Don't just kill it - roast it!

One of the verses that jumped out at me today is not one you’d see in a Hallmark card, but it may just become one of my new favorites!

The lazy man does not roast his game,

    but the diligent man prizes his possessions. (Proverbs 12:27 NIV 1984)

I wanted to look at it in a couple of other versions:

Whoever is slothful will not roast his game,

    but the diligent man will get precious wealth. (ESV)

A lazy life is an empty life,

    but “early to rise” gets the job done. (The Message)

The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious. (KJV)

You may wonder why I bothered... However, I just thought this was such a weird verse, and I wanted to see how on earth it could apply to my life! I don’t hunt, so it’s not an allusion with which I can identify. Jon Courson to the rescue! I looked in his commentary to see what he had gleaned from this (other than the fact that we should be diligent, not lazy). Here’s what he had to offer:

The slothful man stalks his game. He fires his shot. He likes the chase, the excitement, the adventure. But he doesn’t like dressing the animal or building a fire to roast it because those jobs are tedious. In the same way, many preachers spend hours in preparation but only moments in prayer. In the Word, prayer is often symbolized by fire. Therefore, in your own Bible study, make sure you “cook” what you find in the fire of prayer. We can be intrigued by theology, interested in systematic study, amazed by God’s truths practically. But if the Word of God isn’t cooked in our own hearts by the passion of prayer, our study and our preparation is only half-baked. Anyone can hunt and make the kill. Only the committed will bother to do the real work of roasting it. May God give us substance by making us diligent in all we do. (Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Old Testament, Vol 2, P. 213)

Ouch! I hear you, LORD!! I needed that! The cooking is in the prayer time! I can spend hours studying His Word, and being blessed out of my socks by the encouragement, comfort, and practical applications I find in it. But if I’m not baking my study in prayer - seeking what it is He wants to tell me, what He wants me to DO about it, and asking for the strength and courage to actually do it - I am never going to truly be changed or help change my world. And it isn’t the kind of two-minute, “show me what You want me to know” prayer. In order to roast something, it needs slow turning over the fire. It requires heat (passion) and time.

And, even more important than looking for strength and guidance from God, is the seeking of His face! This is the kind of prayer that Jesus prayed when He would get away from the crowds. He wasn’t just trying to determine God’s will - He was seeking time with His Father. He wanted intimate communion. He needed as much of His Father’s presence as He could get to face the tasks the Father had given Him. Jesus not only knew completely God’s Word, He is the Word! So, it wasn’t more knowledge that He sought - it was more of God the Father!

So, this silly verse, that seemed so random to me at first glance, has now become so much more to me. God is showing me that there is a spiritual laziness in my life. I’m all over the excitement of reading His Word - the adventure of finding new treasures. But I don’t want to do the truly hard work of devoting LOTS of time in prayer seeking my Father. I’ve always been willing to leave that truly intense prayer time to those with the “gift” of intercession - to turn my prayer requests into the prayer chain, let the elders pray over that. That’s their job! Not that I don’t pray, “cuz I do - and I love praying for the needs of others. But if I’m going to be truly transformed, I need to spend that personal time not only talking to but listening to my Father.

LORD, help me with this commitment! The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!  

Prayer update and requests!

I have an update on my sister, Jodi, with praise to God for his goodness. Jodi is getting in on a promising new treatment for the multiple myeloma, which includes a new drug that costs $15,000 a month! But after working with her medicare, Part D, it’s knocked down to a mere $5,000 a month. My brother-in-law, Ed, got busy tracking down support from the drug manufacturer and the Chronic Disease Fund, and found out the the drug had just come on the CDF’s formulary list, so she will be able to get it now for a $40 per month co-pay! Plus, Jodi has finally been feeling great again for the past four weeks, is strengthen, energized, sleeping at night, and finally socializing again. Thank you, LORD! This is great news!!

