The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.
Proverbs 20:12 Yesterday we looked for a few moments at the seeing eye. We learned how the eye points us to God - a God who created us by His infinite wisdom and understanding. Today, we want to take a look at the human ear - and see how God again reveals His power, glory, and amazing work through it. It is my belief that these two organs alone should bring evolutionists to their knees in wonder and awe at what God made. But since this issue is not about proof, but about an unwillingness to acknowledge, thank, and submit to God, I do not think that the world of evolutionists will be abandoning their incredible faith in their pseudo-science to turn to God any time soon. One of the first things we should know about our ears is that they do far more than just hear things. They are our source of equilibrium - and what allows us to walk upright. Without our ears we would greatly lack balance and would not be able to stand or sit without losing our balance and falling to the ground. What is truly amazing about our ears is that they consist of three different parts - each with their own function in hearing and equilibrium. These parts of the ear first focus sound into a canal which operates by the way the air is bounced around by sound waves. Once inside the ear though, these air and sound waves hit our tympanic membrane - which most of you know as the ear drum. This is where the sound waves are turned from an air phenomena to a water-based impulse. Once the sound waves hit this drum - the waves produced by it work through three of the smallest bones and muscles in the entire human body. These three bones take these waves and interpret them, amplify them, and at times decrease them to where they can be passed on to a liquid medium where the sound will continue to be processed. This liquid medium is then moved through a circular canal filled with what looks like little tiny hairs. These hairs take the disturbance of the water in the middle ear and translate it into the various aspects of sound. Pitch, loudness, quality are all detected as the waves move through the watery canal - and even things like distance and direction are detected as well. These little hairs take these waves and code them into electrical impulses that are then sent along the auditory nerve into the brain. The reason we have two ears is that this allows us to hear in stereo - which in turn helps us deal with direction and distance of sounds that come to us. As all this is coded specially so that the brain can then interpret all these codes and allow us to know what is being heard. What is truly astounding is how sensitive our ears are to sound. Our ears can hear a mosquito buzzing - which I realize to many of us is not that much of a blessing. But when you understand that a mosquito buzzes at a level of one quadrahonth of a watt - it is amazing that we can detect that sound at all. One quadrahonth of a watt is 1/100 quadrillionth of the amount of power it takes to light up a reading lamp - yet with only that much power behind it, we can still hear this sound. The ability of our ears to detect different pitches is also astounding. The piano has over 100 keys on it, each representing a particular pitch, but the human ear has the ability in between each of these pitches to have multiple other pitches it can receive. The sensitivity of the human ear to do this is amazing to a degree almost beyond comprehension. The human ear takes energy in the form of sound waves and then translates it into mechanical energy as the sound waves are collected by the outer ear, moved into the ear cavity, and then strike the tympanic membrane. They are now no longer sound wave energy, but mechanical energy. As this mechanical energy moves through those tiny bones and muscles, it is translated into hydraulic energy in the liquid within the middle ear. This hydraulic energy is then moved through the circular cave of the ear where the little hairs are located. At this point the hydraulic energy of sound is translated by these little hairs into electrical energy over 30,000 neurons which make up the auditory nerve. Coded into electrical energy - they now move over the cable system of the auditory nerve which then carries these codes into the brain where they are decoded and we experience sound. To think this all happened by chance is the height of both arrogance and foolishness. Engineers who have looked at this incredibly complex system marvel at its precision and astounding abilities. What is even more incredible is that we havn't even touched upon the wax system within the ear which deals with impurities - or the way that equilibrium is maintained through the water helping us balance and walk upright - or any of the chemical reactions that have to take place in order for us to translate things in from the hydraulic to the electrical phase of hearing. These would honestly blow our minds if we tried to take the time necessary to understand them. What is truly astounding is that some refuse to see a designer in all this - only random, accidental happenstance. Once again the human ear blows our minds - and shows us the creativity of God as well as His ability to design systems which baffle engineers today. What we should come away with here is the realization that indeed God did create the seeing eye and the hearing ear. For those of us who are wise enough to see and hear such things from God - there is an aspect of worship that should come from such knowledge.
