Pearls of Wisdom: Simple foolishness

For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.  But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear.
Proverbs 1:32-33

Well there it is....what else does God need to say to us?

It is interesting to consider the simplicity of these statements. There is no grey area. Nothing to try to figure out.  Straight to the point.  As I was sitting and meditating on these two sentences, I began to think, as I always do whenever I think about great wisdom, of some of the simple but wise statements that my grandmothers used to make. Things like:

A hard head makes a soft behind.

Don't let your mouth write a check that your behind can't cash.

If you keep buying all of those shoes, you're going to be broke.

Okay, don't say I didn't try to warn you.

Okay, my grandmothers used to say some crazy stuff but it made so much sense back then!  :-) I knew exactly what they meant.  No guessing!  Simple statements designed to warn me that my current behavior would lead to strong consequences.  This is the purpose of these scriptures.  A warning that foolish behavior will ultimately destroy us, but a promise that if we live the Word, we shall be safe.  Simple. To the point. No guessing! So why is it when we suffer strong consequences, we almost always forget these warnings??

Proverbs was written to give us wisdom and to warn us of the consequences of rejecting such wisdom.  Trust me when I tell you that there is a cost for foolishness and simple (unwise) behavior.  A cost that may seem far-fetched today but that I promise you will not want to pay.  It is a cost that God does not even want us to pay.  That is why He did not leave us without instruction, guidance and wisdom for all areas of our lives.  And since He has provided this wisdom for our protection, He gives us full and clear warning beforehand that our refusal to listen and heed it will lead to our own destruction.

Now before we gloss over these words as some overly spiritual sayings written with "big sins" in mind (as we so often do sometimes in our religious approaches to God), allow me to leave you with some practical wisdom to think and pray about.  God certainly desires that we live the abundant life that He promised and designed, BUT:

• If we keep eating more than we burn, our bodies will deteriorate.
• If we keep spending more than we save, we will always be broke.
• If we keep settling for the wrong one, the right one will never find us.
• If we are not willing to make changes in our lives and stick to them, we will never experience true fulfillment.

Pearls to Ponder
Why do you think God repeatedly warns us about rejecting wisdom?  Why is it so important to Him that we understand wisdom and its role in our lives?  What do you think He's trying warn YOU about?

Pearls to treasure:
Jeremiah 31:3 “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”(NIV)

Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (NIV)

Resolution Revolution: My Forgiveness

I really enjoyed reading, studying and discussing our most recent topic of forgiveness from this book.  I have to admit, as I did in our group discussion, that at first I avoided this chapter for a few days. Then when we decided to take a break from the book club over the Holidays, I was actually glad to have more time to avoid it.  You see, while I understand how vital and important forgiveness is in the life of every Christian, the thought of actually being confronted with the possibility that I still harbored some unforgiveness towards someone, or even myself, was a bit scary.  But I'm so glad this book was inspired by God to expose every part of me that needs to be exposed....and it did.

In our discussion, we talked about some of the ways unforgiveness shows up in our lives.  Sometimes we think we have forgiven a person, but we must really search our actions to determine if this is actually true.  Priscilla writes how unforgiveness is like internal trauma that goes undetected and ultimately leads to death.  One of the ladies shared a statement by another popular female minister that said harboring unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. How crazy is that!?  So we discussed some ways to recognize unforgiveness and some ways to prevent unforgiveness from becoming a root of bitterness in our lives.  Some practical ways we named were honest communication, confrontation, and trying our best to see others in light of our own flaws and not just theirs.  When someone hurts us, we owe it to them and ourselves to be honest about it and expose our offense or hurt feelings, to deal with the issue quickly rather than hold on to it and allow it to fester and to remember how God has forgiven our sins and mistakes before we pronounce judgement on them.

One of the most important principles of this chapter is that forgiveness is a choice.  It is not a feeling or thought. It is the choice to share the gift that we have been so freely given - the unmerited, undeserved gift of forgiveness. 