Then, I received yesterday a prayer request from my dear friend, Carrol, who meets us here every morning, and she asked for prayer for her 90 year-old mother, who recently fell and hit her head. She has recovered from the injury and is temporarily in a skilled nursing facility. But she has become depressed, not wanting to eat, take fluids, or get out of bed. So many of us are at this point in our lives with our parents. Carrol and her sister, Linda, who lives in Hemet with her mom, are going to bring her home and pay for in-home care. This has put a lot of weight on Carrol’s sister, since Carrol is two hours away, so please pray for Linda and Carrol as they seek to honor their mother and care for her. Carrol’s mother is ready to actually go home and be with the LORD, so just pray that God’s will would be done in her life.

And I would add the same request for my father-in-law, Frank. He went to the ER last weekend after a fall. He had crushed a vertebrae, but is not in any pain, so he was sent back to the assisted living home. He also just turned 90! Goodness! This is painful to watch! His mind is really faltering at the same time. LORD, be merciful!!

Thanks for your prayers! Study to follow tomorrow!!!  

Proverbs 12:19-22 It's easier to tell the truth!

I have a poster in my classroom that quotes Mark Twain: “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.”

Abraham Lincoln, who probably learned this from his years as a lawyer, said, “No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar.”

Our passage today speaks to the importance of being truthful:

Truthful lips endure forever,

    but a lying tongue lasts only a moment... 

The Lord detests lying lips,

    but he delights in men who are truthful. (Proverbs 12:19, 22)

Sometimes telling the truth is REALLY hard! And it’s so easy to slip into lying. Little “white lies” aren’t really too bad, are they? Is just not telling all of the truth the same as lying? If I tell the truth, I’m going to get in trouble! If I tell the truth, what will others think about me? Yikes! Do you see how fear can be the basis for lying? I know it’s what drives my students to lie! It’s amazing to me how hard they will work to avoid telling the truth, because they think they will get in trouble if the truth comes out! The reality is that by the time I finally get the confession, I’m so irritated with them for lying, they have just doubled the trouble! They have wasted my time and destroyed my trust!

Our verses today tell us that God values the truth and He hates lying! We know this! Yet, why do we find it so hard to come clean? Even more than I can tell when a 10-year old is fibbing, God reads my heart like a book! He knows better than I do what’s in there, and He knows when I’m lying. What can I possibly gain by lying? Lying kills my integrity and certainly destroys any witness I have! It just magnifies a problem and gives Satan a foothold in my life as he holds it over my head! Because, as soon as I’ve told the lie, I now have to worry that it will be found out!

The truth sets us free! It may be hard to confess a truth, but it will free you from bondage to the lie! And God will delight in you! I can’t promise God I will never lie - that in itself would BE a lie! But as I freely confess such sin, God will continue to strengthen me against it and free me from it! 

My prayer? LORD, help me to immediately see when lies enter my speech. Keep my mouth from spewing forth lies and exaggerations. Help me to maintain my integrity before You!

 

Proverbs 12:12-18 Brush it off!

There are so many gems hidden in this chapter, but I’m going to just pull out two this morning, that seem related:

A fool shows his annoyance at once,

    but a prudent man overlooks an insult... 
Reckless words pierce like a sword,

    but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:16,18)

Impulsiveness may be a fun thing once in a while, when you step out and do something daring - doing a random act of kindness on a whim, cutting your hair by several inches, or buying a dress that is totally different from anything you’ve ever worn. But impulsive behavior is never a good idea when tied to anger. Verse 16 teaches us that a wise man knows when to control himself. He overlooks the insult of another, rather than trying to answer back. Instead of decking someone who insults you, this verse tells us to brush it off! Get over it - and get over yourself! A quick fuse will just land you in trouble!

And the hardest part is keeping your mouth shut at such a time! My best friend in high school and I were very sarcastic and we were constantly looking for a “snappy comeback.” When someone has insulted you, you just yearn for the right words to put him in his place. Don’t do it! Resist the urge! So much is at stake - especially your witness for Christ! Insults usually come from a heart of insecurity or jealousy, so think how much better it would be to answer an insult with kindness instead! Such words could definitely bring healing and blessing to the hearer as well as the speaker.

