Count it all Joy

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. (James 1:2 )

Joy = Chara (Greek) from Chairos: to rejoice, to take pleasure in.

From our perspective how are we to know what is TRULY to our benefit and what is to our deficit? We are unable to stay neutral in our circumstances - we are unable overcome the intimate proximity of our self to any personal situation - the simple fact that we are the central character in our own narrative demands a personal response to life whenever it comes into conflict with our own personal will and desire. But again, or myopic perspective abuses us of the ability of objective discernment and hence our options are few:

1. Despite our lack of true perspective,  we rail against the enemy of our will , relying on our inflated value of our personal perspective as the guide to our joy;
2. Succomb to the will of opposition, believing that our personal perspective is blind to the greater drama in which we live and that the path of opposition if futile and will lead only to the suppression of joy;
3. Stand in faith that our will, our dreams, our desires, our self has been shaped and molded by the Creator not necessarily so that our will may be fulfilled, but  that through the struggle between the will of self and the will of opposition the self may become even more perfected.

We are not asked to succomb and lay down our will to opposition as mindless slaves; though, neither are we to elevate the will to the level of master or commander of fate. Instead, we are called to take joy in the struggle itself; we are to rejoice that the Father has taken interest in us and our positions and is developing in us perfection. In the end we may rally against or succumb to the oppositions and trials to our will, but it is our heart position that is of utmost importance; it is our heart that is eternal and of value to our Creator; it is the heart that loves God: All things work together for good to those  who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

I can not claim poverty. I have seen poverty in Haiti and I live in luxury. In my early years as a single dad I collected food stamps and financial subsidies, but I still have a hard time looking back and describing my financial state as poverty stricken.

None the less, I have always been a penny pincher. As a kid, I'd save all my birthday money and Christmas money and allowance to buy a single Lego set. When my friends were spending their money on garbage pale kids and gummy rats, I kept my hands in my pockets so the money wouldn't somehow fly away. My family teased me when I came back from a trip to Circus Circus in Vegas with my Grandmother and still had half the money she had given me to play video games; my cousin had blown through the money in less than 30 minutes while I examined each and every game to see if the few minutes of pleasure would out way the loss of funds.

So that same penny pincher lives inside of me now, though his grip has lessened a bit. I still have a personal stash of green - a piggy bank if you will - that I use to buy my adult version of Legos, things that are not essential to the running of our household, but that bring joy to my soul - music, travel, entertainment... So when my family went through a financial hard spot this summer it felt like complete poverty when we broke into my little piggy bank to cover the bills. Intellectually I know it's silly that while sitting in my home (a palace by Haitian standards) with a well stuffed pantry and comfortably cooled by A/C that I could even entertain the though of poverty, but I did.

Thank God I didn't wallow for too long, but I did none the less and I am embarrassed for it. But, in another way, we are all poor; we are all poor in spirit. On our own we have no spiritual wealth, our accounts are empty and any check we write will come up insufficient. Without God, their is no currency of spirit, anything else but God's wealth is counterfeit! To ignore our poverty is a travesty. If we are ignorant of our poverty we can not be BLESSED - our knowing of our poverty blesses us because then we can be directed to the kingdom and the King from which all blessings flow.

Through my poverty I inherit the entire kingdom of heaven. This is such an awesome truth that I don't think I will ever get my head fully around it. The economy of scale that God works in is so above my pay grade, but none the less, I benefit from His grace. Thank you God.

A PRAYER TO START THE DAY

Abba Father,

  Let my heart be Your heart;
  Let my thought be Your thoughts;
  Let my ears be sensitive to Your voice;
  Let my eyes be open to Your wonders;
  Let my mouth speak words of Life;
  Let my feet follow Your lead,
  And my hands busy in Your Kingdom's work.
  My body is Yours;
  I relinquish control to Your perfect will.
  Let me be filled with Your love.

Why are we here?

