Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
19 The Lord said to Moses, 2 Say to the whole community of the Israelites: You must be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must keep my sabbaths; I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves; I am the Lord your God.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Though it is often ridiculed by those that have not read it, or misunderstood by those who do not have spiritual discernment, the fourth book of the Torah, Leviticus, is a book that directly concentrates its readers upon holiness – the 100% ultimate holiness of God and the need for the nation of Israel to be holy.
“You shall be holy,” God informed His chosen nation through Moses.
“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” Leviticus 19:2
From start to finish, Leviticus is a book that points the faithful to Christ.
He is pictured in the perfect Law of Moses in many ways, and by careful reading and studying its words, He can be identified in the various sacrificial offerings.
The person and work of Christ can also be seen in the holy articles of the Tabernacle, the function of the priesthood, and the feasts of the Lord.
The book of Leviticus points to Christ in many ways – for His “One and Done” atoning sacrifice of his own blood alone forever takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, Who was fully and finally, ultimately revealed to the world through the birth, life, death, and Resurrection, Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is undeniably the eternal Son of God, Who did tabernacle among us, for a time and a season while He walked and talked and who had taught, healed and ministered unto the ancient people of the early first century Israel.
He is the perfect Word of God made flesh, through Whom the world was made and in Whom is life eternal, through which darkness and death have no power.
He is the eternal Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.
And He is the sinless Son of Man, Who was sent by His Father to live among us, to set the example of life, set aside His heavenly glory to become like one of us.
Jesus is the Second Person of the immortal, invisible, almighty, HOLY God.
He is the only Member of the Holy Trinity Who was clothed in human flesh, so sinful men and women might be saved by grace – through faith in His sacrificial work at Calvary.
Throughout the Hebrew [Old] Testament, God gradually revealed His character, His attributes, His name, His miraculous redemptive plan for mankind, through the writings of specifically anointed holy men of God, many prophetic voices.
But in these last days, God has spoken to us in His Son, Whom He appointed Heir of all things, and through Whom also He made the world.
However, hidden deep within the pages of the Hebrew [Old] Testament, are many concealed references to Christ Jesus.
For those with eyes to see and a teachable spirit, we discover many ‘types’ and pictures of His person, His mission, His atoning work, and His supernatural life.
Numerous prophecies give details of His coming to earth as a newborn babe in a manger in Bethlehem, His ministry on earth, His sacrificial death, His glorious Resurrection, His ultimate victory over sin, over death and ultimately, Satan.
And Scripture records His coming millennial rule as King of kings and Lord of lords, for He is God’s appointed Messiah of Israel, He is the Savior of the world.
Moses was one such prophetic voice in Scripture, and he was inspired by God to write the book of Leviticus.
He was the man that God chose to become the first great leader of His people.
He was God’s anointed mouthpiece unto Pharaoh and the one who finally led millions of God’s redeemed people out of Egypt, on that first Passover night.
It was Moses through whom the Law was first written down and given to God’s chosen nation, and it was Moses who led, guided, directed, and instructed His people how to live as God’s own people, if they were to receive God’s blessings.
It was Moses who warned them what would happen if they disobeyed the Lord’s command and Moses was instructed by God to
“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.'”
Israel was to be set apart from the gentile nations.
They were to be a separated nation, a covenanted people, an atypical race that was holy to the Lord.
They were to be God’s unique nation and a people for His own possession.
They were chosen out of all the people groups who live on the face of the earth, to have a holy relationship with the one and only, holy God.
Israel was to be a holy people unto the Lord their God.
They were to be sanctified unto the Lord – a peculiar people unto Himself.
They were to be an example of a nation that was consecrated to God.
Israel was to be God’s earthly light to the pagan nations and an example of a holy community, who honored the Lord.
They had seen God move before them as pillars of fire and smoke and they had witnessed the mighty miracles that decimated their proud Egyptian overlords.
They had made a covenant with the Lord and had promised to do all that the Lord had commanded – which is why God said to Moses,
“speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.'”
The call to holiness still stands for Christians in this epoch of the grace of God.
Like Israel, we are also instructed to be obedient children who are to be holy unto the Lord.
Like them, we are not to be conformed to the lusts of the flesh and pride of life.
Like Israel we are also instructed to be holy ourselves also in all of our behaviors – because as it was covenanted and written then and is still covenanted, written for us today, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
As God’s “Holy” People in the World Today?
Proverbs 27:17-19 Common English Bible
17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens a friend. 18 Those who tend a fig tree will eat its fruit, and those who look after their master will be honored. 19 As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects one person to another.
When God created us, He created us in His image.
Because we are, we should reflect every aspect of who He is because His image in stamped and engraved in us.
In Leviticus 19:2 God instructs Moses to tell the Children of Israel to be holy because God is holy.
That applies to us today as well.
Our words should be holy.
Our actions should be holy.
Our thoughts should be holy.
The way we live should be holy.
Other characteristics of God includes: merciful, forgiving, grace, truthful, keeps his promises, righteous, just, faithful, and unconditional and unfailing love.
As beings created in our Creator’s image, we should reflect these attributes in our everyday lives.
Colossians 3:10 says, “And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
And in Ephesians 4:24, Paul wrote, “And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
In Proverbs 27:19, Solomon wrote, “As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person.”
Whatever is living in and within our hearts is what is reflected in our lives.
Is our heart reflecting the holiness of God and His attributes/characteristics?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God, my Heavenly Father, thank You for the uncountable, invaluable lessons that Your Church can learn through the history of Israel and for the many types and pictures of Jesus that are hidden within the sacred pages of Scripture. Thank You that like Israel, I have also been called to be holy, because You are holy. It is humbling to realize that as part of Christ’s Body, we have also been chosen, in Him, to be kings and priests unto God – to be a chosen people, who tell the world that Jesus died for their sin and rose again, so that by faith in Him we may be holy, as He is holy. Thank You that by faith in Christ, I have been called to be Your very own, and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of Him Who called me out of darkness into His marvelous light. May I live and work from this day forward, to be more like Jesus, and to live a holy life that is separated from this fallen world system. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.
3 Now the boy Samuel was attending to the service of the Lord [a]under the supervision of Eli. The word of the Lord was rare and precious in those days; visions [that is, new revelations of divine truth] were not widespread.
2 Yet it happened at that time, as Eli was lying down in his own place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well). 3 and the [oil] lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, 4 that the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call you; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know [or personally experience] the Lord, and the word of the Lord the third time. And he stood and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli understood that it was the Lord [who was] calling the boy. 9 So Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and it shall be that if He calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Then the Lord came and stood and called as at the previous times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
The Word of the Lord was TOO Rare in Those Days …
Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I wish God talked to us the way He spoke to His people in the Old Testament”?
Many times, Scripture describes God speaking to His people through a voice or an angel or through a dream. He even writes on a wall in one account (Daniel 5).
So it’s natural to want to hear God’s voice or see a big sign that will help you feel confident in God’s direction.
We all experience confusing circumstances.
Sometimes you may just want God to send you a text message to tell you what to do.
Maybe you feel far from God and want Him to reach out to reassure you He’s still there.
Maybe you’ve heard people say the God of the Bible is personal, but you have never interacted with God before and wonder how to begin.
He is the same God today that He was in the time of the Old Testament.
He still speaks to us today.
He made it possible for each of us to have a personal relationship with Him, which involves talking together every day.
He communicates with us.
1 Samuel 3:1 English Standard Version
The Lord Calls Samuel
3 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
The Word of the Lord was “rare” in those most ancient days.
In the period of time between the words of the Prophet of Malachi to the New Testament Gospel Narratives and Apostolic writings of Paul and Peter, James, Jude and John, Hebrews, some 400 years had passed without a Word from God.
How frequently do we recall Jesus using the words: “He who has ears let them hear?” [Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 15, 16, 43, Mark 4:9, 23, 7:33, 35, 8:18, Luke 8:8, 9:44, 14:35]
I also recall this verse from Luke 1:44 when Elizabeth uttered the words to her cousin Mary: “For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” and we preach it: “how miraculous was that?”
It begs the question, how rare is the Word of the Lord in contemporary times?
Could it be that one too many of us have just never learned how to recognize His voice, have we gotten confused or have we forgotten how we heard in the past?
The young Samuel was confused and unsure of who he was hearing calling him.
He “clearly” heard a voice and thought it was his mentor, Eli, calling for him.
He kept going to Eli’s room until even the aged, tired, and confused, and nearly blind Eli finally realized that the voice was God trying to get Samuel’s attention.
Hearing and listening for God, hearing and listening to God, is an important life skill for us to remember to give our full attention to for our God is never silent.
We live in a divisive noisy, politically correct “woke” culture that often speaks in ways which are considerably devastating and utterly contrary to God’s voice.
It can be difficult to hear God if we are more in tune with the voice of this world.
As we listen for God, we will be more in tune with his leading in our lives.
Listening, Samuel “Heard!”
1 Samuel 3:9-10 New American Standard Bible
9 And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Then the Lord came and stood, and called as at the other times: “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
Hannah had named her son Samuel, which means “heard by God.”
When he was weaned, she brought him to Shiloh to present him to Eli the priest for uniquely specialized training as a spiritual leader of God’s people Israel.
God called on Samuel to listen to and bring the word of the Lord to his people.
God wanted Samuel to dedicate his life to this service.
Samuel became a prophet, and he led Israel in that role for sixty years as Israel moved from a loosely organized group of clans to a peaceful monarchy ruled by King David, an ancestor of Jesus Christ.
We live under the peaceful reign of the voice of one true, good, just King today.
“Peace on earth,” the angels sang to shepherds watching their flocks on the night that King Jesus was born (Luke 2:14).
Our Advent and Lenten peace is found in the birth of this child, who grew up to establish, by dying, the kingdom of peace over all on whom God’s favor rests.
Do you know this voice of peace?
Do you hear this voice of peace?
Are you listening for this voice of peace?
Are we paying any meaningful attention to this voice of peace?
Are we giving any meaningful thought towards this voice of peace?
Ask Jesus to rule in your heart and life, and He will welcome you into his kingdom of peace.
Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can rest in true peace because we know he is our King and in control of all that happens in the world and our lives.
This is a peace not “as the world gives” (John 14:27); it is God’s peace, “which transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
Eli mentored Samuel by teaching him how to daily worship God, and how to respond to God’s voice: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”—in other words, “I am ready to hear what you have to say, and I am ready to obey!”
How Rare is the Word of God in These Days?
God speaks to us in many ways.
He speaks through creation, giving testimony to his faithfulness and creativity. [Psalm 19]
He speaks through his Word, where we come to understand his salvation and purpose for us.
He speaks through wise mentors in our lives.
He speaks through life situations, opening and closing doors.
God speaks by his Holy Spirit, equipping us with gifts and passions to use for service in his kingdom.
Are we listening?
Are we listening?
