Sayings of the Wise, Proverbs 2 Tuesday, Mar 31 2009

Moral Benefits of Wisdom

2:1  My son, if you accept my words

        and store up my commands within you,

2:2  turning your ear to wisdom

        and applying your heart to understanding,

2:3  and if you call out for insight

         and cry aloud for understanding,

2:4  and if you look for it as for silver

        and search for it as for hidden treasure,

2:5  then you will understand the fear of the Lord

        and find the knowledge of God.

2:6  For the Lord gives wisdom,

        and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

2:7  He holds victory in store for the upright,

         he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

2:8  for he guards the course of the just

        and protects the way of his faithful ones.

2:9  Then you will understand what is right and just

         and fair—every good path.

2:10  For wisdom will enter your heart,

           and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

2:11  Discretion will protect you,

           and understanding will guard you.

2:12  Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,

           from men whose words are perverse,

2:13  who leave the straight paths

            to walk in dark ways,

2:14  who delight in doing wrong

           and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

2:15  whose paths are crooked

           and who are devious in their ways.

2:16  It will save you also from the adulteress,

           from the wayward wife with her seductive words,

2:17  who has left the partner of her youth

           and ignored the covenant she made before God.

2:18  For her house leads down to death

           and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

2:19  None who go to her return

           or attain the paths of life.

2:20  Thus you will walk in the ways of good men

            and keep to the paths of the righteous.

2:21  For the upright will live in the land,

2:22  but the wicked will be cut off from the land,

           and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Beginning last fall, I have been doing this very seriously—seeking God’s wisdom in Scripture.  It has led me back to a community of faith, to learning to practice centering prayer, and soon to begin a Renovare course, which is leading the same direction.  Along with all of this, I’ve developed a deeper relationship with a wonderful Christian man; we plan to be married on Easter Sunday.  God is good.

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Sayings of the Wise, Proverbs 1 Monday, Mar 30 2009

Most of this book is attributed to Solomon; most of the writings stem from the tenth century during the time of Israel’s united kingdom.

Some make a general observation, but usually the writer evaluates conduct.  Many describe the consequences of an action or a character trait.  A common feature is figurative language, similes and metaphors.  A number use direct comparisons; at times the book of Proverbs is very direct and earthy.

Proverbs was written to give “prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young,” and to make wise men wiser.  It bases wisdom on the fear of the Lord.  Reverence for God is set forth as the path to life and security.

Prologue:  Purpose and Theme

1:1  The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel.

1:2  for attaining wisdom and discipline;

        for understanding words of insight;

1:3  for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,

        doing what is right and just and fair;

1:4  for giving prudence to the simple,

        knowledge and discretion to the young—

1:5  let the wise listen and add to their learning,

        and let the discerning get guidance—

1:6  for understanding proverbs and parables,

        the sayings and riddles of the wise.

1:7  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

         but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom – Warning Against Enticement

1:8  Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction

         and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

1:9  They will be a garland to grace your head

         and a chain to adorn your neck.

1:10  My son, if sinners entice you,

          do not give in to them.

1:11  If they say, “Come along with us;

          let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood,

          let’s waylay some harmless soul;

1:12  let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,

          and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

1:13  we will get all sorts of valuable things

           and fill our houses with plunder;

1:14  throw in your lot with us,

          and we will share a common purse—

1:15  my son, do not go along with them,

          do not set foot on their paths;

1:16  for their feet rush into sin,

          they are swift to shed blood.

1:17  How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!

1:18  These men lie in wait for their own blood;

           they waylay only themselves!

1:19  Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;

          it takes away the lives of those who get it.

Warning Against Rejecting Wisdom

1:20  Wisdom calls aloud in the street,

           she raises her voice in the public squares;

1:21  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out,

          in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:

1:22  “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?

            How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

1:23  If you had responded to my rebuke,

           I would have poured out my heart to you

           and made my thoughts known to you.

1:24  But since you rejected me when I called

           and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,

1:25  since you ignored all my advice,

           and would not accept my rebuke,

1:26  I in turn will laugh at your disaster;

           I will mock when calamity overtakes you—

1:27  when calamity overtakes you like a storm,

           when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,

           whe distress and trouble overwhelm you.

1:28  Then they will call to me but I will not answer;

           they will look for me but will not find me.

1:29  Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord,

1:30  since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,

1:31  they will eat the fruit of their ways

          and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

1:32  For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,

           and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

1:33  but whoever listens to me will live in safety,

           and be at ease,

          without fear of harm.”

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How to live as a Christian, Jude Monday, Mar 30 2009

It is likely Judas, brother of the Lord, is the author, c. 65-80 A.D.  He was warning Christians about immoral men who were perverting the grace of God.  Grace does not give license to sin.