I absolutely loved Priscilla's answer to the young lady when asked the question: "How can I forgive myself?"  I was personally stunned by the answer.  Have you wondered how you could ever forgive yourself for that horrible mistake you made?  The answer, as Priscilla so beautifully penned, is that "the capacity to forgive yourself is personally impossible."  Wow. Maybe you are not as blown away by that as I am.  But maybe that's because you may not have made some of the huge mistakes I have. But my-oh-my how I exhaled after reading that sentence.  Did you get that? If you've been trying to forgive yourself and shed the tiresome, burdensome load of guilt and shame for years, you can stop it!  You can't forgive yourself because you are incapable.  Only Jesus, and your acceptance of HIS gift of forgiveness and all that comes with it - erasing your sins from his memory (Jeremiah 31:34), making you righteous before God (Romans 3:23), and cancelling the eternal debt for your sins - can offer you the forgiveness that lifts the heavy load of guilt from your life.  Remember Jesus urged us to take HIS yoke because it is easy and HIS burden because it is light!  (Matthew 11:30)

And so we wrapped up our discussion with Priscilla's practical ways to approach forgiveness.  She encourages us to choose not to hold grudges, choose to allow God to deal with those who offend you and choose to pray and ask God to empower you to forgive those who have offended you.  Did you get that common word: you can forgive him or her if you CHOOSE! And always, ALWAYS, remember that we forgive others, as we have been forgiven.

I can't say this enough, if you don't have this book, it is a must read!  It will change your life!

Until next time!

Pearls of Wisdom: Do-overs



Proverbs 1:28-31

 ²⁸Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:  ²⁹For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:   ³⁰They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.  ³¹Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

Have you ever heard the familar saying that hindsight is 20/20?   Or better yet, have you ever asked God for a "do-over?"  I certainly have.  I have asked God for several "do-overs."  The problem is that for every "do-over" I wish I could have, there was always wisdom available to prevent the situation that I got myself into.  Right before this passage, God speaks to wisdom's call and our refusal to answer, resulting in our ultimate self-inflicted calamity.  Here God is simply saying that when we refuse his instruction, knowledge, wisdom and guidance, He will allow us to reap the consequences of our actions.  Everytime.

What's interesting is that I can distinctly remember a situation where I did not heed wisdom but as soon as the consequences came along, I went searching for God! Have you ever done that?  Have you ever disobeyed God and then turned to him to rescue you once your disobedience caused an uncomfortable and painful situation?  I remember God explicity telling me that He was finished with something that I was choosing to hold onto.  He told me to get out of it.  He told me He had something better, greater.  And OH did He ever have something greater!

God has something better for you too. Something greater.  Something more fulfilling. More rewarding.  Something more purposeful. More Him. More You.

I only wish I had listend wayyyyy back then and not prolonged my time in less than God's best!  I wish I could go back and do it over! I would choose differently!  I would listen better! Back then, I did not listen.  I stayed and the situation got worse. I cried out to God to deliver me. I cried and begged and begged and cried! Have you ever done that?  I wanted to be delivered out of the situation immediately. I wanted out so badly.  But that's now how God works.

Thankfully, He is such a loving and caring God, that He covers us with grace as we endure our reaping process. But He does not rescue us, not even when we beg and cry. Instead, He allows us to learn obedience just as Jesus did.....through suffering.  Yet the truth is that it is not the will of God that we should suffer unnecessarily. He has provided all the necessary instruction we need to live an abundant life in Him.  However, when WE choose to disobey and/or disregard His instruction, He will always allow us to eat the fruit of our ways (reap what we sow).  Everytime.

So I encourage you, if you are holding onto something or someone that God is finished with, please listen to His instruction.  Of course, I am not speaking of your spouse who is a part of your covenant with God.  But I'm speaking of other strongholds, habits, ways, people that are hindering your growth and process in God....hinderences that are deafening your hearing of wisdom's instruction.  Don't allow hindsight to be your clearest vision.  Allow the Word of God to give you clear and concise wisdom now....BEFORE destruction comes.

Pearls to Ponder
Have you ever asked God for a "do-over?"  When you think about that situation, did God try to warn you beforehand?  What could God be warning you about now to prevent future suffering?  Are you holding on to any people, strongholds, habits or ways that God is finished with in your life?

Pearls to Treasure
1 Samuel 15:22  But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

Galations 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Pearls of Wisdom: Avoid Calamity

                                                                                         

Proverbs 1:24-27

²⁴Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;  ²⁵But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:  ²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;  ²⁷When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

Have you ever told your kids to stop running in the house but they didn’t listen and eventually ended up with a knot on their heads?  I can vividly see my little boys running through our house as I write this. They are so full of energy, especially little Christian.  I’m always saying, “Walk Christian!” And he is always anxious to get where he is going and even despite his best efforts to walk, it’s still more like a trot-on-the-verge-of-running.  Now, it never fails that at some point after I’ve told him to stop running, one of two things happens.  Either I will discipline him for running or I will see him coming towards me, eyes wet with tears, hand to his head, face saddened, looking for comfort because…you guessed it….he hurt himself running.   Either way, whether it is discipline or accident, the result of doing something that I’ve warned him not to do was uncomfortable.  Had he listened to me when I initially gave him instruction, he would have avoided the destruction that resulted from his disobedience.

