Tag: truth

Don’t Be Wise (Proverbs 3:7-10)

There is sufficient wisdom in Proverbs 3:7 alone to keep us going for a lifetime! As you probably do not want to spend the rest of your life reading my blog, I will try to be concise!

7 Don’t be wise in your own eyes.

Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil.

8 It will be health to your body,

and nourishment to your bones.

9 Honor Yahweh with your substance,

with the first fruits of all your increase:

10 so your barns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will overflow with new wine.

Proverbs 3:7-10 WEB)

Taken out of context, the phrase “Don’t be wise…” does not appear too often in Proverbs! This is heavily qualified though by adding “in your own eyes.”

Our own eyes, when used to look on ourselves, are rarely a good judge. Few people would admit to being unwise, and only by looking at ourselves soberly can we obtain a truer estimate.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, says this:

For I say through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith.

Romans 12:3 (WEB)

Too often we give ourselves miles of leeway, while giving others none whatsoever. We judge our own intentions, while we criticise others’ performance (irrespective of their intent).

Too often we give ourselves miles of leeway, while giving others none whatsoever. #Bible #Wisdom #Christianity

When we think we are wise, we can be overinflated and that makes us careless and prone to mistakes. Rather, we should know that wisdom comes from dependence on God and on His ways. Each and every moment we must surrender to Him, seeking His guidance and obeying His commands.

Verse 7 ends by telling us to fear God and depart from evil. That is something we must live our lives by!

Verse 8 links the fear of the Lord to our physical health. We have touched on this point before, earlier on in Proverbs 3, and will do so again later on. Being a Christian does not guarantee good health, neither does avoiding evil prevent all and every sickness. The principle here is that if we make wisdom our guide, following Jesus and steering well clear of evil, then we reduce our likelihood of ill-health. As we noted before, this is a natural consequence. It is wise to eat healthily, exercise regularly and avoid excessive stress. I do not think anyone would argue that such things will indeed bring health to our bodies.

Verse 9 and 10 instruct us to honour God with our money and possessions. This is quite right to do, and is essentially an act of our worship. We may pray, sing songs, study the Bible and attend church; all of which are acts of praise. Giving of our money and possessions is every bit as important though.

How so? Because we humans are rather attached to our money and “things.” By offering them freely to the Lord, we are rightly putting Him above all such material items. We invest much of our life trying to earn money, and so, by giving it to God, we are reminding ourselves of His rightful place in our life.

God has given us so very much! And by offering back to Him a portion of our income, we are honouring Him. Notice it uses the phrase “first fruits” indicating that we do not give God whatever we have left at the end of the month, rather we give Him the first part of our income because He is first in our lives.

Verse 10 begins with the word “So” indicating that what it says is the result of our giving in verse 9. Because we have given God first place in our lives, even with our income (verse 9), we will have barns filled with plenty and vats overflowing with wine (verse 10).

I want to tread carefully here, as many who buy into the prosperity gospel might teach this rather simply as “Give to God, and He’ll give back to you.” God is not an ATM or better still, fruit machine. We do not simply throw in a coin, crank the handle and out comes a jackpot. God is not a machine, nor a set of rules for us to decipher and “crack the code.” He is a Person, and a Father, and He is keen for us to learn a healthy relationship to money.

Like any good Father does, God wants us to use money wisely; He was us to have possessions, but does not want them to have us! By putting Him first in our finances, and indeed in every area, we are ensuring that God is number one and that nothing is competing for His place.

So do not be wise in your own eyes. Do not think you can get away with evil, ignore God and live a healthy and abundant life. God wants us to be healthy, and I believe He wants us to have good things too, but more than either of those, He wants us to be devoted to Him and His glory. We do not seek after money, nor do we consider ourselves to be God’s gift to humanity.

Rather, we should be sober minded, honest about our own wisdom, and utterly dependant on God for our physical and financial needs.

Thanks for reading!

Parable Surprises – Wedding Banquet

While the phrase is weeping and gnashing of teeth are not entirely encouraging, they are important biblical concepts. this blog post offers some interesting insights into their meaning, and some more general thoughts on this particular parable which I will encourage you to read.

I do not like to share posts too often, as I do not want to weary my readership! But there are some truly amazing writers on WordPress, so do explore for yourselves and find them!

Weddings are awesome, but sometimes full of tension and surprises. To plan a wedding is one of the more complex projects I have been involved with. …

Parable Surprises – Wedding Banquet

One Thing I Ask

The one thing I ask of the Lord—

    the thing I seek most—

is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

    delighting in the Lord’s perfections

    and meditating in his Temple.