0 Comments
Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old. Proverbs 23:22
I have numerous times been asked the question of when a young person should stop obeying their parents. Many think that just because our laws state that a person is an adult when they are 18 that they have the luxury of no longer obeying their parents. I honestly see no such statement made by Scripture. I believe a child no longer needs to obey his parents when he or she is married. Once that has taken place the child no longer is beholden to do what his parents say. But, one wise thing a person should always do is to listen to their parents - even when they are old. That is because they are an excellent source of wisdom. Our society does not do much to honor the aged among us. Ours is a youth culture - and we value youth, beauty, and strength. Nowadays we see the older among us as people who tend to get in our way as they talk about the past - or they offer decidedly outdated advice from days gone by. Before I put that on anyone else - I will have to admit that I have been infected by those concepts over the years. I have noticed that much of the good advice that I was given by my parents - and by those much older than me would have blessed me and kept me from problems if I had listened and heeded it. Here we see Solomon telling his son to listen to his father. The natural flow of life should be for a father to offer godly advice to his son. This should be easy for the son to receive because of the committment that he has seen over the years from his father. The son knows that the father has nothing in mind except the very best for his son. Having seen this over the course of his lifetime, the son has no great difficulty listening and even following his father's advice. It is astounding how smart our parents get when we have children of our own and begin being responsible for the financial decisions and family decisions that map out for us our future. In those hours we realize that we would joyfully listen to advice and counsel given from our father and mother. The second thing Solomon says to his son is for him not to despise his mother when she is old. The word for despise here means to hold someone in contempt and scorn. The one who acts this way is disrespectful to his mother. I think the reason we are counselled that wisdom is NOT to scorn or hold you mother in contempt is because mothers will speak the truth to you. They will always have that mother's instinct to protect and care for their children. But as children get older, they can come to resent this in their mom. Yet the wise son would never disrespect or dishonor his mom. He would listen to her - even when she is mothering him a little. The wise son realizes that this woman has loved him his entire life - and wants only the very best for him. We may not have to obey our parents once we are married - but a wise man never stops listening to what they have to say. And if the parents are wise, they will choose their words and their disagreements wisely so that their children are able to hear all that they have to say. This is the way that the relationship between parent and adult child can flourish - to the blessing of both parties. He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. Proverbs 28:9
So, how does God view the prayers of those of us who are actively disobeying His Word? That is what we learn today in the proverb of the day. This is going to be a proverb that confronts those who think God hears their prayers - when they are actively disboeying a command of the Word of God. It is also going to be a time when we realize that God sees issues of obedience to His Word in stark black and white - not in a plethora of grey. When we disobey the Word - we are in effect turning our ears away from listening to it. Here in Christian America, we think that having heard the word with the ear alone is akin to having obeyed it. The most rebellious places in America are not the bars or the strip joints. The most rebellious places in America are the parking lots of her churches. This is where far too many saints of God go after hearing the truth preached by their pastors - and justify letting it go into one ear and out the other. They hear the Word - but it never penetrates their hearts. Some will even justify their present disobedience - while praising what was said by the preacher. Thus the American practice of thinking we've obeyed, when we have only heard something - is continued weekly. When we do not obey - we are turning our ear from listening to the truth. The term here for turn away means that we go away from the Word - we desert it - we quit the Word, meaning that we hear, but do not DO it. We turn aside from it and do not allow it to do a work in our hearts. When we do not obey the Word - God considers our prayers and abomination. Whoa now! Did we read that right! God considers prayers uttered by the disobedient to be an abomination. We thought that word was just reserved for homosexuals - didn't we. But God is holy - not just anti-homosexual. He is pro-holiness all the way. Thus, when we are not pro-holiness (read here pro-obedience, pro-godly, pro-doing what God says when He says it) - we are in effect, anti-God. He is shocked and appalled by our lack of listening and obeying. He is horrified that we would actually turn a deaf ear to what He has said. He considers such things an abomination! There were a group of people that Jesus was hardest upon in the gospel accounts. To the shock of most people, this group was not the classic sinners. He was not hardest on the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the scum of society, or the usually suspects we consider when we wonder who a "hell-fire-and-brimstone" preacher would single out in his preaching. Jesus was hardest on religious hypocrites. He reserved His most scathing comments for those who practiced religion outwardly, but inwardly ignored the Word. By the way - this is where the pray-er, but not obey-er would be put by our Lord. The one who turns his ear from listening to the Law, by not obeying it - IS the hypocrite. And contrary to our popular habit of thinking that the hypocrite is anyone other than us - it IS us. Whenever we engage in pious prayers - without having obeyed the Word that God has spoken to us recently - we are an abomination. Wisdom tells us that we are to hear and heed the Word of God. This will give our prayers wings that will fly them to the very throne of God. May we always watch our hearts to make sure that we are hearing, obeying - then praying. This is the proper order of things. Hear, my son, and accept my sayings And the years of your life will be many.