The fool is reckless! He acts on his impulses and serves up piercing words at exactly the wrong time. If someone insults you, look beyond the action to the insecure heart that produced the insult. Let the words fall off your back! That’s what Christ did - and it’s what He wants us to do! We don’t need to rush in and defend ourselves. He is our defense. Choose to speak a blessing instead!  

Proverbs 12:9,11 "You got to be somebody!"

The verses we will look at this morning remind me of the South Orange County mindset. Actually, I’m not sure if it’s the area or a generational thing, but there are characteristics that distinguish this area from the North OC. And these verses seem to capture the problem:

Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant

    than pretend to be somebody and have no food... 

He who works his land will have abundant food,

    but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. (Proverbs 12:9,11)

Verse 9 tells us that when we try to look like we are someone special in the world’s eyes, we put ourselves in financial jeopardy, living a lifestyle beyond our means - to the point that we can barely put food on the table. This is the very picture of what many young couples did when they jumped into large mortgages in homes that required two healthy incomes in communities like Ladera Ranch. That South County community developed at the height of the housing boom, so many that moved in there did so with high interest-only or adjustable interest mortgages, with the assumption that house values would continue to rise and that their incomes would keep pace with the interest increases.

Unfortunately, the housing bubble burst, and these couples have been crushed by the recession that followed. Homes have been lost, jobs are gone, and marriages have fallen apart under the stress of trying to keep up.

At the same time as housing prices boomed, so did social networking. And with that increased ability to make yourself known online through You-tube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., there is a sense that anyone can become famous instantly and garner a “following” on par with a celebrity. What a trap that can be!

In the world’s eyes you are only a “somebody” if you have walked the red carpet or have all of the trappings that we identify with success: the big house, the clothes, the cars, the vacations. But the Bible assures us that our worth does not come from the things that surround us or with the accomplishments of our own doing. Our value comes from our Maker. We are already “somebody” in His eyes, even if we are “nobody” in the world’s view. He chose us before the foundation of the world - not to become famous ourselves, but to make HIM famous - to glorify Him.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)

Often the desire to become “somebody” is coupled with the idea in Proverbs 12:11, which speaks to chasing fantasies. Fantasies usually include not only gaining instant fame but also instant wealth (hence the allure of Vegas, lotteries, and Ponzi schemes). People are so easily fooled into believing they can get the big bucks without the big work. Dreamers load up on lottery tickets when the prize money increases, even though their chances of winning significantly decrease as more clamor to enter the lottery. Students coming out of college fantasize that they will earn six-figure incomes right away. No one wants to wait - and no one wants to work.

The Bible is abundantly clear that the we feed our families by labor. We were meant to work for it. Even Paul continued to work as a tentmaker, although he was an Apostle chosen by Christ.

Now, what about me? These verses don’t just speak about “those people.” They speak directly to you and me. What are the areas in my life where I’m seeking easy answers? Where am I trying to get out of the hard work that God requires of me? How am I trying to “keep up” beyond my means - and those means have significantly changed since Don retired! My fantasies may not have anything to do with a bigger house or celebrity-like fame, but am I using my gifts for God’s glory or my own? That is a constant prayer for me: to do whatever I do to magnify HIM not ME! This world is full of traps. We need to walk through it with our eyes on Him, because He has promised to go ahead of us and behind us to keep us on His path. Walk carefully!  

Proverbs 12:2-8 "Wicked!" It isn't just a musical!

Before I start this morning, I wanted to give you a link to my daughter, Molly’s website where she posted photos and her perspective on Emmy’s Choose Joy event. I had just put on my makeup for the day when I read it. Now I need to redo! 

Chapter 12 of Proverbs has much to say about the wicked. You know, there are lots of people in this world who don’t believe there is such a thing as evil. They believe that because God is all good, there can only be goodness everywhere. They refuse the concept of sin - preferring to use words like “mistake.” I spoke with a sweet gal several months ago who believes that everyone will go to heaven and that all of us have good inside. And I thought, “Really? You want to spend eternity with Hitler and Stalin and Charles Manson?? Would a good God not deal out justice?"

