know our final destiny, we are on our way to heaven if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. So Satan has no hold over where we spend our eternity but he does want us to be ineffective here on earth. We are the hands and feet of Jesus on this earth and if he can make us ineffective in this role he is happy. Satan cannot read our minds but he knows our weaknesses and will subtly drop thoughts that are lies into our minds that we believe to be the truth. We would not believe blatant lies, but they are subtle and we believe them and act on them.

Ephesians 6:12 says “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”

There is a spiritual battle on the go. Acknowledge that Satan, who is the Father of all lies, wants you to believe that you are worthless. He drops in these thoughts of you being worthless etc. These thoughts do not come from our loving heavenly Father. Satan gains power when you believe the lie of being worthless, as you will act accordingly.

Peter 5:8 says “Be self-controlled, and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.”
A lion always targets the weak in a herd because the weak are easy prey. Likewise Satan knows our weaknesses and he is looking for easy prey. “Stand firm in the faith”  Keep connected to other Christians, studying the Word so that you learn the truth.

2 Corinthians 10:3 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Our weapons are the Word of God and this is why it is so important to know the Word of God and to know Scripture as this contains the Truth. Holding your own thoughts in higher regard to that of God is “a pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” and is a sin.

Romans 12:2 says “do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

In other words replace the thinking that the world has given you to what scripture says. You renew your mind with scripture, with what God says. If what you believe does not line up with the Word of God you are believing a lie and the only way of knowing what lines up with the Word is studying what it says in the Word. When you believe that you are unlovable just remember whose description of yourself you believe. It is a lie and does not come from our heavenly Father. You won’t find that kind of description of yourself in the Bible. When someone doesn’t like you brush it off with the knowledge of how important you are to God and how deeply he loves you.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to believe scripture and fill your mind with scripture as it is with the Word of God that you ward off the enemy’s darts. Write out scripture verses and stick them around your house until they become part of your thinking. If you are bombarded with negative thoughts, get yourself a Walkman and listen to upbeat choruses that contain the Word of God. It”s often better to hear these than some of your own thoughts!

God wants you to have the freedom that He can give and He can use all situations for our good. In Luke 22:31 Jesus said to Peter “Simon Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

This verse had personal significance for me because I knew that if my loving Heavenly Father was allowing me to go through this process of being sifted, it must be for the purpose of having something better in the end – He did. When I had “turned back” I did “strengthen my brothers” through “overcoming depression” groups that I ran. We are often able to help others through what we have learnt in our own difficult times.

Also, always remember how much God loves you. You are in the palm of His hand. Isaiah 43:1-3 reads “Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. You are precious and honoured in my sight."
I find it quite awesome that the creator of the universe cares for each one of us, cares for all the details of our loves and that He knows you and me by name.

Psalms 112:1-10 ¹ Praise the Lord! (NLT)

   How joyful are those who fear the Lord
      and delight in obeying his commands.
² Their children will be successful everywhere;
      an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
³ They themselves will be wealthy,
      and their good deeds will last forever.
⁴ Light shines in the darkness for the godly.
      They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.
⁵ Good comes to those who lend money generously
      and conduct their business fairly.
⁶ Such people will not be overcome by evil.
      Those who are righteous will be long remembered.
⁷ They do not fear bad news;
      they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
⁸ They are confident and fearless
      and can face their foes triumphantly.
⁹ They share freely and give generously to those in need.
      Their good deeds will be remembered forever.
      They will have influence and honor.
¹⁰ The wicked will see this and be infuriated.
      They will grind their teeth in anger;
      they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.

Proverbs 27:17

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
      so a friend sharpens a friend.

I hope, I would do that for you, and you would do that for me. We sharpen each other, that is so profound if you take a moment to think about it.  Hebrews continues with the theme of faith; but it draws into complete focus the fact that we are God’s children, and that he looks upon us as a Father, and  that is a difficult thing to accept, at the heart level sometimes, even though we are Christians and we know this. We have been taught to understand that God, the one God of all, is our Father, and that he is guiding us and teaching us and disciplining us as a Father.

The scripture clearly shows us that God is a loving Father so He may thwart something that we are trying to do out of love for us, and we need to be sensitive to what He is doing in our lives.  He loves us; His heart is good towards us; and what He is after is our freedom, and so sometimes the discipline can be painful.  But it’s to free us of something that is binding us.

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called blessed.

