Got Wisdom?

Friday, October 6, 2023

The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul.  The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.  The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart.  The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living.  Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever.  The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair.  They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold.   They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.  They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.  How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?  Cleanse me from these hidden faults.  Keep your servant from deliberate sins!  Don’t let them control me.  Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.  Psalm 19:7-14

King David taught his son Solomon what wisdom looked like.  Soaking-up all the truth of Scripture, David summarized wisdom by the qualities God’s Word will become in a believer’s heart:

     ·       God’s Word is impeccably-perfect…reviving the soul

     ·       God’s Decrees are trustworthy…making the simple person wise

     ·       God’s Commandments are right…making joy flourish in the heart

     ·       God’s Commands are clear…light on life’s path

     ·       Reverence towards God is pure…an eternal blessing of clear conscience

     ·       God’s laws are true…making fairness an everyday experience

Knowing God’s ways bring life, wisdom, joy, insight, and permanence; His way and blessing are available to all who will worship the true, living God.

David concluded his prayer recorded in Psalm 19 with a question and answer. 

The question:  How can I understand my own heart…all the sins hidden there?

The answer:  Humble confession that I can’t know the depth of my own heart’s sins merely by my own wisdom.  I must place my heart in God’s hands…ask Him to forgive and cleanse me, so my proclivity towards sinning won’t control me.

David closed the prayer with one final request:  Lord, whatever I’ve laid before You, O Lord…may it be pleasing to you…do what you will with me…you are the bedrock of all my days and eternity.

If you’ve ever wondered where to start with praying to God, go back to Psalm 19 and grasp the depth of how anyone should (and can) approach Almighty God.  This is the model for placing your life in His care, and your heart’s love at the foot of Calvary’s cross.  The result of studying God’s love letter to humanity is revival for the soul, wisdom for making decisions, joy in the heart, light on your journey as you step-out each day with a clean conscience, and a burning desire to spread justice and fairness to every creature on earth. 

Did he leave anything out?

For You Today 

David’s son, Solomon, took his dad’s evaluation of God’s Word to heart, and both history and God’s Word call Solomon the wisest man ever.  That’s not a bad place to start your day.  It will make finishing your day an adventure that won’t disappoint.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image(s) courtesy of Pixabay.com                   

Images without citation are in public domain.  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Life's Wider Picture

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life.  I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths.  When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble.  Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go.  Guard them, for they are the key to life.  Don’t do as the wicked do, and don’t follow the path of evildoers.  Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way.  Turn away and keep moving.  For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day.  They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble.  They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence!  The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.  But the way of the wicked is like total darkness.  They have no idea what they are stumbling over.  My child, pay attention to what I say.  Listen carefully to my words.  Don’t lose sight of them.  Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.  Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.  Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.  Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.  Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.  Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.  Proverbs 4:10-27

A question which I have always viewed with a little watchful skepticism is: 

Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, or 25 years?

Watchfulness over my answer is a matter of following the instruction my coach in high school gave me about hitting; he said:  keep your eye on the ball!  So my skeptical eye doesn’t have contempt for looking ahead to make plans, but rather objecting to such a short view.  As a life-navigator, I would rather see the end goal…it’s easier to chart a straight course that way.  And to do that for a life-plan you need to step back, get higher in the balcony, and see the bigger picture.

That snapshot of planning a life from the mere wisp of time we are granted on this planet, 50, 60, or 110 years, is way too short a focus.  Planning where and how you want your life to make an impact demands looking down the road for generations to come, even into eternity.  I’d rather start from the longest point from now, and work backwards to the present.

Now, many people would say:  That’s impossible; you don’t know the future.  And I would certainly have to agree that I don’t know the future, but I certainly can plan-for, and step-towards a goal I set for the future.

That is where Solomon’s wise advice comes in.  Wisdom for setting a life’s course begins with developing a worldview based on the light of truth, leaving evil and darkness in the dust behind you.  All else is meaningless (vanity if King James is a “must” for you). 

Only truth will guard your heart from sinking-into, and following evil.  When truth governs your heart, it will keep your mouth from perverse-speak; strength, healing and kindness will be your legacy, and it will last through eternity.

For You Today 

If you will let Solomon’s godly light of truth guard your heart today, and always, then 5, 20, or two-million years from now, your words and life’s impact on all who cross your path, will stand true, while evil is long forgotten. 