Surely one reason is to be reconciled to God. By Adam's choice we have been separated from God and from that point on condemned to death. But, God has been working through all time to circumvent that choice. What was that choice? It was actually an acquisition; an acquisition of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:6). It is this knowledge that shapes our world. We innately know good from bad. right from wrong. And, once something is know it can't be removed; it can't be un-known. So why does this lead to death? For  starters, we now have to make choices. without the knowledge we were completely in tune with God's will. By His direction all things flowed and since He is all good we walked in all goodness. Now that we have knowledge we no longer rely 100% on God's grace and mercy, but instead have knowledge to base our actions. This knowledge is contrary to His direction.

So why death? If we see death as the separation of man from God then we see that by knowledge we separated ourselves from God. Now, by His nature, God is all or nothing. Actually, He is ALL, but our minds tainted by the knowledge obtained at the fall, the knowledge of dichotomy, can not even fully comprehend this fact. Since God is ALL, if we separate ourselves from God by just a fraction we are completely separated from God. There is no partial with God because He is ALL. So this is why death is the consequence of our choice - the choice by it very substance separates us from God and hence we are sentenced to death, i.e., separation.

Fortunately, God does not give up so easily. He chose to send Himself into our midst and condemn Himself to our fate. Now here is where things get really weird. How can God separate Himself - the one - from Himself? We will never know in this reality, it's like we don't have enough dimensions, but by the accounts of the disciples and the prophets that is exactly what God did. God separated Himself from Himself and allowed Himself to DIE.

So why are we here? As stated above, it's to wrestle with God and come close to His truth and be saved from the condemnation of death by allowing His sacrifice to be our covering. Then it is to walk in and become comfortable in our new covering. This walking out of God's grace is not necessary for our salvation from death but it is surely beneficial to our life to come and it would be an insult to or a cheapening of the gift if we didn't.

Proverbs 20

Drinking, cheating, gossip, and boasting; it's all in here and more. A beat down chapter in Proverbs I might say: lots of imagery of an angry king who will dole out the smack-down to those who anger him. But what I take out is a central theme of work ethics, of how we are expected as children of God to behave in the market place:

• Work hard and appropriately within the given season (Proverbs 20:4 and 20:13)
  
• A man of understanding (a fruit of wisdom which is gained through a righteous fear of the Lord) will be able to plumb the hearts and motives of his clients/partners/colleagues/... (Proverbs 20:5)
  
• Do not cheat in business (Proverbs 20:10 and 20:23)
• No amount of marketing can compete with word of mouth and we will be known by our actions (Proverbs 20:11)
• Seak out those whith knowledge and constantly seek education (Proverbs 20:15)
• Do not guarantee the loan of a stranger (Proverbs 2016) You think that some of the traders, bankers on wall street should have read this proverb a few years back before they bought up all those subprime loans?
• Fraud will never be beneficial in the long run (Proverbs 20:17)
• Be sure that your partners can work in confidence (Proverbs 20:18)
• No need to seek revenge for wrongs done to you in business, the Lord will see to their just reward (Proverbs 20:22)

This is a handy laundry list of how best to handle ourselves in the market place. I believe that such behavior will be both beneficial to the business at hand as well as to the business of the kingdom.

Peace
Dustin

Proverbs 19

While reading proverbs, I sometimes feel like I am reading off of a sheet of fortunes before they are clipped and baked into a Chinese fortune cookie. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the structure; the proverbs are not grouped into any kind of like minded categories, but instead proverbs concerning different topics are sprinkled liberally throughout the book and each individual chapter. For example, the 29 verses in chapter 19 address 12 very different themes:

• Righteousness
• Patience
• Money
• Justice
• Power
• Characteristics of wisdom
• Family
• Laziness
• Poverty
• Anger
• The Lord's providence
• Benefits of education

Solomon's all over the place here! Even so, he essentially repeats the same proverb twice within the span of 4 verses:

A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who pours out lies will not go free. (Proverbs 19:5)

A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who pours out lies will perish. (Proverbs 19:9)

What I want to know, is how did someone sit down and decide that these 29 versus should make up a chapter and these other 33 versus should make up another chapter, and so on. Why isn't Proverbs simply one long run-on chapter?

