Category: Proverbs–BibleTrekToday
Warning About Alcohol!
Scripture reading for September 29: Proverbs 23:29-30 “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine.” . . vs 32-35 “In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like on who lies on the top of a mast. “They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.””
Another source of disease in our culture and many around the world over the past thousands of years is the use and abuse of alcohol. It has caused much harm and destruction with repeated use over a long time. Sometimes tragedy comes with a single act of overindulgence. Solomon wrote to warn his sons about being wise concerning alcohol use. He starts out by asking a few questions to get his sons to think through the possible answers. After the last question, Solomon plainly stated the answer. Those who tarry long over wine end up with many harmful consequences. They have sorrow because alcohol is a depressant. They have strife because alcohol can make you belligerent and affect your reason. The strife can end in fights and wounds as well as redness of eyes and the feeling that you are on a ship in a storm.
In our culture, alcohol use is accepted and promoted. But the same questions asked thousands of years ago by Solomon are still relevant today. Alcohol distorts the person’s ability to perceive reality. It opens up our souls to evil spirits which cause the drinker to do perverse and harmful things. There is much strife and physical harm. But after a short time sober, addiction for more alcohol drives the person to find more and more. Long term health deteriorates from damage to liver, heart, kidneys and other organs.
Do these ancient warnings and questions speak to you about your own actions or those of a family member or friend? Take time today to reflect and pray to God for grace to acknowledge the problem and make necessary changes.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for helping Your children find help and instruction to live healthy lifestyles in a culture that promotes alcohol (and drug) use. Cleanse us from addiction and permissive attitudes. Amen.
Sexual Conduct and Disease
Scripture reading for September 28: Proverbs 5:7-14 “And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless, lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of a foreigner, and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, and you say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to hear my instructors. I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.””
Hebrews 13:4 “Let the marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”
When we discuss health and how to live a healthy lifestyle in light of God’s instructions to His children, we must not avoid the issue of sexual conduct and the consequences of those sins related to what God considers sinful sexual conduct. Solomon, in Proverbs, warns his sons about dangerous sexual conduct. He tells them to stay away from the door of the adulterous or promiscuous woman. If they go into her, they will reap trouble, a bad reputation and sickness and disease that will consume their flesh. There will be suffering and great regret. The forbidden fruit that looked so good ends in suffering, bitterness and ruin among the congregation of God’s people as it is exposed.
In God’s kingdom, He has blessed marriage between a man and a woman and called it sacred. Marriage should be held in honor and sexual conduct between a husband and wife is blessed and to be protected. God has ordained that He would use marriage to form eternal souls designed to live with Him eternally. When we violate the marriage covenant by sexual immorality, God takes note and promises to judge the adulterer or any person who is sexually immoral. Sexual activity outside of marriage is considered ‘immoral’, meaning that it not proper conduct for God’s children. The good news is that God forgives sin when we repent and turn away from it towards Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for marriage as You ordained it. Turn our hearts to honor marriage and keep the marriage bed undefiled. Heal our rebellion and deliver us from evil. Amen.
Week 24–Day 1–Don’t fear men
Scripture reading for June 8: Luke 12:4-5“”I tell you, My friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear; fear Him Who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!”” Proverbs 16:6 “By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.”
Fear is a hidden force that lurks in the minds and hearts of human beings. Our enemy, the devil, thrives in an atmosphere of fear because he works through lies and deception. His lies bring about fears of punishment or rejection that allows for manipulation and control. A fear of failure holds man back from obedience to God and locks them in lifestyles of addiction and slavery to the flesh. Behind these fears, the devil works through men and women to plant fear and division instead of the faith and obedience that comes from hearing God’s Word. Proverbs 29:25 states that “The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”
Jesus warned His disciples concerning the fear of men and their manipulations. They were not to fear those who threatened them with death because those who can kill the body do not determine a person’s eternal fate. God Alone holds that authority and He is the One we must fear (respect) and obey. Through Jesus Christ’s steadfast love and faithfulness our iniquity has been paid for and fear of death and punishment is removed. Through a relationship with Him and the indwelling Holy Spirit, we turn away from sin and evil.
First responders who are also faith responders understand this admonition of Jesus. We act in faith, trusting God to keep us safe as we deal with those who are hurting or those who through fear seek to manipulate or control others. We can be free from the fear of man and the fear of death and punishment through resting in Christ Jesus. We are then free to more effectively do our jobs.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for delivering us from the fear of man and his manipulation and threats. Help me to live each day trusting in You Alone for safety and wisdom to effectively deal with each incident in the courage of faith. Amen.
Day 3–Dealing with Offense
Scripture reading for April 29: Matthew 18:21 “Then Peter came up and said to Him (Jesus), “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
One of the most serious maladies of the soul is bitterness coming from unforgiveness. We are to guard our hearts because out of them flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23) When offenses come, (not if) we must handle them promptly and according to God’s example in Christ Jesus. A bitter root of unforgiveness in the heart will yield poisonous fruit coming from the inner man through the mouth and even the body in hurtful words and actions. We must choose to forgive by giving the offense to God and allowing Him to handle what is needed. Only God knows the heart of the person and can truly deal justly with the person and possibly lead them to repentance. When we forgive we exhibit the grace of God in Jesus Christ for all.