Prophet Isaiah has our last word today:

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”  Isaiah 40:8

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Ears Open - Heart Straight - Eyes on the Road - Sure Foot  and  Small Package - Big Message  and  When the Killing is Done                                        

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Exuberance and Exhaustion

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator.  Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.”  Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky.  Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop.  Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly.  Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades.  Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.  Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire.  Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.  Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken.  Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.  For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.  “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”  Keep this in mind:  The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew.  He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them.  The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.  The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful.  Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.  But, my child, let me give you some further advice:  Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.  That’s the whole story.  Here now is my final conclusion:  Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.  God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.  Ecclesiastes 12:1-14

In every old man or woman there is a child awaiting release; a tribute to the memory of days when waking up would be without assorted pains, joints adjusting, and thoughts of:  what new ailment might there be on the menu today?

Solomon, or someone who knew him very well, wrote this part of Ecclesiastes.  And he contrasts the energy of youth, with the depletion of old age.  It can be depressing, especially if you’re closer to the end than the beginning. 

Yet, in it all, there is a sense of refreshing about the teacher’s conclusion, which gets down to the nub of what’s important, fearing God, and trusting all to His judgment.  He says God will judge all the good and bad, whether hidden or open.  Once again the contrast between youth and the aged is evident; youth are busy doing things, making their mark, full of energy and hope.  The old are winding-down, remembering, evaluating their lives, both good and bad, regrets and satisfaction.  The youth are on display; the old are watching reruns.  And God judges us all.

For You Today

Whether your life is flowing like spring water, or your well’s rope is broken along with the drawing bucket, life is the same…live it as God gives you breath, and give it to others as God blesses your strength.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic explore some of these:  Something Better and Remembering Before You Can’t

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Learning to Use Good Judgment

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.  Romans 7:15

Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment.”  Proverbs 9:6

If you’ve ever had a wood splinter in your finger, you know it will nag you with a painful reminder everytime you grip something.  If you’ve ever had a paper-cut, you understand you will manage to rub it the wrong way twenty-eight times a day.  And if you’ve ever read what Paul wrote about doing stupid stuff, while failing to do smart stuff, you are well on your way to comprehending why the whole idea of wisdom is not to cram your head full of thoughts, good, bad, or trivial; it’s all about being able to live in a way that makes sense in three ways:

          1.     The ability to be in right relationship with your Creator

          2.     The pathway to being in right relationship with your Community

          3.     The pathway to being at rest…having peace within your own heart.

The apostle Paul had a hard-driving way about him; he was a Type-A that made obsessive-compulsive people look like slugs.  He had to get clobbered on the Damascus Road with a spiritual 2” x 4” to wake-up to the fact that his wisdom was nothing but a splinter of foolishness driving him into the ground. 

Paul knew this every day like a paper cut; it nagged him, but he couldn’t shake living like that.  And then he met Jesus, and things began to change.  His so-called wisdom began to show itself for what it really was, pride masquerading as being right.  He not only had to re-think his behavior, but everything about his life.  It took a long time to sink-in (about fourteen years in all ^{see Galatians 1-2}), but he finally learned how to submit his life to Godly control – and with that came wisdom for really living.

The apostle Peter had much the same problem, but with a different pedigree.  Peter was not an astute rubber of elbows with the higher-ups.  Peter was a common, uneducated fisherman.  But he occupied a big space, having been on the inner-circle with Jesus, and a chief leader of the early church.  Peter’s impetuous roller coaster life of being hero one moment, and coward the next, made him a perfect pastor.  By the time he figured out his selfish, prideful ways were destroying whatever manhood God had given him, and he was making a mess of his life and witness, Peter had grown to know how to counsel the rest of us who would come behind.  Peter had walked with Christ, denied him three times, and been forgiven; that was a taste of the divine, and Peter had learned to cling to God’s ways over his own way of crashing through life like a bull in a china shop.  Peter’s advice to us is born of his own testimony of what real living is all about:

So get rid of all evil behavior.  Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.  Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.  Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.  1 Peter 2:1-3

For You Today

If you’ve been driven with trying to do better, do more, get more, and experience everything, you’re in a place where Peter and Paul called home.  Solomon also tried to live life on his own terms.  Maybe it’s time to heed what these wise men had to learn the hard way.  Wisdom is hard to come by, but when you give-in to God’s way, good judgment is on the way.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!V

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com      Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Proverbs 9:6 see Standing in the Sweet Spot

Learning the Hard Way

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Friday, January 17, 2020

Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.  O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.  Your plans for us are too numerous to list.  You have no equal.  If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.  You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.  Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand— you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.  Then I said, “Look, I have come.  As is written about me in the Scriptures:  I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”  Psalm 40: 4-8

I guess one of the reasons this devotional is named “Rocky Road” is because I’m (painfully) aware of the pathway; in my life I have so often learned the hard way.  King David indicated he had this same character deficiency when he wrote, in what seems a tone of resignation:  Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand….  