I realize that today's blog is nothing more than a sophomoric rant and is a clear demonstration of my lack of wisdom :) But it's Friday and I am loosing my focus.

Peace.

Proverbs 18

OK, one last comment on the whole bribery thing and then I'm done. There are 2 standard definitions for bribery from Merriam-Webster:

1. money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust
2. something that serves to induce or influence

The first definition of a bribe would fall under the umbrella of subverting justice: it is not your argument to logic and reason that sway the opinion of the person in trust. However, the second definition of a bribe is a little less devious in nature. When I tip the cocktail waitress a dollar for a two dollar well drink it is no longer a tip for services rendered, but a gift to encourage quality service in the future: "treat me right and there will be more in it for you". This is simply greasing the wheels of the machine. When I bring in flowers for the secretaries in the office, this is a gift for their services on one level, but on another level I expect the gift to encourage cooperation and assistance in the future. A retailer provides discounts on their merchandise in order to influence your spending habits and encourage your future patronage of their establishment. All three of these examples of "bribes" are akin to what Solomon is talking about in Proverbs 18:16

A gift opens the way for the giver
and ushers him into the presence of the great.

And again, as with Proverbs 17:8, there is no condemnation of the action, simply a description of causation.

So we come back to the thoughts I was entertaining the other day regarding bribery and how it stands outside of a legalistic framework (at least that's what I was thinking about; if this came through in my writing is suspect:). I say that a gift with a hidden agenda (or even an acknowledged second agenda) is a bribe. Does such behavior jive with Christ's behavior? Does gifting with the hopes of influence (i.e., the second definition of a bribe) demonstrate loving our neighbor as our self?

Such gifting is a form of manipulation. Does Jesus manipulate to obtain his goals? Is manipulation a demonstration of our love? My first response to either question would be 'no'. But then I quickly backpedal: when I give presents to my son, it is to bring him joy and to make him happy. But that's manipulation! I am giving in order to manipulate his emotional state. This influence over his emotions may be motivated by love but is manipulation none the less. So what does that mean. Should all of our actions with the world be both altruistic and ambivalent? I would be hard pressed to get out of bed if I lived my life under such a structure.

So that leaves us no better off than where we started. In fact I might have lost some wisdom through that thought process :)

Proverbs 17

I've never been real good at keeping up with a journal and it seems I'm no better with a blog. It's been 2 to 3 weeks since I last posted, but I have been called back again to diligently put my musings out into the cyberverse. I might be more inclined to blog if I wasn't become so bored with Proverbs and continual listings of how to distinguish between the good and the wicked. I know that that statement is a bit flippant and clearly places me in the company of the unwise, but I must acknowledge my foibles in order to strengthen my character, no?

Two related verses on bribery piqued my interest:

8. A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it;
wherever he turns, he succeeds.

23. A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret
to pervert the course of justice.

It would seem that these two versus are at odds. However, the verse 8 is describing the benefits that will befall the man who does the bribing and verse 23 describes the wickedness of the man receiving the bribe. This reminds me of the double standards my friends in high-school and I held toward sexual promiscuity: kudos to the guy who could get some tail but any girl who saw a little action was a slut. Is this same kind of double standard at work here in Solomon's proverbs? That doesn't sit well with me, so I dug a little deeper. There is an interesting transcript of a commentary from the radio show "Stand to Reason," with Gregory Koukl in which Mr. Koukl expounds on these two verses and the ethics of bribery (http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5670). In short, Mr. Koukl explains that bribery in and of itself is not evil or sinful, but that when bribery is used to pervert justice, then wrong has been committed. You see it is justice that must be maintained; when bribery is simply used to grease the wheels, so to speak, then there is no harm done. Of course, this is a fairly legalistic interpretation of bribery and we should be looking to Christ for an example. Unfortunately I don't know of any example where Jesus employed or condemed bribery. However, Mr. Koukl's argumnet of using bribery in order to obtain a higher good sits well with my model of Jesus: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." Mathew 5:17

