Filed under: verticallife > psalms
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.” Psalm 2:1-2
That’s a great question. Why do we rebel? Why do we like doing our own thing, going our own way? Why can’t we just follow instructions? “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” (v3) How many people think that believing in God is simply too restraining? They feel chained. Shackled. Held back. What is God’s response to our rebellion?
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs.” (v4) Did you know that? David wrote how our attempts at living our own way actually brings laughter. That laughter then turns to correction. That’s not necessarily what we want. But it is what we need.
Most children will tell you why parents need to discipline their kids. They will answer how wild kids can get if parents give little direction. The One who said, “You are my son. Today I have become your Father,” (v7) is the Father who wants to guide us and discipline us when He needs to. We must submit to His rulership, His leadership in our lives or our lives will fall to pieces (v9).
Being wise, we need to “serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.” (v11) That way we will be “blessed” when we “take refuge in him.” (v12)
Filed under: verticallife > psalms
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law 
of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3All of us have goals. Finish school. Get a job. Get married. Have kids. Stay married. I don’t know anyone who would say, “I want to live a life that’s cursed. I don’t care if I‘m fruitful in my work.” Yet, so many people are not living lives that are blessed and fruitful.
Blessed. Abraham was told his life would be blessed so that he would bless others. “You will be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:2) Jesus taught on certain attitudes that would be blessed (Matthew 5:3-12). You would be blessed if you were merciful to others. Be gentle. Hunger for something deeper than just physical food. Make peace.
Blessed. It means to be divinely or supremely favored. Fortunate. Happy. Content. Good of any kind has been bestowed on you. To bless means to exalt, glorify and magnify.
David wrote how a person who does not walk (conduct his life) in the counsel (the opinions, beliefs, thoughts) of the wicked or stand in the way (path, road) of sinners or sit with mockers will be blessed. Conduct your life in the words of those who desire to live righteous, upright, godly lives of integrity. Stand (place your feet firmly) along the road of those who want to do what’s right. Take a seat with those whose words are uplifting, instead of tearing others down. How much you are blessed depends on where you are walking, where you are standing and where you are sitting.
Fruitful. How fruitful is your life? Are you seeing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) growing in your life? Are you more or less loving? Are you more or less joyful? Are you more or less patient? David seems to believe your fruitfulness will grow as a result of your faithfulness to God’s words.
Kings were instructed to have a copy of God’s words for themselves (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). It kept them from conceit. Joshua was instructed to read God‘s words day and night (Joshua 1:8-9). It helped him face his fears.
If you want to be blessed and productive in life, meditate on (engage in thought or contemplation; reflect on) God’s words. Read them. Stop for a moment. Think about what you read. Reflect on them. Allow them to speak to you, saturate you. You will find how that one act will bless you and make you more fruitful.
Filed under: verticallife > psalms | Tags: heart; God; spiritual; Jesus; pray; prayer
I hope this doesn’t sound gruesome, but did you ever wonder what people would think of you when you’re gone? Paul gave a eulogy of sorts when he quoted David and used him as an example in Acts 13.
He noted how God testified, “I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” (v22) Paul then noted how David “served God’s purpose in his generation.”
A “man after my own heart.” It’s not the kind of “after” where one object comes after another. It’s the “after” where one object chases after another. It’s the “after” where one object is fashioned “after” another.
In a conversation with Saul, Samuel said, “your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.” (1 Samuel 13:14)
The heart.
When Samuel came to David’s hometown he came to anoint a new king. At first he looked at the pride of Jesse, his eldest son, and thought, “surely this is the Lord’s anointed.” But then God whispered in his ear, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
The heart.
David’s son Solomon wrote how the heart is the “wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23) Essentially the heart is the center of our being, the root of our emotions. After seeing his half-hearted obedience, Saul’s support was removed. God was looking for a man who chased after His heart, the center of His being.
The evidence of that inward chasing and seeking came through his obedience: A “man after my own heart” will “do everything I want him to do.” (Acts 13:22)
How hard are you chasing after God? How carefully are you living out God’s instructions? How deliberately are you fulfilling God’s purposes? “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout all the earth to strongly support those whose hearts are completely His.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)
We are beginning a new series based on the Psalms this weekend. The series is called: iPraise: Living the Vertical Life. This won’t be a “normal” series that only last a month or two. It may take us awhile! It will include a regular devotional that will work through each Psalm, but we’ll only focus on select Psalms (songs) on Sundays. Plus, there is a way for you to get involved. Please email me (johnnyaho@live.com) regarding your thoughts, impressions and applications as you read through the Psalms. “The Vertical Life – A Journal for the Journey,” is something I’d like others to participate in. You can be my research assistants!