Life’s road is mostly not a cakewalk, but it’s a much rockier road when you learn the hard way.  Scripture is full of backup to this thought.  Solomon learned from David that a child’s life is much more likely to hold success and fruitfulness if he listens to what a loving parent tries to share.  Listen to the father-son chat:

“And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind.  For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought.  If you seek him, you will find him.  But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.                   1 Chronicles 28:9

In marriage, men do well to listen to their wives (I speak here from personal, and at times painful experience of failing to hear with open ears).  Often God tries to get through the thick exterior covering the husband’s brain, and a loving wife just might be God’s voice. 

In business or government, leaders that learn the hard way rarely get to stick around for re-election encores, or franchise expansion.

In church, pastors who begin to believe the press reports of how wonderful their sermons are, or how wise they are, flirt dangerously with the worst kind of pride; Scripture declares that is the prologue to the un-gluing of your ministry!

Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.  Proverbs 16:18

In any discipline of life, we can learn from David’s wise words that life itself is a gift.  Making that life a valuable contribution to the lives of others and God’s Kingdom is a sacred responsibility.  And it becomes abundantly more achievable when one’s heart and mind remain humble enough to stay off the rockier path of going it alone. 

For You Today

If you have had enough of life’s rockier road, seek God’s will in Scripture.  And a trusted mentor wouldn’t hurt. 

Most of all, remember that God gave you two ears and only one tongue; that suggests a good ratio of use…you learn much more when you hold that one tongue and use those two ears.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

Under His Wings

[1]

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare about the Lord:  He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.  For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.  He will cover you with his feathers.  He will shelter you with his wings.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection.  Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.  Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.  I will protect those who trust in my name.  When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.  I will rescue and honor them.  I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”  Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16

North Korean nukes, Russian hacking, Ebola and flesh-eating viruses, cyber-bullying, mass shootings, climate change, disasters du jour, and now impeachment inquiry to overshadow the 2020 elections; tell me, where do I sign up for an exit strategy from the stress of life in the new (and improved?) millennium?

Despite world tensions over diseases, natural disasters, and political posturing, nothing is new or (as the talking news-heads proclaim) unprecedented.  Solomon knew that; the wisest man on earth had tried every diversion and pursuit possible and concluded:

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.  Ecclesiastes 1:9

All that given, nonetheless, people scurry about looking for my aforementioned twenty-first century merry-go-round exodus route.  Some try pills, or indiscriminate sexual escapades, alcohol-induced amnesia, computer games, or losing one’s mind in scrolling posts on Facebook…perhaps literally!

One of the oldest methods of fleeing the terrors of the night, and the arrows of the day is religion.  Now that may sound strange coming from the preacher, but religion takes many forms.  Some I’ve already mentioned…sex, drugs, booze, et al.  Of course, there’s the traditional approach, church three times on Sunday, Wednesday nights and revivals.  There is serial religiosity pursuing mainline religions or any of the estimated 4200 offshoots, from the slight variations to the ridiculous fringe extremes.[2]  Religion?  We’ve got whatever you like!  I do not wish to be misunderstood, but here’s my take on it:

All forms of religion are good at some points                          and fail miserably at most points.

The point at which religion always fails is that all of it is an attempt to reach upward to “God” as opposed to acceptance of God’s reaching downward in His grace and love.  Any attempt to reach up smacks of our participation in accomplishing salvation, when all it really does is make us feel better about ourselves.  God has shown us in His Word that is a non-starter.  It was wholly God’s initiative to save us; it is our simple responsibility to accept what God has already done.  All else we do in terms of living the joy and thankfulness with which we are blessed is simply a natural response to God’s mercy and forgiveness.

For You Today

The old hymn is my exodus from the madness of everything life can sling at me, including religious rules-following, approval or disapproval of my fellow humans, friend and foe alike, and I invite you to sing it along with me:

Under His wings I am safely abiding.  Tho' the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me.  He has redeemed me, and I am His child.
Under His wings, under His wings, Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide, Safely abide forever.[3]

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] How many Religions are there worldwide?  Reference.com

[3] William Orcutt Cushing (words), Ira David Sankey (music), 1896, (Public Domain) courtesy of Hymnary.org