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The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the innermost parts of his being. Proverbs 20:27
Here is a proverb that wisely reveals to us the workings of the Spirit of God within a man. One might ask how this imparts wisdom to us. We must remember though the definition of wisdom. That definition is seeing things as God sees them - and thus making decisions that are in concert with His will and purposes. With wisdom defined in this way we can easily see why a verse showing us the workings of the Holy Spirit in man is very valuable to grasping wisdom in our lives. Such information allows us to better understand how God imparts and gives us His wisdom. The first thing we learn is that the "spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord." A lamp is something we use to give us light. What is being said to us is that the lamp of God is the spirit of man. When God wants to reveal Himself and make Himself and His wisdom known to man, He does so in and through our spirit. By the working of the Holy Spirit - Who speaks in our spirit - we are made aware of the mind and heart of God. Watchman Nee in his amazing volume on the working of the Holy Spirit, The Spiritual Man, spoke of how the Holy Spirit worked in us through our intuition, our conscience, and through something I'll call "our knower." Let's take a look at these three features of our spirit in concert with God's Spirit. God reveals Himself to us primarily through His Word. As we read and know His revelation of Himself in the Word, the Holy Spirit will speak to our conscience. This might also be referred to as conviction. We are convicted of truth and our conscience speaks to us. This is not some kind of "devil on one shoulder - angel on the other" kind of experience. Instead is it a settled understanding of some things. First is might be that soemthing it true - true about God - true about who we are in Christ - true morally - true in any number of ways. Our conscience speaks to us and we know that it is true (because we see it in God's Word). We also might see that something is sinful. God's Word points out an action, an attitude, a word spoken - and our conscience bothers us as we come to the settled conviction that either we have sinned, or that something is sin. Another way this works is when we are convicted about something as the will of God. Our conscience prods us to act - to speak - to turn away from some temptation or toward an act of obedience - serving in some way - witnessing - and any number of other aspects of walking in obedience with God. The second tool used by the Holy Spirit is our intuition. This really also fits the idea of our "knower." This is when the Spirit of God works in our spirit to help us just 'know' that soemthig is true. This would speak to the working of God to simply through an intuitive knowledge - to bear witness with the truth. One thing about this 'intuitive' aspect of God's working must be said. That is that God's Spirit will NEVER contradict God's Word in what He grants us as intuitive knowledge. Probably the best way I can describe this working is that we have a sense that someting is wrong - or something is warning us that we are about to sin. There is also a way where we just know that something is God's will and that we should act. Again - this is one of the more subjective ways the Spirit of God works - so this must be tested with God's Word - and a working knowledge of it. We need to note how God's lamp works in this proverb. We read that it, "searches all the innermost parts of our being." God's lamp - our spirit as the Holy Spirit reveals truth to us - searches us out. Even to the very innermost parts of our being this lamp lights things up within us. The reason this is needed is at least in part because sin has made it difficult to know our own hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us that the heart is deceitful above all else and is dsperately wicked. We are told immediately afterward, "I the Lord search the heart." Thus this working by God's lamp is vital to us knowing the truth. It is wise to regularly - even daily or hourly - submit to the teaching, leading, and searching of the Holy Spirit of God. This work that God does is so very important if we want to know the truth. When we surrender to Him and allow Him to teach us - we know the truth. When we surrender to Him and allow Him to lead us - we will walk in the will and ways of God consistently. When we surrender to Him and allow Him to search us - we will be delivered from sin and from deceiving ourselves by following our hearts instead of being led by the Spirit and the Word. Wisdom - yes this proverb gives us great wisdom indeed.