Proverbs 4:10 The way that we listen and hear things is so important when it comes to spiritual matters. If we are wise, we will learn how to listen well so that what God says to us will be taken in and seized the moment we hear it. That kind of listening will allow us to not just hear - but also hearken to what is spoken to us. Obedience to a command or a call begins with how we hear it and how we grasp what is being said. Without that skill - communication is a roll of the dice at best. The father begins by calling his son to hear what he says. The word used to say "hear" is a famous one. It is the word "shema" and it is famous because the Jews call their most famous biblical reference "the shema." "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9 The call to "hear" that is spoken to the son is used to indicate to him that something very important is about to be said. So what the father is about to say here in this passage is vital for him to grasp for his good. When we hear what someone says to us - the amount of importance we assign to their words will in great part determine what we do with them. Some times it will determine whether we hear them beyond the moment in which they speak to us. When this carries over to our relationship with God we see how important this is to our spiritual growth and maturity. When God speaks through His Word - are we listening? Jesus began His most important statements with the phrase, "truly, truly I say to you." Since most Hebrew Rabi's punctuated their important statements with just one truly, Jesus drew their attention very quickly with this manner of speaking. But we need to pay attention to everything our Lord speaks - so the necessity of listening well is even more important for us. The second thing the father is seeking to teach his son is to lock on to what is said and not let it go. He tells his son to accept his sayings. The idea here is to take hold of something and grab it tightly. There are times, I am embarassed to say, that my wife will ask me what she just said to me. She does this when I am being rude and allowing something to distract me from the importance of interacting with her. There are times when I can repeat what she has said word for word, but that is not why she asked me her question. Her statement was rhetorical - because she knew that I was listening without truly hearing. I might be able to repeat words - but I did not get her heart or her spirit. That is what the father is trying to teach his son. Don't just listen without hearing. Listen to where you truly get the words - and the spirit in which they were spoken. When you do this you will truly "get it." The father promises that when we do this we will experience a life of many years. This is not must promising a long life, but life itself - for a long time. We will have far more that a quantity of life - we will enjoy a wonderful quality of it as well. Learning to listen well - hearing far more than just words - will bless you in a multitude of areas. It will bless your relationships, most importantly those with your Lord and your wife. It will bless how you relate to your children, your boss, your friends, and even your acquaintences. It will bless your work life - because you will hear what to do and grasp it so that you won't make careless mistakes. It will also bless you when you begin ministering to others. Your ability to truly hear what someone is saying will put you miles ahead of those who simply try to minister - without really knowing where ministry is needed. Oh, to listen this way! It will prove a blessing that you cannot fully measure in life. But it is something that every father - especially our Father in heaven - desires for his son to learn. It will prove to be a monumental blessing to him. Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge. Proverbs 23:12
This is a simple admonition here in Proverbs - and yet if we will look at it carefully, it will yield to us some very helpful information. The first thing we see is that we are to apply our heart to discipline. The word "apply" here means, "to bring to" - thus what God is saying to us is that we need to bring our hearts to something. Here we read that what we bring our hearts to is discipline. The word discipline is "musar" which means to instruct with discipline. It refers most often to the discipline given by a father - both by word and by the rod. It is very easy when discipline is applied to us for us to not allow it to reach the heart. We may hear the words - and receive the correction - but we do not bring our hearts to it. True correction and discipline is for the heart - not the bottom. It might be applied to the rear end with the rod - but the aim in these things needs to be directly to the heart. Those who protest the use of the rod see the issue being striking a child - and they see it as evil in all circumstances. But the godly parent is not aiming for the rear end alone. They want to instruct with their discipline. They want their words