Proverbs 16

This chapter begins and ends with a discussion about free will with an extra comment thrown in for good measure in the middle:

• To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. (Proverbs 16:1)
• In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
• The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. (Proverbs 16:33)
  

We are explicitly told three times that God is in control. But, then why is it such a mess down here? Verse 4 says that God works everything for his own ends, even when it appears otherwise (i.e., the wicked will get their due justice in the end). So is that it? For some things God just hasn't gotten a "round to it"? I don't know if that is quite fair; I have no concept of the complexity of the score that God is orchestrating. It is frustrating none the less.

We are told "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." (Proverbs 16:3) This seems straight forward enough, but there is a spiritual catch: even though the sentence is written as a conditional statement (e.g., if A then B) it is actually a logistic tautology (i.e., a statement that is always true). Why do I say this? Well, by committing what you do to the Lord, you are committing yourself to his will. Once 100% committed to his will, you will not devise plans that go against his will. And finally, we're back at verse 4 with God's will always being served in the end.

So it's easy right: if we simply align our will with God's will our plans will always be successful. But I don't always know God's will! I am often bumbling around in the dark. And when God's will is filled with pain and suffering on my part (or even worse my family and friend's part), how easy is it for me to align myself with his will. That's the rub right? It sounds so nice and peaceful: "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". But God's will is rough! Look at what he asked of his son. Or of what He asked of Paul, of Peter, of John, of all those who loved him dearly; they all knew the "fellowship of sharing in his[Christ's] sufferings" (Philippians 3:10).

So we must take comfort in knowing that God's will will be served in the end and that his will is good for all (including me). We take this on faith. But, when "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1) we will often find ourselves standing in a sea of tangible evidence to the contrary!

So where am I going with all of this? I don't really know :) I guess that I am wrestling with some of my oldest spiritual difficulties (and maybe man's in general). I know that I have free will; however, I and the universe in general will be better served if I align my will with that of God's. But, how am I certain of God's will when his path is often strewn with pain and suffering that appears contrary to what I might even trust as God's will.

Proverbs 15

Our tongue is such a powerful muscle. It can turn away wrath or stir up anger (Proverbs 15:1); It can disseminate wisdom or contribute to the confusion (Proverbs 15:2); It can bring healing and comfort or strip someone's spirit bare (Proverbs 15:4); It can spread knowledge or ignorance (Proverbs 15:7).

At times I feel as if my tongue is a muscle of its own accord, and at these times it is the betrayer of my heart. It will abuse those I love without my consent and speak lies while I desire to speak the truth. I pray for wisdom to control my tongue. I want to be its master at all times and never be bound by the deceit that it may spread. I am much less a victim to the wag of my tongue as compared to my youth, and I assume this is a sign of wisdom. All too often, however, I wish for more wisdom and a tongue that is a servant of the light.

Proverbs 14

The friends we surround ourselves with are a reflection of who we are or of whom we will become.

I don't know if the above is an actual quote, but I think that it sits well within the proverbs Solomon has presented in the 14th chapter.

Stay away from a foolish man, for you will not find knowledge on his lips. (Proverbs 14:7)

But who are the fools? We can recognize them by their outward appearances and actions:

1. They will be the demise of their own home (Proverbs 14:1)
2. They will find themselves in trouble with authority (Proverbs 14:3)
3. They practice in deception (Proverbs 14:8)
4. They will not make amends for their wrongs (Proverbs 14:9)
5. They are hot headed and quick to anger (Proverbs 14:16)

And this list is only from chapter 14. Though we are not all fools, we all display the characteristics listed above on occasion. So then what really makes a fool a fool: They lack the fear of the Lord. But of course we already knew that! (see the first post in this series if you need your memory jogged)

Peace be with you

Proverbs 13

Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice (Proverbs 13:10).

