Proverbs 1

WEEK 5                                                    Proverbs 1  

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

Proverbs is a book filled with practical wisdom. It is a book that some seem to despise because it promises that God is not against giving wealth, he isn’t against saving or investing, or against promising evil for those who reject God. The practical advice in this book has been used by everyone from the saint to the businessman to live a more successful life. The principles in this book are just that principles which are true, under normal circumstances. They are like gravity unless something changes it always holds true (yet planes fly, why? man intervenes).

The key in this first chapter is found in verse 5. The wise man doesn’t just listen, he finds ways to continue to learn and to seek wisdom from those wiser than himself. Not all the answers to life are found within yourself, in spite of what some Eastern mystics have said, you have to seek wisdom and truth, you have to find those smarter than yourself. If you don’t then according to Solomon, you aren’t wise, you might be just some wise guy.

So, are you seeking wisdom? I think if you are reading this that you must be. Keep going and keep learning. 

LISTEN HERE

Pro 1:1-33
(1)  The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

(2)  To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
(3)  To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
(4)  To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
(5)  A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
(6)  To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
(7)  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
(8)  My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
(9)  For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
(10)  My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
(11)  If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
(12)  Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
(13)  We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
(14)  Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
(15)  My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
(16)  For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
(17)  Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
(18)  And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
(19)  So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
(20)  Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
(21)  She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
(22)  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
(23)  Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
(24)  Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
(25)  But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
(26)  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
(27)  When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
(28)  Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
(29)  For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
(30)  They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
(31)  Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
(32)  For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
(33)  But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

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Genesis 13

WEEK 5                                                     Genesis 13  

TUESDAY  Reflections

In the movie, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones comes into a room which contains the holy grail. The only problem is that the room isn't just filled with one cup but hundreds of golden cups. The ancient knight who has been guarding the cup of life tells him that he must choose wisely because though the grail brings life the others bring only death. I don't want to spoil the ending if you haven't watched it but let's just say that choosing the wrong cup ends poorly, to say the least.

I bring this story up because Abram and Lot face a problem, their growing herds are too large for the land they are sharing. With limited resources, the decision is easy (for reasonable people), divide up and go separate ways so as to not over-task the land. Abram being the elder could have claimed the first choice but does something which I believe shows the type of person he is, he gives his nephew the opportunity to choose first.

Lot looks around and picks the best for himself. The problem is that the place that has the best land also has the worst influence. The plains around Sodom and Gomorrah were great but the cities were wicked. We don't know why, though the idea is hinted at that he chose the best for himself, but we do find out later the choice was a bad one.

Personally, I believe Lot knew something about Sodom and Gomorrah but the temptation for ease was too tempting to resist. He may have thought that he was strong enough to resist temptation and everything would be okay, but he was wrong as we will see later.

What does this story teach us? That our choices determine our future. We need to be careful and choose, "Wisely."

LISTEN HERE

Gen 13:1-18
(1)  And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
(2)  And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
(3)  And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
(4)  Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
(5)  And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
(6)  And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
(7)  And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
(8)  And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
(9)  Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
(10)  And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
(11)  Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
(12)  Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
(13)  But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
(14)  And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
(15)  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
(16)  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
(17)  Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
(18)  Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

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Genesis 12

WEEK 5                                                   Genesis 12  

MONDAY  Reflections

This chapter begins the story of God’s preparing the way for Jesus coming through the family of one man, Abram (later renamed Abraham). This story begins with a man who though made many mistakes started with the right action, faith. God said go and Abram left.

No final destination, no hint of what God was going to do. God said jump and Abram did. Why? because he believed. 

Why Abram is so praised? He believed God and as it said in several places, “So also, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Galatians 3:6).

No big long talk today, just this question. Do you believe God enough to just do what he asks?

LISTEN HERE

Gen 12:1-20

(1)  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

(2)  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

(3)  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

(4)  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

(5)  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

(6)  And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

(7)  And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

(8)  And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

(9)  And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

(10)  And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

(11)  And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

(12)  Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

(13)  Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

(14)  And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.

(15)  The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

(16)  And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

(17)  And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.

(18)  And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

(19)  Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

(20)  And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

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Isaiah 5

WEEK 4                                                       Isaiah 5  

SATURDAY  Reflections

The song of the vineyard fills the beginning of this chapter. It is a lament which asks the question “What more could I do?” God had been patient for centuries. He had tried over and over to bring the people to him and they refused. God though isn’t done, but now he is going to take tough measures. Many see this as an act of a vengeful God. Vengeance may seem to be God’s intent but as we continue to read through the book of Isaiah it is actually an act of tough love.

For us today, God came as Jesus to save us from our sins. He gave his life and now God can truly say to all of mankind, “What more can I do?” If you live a life of disobedience you may find out.  

LISTEN HERE

Isa 5:1-30

(1)  Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

(2)  And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

(3)  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

(4)  What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

(5)  And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

(6)  And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

(7)  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

(8)  Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

(9)  In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

(10)  Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.

(11)  Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!

(12)  And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.

(13)  Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

(14)  Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

(15)  And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

(16)  But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.

(17)  Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

(18)  Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

(19)  That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!

(20)  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

(21)  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

(22)  Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:

(23)  Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

(24)  Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

(25)  Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

(26)  And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:

(27)  None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:

(28)  Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind:

(29)  Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.

(30)  And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

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Genesis 11

WEEK 4                                                     Genesis 11  

FRIDAY  Reflections

I have to thank my friend, Rev. Samuel Padget for today's thought. I had heard it before but after talking with him it settled deeply into my spirit.

At the beginning of Genesis, God told mankind to fill the earth. The idea was for mankind to spread out and not just stay in one place. God repeated that command to Noah and his family in Genesis 9:1. Yet here in Genesis 11 we see mankind deciding to try and stay in one place (verse 4).

God’s solution was to confound the languages which caused mankind to break apart and fill the earth as he commanded.

God believed that man needed to move away from the secure and safe and launch out. He believed it so much that even when He created woman He said, "for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife." Yet today we see more and more people wanting to stay safe and secure. We have people who aren't facing economic challenges. They are staying with mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, and having extended adolescence. We celebrate the idea of a safe and secure world where everything from food, housing, and a job are provided for us. We are averse to risk. It seems to me,  we are fighting against launching out. 

Thoughtful quote: "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." -- E.E. Cummings 

When I look at history it is those who launch out who make a difference in the world. I have long argued that God wants to make us "all we can be" and how can we be that if we refuse to launch out.

Now some may say this doesn't matter anymore since the world is full of people (I could point out there are other planets in this solar system, but I will save that for another time). When we get to the New Testament we see another command, Go into all the world (Matt 28:18; Acts 1:8). We see Jesus commanding his people to go, not to stay someplace safe but to go. He wants us to launch out and make a difference in the world.

So are you willing to Go? Are you willing to take a risk and launch out into what God has called you to?  Then light the fuse and launch.

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GENESIS 11 LISTEN HERE

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

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