Psalm 27:4 (WEB)

I recall a time when I was speaking to a group of students about what heaven might be like. One of them thought it would be like a perpetual praise service, with unending worship, music and dancing. Another student thought that sounded more like torture than paradise!

In this verse from the Psalms, King David is making a request. He does not ask for gold or silver, victory in battle nor wives and children. Instead, he requests that he might live in the house of the Lord all the days of his life.

Does that sound like something you would want?

Sometimes we are guilty of wanting the gifts more than the Giver, and for seeking God’s presents instead of His presence. The Lord Himself is our reward though, and far greater than any gift we could want.

The psalm points out two things we might do in His presence.

The first is to delight! Delight is a wonderful word, and means to have a “high degree of pleasure or enjoyment.” That sounds like something we want to do more of! Delighting in what though? In the Lord’s perfections. We might think of this as delighting in God’s character or attributes.

God is an infinite God, with wonders beyond measure. A day dwelling on who He is and enjoying His character is a day well spent in my book. How often do you set aside time to do nothing else but simply enjoy the Lord?

The second thing is meditation. Meditation is not emptying one’s mind of thought, but instead it is filling it with the wonders of God and His Word. It is said that meditation is like rumination, which is the action of a cow chewing the grass over and over again. When we meditate on God, we are deploying our thinking on all the goodness of His character and ways.

To meditate on the Lord is, I believe, to begin to delight in Him also. One leads to the other. The more we meditate, the more delighted we become, and the more delighted we are, the more we want to dwell on who He is.

Paul says, in Philippians:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

You need not think about everything that pops into your head, but can direct your thoughts on to Jesus.

You need not #think about everything that pops into your head, but can direct your thoughts on to #Jesus. #Bible

Set aside some time when you can, even if it is just fifteen minutes, and delight yourself in the Lord. Make a list of all the good things He has done for you, and note down the aspects of His character which most excite you. It will be time well spent indeed!

For more thoughts on Philippians 4:8, check out my post – Pure vs OK

Trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6)

In our study of the book of Proverbs, we reach a set of rather well-known verses. At some point in my life, I committed these to memory and they have never faded. There are many people who would recognise these, but I wonder how many actually put them into practice?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;

    do not depend on your own understanding.

6 Seek his will in all you do,

    and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

Trust

It seems obvious that Christians should trust the Lord, and if you asked them, then I guess most would say they do. Sometimes though, our actions betray that we do not really trust Him. Worry, for example, is a clear indication that we are not fully trusting in the Lord. When we worry, we are not acting in faith but rehearsing all the things that might go wrong. If we cannot trust God enough not to worry about a minor problem we have, then how can we trust Him for eternal salvation?

If we cannot #trust #God enough not to #worry about a minor problem we have, then how can we trust Him for eternal #salvation? #Bible #Wisdom #Jesus

A few days ago, some Christian friends and I were discussing persecution and even martyrdom. There are Christians in this world who face death simply for acknowledging Jesus as Lord. Yet we crumble if someone makes fun of us for our faith, or merely laughs at us.

If we really trust Him, then we must trust Him even unto death itself. That is surely the point of our faith?

All Your Heart

As we trust in God, we do not do so in a small way. We cannot partially trust Him! Instead, we must trust Him fully and completely, with all of our heart.

Our hearts must not be divided. We should not say we trust in God, but then have a backup plan.

In what ways do you find it difficult to trust God? Is it with your health, your family, your career or something else? Whatever it may be, you can rely on God. The Bible is full of promises which you can build your trust upon. Dig into that Word and strengthen your faith by storing those promises deep within your heart. Not every promise is for the here and now, but a day will come when every Word God has spoken will be fulfilled – in this life or the next.

God is not a man that He should lie, and every single thing He has said will be proved true.

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Num 23:19 #Bible

Leave any doubts behind, and follow Him with all of your heart. You can fully rely on Him and what He has promised.

Lean Not On Your Own Understanding

Verse five tells us not just to trust God, but to lean not on our own understanding. To put it another way, we must not reason or use our own thinking to determine our path. I do want to be careful here, as clearly we have a brain and God intended us to use it. The difference is though that we are not to pursue it if it contradicts what God is telling us.

Take giving for an example. Our brains would tell us that to give is to have less. The Bible, and therefore God, tells us that if we give, it will be given back to us – a good measure, pressed down and shaken together (Luke 6:37). If we think and our understanding says, do not give, then we should dismiss it and instead follow the command of the Lord.

Our understanding will always be limited, because we are limited and sinful beings. God’s understanding is complete, because He knows the end from the beginning, and we would do well to defer to His judgement instead of our own.

