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.
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.
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). 