Tag: relationships

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Is wisdom enough?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. If you prize wisdom, she will make you great. Embrace her, and she will honor you. She will place a lovely wreath on your head; she will present you with a beautiful crown. Proverbs‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Solomon, was the key person initiating this book of proverbs. And, most likely, Solomon was the principal of the school of wisdom for young men being trained with these truths using it as curriculum.

However, when one compares proverbs to how Solomon actually lived his life, something is askew, it doesn’t add up. And, coupled with reading Solomon’s other book, Ecclesiastes, you end up asking a difficult question, “if Solomon was so wise why did he disobey God?” (Do an internet search on that question). Why did he intermarry with thousands of wives from foreign countries? Why did he allow idolatry to flourish in his own palace and throughout the nation of Israel.

I have utmost respect for Proverbs! It was the first book I tried to pattern my own life after, learning discipline and obedience to God. So, I am not bashing the book, nor the wisdom it provides. The other book, that was most helpful to me was Psalms. Again, amazing book and so helpful. All about learning how to walk with God, to pray, to listen, to be completely honest in my conversations with God. But, David’s real life has some difficult, disturbing tragedies as well!

Using Solomon’s words as a foundation and an amazing teaching tool is fabulous. However, when the layers of his own life are laid over the truths in Proverbs, like a plastic transparency, we find that wisdom cannot be separated from God. Wisdom must be carefully and humbly integrated into a deep and abiding walk with God, following and obeying Him instead of allowing our hearts to be seduced by our own desires or carried away with these concepts of the “good life!”

Can wisdom be decoupled from God? Can a human being obtain the intelligence, creativity, knowledge and even wisdom apart from God? Absolutely. Case in point, some of the most famous, incredibly smart and capable humans ended up trying to disprove, even oppose God! Folks like Charles Darwin. What a mind. What a passionate drive to study and love the flora and fauna of God’s creation. Yet, he was used to build an entirely new and wickedly designed lie using God’s wisdom – the religion of evolution!

As much as I love wisdom and am thankful for every bit of help it gives me, because I am so socially and emotionally broken – I love God MORE! I love God’s ways, his law, his boundaries and even his correction. I am determined to keep wisdom deeply connected to my relationship with God. And that is not as easy as it sounds.

Prayer

​Dad,
Is wisdom enough? No, it is not. I need to constantly be giving you more of myself. Surrendering, confessing, repenting, seeking and being utterly satisfied with you and what you’ve given to me. Gratefulness must replace my hunger for more. Thankfulness must conquer my thoughts, aspirations and comparisons. You are the giver of life and everything that’s good in me! You are enough. Amen.

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Adversarial distress much?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

”God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude“ ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Blue Letter Bible says that this Psalm was written after Jehoshaphat wins a battle in 2 Chronicles 20. However, this Psalm begins with an ominous reminder for all of us over the span of history here on the earth. We are not the only ones groaning in anticipation of finality!

The Apostle Paul wasn’t a scientist nor a meteorologist, but he knew the signs of the times when he wrote, “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” Romans 8:22. It is interesting that adversarial distress or “trouble,” as the Hebrew word, “tsarah,” suggests, comes from more than just the evil and brokenness of our human relationships. When we sinned, past tense, as in the first couple; when we still sin today, several relationships are damaged and continue in a fractured state.

Our relationship with God was broken, our relationship to other humans was broken, and our relationship with the earth itself was broken. Anyone that has spent even a few years with their marriage mate, family or close friends should immediately realize – relationships are TOUGH. Love is a choice, but it’s also a battle of wills, expectations and constant forgiveness! God gave us the job of tending to the earth itself, but she’s not always a happy camper, right?

Flip on the news and watch the global devastation of volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, fires and funnel clouds. Our own San Diego, California was just shockingly overwhelmed with this random rainstorm and flooded! The psalmist reminds us, even when we battle to regain the beauty of the eden moments, the earth is a wild, untamed beast!