Seek and Acknowledge

6 Seek his will in all you do,

    and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:6 (NLT(

Verse six, rendered here from the New Living Translation, advises us to seek God’s will. In the New International Version, it is instead telling us to acknowledge God. These two translations paint slightly different pictures, and yet both are extremely helpful and powerful advice.

Seek God’s will in your life, and not your own. Do not simply live your life in whatever way you see fit, but instead, put God in charge and follow Him. Do not merely follow Him in word only, but let your deeds show that you are directed by God, not your feelings, dreams or wants.

Acknowledging God is to consider Him in all that you do. It means when you go to work, you recognise that God goes with you. When you go shopping, you do so aware of the Lord’s presence. It is really about doing life with God. We do not simply call on Him on a Sunday morning, but live with Him throughout the week.

All You Do

Verse six says to acknowledge God, or to seek Him, in all that we do. As above, this means that whatever it is you do, do it all unto the Lord. God is not reserved for only the spiritual aspects of life, but for the entire thing. God wants to be involved in your every day, no matter if you are doing DIY, running errands or watching TV.

In fact, acknowledging God is all you do means that it will be far more difficult for you to step into sin. Imagine walking down the street with the physical Jesus by your side. If temptation came your way, it would be far easier to avoid it with Jesus stood right there. Even though the physical Jesus is not walking alongside us, the Holy Spirit is. He is every bit as real and present as a physical being, but He is easier for us to ignore. Let us not ignore Him! Let each of us constantly remind ourselves of His presence with us, and we will say no to sin when it comes our way.

The Result

Trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts, and leaning not on our understanding. Acknowledging Him in all we do, and seeking His will for our lives will result in what exactly? In God showing us which path to take!

This is no small outcome. Each and every day we face choices, and to the best of our abilities we try to make right ones. Imagine how different our lives would be if we knew for sure which road to choose. God, if we trust Him fully and completely, will guide us. That will lead to success (God’s kind, not the world’s kind).

If you want to succeed in this life and the next, then there is only one way to achieve it. Trust. Trust in the Lord this day, and forever more!

Kindness and Favour (Proverbs 3:3-4)

I know that I am only taking bitesize chunks of Proverbs, but the text is so rich I do not want to miss any of it! I today focus on two more verses from chapter three, focussing on something very important.

Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!

    Tie them around your neck as a reminder.

    Write them deep within your heart.

4 Then you will find favour with both God and people,

    and you will earn a good reputation.

Proverbs 3:3-4 (NLT)

Kindness

Verse three tells us plainly to never allow kindness to leave us. This simply means that we should always be kind to those around us. It sounds so straightforward that Christians should be kind, and yet some things that don’t need to be said, need to be said!

We have all seen or heard of examples of Christians not being kind. When that happens, it harms the witness of not only that individual, but of the church as a whole. “Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites!” they say, and this stems from those who say they are Christian but act like the devil!

Don’t call yourself a #Christian and then act like the devil! #Bible #Christianity #Jesus

Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23) and is something we should all practice. It is not always easy to be kind, especially when we are being badly treated, but it is a powerful act of love.

Kindness need not be costly either, and every one of us has the ability to do it.

Some suggestions might include:

  • Smile, just smile!
  • Pay someone a compliment
  • Be encouraging
  • Help someone in need
  • Give someone a lift
  • Pick up a neighbour’s shopping for them
  • Tip well in a restaurant

There are countless examples I could give, and I am sure you can think of many of your own. If you can make a big enough list, why not write them down on Post-it/sticky notes or slips of paper, put them in a jar and draw one out to do each day.

Make kindness your mission. It will be fun! See how many people you can bless and be kind to, it won’t be long before someone asks you why, and you can tell them about Christ!

The verse instructs us to tie them around our necks, this is a way of remembering. You can certainly wear a sign like a sandwich board to remind you if you wish, but a more convenient method might be to set a reminder on your phone! Whatever works for you!

The more you do this, the more kindness will become a part of you. As verse three concludes, kindness will be written on your very heart. Kindness will become second-nature, it will be an automatic response for you. You will be known for your kind ways.

Why? Why go to all this trouble just to be kind? Because of…

Favour

4 Then you will find favour with both God and people,

    and you will earn a good reputation.

Proverbs 3:4 (NLT)

If you are kind, then you will find favour with both God and man.

Favour is something I pray over my children regularly. When they go to school, I ask the Lord to bless them with favour; with their teachers, with their classmates, with the bus driver… with whomever they meet.