Solomon spends a great deal of energy pointing out the folly of pride:

One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth (Proverbs 13:7).

He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded (Proverbs 13:13).

He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored (Proverbs 13:18).

My wife has probably been the best teacher of this lesson: pride is the mask of the ignorant, of the fool who turns his back on understanding. She is one of the most intelligent people I know, but she does not wear her intellect as a cloak of pride. Instead, she is always the first person to admit that she does not understand something and to diligently ask questions of those around her until she understands or has enough information to put it all together at a later date.

This is so different from my own natural instincts in which I follow the mantra "better to be thought the fool than to open your mouth and dispel all doubt". Often in my prideful way, I will assume that if I don't understand something, then I can figure it out later on my own. But, if I don't figure it out, then I continue to live in ignorance while if I had employed my wife's approach I would be the wiser.

And this is no different with my walk with God, though my pride is so much more humorous when in the company of our Creator. Still I find myself behaving as if I've got it all figured out or if I don't then I will surely work it out on my own in good time. But this is fool-hardy: our spiritual character and relationship with our Heavenly Father has been something we as a collective whole have wrestled with for generations upon generations. Who am I to think that I can work this stuff all out. And so I work on my pride. I take conscious effort to open myself up and admit that I struggle with my relationship with God, with my understanding of how I should behave during my waking hours, of what it means to live within the Kingdom, to be alive in life and be saved from death. I admit to being ignorant of the whole story. I am allowing myself to be vulnerable so that I may grow in the Kingdom from the words of the wise around me. I pray for a soft heart and the mouth of wise men.

Peace

Proverbs 12

Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food (Proverbs 12:9).

Why do we spend so much time behind our masks of insecurity? Who told us that we are not of worth? I am a child of God. Created by my Father of perfection. My God loves me for who I am and not what I want Him to think I am. With that so, why do I worry so much about what the world may think of me. But I do! I spend immeasurable amounts of energy spent on my earthly façade while I spend a relatively small amount of energy on my eternal relationship with God.

It is truly better to have the service of Christ and admit that we are not worthy of the treasures of heaven than to behave in arrogance and inherit our just compensation, i.e., nothing.

Peace

Proverbs 11

Justice: The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law (American Heritage).

There is no need to cheat, and those who do will receive their just reward. That about sums up the entire chapter, no? We are talking about honesty here and behaving in a just manner. From my interactions with people over the last 30-odd years, I am quite certain that most folks are truly seeking honesty from those around them. Why is it then that "honesty", as Billie Joel so eloquently put it, "is such a lonely word"? We've known since before the time of Solomon that the long-run payoff for the unjust is a negative return. But, our short-sightedness keeps our eyes on the immediate, and so we cut corners and behave dishonestly.

So how can we improve our long-term vision? Faith? Faith that even though we are presented evidence to the contrary, the just will prevail. And I again am not talking about heaven in the sky, singing with the angels kind of reward because even the unjust and dishonest have a chance to play in that big gig in the sky. I am talking about rewards here on earth in our lifetime. In business relations we always have the choice to either reap the immediate rewards today or to nurture long-term business relations that may produce smaller return up front but the long-term return greatly outweighs any up-front loss.

A quick story here. My wife took our car in to be inspected yesterday and the mechanic told her that the oxygen sensor was faulty and for $300 he would replace it and get the car legal. So she leaves the car with him, goes to work, and comes back later to pick up the car. She gets the bill and it's for $335. According to the mechanic, after installing the sensor, the car needed to be driven around in order for the new reading to be registered by the car's computer and the extra $35 was to pay for his joy ride. My wife tried to explained, to no avail, that she could have driven the car around for free and that he didn't obtain her permission. So she walks away from the mechanic who will never receive our service again. Why? Because he didn't behave justly and was only focused on being payed the $35 dollars he felt he deserved. But that money is all the money he will ever see from us.