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The first to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and examines him. Proverbs 18:17
Today we will see a proverb that gives us wisdom when it comes to hearing the case of someone who is seeking to convince us of something. It is also a day when we will see where our forefathers learned about the wisdom of cross-examination in a court of law. We hear people say that we are a godly nation founded upon biblical principles. I can imagine that the average person would have to think at some point where they could see these biblical principles in black and white. Here in Proverbs 18:17 we see such an example. This proverb probably was spoken to those who had to deal with legal issues - matters of justice in a community. They were warned that when a court case ensues, there is a normal tendency in all of us to believe the things we are told by someone. This is especially the case when we have someone who is "pleading" their case with us. This is someone who is passionate about what they are saying. It is also someone, at times, who is facing a very real loss of money or even freedom if they lose. In some severe cases it can even be that the one pleading his case may forfeit his life. Therefore we are dealing with someone who will make a very impassioned plea. If the truth were known (and I guess now it is), I tend to be someone who believes what is said to me. Early in my life as an adult, I was somewhat of an easy target for those who wanted to deceive me or take advantage of me. Growing up with my father I saw a man whose word was his bond. As I got older, I was shocked to learn this was not always the case with people. Therefore needed the wisdom shared here in Proverbs 18:17. I needed to examine the person before me - and not always just accept what they say as the truth. The fact is that we live in a fallen world - which means that not everyone is honest, forthright, and has integrity. Believe it or not - and I did not at first - some people will lie to your face to steal from you. They intend to deceive you, take your money, take your stuff, and can have a straight face as they weave their lies they tell you in the process. This is why we need to cross-examine what folks say to us. Please do not take this as a call to be jaded and think everyone is on the take. There are many who I do not even have to question. Their integrity is not suspect. But with someone I do not know - or - someone who has serious character deficits - I need to be wise and ask questions. I am a pastor - and as such have people who come to ask me for money to help in various situations. Early in ministry I'd get taken about 98% of the time. This was because I'd believe every word they'd say as they "plead" their case with me. Now, I've learned to ask questions. I've also learned to ask for phone numbers and people who can verify their story. This had led to a huge drop in the number of times I've been taken. God wants us to love people - and be people who tend to believe others. But . . . He also wants us to be wise as serpents as well as innocent as doves. That requires some basic cross-examination of others. We do it in court because we need to have evidence of the truth - not just statements. By doing this the facts in a case become much clearer over time. Does this always insure a perfect outcome? No, but it does at least help us to be wise and understanding about the nature of people - and about how we need to respond to their requests and problems. Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it, But the discipline of fools is folly. Proverbs 16:22
There is an artery that carries the blood from our hearts to the rest of our bodies. We know it as the aorta. The passage for today from proverbs uses a phrase, "fountain of life" which is "mekor chaiyim" in the Hebrew. This was the phrase used often as an allusion to this artery which carries the blood from the heart to distribute it to all the extremities of our bodies. It is used here though in reference to the one who has "understanding." As the aorta is the life-giving channel to the whole body phsyically - so understanding is the life-giving vehicle to our moral and spiritual well-being. Therefore it is pretty important that we know what it means to have understanding in our lives. The word "understanding" here is the Hebrew word "sekel." This word means, "having intelligence and good sense." But the intelligence mentioned here is more than just book learning about various subjects. It means to have understanding and insight into things that comes from more than just mere educational learning. The Bible says in 1 Chronicles 22:12 that only the Lord can give us insight and understanding. This is given so that we can obey God and please Him - which is the greatest understanding of things in light of eternity. Job 17:14 reminds us that God can give this understanding and insight - or - take it away whenever He so chooses. The result of having this kind of godly, God-given insight and understanding is that it helps us to be patient and forgiving (Proverbs 19:11). Those who have such insight will be praised - and will turn from perversity in their lives (Proverbs 12:8). You come away from the definition of this word seeing that God grants this insight as we get into His Word - understand it - and gain insight into both His character and the character of mankind. The knowledge of both of these things is what grants us patience to deal with the failings of others patiently. We grasp the power of forgiveness as we experience it from God at levels that will infinitely dwarf any forgiveness that we will ever have to give others for their trangressions against us. We will also find that such biblical insight gained from our heavenly Father will turn us to godly, holy lives - and turn us from lies, deceit, and anything which perverts and twists our path from God's ways and plans. In this end - this is a conduit for life - God's life in its fullness. The discipline of fools is folly. The general agreement on the scholars is that "musar" which is the word here for "discipline" has the idea of instruction. It is how we use the word discipline when refering to a field of study. We are in the discipline of Mathmatics. That means that we are studying this field - and intentionally