Do we even care if there is a voice of God speaking to us today?
Why should we care if there is a voice of God speaking to us today?
How are we listening, hearing, experiencing God’s leading in your life?
Are you and I numbed to hearing, listening attentively for God’s voice?
So in a world full of noise and distraction, should we care if God speaks?
Does it matter one iota whether or not God speaks to us if we take one long, view of the world versus God, to say: “how miraculous would that truly be?”
Do we actually desire, want or need “God’s miraculous voice” speaking to us?
So in a world full of noise and distraction, how does God actually speak to us?
So with many questions, how ought we to “miraculously” respond back to God?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 19 The Message
19 1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.
3-4 Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
4-5 God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome! The morning sun’s a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.
6 That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.
7-9 The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together. The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road. The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes. God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree.
10 God’s Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries.
11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure. Otherwise how will we find our way? Or know when we play the fool? Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin. These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Amen.
28 Then one of the scribes [an expert in Mosaic Law] came up and listened to them arguing [with one another], and noticing that Jesus answered them well, asked Him, “Which commandment is first and most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first and most important one is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul (life), and with all your mind (thought, understanding), and with all your strength.’ 31 This is the second: ‘You shall [unselfishly] [a]love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The scribe said to Him, “Admirably answered, Teacher; You truthfully stated that He is One, and there is no other but Him; 33 and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to [unselfishly] love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully and intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Sometimes, the most important things aren’t difficult to grasp.
If they seem difficult to grasp, it is most likely because we ourselves, in our all too clumsy humanity have made it so because we ourselves have deemed it to be infinitely more important to be complex than simplified – it just feels “better.”
God desires us to be exclusively devoted to Him with all of our being, and to also be loving to others who surround us.
The covenant demands of God placed square upon our character boil down to the observance of these two fundamental principles that go echelons beyond laws and reveal God’s character [God IS Love] to the very hearts of all people.
Love Your Neighbor As Yourself
Mark 12:29-31Authorized (King James) Version
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
We learn many rules growing up:
Brush your teeth,
Look both ways before crossing the street,
Always tell the truth.
Which of these is most important?
What do you believe is the single most important Truth you have ever heard?
Rabbi Jesus was asked a similar question by an expert in the Mosaic Law: Of the many commands and regulations in the law of God, which one tops the list?
Jesus did not hesitate: “Love God above all”—and he quickly added the second: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
And what kind of love does this refer to?
In connection with God’s love for us, this is unconditional, unconventional, love—totally gracious, totally generous, and totally with no strings attached.
Notice especially that Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
This means that if we are to love our neighbors unconditionally and generously, we will be required by God to love ourselves that self same way too!
God does not make junk.
God does not make mistakes.
We are created in God’s image; we are his masterpieces.
It’s not to just okay to love myself: God expects me to celebrate the person he created me to be – every moment celebrate God exactly as God celebrates us!
The Golden Rule Jesus gave us—“Do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12)—is another way of saying this command to love God and honor God and love and honor our neighbor as we love and honor ourselves.
Loving others well depends at least partly on our capacity to love ourselves.
What Does it Mean to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself?
Would it, Should it, Could it, surprise you to learn that loving your neighbor as yourself is found eight times in the Bible.
Not once, Not even twice but Eight times.
Go ahead and search for them – Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God.
Loving your neighbor as yourself is so important to God that He not only repeats Himself, He makes it a command.
And not just one in a list of many commands.
Rabbi Jesus coupled the command to love your neighbor as yourself with loving God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and with all of our strength.
James calls it the royal law.
It sounds beautiful, and it is when we obey it.
But loving your neighbor as yourself isn’t always easy.
That’s why God made it a command.
He knew we’d struggle.
Making it a commandment is actually to our benefit.
How is that?
We have to be reverently and deliberately obedient
We have to do it on purpose.
We have to be intentional about it.
Sometimes even out of our need.
But if we love God as God love us … obedience just flows from us naturally.
This is what it means to love your neighbor as yourself:
1. Loving your neighbor means receiving God’s love.
Too begin to love your neighbor as yourself, you need to know two things:
you need to know what love is and that you are loved.
The Bible tells us “this is love. Not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son as a propitiation…” (1 John 4:10).
You and I are the object of this love.
God loves you.
God loves me.
Knowing this is imperative.
And not just that we are loved in a general kind of way, but deeply loved and unconditionally and unconventionally loved.
We tap into this when we understand that God loved us first. [John 3:16-17]
He’s the source of our love.
God loved us even before Jesus gave Himself for us.
God the Father is the source of all love.
Before we can give this love we need to receive it for ourselves.
You cannot give to someone what you yourself do not have.
2. Loving your neighbor means loving ourselves as well.
To love your neighbor as yourself as commanded, you need to measure love correctly.
The measurement within this command is—as yourself.
To love your neighbor as yourself you need to love yourself.
This is something that gets badly misunderstood in the body of Christ often.
It gets mixed up with dying to self and denying self as if we need to destroy our self.
This is not true.
Jesus died for each and every one of us.
If Jesus valued us enough to go through what He went through, we each have a sacred responsibility to Him to value what He values exactly as He valued it .
We need to love what He loves – us.
The Bible tells us the Father loves us as much as He loves Jesus (John 17:20-23).
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.[Authorized King James Version]
When we dare to simplify it: How dare we not love what the Father loves?
Learning to love ourselves prepares and helps us to love our neighbor.
3. Loving your neighbor means showing grace.
Knowing God is love and that this love is for you is not enough.
It needs to be developed and matured.
Imagine if you had a field of good soil and a bag of top notch seeds.
Would they produce a crop all by themselves?
No. The seeds must be planted and cared for.
Grace takes the seed of His love and the soils of our hearts and souls and creates fruit for the kingdom of God.
The Bible says,“it’s God who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2.13).
Loving Him and our neighbor pleases Him.
Grace helps us do this.
Grace teaches us proper love, honor and respect for ourselves and for our neighbor – our freely receiving His grace empowers us all to freely give it.
4. Loving your neighbor means acting with compassion.
From Luke’s Narrative of the Gospel, when Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He responded with a story: the Good Samaritan [10:25-37].
Even those who have no love for God see the value of the story.
What is the bottom line of this story?
Who did Jesus say was being a neighbor?
The one who had compassion.
Compassion is not simply a warm fuzzy feeling in our hearts.
Compassion does something.
A heart moved by compassion cannot sit idly by while someone suffers a need.
Loving God and Loving your neighbor as you are Loving yourself is being moved by God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to help to the full extent of your ability.
5. Loving your neighbor means looking out for their wellbeing.
The NIV translation of 1 Corinthians 13 says, “love protects.”
In Philippians 2:4 it says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Loving your neighbor as yourself is to look out for other people’s wellbeing.
To look out for them is to pay attention.
You notice if they need something and then you help.
For example, their clothing tag is sticking out or they have food on their face so you let them know.
Or something more serious like when a neighbor has surgery or becomes sick.
Concerned for their health, well-being, I head over to their home with a meal or a loaded gift card so if they aren’t able to cook, they won’t have to cook, can eat.
6. Loving your neighbor means serving them.
Serving from the heart is kindness in action.
Kindness is one of the attributes of love listed in 1 Corinthians 13.
The surprisingly wonderful thing about kindness, though, is you can do acts of kindness without kindness residing in your heart.
If the kind thing is done out of duty then it isn’t love.
Jesus said he came to serve (Mark 10:45, Luke 19:10, Matthew 20:28).
God, who is love, came to serve.
Love serves.
For you to love your neighbor as yourself, you’ll have a heart to serve them.
Let them know you’re there for them.
If they need a ride somewhere, you drive them.
If they need their dog or cat checked on while out of town, you do that for them.
Other examples are getting their mail for them or taking them a meal if they’re not well.
Examples in a public setting are to let people in front of you in line at the store or in traffic.
7. Loving your neighbor means speaking kindly.
The childhood rhyme about sticks and stones versus words is not true.
To love your neighbor as yourself is to use words to build them up.
Speaking words of encouragement to someone who’s down is the most obvious example but there are hosts upon hosts and myriads and myriads of others.
We can be more intentional with our words by looking for and magnifying the good.
We can always find something good if we’ll take the time to look for it.
Examples of this are giving someone a simple smile, a simple compliment and simply telling someone how much you genuinely appreciate them.
8. Loving your neighbor means making allowances for other people’s humanity.
We live in a day and age when offense is as common as breathing.
Criticism is running rampant.
Love is not easily offended or critical.
Everyone does dumb things; no one is always right or knows everything.
We’re all a work in progress.
I remember sitting through a green light.
I wasn’t trying to inconvenience anyone.
I got stuck in grieving daze because a family member might die.
I remember that when I encounter people driving too slow, sitting at lights, or even cutting me off.
Maybe they have a reason.
Maybe they’re just being human.
We’re imperfect beings that do perfectly dumb things often.
Giving people the benefit of the doubt is loving your neighbor.
For example, I had someone honking their truck horn flailing their arms and cursing because I didn’t speed through an almost red light.
They were behind me and so they got stuck at the red light with me.
I don’t know why they were so angry but they may have had other pressing circumstances surrounding them that day – I prayed for them.
9. Loving your neighbor means sharing in their joys and sorrows.
The Bible says we are to“rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15).
Celebrating can be difficult for us at times, especially if our neighbor is getting something we have longed for.
For example, a new job, a raise, or a pregnancy.
Celebrating with them in spite of our own pain is a strong show of love.
Likewise, mourning with our neighbor can be hard if we don’t know what to say, or have recently lost something or someone ourselves.
Loving God, Loving your neighbor as yourself is showing up and being there with your heart open, allowing them to be what they are, and support them.
10. Loving your neighbor means forgiving.
Forgiveness is a big deal to God.
Bible says He planned it for us from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).
Jesus frequently spoke forgiveness over others that resulted in the healing of their bodies.
Forgiveness is freely given to us and to love your neighbor as yourself you’ll pass the forgiveness on.
Jesus highlighted this in His story in Matthew 18 when Peter asks how many times is he to forgive.
He tells the story of a king who forgave an enormous debt to one of his servants.
This servant failed to pass the forgiveness on.
He demanded payment of a small debt from his neighbor.
When the king heard of it, he had his servant remanded for his debt, revoking the debt cancellation.
Jesus’ story tells us that love always forgives.
We all need forgiveness, so loving your neighbor is to forgive them as you have been forgiven.
In both the Hebrew [Old] and New Testaments we are commanded by God to love our neighbors as ourselves.
On several occasions Jesus himself says that is a part of fulfilling God’s law.
Again and again God shows us how to love others.
The call to love our neighbor is not complicated, but it can be challenging to follow.
It means more than being hospitable, tolerant, patient, and kind.
It means more than showing respect and honoring others.
It also means more than just being civil with people you disagree with—even though it also means all of that.