1:1  Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.

        To those who have been called,

        who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.

1:2  Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

1:3  Dear friends,

        although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share,

        I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith

        that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

1:4  For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago

        have secretly slipped in among you.

        They are godless men,

        who have changed the grace of our God into a license for immorality

        and deny Jesus Christ our only sovereign and Lord.

1:5  Though you already know all this,

        I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt,

        but later destroyed those who did not believe.

1:6  And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority

        but abandoned their own home

        —these he has kept in darkness,

        bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

1:7  In a similar way,

         Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns

         gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.

         They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

1:8  In the same way,

        these dreamers pollute their own bodies,

        reject authority

        and slander celestial beings.

1:9  But even the archangel Michael,

        when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses,

        did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him,

         but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

1:10  Yet these men speak abusively against what they do not understand;

           and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals

           —these are the very things that destroy them.

1:11  Woe to them!

           They have taken the way of Cain;

           they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error;

           they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

1:12  These men are blemishes at your love feasts,

           eating with you without the slightest qualm

          —shepherds who feed only themselves.

          They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind;

           autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.

1:13  They are wild waves of the sea,

           foaming up their shame;

           wandering stars,

           for whom blackest darkness have been reserved forever.

1:14  Enoch, the seventh from Adam,

           prophesied about these men:

          “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his only ones

1:15  to judge everyone,

          and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts

          they have done in the ungodly way,

          and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

1:16  These men are grumblers and faultfinders;

           they follow their own evil desires;

           they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

1:17  But, dear friends,

          remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.

1:18   They say to you, “In the last times there will be evil scoffers

             who will follow their own ungodly desires.”

1:19  These are the men who divide you,

           who follow mere natural instincts

           and do not have the spirit.

1:20  But you, dear friends,

           build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

1:21  Keep yourselves in God’s love

           as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ

           to bring you to eternal life.

1:22  Be merciful to those who doubt;

           snatch others from the fire and save them;

           to others show mercy, mixed with fear

           —hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

1:24  To him who is able to keep you from falling

           and to present you before his glorious presence without fault

           and with great joy

1:25  —to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority,

           through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!

           Amen.

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How to live as a Christian, III John 1 Friday, Mar 27 2009

The author is the apostle John, written c. 85-95 A.D.

John wrote this letter to commend Gaius for supporting the itinerant teachers and to, indirectly, warn Diotrephes.  Diotrephes had rejected some of the teachers when they visited.

1:1  The elder,

        To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

1:2  Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health

        and that all may go well with you,

       even as your soul is getting along well.

1:3  It gave me great joy to have some brothers come

        and tell about your faithfulness to the truth

        and how you continue to walk in the truth.

1:4  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

1:5  Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers,

        even though they are strangers to you.

1:6  They have told the church about your love.

        You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

1:7  It was for the sake of the Name that they went out,

        receiving no help from the pagans.

1:8  We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men

         so that we may work together for the truth.

1:9  I wrote to the church,

        but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us.

1:10  So if I come,

           I will call attention to what he is doing,

           gossiping maliciously about us.

           Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers.

           He also stops those who want to do so

           and puts them out of the church.

1:11  Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.

          Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

1:12  Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself.

           We also speak well of him,

           and you know that our testimony is true.

1:13  I have much to write you,

           but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.

1:14  I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

           Peace to you.

           The friends here send their greetings.

            Greet the friends there by name.

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How to live as a Christian, II John 1 Friday, Mar 27 2009

The author is John the apostle and was probably written c. 85-95 A.D.   II John was written to urge discernment in supporting traveling teachers; otherwise, someone might unintentionally contribute to the propagation of heresy rather than the truth.

1:1  The elder,

         To the chosen lady and her children,

         whom I love in all the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—

1:2  because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:

1:3  Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son,

        will be with us in truth and love.

1:4  It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth,

         just as the Father commanded us.

1:5  And now, dear lady,

        I am not writing you a new command

        but one we have had from the beginning.

        I ask that we love one another.

1:6  And this is love:

        that we walk in obedience to his commands.

       As you have heard from the beginning,

       his command is that you walk in love.

1:7  Many deceivers,

        who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh,

        have gone out into the world.

        Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

1:8  Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for,

        but that you may be rewarded fully.

1:9  Anyone who runs ahead

        and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God;

        whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

1:10  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching,

          do not take him into your house or welcome him.

1:11  Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.

1:12  I have much to write to you,

           but I do not want to use paper and ink.

          Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face,

          so that our joy may be complete.

1:13  The children of your chosen sister send their greetings.