harnessing ourselves to a disciplined practice of doing math every day - so that we learn the field of study - or in this cast the discipline of Mathmatics. The passage says that the learning or instruction of the fool is folly. This is why a fool is such a pathetic figure in Proverbs. He remains a fool because that is all he disciplines himself to be - a fool. He so delights in his folly that is it all that he ever learns and pursues. In the end - he only becomes a bigger and bigger fool. Since folly is his life-blood, the flow of his choices, attitudes, and actions only solidify the result that he will be a bigger fool tomorrow than he is today. His only real hope is that the grace of God rescues him from his foolishness - and brings him to the place where he values wisdom and understanding. There must be a heart change for him to begin to experience an "aortic-change" in what flows through him as his life-blood. Honestly - this is the gospel - God reaching into the hearts of fools - changing them by His grace. Taking out their heart of stone (the heart of a fool). Granting them by His mercy and infinte kindness a new heart of flesh. This heart values wisdom and understading . . . and then, seeing the change as this new heart values understanding - which then becomes the new life-blood that flows throughout him. Only that kind of change - changes the hearts of fools. Otherwise, their discipline of study remains folly - which confirms them as lifelong fools. Their end is the ultimate place of all fools - next to the ultimate fool of all eternity - in a lake of fire that is wholly popluated by all the fools who said in their hearts, "There is no God." Better to have life - and to have a heart that because of grace and the gospel pumps out understanding - insight - biblical knowledge - and discretion. Thanks be to God for the "aortic-change" that brings life to us - and causes life to flow into every apsect of our entire moral and spiritual being! Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory. Proverbs 11:14
How do you make good decisions in life? Even better said, "How do you make decisions that will not end in you falling on your face? That is what is addressed in the proverb for today. There is a way to be confident that your decisions will not come back to haunt you later. Let's take a look at what God's wisdom has to teach us today about this. This proverb is all about being willing to seek and take advice. This does not mean that we cannot know what to do ourselves and do it, but it does warn against the person who thinks in all matters that what is in his own mind will suffice. This man does not seek counsel at all. When we read the passage it speaks of having "NO" guidance. The problem here is that we have a decision maker with an excessive amount of pride in his own thinking. The willingness to seek and accept advice is a plus - because godly counsel is a must if we are going to walk in God's ways. We even need to be able to hear and consider advice that we don't want. Some think that anyone they consider inferior to themselves is unable to offer counsel. That is a sure way to fall. It is when we have an abundance of godly counsellors in our life that we will have victory. The word for victory is "tesuah" and it means to have deliverance, safety, or victory. It speaks of a military context, of course, but goes beyond that one to also speak of deliverance from sin and from making foolish decisions that harm us later. When thinking about this verse two examples come to mind. The first is that of Balaam. He sought after and received God's counsel (even though he did it by divination). But after receiving God's counsel - he decided after seeing the possibility of a huge payday from Balak, to ask God if He had any other ideas concerning cursing Israel. When God allowed Balaam to go (but only speak what God says) Balaam took it as far more freedom to do what he wanted (which was to make a lot of money from Balak). Since he would not take counsel from God - the Lord intended to kill him. Were it not for the counsel of his donkey - he would have been killed that next day. Balaam had what he wanted to do in his mind - and would not listen to God's counsel. Fortunately for him the advice the donkey he had just beaten got through to him for a while. Unfortunately for him - his donkey was not able to speak a second time to keep him from counselling Balak to send his women among the Israelites to get them to commit sexual immorality with the men - to get God to curse Israel. In the end, Balaam's desire for money and power cost him his life - and eternity in hell. The second example is that of king Nebuhadnezzar from Babylon. His pride and arrogance was leading him down a very destructive path. He felt "he" was sovereign over his own life - and that all his power and authority had come from himself. First God sought to counsel him by giving him a strange dream - then Daniel interpretted it. Daniel let Nebuchadnezzar know that if he did not repent of his pride and arrogance, admitting that God alone was sovereign, he was about to experience life as a beast. Nebby listened, but did not take the advice. He fell from being king to being an ordinary beast of the field for 7 years. He ended that time by lifting his eyes and finally taking counsel to admit that God alone was sovereign. It took a while, but he learned that in the abundance of counsellors (God and Daniel) there is victory. Where are you? Are you one who thinks that your own understanding is sufficient? Do you shun the offer of advice and counsel of godly men and women? If you are, I would encourage you to seriously consider today's proverb. It warns of a fall that is coming your way. It also gives you advice about having an abundance of godly counsellors to help you know wisdom - know victory - and know the favor and blessing of God. A wise man would take this counsel. A foolish man would seek no other guidance than that which his own mind produces - oh - and he will fall flat on his face eventually. Good understanding produces favor, But the way of the treacherous is hard. Proverbs 13:15
