Weekly Devotion - "How Long" - May 23,2011

 from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

HOW LONG?

Does not wisdom call out?

Does not understanding raise her voice?

Proverbs 8:1

Tag is typically fun for children. Add a phone and adulthood to the experience and it’s no longer an enjoyable game. It can become frustrating when you can’t connect with someone that you need to talk to!

In Proverbs chapter 1 there is a phone tag of sorts going on between personified Wisdom and her listeners. The result of not connecting goes beyond frustration. Wisdom warns that not answering her call leads to painful consequences!

Wisdom’s first call is public. From the noisy streets, public square, and gateways of the cities, Wisdom cries out to anyone who will hear: “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge” (Proverbs 1:22)?

God asked Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? How long will this wicked community grumble against me” (Numbers 14:11, 27a)? Joshua, Elijah, and Jeremiah asked the same question of God’s people. “How long?”  (Joshua 18:3, 1 Kings 18:21, Jeremiah 4:14, 21; 12:4; 31:22; 47:5).

Any amount of time is too long if we’re not walking God’s way. Hear God’s urgent plea through the Psalmist. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts (Psalm 95:8).

Wisdom’s call is rejected. Wisdom said, If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you (v. 23). The aftereffect of rejecting and ignoring the call to be wise leads to the painful consequences of disaster, calamity, distress, and trouble (v. 25-27).

Wisdom will reject our call. It sounds a lot like Aesop’s fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Wisdom says this to those who continually reject her and then cry out when they’re in trouble: They will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me (v. 28).

Each and every day God speaks His wisdom into our lives through His Word, His Spirit, His Creation, and His people. And each and every day we have a choice to listen and obey or reject and ignore. God says, Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm (v. 33). To those who spurn His rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes (v. 30).

Wisdom Step: Is there an area in your life where the Spirit is calling, “How long?” Our time is long but limited. Respond to Wisdom’s call today!

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.

Robert Robinson

Weekly Devotion - "Christ: The Widsom of God' - May 16, 2011

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

CHRIST: THE WISDOM OF GOD

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

1 Corinthians 1:30

When Jesus said that the Old Testament was written about Him that included the book of Proverbs that we’ll be studying in the season ahead (Luke 24:44). Proverbs is God’s handbook on wisdom and Christ is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).

Before Jesus entered this world as a man, Isaiah prophesied that His life would be marked by wisdom. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD (Isaiah 11:2). See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted (Isaiah 52:13).

Jesus displayed wisdom from His youth. Luke 2:40 says, And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. He was twelve years old when He sat in the temple courts among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Scripture tells us that everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers (Luke 2:47).

He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52) and displayed wisdom in His parables, teaching, and life. Think on His wisdom when He talked to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), diffused tension between Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), and said to those intent on stoning a woman who was caught in the act of adultery, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:1-11). Religious leaders kept close watch on Him and tried to trap Him in what He said in public. Instead, these leaders were astonished by His answers (Luke 20:26)!

God is the source of all wisdom and Jesus is the perfection of all wisdom. The book of Proverbs tells us how to be wise even as it points us to the all-wise God. Within the book of Proverbs there are clear distinctions between the wise and the foolish, between walking the highway of the upright and the path of the wicked.

Those who are wise choose Jesus. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:7-8, emphasis added). Through Him He gives us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know Him better (Ephesians 1:17). Thanks be to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Wisdom Step: Simultaneously read the book of Proverbs and the gospels. Take note of how Jesus perfectly obeyed the Proverbs. Let’s follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21).

As the one who lived wisdom, the one who is wisdom, the one who is the way of wisdom, and the one who supplies wisdom, Jesus is present in Proverbs in a most profound way.

Anthony Selvaggio

Weekly Devotion - "Why Proverbs" - May 9, 2011

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

WHY PROVERBS?

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair.

Proverbs 1:1-3

Math is my most challenging subject. More often than not when a new concept was introduced in geometry or algebra and I was stumped, I’d groan to my parents, “Why do I need to learn this? I’ll never use it again in my life!”