But we should not fear, God is still our refuge and strength. God is willing and able to help us even in these tribulative times of trouble. Even in the chaos of fractured moments with God, each other and the angry earth, God is here among us! God is for us, not against us. God moves towards us, not away from us. God leans in when we recognize our brokenness and humble ourselves before Him. In that holy space of prayer, confession, praise and thanks – God is near and we should not fear. Let the mountains crumble, let the ground tremble, let the waters surge- God is at work redeeming and restoring us and all of creation to himself!

Prayer

Dad,
We are certainly surrounded by stories of human devastation as well as local and global disasters. We sense the tension in our relationships with each other and this beautiful planet we were commanded to care for. We ache and groan for the completion, the finality of Your Kingdom coming and setting all things right. Our relationship with you, each other and the earth. The work, the ransom price for our sin has been paid, so now we wait. Maranatha – Come quickly Lord Jesus. Amen.

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Why does God have rules?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.” ‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God’s rules were never about keeping us from having fun, enjoying life or just to be a kill-joy. It’s all about living and thriving in this relationship with Him. Who knows better than God who built us and the entire system of how the world works. Moses records the truth about all the rules, lessons, hardships and detours, “Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

There’s reason behind the rules? God makes them for OUR benefit! Yep. A big lie is the bad-rap, stereotype that God is some old mean man in the sky. Oh please, that’s ridiculous! That makes us sound like toddlers squabbling to get our own way. God is not old, not a man and not mean!

In these verses it reminds me of everything God wants for us in terms of our basic wants and needs in life. Moses writes, “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills.” I see a couple things here: One, God wants to bring blessing of abundance. For example the idea of milk and honey. These staples and sweets of life are for our enjoyment as much as they are for our health. Two, God put iron & copper in the hills for building infrastructure, for our homes and tools. Notice the difference? One comes with sowing and reaping, just caring for the land and reaping the delicious results. Ah, but the other, the minerals and ore’s, they have to be mined! It is much harder work to dig and mine those resources. It’s just pure work!

After all this, God’s instructions comes back to remembering Him, remembering His rules, His ways. Why? Because when abundance comes, our relationships, both with God and one another, tend to fade into the background. God states a difficult truth about our human nature, when we become too rich, we forget. “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!”

Prayer

Dad,
I am comforted and embarrassed that you know us so well. I know I get distracted so easily when things are going super good. When it comes to having wealth or abundant resources, I believe your antidote is generosity. Giving away the abundance, the extra, helps me focus on something other than just storing up more for myself. Plus, It’s fun. So when I buy a two-pack of milk at Costco, I can think of these verses and remember to give one away 😀.

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Is God a prude?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’ But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭31‬-‭32‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Only God would go where mortal men fear. This is Jesus, the revolutionary, speaking out on issues that were never spoken about in public. Jesus, being the light of the world, drags the deeds only done in darkness, only whispered behind closed doors, out into the open. No one exposes sin better than God. Is God a prude? Hardly.

He not only created us, but he also gave humans the free will to be and explore everything on the planet as well as everything about our own human body, soul and spirit. However, freedom doesn’t mean exploitation. Freedom doesn’t mean satisfying oneself at the expense and destruction of another. God is far more like a parent than he is catholic school teacher. He loves us.

Jesus dives into the most destructive side of our free will, exposing the dark and callous desires of our unbridled souls. Jesus just finished talking about adultery and put a hard stop on the issue of “thoughts verses physical deeds.” We all know that thoughts, good or bad, lead to behaviors. We do as we think about doing.

Here’s a thought Jesus pulled from our secret souls, “we don’t get to fantasize about destroying relationships by ‘having your way’ with whatever we set our eyes on!” Boom. That’s right. There are selfish sins against God and there’s a bunch of them against each other. The big TEN commandments were boundaries to PROTECT and preserve our relationship with God and one another. In fact four of the rules are about God, six are about each other.

These discussions in Matthew about relationship in sexual desire and covenant commitments in marriage are both about boundaries and behaviors. Yes, men were primarily called out and held responsible because, at that time, they were in power and the main offenders of these rules. God seriously and deeply cares about relationships, and Jesus highlights a couple of our major missteps in how we handle each other. No, a man or woman does not get to mentally strip, invade and exploit another human being just for fun! Neither do we get to make cheap promises.