Loving our neighbor implies that the well-being of others matters—so we should work for justice, protection, and opportunities for others to thrive.
It means listening to others.
It also shows that the possibilities for showing love and care for our neighbors is endless and could leave us overwhelmed by all the needs for neighborly love!
Yet all of us can love our neighbors in the name of Jesus Christ.
We can honor, love and respect them enough to show how the love of Jesus is forever shaping us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
As you are loved, Jesus says, so love one another (see John 13:34).
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Dear God, thank You for Your unconditional love. Lord, help me to know myself and to love myself. If I don’t feel self-worth, how can I expect someone else to cherish me? Help me to develop a healthy self-identity, remembering that I am a child of the King, created in Your image. Help me know who I really am, what I really want from life, and what I want in the person I will spend my life with. Thank you, Lord, for loving me so completely that I am being completely changed! Help me to be more aware of your Love so I may love my neighbor with the love you have for the world.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
א 2 “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
The Ten Commandments are some of the most recognizable words in the entire Biblical Canon, yet they are often among the most misunderstood.
How has the coming of Jesus transformed these ancient laws?
Do these commandments still matter to Christians today in 2023?
What does it look like to obey them in today’s world?
What do they tell us about God and His Love for His beloved Children?
In this devotional message we see in verses 1-2 three truths about the Law: it’s given by God, it follows the Gospel, and it’s the path of freedom.
Loved By and Belonging to God
Adonai, The Lord who claims our allegiance is God, our Creator and Savior.
God delivered Israel when he brought them out of Egypt.
They had been slaves there for hundreds of years.
Faithful to his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:13-21; Exodus 3), God called this people his own and continued his work of making them into a nation through which all other nations would be blessed.
Then, many years later, through Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, God brought salvation to the world—and today God includes all who believe in Christ as his people, his worldwide family.
So if we believe in our Savior Christ, we belong to God, and we are His alone.
1 Peter 2:9-10 Complete Jewish Bible
9 But you are a chosen people,[a]the King’s cohanim,[b]a holy nation,[c]a people for God to possess![d] Why? In order for you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; before, you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.[e]
1 Peter 2 puts it, we are a holy nation set apart to be “God’s special possession.”
From the beginning, it was love that created us and has bound us to God.
And since our relationship with God is based on love, God’s law is not a burden but a means of unconventional liberty towards showing love to our neighbors.
God, The Giver of Law and Liberty
Exodus 20:1-2King James Version
20 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
To faithfully read and respond to the Ten Commandments, we must first make a diligent effort to pray and study them, understand what they are and are not.
We find clarity in the truth that lies at their head: “I am the LORD your God.”
This poignant reminder of who God is precedes the instructions that follow.
In other words, the I am of God’s person grounds the you shall of His commands.
He can command us because of who He is.
The psalmist further expresses this:
“Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his” (Psalm 100:3).
God created us, and His being our Creator grants Him rights and authority over His creation.
Regardless of the efforts of our world to reject the creational handiwork of God, thus His authority over our lives, His role as our Ruler remains unthreatened.
He has made us; we are His.
When we should remember who spoke the law, we are in a position to grasp the purpose of the Ten Commandments as well as to understand what they are not.
First, the commandments are not a formal list of dos and don’ts given to restrict our personal freedoms.
God is NOT the Ultimate Cosmic Killjoy
God is not the Ultimate cosmic killjoy.
In fact, if you wanted to provide a heading for the Ten Commandments, you could instead call them “The Ultimate Guidelines to Freedom and Joy.”
They do not restrict our freedom but rather give us a blueprint for joy, showing us how life works best.
Second, the commandments are not intended as a ladder up which we climb to attain acceptance with God.
No such ladder has ever existed!
God brought His people out of slavery—from Egypt in the exodus, and from sin and death at the cross—before He called us to obey Him.
So we obey God because we have been “brought out by God,” not in order for us to somehow believe we could ever persuade Him to do so on our own time line.
If that were the case, why then did the bondage last as long as it did despite all the years of crying, pleading by the generations of Israelites held in bondage?
Until Moses had been prepared by 80 years of life at the pinnacle of authority, then at the bottom of authority for His “Burning Bush” encounter with God.
Rather than being rules that save us, the Ten Commandments serve as a mirror in which we should see ourselves, revealing the depths of our sin and our need for a Savior—and they show how we can all live every day to please our Savior.
Third, the Ten Commandments have not been rendered anywhere near obsolete by the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
When Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love God and love our neighbor, He was summarizing the Ten Commandments (Mark 12:28-31 AKJV).
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
What does it mean to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength?
The first four commandments tell us. [Exodus 20 verses 3-11]
What does it look like to love our neighbor as ourselves?
The final six commandments flesh that out. [Exodus 20 verses 12-17]
Jesus, master teacher that He was, summed up the ten with the two.
When we see all this, we are ready to read the Ten Commandments and let them transform our lives.
We must see the sin that the commandments reveal and respond in repentance and faith in the only One who fulfilled the law and offers Himself as our Savior.
He, the Lord Jesus Christ, will ensure that this law is not merely etched into our conscience but also inscribed upon our hearts and upon our souls.
Give yourselves unto the Lord our God and His way, and His Truth and His Life you and I will find everlasting love, everlasting joy and His everlasting liberty.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit …
Let us Pray,
Psalm 40The Message
40 1-3 I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened. He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip. He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.
4-5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,” ignore what the world worships; The world’s a huge stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts. Nothing and no one compares to you! I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words. Neither numbers nor words account for you.
6 Doing something for you, bringing something to you— that’s not what you’re after. Being religious, acting pious— that’s not what you’re asking for. You’ve opened my ears so I can listen.
7-8 So I answered, “I’m coming. I read in your letter what you wrote about me, And I’m coming to the party you’re throwing for me.” That’s when God’s Word entered my life, became part of my very being.
9-10 I’ve preached you to the whole congregation, I’ve kept back nothing, God—you know that. I didn’t keep the news of your ways a secret, didn’t keep it to myself. I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough. I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth For myself alone. I told it all, let the congregation know the whole story.
11-12 Now God, don’t hold out on me, don’t hold back your passion. Your love and truth are all that keeps me together. When troubles ganged up on me, a mob of sins past counting, I was so swamped by guilt I couldn’t see my way clear. More guilt in my heart than hair on my head, so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.
13-15 Soften up, God, and intervene; hurry and get me some help, So those who are trying to kidnap my soul will be embarrassed and lose face, So anyone who gets a kick out of making me miserable will be heckled and disgraced, So those who pray for my ruin will be booed and jeered without mercy.
16-17 But all who are hunting for you— oh, let them sing and be happy. Let those who know what you’re all about tell the world you’re great and not quitting. And me? I’m a mess. I’m nothing and have nothing: make something of me. You can do it; you’ve got what it takes— but God, don’t put it off.
Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.
Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child and set him before them, 3 and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever [a]humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives and welcomes one [b] child like this in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Growing Up to Become a Child
What does the man, Rabbi Jesus, mean by saying to his disciples that we each need to “change and become like the little children who are among us”?
One clue we have here is that Jesus is responding to the question “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
And he replies, “Whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
In the Gospel narratives about Jesus and his disciples (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), we somehow find that the disciples often argued over which of them was, is and is about to become greatest; they seem to have been a competitive group.
And it seems they were thinking of greatness in terms of authority, leadership, knowledge, power, influence, “one above equals,” thrones and of other things.
So Jesus is seemingly telling all of his disciples that they need to change their attitudes about greatness and to become lowly and humble like little children.
Jesus’ followers, whether ancient or contemporary need to die to their selfish ambitions, realize that, just as little children depend on parents and caregivers, we are all totally dependent on Father God for all our needs and future living.
Here’s another hypothetical thought. A man in his sixties said, “Last week my five-year-old grandson said he wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up. I replied, ‘And when I grow up, I want to be a five-year-old boy.’ My grandson stared at me with wide, wondering eyes.”
Have you looked around at your own children or grandchildren and pictured yourself having such a “wide eyed wondering hypothetical conversation?”
Have you looked around at God’s world with “wide, wondering eyes” lately?
That’s something which I long for when I look at my own almost nine year old grandson when hear the clarion call to change and to become like a little child.
Descriptions of a Childlike Faith
Rabbi Jesus’ statement to His disciples in Matthew 18:3 about them not entering the kingdom of heaven unless they are converted and become as little children speak volumes and volumes of truth of the importance of living a childlike faith.
But what is childlike faith?
What makes one’s faith childlike?
Faith which is Rooted in Security
During the days of childhood, one learns how to survive and prosper, how to live under authority, how to live, love and share, and how to serve and praise.
A well-cared-for child has no worries about house or car or any credit card payments, no anxious moments over getting married to the right one, career or job opportunities, no apprehensions about failure, no thoughts of vengeance.
David exemplified this kind of faith while he was on the run from Saul.
131 Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. 2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child [resting] with his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me [composed and freed from discontent].
In Psalm 131:1-2, David compared the calmness and serenity he had in the Lord to that of a weaned child with his mother.
Composed, content with God and the works He was doing in his life, David did not concern himself with great matters such as any selfish ambition and self-promotion – rather, he found serenity and security in his relationship with God.
Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord. (Psalm 23:6)
To have a childlike faith is to find serenity and security in our relationship with God no matter the circumstance.
Faith Which Praises
Jesus loved children. He loved to use children to teach hard-headed and hard-hearted grown-ups about faith and praise.
While preaching in the region of Judea, Christ was encircled by a great crowd.
Matthew 19:13-15Amplified Bible
Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 Then children were brought to Jesus so that He might place His hands on them [for a blessing] and pray; but the disciples reprimanded them. 14 But He said, “Leave the children alone, and do not forbid them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 After placing His hands on them [for a blessing], He went on from there.
He later reminded the priests and scribes that “the mouth of babes and nursing infants” would offer praise fitting for God’s Anointed (Matthew 21:16).
When Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt, a very great multitude that included children cried out saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9)!
The sound of the children praising Jesus in the temple courts made the chief priests and scribes indignant.
In response, Jesus quoted from Psalm 8:2.
God does not only want prayer in His house, He also delights in praise.
To have a childlike faith is to have a heart that always longs to praise and glorify God in each and every life’s circumstance.
Faith Which Believes
Jesus used the lad with the five barley loaves and the two small fish to feed five thousand people (John 6:9).
To show His power over death, Jesus used a little girl. Jairus, a ruler in the synagogue, fell at Jesus’ feet begging Him to come to his house and save his dying twelve-year-old daughter.
Jesus agreed and tried to make His way with Jairus, but the surrounding crowd made the trip difficult.
Word came that Jairus’ daughter had died.
But Jesus responded, “Do not be afraid, only believe and she will be made well” (Luke 8:50).
At the house, as the parents wept over their loss, Jesus said, “She is not dead but sleeping” (Luke 8:52).