Favour is to be favoured, that is, to receive some form of special treatment in deed or attitude. When I ask for favour for my children with their teachers say, I am asking God to ensure that the teacher is particularly aware of my children’s needs, treats them well and takes special care of them. When I ask for favour for their friendships, I am asking God to ensure they make the right friends, and friends who will benefit them and not pull them away from their faith.

Favour is to have doors of opportunity opened to you to share the Gospel. It is also to find just the right parking spot. One way to describe it might be a nod from God in our direction, in a big or small way, to know that He is with us and preparing the way ahead of us as His own children.

This is not to say that everything in life will be easy and smooth, and that we’ll never hit any problems. That is not realistic. We will face trials and difficulty as long as we walk this Earth, but favour comes from being a child of God. Even if my children face troubles, I will still be there to help them and make it easier if at all possible. God is a better Father than I am.

Kindness breeds favour because it marks us out as people who go a little further to help or assist. When people see us being kind, they remember it, and that may open a door for us in future. There will always be people who try to take advantage of us for being kind, but that should not stop us. While some may abuse our kindness, God’s favour on us will override it.

Favour also means to have a good reputation, as verse four points out. Reputations are hard to earn and easy to lose. Having a good one in our career, church or community is a real blessing and can strengthen our witness in many respects.

Reputations are hard to earn and easy to lose #truth #Christianity #Bible #Wisdom

Be kind. Gain favour. And build a good reputation.

Dear Lord,

We thank You that You are the perfect example of kindness. Help us to follow Your lead and be kind to all that we meet. Please give us creative ideas of how we can show love and be generous to the people in our lives.

We ask for Your favour today and every day. May we have favour with our families, friends, employers, teachers and all those we interact with. Let Your favour go before us, preparing the way, and please open doors for us to share Your truth with those who need it.

May You help us to build a good reputation that we might have a powerful witness, and that those who see us will want to know more about You and Your ways.

Let our goal not be to gain favour with men, but to please You in all we do. In Jesus’ mighty Name!

Amen!

Eternity In Our Hearts

Photo by Ryan, Private lake in our neighborhood With everything that has happened with the intense turmoil we have all gone through the last two …

Eternity In Our Hearts

Your Plans? (PoW)

Pearls of Wisdom

God does not have to bless your plan

Are you ever guilty of running ahead of God? I know I am!

There have been times when someone has asked me to do something, or I have made a commitment in some way, but did not first check it with the Lord. I went ahead and made my plan, and only later thought to ask God if it was what He wanted for me.

Rather than seeking the Lord for His guidance in what we are to do, we make our own plans and then ask Him to bless them as if they were His own.

The truth is though, God does not have to bless your plan. He does not have to finish anything He did not start. We have no business going somewhere or doing something, and then just expecting God to make it right.

#God does not have to bless your #plan. He does not have to finish anything He did not start #Wisdom #Bible #Christianity

Instead, we need to make our plans in prayer, putting them before God and ensuring He is in the plans we make.

Paul was instructed to preach the Gospel, and he made plans to do so. In Acts 16, the Spirit of the Lord prevented him from entering Macedonia, and so he diverted his course. Imagine what would have happened had he just ignored the prompting of the Spirit and went anyway. Only God knows what would have happened to him!

If we go against God’s plan for us, then we will end up in trouble. If we do that, there is no sense in getting angry at God for not rescuing you. There are times when I tell my children not to do something. It may be to not touch the hot stove, or not to climb on something they shouldn’t. If they choose to ignore me, they could end up burning themselves or falling.

Don’t simply do whatever you want and expect or demand God makes it work. Rather, seek Him in all you do, and He will make your paths straight.

God bless you this day.

Length of Days (Proverbs 3:2)

We studied Proverbs 3:1 yesterday, and I include it here for completeness. Verse 2 is a continuation of the thought, so it is important to remember (no pun intended) what verse one was all about.

My son, don’t forget my teaching;

    but let your heart keep my commandments:

2 for they will add to you length of days,

    years of life, and peace.

Proverbs 3:1-2 (WEB)

Length of Days

Verse two clearly states that if you apply yourself to wisdom’s teaching, then you will have length of days. Put simply, wise people live longer.

This is an obvious truth if you think about it. it is wise to look both ways before your cross the road. It is wise to cut the power before attempting electrical work on your home. It is wise to eat healthily. It is wise to avoid smoking or drinking heavily. If you have worrying symptoms, it is wise to have a doctor check you over sooner rather than later. There are any number of examples we could give.

If we do unwise things, it will certainly shorten our life. We may get away with certain things over a short time, but in the end, foolish choices will catch up with us.