And why do you think that Jesus explains how it is just and righteous to love your enemy? to turn the other cheek? Because the payoff in terms of kingdom currency is immeasurable. Our physical reaction to those who attack us is to attack right back. And of course we gain the immediate satisfaction of having our anger satisfied. But we are told that "a man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue." (Proverbs 11:12) Why? Because you have now made an investment of love (of agape) which has the potential to return infinitely. And we see this idea throughout this chapter:

A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself. (Proverbs 11:17)

One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty (Proverbs 11:24).

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed (Proverbs 11:25).

People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell (Proverbs 11:26).

Peace, be just, and find both in others.

Proverbs 10

The fear of the Lord, this will be my pillar of wisdom for today. As such, my aim is to act in complete respect of God and to behave in all ways so as not to offend. The fear of the Lord is a fear of the known and will fill me with strength and confidence for I have been provided boundaries within to act. This is not the fear of the unknown which has the power to debilitate, but in fact provides me with the power to act. (For more discourse on this topic, see my earlier post on Proverbs 1)

When I truly live in fear of the Lord, when I behave with awe and reverence for our creator, then I will truly walk in a right relationship with God; I will be able to count myself among the righteous. And we see clearly here in chapter 10 of Proverbs the benefits of being counted among the righteous. Those who are righteous (or wise) will

• Bring joy and life into the world
• Be cared for and blessed
• Be secure in their dealings with the world
• Provide for their neighbor

The righteous are

• Honest
• Diligent
• Receptive
• Loving
• Educated
• Disciplined

Many of the above traits are given mouth service by our generation as being positive aspects of a man's character. However, when I turn to our leaders, whether in business, politics, or community, the opposite of these characteristics are at the forefront of their behavior.  We must truly take note of God's promise here. Proverbs 10 clearly outlines the benefits bestowed upon the righteous and the detriments awarded to the immoral. Though we may find numerous examples to the contrary, dishonest men making fortunes hand over fist, the sloth who is served on hand and foot, the fool who runs a country (oops, are my political feathers showing), though we are bombarded day and night by stories of unscrupulous people succeeding in the world we must stand firm that in the limit God's promise is right and true. I don't mean this in some far off heaven explanation of God's promise. I mean that we will reap the benefits of right living here in our lifetime, but don't be surprised if the glory looks very different from what you envisioned - God has an awesome way of providing us with exactly what we need :)

Peace and may the fear of the Lord be your pillar of wisdom.

Proverbs 9

I am a numbers man. So when this chapter opens up with Wisdom building her house from 7 pillars, my very first question was, "what are these 7 pillars?" So being the Google junky I am, I simply put it in as a search and found that the seven pillars are related somehow to the life of Lawrence of Arabia (see Wikipedia). 

Visting another site I found someone connecting the pillars of wisdom to the beatitudes. He had a some difficulty squishing the 9 beatitudes into 7, but his argument can be accepted. Two months ago, I might have even been able to go along with his connection; however, after working through Dallas Willard's "The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God", in particular the 5th chapter, I have come to a very different understanding of the beatitudes:  the beatitudes is not a comprehensive list of those for whom God is pleased and will bless, but actually it is an extremely small subset of those for whom God has blessed, because EVERYONE IS WORTHY OF GOD'S BLESSING since there is nothing we can do to ever earn his blessing. (If you are questioning this interpretation of the beatituds I strongly reccomend that you spend some time with Willard's discourse on the subject because he has mapped it out quite elegently and it is a freeing journey from the shackling power of other interpretations.) So even after some beatitude squishing (i.e., from 9 to 7), Jesus's sermon on the mount can not be accepted as the defining fource behind Solomon's seven pillars.

