Reflections From The Proverbs: VICTORY

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Proverbs Chapter Two
7. He holds victory in store for the upright, NIV

I like the way the King James Version words this verse. It reads: He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous.
The victory prize is wisdom. When I think of the word victory it takes me back to my high school days and those oh so important football games. The cheerleaders would lead the crowd to spell out V-I-C-T-O-R-Y then shout VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY! We all wanted our team to be victorious. I can still get a little caught up watching our Razorbacks. It is interesting to watch the crowds. You can easily tell the casual fans from the real fans. The real fans exhibit behaviors that tell you they really want their team to win.
All that yelling and stomping and "calling of the hogs" spurs the team on, but what really counts is the time spent on the practice fields when no one is cheering. The daily grind of going through the plays over and over. Those players want that prize of victory bad enough to work for it.

I feel certain that everyone wants to be victorious when it comes to attaining wisdom. We all admire those whom we consider to be wise. We all want the benefits that wisdom brings. Everyone wants to cross that end zone and claim the prize. The question is how bad do we want it? Are we like the players investing the practice time, or are we like the casual fans more worried about the traffic jams than who wins the game? Do we sometimes settle for mediocre lives instead of powerful lives because we don’t want it bad enough. Or do we miss out on exciting challenges because the discipline involved in attaining true wisdom seems too great.

God is so awesome. Not only does He hold the prize in His hand waiting for us to come claim it, He gives us a robe of righteousness that makes us worthy to claim it.
Paul says in Romans Chapter 3 :21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
Because of my faith in Him, Jesus traded His righteousness for my sinfulness. Then all my sinfulness perished on the cross. He will lead me and empower me through the grind of life. Every now and then I know that I have passed into the end zone and I am given a little portion of sound wisdom.
It is a process, and sometimes I am more yielded to His leadership and power than at others. It is an amazing process. As I gain bits of wisdom, I am drawn closer to this wonderful redeemer. And as I draw closer to Him, I gain more bits of wisdom.
I pray that God will help us all become avid fans of the God and me (or God and you) team. I pray that he will help us all yearn for victory and strive for the prize of sound wisdom.

Reflections From The Proverbs: From His Mouth

From His Mouth

Proverbs Chapter Two
6. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. NIV

As humans we cannot grasp the depth of wisdom. What comes from His mouth can be nothing less than pure wisdom and great power. Looking back to Genesis to the account of creation it says: And God said, "Let there be light," And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water. And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place. And God said, "let the land produce vegetation. And God said, "let there be lights in the sky". And God said, "let the water teem with living creatures and let birds fly above the earth And God said, let the land produce living creatures after their kinds.
All these things were spoken into existence. The wisdom and power that came from the mouth of God created all that we see around us.
All around us God has given us His letter of recommendation that He is the authority of wisdom. From the dainty hummingbird that hovers at my feeder like a tiny helicopter to the lovely butterfly that last year was a not so lovely worm. From the spinning of our world that brings a sunrise and sunset each day to the moon that changes location and shape from night to night. Everything I see has His stamp of intelligence and wisdom all over it.
From the account of creation we go on to accounts of the Holy God speaking to man. He spoke to Adam, He spoke to Noah. He spoke to Abraham. He spoke to Joseph. He spoke to Moses, and He wrote down His words on tablets of stone for us. He spoke to the prophets.
The prophet Jeremiah had a conversation with God that went something like this:
"Jeremiah, before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
"Ah, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
"Jeremiah, do not say, "I am only a child". You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you."
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth and said, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.
I like what the scriptures say about Samuel: The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. Samuel understood that what comes from the mouth of God is true and has value and power.
The last point I want to make from this verse is that the Lord gives wisdom. He is a very giving God. It is His desire to give us wisdom. If we want to learn music we go to a master of music to learn. If we want to learn a sport, we go to a master of that sport to learn and become proficient. If we want wisdom, we must go to the wisdom master. I pray that we will be a people with a heart that treasures the words of His mouth and is hungry for His wisdom.