Through tears, the people laughed at the impossibility of what they heard.
Jesus then asked everyone to leave the room, and then He said, “Little girl, arise” (Luke 8:54), and she did!
Romans 4:17 says that “God gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.”
Jesus spoke to the girl with the power of God, and she was raised from the dead.
Jairus’ faith definitely played a part in the miracle healing of his daughter just like the faith of the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years had made her well (Luke 8:43-48).
Nothing is impossible with God if we would just believe.
This is what it means to have childlike faith.
Faith Which is Humble
Another time, Jesus used a child to teach humility.
In Matthew 18:1-5, we read how the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” and how did Jesus respond?
He called a little child to Him, set the little child in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
He then went on to say, “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”
The fact that Jesus had been sharing with the disciples that truth about His approaching suffering and death did not affect them for they were thinking only of, about themselves and what position they would have in His Kingdom.
So self-absorbed were the disciples in this matter that they actually argued with each other in the presence of Rabbi Jesus himself (Luke 9:46).
Pride – the very sin that caused Satan to be cast down from heaven is what’s causing people to think of themselves more highly than others.
When Christians are living for themselves and not for others, conflict and division are bound to result (James 4:1-2).
True humility means knowing ourselves, accepting ourselves, and being ourselves – our best self – to the glory of God ALONE!.
It means avoiding two extremes:
Thinking less of ourselves than we ought to (as did Moses when God called him, Exodus 3:11), or thinking more of ourselves than we should (Romans 12:3).
The truly humble person does not deny the gifts God has given him or her but uses them to the glory of God.
The truly humble person also helps to build up others, not to tear them down.
Hebrews 12:1-3Amplified Bible
Jesus, the Example
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of [a]witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, 2 [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, [b]disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].
3 Just consider and meditate on Him who endured from sinners such bitter hostility against Himself [consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
This person is a stepping-stone, not a stumbling block.
This person is a building block not a stumbling block.
Thus, we must seek to remove from our lives anything that makes us stumble.
If we don’t, we will cause others to stumble as well.
Which Jesus Himself said was not a very good, very healthy, very wise, idea.
Matthew 18:6Amplified Bible
6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
An unspoiled child has the characteristics that make for humility: trust, dependence, a desire to make others happy, and an absence of boasting or selfish desires to be greater than others.
By our nature, we are all rebels who want to be celebrities instead of servants.
And so we need a great deal of teaching for us to learn the lesson of humility.
Concluding Thoughts ….
As Christians, we are encouraged to have childlike faith.
To have faith like a child is to completely embrace, trust our heavenly Father’s goodness, care, provision, leadership, His security, vigilance and protection.
Have you experienced the peace of a well-cared-for child in letting Jesus take care of your worries?
Have you found the healing that faith in Jesus brings?
Have you praised His name with the joy of a child?
Have you answered Jesus’ call in childlike faith, asking Him to be your Savior?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 17The Message
17 1-2 Listen while I build my case, God, the most honest prayer you’ll ever hear. Show the world I’m innocent— in your heart you know I am.
3 Go ahead, examine me from inside out, surprise me in the middle of the night— You’ll find I’m just what I say I am. My words don’t run loose.
4-5 I’m not trying to get my way in the world’s way. I’m trying to get your way, your Word’s way. I’m staying on your trail; I’m putting one foot In front of the other. I’m not giving up.
6-7 I call to you, God, because I’m sure of an answer. So—answer! bend your ear! listen sharp! Paint grace-graffiti on the fences; take in your frightened children who Are running from the neighborhood bullies straight to you.
8-9 Keep your eye on me; hide me under your cool wing feathers From the wicked who are out to get me, from mortal enemies closing in.
10-14 Their hearts are hard as nails, their mouths blast hot air. They are after me, nipping my heels, determined to bring me down, Lions ready to rip me apart, young lions poised to pounce. Up, God: beard them! break them! By your sword, free me from their clutches; Barehanded, God, break these mortals, these flat-earth people who can’t think beyond today.
I’d like to see their bellies swollen with famine food, The weeds they’ve sown harvested and baked into famine bread, With second helpings for their children and crusts for their babies to chew on.
15 And me? I plan on looking you full in the face. When I get up, I’ll see your full stature and live heaven on earth.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
4 Now there are [distinctive] varieties of spiritual gifts [special abilities given by the grace and extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit operating in believers], but it is the same Spirit [who grants them and empowers believers]. 5 And there are [distinctive] varieties of ministries and service, but it is the same Lord [who is served]. 6 And there are [distinctive] ways of working [to accomplish things], but it is the same God who produces all things in all believers [inspiring, energizing, and empowering them]. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit [the spiritual illumination and the enabling of the Holy Spirit] for the common good. 8 To one is given through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] the message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] the word of knowledge and understanding according to the same Spirit; 9 to another [wonder-working] faith [is given] by the same [Holy] Spirit, and to another the [extraordinary] gifts of healings by the one Spirit;10 and to another the working of [a]miracles, and to another prophecy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people], and to another discernment of spirits [the ability to distinguish sound, godly doctrine from the deceptive doctrine of man-made religions and cults], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues. 11 All these things [the gifts, the achievements, the abilities, the empowering] are brought about by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, distributing to each one individually just as He chooses.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Spiritual Gift of Faith
Today, let’s learn something about the spiritual gift of faith.
Your first reaction to this might be, “How can faith be a gift?
Aren’t we all supposed to have faith as believers in Jesus Christ?”
Faith is absolutely a gift!
It is specifically mentioned as a spiritual gift in scripture (1 Corinthians 12:9).
Because it is a spiritual gift, that means not everyone has the gift of faith.
And that’s okay.
We can all strive for faith, but for some people the confidence in the truth of God comes more naturally than to others.
Do you know a person who can continue to trust in God no matter what comes their way?
A person who can see where God is working in your life when you can’t see it?
People with the spiritual gift of faith are unshakeable in their reliance on God’s promises and are a source of encouragement for the rest of us when we feel like embracing the world or giving up on God or think that God has given up on us.
Here is how we can define the gift of faith:
Faith is the exceptional ability to hold fast to the truth of God in Jesus Christ in spite of pressures, problems, and obstacles to faithfulness.
Much more than just belief, faith is a gift which empowers an individual or a group of people to hold fast to its identity in Christ in the face of any challenge.
The gift of faith enables believers to rise above pressures and problems that might otherwise cripple them.
Faith is characterized by an unshakable trust in Jehovah God to deliver on God’s promises, no matter what.
The gift of faith inspires those who might be tempted to give up to hold on.
Those gifted with Faith create a foundation upon which true community can be built and sustained.
It is critical for people possessing the gift of Faith to make, take opportunities to share their beliefs, their learning, most importantly, their life experiences.
Faith stories have powerful and transforming effects.
Faith is a prominent gift in witnessing congregations, where personal stories are shared in group settings, worship, Sunday school classes, or Bible studies.
Faith is the exceptional ability to hold fast to the truth of God in Jesus Christ in spite of pressures, problems, and obstacles to faithfulness.
Our Bible gives us many examples of individuals with the spiritual gift of faith.
Hebrews 11:1-12 The Message
Faith in What We Don’t See
11 1-2 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.
4 By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
5-6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
7 By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
8-10 By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
11-12 By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That’s how it happened that from one man’s dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.
Verse 4 – By faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain
Verse 5 – By faith, Enoch skipped death
Verse 7 – By faith, Noah built a ship
Verse 8 – By faith, Abraham said yes to God
Verse 11 – By faith, barren Sarah became pregnant
Faith in Scripture ….
Mark 9:23 (NRSV) Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.”
Luke 8:48 (NRSV) He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Luke 17:19 (NRSV) Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 18:42 (NRSV) Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.”
Romans 4:18-21 (NRSV) Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
God gives us believers gifts of the Holy Spirit.
We do not know why exactly God’s will is for us to have any of these gifts, but we are thankful for any blessings, gifting’s, and corrections that He gives us.
Faith — it is a gift, and all we need is about the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20).
To each and every one of us, a measure of faith has been assigned by God (Romans 12:3).
Moses had faith to lead Israel to the Promised Land, Sarah had faith that she would conceive even in her old age, and Noah had faith that God had spoken to him to build the ark even when everyone thought he was crazy (Hebrews 11).
There isn’t any formula that is alongside this gift of faith, and to think that there would be, it would be much more difficult to have faith.
Believing in faith is easy, but in our finite minds, thoughts barricade what is truly simple.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Faith without proof
There are miracles everywhere mentioned in the New Testament.
Many people today have seen what the goodness of God can do through miracles.
In Mark 2, Jesus was in a crowded house in Capernaum.
There were four men carrying a paralytic man, trying to reach Jesus.
They had to make a hole in the roof of the house in order to bring the paralyzed man to be healed by Jesus.
This act was an act of faith by the four men, and Jesus saw their faith in the man being healed of his affliction.
Well, the man not only got healed but his sins were forgiven.
Miracles are a wondrous gift, but having faith without seeing is believing that it is possible even though it seems impossible (2 Corinthians 5:7).
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”(Hebrews 11:1).
Our hope is in Christ alone.
Without faith, there is no hope.
We have faith that when winter begins to thaw, and all the snow begins to fade away, that the seeds that were planted in the previous season shall burst forth.
Springtime is a time of refreshment, a time of anticipated, expectant joy to see what was planted, will be planted and is to soon come up from the cold ground.
We don’t see the seeds with our own eyes, but by faith, we have the hope to see green leaves, diverse colors of flowers coming up to bring out joy and harvest.
Childlike Faith ….
Matthew 18:1-6 Amplified Bible
Rank in the Kingdom
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child and set him before them, 3 and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever [a]humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives and welcomes one [b] child like this in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Children are like sponges.
Children are naturally inquisitive about almost everything in their little world.
They max out their efforts absorbing everything they can see, smell, taste, and touch, and hear.
In a classroom, it is a teacher’s job to assure that the children are learning what is being taught.
Children learn from their families as to what is wrong and what is right.
But what they are the best at is having faith.
Think about the inquisitiveness of your own children right now.
What are they constantly getting themselves into?
What holds their “undivided” attention?
What is their “wish-list?”
What are their dreams?
As it might be applicable, be observant and give an answer to those questions for those of us who have grandchildren or great grandchildren inside our lives.
Think about when you were a child, what did you have hope for?
I hoped that I could see the world that God created.
As I got older, I realized what goes into making those dreams come true.
I then began to see that it may not ever happen, and my faith became less in that area of my life.
I let my fears become more and more of my reality because I didn’t truly believe that I could travel the world.
But, perhaps, one season, by God’s Grace, that dream of travel will come true.
I believe and have faith God will bring me to places that He wills for my life.
In Romans 10:17, the Bible states, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Our thoughts can be louder than the Word of God if we let them.
The Holy Spirit within us shows us what is truth and what is not.