Intelligence with insight and discernment is worth its weight in gold and jewels. We see the phrase "good understanding" at the beginning of this proverb today. This phrase means to have an intelligence or good sense. God did not intend for us to be ignorant. The Word of God makes it clear that we are to learn, to be educated, and to gain knowledge. Where the world has made its fatal mistake is to separate their gathering and thirst for knowledge from God and from a life given to know and please Him. The idea behind having good understanding is ones ability to take their intelligence and use it to also manifest good sense and discernment. It is the ability to have more than just knowledge - it is the ability to gain insight from that knowledge. It is taking our knowledge and seeing it as the servant of God. Unfortunately in the past there were some in the church (not necessarily in Christ) who reacted wrongly to those who in foolish education decided that part and parcel of their education was a call to reject God. In their misguided zeal to "protect" God - they began to reject education. In our day there has been such a false separation between God and education that many believe you have to choose one or the other. Such a separation is falacious entirely. What the academic rejects is submitting his knowledge to anything or Anyone - which leads him to many foolish conclusions. What the Christian academic does is submit his study to the Word of God - which, if he will do so consistently, will lead him to even greater discoveries (and by the way - acurate ones as well). Ultimately - and here is where the purely secular academic will howl with disapproval - the goal of life is to experience God's favor and grace. This is wholly unacceptable to the academic who rejects the Bible as ultimate truth. He sees this as a step backwards into stupidity and ignorance. But his rejection of God's favor only produces problems for him - and for those who adopt his worldview based upon purely flesly science and research. The Scriptures here state very clearly that the way of the treacherous is hard. The word treacherous is telling here. It is the Hebrew word "bagad" and it means to be traitorous, to act unfaithfully, to betray. This has at least two applications. First is the one I to which I am currently referring in this discussion of true scholars - who move past mere research to conclusions which ultimately seek the favor of God. The treachery of which they are guilty is a betrayal of their very principles of research and understanding. In cutting off any consideration of the divine - they betray their own conclusions. They demand a world without anything except what their fallen senses can detect. But such a world would be one without meaning or purpose. Thus their very science which seeks to make sense out of the world and its workings - is passionately pursuing of a moot point. There is no meaning - there are no morals - there is no purpose in a world that is based on an amoral starting point. You cannot begin with amorality - and come to a conclusion of any moral reasoning. This is why the way of the treacherous is hard. Rejecting God, rejecting truth, rejecting the biblical worldview - is hard. In the end you are left with a machine that has no purpose nor meaning that crushes the life out of those who are desperately wanting their philosophical nothingless void to whisper that there is something to live for in life. Though they may never admit it in their lifetime - their pursuit of a nothing that means something will laugh at them in the end - showing that their lifetime has been spent tilting at philosophical windmills. Even worse - they will give the philosophical underpinnings that will give rise to the most monstrous of men. Germany rejected God - and rejected truth in the early 20th century in what they thought was a freedom from the mentally constipated constructs of Christian theology which they felt constricted science and philosophical thought. The step-child of their philosophy rose to power amidst the Third Reich - and Hitler arose as the one who would take their atheistic, evolution-driven understanding and put it to a use that would horrify the ages. His actions that sought a super-race - free from the restraints of human kindness and consideration - gave us the genocide of the Jews in his generation. Yet he was only following the treacherous path laid for him by those who asserted that a worldview based on the survival of the fittest. He was only taking their philosophical treachery and drawing conclusions that make sense in that system. In the end the way is hard for the treacherous. There is a second kind of treachery - one that exists in the church itself. It is the treachery of hypocrisy within our hearts. This is where our so-called Bible understanding short-circuits and does not lead us to valid discernment of sin and righteousness. This is where we have a disconnect with the truth. We choose NOT to follow the Word - nor the conclusions that should be drawn from it. We choose NOT to walk in obedience - or to reject an action because the Scriptures clearly show it to be sin. Thus we become treacherous in how we either know the Word or how we should apply it. Once again the conclusion of this matter is that the way of the treacherous one is hard. Sin, regardless of who commits it, is going to be hard. There are going to be stumbling blocks - consequences - and difficulties that will not go away simply because we claim to be Christians. The Word stands - we can either follow it and walk in a way that will be blessed - or go the way of the transgressor, which the Bible also tells us, is hard. The wise man is the one who grasps that God is truly God - and that His Word IS truth. Knowing this he is armed with what I would call "advanced" information about this world. It is information given to us - indeed revealed to us - from an Infinite Intelligence. If we learn to follow it - and know that stepping outside of its philosophical and moral constructs will only bring difficulty - we will be blessed - even favored if you will accept it. But to do so requires us to also accept the Author's worldview of man - that of a fallen one who has rebelled and turned from the right way to follow his own base nature. It requires us to see that the purpose of all things does not find its apex in man - but in God. Unfortunately for many academics - and religious hypocrites - that is the most odious step to take. Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may be grief.
