Perusing Wisdom PT-2 (Various Verses)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/27/2013 8:55 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Perusing Wisdom PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Various Scriptures

            Message of the verses: We will continue to look at perusing wisdom in this Spiritual Diary.

            Wise people fear the Lord:  Proverbs 1:7 states “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  If you take the time to look up the different times that Solomon uses this term “The fear of the LORD” you will find that he mentions it fourteen times in the book of Proverbs.  We mentioned that for the child of God when we see this term of fearing the Lord we know that it does not have to do with being terrified of the Lord

            Another of the “Fear the LORD verses is in Proverbs 3:7, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Fearing the LORD is the opposite of tempting the LORD by deliberately disobey Him and then daring Him to intervene.  ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling’ (Phil. 2:12).  Serve the Lord, with fear, and rejoice with trembling’ (Psalm 2:11).”

            We will not look at some of those different verses that have to do with fearing the Lord:  “Pr 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Pr 1:29  Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.

Pr 2:5  Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.

Pr 8:13  "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.

Pr 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Pr 10:27  The fear of the LORD prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.

Pr 14:26  In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge.

Pr 14:27  The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, That one may avoid the snares of death.

Pr 15:16  Better is a little with the fear of the LORD Than great treasure and turmoil with it.

Pr 15:33  The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, And before honor comes humility.

Pr 16:6  By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.

Pr 19:23  The fear of the LORD leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.

Pr 22:4  The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life.

Pr 23:17  Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always.”

            Needless to say that this is a very important subject in the Word of God and so I want to conclude this portion of this SD by looking at the eleven other times that these words “The fear of the LORD are found in the Scriptures.

2Ch 19:7  "Now then let the fear of the LORD be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the LORD our God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe."

2Ch 19:9  Then he charged them saying, "Thus you shall do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully and wholeheartedly.

Job 28:28  "And to man He said, ’Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’"

Ps 19:9  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.

Ps 34:11  Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Ps 111:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.

Isa 11:2  The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Isa 11:3  And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;

Isa 33:6  And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is his treasure.

Ac 9:31  So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

2Co 5:11  Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Fearing the LORD is a very important thing that all believers should do, including me.  I use to have a reverence and fear of my parents when I was living at home and it is important to have that same fear and reverence for my LORD.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”

Memory verses for this week: Psalm 121:1-8

            1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? 2  My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3  He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4  Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 5  The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6  The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7  The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. 8  The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.

Turning Points Wisdom for Today:  “Surrender…is the key that unlocks the vault of God’s best and deepest treasures.  (Charles Swindoll)  “You will keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because, he trusts in You.”  (Isaiah 26:3)

1/27/2013 9:40 AM

Perusing Wisdom (From Various verses in PR.)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2013 8:21 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Perusing Wisdom PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Various Verses

            Message of the verses:  Let us begin this SD with two quotes that will help explain the direction that we are now taking as we continue to study the book of Proverbs.  Playwright George Bernard Shaw said “If the other planets are inhabited, they’re using the earth for their insane asylum.” Then there is the famous writer of a comic strip, Charles M. Schulz who had one of his characters, Linus exclaim, “I love mankind.  It’s people I can’t stand.”

            We have been going through the book of Proverbs kind of in a verse by verse study as we looked at the first nine chapters of it, and one of the things that we discovered is that the book of Proverbs is about different kinds of people.  The book shows us what different types of people believe and what they do, and how they interact with one another.  Dr. Wiersbe writes from his introduction to the fifth chapter in his commentary on Proverbs in which he entitles that chapter “People, Wise and Otherwise—Part I,” the following, “Solomon’s aim in writing this book is to help us become skillful in relating to both people and circumstances so that we can make a success out o life to the glory of God.

            “During our survey of Proverbs 1-9, we casually met five different kinds of people: the wise, the wicked, the fool, the simple, and the scorner.  Now it’s time to get better acquainted with these people and learn what it really means to be wise.”

            With that said we will begin to look at the wise and by doing this we can see what wisdom is and how we should be perusing these wise characteristic.  The very first step to being wise is to be a born again believer in Jesus Christ.  Paul writes these words to Timothy “and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2Tim. 3:15).”  This is the first and most important step in becoming wise for when we read about Jesus Christ we see that He is the wisdom of God, “1 ¶  For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2  that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:1-3).”  “30  But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31  so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.’”  (1Cor. 1:3-31) 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Educated and trained people who ignore or reject Christ can succeed in making a good living, but without Him they can never succeed in making a good life—one that glorifies God.  The wisest thing a person can do is to trust Christ and live in obedience to Him.”  We will look at this again, but Solomon wrote “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  The word fear in this verse does not mean to live in terror but in reverence like one is suppose to have of their parents. 