Filed under: journal | Tags: anger, forgive, forgiven, forgiveness, God, Jesus, pain, past, resent, resentment
“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:9-15)
If you remember last week I wrote about how Paul called himself the “worst of sinners.” I can think of more “serious” sins than not forgiving someone. The next story in our series was sparked by a question from Peter. Peter asked Jesus how many times he ought to forgive someone who sins against him. He thought it was pretty darn good if he forgave someone seven times. Nope.
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” Hmm. I can do the math. That makes 490. Wow. I have to forgive someone almost 500 times? The point Jesus was making is you cannot keep score. You cannot and you should not.
Then in Jesus fashion he told a story.
The kingdom of heaven is like “a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.”
His servant did the same and begged him to be patient with him. Instead he threw the man into prison. When others witnessed this turn of events, “they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.”
The master wanted a word with his servant. “You wicked servant. I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.”
Then Jesus drove His point home. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:21-35)
We pray it, but do we live it? We pray, “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Do we just say it or do we really put it to practice? Has the Lord’s Prayer become something you simply say from rote memory or do you really want the strength to “forgive your brother from your heart?”
If there is something that needs to be forgiven, it means someone has done something to hurt us – sometimes deeply. It seems harsh, but Jesus is saying you will not be forgiven so long as you harbor anger in your heart.
The servant was thrown into prison. We create our own prisons when we don’t forgive someone for what they did. We think we are imprisoning them when really it places us behind bars.
The servant was tortured for his lack of forgiveness. Harboring hatred and bitterness has a way of torturing us. We think we’re “sticking it to ‘em” when we give someone a cold shoulder, a frigid stare, or a sharp word. When in fact, we’re simply sticking it to ourselves.
We want to torture them for the pain they caused and we realize we’re only torturing ourselves.
We want to hurt them for the hurt they put us through and we realize we’re only hurting ourselves.
The only way we can truly be free is through forgiveness. Forgiveness fuels freedom. Forgiveness is pardoning an offense. It’s canceling a debt. It’s ceasing resentment. I know you may feel you have an excuse for how you feel, but you are only doing yourself harm… and maybe even those around you. That man’s imprisonment also impacted his family.
Don’t let someone’s past actions (or maybe even your own) kill what happens in the present and taint what happens in the future.
Filed under: journal
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:15-16)
I’m not in a habit of arguing with biblical writers, but I think Paul is wrong in his letter to Timothy. I can think of many people who were (and are) worse off than he was. You are currently reading the words from a man who really is the “worst of sinners.” I guess I couldn’t imagine arguing with my brothers (we used to, we don’t anymore!),
“I’m the worst of sinners.”
“No, I am.”
That’s not something we would have argued about. Yet this is the truth. Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I’m one of them, and so are you. (So let’s just praise the Lord. um, never mind).
“The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) That brings us to our next story on the kingdom. Jesus said, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.” (Matthew 20:1-2) He went back out in the afternoon to gather more workers and still more in the evening. When it came time to pay his workers, he paid them all the same wage. Not fair, right? Those who worked less didn’t deserve to get the same amount, right?
“When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ (20:12-15)
Do you know anyone who doesn’t deserve to be “paid” what you are paid? Will you be disappointed if the Landowner is as generous to “the worst of sinners” as He is to you?
Filed under: HOPE: A Full Time Job
If someone were to say to you, “I don’t deserve this,” what would you think? Someone might be saying it as a result of all that has happened to him. They lost their job. They found a new one, but it doesn’t make near enough to pay the bills. His son is sick, and he’s not sure where the money will come to cover medical expenses.
Or you might hear someone say, I don’t deserve this,” as a result of the good they have received.
Finally, after days of hearing his friends sound off, God responded. He asked, “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?” (Job 39:1) The answer was an obvious no. He alone is the One who watches over His creation. “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” (Job 40:2)
God’s questions humbled Job. “I am unworthy-how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.” (40:3) I am unworthy. Said another way, I don’t deserve this. Job continued.