The gift of faith is truth and grace that has been given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The spiritual gift of faith is steadfastly believing the truth, God’s truth alone.
No matter what happens whether you receive what you are believing in or not, your confidence cannot be swayed.
The fear, worry, and circumstances do not determine your level of faith.
If God has given you this spiritual gift of faith, then trust, without doubt, that He will absolutely do as He absolutely wills for your life.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
All-Powerful Father, I bow before You because You are awesome and worthy of all the praise. Your word declares that I can do all things through You who strengthens me! I put all my trust in You. You alone are my God. You alone are my joy. You are my heart and my soul. You are the grass under my feet and the sky above. You are seen and unseen, Father. Keep me at Your right hand forever, fill me with Your grace, and make me Yours all the days of my life. Father, we thank you for everything, and we love you with all that we are. I pray that those that have been given this spiritual gift of faith will never waiver. I pray that we will trust and believe you always God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
6So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]— 8 we are [as I was saying] of good courage and confident hope, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore, whether we are at home [on earth] or away from home [and with Him], it is our [constant] ambition to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we [believers will be called to account and] must all appear before the [a]judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be repaid for what has been done in the body, whether good or [b]bad [that is, each will be held responsible for his actions, purposes, goals, motives—the use or misuse of his time, opportunities and abilities].
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
What does it mean to live by Faith?
Those words seem simple enough, yet it may be a lot tougher than we think.
It requires tremendous courage and strength.
Preaching the gospel to the world brought Paul and his co-workers much suffering.
Yet they continued the work contending for the faith.
They refused to quit and “pressed toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)
Living in the end times requires living by faith and not by what we see going on around us.
Yet it is a journey of tremendous hope, blessing and reward.
Walking by faith and not by sight requires you to trust God, not knowing where you are at times in the larger scope of God’s plan and purpose.
Take the example of Abraham, “when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going”. (Hebrews 11:8)
That’s walking by faith.
Walking by faith requires a strong determination to follow God’s plan as outlined in the bible, regardless what life throws your way.
Like 2 Corinthians 4:18 urges us, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
It is a deep trust in what cannot be seen that provides hope.
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that “we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Jesus stated, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
Jesus ascended and left his Spirit as a guarantee.
Walking by faith is sometimes lonely, except for the presence of Christ by his Spirit, left to all believers as a “guarantee” (2 Corinthians 5:5).
Christians are frequently called to stand firm in spite of the isolated place their faith leads them to.
Our faith is reasonable, but there are aspects of the gospel we accept on faith and are unable to see.
What are these invisible things?
And what is the walk of faith?
The Second Letter to Corinth
First of all, here is some context for 2 Corinthians 5:7.
Paul’s relationship with the church at Corinth was a difficult one.
Paul had led them to faith with the assistance of mature believers in Christ, but when Paul was gone the church was easily swayed by outsiders who opposed his teaching.
In Paul’s absence, they fell apart and it was easy for opponents to convince the church that his suffering was a sign that Paul’s faith was actually folly.
If Jesus Christ has really come to save sinners, how could the apostle’s life be so horrendous?
To Paul’s mind, his way of life represented faith.
How else could someone suffer so much, if not for the reasonable expectation of eternal gain? (ESV Study Bible, Introduction to 2 Corinthians).
The Corinthian church was struggling, and Apostle Paul’s letter suggests a big part of the problem was the followers trusting the Holy Spirit to work in their lives and coming to that place in their life of trusting in the promise of Heaven.
Faith is trust.
Fabulous Adventures In Trusting Him!
Fantastic Adventures In Trusting Him!
Fulfilling Adventures In Trusting Him!
Futuristic Adventures In Trusting Him!
But faith in Christ does not come in the exact instant we snap our fingers.
Time and effort, trials and tribulations, radically counter cultural responses.
Faith not in what we see ‘Now’ but what we cannot see in Eternity
2 Corinthians 5:1-5Amplified Bible
The Temporal and Eternal
5 For we know that if the earthly tent [our physical body] which is our house is torn down [through death], we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our [immortal, eternal] celestial dwelling, 3 so that by putting it on we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened [often weighed down, oppressed], not that we want to be unclothed [separated by death from the body], but to be clothed, so that what is mortal [the body] will be swallowed up by life [after the resurrection]. 5 Now He who has made us and prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the [Holy] Spirit as a pledge [a guarantee, a down payment on the fulfillment of His promise].
What does the gospel tell us which we cannot prove by way of anything other than faith?
For one thing, we cannot see what awaits the faithful around the next bend in their roadways, over the next mountain— eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
Apostle Paul is confident: “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God” (verse 1).
That building is the individual body, the church body, a real Kingdom, invisible to us for now. “We know,” says Paul; not “we believe,” or “we imagine.”
The original Greek uses “eidó,” which means “be aware, behold, consider, perceive.” “Knowing” in this sense combines knowledge with an intelligent perception of an idea, which cannot be physically represented —just yet.
Paul based his belief in eternal life on sound, objective evidence as well as his subjective, personal experience of Christ.
His suffering could have become a distraction from this truth — it certainly was for the Corinthians.
To Paul, his counter cultural response to immediate suffering was supposed to demonstrate his deep trust in what could not be seen, provide a reason to hope.
Christians “look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
A Connecting Faith
Christ’s message of eternal salvation through his death and resurrection was explosive.
Master Pharisee Saul, before becoming Paul, had originally sought to persecute these blasphemers, run them all to ground, imprison them all until he realized that the Old Testament had been leading Israel unto the empty tomb all along.
When Apostle Paul described the body as a “tent” (2 Corinthians 5:1), he was also connecting the new church with the Old Testament.
God’s people had frequently been sojourners, both in the days before Solomon and during Jesus’ ministry.
Moses and the Israelites followed a pillar of smoke and a pillar of fire, setting up temporary Sukkoth shelters to cover themselves against cold desert nights.
They had nowhere to permanently call “home” until Solomon built the temple.
The body as a “tent” evokes the Israelite’s trust God would meet their needs day by day.
A tent is impermanent, just like a body is temporary, but once this covering is shed God provides something eternally better.
Faith in the Spirit
2 Corinthians 3:15-18Amplified Bible
15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil [of blindness] lies over their heart; 16 but whenever a person turns [in repentance and faith] to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom]. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
As believers, to some extent, we already see more than those who choose to turn their faces from God.
We have an “unveiled face,” although we only see “in a mirror dimly” for now, it is by faith we believe we will one day see Christ “face to face”(1 Corinthians 13:12).
Meanwhile, we have the Holy Spirit.
Here is one aspect of the Christian life we cannot lay hands on and inspect up close.
There are ways to detect the Spirit in us; evidence of “fruit.”
When one has grown in any of these ways, the Holy Spirit is responsible, and we are invited to delve into and recognize this gift living inside of us and in others.
The Spirit is not a virus or an implant; it cannot be scrutinized with the naked eye or under a microscope.
Everyone holds a belief in something, and Paul says we can be confident.
That is the word used in the NIV and KJV for “courage” so “we are always of good courage” (2 Corinthians 5:6, ESV) is a statement of certainty.
Faith is not blind; it merely sees in other ways.
Every Faithful, Faith-Filled Christian
1 Peter 3:13-15Amplified Bible
13 Now who is there to hurt you if you become enthusiastic for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness [though it is not certain that you will], you are still blessed [happy, to be admired and favored by God]. Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled or disturbed [by their opposition]. 15 But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect.
Every faithful believer sees something that is not visceral but still real — much of our knowledge is like that.
We believe someone is trustworthy based on actions, which demonstrate their character.
We know that an event took place in history based on statements of witnesses and on physical remains.
We must examine the evidence and be ready to give our testimony, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).
We all live by faith in something, although not the same things.
It is theologically accurate to say and to insist that the Christian must always seek to live by faith and trust in God and his promises, and not be motivated by only what he or she can see and hear in their present circumstances.
But the Apostle Paul says the church at Corinth is already doing that.
Apostle Paul “directly and unequivocally says that we, all believers, do, in fact, live by faith.”
This faith must also stand firmly by the strength of internal reasoning, against external forces, and without an apostle to hold one’s hand in a spiritual sense.
The Corinthians’ faith was strong in the presence of mature disciples such as Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:18) but definitely blindsided by “partisanship, with the Corinthians factionalizing behind rival leaders.”
Paul knew what made “considerate and appropriate relating especially hard at Corinth,” which was an “unusually diverse” and tough, working-class culture.
Paul sought to “overcome the tensions these differences were bringing into the community” by talking about how to just love one another in Christ-like ways.
What Does it Mean to Walk by Faith?
Ephesians 4:1-6 Amplified Bible
Unity of the Spirit
4 So I, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called [that is, to live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior—a life that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation], 2 with all humility [forsaking self-righteousness], and gentleness [maintaining self-control], with patience, bearing with one another [a]in [unselfish] love. 3 Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful]. 4 There is one body [of believers] and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when called [to salvation]— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,6 one God and Father of us all who is [sovereign] over all and [working] through all and [living] in all.
And what about the action of walking in faith? “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” wrote Paul (Ephesians 4:1).
Our walk as Christians should be identifiably different from the walk of one who does not believe and has been saved by grace.
There is a practical element, which must not be overlooked, for if we love God there will be an outpouring of that love towards others.
Jesus embodied a unifying love for the marginalized and Paul taught that their Savior was the best example of “what a Christian leader should look like. It could hardly be more dramatically countercultural, and Paul lived out this leadership style in person.”
Yet walking, or living, by faith, is also about our relationship with Christ “God is looking for not only a clinging bride but also a walking partner.”
13 No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. 16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.(John 15:13-16)
When we walk with him, we recognize that worship of Christ is not so much a “catalyst” to action but “an everyday walk of unbroken communion with our Lord and friend.”
Jesus calls us “friend,” and we are called to live our lives close to him, confident and worshipful.
This is personal and real — other people cannot fill in for Jesus, whether they are our pastors or mentors or BFFs.
Such individuals promote growth, but they are not the vine.
Only Jesus is the vine (John 15).
Is Sight Coming?
Will we see Jesus when we die?
Paul says it himself: We see dimly today, but the mist will lift one day revealing his face – the veil between God and man was torn when Jesus died on the cross.
John 20:11-18Amplified Bible
11 But Mary [who had returned] was standing outside the tomb sobbing; and so, as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 After saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? For whom are you looking?” Supposing that He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you are the one who has carried Him away from here, tell me where you have put Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in [a] Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “[b]Do not hold Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene came, reporting to the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had said these things to her.
So, while we cannot fully see him as Mary Magdalene did right now, this definitely does not mean that we are cut off from fellowship with the Lord.
Living by faith, not by sight, is no hindrance to communion with our Savior.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 24The Message
24 1-2 God claims Earth and everything in it, God claims World and all who live on it. He built it on Ocean foundations, laid it out on River girders.