and their use of the rod to affect the heart of the child. If you have their heart - in the end you will truly change their behavior. What Solomon is saying though, is for the one receiving the discipline. Apply your heart to what God is trying to teach you. If you are like me - there are times when you bristle at discipline. It is not pleasant to have God apply the rod to us. It is not a delightful thing for us to be corrected and rebuked. But when God grants us discipline it is only for our best interests. We can be absolutely assured of this. Therefore we need to train ourselves to receive it joyfully - gratefully - and educationally. If we do, maybe we won't need a second dose of discipline to complete the job for us. The second admonition here is that we also apply our ears to words of knowledge. Knowledge here refers to more than just head-learning. Solomon is telling us about a knowing of God and His ways. He refers to a working knowledge - a practical knowledge - intimate knowledge - knowledge that truly changes the way we act. The verb "apply" is assumed here - thus we are told to bring our ears to this knowledge that God is seeking to give us. It is more than just hearing it - it is concentrated listening. It is listening to learn and to apply it to one's life. This is key to us becoming wise. If we will truly bring our hearts and ears to what God is seeking to communicate to us, we will be blessed greatly. God longs for us to be wise and to know and follow Him with all our hearts. These two practices - bringing our hearts to times of discipline - and bringing our ears to hear obediently what God says to us - will assure that we grow and personally experience all the godliness that God desires to give us when He works and speaks in our lives. POSTSCRIPT: Recently, individuals have quoted articles from this section and stated that we teach child abuse at Calvary Chapel Jonesboro. To this I feel the need to respond. First, biblically, we are told that if we have a problem with our brother to go to our brother - not the internet - and confront our brother. To date, these individuals have yet to contact me to discuss these things. That should say volumes in itself. Second, we do not teach child abuse at our fellowship. This blog is an endeavor to teach what is in the Bible for the edification and upbuilding of God's people. Anyone who has been to our fellowship knows that in our classrooms we administer NO physical discipline. We correct with words and with "time outs" and eventually with a report to parents. From our nursery throughout every age group our people are instructed NEVER to administer physical discipline. We believe this right alone belongs to a parent. Even then we teach the following about any application of physical discipline. Discipline is about the heart of a child. Physical or corporal punishment is ONLY to be administered in a spirit of love for the child. Teaching and loving verbal correction is key - as is prayer for the child's eventual salvation in Jesus Christ. Any physical punishment administered due to anger or rage is out of line and wrong. The parent is to discipline the child with appropriate discipline - not abuse. In the end the child should be taught - and in every circumstance hugged, loved, and prayed with after any physical punishment to assure them of our love. The idea of a "beating" is completely out of step with what the Scriptures are teaching. Instead the idea of loving discipline is intended. Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words. Proverbs 23:9
There are people in life that you cannot speak to or teach. That is one of the irrefutable facts of life that you need to realize and embrace . . . or go crazy. Proverbs addresses this fact today. The fool is a dull, thickheaded, stubborn person who will not welcome or allow God's wisdom into his life. Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that fools despise wisdom and instruction. Three different words are translated fool in the Old Testament, and none of them are particularly flattering to the one who is a fool. The first is the Hebrew word "kesl" which speaks of someone who is spiritually dull and characterized by a mind closed to God and His Word. He is thickheaded and very stubborn in holding to his own ways, his own thoughts, and his own ideas. This person will usually reject information from others - and is especially beligerent toward information from God. This is the word used most often for fool throughout the book of Proverbs - and is the word used here. The second word for fool is "nabal" which refers to one who lacks any kind of spiritual perception or discernment. The third word for fool is "ewl" and speaks of the one who is arrogant, flippant, and mentally dull. he is also hardened in his ways and unwilling to change in response to information from others - and once again even more so when it comes to information from the Word or the Spirit of God. This is the person to whom you are speaking - who is either