            We will now begin to look at some of the characteristics of wise people and begin first with “Wise people listen to wise instruction, especially the Word of God.”  Proverbs 1:5 states “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.”  At this point I want to quote an end note from Dr. Wiersbe’s book that speaks about the word “man,” and how it is used in the book of Proverbs.  “Let me remind you that the book of Proverbs has a definite masculine focus because in the ancient Jewish society daughters usually weren’t educated for the affairs of life.  Most of them were kept secluded and prepared for marriage and motherhood.  For the most part, when you read man’ in Proverbs, interpret it generically and read person,’ whether male or female.  Proverbs isn’t a sexist book, but it was written in the context of a strongly male-oriented society.”  I hope this explanation will help you to understand that the Bible is not a book that puts women down and just brings up males, but the Bible and its teachings is the best thing that can happen to all who read it and understand it.

            Now we want to go back and talk about how wise people listen to wise instructions from others, but especially from the Word of God.  “17 ¶  Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge; 18  For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, That they may be ready on your lips. 19  So that your trust may be in the LORD, I have taught you today, even you. 20  Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge, 21  To make you know the certainty of the words of truth That you may correctly answer him who sent you?”  (Proverbs 22:17-21)  Jesus warns us in Mark 4:24 to take heed in what we hear, “And He was saying to them, "Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides.”  Jesus also tells us how we hear from Luke 8:18, “"So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.’”  Solomon tells his son, and it can be applied to all believers “Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 19:27 NIV)  He goes on in Proverbs 23:23 to say, “Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.”  From these verses we can learn that it costs to acquire wisdom, but it is worth the time it takes to learn it and keep it.

            How do we acquire this wisdom?  We have been over this before, but it is well worth repeating, and that is that we have to continue in our study of God’s Word.  Dr. Wiersbe writes on this subject some very important:  “It’s one thing to know about the Bible and quite something else to hear God speaking through His Word and teach us His wisdom so that we become more like Jesus Christ.”  We must remember the words of the Apostle Paul “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”  (1Cor. 8:1 NIV)

            We have to also remember the negative side of this and that is that we have to make sure that we do not listen to foolishness and lies from things we hear on the radio, or on the TV, or from preachers who do not follow the Word of God in their preaching.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I suppose that from human nature it is easier to remember the things in the past that I have not used wisdom rather than remembering the things that I have been wise about, and the first thing I need to remember is that 39 years ago this very day I became a believer in Jesus Christ and had my sins forgiven and now have the hope of heaven so that I can be with my Lord to serve Him throughout eternity.  What a wonderful day that was as it changed my life completely and I will be eternally thankful.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to love and serve the Lord, and continue to read and study His Word.

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 121:1-8

1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? 2  My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3  He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4  Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 5  The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6  The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7  The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. 8  The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.

Turning Points Wisdom for the Day:  “Press on: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not…Genius will not…Education will not… Persistence and determination alone are overwhelmingly powerful.”  (President Calvin Coolidge)  “12  Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13  Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.”  (Philippians 3:12-13)

1/26/2013 9:33 AM

IMPORTANT "INTERLUDE" PROVERBS

This will be an important post to read before we proceed with the rest of the book of Proverbs.  I am going to quote what Warren Wiersbe at the end of the fourth chapter in his commentary on the book of Proverbs in order that we understand where we are going from here.

INTERLUDE:  "From this chapter on, we'll be studying the book of Proverbs topically, bringing together texts that deal with the same subjects and showing how they relate to each other and to your personal Christian life today.  In a sense, we'll be studying what the Bible teaches about practical Christian living, using the book of Proverbs as our point of reference.
 "No classification of texts is inspired or final, and many verses could be put into several different categories.  The psalmist was right when he said, 'To all perfection I see a limit, but Your commands are boundless' (Ps. 119:96, NIV).  Since I won't be quoting every relevant verse, be sure to look up and read the references that I give.  It's important that you ponder these Scriptures if you want to get the full benefit of your study.
"The easiest way to study Proverbs is chapter by chapter, just the way it's written.  Why?  Because each chapter presents a variety of truths, and you never know which one you will need for any given day.  In fact, some verses are repeated so that we'll be sure to get the message.
'"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge' (Prov. 1:7), so keep your heart reverent before Him, and be willing to obey what He says to you."  (Warren Wiersbe)

In my earlier Christian life I would read a chapter of Proverbs a day and since there are thirty-one chapters in Proverbs a chapter a day will get you mostly through the book of Proverbs each month.  I have begun to again follow this daily reading of Proverbs and suggest to all that this is a good practice to follow.