3-4 Who can climb Mount God? Who can scale the holy north-face? Only the clean-handed, only the pure-hearted; Men who won’t cheat, women who won’t seduce.
5-6 God is at their side; with God’s help they make it. This, Jacob, is what happens to God-seekers, God-questers.
7 Wake up, you sleepyhead city! Wake up, you sleepyhead people! King-Glory is ready to enter.
8 Who is this King-Glory? God, armed and battle-ready.
9 Wake up, you sleepyhead city! Wake up, you sleepyhead people! King-Glory is ready to enter.
10 Who is this King-Glory? God-of-the-Angel-Armies: he is King-Glory.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him any children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See here, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. I am asking you to go in to [the bed of] my maid [so that she may bear you a child]; perhaps I will [a]obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said. 3 After Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian [maid], and gave her to her husband Abram to be his [secondary] wife. 4 He went in to [the bed of] Hagar, and she conceived; and when she realized that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress [regarding Sarai as insignificant because of her infertility]. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the Lord judge [who has done right] between you and me.” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.
7 But [b]the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, on the road to [Egypt by way of] Shur. 8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit [c]humbly to her authority.” 10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” 11 The Angel of the Lord continued,
“Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall name him Ishmael (God hears), Because the Lord has heard and paid attention to your persecution (suffering). 12 “He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man; His hand will be against every man [continually fighting] And every man’s hand against him; And he will dwell in defiance of all his brothers.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are [d]God Who Sees”; for she said, “Have I not even here [in the wilderness] remained alive after [e]seeing Him [who sees me with understanding and compassion]?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me); it is [f]between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son; and Abram named his son, to whom Hagar gave birth, [g]Ishmael (God hears). 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
The Word of God for the Children of God
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Today’s story centers on the painful triangle of relationships between Abram, Sarai, and Sarai’s slave Hagar.
The ancient story contains moral weakness, self pity, jealousy, competition, contempt, scorn, rejection, revenge, meanness, and other emotional violence.
When the situation becomes unbearable, Sarai sends Hagar to Abram that Abram should have sexual relations with her and then bear the family a child.
A child is conceived and this is where things really break down.
Hagar looks down with jealousy and contempt upon Sarai in her infertility.
What had started with Sarai good intentions, her self sacrifice to give Abram a lasting hope for the continued future of his lineage, just turned seriously sour.
Sarai blamed Abram ….
Sarai wanted maximum accountability from Abram for Hagar’s behaviors.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the Lord judge [who has done right] between you and me.”
Abram washes his hands of the matter ….
6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and she humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.
But now she is in a desperate situation: pregnant and alone in the desert with barely enough provisions for survival.
It all began with a promise from God to secure Abram’s family future.
Time had lapsed and a hopeful, hope-filled promise turned into a situation of impatience and desperation, a lapse of personal faith in God to change lives.
We are greatly shocked by the sequence of events – great promise to an even greater descent into great jealously, rage, humiliation – threatening the family.
Putting the prospect of great hope in a blessed and abundant future in jeopardy.
But the one thing we notice which seems to be missing from this tragic story is anyone’s attempt to seek out God, to pray for change, courage, patience, mercy.
The one thing we do not see is any sincere desire for an “attitude adjustment.”
To caught up in their very raw emotions …. there is no offer of prayer to God.
This instantaneous moment when all Abram, Hagar and Sarai can see is each other trying to sort out an extraordinarily volatile situation by their own wills.
Was grace an unknown commodity?
Was the thought of compassion or mercy an unknown commodity lost to anger?
On the human side … very much so.
Too fast to respond with raw unfiltered emotions is all too soon our first hope, first response for lasting meaningful successful resolution to a hopeless cause.
But, what if we were to counsel these parties and try to insert a moment or two of “attitude adjustment” – set these people apart – insert another perspective?
Remind them in the midst of this, there’s grace and mercy in this raw story too.
Remind them and ourselves of the promise: the presence, sovereignty of God?
The name for God in this text draws from the Hebrew word ‘roi’, which has to do with “looking,” “appearance,” “seeing,” and “sight.”
Abram and Sarai seem to have lost their sight, vision, of God’s faithfulness.
Yet, alone and utterly forsaken in the desert—in her darkest moment—Hagar realizes that El Roi, “the God who sees,” sees her, has never lost sight of her.
Some choose to see God, envision God, prayed, inserted into their situations.
Look for hope in seemingly hopeless situations ….
Believe all things “impossible in our eyes” are always possible in God’s eyes.
Others?
Like Abram and Sarai (and perhaps us?) in that moment …. not so much ….
Don’t we all find ourselves at times in desperate situations?
Even if our circumstances are not desperate, they can certainly be difficult at times, and we can absolutely feel as if we will never have a hope for any future.
Life was harsh and difficult in those ancient of days and even today is difficult, and living in today as a Christian does not mean we are spared those difficulties.
As we will continue to confront and face illness, unemployment, heartache, broken relationships, separations and divorces and other moral challenges, we are always and forever will be confronted by this single fundamental question:
Is their an “Attitude Adjustment” anywhere in our futures?
Is there time for a “God sized” “Attitude Adjustment” anywhere in our plans?
Is God’s perspective going to be even minimally, voluntarily sought out?
Remember the faithful Promises of God for an abundant future of hope?
Not our own hope or lack of hope we exclusively reserved for ourselves?
Lose sight of God’s wisdom to know how we should respond to adversity?
Walk the narrow paths of God’s promises?
Walk the broad pathways which lead to our destruction? (Matthew 7:13-14)
Walk the path of faith or will we try to take matters into our own hands?
Abraham was a man who was just like us—he experienced both triumph and failure in his walk of faith.
God had personally promised Abram to make his family a nation and to bless the world through someone from that nation (Genesis 12:1-3).
Though childless, elderly Abraham and his wife, Sarah, would have their “very own son” who would be their heir (Genesis 15:4).
Abraham “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness” an even Sarah herself received the ability to conceive Isaac. (Hebrews 11:8-11)
But after years and years of waiting, Abram and Sarai’s faith had wavered.
They were expecting God to act in good faith, but now had grown impatient.
Presumably, on a monthly basis, their hopes would rise and collapse—and with every passing month and year, Sarah grew older, sadder, and more impatient.
So it was that they reached an explosive crisis of faith.
They knew that God is real, that God is all-powerful, and that God had promised them a son, but they also knew they both got older and didn’t yet have a son.
Would they allow the questions of their hearts to overturn their faith or would they allow their vision of faith in God to overturn the questions of their hearts?
The verses above narrate the sorry conclusion: they took matters into their own hands, and the “best” solution that they adopted was a destructive self-effort.
In doubting and despair, Sarai ordered Abram to sleep with her maid servant, Hagar, in hopes of bringing about the promised child, and Abraham complied.
Perhaps this was acceptable practice in that time and culture, based on the idea that the children of such a union would belong to the owner of the slave-girl.
Abram undoubtedly informed Sarai of God’s promise to him, and Sarai perhaps thought that this was necessary in order to bring about God’s plan for them.
Ancient and Contemporary 20/20 hindsight being what it is, always will be;
It was the wrong decision.
Doubting that God would keep His promise, they instead sought to bring it about by their own (immoral) actions.
They made their decision based on expediency.
They didn’t ask, What is right?
They asked, What can we do for ourselves that will “work things out” for us?
They allowed pragmatism to be their guide over and against faith—and in doing so, they brought about more suffering, more pain, and more heartache for themselves and for Hagar.
They thought intervening by their own devices and their understanding of human nature would simplify things; instead, it complicated everything.
Making Attitude Adjustment, Leaving Matters in God’s Hands
Whenever we set faith aside and apply self-effort, we complicate our lives.
Whenever we seek to take things into our own hands and make our own plans instead of trusting God to keep His promises, we end up with chaos, heartache.
Faith and waiting go hand in hand.
Do not lose heart as you sit in life’s waiting rooms.
It is always right to wait upon God, and it is always right to wait for God.
God sees and knows everything and everyone.
We do not know everything and everyone.
But we can know God more than we do now – if we want to know Him more.
If we want to surrender the sum total of who we believe we are in our eyes.
What areas of life do we need to “make adjustments” to live this out today?
But even in times of hopelessness,
can we adjust our way of thinking an believing we are each Blessedly Assured:
El Roi, “the God who sees,” is 100% watching over us, 100% seeing us, 100% protecting, 100% providing for us all in our darkest hour of need (Psalm 23)?
It is too deep in our human nature, our bleakest moments we too feel all alone.
What is my natural response?
What is your natural response?
What is our natural response?
With a bit of tweaking (attitude adjustment) by the Lord our Savior,
By God’s matchless grace, faithful mercy. one and done forgiveness and love,
What might our “God-Adjusted” responses become?
Job 19:23-27Amplified Bible
Job Says, “My Redeemer Lives”
23 “Oh, that the words I now speak were written! Oh, that they were recorded in a scroll! 24 “That with an iron stylus and [molten] lead They were engraved in the rock forever! 25 “For I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives, And at the last He will take His stand upon the earth. 26 “Even after my [mortal] skin is destroyed [by death], Yet from my [immortal] flesh I will see God, 27 Whom I, even I, will see for myself, And my eyes will see Him and not another! My heart faints within me.
El Roi, “the God who sees,” has never lost sight of us, promises to care for us.
Surely, the Goodness and Mercy of God do follow us all the days of our lives!
What greater, more blessed assurance can we “adjust” ourselves to believing?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 16 The Message
16 1-2 Keep me safe, O God, I’ve run for dear life to you. I say to God, “Be my Lord!” Without you, nothing makes sense.
3 And these God-chosen lives all around— what splendid friends they make!
4 Don’t just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I’ll never treat god-names like brand-names.
5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I’m your choice! You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!
7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I’m awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I’ll stick with God; I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.
9-10 I’m happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell— that’s not my destination!
11 Now you’ve got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I’m on the right way.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
2 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Wisdom, Knowledge and Happiness
As a boy, Charles Dickens knew poverty from bitter experience.
He never forgot what he had learned.
Many of his novels deal with the huge gap between wealth and poverty.
Perhaps the most unforgettable is A Christmas Carol.
Its main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, is a “grasping, clutching, covetous old sinner” who can squeeze blood out of a stone.
Bob Cratchit, his underpaid bookkeeper, shivers in his unheated corner of the office.
But Bob has learned to be content in his situation.
At the meager Cratchit-family Christmas dinner, Bob proposes a toast: “Merry Christmas to Mr. Scrooge, the founder of the feast!”
Mrs. Cratchit objects with the scornful words about Scrooge, but Bob, in all humility replies mildly, “My dear, it’s Christmas … and for the children!”
For all his poverty, Cratchit has wisdom and happiness.
But Scrooge, for all his wealth, has a bleak and miserable “business sense” life.
Here is something of the complexity and mystery about wealth and poverty.