These are largely physical truths. In the natural world we live in, applying wisdom will certainly lengthen our lives. Some suggest there is a spiritual element here too. The mere act of studying the Word can bring health and healing to our bodies. Psalm 107 is sometimes cited as evidence for this.

He sent His word and healed them,

And saved them from their destruction.

Psalm 107:20 *NASB)

As with everything in the Bible, context is key. Are we able to use Psalm 107 to promise believers that God will heal them simply through studying the Word? I will leave you to study that out for yourself and decide.

This verse in Proverbs 3, and the Psalm I mention above, are not the only places in the Bible which link Scripture to length of days, and we will see another example when we reach chapter 4. Whether you see a spiritual dynamic here or not, it is clear that wise choices will prolong your life. That is the point to take from this today, and I hope it encourages you to deploy wisdom’s ways in your life.

Peace

I do not want to move on without picking up on that rather important word in verse two – peace. Verse two tells us that remembering wisdom’s teaching does not just give length of days, but peaceful ones also.

Length of life is hardly a good measure of quality of life. Some of the restrictions imposed on the world by governments during the COVID pandemic were done so to protect life, but really that meant protect length of life. Many argue that while the restrictions did stop some from dying prematurely, it drastically reduced their life quality. I do not wish to enter that debate here, but mention it merely to point out that living 100 years in prison is not a better life than living 60 years in freedom.

Length of life is hardly a good measure of quality of #life #Wisdom #Bible #Christianity

And so this verse points out that wisdom will give length of days, but peace also. Living without peace is hard indeed, and few would choose a long life without it. Peace is a theme of Proverbs too, and later we will see it is better to live in peace and poverty, than in luxury with discord and stress.

In my previous post – Wisdom Shouts Out – we saw another link between wisdom and peace.

Proverbs 1:33 says:

But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.”

Proverbs 1:33 (NLT)

As someone who feels they are constantly wrestling with stress, peace feels like a soothing balm. Modern medicine tells us that stress shortens our life, and therefore supports the Bible in teaching us that wisdom leads to peace, and peace (the opposite of stress) lengthens our years.

Peace is a prize; be it peace with others or peace with ourselves, it is something to seek after and hold on to.

#Peace is a prize; be it peace with others or peace with ourselves, it is something to seek after #Bible #Wsidom #Christianity

Let me close by reminding you that life is not measured simply by the number of days you have.

On my wedding day I gave a speech, as you do, and I recall some words which are relevant. I said, “Life is not about how many moments you have, but about the moments that make life worth living.” That probably came from some book or movie, and I do not claim them as my own, but wise nonetheless!

Live the best life you can in whatever time you have, and live wisely! God bless!

Do Not Forget (Proverbs 3:1)

We tackle Proverbs 3 this week, and before we jump in, I just want to say a huge thank you for your comments so far. I hope you have been enjoying it and it has increased your hunger for wisdom.

My difficulty in writing about the Proverbs is knowing how deep to dive. As you can imagine, we could study a single line each day and spend the next 10 years on the book! Perhaps that is not a bad thing, but I do want to encourage you to study the depths for yourself too.

My son, don’t forget my teaching;

    but let your heart keep my commandments:

Proverbs 3:1 (WEB)

The chapter opens with an instruction not to forget the teaching. That sounds simple enough, but I wonder how easy it is?

This post lands on a Monday, and if I ask you what your pastor taught on yesterday at church, can you remember? What about the previous Sunday?

I mentioned before that I enjoy a number of Christian podcasts, and listened to several over the weekend. What were they about? Am I able to give you a summary? Not easily! The reason is, although I listened, I did not engage with the teaching. I agreed with it, found it helpful, but took no notes and did other things while listening. I may retain some surface knowledge of the subject, but did not meditate on it nor store up the knowledge in my heart (as Proverbs 3:1b encourages us to).

God has been leading me to “consume” less and to engage more. It is not about how many sermons I listen to, but what I learn from the ones I do.

It is not about how many sermons I listen to, but what I learn from the ones I do. #Bible #Christianity #Memory

Being perfectly honest with you, I am not doing very well with this command. I have cut back on the range of messages I listen to, but I cannot say that I have taken the steps I need to really engage more.

What I need to do, and I offer this as a suggestion for you also, is as follows:

  • Slow down
  • Give it my full attention
  • Make notes
  • Apply

Taking each in turn, I must first slow down. I turn up the speed on my podcast player so that a 30-minute sermon takes much less time. This may be of use in certain situations, but if trying to learn something, then slow and steady is far better.

As above, I tend to plug my earbuds in, turn on a podcast and then do a hundred other things while listening. Again, this is not wholly wrong but it must also mean that I am not giving the teaching my full attention. I may hear the words being said, but are they penetrating my heart? Unlikely. Rather, I should be sat down, limiting distractions and focus on the subject at hand.

