The Greatest Jackpot Of All Time
Proverbs 30-31
Do you ever wish God would let you win the lottery? I hope I haven’t offended some of you with that question. Many a poor person squanders what little they have in a vain hope of hitting the jackpot. They make their lives even harder by placing their hope in the wrong place. The lottery is a plague of leaches on the backs of the poor. Still, I have to admit that once in a while I day dream about suddenly coming into a great fortune where I would never have to worry about keeping a job or paying my bills. I even sometimes think that if God would just give me such a windfall that I could then easily commit all of my time and most of this fortune to telling the world about Christ. Am I attempting to bargain with God with these kinds of thoughts? I hope not.
I thought of all this when I got to the following verses from our reading today.
Proverbs 30:8-9
“…give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.”
Feed me with what I need. There is a danger in having more than we need. We become comfortable and satisfied. In such a state we forget about our need for God. I must admit that God has blessed me and my house incredibly. We have more than we need. If it weren’t for our materialistic society I suspect more people would feel that God has given them too more than they need as well. Do we need three TVs in the house? Do we need several computers and cell phones and cars per household? Those things are certainly convenient but do we really need them?
You know, it wasn’t all that long ago when most families had one TV and one car and no computers or cell phones or cable TV for that matter. Well maybe it was a long time ago, that was the way it was when I was a kid. I have had times in my life where God has caused me to draw closer to him. Those times usually begin with some kind of trouble in my life – sad, but true. I remember being unemployed for about 9 months a few years ago. Today that doesn’t sound very long to many who have been unemployed or under-employed for much longer. Still I began to worry about feeding my family and paying the bills. This worry drove me to my knees. This worry made me look to and lean on God. I am eternally grateful that God allowed me to go through that and to come out the other side closer to Him than ever before.
Brothers, these are trying times and it is easy for us to wish God would take away all our troubles and fears. Such a wish is extremely short sighted as I have discovered. The trials that God allows into our life serve a purpose. Be glad that He loves you enough to provide you what you need and that He asks you to lean on Him. What God has for you is the greatest jackpot of all time!
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Sharpen Up!
Proverbs 27-29
I am very human. One of my many human foibles is I am susceptible to flattery. Upon hearing a compliment I blush and squirm a bit but inside I feel a swelling of pride. After such flattery I tend to be more solicitous toward the one giving the compliments. Of course, that is exactly why some people heap such praise on others; they want something. As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to realize that constructive criticism from a true friend is of far greater value than any amount of praise from anyone. If I had only read Proverbs 27:6 more closely as a younger man perhaps I would have figured this out a lot sooner.
Proverbs 27:6
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”
I have an accountability partner. I must admit we have struggled getting together of late but I have found his holding me accountable of limitless value. I’d love to hear him tell me that I’m doing very well and that I’m a really great guy but that would do little to help me become the man God intends me to be. No, it is the times when he has to tell me that I’m off track that are of the greatest value and importance to me and for his faithfulness in holding me to account I am truly grateful. You see, he is sharpening me and I hope I am sharpening him. This same chapter of Proverbs makes the point.
Proverbs 27:17
“Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another. “
Brothers, don’t be taken in by worthless complements and don’t reject words of correction from a friend. Rather, if you don’t already have one, get yourself an accountability partner and ask him to hold you accountable. Give him a list of questions to ask you and get together on a regular basis for him to ask those questions. When he calls you to account thank him for he will be sharpening you.
Having a great day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Defend Yourself With Self-Control
Proverbs 25-26
Boy when you read the Proverbs a chapter or two at a time you get hit with a lot of information. You almost need to read Proverbs a verse a day to give yourself a chance to digest and learn the thing. Several proverbs in the two chapters that make up our reading today caught my eye, but one more than the others.
Proverbs 25:28
“A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.”
Do you remember the verses from Galatians in which Paul lists the various fruits of the Spirit?
Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
I did a quick search of my ESV Bible for the words “self-control” and discovered 38 occurrences, only one of which was in the Old Testament. I think that adds weight to the notion that the Holy Spirit enables self-control as Paul suggests. As Christians we have the ability to exercise self-control. A lack of self-control leads to us pursuing our own self-centered desires. Christ says that any who follow Him must deny themselves (Luke 9:23). To deny ourselves we must exercise self-control and this we can do because God’s Holy Spirit gives us the ability to do so.