Peter was very impetuous. Following a prideful argument with several disciples about who was the greatest, Peter questioned Jesus about forgiving his brother who sinned against him. He asked how many times he was required by law to forgive. He generously offered seven times as a possibility. But Jesus simply astounded him with His answer of ‘seventy-seven’ times. Some versions say ‘seventy times seven’ which is more impossible to remember or count. That was Jesus’ point: don’t keep score, but show mercy!
Paul, writing to the Ephesians, instructed them to be kind to one another and tenderhearted. He understood Jesus’ character and example. It was goodness in God that opened the door for repentance. (Romans 2:4) When we forgive, we loose the person to experience God’s grace. We give a concrete example of Jesus’ grace for us.
Prayer: Father, as responders we sometimes become entangled in offenses like those we help. We need Your mercy and claim forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Form in us a tender heart and kindness towards those who offend us. Help us to forgive promptly and joyfully and pray for those offending. Amen.
Week 18–Day 1–Soul Care for Responders
Scripture reading for April 27: Proverbs 3:5-8 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
Responders invest daily in helping others who are sick, hurting, or in trouble or danger but they also need regular care of their own souls, minds and bodies. God is well aware of our needs and we are to ask Him for help. He does give us understanding of basic care in our need for daily rest, a balanced diet, and relationships that are mutually beneficial. But the writer of Proverbs provides some very clear and simple direction to find health and refreshment.
We are encouraged to trust the Lord and not just lean on our natural knowledge and understanding. Our understanding is limited and sometimes it is twisted or untrue. God asks us to acknowledge Him in all our ways. He wants to show us a straight path to the fulfilment of our needs and His plans. This requires us not to be wise in our own eyes. We can insist on our own way without respect for the Lord and His Word and end up in trouble or we can honor our Lord and ask Him for guidance and enable us to avoid evil and trouble. When we fear or honor our Lord, we find true healing for our bodies and minds and refreshment for our bones. When we commit our work to our Lord then He will direct and establish His plans in our plans. We begin to want what He wants!
Responders need healing and refreshing each day. When we choose to commit our way to the Lord and ask Him to direct us, we walk by faith through our day and each incident we are called to help with is not so stressful. We know God is with us and directing our path.
Prayer: Father God, help me to remember to commit my way to You each day and humbly acknowledge You and Your great wisdom and understanding that I desperately need. At the end of each day, I will honor You by casting all cares on You and trust You for needed rest and refreshing. Amen.
Day 3–Presumption on Tomorrow
Scripture reading for April 8: Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
James 4: 13-15“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”–yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”
Many people are very presumptive about time and assume that time will go on as it has for the future. Scripture from Solomon’s time warns us not to boast about tomorrow for no one knows what tomorrow will bring except God. There are a host of people claiming to be prophets that can accurately predict what will happen in the future. We are warned not to believe everyone who says they know the future and as Christ’s followers we are not to seek out the future. We are given what we need to know by God through the Word and Jesus Christ.
James, speaking to the early church, tried to reason with those making confident assertions about tomorrow as far as making concrete plans. James warned believers that their lives were very short, like a mist that appears and then vanishes in the sun. Instead of arrogantly boasting about plans, we should always make room for God’s plans and His will being worked out in our lives. Our time is not our own, but rather is in His loving and capable hands. We must stay humble and submit to His will and plans.
Responders also need to keep these truths in their own hearts as they work with others. We recognize that God is in charge of each person and we work for Him and with Him in each situation. We ask for His help and seek His will and trust Him for the outcomes.
Prayer: Father God, I sometimes struggle with plans and working out everything that I want to get done. I speak about those plans but am learning more and more to say ‘If the Lord wills’ and rest in Your timing and season. It is a joy to trust You! Amen.
Day 3–Bone-breaker!
Scripture reading for April 1: Proverbs 25:15 “With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft (gentle) tongue will break a bone.”
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
In our culture, it is often thought that the loudest and meanest person gets his way and is heard. We often hear voices raised and demanding what is wanted from those in authority. Some people think that this might be the best way to approach God, our supreme authority, but Jesus modeled and taught a different approach. Jesus knew that patience and gentleness were powerful weapons to break through hearts hardened by labor and loads.
Jesus called out to those who were hurting in His culture with an invitation to come to Him with their heavy burdens and deep wounds and worries. Jesus offered to teach them His way of life. He lived a life of rest. Although He came from the throne of God, He came with gentleness and compassion, reflecting the heart of His Father. He humbly invited all to willingly come under His ‘yoke’. This may sound like a real burden if you view ‘yoke’ as the wooden beam thrown over an oxen’s shoulders to pull the load. But Jesus was talking about them becoming His disciples and the ‘yoke’ was His simple teaching and instruction. As a rabbi in the Jewish culture had disciples, so Jesus called disciples who would willingly ‘yoke’ with Him.