My memory is naturally good, and so I have never been too reliant on notes. the truth is though, that when we write notes about something we are listening to, we are processing that information. Our retention of that message will be far greater if we have written down key things that were important to us.

Many years ago, I started a journal of sorts where I wrote down particular Bible verses and bullet points about things the Lord had shared with me (be it directly or through others’ teaching). This was a very7 helpful practice and I had hoped to build an almost entire commentary over the course of my life. I have let it slip, although still have it, and perhaps this post is a nudge from God to pick that up again.

Finally, if we really want to ensure we do not forget a teaching, we must apply it. We need to assess what we have learned and decide what we will do about it. Not every passage in the Bible lends itself to practical action. For instance, it is easier to apply an instruction to pray from an epistle, than it is to apply something from a historical narrative or word of prophecy.

Most Bible teaching should lead us to some form of corresponding action. I am quite a practical person so am always reading the Scriptures, and looking for something I can do with them. Often I am thinking, “How would I teach this passage?” It is not always a healthy approach, and so we should handle the Bible text appropriately.

Having discussed only one verse from Proverbs 3, I am coming to a close on this post. All that I have said above about not forgetting teaching applies also to blogs you and I read. I follow a number of Bible and Christian blogs, and all are helpful at times. Do I fully engage with them though? The truth is not always. I read, like, and then move on to the next one, missing huge opportunities to grow in my faith. How about you?

Will you take the steps above to improve your recollection of Bible teaching? Let me know how you get on.

False Teachers

Listening to some Christian radio the other day, the person being interviewed happened to mention the name of a fairly well-known speaker who I listen to quite often. They suggested this person was a “false teacher,” and make a passing remark about why they thought that.

I then did what I probably should not have done… (check out my series on Proverbs for advice on wise choices!). I googled! A few simple key words led me straight to a web site which laid out in detail why this particular preacher was a false teacher. Naturally, they had links to other Bible teachers I am familiar with, and foolishly, I clicked.

Before long, I had a whole list of so-called “false teachers” to deal with. This was, of course, just one opinion, but I personally find it difficult once seeds of doubt have been sown.

We should be wary of false teachers:

But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. 2 Many will follow their immoral[a] ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. 3 In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.

2 Peter 2:1-3 (WEB)

There are clearly false teachers in the world and in the church, proclaiming a distorted gospel which is no Gospel at all. Some deny Christ, and others deny the truth of the Bible. We must be on the look out for such people, and defend the faith against those who would malign it (to borrow from Peter’s words above).

There are clearly false teachers in the world and in the church, proclaiming a distorted gospel which is no Gospel at all. #Bible #truth #Christianity

This is a very difficult issue however, and the problem with being deceived is that you do not know about it, otherwise you would not be deceived at all. How do we guard against such things? I will give you my thoughts shortly.

Before I do, I want to point out that there is no ministry of criticism. The website I stumbled across yesterday listed many preachers and their faults, but gave little or no alternatives. It is no one’s job or calling to simply point out what everyone else is doing wrong. We should be alert to false teaching, and address it appropriately when we encounter it, but that is very different to setting yourself up as the Gospel police.

So how do we defend against false teaching? Here are a few thoughts.

Know your Bible

You cannot hope to detect falsities if you do not know the truth. Set about knowing the Scriptures for yourself. If someone makes a claim which is clearly contrary to what the Bible says, you know you can safely dismiss it.

When travelling on a journey, you need to know your route. If you know the destination and how to reach it, then you will soon know if you take a wrong turn. If you know now the destination nor the path to get there, every road looks the same.

Systematically study the Word of God. Let Scripture speak for itself. Let it be its own defence. One verse out of context does not a doctrine make. Scripture must be interpreted in the light of other Scripture.

Know the teacher

Get to know the Bible teacher you are listening to, and I do not mean personally (although that is always helpful!). Find out a bit more about them. Anyone who’s anyone can get a website, write a blog or publish a book these days (including me) and unfortunately that does not always qualify them to speak into your life.

Jesus said:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Matthew 7:15-20 (NKJV)

If the teacher is bearing bad fruit, then I would suggest not listening to them, even if they are charismatic, interesting or exciting – or if everyone else listens to them.

If they are bearing good fruit, then it gives you confidence that they are at least attempting to follow Jesus.

Listening to the radio or watching Christian TV makes it very difficult to be a fruit inspector however. What someone portrays on screen may be very different to what they are like behind closed doors. Be discerning, do your research (bearing in mind it is easier to criticise than anything else) and measure what you hear against the Bible.