hearing you speak directly to him - or indirectly hears what you are saying. We need to see here that we are not even to speak in the "hearing" of a fool. This guy will not listen - his mind is closed to the things of God - and thus his ears are too. He is settled in his ungodly and worldly thinking. He will not just reject your words - he will despise them. The word despise is the Hebrew "buz" and means to hold in contempt and utter disrespect. What we have said here in Proverbs 23:9 is the same as we read in chatper 1 verse 7. They hate the wisdom of God. This probably sounds harsh to some who read this and react with the template of being tolerant of everyone's views. The problem though is not with the person who knows and loves God's wisdom - it is with the fool who is anything but tolerant of God's views. It is so important that we remember that God's wisdom is simply seeing things from God's perspective. We learn to look at things the way that God looks at them. We want to have His mindset and His heart. But when the fool hears these things - he reacts with disgust - even hatred! He wants NOTHING to do with God's Word or His ways. We see this in our society more and more. Those who are unsaved are becoming more and more hardened in their ways. They accuse us of intolerance - and yet as we love them and share the truth with them - it is they who are the intolerant. It is not that they just disagree with us - they want our views labelled as "hate speech" and forbidden from public discourse. They radically and hatefully respond to our views of morality - and see them as an afront to their very existance. Therefore when we speak - they will react strongly to us. Some will even become so angry that they will attempt to shout us down or shut us down. Others will go as far as taking our views to court to see them labelled as illegal. Thus they not only reject them - they reject having them spoken out loud even when they are not present. So how do we deal with this? First, we do what Proverbs says. We realize a fool when we run into one - and we don't speak in their hearing. It is not that we hide from them or take our message underground. We just simply speak to others instead of them. This is a tricky thing to manage, because we don't want to refuse the gospel to people. Paul was very harsh toward Christians before he was saved - yet the Lord wanted him to hear the gospel. Some who persectued the church - came to Christ simply because those persectured shared their faith with them. So, we approach this with wisdom and the leadership of the Spirit - not just our own tendency to react to the more strident in their views among the wicked. This being said, we do exercise wisdom and share with those who receive the message. To do otherwise would be to waste the message with those who will reject it outright. Even Jesus told us not to throw the pearls of the gospel before swine. He said that they would trample them under foot and turn to attack us. Kinda sounds like what Solomon is seeking to tell us here. So be wise - share the gospel and the wisdom of God freely - but be wise with those who reject it violently. Share with those who have a heart to hear - a heart where God is granting them ears to hear and a heart to respond to the Spirit's moving. They won't despise the Word or the wisdom of God. They will embrace it and prove it by the change that they experience in their lives. A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, Proverbs 1:5
When does a person stop learning in life? According to Proverbs, only an unwise man stops learning. A truly wise man will hear things throughout his entire life and will continue learning from what he hears. Here in verse 5 of chapter 1 of Proverbs we see that in the opening statement of Proverbs a lifetime of learning is what the wise man embraces. The fool is the one who thinks he knows everything. He walks about in life thinking he has learned all he needs to learn. But it is a fact of life that we will never learn a billionth of all there is for us to know. Were we to spend a thousand lifetimes doing nothing but learning - we would only scratch the surface of all that there is to know in the universe - let alone know all there is to know about God. Therefore we should always be listening, studying, and opening our minds to learn as much as we can. Only this way can we ever hope to have a heart of wisdom. When the wise man hears the words of Solomon - and more importantly the Word of God - he hears. Note it does not say that he listens - for many listen but don't actually hear what is being said. The wise man hears what is said and allows it to sink deep within his heart. When he does so he increases in learning. The word for learning here is very interesting. It is "leqah" and it means learning or insight. The idea behind this word is not just gathering a group of facts. It refers to when a person has insight due to the facts that they know. Spiritual education requires that we know the facts - but it goes