Most people think and deeply believe that wealth brings happiness.
But that is not always so.
Happiness and contentment can exist in the midst of scarcity.
What’s more, the rich can be righteous, and they can be a blessing to the poor.
And just the opposite is equally true, the righteous poor can be a humble and humbled and humbling blessing to the rich – all one needs is a bit more wisdom.
Knowledge of God, Understanding of God through study of His Word, Faith in God, Wisdom from God and living by his love are the keys to finding happiness.
The “Keys” to “Finding” Happiness
Have you ever had someone try to sell you something? What’s the typical pattern a salesperson uses? First, they tell you all the amazing benefits of their service or product. “Our miracle product…
…will lower cholesterol…” …will help you burn fat and lose weight…” …will keep your information safe and secure…” …will give you better gas mileage…” …will make you happy and content…”
And then once you’re convinced they show you the price tag…
“For only four payments of $999.99…” “If you only eat Subway for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day…” “If you sign up for our monthly never-ending subscription-based service…” “Your monthly car payment can be as low as…” “If you sign your life and soul over we will…”
The typical pattern is—here’s the benefits and then here’s how you get them.
Today, I want to reverse that pattern.
First, I want to tell you how to get wisdom, then I want to tell you its benefits.
This is the pattern our passage takes and I like it because when I finally tell you the benefits of wisdom you’ll be able to weigh in your own mind if it’s worth it.
So first…
How to get Wisdom
Wisdom is “skill for living”, but living God’s way instead of our own way.
Once again the father-figure in Proverbs is teaching his son (who we can all put ourselves in the place of) how to get wisdom.
He tells him four ways to get wisdom (not four different ways).
You should do them all if you want to get wisdom.
Proverbs 2:1-5New International Version
Moral Benefits of Wisdom
2 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
The first way to get wisdom we find in verse one.
1. BELIEF IN GOD’S WORD (VERSE 1)
The father-figure says, “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you…”
The author Solomon is talking about a father’s words found in the book of Proverbs, but he’s also talking about God’s whole Word, the Hebrew Scriptures.
The word for commands (mitzvah) can also mean the laws God gave his people Israel (Genesis 26:5; Exodus 26:28).
So it’s like Solomon or the father-figure is saying, “My son, if you want wisdom, believe in God’s Word.”
Each one of us comes to a turning point in our lives where we have to decide the final rule for our lives.
Is it going to be God’s unchanging perfect words and commands that although they are hard we know they are good, true, and best?
Or are we going to choose our own feelings and intuitions and desires and what the world says is best?
God’s Word offers us a firm-foundation for our lives, a foundation that won’t let us down.
But if we choose anything else we’re choosing something that might say one thing today and a different thing tomorrow.
Eggs are good for you. Eggs are bad for you.
Drink coffee. Coffee is bad for you.
Drink more milk. Drink soy milk. Drink almond milk.
Turn right when we should have turned left or stayed straight and narrow.
Stay with Gasoline Vehicles or “Go Green” with Hybrids and Electric cars.
This career path or that career path
How about with what we understand to be the “serious things” of our lives?
Changing and Shifting winds, sands, and crashing waves “defining” what our “correct” Morals and Ethics are “supposed to be” according to the wisest of the most educated, connected, influential, powerful, wealthy “people” on internet.
How many issues can you think or heard of where 10-20 years ago everyone said one things was seriously averse, now today people say just the opposite?
That is generational shifting sands, that’s stormy waters (James 1:5-8).
How about those who “stay the course on the narrow road” and stay steadfast:
“I only want to build my life on the rock of God’s Word that never changes!”
Resolving the Ceaseless Conflict between belief and unbelief in Christ the Lord.
Does knowledge and understanding the Word of God for His Children and the outpouring of the anointing oils its blessed wisdom still have any relevance?
First, we get wisdom by believing in God’s Word.
2. MEMORIZATION OF GOD’S WORD (VERSE 1)
We’re still in verse one. What does it mean to “store up” something?
Did any of you prepare for the Y2K bug?
So kids, a long time ago everyone was worried that when the clocks on our computers turned from December 31st 1999 to January 1st 2000 there was going to be a computer meltdown that would cause world food shortages and financial errors—basically, the apocalypse to end all apocalypses.
So prepare people stored up canned food, powdered food, dried food, and water and drinks that would not go bad.
Our single person household bought whole shelves of Kool-Aid powdered drink.
So by golly if the world failed I am still going to have a storehouse of Kool-Aid.
And when Y2K came and no one but Blockbuster video had problems I still had my Kool-Aid powdered drink, for a while it tasted good, then I got tired of it all.
Wisdom ended up throwing most of it out, to this day wisdom will not drink it.
I “stored up” for the long term to avert disaster.
But so much of what I had stored up for the long term spoiled, went to waste.
Likewise, God calls us to “store up” his Word within us to avert disaster in our lives.
How do we do that?
By memorizing themes and passages weaved in and throughout the Bible.
I want to encourage everyone to “store up” God’s Word in our own hearts because God uses it to strengthen us, give us hope, and teach us how to live.
Outline, underline, color mark foundational verses from the bible – what text speaks to your heart and to your soul and to your life at the moment you read it.
Put it on your mirror or fold it over in your Bible, somewhere you will see it and memorize it.
Read, study, pray and memorize other verses too, one’s that will remind you of the never ending relevance, significance of hope and God’s love and promises.
Second, we get wisdom by memorizing God’s Word.
3. ACCEPTANCE OF GOD’S WORD (VERSE 2)
Proverbs 2:2 says to turn our ears to wisdom and apply our hearts to understanding.
Do you ever get in a disagreement and the person you are fighting with says, “You’re not listening to me!”
Sometimes that’s true.
One person is not paying attention because they’re too busy talking or thinking.
But usually that means “You’re not agreeing with me.”
Proverbs 2:2 is saying to get wisdom we need to hear it with our ears and accept it with our hearts and agree to it with our lives.
We need to open ourselves up and let God’s Words and ways sink deep into who we are.
In Hebrew culture the heart was the core of a person, their true identity.
We do not want God’s Word to go in one ear and out the other, but go in through the ear, through the mind, and down deep into our heart.
When I prepare devotionals that’s one of the things I think about.
I want God’s Word to affect me first but then I want it to affect you all too.
We don’t want to just sit here and hear without listing or agreeing.
The absolute significance of God’s Word and truth is too eternally important.
Third, we get wisdom by accepting God’s Word.
4. ASK GOD FOR IT THROUGH PRAYER (VERSES 3 AND 4)
This is perhaps the simplest way to get wisdom, ask God for it.
Verse 3tells us to “call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding” (NIV).
If you and I want wisdom, pray that God will give us some.
Sometimes prayer is the only step we take.
We ask God for wisdom but we don’t try to memorize and understand his Word.
Prayer goes hand and hand with God’s Word.
It’s like peanut butter and jelly or eggs and bacon or it is like fish and chips.
God’s Word and prayer together make a delicious wisdom platter.
If you and I want wisdom, we have to ask God for it. (1 Kings 3:5-15)
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (NIV)
One of the points Spurgeon makes is that wisdom isn’t just knowing how to “be wise ‘enough’ to make the ‘right decisions’,” but wisdom is a character quality molded, shaped, then reshaped by “interpreting” our experiences.
When you and I pray for wisdom it’s not only that we would make the right choice (it is that) but it’s also praying that God would make us into the kind of people who would make the right choice.
It’s praying God would mold, shape, develop and transform our moral and our ethical character so we choose to do we do it with integrity and discernment.
So how do we get wisdom?
First, by believing in God’s Word.
Second, by studying and memorizing God’s Word.
Third, by accepting God’s Word,
and fourth, by asking God for wisdom through prayer.
Now I’ve told you how to get wisdom, but what are the benefits of wisdom?
What makes it worth doing all those things?
What makes it worth signing up for and sitting inside a classroom for?
The Benefits and Value of Wisdom
The point of these things is not just to do them for the sake of doing them, but for the sake of something greater.
Did you ever watch those old Mastercard commercials?
A man and woman walk into a gas station.
As the gas station attendant rings up their purchases he says:
chips: $3 frozen beverage: $2 gas: $31 starting a new life together: priceless…
But then the woman shakes her head “no” so the gas station attendant tries again.
rekindling a fire that never went out? (she shakes her head again) satisfying a much-needed slushy fix?… Priceless.
So what’s the priceless things we are seeking by pursuing wisdom?
God himself.
Proverbs 2:5-6New International Version
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Verse 5 says if we seek wisdom, “then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”
The fear of the Lord is believing that God’s “threats are real and his promises are true”.
Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave shows us that God’s threats are real—that if we don’t deal with our sins he will put us to death—but his promises are real—that if we put our faith and trust in him he will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It’s as we come to understand who God is through Christ Jesus that we begin to actually know God.
Do you want to know about God or know God?
You might know a lot of things about your favorite celebrity or professional sports athlete, you might know what movies they’re in or their batting average, but that doesn’t mean you know them.
There’s a simple test for if you know them.
Do they know you?
If I were to walk up to Tom Cruise or Tom Brady and if I were to name drop your name what would they say?
“Oh yeah. I know him!” Or more likely … “I am sorry, Who?”
Come with me one step further.
If I were to walk up to God and to name drop your name what would he say?
“Oh yes, I know him/her. I love him/her very much … Or “I am sorry, Who?”
We seek wisdom because we’re seeking God.
We want to know him.
But the next verse tells us this is only possible by God’s grace.
Proverbs 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (NIV)
We can only know God if we want to acknowledge God, to know us.
We can only acquire wisdom if God wants to give it to us.
It’s both an “as we seek” and an “as he gives” kind of exchange.
We seek to obey and know God and God gives us a relationship with him.
Or put it in the reverse.
God gives us a relationship with him and so we obey and know God.
What’s the priceless benefit of wisdom? Knowing God himself.
The benefits just keep growing out of this.
If you know God you are part of the family and God protects you.
Proverbs 2:7-8New International Version
7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Benefit and Value of God’s Protection (Verses 7-19)
Proverbs 2:7-19 New International Version
7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 13 who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.
16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, 17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a] 18 Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
God’s wisdom grants us protection from potential disasters.
I don’t mean natural disasters but rather God’s wisdom protect us from ourselves, from bad things we might do.
God’s wisdom protects us from:
Committing injustice (v9-11) – Sinning against others by treating them unfairly. If God gives us his wisdom we will want to treat others with fairness and equity even at cost to ourselves.
Wicked men (or women) who love sin (v12-15) – “those who take advantage of others for their own gain.” As God grants us wisdom and character like His we won’t be drawn to them but will learn how to recognize them for who they are.
Unfaithful women (or men) who break their marriage promise (v16-19) – Verse 16 says that “Wisdom will save you […] from the wayward woman with her seductive words.” (NIV) Sometimes beauty might cause a break in marriage vows but often it is words, words of affirmation and acceptance. It’s a listening ear. Emotional adultery comes before acting it out. God gives us wisdom so we know how to stay away from relationships that lead to this kind of disaster.