Well, Proverbs shows that surely there are truly evil people in the world. Yes, we are ALL sinners. But those who have believed the gospel have been made righteous by God’s amazing grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. There are, however, some who embody wickedness through the choices they have made to reject God and to exalt self. And Proverbs speaks about them:

A man cannot be established through wickedness,

    but the righteous cannot be uprooted... 

The plans of the righteous are just,

    but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.   

The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,

    but the speech of the upright rescues them.   

Wicked men are overthrown and are no more,

    but the house of the righteous stands firm.   

A man is praised according to his wisdom,

    but men with warped minds are despised. (Proverbs 12:3, 5-8)

See all those “buts” in there? A perfect example of comparing and contrasting. The righteous stand firm and are strongly rooted, but the wicked will overthrown (NOT sent to heaven). The righteous affirm, encourage, and treat others with justice, but the wicked speak destruction and seek blood. The righteous have wisdom, but the wicked have warped minds. Huge differences! And very different ends!

In John 14, Jesus promises He is preparing a place for His own, and Revelation 21 speaks to the joy that awaits us in that place where there will be no more tears and no more death. But Revelation 20 tells us that those who are wicked are doomed to the eternal lake of fire that God has also prepared.

Oh, yeah, there is evil all right. And I’m so very grateful that God is continuing to root it out of MY heart!  

Proverbs 12:1 The S-word!

When I first became a teacher, I taught first grade for three years, before moving to fifth grade, where my sarcastic sense of humor is much more appreciated and doesn’t make students cry! I taught first grade in the years of 32 in a classroom (gee... we are back there now...), and I used to compare it to having a birthday party all day long for 32 six-year olds all by myself!

It was exhausting, but truly fun, as first graders say the darnedest things! Like the little girl who told her tablemates that her parents were going to get a “bivorce,” then proceeded to give details of a screaming match at home. Thinking to comfort her, one of the other girls at the table said, “That’s nothing! Once my mom threw a whole box of crayons at my dad!” :) I had to step in and divert the conversation! { Note: the first girl’s parents did not get a “bivorce,” but the second girl’s did. Put the crayons down! } 

But one of the things they would say always put me on the alert. First graders love to tattle and they were constantly saying things like, “Alexander said the M-word,” (you don’t want to know), or “David said the I-word.” Turns out the I-word was “Idiot!” It didn’t take me long to figure out that the “S-word” was “stupid!” PHEW!!! I loved that some parents had taught their children that such words were “bad” words, that should not be used! Someone had better tell Solomon:

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,

    but he who hates correction is stupid. (Proverbs 12:1) 

Sometimes the S-word is the perfect word! Those that will not listen to words of correction or rebuke truly are stupid! These are the ones who must touch the wet paint or the hot stove!

When we had our second child, Emmy, it baffled me that she would throw tantrums when she was a toddler. She never got her way by kicking and screaming, was always sent into time out feeling ashamed and humiliated at having lost control, but she would repeat the behavior. She learned at a very young age that she needed to pray for self-control. But as all mothers of toddlers do, I wondered why she needed to learn the lesson the hard way. The good news is she grew up to be an amazing, godly woman - who now has to deal with her own daughter’s tantrums - the good news there being the “godly woman” part!

As parents we sometimes watch our children choosing to go down a disastrous path, maybe even one we have been down before, and we have to just entrust them to God, because they will not listen to us. It is heartbreaking to see people we love refusing to receive instruction, and hardening their hearts to God’s wisdom. You want to shake them and shout, “You’re being STUPID!”

You know, I’ve never seen a necklace or bracelet or even a plaque with Proverbs 12:1 written on it, but I’m thinking it just might be the perfect gift for someone you love - or maybe to hang over your own desk??? It could be a companion verse to Jeremiah 29:11 to give a high school graduate???

Lord, help us to receive correction as a GIFT from You!