WiseHeart

"The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin."

~ Proverbs 10:17

I have to admit, when I first read this verse in my study I laughed a little. Why, you ask? Because it seemed absolutely preposterous to be able to over-talk the Lord. I mean, you would have to be talking exceedingly loud to not hear Him, right? And then I thought more about it--it's not so ridiculous a thing to happen after all.

This made me think of that passage about Elijah.

'Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heart it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. 

Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"'

[1 Kings 19:11-13]

The voice of the Lord was not in the loud things of the world, it was a still, small voice. A whisper. When I thought of this, I stopped laughing. God doesn't always speak to us in the big things, sometimes He whispers in the day-to-day living.

When put into this context, it's not so hard to imagine speaking over that Whisper. It wouldn't be so hard to let the things of this world talk over the Lord because we get so caught up in deadlines and activities.

What does Elijah say to the Lord? He basically tells Him, "I've done everything You asked. And now I'm all alone and everyone is trying to kill me." (It's been a rough time for old Elijah.) So what does the Lord do? He sends him on another mission, so to speak. He tells him to go back the way he came and do a relatively long list of things. Among those things, He tells him to anoint Elisha, Elijah's successor for all intents and purposes.

Now, it's easy to say, "That was in the Old Testament, it doesn't apply to us today. God isn't going to speak to us in the same way He spoke to Elijah." We like those big moment revelations--those ones that you simply cannot ignore. And while I do think the Lord can speak to us in that way, I think there is a lot of merit in being still, and listening for the small things. We like to chatter and talk, but that is not always fruitful.

Proverbs 10 goes on to say in verse 19:

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."

 Let's combine these two verses from Proverbs 10. "When words are many, sin is not absent, a chattering fool comes to ruin. The wise in heart holds his tongue and accepts commands." (I spliced those together because I think they compliment one another well, I do not think this should be done often with all verses, but I felt it served my purpose here.)

I would be lying if I told I was good at being still. The fact of the matter is that I like to be doing things, anything. I have a lot on my plate right now and there's been a lot of multitasking. I may not be verbally chattering a lot, but internally I am.

My new prayer for this week, and onward, has been, "Lord, give me a WiseHeart, and let my tongue be still. Let me not be a chattering fool." And then I listen. There is merit in silence, in the listening heart. I keep my heart open to His commands, whatever they may be.

WaterReady

"During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. 'It's a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: 'Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.'

'Lord, if it's you,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water.'

'Come,' he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?'

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'" 

~Matthew 14:25-33

We're looking at a longer passage today, but I just couldn't think of a way to cut down the length without losing the beauty of the Gospel. And really, it's such a great scene, why make it shorter?

Now, most of the time we use this passage as a message of: "Get out of that boat of comfort and you can do anything!" At least, that's how I've heard it. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a bad way to look at it, but I think there are other things to consider as well.

A bit of what I didn't include in the quote is that the boat was being "buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it." (v. 24) So they weren't just out for a pleasurable ride--the sea was not still. I don't know how comforting a boat in that kind of weather would be. Granted, it would have been safer than being out in the waves themselves. If anything, we ought to talk about how this passage tells us to get out in the storm, even when we don't want to--like going from the frying pan to the fire.

I don't think any of us can blame the disciples for freaking out when the see Jesus walking on the water--it would be an incredible sight to see. But of course Peter needed proof that it was Him. Aren't we always seeking proof for things we can't explain? Now, if I were Peter I would have thought of something else to prove it was Jesus than going out on the water myself. I mean, really, he could have waited until He was in the boat; it would have been clear enough then. But no, he tells Him to call him out onto the sea. And so he goes. It's interesting, Peter must have believed it was the Christ because he does walk on the water for a time.

But what happens? He recognizes what he's doing and suddenly doesn't believe he can walk on water anymore--so he begins to sink. How often do we do this to ourselves? We feel called to do something (write a book, share the Gospel, be a missionary, ect.) and then we realize what exactly we've gotten ourselves into and we stop believing that we are capable. Perhaps this is because we believe we're doing it alone, that we don't have the support of God. Or perhaps we simply forget that we can't do much of anything well without Him. And then we see the metaphorical storm we've stepped into, and we lose faith.

We cry out, much like Peter, "Lord, save me! Help me to do this thing!" And Christ reaches out to lift us from the waters.

Imagine what Jesus is thinking here, "I was helping you to walk on water! Why would you lose your faith now? Why did you doubt that I would be with you? I love you! I would never forsake you..." As always, in the passage He asks one question, but it certainly is a poignant one. "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Woah. Why do we doubt? What is it that makes of lose our faith? We get so distracted for the storm around us that we lose focus on the most important thing.

When they get into the boat again, the winds died down. It was then that the disciples said, "Truly you are the Son of God." Now wait a minute....He was just walking on water, and it wasn't until the storm was calmed that you actually believed He was the Son of God? What?!? But really, don't we do this all the time? There is evidence of His glory all around us, but it's the big stuff that really catches out attention.

So my question to you is this: Are you WaterReady? And by that I mean, are you willing to step out into the water and lose control? In order to be truly WaterReady you must have complete faith in Jesus Christ. To quote a very popular verse, "I can do everything through him who give me strength." (Philippians 4:13) Rid yourself of doubt, and step out of the boat. When Christ brings you back to it, it will be in a better condition than when you left it.