Another cyber-author (Knight of Faith) digs into both the current and previous chapter to excavate the possible 7 pillars. Quoting directly from his site, we have from chapter 9:

1. Acceptance... (Proverbs 9:4)

2. Hospitality... (Proverbs 9:5) 

3. forsaking the foolish (i.e., establishing serenity)...(Proverbs 9:6)

4. restraint and good manners (serene comportment)... (Proverbs 9:7-8)

5. understanding... (Proverbs 9:8-9)

6. teaching, and... Proverbs 9:9)

7. fear of the Lord (awe, reverence, surrender, and mystical transcendence)

...(Proverbs 9:10)

or from chapter 8:

1. prudence...(Proverbs 8:12)

2. counsel (transmitted & shared wisdom & understanding) ... (8:14)

3. strength (8:14)

4. justice (8:15)

5. love (8:17,21)

6. prosperity (8:18-19,21)

7. righteousness (8:20) 

With some creative word associations we could probably line up some of the characteristics between the two groups, but clearly the two lists are not identical (e.g., prosperity is not discussed in Proverbs 9). So we again are with more than 7 characteristics! Maybe we should wake up every morning and assign seven characteristics to wisdom and approach the day in that mentality. How would that look? I think it would be awesome because I don't think that I start the day with even a single characteristic for Wisdom clearly emblazoned in my mind. If I were to start the day conciously visualizing seven characteristics of Wisdom, then I would likely not only see God's infinite wisdom all around me, but would more likely act in those areas of wisdom because I would be working with a tangible definition of wisdom as opposed to an abstract concept. Shoot, I could even start out small and simply begin with a single concrete description of Wisdom and have my world completely rocked. I like it! I am going to start my blogs from here on out with a characteristic of Wisdom and keep it as my mantra for the day. For today I will beging with "acceptance"; Wisdom is the acceptance of others without judgement or condemnation but with love and compassion and an understanding that they too are reflections of our maker. 

I know that I got stuck on the first line, so I leave the rest open for discussion if anyone wishes to pick up the cause. However, I am quite sure that we will pick up the themes laid out in this chapter later in subsequent sections of Proverbs. 

In closing, I will add another blogger's list of Wisdom's pillars pulled from a poem by Rumi:

In generosity and helping others be like a river.

In compassion and grace be like the sun.

In concealing others' faults be like the night.

In anger and fury be like the dead.

In modesty and humility be like earth.

In tolerance be like the sea.

Either appear as you are or be as you look. 

That is, Wisdom is: generous, compassionate, forgiving, peaceful, modest, tolerant,  and honest.

Please add to the list. What characteristics do you see Wisdom embrace? What makes up God's foundation for his house?

Peace

Proverbs 8

I love the poetry of this chapter. And within the poetry I see the reflection of Jesus. As Paul writes in I Cor 1:30 "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption". So we know Christ to be the channel through which God shares his wisdom with us. When comparing "The LORD possessed me (wisdom) at the beginning of his work" (Prov 8:22) and "He (the Word) was with God in the beginning"(John 1:2) we see a similarity that suggests that the Word (i.e., Jesus) and Wisdom are one and the same. We can also compare:

"You who are simple, gain prudence;  you who are foolish, gain understanding."(Prov 8:5) 

and 

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."(I Cor 1:26-27)

"Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." (Prov 8:10-11)

and

"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward."(Heb 11:24-26)

 

"By me kings reign" (Prov 8:15)

and

""I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Luke 22:29-30)

"Whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord" (Prov 8:35)

and

"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." (Romans 8:11)

Of course, this chapter may simply be pretty poetry on the part of Solomon which is reflected in the poetry of the Gospels and Paul's letters.

Proverbs 7

Do we really need to be beaten over the head again with this adultery theme?!! I think that we get it by now: The frosting is sweet, but the cake is poison. 

The irony of all of this is the fact that Solomon had over 700 wives and 300 hundred concubines (I Kings 11:3). So in fact, the area of wisdom that Solomon harped on for so long was also his downfall. Granted, he did not commit adulter according to the letter of the law, but he surely committed it according to the spirit of the law. 

So once again we should pay close attention to the spirit! And then by default we will follow the letter.

Proverbs 6

1-5: It is better to be the banker and not the debtor's security! If you find yourself in debt, get out of it by all means: humble yourself to your neighbor (the friend you are securing) and encourage him to make right his debt.