Still what happens to the man who lacks self-control? He is a broken and defenseless man. Self-control is strength. Self-control is a wall against sin. Self-control helps one to maintain the riches gained by submitting to the Lordship of Christ. I’m reading a book about WWII and the conquering armies are devastating and looting the cities along the way. What keeps sin from ravaging you, leaving you broken, and defeated? Self-Control.
Brothers, self-control is a gift from God. He has given it to you as a ready defense against the enemy. Pick up this powerful defensive weapon with which God has armed you and use it. You are not helpless in the face of sin. You can resist sin. He overcame sin for you and empowered you to be free forever more. Take up your self-control and defend yourself!
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
God’s Love And Justice
Proverbs 22-24
Throughout my life I have struggled with something. I tend to give back to others what they give me. If someone is short with me I tend to be short with them. If someone says something unkind to me, my knee jerk response is to say something similar in kind. Over the years I have developed a certain amount of patience which allows me to resist my natural desire to respond in kind and yet, given enough time, my patience eventually breaks down and the old self is revealed.
The Bible clearly teaches that this type of response is inappropriate.
Proverbs 24:28-29
“Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause,
and do not deceive with your lips.
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
Jesus taught that we should turn the other cheek when others do us wrong. God says that vengeance is His. Still it is hard to resist responding in kind to those that are unjust. Made in God’s image we have a natural understanding of justice. When someone does us wrong that sense of justice is offended. It is very natural to take matters into our own hands and give as good as we get. God however says that we are not our own, we were bought at a price. We have no right to seek revenge for ill treatment – that is God’s prerogative. He has a job for us to do, we are to show the world His love, He will show the world His justice.
Brothers, we cannot allow our sense of justice to get in the way of our God-given task to share the Gospel. I can’t say how many times I’ve watched an athlete give another athlete a cheap shot only to watch the offended party retaliate. It is almost always the one retaliating that is seen by the official and charged with a penalty. Others may not see what causes you to lash out but they will see you lash out. The lost are not held to the same standard as the saved. The enemies of Christ are simply looking for ways to discredit Him. Let us not give those enemies the ammunition they need. Let us turn the other cheek. Let us show the world His love.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Choices And Consequences
Proverbs 19-21
I remember shortly after 9/11 scoffers asking “were was God” or “how could a loving God allow such evil”. On September 13th 2001 Anne Graham Lotz was interviewed by Jane Clayson on CBS’s Early Show and asked a similar question:
CLAYSON: I’ve heard people say, those who are religious, those who are not, if God is good, how could God let this happen? To that, you say?
LOTZ: I say God is also angry when he sees something like this. I would say also for several years now Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace. And God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life. Removing his hand of blessing and protection. We need to turn to God first of all and say, God, we’re sorry we have treated you this way and we invite you now to come into our national life. We put our trust in you. We have our trust in God on our coins, we need to practice it.
We really can’t have it both ways. We can’t reject God in our daily lives and then expect His protection from disaster. The following proverb from today’s reading describes well how some rage against God when their own choices lead to disaster.
Proverbs 19:3
“When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin,
his heart rages against the Lord.”
It is folly to reject God in our daily life. Such rejection naturally leads to disaster. A foolish man rejects God and then is angry at God for the consequences. Let me be clear at the price of being redundant. I am not saying that America in any way “deserved” 9/11. I am saying that America cannot have it both ways; we cannot reject God and expect His protection. Today is the day my friends when each of us must decide – do we stand with God or against Him? The choice is yours but don’t whine about the consequences.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Your Heart Is On The Scale
Proverbs 16-18
I have said many times in this blog that God is all about the condition of your heart. You can fool others, you can even fool yourself, but you cannot fool God. I love this proverb:
Proverbs 16:2
“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the spirit.”
We all are usually pretty good at identifying people who are “self-righteous” and yet we seem to have a blind spot when it comes to ourselves. We often fail to see our own disobedience. It seems to me that far too many Christians have a blind spot when it comes to two extremely important issues.
The issues of tithing and being in Christian service aren’t about the tasks themselves. You can do those things and still be disobedient because you do those things for the wrong reason. Of course, not doing those things is also an indication of being disobedient since we are called to do them. Sometimes events in our life prevent us from being obedient in these areas. These preventative events can be a result of things beyond our control. Usually, however, our inability to obey today is the result of disobedience in the past. Whether in your control or not, God is weighing your heart. He knows the truth. He knows if your inability to obey today is on you or not. You can fool yourself but you can’t fool Him. Your heart is on the scale!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