Proverbs 14:13 To read a face is easy - but to read someone's heart is far more difficult. In today's proverb we learn that lesson. Even when someone is laughing - their heart may still be in pain. Just because someone paints a smile on their face - it does not always serve as a guarantee of what is happening in their hearts. We are also counselled that the end of joy may be grief. This is why we need to not read every person by what they showing on their faces. I remember a brother in Christ who used to ask me how I was doing. One time I answered him that I was doing fine, even thought I was not on the inside. Then he looked at me and said, "Really how are you doing - and this time tell me the truth." It was then that I opened up to him and told him that I was not doing so good. He took the time to really know what was going on in my heart - and then took the time to minister to me. He was such a blessing in this way. Where others would just take things at face value and move on - he really did what to know what is going on in someone's life. It opened up a great deal of ministry for him. There are times when we will have to get past the facade that people put on for us. If we do not, they will not open up and we will not be able to minister to their true situation. So do not be deceived, even by laughter and supposed joy and mirth. These can be real - but they can also be camouflage to keep people at an arm's length - when in reality they truly need someone to push through so that their pain can be addressed by the love of someone who truly cares. A man will be praised according to his insight, But one of perverse mind will be despised. Proverbs 12:8
Good godly Biblical-sense beats out common-sense every day. But what is interesting is that often common-sense, which we too often take for granted, comes from Biblical-sense. We read here that a man will be praised according to his insight. This word "insight" is a great Bible word. The word means to be intelligent and have good sense. But this is an intelligence that means more than just a mere book knowledge on a certain subject. It means an insight and understanding that is the gift of God. We obtain it as we seek God and seek to know God through the way He has revealed Himself through His Word - the Bible. This is why I stated at the beginning of today's post that common-sense actually arises out of Biblical-sense. Since studying Proverbs in depth I've noticed that the counsel that I offer to others has been radically affected. Rather than offer my own fallible insights and thoughts - I quote from Proverbs and Scripture as a source of counsel. By the way, this means it is no longer my counsel - but God's Word. A second "by the way" is in order too. A good counsellor is not always one with a degree or a certificate - but one with a good working knowledge of God's Word and how it speaks to every issue of life. Sorry for the digression, I'll get back to the point. People want that kind of counsel - and they say to me that I have great insight into their problems and situations. When this is said, I laugh and let them know that without the Scriptures I'm as dumb as a stump. Any profit they receive is because of God's grace and the way that "Biblical-sense" has affected my "common-sense." When a man is praised becuase of his insight - it is often due to the fact that He is studying and seeking to apply Scripture to life. My favorite people are my brothers and sisters who are in their 70's and 80's who have studied and sought to live out God's Word their entire adult lives. They are a treasure chest of wisdom and instruction, rebuke and correction, counsel and encouragement, knowledge and discernment. But there is another person out their offering their opinion and counsel. It is the one of "perverse mind." The word "perverse" here means to bend or to twist. It speaks of those who distort things and make them perverse and crooked. This one will be despised according to Proverbs. When we see where their counsel leads us we will hate their advice. The problem is that too often those of "perverse mind" are exalted in our culture. They are the ones who make movies and television shows that exalt sexual impurity. They tell us that a sexually immoral lifestyle is the bomb! We need to try it out and embrace the sexual revolution. What they don't tell us in their movie portrayals is the truth about sexually transmitted diseases, the truth about broken relationships and broken marriages. They speak of the pleasure without the payment - the joy without the judgment. When we finally learn where their perverse counsel has led us - we despise them for it and feel like we've been burned (because we have!). Don't seek out the counsel of the "perverse of mind." Be careful of the way you allow the culture and the world to color your thinking. We don't say it often enough in the church today, but the culture in which we live is a perverse and godless one. When we allow the print media and what is sent out over the airwaves to instruct us (and realize that they usually instruct us through what they call "entertainment") we are being taught by the perverse in mind and heart. Find those who have insight! Search out and locate those who have "Biblical-sense." Their counsel may hurt a little at first (especially if you've spent too much time among the perverse of mind) but in the end you will praise them for their insight and counsel. Don't be surprised though if they blush and defer all praise to the One Who gave us the revelation of Himself in the Bible. In the end, He is actually the One Who has all the wisdom and great insight. But that is because He is God! |
 Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. 
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