Scott Norwood, a former NFL champion with the Buffalo Bills, walked off the field with his head down. He missed the kick and lost the game. In spite of the loss the team was honored with a turnout of thousands of people cheering them on. Scott stayed in the background but fans had something else in mind. “We want Scott!” The chant grew to a rousing ovation. He missed the kick, but they made sure he knew he was still a part of their community.
In Hebrews 12:1, the Bible says we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Thousands upon thousands of saved saints are looking down upon us. Abraham. Peter. David. Paul. Joshua. Your grandpa, your uncle, your neighbor, your coach. They have seen God’s great grace; and they are all pulling for you. Do you hear them? They are chanting your name. “Don’t quit!” “It’s worth it!” “Try again!”
From Glory Days
Proverbs 25
More Proverbs of Solomon
These are more proverbs of Solomon, collected by the advisers of King Hezekiah of Judah.
2 It is God’s privilege to conceal things
and the king’s privilege to discover them.
3 No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth,
or all that goes on in the king’s mind!
4 Remove the impurities from silver,
and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith.
5 Remove the wicked from the king’s court,
and his reign will be made secure by justice.
6 Don’t demand an audience with the king
or push for a place among the great.
7 It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table
than to be sent away in public disgrace.
Just because you’ve seen something,
8 don’t be in a hurry to go to court.
For what will you do in the end
if your neighbor deals you a shameful defeat?
9 When arguing with your neighbor,
don’t betray another person’s secret.
10 Others may accuse you of gossip,
and you will never regain your good reputation.
11 Timely advice is lovely,
like golden apples in a silver basket.
12 To one who listens, valid criticism
is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry.
13 Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer.
They revive the spirit of their employer.
14 A person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it
is like clouds and wind that bring no rain.
15 Patience can persuade a prince,
and soft speech can break bones.
16 Do you like honey?
Don’t eat too much, or it will make you sick!
17 Don’t visit your neighbors too often,
or you will wear out your welcome.
18 Telling lies about others
is as harmful as hitting them with an ax,
wounding them with a sword,
or shooting them with a sharp arrow.
19 Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble
is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.
20 Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart
is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather
or pouring vinegar in a wound.[a]
21 If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat.
If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
22 You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you.
23 As surely as a north wind brings rain,
so a gossiping tongue causes anger!
24 It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic
than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.
25 Good news from far away
is like cold water to the thirsty.
26 If the godly give in to the wicked,
it’s like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.
27 It’s not good to eat too much honey,
and it’s not good to seek honors for yourself.
28 A person without self-control
is like a city with broken-down walls.
Footnotes:
25:20 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads pouring vinegar on soda.
Read: Ecclesiastes 9:13-18
Thoughts on Wisdom and Folly
Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works. 14 There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. 15 A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. 16 So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.
17 Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person
than the shouts of a foolish king.
18 Better to have wisdom than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much that is good.
INSIGHT:
The author of the book of Ecclesiastes is unknown. Many believe it to be Solomon, the legendary wise son of King David. However, we are only told that the author is “the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem” (Eccl. 1:1). This description would fit King Solomon. J.R. Hudberg
Words of the Wise
By Cindy Hess Kasper
Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard. —nkjv Ecclesiastes 9:17
My niece’s husband recently wrote these words on a social media site: “I would say a lot more online if it weren’t for this little voice that prompts me not to. As a follower of Jesus, you might think that little voice is the Holy Spirit. It isn’t. It’s my wife, Heidi.”
With the smile comes a sobering thought. The cautions of a discerning friend can reflect the wisdom of God. Ecclesiastes 9 says that the “words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard” (v. 17 nkjv).
Scripture warns us not to be wise in our own eyes or proud (Prov. 3:7; Isa. 5:21; Rom. 12:16). In other words, let’s not assume that we have all the answers! Proverbs 19:20 says, “Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.” Whether it is a friend, a spouse, a pastor, or a co-worker, God can use others to teach us more of His wisdom.
“Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning,” declares the book of Proverbs (14:33). Part of recognizing the Spirit’s wisdom is discovering how to listen and learn from each other.