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (42:2-6)
When we come face to face with our own sinfulness, and go from simply hearing about God to seeing and experiencing Him personally, our first response is the need to make things right. When we realize how the cross of Christ removed the penalty of sin, we too realize, “I don’t deserve this.” Repentance is doing a 180. It’s turning our lives around in such a way that we willingly give up our old way of life and turn to God’s way of living.
Today is Maundy Thursday. Maundy simply means mandate and it comes from the mandate Jesus gave on the last night with His disciples: “Love one another.” (see John 13) It was a night like this that Judas betrayed Jesus. It was a night like this that Peter realized how easy it was to deny ever knowing Jesus. It’s a night like this when we realize the ways we too have betrayed and denied Him. “I don’t deserve this.”
Tomorrow we remember Jesus’ crucifixion, how “he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. (Isaiah 53:5-7)
We don’t deserve it. We deserve the punishment. After all, our actions deserved discipline. Yet, that’s grace. Justice is getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve. He offers us a brand new start, a brand new life. But the story doesn’t end there.
“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.” (42:10) The end of the story isn’t simply that God blessed Job again. Job prayed for his friends. Job prayed for the same men who have him such a hard time during his hard times. They didn’t deserve it, but they too were forgiven. Are there people in your life who “don’t deserve this?”
“So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves,” God told his friends. “My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.” (42:8) A sacrifice has already been made. The price has already been paid. Like Job for his friends, we now have one who “is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)
Keeping hope alive is a full time job. As you celebrate the betrayal, the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ this weekend, know that “we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Hebrews 6:19)
From two undeserving men… Johnny & Ernie. It’s our hope and our prayer that you will anchor yourself to the only One who is firm and secure: Jesus Christ.
Filed under: HOPE: A Full Time Job
For those local to Dearborn Covenant Church, we have some special gatherings we want to note. Thursday night at 7pm is our annual Maundy (Mandate) Thursday Concert of Prayer. We’ll reflect on the mandate Jesus gave (love one another) as He was in the process of giving Himself for us. We’ll sing, pray, and share in the Lord’s Table. On Friday morning there’s a special Men’s Prayer breakfast for “men” of all ages at 9am. Please contact me on whether you are coming and bringing your boys and what you may be bringing to share (juice, fruit, meat, carbs). Kelly Knezek is heading up pancake flipping! Friday at noon my family and I will be visiting another church for Good Friday service as we have done in the past. I have been trying to get in touch with Citadel of Faith to see if and when they are celebrating Good Friday. I’ll let you know by tomorrow. Sunday morning we’ll fellowship at 9:45 with a continental breakfast and then celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection at 10:30am.
With these devotional letters Ernie Berkas got me writing again, something I love doing. He has challenged me to keep communicating hope by going through the Psalms on a daily basis. Ernie and I will be collaborating again and possibly getting other writers involved. Would you do me a favor? Let us know (honestly) whether these have been helpful in giving you hope during these tough times and whether you would like to continue through the Psalms together.
Lenten Devo_Day 36 “God is Great”
“Behold, God is exalted by His power; who teaches like Him?…Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him…” (Job 36:22,26)
When I (Johnny) was growing up we would always pray a simple prayer before dinner. “God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for our food. Amen.” We have a new version with our girls. “…and we thank You for our food. By Your hands we shall be fed. Give us, Lord, our daily bread. Amen. PRAISE GOD!” Michelle’s brother Rex added the PRAISE GOD.
Ernie wrote, “God is great and God is good but that may have little to do with us unless we as individuals have a relationship with that God. The devil recognized God was great. But the devil did not recognize Jesus Christ (James 2:19). Jesus said, ‘no one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6)
Though God may be great, do we recognize or trust in His greatness in everyday life? Are we practical atheists, believing in God with our mind but not knowing Him in daily experience?
Paul said, “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things… I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:8-11)
“Knowing” throughout Scripture carries with it the sense of experiencing a person intimately. What will you do today, in the midst of “sharing in his sufferings,” to “know Christ” and intimately experience “the power of his resurrection?” In what area of your life today do you need to apply “the power of his resurrection” to?
Filed under: HOPE: A Full Time Job
“For God does speak – now one way, now another – though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.” (Job 33:14-18)Though there were many times when Job’s friends simply didn’t get it, there were times they were right. Truth is, God does speak, whether we want to listen to Him or not. He does try to get our attention. Elihu was right. God does speak.