For those who may question why it’s important to dedicate a year to studying the book of Proverbs, Solomon, the writer of the book, tells us. Within the first sentence of the first chapter, he lays out the purpose of the book (Proverbs 1:1-3).

Here’s Solomon’s purpose and God’s plan for you and me in the book of Proverbs.

1. To teach us to attain wisdom and discipline for understanding words of insight. We’re not born wise and we don’t automatically or magically become wise when we accept Christ as our Savior. True wisdom only comes from God (Proverbs 9:10). In order to live rightly we need to listen to God’s wisdom, discipline, instruction, and correction.  Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise (Proverbs 19:20). It’s a continuous education program as we sit under the teaching of His Word and Spirit.

2. To teach us to acquire a disciplined and prudent life. Our culture calls the prudent killjoys, spoilsports, and wet blankets. It’s God who gives the true definition of being a prude. The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways (Proverbs 14:8a). The prudent make choices based on the knowledge of God and have a God-given understanding of where they are going.

 

3. To teach us to do what is right and just and fair. Righteousness, justice, and equity are attributes of God that He desires to see in our relationships with one another.  Through His wisdom we will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path (Proverbs 2:9). These virtues are evidence of His wisdom at work in our lives.

The book of Proverbs is God’s handbook on how to live rightly. Studying and then habitually choosing to live by the wisdom found in the book of Proverbs will provide life-changing discipleship that will inspire us to walk wisely and live a life that goes beyond the gold.

Wisdom Step: How well have you been listening and obeying God’s advice and instruction in His Word? If a course correction is needed be wise and begin today.

The goal of Proverbs is to grow ever closer to the God who is Wisdom. Knowing God is the proper definition of the good life, and the highest goal of the Proverbs-driven life.

Anthony Selvaggio

Weekly Devotion : "The Highway of the Upright" - May 2, 2011

from Lenae, GEMS training manager

THE HIGHWAY OF THE UPRIGHT

The highway of the upright avoids evil; he (she) who guards his (her) way guards his (her) life.

Proverbs 16:17

As a child, the first time I heard the story about Balaam and the talking donkey, it sent me into a fit of giggles. Can you imagine such a thing – a donkey that talks? What’s not difficult to picture is someone choosing a wrong path even when God made it clear before departure, during the journey, and at the arrival, that this is not His will. Maybe you’ve seen that in others. Maybe like me, you’ve seen it in your life.

The elders of Moab and Midian were terrified of the Israelites. They witnessed what they had done to the Amorites and feared they would be next. So they asked Balaam to come with them to put a curse on the people of Israel. They were prepared to pay for his services.

From all outward appearances, Balaam seems to be walking on the highway of the upright. “Spend the night here,” Balaam said to them, “and I will bring you back the answer the LORD gives me.” But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed” (Numbers 22:8, 12).

The next morning Balaam obediently delivered the message. The LORD has refused to let me go with you” (Numbers 22:13).  They begged him again, sending more numerous and more distinguished princes, plus increasing the size of Balaam’s reward. Balaam asked the LORD again, and this time He gave consent for the purpose of cursing instead of blessing the Moabites.

When Balaam saddled his donkey for Moab to go where he should’ve never gone, to do what he should’ve never asked permission to do, God was very angry. Using an angel and a donkey, the LORD turned Balaam off the road, had his foot crushed against a wall, and had the donkey rebuke him.

Balaam tried to straddle two roads. Outwardly he looked like he was obeying God, but inwardly he was motivated by greed. In time, his true self was unmasked. He was walking the highway of wrong living, and experienced the painful consequences that so often correlate to bad choices.

Walking two roads may seem like it works for a time, but like Balaam our true selves will be revealed, and the curtain will open and reveal the masquerade. There’s no fooling God (Psalm 94:8-9). Wrong paths come with painful consequences, but the highway of the upright avoids evil; he (she) who guards his (her) way guards his (her) life (Proverbs 16:17).

Wisdom Step: Are you choosing a path that God has made clear is not His will? If so, what course correction will you make today?

Every path that leads to heaven is trodden by willing feet.

No one is every driven to paradise.

Howard Crosby