Dear Lord, thank You for Your Word that teaches me how to love You and others. Thank You also for the people You place in my life to remind me of Your truth.
True wisdom begins and ends with God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, November 02, 2015
Obedience or Independence?
If you love Me, keep My commandments. —John 14:15
Our Lord never insists on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.
The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest. Disciples Indeed, 395 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, November 02, 2015
Facing Monsters - #7516
Oh sure, Mom and Dad thought it was just another excuse to stay awake longer. Adults don't believe what kids know to be the awful truth - that there are monsters in your closet at night. And they expect you to close your eyes and just start having sweet dreams? Come on!
Actually, I really had nothing to fear from those monsters that lived in my overactive imagination. But then there are real monsters that a lot of us have locked in a closet somewhere in our heart: the secret pain, the secret sin, the secret darkness of that unforgiving heart. They're like vampires. They live in the darkness. But they start to lose their power when you drag them into the light.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Facing Monsters."
I see that happen every summer in the lives of some of the amazing, young Native Americans that I travel with to Indian reservations. I say "amazing" because they bring visible hope to some of the most violent, most suicide-wracked reservations in America. I've been an eye-witness to that. They are fearless and relentless in telling their Hope Stories to anybody who will listen; stories of how a brown-skinned Savior named Jesus rescued them from a hopelessness that nearly destroyed them. I always feel like I'm seeing the love and power of God Almighty unleashed on those dusty reservation basketball courts - holy ground all of a sudden.
But I know the story behind the story. I know where all that power comes from. See, many of those youth that I've traveled with have faced the monster in their closet. They've dragged it into the light and they've turned it over to Jesus.
Like Cindy for example. Often abandoned, often physically abused by a drunken mother, never knowing her father. Then horribly betrayed by her mother's boyfriend. She trusted him so much, and he sexually violated her. The final chapter in a story that told her a cruel lie, "Cindy, you're worthless." A story line that brought her to the brink of suicide. She had a gun to her head literally.
Thank God, Cindy was rescued by Jesus. But there was a monster in her closet; bitterness, anger, maybe even hatred that she harbored in her heart. Understandably. But unforgiveness never hurts the person we refuse to forgive. But it eats us alive and, strangely, it ties us to the very person we can't stand.
The Native young people I've been with have been sinned against, and often they've responded with sin at levels most of us could not imagine. And, like so many of us, they stuff it in the closet. There it grows into a monster of ungrieved grief, unrepented sin, and unforgiven hurt; a monster that morphs into all kinds of anger, rage, depression and self-loathing.
I remember one night when I talked with our team about the Bible's revelation in our Word for today from the Word of God, 1 John 1:5-7. It says, "God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and we do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another (In other words it heals our broken relationships with each other.) and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin." That's healing our broken relationship with God.
That night many of those young warriors made a profound choice. They verbally declared, "Jesus, I forgive (and there was a name)_____________." A decision to treat a person who's sinned against you, not as they treated you, but as Jesus treated you; forgiving someone who does not deserve it. One of those "forgivers" was Cindy. It was for her - and for many others - the night they went free. After that, she exploded into an amazing spiritual rescuer, and she's left a trail of changed lives. Dealing with the darkness detonated the power of God in her.
It did that with Eric when he chose to burn those photos, the music, and even the clothes that kept pulling him back to his "old me". The pain of your past - the sin of your past - loses its power when you drag it into the light. The steps are 1) You've got to face it, 2) You've got to forsake it, and 3) You've got to forgive it.
It all begins when you understand how very much Jesus loves and forgives you. And you get from the Great Forgiver the ability to go free. The Bible says, "If the Son of God makes you free, you are free indeed." He wants to set you free from all the sin of your life, and then you are set free to be the forgiver who becomes a healer in people's lives.
If you've never begun a relationship with Him, let me just suggest you text us at 442-244-WORD to begin a relationship with Him. See, Jesus doesn't hang out in the dark. He's in the light, waiting to stand by your side to confront that monster and shatter your chains.