But there’s one more benefit to wisdom.
A FOREVER HOME WITH GOD (VERSES 20 to 22)
Proverbs 2:20-22New International Version
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; 22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
Proverbs 2:21 says, “For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it;” (NIV)
It’s an interesting way to close this passage in Proverbs because it’s a reminder to the Israelite people that they get to stay in the promised land if they obey God and keep his commandments (Exodus 20:1-17).
But where’s the promise for us?
The benefits of wisdom are knowing God, protection from mistakes in this life, and an eternal home with God in the life to come.
Hebrews says that the heroes of our faith “were longing for a better country—a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).
If that’s you, if you are the one longing for a better home, then pursue wisdom.
Seek God by believing his Word, memorizing it, accepting it, and prayer.
John 14:5-14New International Version
Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[a] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Wisdom is a gift, but it’s a gift we help work for.
Knowing God is a gift!
Spending eternity with him is a gift!
His protection is a gift!
But they are gifts we have to choose to seek by choosing to seek His wisdom.
John 14:1-3New International Version
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Let our hearts not be troubled.
Believe in God!
Believe in His Resurrected Son, Jesus!
Believe in God’s Holy Spirit!
Let our Hearts Seek His wisdom and we WILL find our forever home with God!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Holy God, Word made flesh, let us come to this word open to being surprised. Silence our agendas; banish our assumptions; cast out our casual detachment. Confound our expectations; clear the cobwebs from our ears; penetrate the corners of our hearts with this word. We know that you can, we pray that you will, and we wait with great anticipation. Amen.
Empty us, Great God, of all that prevents us from hearing what you want us to hear. Empty us of our preconceptions, our preoccupations and our prejudices. Empty us that we might be filled with your Spirit and your Word. Empty us that we might be filled for ministry and mission. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Calm us now, O Lord, into a quietness that heals and listens. Open wounded hearts to the balm of your Word. Speak to us in clear tones so that we might feel our spirits leap for joy and skip with a living hope as your resurrection witnesses. Amen.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
2 1-5 Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life. Tune your ears to the world of Wisdom; set your heart on a life of Understanding. That’s right—if you make Insight your priority, and won’t take no for an answer, Searching for it like a prospector panning for gold, like an adventurer on a treasure hunt, Believe me, before you know it Fear-of-God will be yours; you’ll have come upon the Knowledge of God.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
On a brochure I saw in the Narthex of a new church I read these words in red:
“If I am really a Christian … then why isn’t Jesus Christ more real in my life?”
It made for rather interesting reading considering the church was a new plant and had only opened its doors to the community a scant ninety days before.
It was actually quite thought provoking – even more so than I first expected.
If you have ever wondered about that, “why isn’t Jesus more real to me,” you should know that you are not the first and you will not be the last one either.
Even writers of the Bible, especially the psalmists, wrestled with this question.
Even the Book of Proverbs offers its readers many intriguing statements which even today have turned into contemporary Parent to Children admonishments.
1. Many hands make light work
When many people work together to accomplish a difficult task, it doesn’t seem so difficult. That is the general meaning of this proverb. In other words, if many people work together, the work is easier and is usually completed more quickly.
2. Honesty is the best policy
It is best to always be honest and tell the truth, even when telling the truth hurts you. By doing so, humbling self will win the trust and respect of others.
3. Don’t judge abook by its cover
Don’t be too quick to form an opinion or make a judgment about someone or something based on its outward appearance – you could embarrass yourself.
4. Where there’s a will, there’s always a way
If your desire to accomplish something is strong enough, you will find a way to do it.
5. Actions speak louder than words
A person’s true character can be seen by what he does, not by what he says. A person can talk as much as he wants, but he may not actually do anything to back up his words. All the bluster and bravado of leadership loses its luster if the one doing all of the bragging inevitably does nothing, retreats from their words.
6. Always put your best foot forward
The meaning of this proverb is that you should always try your best to make a good first impression on others; reveal and show your best traits and qualities.
7. Do not be wise in thine own eyes
The meaning of this proverb is very clear: the consistent witness of Scripture is that Jehovah God and God alone is the One, only true source of wisdom and life.
If we are faith-filled and faithful in following Him, He will “abundantly” bless us; if not, in our own self righteousness, we risk significant peril and judgment.
One of the most dangerous traps we can fall prey to is justifying ourselves based on our own self reported, ideals, definitions and understandings of judgment.
When we assume that we are more in the right than not and others are more in the wrong than not, including “God is more wrong,” it is a recipe for disaster.
When we automatically assume we are smarter than others, then find out we are not … much to our detriment and personal embarrassment – “eating crow.”
When we try to assume that our understanding of smart is the same as God’s and we come up square against the mirrors of our wildest display of ignorance.
The Book of Proverbs puts our perspective of our lives directly in God’s face, the end result is we invariably learn we are neither smarter nor wiser than anyone.
God desires we understand balancing our life, morals and ethics with His Ways.
We desire and boast of our own abilities, about how we ourselves balance our own lives with our own understanding of own morals and ethics absent God.
There are many reasons, of course, why people might sometimes feel that way.
I will let each reader draw from their own experiences for their own rationales.
Wisdom of Self Reliance versus Wisdom of Reliance on God and God alone?
One place to start in reflecting on this is to recognize that God highly desires and also highly values an ever growing spiritual depth, maturity in his people.
Not necessarily intellectual depth or all kinds of biblical knowledge —though these things are good—but connectional depth in relationship with God, as opposed to the shallowness, superficiality of human to human relationships.
“That we may know HIM more, that we may know OUR selves less.” (John 3:30)
Proverbs 2:1-5 talks about accepting and storing up and turning our ear and soul and applying our heart and calling out for insight and crying aloud for greater and greater understanding of God and looking and searching for God.
It uses action words like these; applying, calling, crying, looking, searching for, to describe what we should be actively engaging in our daily pursuit of wisdom.
Bottom line?
If we want to have it,
If we have to want it,
We have to be willing to engage in a process which involves actual action.
We have to be fully committed to the pursuit, wantonly going after wisdom.
It will take an enormous amount of work, and it will take your whole heart.
Most things, which nowadays, humanity is quite more reluctant to engage in.
But, without that, God, Jesus and Holy Spirit—and wisdom—won’t seem real.
With my eyes being widened from their slumber ….
With a constant sensation of a “tap tap tap” upon my shoulders ….
With someone or something putting their “elbows” into my side ….
With my interest being peaked ….
With my soul being quickened by something or someone ….
It makes me want to dig a little deeper, again.
It makes me want to listen more to what the Holy Spirit is trying to say to me.
“Where is Jehovah God nudging me towards … what future with what hope?”
What if we really listen and hear what God really says in Proverbs?
Proverbs 2:1-5 Amplified Bible
The Pursuit of Wisdom Brings Security
2 My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, 2 So that your ear is attentive to [skillful and godly] wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding [seeking it conscientiously and striving for it eagerly]; 3 Yes, if you cry out for insight, And lift up your voice for understanding; 4 If you seek skillful and godly wisdom as you would silver And search for her as you would hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] And discover the knowledge of God.
Have you ever thought about the difference between hearing and listening?
Did you know there was a real difference?
To “listen” means that we are paying attention to the sound, thoughtful and considerate attention to the sound.
To “hear” refers to perceiving something with our ears, kind of like seeing with our ears.
In the long and winding concourse of living and loving life today there are quite literally hundreds of diverse noises a day which are competing for our attention.
There are so many different noises and sounds that most of us do not pay very much attention to most of them – we shut them out as “background noises.”
The television can be on, the phone ringing, video games blasting, radios in our ears and everyone in my house talking at once and I can still tune most of it out.
It is not I am not hearing all the cacophony of noise, but I am not listening to it.
But all of that discipline of “tuning out,” and “not listening” carries a big risk.
What else am I “tuning out,” or “not hearing” or “listening to?”
Psalm 19:1-3 Amplified Bible
The Works and the Word of God.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
19 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And the expanse [of heaven] is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day after day pours forth speech, And night after night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there [spoken] words [from the stars]; Their voice is not heard.
My Mom used to tell me when everything seemed to be going backwards;
“Look unto the sun by day and the stars by night and know it will be alright!”
God gave us eyes to see the sunshine, beauty and grandeur of nature around us.
God gave us a curiosity that when we see the stars at night – we have to know just how many of them we can count – so we lie back on the ground and count.
God also gave each and everyone of us two ears to hear the beauty of sound and one mouth, He gave us the ability to listen so that the sound can be understood.
When both hearing and listening and minimal speaking working together in unison, we have a quiet, quieted, understanding of the purpose of the sound.
You can hear music and feel music but not actually listen to the words.
When both music and lyrics are understood, the beauty and meaning of the whole song is revealed to you.
You can hear the words of a person speaking to you, but if you truly listen to the person, you will better understand their heart, the meaning behind their words.
The same principle holds true with God’s Word.
We can hear the Word preached, taught and read.
We can read the Word ourselves and hear our own voices speak it.
But, when we really listen to God’s Word, then our understanding begins to change.
So many times, people leave church after having heard a sermon and not ever remember anything about it.
When we look up to the heavens, we may only hear the sound of the winds rushing through the trees, crickets or the frogs in the pond, birds in the air.
We cannot see the winds nor the crickets nor the frogs nor the birds in the air.
We know they are there because we can hear the sounds of the winds through the leaves, from rubbing of the crickets legs, frogs croaking and birds singing
When we are listening and giving consideration to what we are hearing, we will leave thinking about what we just heard.
The next step is to start talking back to God, asking Him to open up more of our hearts and souls to understanding what is being communicated from all sides.
Take time today, think about how much you hear versus how much you listen.
How much are you missing of what God has for you?
Is He talking to you but you are not paying attention?
Take your Bible, dust off its cover and read today’s text from Proverbs 2:1-5.
Instead of just reading the words and hearing them in our heads, pray the Holy Spirit will give us the power to listen, to understand the message God has for us.
When the Word of God truly becomes His voice in our life, then our hearing and our listening will open up our souls unto a new world of understanding for us.
Our lives are guaranteed to change.
But it all begins with God’s wisdom which comes from understanding the difference between hearing and listening—so, start listening to God today.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Jehovah God,Lord of wisdom, Author of my life, there are so any truths to sort out, so many ways of understanding what my eyes behold and what my ears hear, I cannot listen to it all for it is just too overwhelming. Being overwhelmed, I am sometimes finding understanding the wisdom of Bible to be difficult. I know you want me to apply your word to my life. I thank you for giving me your word so I can grow in my relationship with you. Help me to grasp what you want me to know as I read your revealed word. Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. Be my teacher, so I can live and obey your word. Thank you for your wise advice. Amen.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 