What was false at this point though was that Elihu was thinking God was trying to get Job’s attention because of the sin in his life. Elihu still believed that nothing bad would happen to good people. Job must have done something to deserve this.
Repeating his words Elihu said, “Job says, ‘I am innocent, but God denies me justice.’” (34:5) He then leveled an accusation. “He keeps company with evildoers; he associates with wicked men.” (34:9) You see, “He repays a man for what he has done; he brings upon him what his conduct deserves,” right? God is just. People get what they deserve, right? It’s not that easy. Just because your husband left you doesn’t mean God is punishing you for something you did. The reason you lost your job doesn’t mean God is putting you through some form of discipline. When a friend betrays your trust, it doesn’t mean God is trying to get your attention.
Jesus said, “in this world you will have trouble.” You will have trouble. That’s the problem with our world. It rains (or in our case, it snows) on the righteous and unrighteous alike. We will face fears. Problems will press in. “You will have trouble,” Jesus said. But our hope is in his next statement. “…but take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Maybe you’re going through tough times. Maybe you have “friends” like Job: “So Job opens His mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words.” (35:16) Maybe there are people around you giving you false information. Know this. Our hope is in the One who overcame the world. When you place your trust in Him, you will find hope in Him.
“My prayer is not that You would take them out of the world but that You would protect them from the evil one.” (John 17:15) That’s our prayer as well.
Filed under: HOPE: A Full Time Job
“But there is spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand justice.” (Job 32:8-9)
Eliju had a passion for authority. Questioning Job’s wisdom, understanding, and maybe even his sanity, Eliju essentially accused Job of being old and out of touch. Eliju had waited to speak to Job because his other three friends were older than he was. He finally couldn’t take it anymore. He had to speak up.
“I am young in years, and you are old.” I could just hear Job saying, “gee, thanks.” Eliju continued. “…that is why I was fearful, not wanting to tell you what I know. I thought, ‘Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.’” Maybe it should. Maybe great men (and women) should be wise. Yet simply because someone is old doesn’t make him wise, anymore than someone who is young has nothing to say.
However, you just have to laugh at Eliju’s comments.
“For I am full of words and the spirit within me compels me; inside I am like bottled up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst.” (Job 32:18-19)
You’ve got to be kidding me. Do you know anyone like this? When they come near you think, “I know he has something to say.” They have more a knack for speaking their mind than keeping it to themselves.
Let’s just be honest for a moment. Do you find yourself truly listening to someone or thinking about what to say next while they’re talking to you? Someone like Job really needs you to simply listen. What can you do today to lend someone a listening ear?
Our family has vacationed in Canada at a little place called Kettle Point on Ipperwash Beach in Canada. A good month before we go my girls are thinking up ways they can “get” their uncle Rod. They pull pranks on each other all throughout our two week break.
Today is April Fool’s Day 2009, and according to my girls, Uncle Rod Day. It’s a day to be tricked, and not get tricked. A day to be fooled, not to be fooled. Who’s kidding who? The girls like it when they get fooled just as much as fooling their uncle.
I’m going back in history for this illustration, I know, but Mr. T from the show the “A-Team” had a saying. “I pity the fool…” In most respects we do not want to be foolish.
Aaron asked forgiveness of Moses because he and their sister Miriam were acting arrogantly, speaking negatively to this one that God had called. Aaron said, “Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.” (Numbers 12:11) Arrogance is foolish. I pity the fool who thinks more highly of himself than he ought. You see, “whoever spreads slander is a fool.” (Proverbs 10:18) Whoever thinks so highly of themselves that they feel the need to put others down is a fool.
Samuel told King Saul, “You acted foolishly. You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.” (1 Samuel 13:13) Disobedience is foolish. I pity the fool who thinks she knows better than God of the way she should go.
Early in his leadership, when he led soldiers into battle, David was a very successful commander. He was so successful that they were writing songs about him, how Saul had victory over thousands, David tens of thousands. When he and his men stayed in different regions of the country, those around his troops felt very safe. One day David asked a favor of one neighbor by the name of Nabal. David asked if he had some food to spare that he could feed his men.
“Who is David?” Nabal asked. “Who is Jesse’s son? Many slaves these days are running away from their masters. Am I supposed to take my bread, my water, and my meat that I butchered for my shearers and give them to men who are from I don’t know where?” (1 Samuel 25:9-11) Did you catch how many times Nabal referred to himself? He is all about taking care of number one.