far beyond that. Spiritual education leads someone to be able to have insight - to be astute to what God is doing and saying. It means we are able to discern between good and evil - between knowing God and not knowing Him. When we increase in learning we are not just increasing in the amount of knowledge we have. We are increasing in our ability to walk with God and discern all things from His standpoint. The second half of the Proverb points this out to us. It tells us that a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel. When we hear and learn - we will also gain understanding and wisdom. We hear and are able to distinguish the difference between things - between choices - between outcomes. We understand the truth - and can apply the truth to every situation of our lives. In doing this we acquire the counsel of wisdom from God. The Lord makes Himself known to us - and knowing Him makes all the difference in the world. We see things differently - and definitely make different choices. A good question to ask ourselves is whether we are just gathering information - or we are gaining a greater insight and ability to make godly choices in life. If we constantly hear what God is saying to us in His Word, in the circumstances of our lives, and through the godly counsel of others, we will increase in our ability to discern and see things as God sees them. "THAT" will do wonderful things in helping us make good choices all day long - and over the course of our lives. A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none, But knowledge is easy to one who has understanding. Proverbs 14:6
It is interesting in our day to see how many mock the things of God. The large number of best sellers that mock the existance of God and the morality and truth of His Word is a little shocking to the general public - but for those who know the Word - just another proof that we live in a fallen world that rejects God and therefore rejects truth. The scoffers present themselves as seekers of knowledge. They paint themselves as the wise among us - and as those who are trying desperately to turn the ignorant masses away from God and away from seeing God's Word as anything more than an old, archaic, rotting document that no longer deserves our attention. But, no matter how much these mockers present themselves as wise - they are anything but wise in the end. They may seek wisdom - but they will find none. The one prerequisite of wisdom is what they lack. We read in a myriad of places that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom - and that is what these individuals lack - any fear of the Lord. Their mocking shows that they consider themselves to be the ultimate resource of wisdom and understanding - which honestly - makes them fools. They will not humble themselves and admit that they are not the repository of all things wise. They are so filled with pride that they will not admit their own ignorance and lack of perfect knowledge. They not only don't know what is going on in perfect detail on the remotest planet in the universe - they are not even aware of its existance! Yet they have the arrogance to say that unequivically there is no God in the universe. Their scoffing will always keep them from knowledge and wisdom. Only their foolishness will be verified in the end. We are told something wonderful here though. Knowledge is "easy" to him who understands. The concept behind the word "understands" is that this person is teachable. It is not that he already understands all things - but rather than he has a desire to understand all things. His admission of a lack of knowledge is what makes his so marvelously teachable. He longs to better understand things and to know what is true. Therefore he has a very teachable spirit and heart. This makes him a perfect candidate for wisdom. James counsels us that the man who will receive wisdom from God is the very one who says that he does not already have it. Since he doesn't have it - he asks God for it. God loves this man - because he is open to all that God has for Him. The Holy Spirit loves this man because He knows that this man will not resist Him when He comes to teach him truth. Knowledge then becomes easy to this one - because he is wide open to God when He teaches him. He loves receiving things from the Lord - and is longing to be taught - to be instructed - even to be rebuked and corrected. Therefore knowledge becomes something very pleasant to his soul. He is a wise man indeed - because he admits lacking wisdom. But the arrogant scoffer - who exalts his own mind - his own learning - his own egotistic sense that he is always right? That man won't receive anything from God - except an invitation to repent of his arrogance and come to the table to learn from the only One who truly has all wisdom. My guess is that without God's mercy and grace touching his life - he would reject it anyway. "For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. Proverbs 8:7