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How to live as a Christian, I John 5 Wednesday, Mar 25 2009

5:1  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,

        and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

5:2  This is how we know that we love the children of God:

         by loving God and carrying out his commands.

5:3  This is love for God:  to obey his commands.

          And his commands are not burdensome,

5:4  for everyone born of God overcomes the world.

         This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

5:5  Who is it that overcomes the world?

         Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

5:6  This is the one that came by water and blood—Jesus Christ.

         He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.

         And it is the Spirit who testifies,

         because the Spirit is the truth.

5:7  For there are three that testify:

5:8  the Spirit, the water, and the blood;

         and the three are in agreement.

5:9  We accept man’s testimony,

          but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God,

          which he has given about his Son.

5:10  Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart.

            Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar,

             because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

5:11  And this is the testimony:

          God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

5:12  He who has the Son has life;

           he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

5:13  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God

           so that you may know that you have eternal life.

5:14  This is the confidence we have in approaching God

           that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

5:15  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—

            we know that we have what we asked of him.

5:16  If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death,

           he should pray and God will give him life.

          I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death.

          There is a sin that leads to death.

          I am not saying he should pray about that.

5:17  All wrongdoing is sin,

            and there is sin that does not lead to death.

5:18  We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin;

           the one who was born of God keeps him safe,

           and the evil one cannot harm him.

5:19  We know that we are children of God,

           and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

5:20  We know also that the Son of God has come

            and has given us understanding,

            so that we may know him who is true.

           And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ.

           He is the true God and eternal life.

5:21  Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

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How to live as a Christian, I John 4 Tuesday, Mar 24 2009

4:1  Do not believe every spirit,

        but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,

        because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

4:2  This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God:

          Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh

          is from God,

4:3  but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus

         is not from God.

        This is the spirit of the antichrist,

        which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

4:4  You are from God and overcome them,

         because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

4:5  They are from the world

          and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world

          and the world listens to them.

4:6  We are from God

         and whoever knows God listens to us,

         but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.

         This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

4:7  Let us love one another,

         for love comes from God.

        Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

4:8  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

4:9  This is how God showed his love among us:

         He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

4:10  This is love:

           not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son

           as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

4:11  Since God so loved us,

          we also ought to love one another.

4:12  No one has ever seen God;

           but if we love one another, God lives in us

          and his love is made complete in us.

4:13  We know that we live in him and he in us,

           because he has given us of his Spirit.

4:14  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son

          to be the Savior of the world.

4:15  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,

          God lives in him and he in God.

4:16  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

           God is love.

           Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him.

4:17  In this way, love is made complete among us

          so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment,

          because in this world we are like him.

4:18  There is no fear in love.

           But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.

           The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

4:19  We love because he first loved us.

4:20  If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar.

            For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen,

            cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

4:21  And he has given us this command:

            Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

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How to live as a Christian, I John 3 Monday, Mar 23 2009

3:1  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,

        that we should be called children of God!

        And that is what we are!

        The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

3:2  Now we are children of God,

         and what we will be has not yet been made known.

        But we know that when he appears,

        we shall be like him,

        for we shall see him as he is.

3:3  Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

3:4  Everyone who sins breaks the law;

        in fact, sin is lawlessness.

3:5  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.

         And in him is no sin.

3:6  No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.

        No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

3:7  Do not let anyone lead you astray.

         He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteousness.

3:8  He who does what is sinful is of the devil,

        because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

       The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

3:9  No one who is born of God will continue to sin,

         because God’s seed remains in him;

         he cannot go on sinning,

         because he has been born of God.

3:10  This is how we know who the children of God are

            and who the children of the devil are:

            Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God;

             nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

3:11  This is the message you heard from the beginning:

           We should love one another.

3:12  Do not be like Cain,

           who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.

           And why did he murder him?

            Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.

3:13  Do not be surprised if the world hates you.

3:14  We know that we have passed from death to life,

          because we love our brothers.

         Anyone who does not love remains in death.

3:15  Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer,

           and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

3:16  This is how we know what love is:

           Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

           And we ought to oay down our lives for our brothers.

3:17  If anyone has material possessions

           and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him,

          how can the love of God be in him?

3:18  Let us not love with words or tongue

          but with actions and in truth.

3:19  This then is how we know that we belong to the truth,

           and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence

3:20  whenever our hearts condemn us.

            For God is greater than our hearts,

            and he knows everything.

3:21  If our hearts do not condemn us,

           we have confidence before God

3:22  and receive from him anything we ask,

           because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

3:23  And this is his command:

           to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another

           as he commanded us.

3:24  Those who obey his commandments live in him, and he in them.

           And this is how we know he lives in us:

           We know it by the Spirit he gives us.