David was infuriated. Ready to kill the man, Nabal’s wife ran out to meet him.
“May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal,” she said. “He is just like his name-his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent.” (1 Samuel 25:25) His name actually meant fool. I guess he lived up to it! Abigail’s actions persuaded David not to take revenge. “Today you kept me from participating in bloodshed and avenging myself by my own hand,” David said. (1 Samuel 25:33) Inhospitality and greed are foolish. I pity the fool who thinks he is better than anyone else.
Job had it rough. Not only had he lost everything, his wife was no help either.
“Do you still retain your integrity?” she asked. “Curse God and die!”
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. (Job 2:9-10) Thanklessness is foolish. I pity the fool who is not grateful for what she does have. I also pity the fool who tells others to curse God.
You see, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” (Psalm 14:1) Because of his rebelliousness the fool suffers “affliction because of their iniquities.” (Psalm 107:17) Though the “fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Proverbs 1:7) A fool is destroyed due to complacency and laziness. (Proverbs 1:32) Whereas “a wise son brings joy to his father…foolish son (brings) grief to his mother.” (Proverbs 10:1)
Playing the fool for Nabal meant thinking he was always right. You see, “the way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”
And David almost became a fool by letting his temper get the best of him. For “a fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.” (Proverbs 12:15 16) Since David was “a wise man who fears the LORD and shuns evil” and knew that “a fool is hotheaded and reckless,” he took Abigail’s counsel to heart. For you see a “quick-tempered man does foolish things, and a crafty man is hated.” (Proverbs 14:16-17) I’m sure he taught his kids that “a fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.” (Proverbs 29:11)
Playing the fool means you watch who you spend time with. “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)
Jesus told many stories to illustrate spiritual truth. In one of those stories he said how “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
What are you practicing? What you practice you perfect. If you are practicing foolishness, you are on your way of becoming the perfect fool.
I always found it interesting that doctors called what they do a “practice.” In one sense I can be scared to think that they are “practicing” on me. In another sense, if you think you have “arrived,” if you are enamored with your own greatness, you could stop from practicing and cease learning. Those who put into practice the words of Jesus must first read and understand what He said. Those who practice keep learning and growing.
Here’s where things get interesting. Most of Scripture speaks against the fool and living foolishly. However, some people thought the message (gospel) of Christ was foolish. Paul wrote how the “message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’”
He then asked, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.”
The Jews of Paul’s day wanted more than that. They demanded “miraculous signs” and Greeks looked for wisdom, “but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks,” Christ is the “power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
Not only did the message seem foolish to the “wise,” those who practiced what Jesus preached were thought to be fools.
Paul told the Corinthians to think of what they were when they were first called into a relationship with Christ. “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. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 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. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
Those who do not have the Spirit of God living inside of them will have a hard time understanding what this is all about. “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)
Discernment. Gaining understanding and insight. In order to gain understanding and insight into spiritual truth one has to have “the Truth” (John 14:6) This doesn’t mean we leave our minds at the door. When you take a portion of Scripture, praying before you read it, reading it over and over again, what you will find is the Spirit himself whispering truth to your mind. You will start to gain understanding, and find wisdom in words you may have once found foolish.
In most cases, to be a fool is, well, foolish. Arrogance is foolish. Disobedience is foolish. Ingratitude is foolish. Greed and ingratitude are foolish. Venting and avenging is foolish.
In one case, on this April Fool’s Day, I want to be a fool.
“We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!” (1 Corinthians 4:10) If by my foolishness for Christ I somehow bring Him glory by sharing the wisdom of Christ, then today, I will be a fool.
Filed under: HOPE: A Full Time Job
“Let me be weighed on honest scales, that God may know my integrity.” (Job 31:6)
Job believed God was not punishing him for sin. His God certainly knew his troubles, and Job knew God could do something about it. Though his problems persisted, and though he still didn‘t quite understand what was happening, Job still trusted God. He trusted some day he would understand.
Waiting for “someday” is not easy for us North Americans. We want results now. We want understanding now. We want solutions now. To be honest, maybe we even wanted them yesterday. Though Job‘s problems persisted, so did he. Are you able to persist even if you don‘t see the end in sight?