Know the Truth Giver

If you have made every effort to get to know the teachers you are following, and based that against your hopefully good knowledge of the Bible, then the last and most important point I can make is this – know the Bringer of Truth.

However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.

John 16:13 (WEB)

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. He will guide you. Do not attempt to follow the Spirit without first knowing your Bible, as it can be all too easy to be deceived if you do. But, the Spirit, hand in hand with the Bible, will lead you into all truth.

Avoiding false teachers is not as easy as it might seem. If you search for anyone on the web, you will find something wrong with them. We are all imperfect, and not one of us has complete understanding. All we can do is be mindful of false teaching around us, take the steps above and ensure we are following Christ and bearing fruit.

May the Lord protect you from all falsehood and deception, and may the Spirit of Truth bless you with insight and understanding. In the name of Jesus! Amen

The Story So Far… (Proverbs 1-2)

As we reach the end of Proverbs 2, it is a good point at which to review what we have covered so far.

These first two chapters are essentially building a case for choosing wisdom. Similar themes have arisen throughout, namely justice, insight, the benefits of wisdom and the risks of foolishness. Solomon is trying to hammer home the idea that wisdom is the only sensible choice for us, and that wisdom’s only true source is from God.

Chapter two ends as follows:

20 So you may walk in the way of good men,

    and keep the paths of the righteous.

21 For the upright will dwell in the land.

    The perfect will remain in it.

22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land.

    The treacherous will be rooted out of it.

Proverbs 2:20-22 (WEB)

At first glance, these verses may not add anything new that we have not already seen so far. Verse 20 begins with a “So” and connects to previous verses. It loops in the idea that if we choose wisdom, and avoid evil, we will walk in the way of good men and follow the path of the righteous. Put simply, wisdom leads to righteous living.

In the Land

Verse 21 and 22 however introduce something new. They mention the idea of dwelling “in the land”, and the converse, to be “rooted out of it”. At the very basic level, this refers to life and death. To be alive is to live in the land, and to die is to be removed from it. In that sense, it is a restatement of the idea from earlier in the chapter where we see that sin leads to death.

When I see a reference to “the land” I often ponder if it refers to land generically speaking, or if it is a specific reference to the land of Israel. Some today believe that the physical land upon which Israel currently sits is no longer important, and yet others believe the land itself is part of God’s promise.

For instance, Genesis 17 states:

Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, 4 “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”

Genesis 17:3-8 (WEB)

This appears to be an everlasting covenant between God and the descendants of Abraham, and verse 8 specifically mentions “the land”.

Many disagree on this point, so I will leave it to you to determine if you think the land itself is important or not, but if it is, then this point from Proverbs may link in.

As I say, verse 22 points out that the wicked or treacherous will be cut off from the land. If the land is specific to Israel as I ponder above, then this also may refer to the danger of ignoring God’s ways. We know that as the nation of Israel forsook the Lord in the generations that followed Solomon, not following the Law and worshipping other gods. This resulted in them being taken into captivity and the subsequent exile.

However you read these verses, the conclusion is clear. Following God’s ways and making wise choices will lead to good things, and not doing so will lead to bad. Insightful huh?

Perfect

Proverbs 2:21 says “The perfect will remain in it.” i.e. the land. This little word “perfect” leapt out at me, for I know I am far from it!

It reminds me of what Jesus said here:

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48 (ESV)

Most translations do use the word perfect, which is a tough pill to swallow. Some say “will be perfect,” but I am not certain if the Greek implies a future perfection here.

How can we hope to be perfect?

We could infer that perfect does not mean perfect, but rather just good. Even so, can we dare to hope to be “good”? I am often uneasy about taking a word or phrase from the Bible and trying to argue that it does not mean what it says. Clearly, there are poetic or metaphorical examples which are not meant to be taken literally. We must handle the text appropriately therefore, and be sure not to allegorise something that was intended to be literal.

The truth is, I do not know for sure how best to interpret this. My suggestion is that it is a call to live uprightly of course, but also a distinction between who we are and what we do. While we may not act perfectly all of the time, we are righteous because of our position in Christ. Perhaps Jesus is directing us to live well, but to recognise our behaviour will never be perfect while on the earth, and instead to rely on His perfection. I will leave you to consider that for yourself.

Catching Up

If you have missed any of the previous posts on Proverbs, then here is a list for you to catch up on.

Thanks for your ongoing support by reading these posts. I hope they bless you.