My heart is filled with great peace, joy, and love this morning.  I do believe in the name of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and I want to love others as he has commanded.

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How to live as a Christian, I John 2 Saturday, Mar 21 2009

3:1  I write this to you so that you will not sin.

        But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense

        —Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

2:2  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,

        and not only for ours

        but also for the sins of the whole world.

2:3  We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.

2:4  The man who says, “I know him,”

         but does not do what he commands is a liar,

         and the truth is not in him.

          But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.

          This is how we know we are in him:

           Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

2:7  I am not writing you a new command but an old one,

         which you have had since the beginning.

         This old command is the message you have heard.

2:8  Yet I am writing you a new command;

         its truth is seen in him and you,

         because the darkness is passing and the true light is always shining.

2:9  Anyone who claims to be in the light

         but hates his brother is still in darkness.

2:10  Whoever loves his brother lives in the light,

            and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.

2:11  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in darkness;

          he does not know where he is going,

          because the darkness has blinded him.

2:12         I write to you, dear children,

                          because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

2:13         I write to you, young men,

                          because you have overcome the evil one.

                  I write to you, dear children,

                          because you have known the Father.

2:14         I write to you, fathers,

                          because you have known him who is from the beginning.

                  I write to you, young men,

                         because you are strong,

                         and the word of God lives in you,

                         and you have overcome the evil one.

2:15  Do not love the world or anything in the world.

           If anyone loves the world,

           the love of the Father is not in him.

2:16  For everything in the world

           —the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes

           and the boasting of what he has and does—

           comes not from the Father but from the world.

2:17  The world and its desires pass away,

           but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

2:18  This is the last hour,

           and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,

           even now many antichrists have come.

           This is how we know it is the last hour.

2:19  They went out from us,

           but they did not really belong to us.

           For if they had belonged to us,

          they would have remained with us;

           but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

2:20  But you have an anointing from the Holy One,

           and all of you know the truth.

2:21  I do not write to you because you do not know the truth,

          but because you do know it

          and because no lie comes from the truth.

2:22  Who is the liar?

           It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.

          Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.

2:23  No one who denies the Son has the Father;

           whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

2:24  See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you.

          If it does,

          you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

2:25  And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.

2:26  I am writing these things to you

           about those who are trying to lead you astray.

2:27  As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you,

           and you do not need anyone to teach you.

          But as his anointing teaches you about all things

          and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit

          —just as it has taught you, remain in him.

2:28  And now, dear children, continue in him,

           so that when he appears

           we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

2:29  If you know that he is righteous,

           you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

The simple benchmark of whether or not a person is of God and is not a lie requires we look for what is said about the deity of the Father and the Son.  If their deity is affirmed, it is truth; if it is denied, it is a lie.  I’ve read several authors who work very hard to disprove the deity of the Father and the Son; I cannot follow them, no matter how learned or sophisticated their arguments seem.

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How to live as a Christian, I John 1 Friday, Mar 20 2009

The author is John, son of Zebedee—the apostle and author of the Gospel of John and Revelation.  He was a fisherman.  He may have been a first cousin of Jesus; his mother may have been Salome, possibly a sister of Mary.  It is reasonable to date this somewhere between 85 and 95 A.D.

This letter is addressed to believers.

Gnosticism is defined as:

1.  Man’s body is evil; God is spirit, good.

2.  Salvation is escape from the body by special knowledge.

3.  Christ’s humanity is denied:

          (1)  “seemed” to have a body

          (2)  divine Christ joined Jesus at baptism and left before he died

4.  evil body was to be treated harshly, asceticism

5.  since matter (body) is evil, breaking God’s law is of no moral consequence

Purpose of this letter:

1.  expose false teachers

2.  give believers assurance of salvation

1:1  That which was from the beginning,

        which we have heard,

        which we have seen with our eyes,

        which we have looked at and our hands have touched

        —this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

1:2  The life appeared;

         we have seen it and testify to it,

         and we proclaim to you the eternal life,

         which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

1:3  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,

         so that you also may have fellowship with us.

         And our fellowship is with the Father

         and with his son, Jesus Christ.

1:4  We write this to make our joy complete.

1:5  This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:

        God is light;

         in him there is no darkness at all.

1:6  If we claim to have fellowship with him

        yet walk in the darkness,

        we lie and do not live by the truth.

1:7  But if we walk in the light,

         as he is in the light,

        we have fellowship with one another,

        and the blood of Jesus, his Son,

        purifies us from all sin.

1:8  If we claim to be without sin,

        we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

1:9  If we confess our sins,

         he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins

         and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1:10  If we claim we have not sinned,

           we make him out to be a liar

           and his word has no place in our lives.

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