Jesus goes after the frivolous way we treat our commitments, our covenants between a man and a woman. Moses wrote about a legal way to dissolve a marriage (Deut 24‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬), although we’ve got to keep in mind, God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). He HATES everything that is destructive to our relationships! Come on, are we not smart enough to figure out the never ending cycles of pain, suffering and financial ruin of our lives that come with divorce? Have we not seen the massive, deep hurts we deposit into children’s lives by dismembering their most trusted bond between their parents? Do we not recognize an entire generation of fatherless children because our parents were so self absorbed to just do whatever they felt like doing? Why are we mad at God and blame him for being a prude when we are obviously so foolish and blind to our own destructive desires and behaviors?

I am not an expert on divorce by any means. However, I had to pick up the broken shards of fragile glass in my own soul. My family, my heritage is littered with divorce and remarriage! My own adopted mother, searching for true love, safety and belonging went shopping for a man FOUR times. With her last attempt at relationship, she just gave up on the covenant of marriage and allowed a live-in looser to suck her life and finances dry for over a decade! I believe that Jesus is not only speaking TRUTH, he is also saving us from the LIES we tell ourselves and others. Here’s the facts, adultery and divorce destroys relationships and are toxic and deadly to everyone involved.

Prayer

Dad,
Forgive us oh God for we know what we do and what harm it causes, but we want to do it anyways. Save our children from our selfish foolishness.

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It’s extremely hard to get our attention.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced. Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!” Amos‬ ‭4:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Especially when we are living the high-life, going, doing whatever we desire, whatever we fancy.

Famous Amos, another spokesperson for God, has the wonderful opportunity to tell Israel the truth. While Israel is living it up, partying, taking advantage of others and all along offering sacrifices to idols! Giving time, money (crops and foods) and attention to block statues of wood called Baal.

Amos is pointing out the obvious, holding up a community mirror up in their faces. They were basically visiting whores while saying they were in a promised, lifetime relationship with the creator of the universes. Amos says, “Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols at Bethel. Keep on disobeying at Gilgal. Offer sacrifices each morning, and bring your tithes every three days. Present your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving. Then give your extra voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere! This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do,” says the Sovereign Lord.”

Betrayal, rebellion and brash, ballzy, hubris behavior towards God. So, yes, God sends a slew of reminders, strong hints that they were flirting with danger. Much of these were what we would call “natural” disasters or “Mother Nature.” What a laugh. These weren’t natural occurrences, they were supernatural messages to stop living a life destined for death. Even after famines, droughts, insect infestations and outright plagues reminiscent of Egypt, Israel just wanted to “Bill & Ted” their lives saying, “party on!”

How would you stop a high speed train barreling down the track destined to travel off a cliff? That’s right, you’d try your best to purposely DERAIL it, hoping to save lives. Amos is begging Israel to quit living for and giving to fake gods and come back to the real God.

I don’t want God to have to work that hard to get my attention, save my life, or accomplish His good and perfect will in this world. However, out of His mercy, God will do whatever it takes. I’ve seen some really awful things happen in people’s lives and I wonder, why? It’s it “natural” consequences from just living in a broken world. Is it the work of the chief liar and deceiver? Or – OR is it God trying to just get them to turn and make things right with Him? As I’ve said before, David, in the Psalms apparently ALWAYS attributes everything to God’s eventual control. I’d say it’s best to go to the one who has all the answers – God. Start there. Tell God what’s going on and ask him how to proceed. I also need to remember, because of Christ, these are NOT threats of hell, they’re disciplines of love to lead the full life God promised!

Prayer

Dad,
I don’t know a lot, but I do know what betrayal feels like. I know what it’s like to love someone, invest in a relationship and have it derail, sometimes even going bitter and sour. It is so painful to vulnerably give and have it spurned or used against you. Even in that tiny little example, I can see how wrong we are to run after “other” gods, fake gods made out of wood or electrons. Who won’t give back anything but pain. Who won’t, who can’t save us nor make life good for us! No fake gods for me thank you!