We will begin to look at the following chapter from Dr. Wiersbe's commentary in the next Spiritual Diary tomorrow.  He entitles this fifth chapter "People, Wise, And Otherwise--Part I"  ("The Wise and the Wicked")  Looking forward to doing this

Peter's Denial (Mark 14:66-72)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/24/2013 12:10 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Peter’s Denial

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Mark 14:66-72

            Message of the verses:  In Today’s Spiritual Diary we will look at the last few verses of Mark chapter fourteen which tells the familiar story of Peter denying that he even knows the Lord Jesus, which fulfills the prophecy that Jesus spoke of just hours before. Many have heard or read this story many times and so it is not a new story, but as we dig into it perhaps we will see some things in it that we may have missed in the earlier times in which we have read or heard it in the past. 

            The following is the main text from which we get our story of Peter:  “66 ¶  As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came, 67  and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Nazarene." 68  But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are talking about." And he went out onto the porch, and a rooster crowed. 69  The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, "This is one of them!" 70  But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too." 71  But he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this man you are talking about!" 72  Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, "Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." And he began to weep.”

           

In Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on this section of Mark he gives the sequence of this story, “First, one of the high priest’s servant girls spoke to Peter, and he denied knowing anything about Jesus.  Then the cock crowed.  Another servant girl pointed Peter out to some of the bystanders, and again Peter denied knowing Jesus.  Finally, a man accused him of being one of the disciples, and some of the bystanders joined in; but Peter vehemently denied knowing Jesus, and even put himself under a curse.  Then the cock crowed for the second time and the Lord’s prediction was fulfilled (see Mark 14:30).”  I first want to comment on the man that is spoken of in this commentary, for we know who this man is.  “John 18:26  One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with Him?’”  This got me to wondering what kind of reaction Malchus had once Jesus had healed his ear.  We see hear that he must have told other what happened to him.  We do know that this is the only time that Jesus healed a fresh wound, but how did this affect his life afterwards?  The Scripture is silent as to what happened to him.  Another thing we need to remember from this story is that as soon as the cock crowed the second time after Peter had denied Jesus the third time Jesus looked at him.  “Lu 22:61  The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, ‘Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.’”  A few weeks back on our Wednesday evening prayer service our Pastor did a short sermon, as he always does on Wednesday nights, on “The eyes of the Lord,” which is seen in the OT at different times.  This saying, “The Eyes of the Lord,” speaks of the omnipresence of the Lord, for God is indeed everywhere.  Just asked Jonah about that as he thought he could run away from the Lord.  The point here is that just as Jesus looked at Peter, and Dr Wiersbe states that “It was a look of love, to be sure, but injured love (Luke 22:61), that He can see all of us when we sin and his heart is surely broken over our sin.

            I want to now go to some conclusions as to why Peter did what he did and get them from John MacArthur’s sermon on this section of Scripture.  “How does this happen? How does this happen? What leads to this? Let me give you the lessons, okay? Number one, he boasted too much…he boasted too much. Self-confidence. He was strong. He was the man. He could handle anything, follow Christ anywhere. And he had that bolstered by warm affectionate feelings toward Christ. He boasted too much. Too much confidence in his strength, too much confidence in his flesh.

            “Secondly, he listened too little…he listened too little. Jesus told him and told him and told him. This is great danger waiting for you, Satan wants to sift you. You will deny Me. And he spurned all those warnings. He did not take the word of the Lord seriously. He ignored the word of Christ. He rejected warnings and reproof, dangerous. He boasted too much. He listened too little.