Strange Women & Bad Men (Proverbs 2:9-19)

As I prepared for today’s post, I realised that I probably should have included Proverbs 2:9 in with the article called – When Wisdom. It fits better with the earlier parts of chapter two, but one of the keys to Proverbs is to review, review and review again! Some parts are repetitive for good reason, helping us to remember what we have learned.

So let’s use verse 9-10 as a refresher from our earlier studies on chapter two.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice,

    equity and every good path.

10 For wisdom will enter into your heart.

    Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

Proverbs 2:9-10 (WEB)

The “Then” kicking off verse 9 reminds us that this is part of a continuing thought. The first part of chapter two presents us with a series of “if” statements directing us to choose wisdom or not.

Verses 5-8, and now 9 also, tell us the “then” – i.e. if we choose wisdom, then what?

Verse 9 summarises that we if we choose wisdom, we will understand righteousness and justice. We understood from previous texts that righteousness is not merely doing right, but being in right standing with God. Proverbs 1:3 rings familiar, speaking also of justice and equity, as verse 9 above does.

to receive instruction in wise dealing,

    in righteousness, justice, and equity;

Proverbs 1:3 (WEB)

In some ways, Solomon is continuing to build his case for wisdom, making these points time and again, hoping they will, as verse 10 says, enter into our hearts. Our hearts can be hard at times, and it may take many thrusts of wisdom’s piercing to break through. When it does though, finally we may take pleasure in the knowledge of these things in our inner man or soul.

Bad Men

11 Discretion will watch over you.

    Understanding will keep you,

12 to deliver you from the way of evil,

    from the men who speak perverse things,

Proverbs 2:11-12 (WEB)

Verses 11-15 can be summed up in two phrases: 1) Discretion and understanding will keep and protect you, from what? From… 2) Men of evil who speak perversity.

The author piles word upon word about the depths of such men’s depravity, speaking of:

  • Their evil ways – v12
  • Their perverse speech – v12
  • Their ways of darkness – v13
  • Their rejoicing in evil – v14
  • And so on…

We might describe them simply as “bad men!”

Such descriptions might make you feel somewhat uneasy. In my mind, I picture a very dark alley in a not so nice part of town where such men might lurk in wait for me. The imagery is powerful, and is intended to send a shiver down our spine!

You may live in relative safety. A nice home, a friendly neighbourhood, and little if any crime to speak of. Yet we ought not to be fooled by the depths of sinfulness in the human heart. Very few of us would consider ourselves as “evil” but equally few would volunteer their inmost thoughts or secret sins. We have all fallen short, and ultimately anything that is not holy is evil to some extent.

Wisdom guards us though. Good judgement tells me not to walk down a dark alley at night, nor to drink heavily or take drugs before driving. Good sense, derived by wisdom, helps me to make sensible choices that do not risk my own life or that of others.

While wisdom cannot prevent all and every eventuality, it can drastically reduce the likelihood of falling prey to evil (be it others’ or our own).

While #wisdom cannot prevent all and every eventuality, it can drastically reduce the likelihood of falling prey to #evil (be it others’ or our own). #Bible #Christianity

The Strange Woman

16 to deliver you from the strange woman,

    even from the foreigner who flatters with her words,

Proverbs 2:16 (WEB)

Having warned us of the dangers of evil men, the chapter turns to warnings about a “strange woman.” This word “strange” is translated as “forbidden,” “immoral,” and “adulterous” in other versions of the Bible, and are perhaps more helpful adjectives.

We find ourselves, for the first time in Proverbs, dealing with a subject which will come up again and again in this book – adultery.

The strange woman here depicted in these verses is an image of temptation. She flatters and seduces, exploiting our fleshly desires. We may think adultery risks our marriage and family, and of course it does, but to start down this path leads to destruction (see verses 18 and 19).

To dabble in adultery, and even to indulge any form of sin, risks our very lives. That is how serious we should treat it. Proverbs 6:27 asks if a man can embrace fire and not have his clothes burned? The obvious answer is no!

I cannot emphasise enough the dangers of sin. We may think it’s just a little lie, or I’m only stealing a pen, or we’re just going out for coffee… and before you know it, you are trapped in sin’s clutches.

James says:

Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

James 1:15 (ESV)

It all starts with desire. As that desire grows, it leads to sin. And sin, once fully developed brings forth death! We think we can “play” with desires, but one thing leads to another and before long, we are drowning in iniquity.

Don’t let that be you dear reader! Don’t dabble with desire, don’t go near the strange woman nor the evil men. Let wisdom guard your ways, and employ common sense! In the heat of the moment you may want to give in to temptation, but wisdom asks if you will want to live with the consequences later.

Let wisdom enter your heart today, and steer well clear of any wrongdoing!