Reflections From The Proverbs: Searching For Hidden Treasure

Searching For Hidden Treasure

Proverbs Chapter Two
1. 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. And 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.
Don’t argue with them, don’t change them or water them down, don’t ignore them. When it comes to God’s words, just accept them as you would a gift. What does he say that we should do with his commands? He says, "store them up". Not like you would store things in the attic or the garage, but He tells us to store them within us. File them carefully in your heart so you can run to that file and pull it out when you need it. They have value. God wants you to understand that they have great value. They aren’t like junk mail that you receive and then toss out. He says store them up.
He also says turn your ear or in other words, focus your attention on what I tell you, and let it go to your heart. Don’t just have a head knowledge of what I say, let it penetrate your heart. Let it affect what you really care about. Let it cause you to see and feel the way God sees and feels.
He says, " Ask me, call out for insight, cry out to me for understanding".
Then he says, and if you look for it as for silver, or, if in your heart you understand that what you are asking for has very great value like a hidden treasure, then you will come to understand the beginning of knowledge which is the fear of the Lord. And you will find the knowledge of God.
In verse 5 the word "of" can mean two different things. It can mean knowledge "about" God, or it could mean knowledge "belonging to" God.. Either way the knowledge is a priceless treasure.
Personally I think it can be both. When we are willing to submit our lives to the path that God directs, I believe we will find knowledge about our creator and knowledge from the depths of his resources that will come in no other way.
In these verses we find a list of action words that propel us towards that goal of wisdom.
Accept my words. Store up my commands. Turn your ear. Apply your heart. Call out. Cry aloud. Look for it. Search for it. Then after doing these things, then you will understand how worthy our Heavenly Father is to be feared and to be reverenced. This understanding, this knowledge of God puts us on a path of treasure to be discovered day by day.
I pray to our awesome God that today, on this historic inauguration day, the people of this nation will accept His words, that we will store them in our hearts, that we will turn our ears and apply our hearts to His wisdom.

Reflections From The Proverbs: Wisdom Heard

Wisdom Heard

Proverbs Chapter 1
32. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33. but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear or harm.God desires for us to listen to the voice of wisdom. He wants us to understand that the choice to listen is vitally important. This choice is not a do I want chocolate or vanilla decision, this is a do I want life or death decision.
"Simple" people are not the uneducated, in fact highly educated people can be "simple". The word refers to the morally foolish and easily seduced. All of us can be sidetracked by something that is off the path of wisdom. When this happens, wisdom will call you back. Those who are simple will not hear this call.
The word translated "complacency" is the word "shalvah" . It is a word that means "security".
The dictionary defines complacence as the secure satisfaction with one’s self. A place of complacency is a scary place indeed.
We need a wisdom beyond our own. We need a wisdom that can see into tomorrow. We need a wisdom guided by love.
Sweet are the promises that say, "If you listen to my wisdom you will live in safety and be at ease, without fear or harm."
There is quite a contrast here, death and destruction vs. safety and ease of mind. Who in their right mind would pick a path of death and destruction over a path of safety? The answer is many would and many do. Many who are guided by trust in self. God says over and over, "trust in me."
Proverbs 3: 5-6 says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
I love that word "whoever" in verse 33 above. It means that there are no requirements to qualify for the opportunity to listen to this heavenly wisdom. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female. It doesn’t matter if you are a child or an adult. It doesn’t matter what color your skin is, and it doesn’t matter what your station in life is. You could be the CEO of a large company, or you could be the one who irons his shirts. God makes his wisdom available to all who are willing to listen. If you are willing to "listen" you will find that place of safety. Your mind will be at ease and your heart will ask the question that David asked. The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid?
The King James Version uses the word "hearkeneth" instead of the word "listen". I like it better because this kind of listening requires hearing and obedience. It requires paying attention to what is heard. I can listen to words of wisdom like I listen to a song on the radio, or I can hearkeneth to the words of wisdom and apply them to my life.
Because God loves us so deeply we can trust him completely. We can trust him enough to listen to his words of wisdom for our lives.