            “And thirdly, he prayed too little. He slept through the prayer meeting. The Lord said in the garden, “Watch and pray unless you enter into temptation.” He had taught him in the disciples prayer, “Pray this way, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” He should have been awake and praying that, instead of sleeping. He prayed too little. He omitted the spiritual duty. He omitted the drawing on divine power and a downward impulse of his own flesh dragged him into the pit of cowardice. Boasted too much, listened too little, prayed too little, fourthly, he acted too fast. He reacted on his own without considering the Lord’s will, grabbed a sword, started swinging it around. He was out of sync with the plan of God, he was out of sync with the purpose of God. He was driven by his own fleshly impulses. He wanted to make a hero out of himself. He wanted to increase his reputation. He wanted to affirm his self-confidence.

            “This is just more of his pride. He boasted too much. He listened too little, prayed too little, acted too fast, and he followed too far. He would have been a lot better off if he had gone all the way across the courtyard and stood right with the Lord. That was always the safest place to be. He fled with the rest. He followed far off. He is curious but not courageous. He is a compromiser. He’s mingled around the fire and now he’s stuck. He mingled long enough, he sat with the men at the fire wanting to blend in so nobody would know who he was. And it was his desire to blend in that was the compromise. He followed too far.

“Well the practical implications of that are so important. You want to follow close. You want to stay close. Boasted too much, listened too little, prayed too little, acted too fast, followed too far, and as a result, he fell too low. Darkest hour in human history, hell’s hour, Jesus on trial about to be executed, and Peter is no match for the forces of hell. He reached the top, called by Christ, commissioned by Christ, set apart by Christ, loved by Christ, taught by Christ, given the keys to the Kingdom, granted, delegated, miraculous power to heal the sick and cast out demons, leader of the Twelve, privileged preacher and here he lands in the pit of profanity, denying the very Lord he confessed.”

Peter did something similar to what Judas did, but the difference is that Peter is a true believer and Judas was not.  Judas felt remorse, but Peter repented.  Judas hung himself after his denial of Jesus, Peter went out and was alone and cried, but also repented and was useful to the Lord again.  Perhaps that is why he and John Mark became good friends for they both had failed in ministry, but both came back strong.  When we look at three different men from the Bible we see Job, Peter, and Paul who all were given permission from God to be tempted by Satan, and they all successfully, by the power of the Holy Spirit came back stronger proving that once you are a true believer in Jesus Christ you cannot lose what was given to you as a gift, and this is your salvation.

Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section with some encouraging words:  “Before we judge Peter too severely, we need to examine our own lives.  How many times have we denied the Lord and lost opportunities to share the Gospel with others?  Do we, like Peter, talk when we should listen, argue when we should obey, sleep when we should pray, and fight when we should submit?  Peter at least was sorry for his sins and wept over them, and the Lord did forgive him.  After His resurrection, Jesus had a private meeting with Peter (Luke 24:34); then Jesus helped Peter make a public confession when He met the disciples in Galilee (John 21).”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As a believer I am tempted every day of my life because I am still in the body that I was born with.  My soul has been reborn on the 26^th or January 1974 but I still have that old flesh to content with each and every day.  When I think like Peter, that I am strong enough to live the Christian life on my own and not in the power of the Spirit of God, I will fail.  Like Peter I need to listen to the Lord, not argue with Him, stay awake and pray and remember to allow the fighting to be done in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul writes the seventh chapter of the book of Romans, and also the fifth chapter of the book of Galatians to show us that we do have two natures in us if we are true believers.  I heard a story by a well known Pastor who gave a good illustration on how we can walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.  This Pastor was formerly in the British Army and he had a Sergeant Major who must have been pretty tough on him.  He had to make sure that his hands were not in his pockets or else he would get yelled at and other things he had to also do so he would not get yelled at.  On the day that he was discharged from the army he saw the Sergeant Major and he immediately stiffened up and made sure that his hands were not in his pockets, and then he begin to think about the fact that he was not in the army anymore and that Sergeant Major had no power over him at all.  I have been born from above on the 26^th of January, 1974 and my flesh has no power over me at all as long as I recognize it and live by the power of the Spirit.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to walk in His power and not in my own power.

Memory verses for the week:  Psalm 121:1-8

            1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come?  2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  3 He will not allow my foot to slip; He who keeps me will not slumber.  4 Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  5 The Lord is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.  6 The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.  7 The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.  8 The LORD will guard your coming out and your going in from this time forth and forever.

Turning Points Wisdom for Today:  “Success is never final failure is never fatal; it is courage that counts”  (Winston Churchill)  “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed…but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.”  (2Chronicles 32:7a-8b)

1/24/2013 1:18 PM