Let us find her, and let us tell everyone how precious and rich she is indeed.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:1-7

Sin is a universal contamination that affects everyone, everywhere. It’s not something that is attacking us from the outside as if we are clean and pure and then something enters into us, but in fact sin is something that is already festering within us, even from birth. Sin is “an irrational, negative, and rebellious reaction to God” and none of us can escape it. We have a damaged or stained heart from birth; David realizes this and prays to God “Create in me a clean heart, O God” Psalm 51:10a. We are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners, born with a heart that is inclined to do no good. Our moral and spiritual nature is utterly corrupt beyond repair and thus we are said to be totally depraved, unable to do any good at all. We are lost and unable to do anything about it.

“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:7-8

Being utterly lost and totally depraved we are hostile to God and we CANNOT submit to His law. A lost soul CANNOT please God. This is absolutely clear, if you are a lost sinner (which we all are) then you CANNOT submit to God’s law and you CANNOT please God. That is the cost of being spiritually dead.

The Westminster Confession says: “Man by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.”

We cannot fix ourselves; we cannot do anything to merit mercy or grace from God. We deserve death and eternity apart from God and there is nothing within us that can change that. It is at this junction that I part ways with many of my brethren who hold so strongly to the irrationality of the freedom of the will in regards to Salvation. I do not think that you can believe in total depravity and still hold to the idea that man has the ability to choose God or reject Him. If man is left with the option of choosing God or not choosing God while he is still totally depraved, then the totally depraved man will always choose to reject God. Why? He CANNOT do good, he CANNOT please God, he CANNOT submit to God’s law (Romans 8:7-8). Even Jesus says “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Believe it or not, there are some things that man and his ever troublesome free will cannot do. As a totally depraved, lost sinner you cannot do good, you cannot please God, you cannot submit to the law of God, and you cannot even come to Jesus on your own free will unless you are drawn by the Father. Let’s face it, God is in complete control and his sovereign will trumps even the strongest of human wills that exist or have ever existed.

Does that make us a bunch of walking robots, pre-programmed to do whatever God has decided? Umm, no. That is a silly argument. Of course we have our own God given ability to make choices. The problem is not that we don’t have the ability to make a choice, it is that we are so corrupt with sin that we will always make the wrong choice. We cannot choose good because of the chains of sin that bind us. Once we are freed from those chains of sin that bind us, then and only then are we able to do good. Thus, we do choose Jesus, but only when we are called by the Father, regenerated by the blood of the Son, and filled with the Spirit of God. It is the righteousness of Christ, not our own righteousness, that gives us the right to become Children of God and this righteousness is something that is given, not earned.

All this to say that in Jesus we are made whiter than snow. How beautiful it is to look upon the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and know that our Salvation is in his hands, and to have the assurance that “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:37,39)

Rebecca Writes: God’s Self-Existence

 

God’s Self-Existence

"I AM THAT I AM"
There is inexhaustible meaning wrapped up in that short statement by God to Moses. One of the things it points to is God’s independence, or self-existence. He is in a constant state of being, and so has no beginning or end. If God has no beginning or end, then He cannot be dependent on anything outside of Himself for His existence. He must be the one uncaused cause.
Our God "has life in Himself" (John 5:26), and this "from-Himself-ness" extends to all that He is. No one can be God’s counselor (Romans 8:34), because He is independent as to His thinking. He is independent, as well, as to what He wills, working "all things after the counsel of His will." (Ephesians 1:11). He also has the power within Himself to work this independent will, doing whatever pleases Him (Psalm 115:3).
That God is self-existent also means that nothing can add anything to Him. Creation adds nothing to God. His glory is revealed in creation, but it does not add to His glory. God has need of nothing from anything outside of Himself, for He is not

served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He himself gives to all life and breath and all things… (Acts 17:25)

This verse from Acts brings up the complete otherness of God’s self-existence. He needs nothing from us, but exists wholly of Himself. We, however, depend on Him for everything. We have not even a smidgeon of self-existence. Everything we have and our life itself we derive from God. It all comes from Him. It is in Him that "we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
We are completely dependent, completely derivative; He is completely independent and the only underived being–the One who exists from Himself, the "I AM THAT I AM."
What should our response be to God’s self-existence? First of all, we ought to be fully awed at what He is, and His complete otherness from what we are. How can we feel anything but humility before the "I AM"? We also need to acknowledge our utter dependence on Him for absolutely everything, and respond with thankfulness for everything we are and have. And we can have absolute confidence in the stability of our God, and be sure that His promises to us will be kept, for He is not depending on anything outside Himself to fulfill His word.

Source: Rebecca Writes: God’s Self-Existence