ChristFollowers

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
~Matthew 10:37-39

It's been a big couple weeks. Big, but very good. This verse strikes me because of one of the biggest events --some friends of my parents (they're the parents of three of Josef and I's friends) have decided and felt called to move to Zambia in a year and be full time missionaries. And while we will miss them, we cannot tell them not to go because they're being called by God and we all know that this is important. It's good timing; all three kids will be out of the house after this school year and they don't have any grandbabies yet.

We've been able to see their struggle though. They are leaving family here--they're leaving everything. Really, they're picking up their crosses and they're following Christ. I am overwhelmed by the weight of their sacrifice. And while there may be tears, they are tears of joy and pride.

One of the hardest things for them is the lack of support from their parents. I pray that they read this verse time and time again. They are doing what Jesus called them to do. Isn't this the biggest test? Even though they don't have full support from their parents they are moving forward.

Now, I'm not saying that we should shun our parents, and that is not what these friends of ours are doing. No, we should still respect our parents (and our children). But we should be willing to put God above all these things. The list of our priorities should put God first and then family. How have you prioritized your life?

We should be ChristFollowers. So, I challenge you, are you willing to put your life aside to follow Christ?

WisdomSeeker

"Wisdom calls aloud in the streets, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:"
~Proverbs 1:20-21

Before I jump into the devotion, I have a couple housekeeping items to take care of.

First, there really is no good excuse for not posting in so long. I let a crazy-hectic semester get in the way of my God-time. I apologize to you for being absent, and I make the same apology to my Heavenly Father. This summer I intend to be more diligent in my posting (which involves overall study, as well).

Second, I'm doing a study of Proverbs with a friend. So, be ready for several entries on Proverbs. I think it will be time well spent. A lot can be learned from that book. That is not to say that I won't do other devotions as well.

Third, Proverbs 1 is awesome. I love the personification of wisdom. Now, I want to focus on the introduction of wisdom, as you see quoted above. However, I encourage you to go read her speech. It will make you think.

Now, for the main event...

A little background, a lot of the Proverbs were written by King Solomon. (The last couple were written by other kings.) It is fitting that Solomon write about wisdom--he was blessed with it, after all. He asked for wisdom, when he could have asked for riches. It is important to note that the wealth followed the wisdom.

I think there is significance in the way wisdom is depicted. Wisdom is feminine--I am not a Hebrew scholar, so I can't tell you if it is simply give a feminine pronoun because the word is feminine or if the writer was specifically trying to make a point. (I don't know if Hebrew assigns gender like that either, if any of you know, I would love for you to share.) I do think it is interesting though. Especially when one considers that in that culture (which I am not an expert on) women were not the ones that led the family. They were homemakers, and expected to be quiet (particularly when in public settings, I believe). So, there is a woman yelling in a public square, on the street corners, and at the gateways. She's trying, desperately, to get people's attention. But they ignore her. They ignore Wisdom. Maybe it's because she is a woman and they believe they know better than her. Maybe it's because all the surrounding noise is drowning her out. I don't know. But I know that she is being ignored. And I know that this is true of us today.

We let the voices of this world get so loud we can't hear Wisdom calling to us. We keep going through life oblivious to our mistakes.

(Let's be honest, we're all pretty good and making ourselves look like fools.)

Sometimes we don't want to hear her because we think we know better. For me, I let the craziness of the semester get in the way of the Word--the ultimate source of Wisdom.

I would get into her speech, but it's long. And I think you should have to do some digging and wrestling yourself. I'm going to let you be a WisdomSeeker, too. So, read Proverbs 1 (and beyond). Don't hide from Wisdom, and don't ignore her. Seek her out.

CharacterStrong

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."
~ 1 Peter 3:8-9

I don't know about you, but I really struggle with some of the characteristics listed above.

You may read that and say: "Live in harmony with one another? Is that the same thing as tolerance? Aren't we supposed to live in the world but not of it? How do these things go together?" Well, I think this passage is talking about within the church. As a church body we should live in harmony, and that just doesn't always happen. There is hostility between certain branches of the Body and that breaks my heart. Denominations like to pick out all the difference and just argue. Why can't we all just say, "We may have differences, but the heart of the matter is Christ, and because we have Him we are one in the Body." Paul wrote somewhere that different parts of the body serve different purposes but those parts have to work together.

Sympathy and compassions are pretty heavily ingrained. I am an empathizer, and because of this sympathy is not really a problem for me, and neither is compassion. We are called to help our brothers, and without these two things, we can't help others.

Love as brothers. This isn't always easy, but it ties in with the afore mentioned characteristics.

Be humble. Wow. This can be incredibly difficult. It's really easy to get into this mindset that we are better because we are Christians and we have a strong moral center. (Or we should.) It's important to remember that everything we have is from above and not of ourselves.

It's really easy to want to retaliate against evil and insult with evil and insult. We need to remember that Christ died because of us, because we are evil and we insulted Him, and so He should have repaid that death with death, but instead He gives us life.

We were called to be loving. We were called to be CharacterStrong. Our greatest blessing is the salvation we get from Christ.