This warning extends beyond the ideas of money. What if we vouch for our brother's character? We should again approach him in love and humbleness, begging that he correct his ways. It is also an implicit warning to be careful when we vouch for our neighbor. We have no control over his or her actions, but by securing his debt or his character, we somehow accept responsibility for his or her actions. We are incapable of any such control. We may be able to manipulate, bully, or force our neighbors hand, but this is not an action one would take within the agape of God and is also not true control. In fact, Solomon clearly paints the picture of how we should behave: in complete humbleness on our knees admitting that we do not control the situation and that our neighbor's debt is in his hands and that we have no power over it.

If our friend is behaving out of character we are not to approach him as a bully strutting our superiority and informing him how he should correct his ways. Nor should we be passive aggressive in our dealings. But instead we must approach him with love and humility and understand that we must first remove the plank from our eyes before we may ever hope to help him with the speck in his.

Proverbs 5

It has been some time since I last posted to this site. In the interim, I moved from my home of three years in Pickerington OH to my new home in Rockwall TX. It has been quite an upheaval and we are slowly getting abreast of our lives. I plan on being more diligent in the maintenance of posts to this site for anyone whom might be following my wondering mind as I weave through the Word. Before I spend any time directly throwing out my thoughts on Proverbs 5, I want to spend a little time discussing what God has been working in my life.

We have been made in His image. This is to say that we were created in a form that directly interacted with the creator of the universe. We were not made separate from God but in God; "in the image of God he created them". It was through sin that we have become deceived that we are separate from our creator; the illusion that God is outside our sphere of interaction came into shape at the fall of man. This was the consequence of our disobedience. Jesus Christ came as the eternal sacrifice to remove this separation, the death of our true nature, we have inherited from Adam and Eve Romans 5:12. Therefore, our mandate through the shedding of Christ's blood is to work to renew the holy connection we have with our Father. It is my belief that God never actually separated himself from us after the fall, but through the Adam and Eve's disobedience, an illusion of separation was erected. As such, it is simply an illusion, the only tool of the deceiver, that separates us from a complete relationship with God. And so we must wrestle with concepts and precepts outside of our flesh in order to align ourselves with the Father of Heaven. But we have been told that we are not able to take on this task alone. In fact, it is only by relying solely on our creator to bridge this divide that we actually place our footing on the path of salvation.

I see these ideas reflected in the 5th chapter of Proverbs in that we are reminded again to stay away from the adulteress; we are to recognize that she may be enticing at first glance, "the lips of an adulteress drip with honey, and her speech is smoother than oil", but in the end she is death, "she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword". And here we are in the words of Solomon dealing with illusion. At first glance, we take the reality of the flesh to be all that it is "reality". But nothing can be further from the truth! Reality is the infinite connection and relationship with the author of all creation. Reality is interacting with our brothers and sisters at the sincere level of the soul as opposed to the superficial level of the flesh.

When we fall in line with the adulteress, we answer the call of our flesh. Now, Solomon is not suggesting that we should not engage in activities that are pleasing to our physical senses: "may your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love". The wife of our youth is the woman we have loved at the level of the soul, for the lust of the flesh will only last a fortnight within the confines of matrimony and an enduring marriage requires the desires of the spirit, of the soul.

Adultery in this setting is an image for the greater illusions of fleshly desires. Our eyes hunger for the things of the world. In our present civilization, we are required to focus all of our endeavors toward the unattainable goal of physical satisfaction. Our economy is completely based on the rat wheel of never ending consumption (see The Story of Stuff). We are reminded time and time again throughout the bible that God does not reside with the pursuits of earthy desires but is outside this sphere of influence (though he does surround it completely and will engage and educate us through this inefficient medium). Therefore, as we rejoice in the wife of our youth, of our innocence, of our purity, of our soul, just as we conduct this soulish activity, we also should approach our relationship with our Heavenly Father.