Wisdom is calling to us to come and learn wisdom from her. Her call is to all places where we walk and live. Her comes everywhere - and if we will listen we will be blessed throughout every day. Wisdom wants to assure us what we will receive when we heed the Spirit's desire to teach and instruct us. Wisdom will utter truth to us. The word "mutter" here is very instructive in how wisdom works in our lives. This word means "to growl, groan, sigh, or mutter." It means figuratively to meditate or to ponder. When wisdom speaks to us - it will often be as we take the time to meditate upon and ponder what God's Word says to us. Psalm 1 and Joshua 1:8 promise blessing and prosperity to those who meditate upon the Word of God. A wise man is one who meditates upon the things of the Lord - who meditate on the Word of God. The Spirit of God will speak to us when we meditate - and He will guide us into wisdom and understanding when He does. Want wisdom? Then learn to ponder and think about the Word when making decisions about your future and decisions. Wisdom also assures us what we WON'T hear when God speaks to our hearts by His Holy Spirit. We are told that wickedness is an abomination to the lips of wisdom. When we listen to the Lord as He teaches us the Word, we can be assured that we will NOT hear anything wicked. This actually will help us to know when the Spirit of God is speaking and when He is NOT speaking. If we hear something wicked - it is NOT the Spirit of God offering His wisdom to us. Too often people make really ignorant decisions when they think they've heard God. But if they are counselled to do something ungodly - something wicked - something unscriptural - it is NOT God speaking. But if we hear truth - and realize the ramifications of what His wisdom would have us do - then we are hearing the Spirit of God. Once again the Word "mutter" is so helpful to us in understanding God's ways here. We will much more likely be receiving God's wisdom when we are taking the time to think and ponder God's Word than in doing any other activity we can do. It is the mouth of God who is speaking truth to us as we mutter to ourselves concerning what the Word of God says. God is wanting to speak truth to us - to lead us in His way. But to hear Him we need to take the time to ponder and seriously think about what the Word of God says to us. When we do - we will enter into the counsel of God as He speaks to us about what is right in God's eyes. The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. Proverbs 18:4
Deep waters . . . that is how the Bible describes the words of the mouths of men. They can be deep waters. You hear what they are saying - but do you fully understand what they really mean. The times where I thought I knew what someone was saying - and found out later I did not yet know as I should have known are more than I care to remember. This is why miscommunication happens so often. It is because many of us are very deep wells. We say something out loud - but the meaning of what we've said lays much deeper within us. To try to fully understand it we'd really have to take an expedition into the deep recesses of our minds and our souls. The fountain of wise is much different. It is a bubbling brook. God offers to us much wisdom in the Scriptures. Contrary to what some people say - the vast majority of this wisdom is easy to grasp. The Bible is not a hidden document that requires some kind of decoder to understand. It is plainly written and says very plain things in very plain language. There is a beautiful Scripture that helps us understand how God's Word comes to us as a bubbling brook. In John 7 Jesus said that if we thirsted and drank from Him, out of our innermost being would flow rivers of living water. Then we read that this is the ministry which the Holy Spirit would bring to our lives. Do you realize that God has given you a teacher, the Holy Spirit, who desires to be rivers of living water in your life? Do you realize that God wants to have His wisdom flow in rivers of living water from you - and within you? There is a fountain of wisdom the Lord wants to manifest in and through you - a bubbling brook of water that will refresh your soul and grant you wisdom when you need it during your day. Learn to turn to the Lord for that wisdom - for grace to deal with decisions and difficult situations in your life. It will not be like one drawing water from a deep well - but rather will be the Lord working by His Spirit - bubbling up the wisdom you need from the Scriptures - and giving you the guidance you need for each and every situation. James put it this way, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God and it will be given to him." Turn to God with all your questions and decisions - then trust Him to grant you that bubbling brook of wisdom as His Spirit brings His Word to your mind. |
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. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
Archives
August 2018
Copyright 2024 Calvary Chapel Jonesboro | all rights reserved |