As we look at how important our words are in helping others, this simple teaching on gentleness can make a world of difference. When we see from God’s perspective, we understand that humility and gentleness are powerful influencers. God doesn’t force anyone to come under His ‘yoke’ but sends out a loving invitation. Being loud and demanding may appear to be cool, but is not Jesus’ ‘yoke’!
Prayer: Father God, thank You for modeling for us the gentleness and compassion of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to humbly listen to Your Words and Your Son’s example and respond to His call every day. Living in rest for our souls will draw others to our gentle Savior. Amen.
Day 2–Healing words!
Scripture reading for March 31: Proverbs 4: 20-23 “My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight: keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 16:24 “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”
Solomon impressed on his sons their need to pay attention to his words by which he taught the truth from God’s Word. He told them to listen closely with more than just hearing the words. They were to keep those words in their heart as one might keep a precious treasure. These words would result in life for their souls. These words would be shared through them to pass on to the next generation so that they too might find real life. These words, if kept, would also provide healing for their flesh and bring them what Solomon described as a flow of the ‘springs of life.’
The flow from our hearts is dependent on what we listen to and pay attention to on a daily basis. If we fill our lives with God’s thoughts and the fruits of His Holy Spirit, gracious words of hope, encouragement, and love will flow like honey from a honeycomb. Our souls will be healthy and full of sweetness. We will bring healing to others instead of infecting their lives with anger or disdain.
As responders, we are sometimes called to go to places where there is strife or disease and sickness. There people may express their hurt and bitterness coming from wounded hearts or discouragement from a long battle. We must guard our hearts against picking up or contributing to the negativity. We learn to counter any discouraging words or bad attitudes with calmness, love and wisdom. We extend grace to hurting people and show them respect. We bless them and seek to do good demonstrating God’s love and ways. We encourage them by a healthy example of a soul nourished on God’s Word.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for filling my heart with Your love and nourishing me with Your Word. I keep Your Word as a sweet and healing medicine for my soul. Empower me through Your Holy Spirit to accurately reflect Your healing words to those who are hurting. Amen.
Week 14–Day 1– A Fountain of Life?
Scripture reading for March 30: Proverbs 10:11-13 “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offences. On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.”
Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”
Matthew 12:34-35 “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”
For years I read a chapter of proverbs each day as a spiritual discipline to learn wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to take knowledge and apply it to living successfully. God gave wisdom to Solomon because he asked Him for it. This wisdom was written down to pass on to Solomon’s sons and God’s people. We would do well to listen and learn these simple statements and apply them to our daily lives.
Man’s mouth and the tongue are a source of either blessing or trouble. Solomon taught that the mouth of a righteous person was a fountain of life and a source of wisdom for sound and gracious living. Love in the heart and mouth would cover offenses. But the mouth of evil people, on the other hand, would stir up violence, hatred and strife. Truly life and death were found in the power of the tongue.
Jesus taught that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Whatever your heart is filled with spills out of your mouth. The human heart contains a treasure–either of good or evil. First responders must watch their mouths and according to these words of wisdom, they must guard their heart for preserving good treasure. Part of our response to the needs of hurting people is using life-giving words and sharing wisdom. What treasure is flowing from your heart?
Prayer: Father God, thank You for revealing to us these truths about our mouths and the power we have to speak life or death to those You send us to. Fill my heart with Your love and wisdom and help me to guard it as treasure. Amen.
Costly anointing oil
Scripture reading for February 27: Mark 14
“It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. And while He was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over His head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.” Mark 14:1-5
When we look at everything through the lens of profit, we don’t see as Jesus sees. Some of the disciples, Judas in particular, saw the woman pouring expensive anointing oil on Jesus. They deemed this a waste of potential profit to help the poor as it was worth a year’s wages. It seemed like a noble and godly way to look at things, since God does commend His people in caring for the poor. (Proverbs 14:31) But Judas, as treasurer of the disciples, had hidden motives as he had been taking from the treasury for himself. (John 12:5-6) We also note that Judas left after this incident and agreed with the religious leaders to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. His greed cost him and led to his own destruction.
Jesus viewed this act of worship by the woman as an honor. He said that she did that to prepare His body for burial, again telling them of His coming death. Jesus promised the disciples that wherever the Gospel was preached, this act of kindness would be remembered. That’s why it was written into God’s Word for us today and for all who will hear and believe. Our worship of Jesus through giving is honoring of Jesus and He takes note and rewards eternally!
As you consider this story, how would you judge this woman pouring out a year’s wages on Jesus? What do you think she was thinking as she made this offering? What change in your world view is Jesus calling you to with this story?
Prayer: Father God, forgive me for my stingy eye when what I view as wasteful is really extravagant worship. Help me to see clearly what is of real value and worth in this world. May my worship be extravagant like this woman’s and pleasing to You. Amen.