Have you ever gone to God, eyes wet with tears, hand to your head, face saddened looking for comfort because of the calamity that was caused by your refusal to heed wisdom?

I cannot count the number of times I’ve cried for God to rescue me from a situation that I created.  I can remember some personal choices in my life that were in direct disregard of wisdom and, as the passage suggests, the result was destruction, distress and anguish!  For example, I remember my mother vividly telling me not to "shack up" with a man.  At the time, I thought she was just being old fashion.  So did I listen? No. Was the result destructive? Oh my gosh, YES! Oh how I wish I had listened!! I would have avoided the devastation that my decision inevitably produced.  So as I sit and think about several other decisions that turned out the same way, I'm reminded in this stage of my life to always seek wisdom and do my very best to follow wisdom's instruction.  I'm careful to get the input of my husband and at times, a close friend whenever I'm unclear about a decision and especially when my flesh is speaking louder than usual.  Because I've learned that whenever I choose to set wisdom's counsel at nought, calamity follows.  And it never fails that no matter how much I cry and beg for comfort from my calamity, although God covers me with His grace, He always allows me to feel the consequences of my behavior so that I will learn the lesson that He tried to teach me beforehand:  my relationship with Him is the safest place on earth. 

Pearls to Ponder

How well do you trace your situations and circumstances to your disregard of prior instruction and wisdom from God? What things are you dealing with today that could have turned out differently had you listened to wisdom?  What things can you do differently in your life if you apply the principles of wisdom?

Pearls to treasure

Deuteronomy 4:38-10 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

Be Encouraged...

In my quiet time this morning, and over the past several days, I’ve had such an increased passion to encourage and uplift you all. I really asked God what I could say to you to encourage your hearts as you consecrate yourself and seek God for more of Him, and thus more of yourself.  I know from my own experience that at times this walk with God ain’t exactly no walk in the park.  Personally, there are times when I feel like, just as I seem to grow and get better in some areas, God unveils some other area where I totally suck!  If I’m not careful, I find myself battling the spirit of depression and condemnation, wondering if I will ever get it all together.  So I wanted to share one of the ways the Lord consistently encourages my heart in those times.

Not too long ago, a friend recommended that I read the book Search for Significance by Robert McGee.  It’s such a mind-altering book that I highly recommend it for you as well.  In it, he talks about the performance trap that many believers find themselves in from time to time.  It’s the idea that you must meet certain standards in order to feel good about yourself.  I can certainly relate to this feeling.  At one point in my life, and even now periodically, I find myself attaching my confidence to my “performance” as a Christian.  The better I “perform” i.e. make all the right decisions, say all the right words, remain totally consistent in my prayer, devotion & church attendance, etc, the better I feel about myself as a Christian.  Then on those occasions when I make a horrible decision or I say all the wrong words to my husband or I allow my schedule to pull me away from focused attention to the Word, I find myself questioning whether or not I’m even saved for real.  This is not the will of God.

Instead, God wants you and me to understand some very important truths about ourselves.  We are so deeply loved by Him just the way we are. Because of Christ’s redemption, He has welcomed us into the beloved, and we are completely forgiven, acceptable and pleasing in His sight – not because our performance is completely perfect – but because the blood of Jesus is completely sufficient to present us to God as holy and acceptable in His sight.  What a wonderful savior we have. 

So despite the things you may feel you are lacking in your life, you are totally complete in Him.  Despite what might seem like the slowest growth process ever, you are just where you should be. Still growing!  Release yourself from the performance trap that suggests that you are anything less than a woman who is growing in God.  Of course, that does not negate the fact that you must still put forth the effort to continue growing and maturing in him.  But for just a moment, take a look at where God has brought you from, and be encouraged in knowing that the God who began such a good work in you is faithful to complete it.  Sure, you may not be where you want to be spiritually but keep growing. You may still make some mistakes but keep growing. If you get a little off course (or a lot), get back on course and keep growing! There is so much purpose and destiny ahead for you to accomplish. Don’t get stuck in the performance trap. Walk in the freedom of knowing that as imperfect as you are, you are God’s perfect-creation-in-progress and reject any & all thoughts, ideas, beliefs, people or environments that suggest that you are anything less than deeply loved and totally acceptable to God. 

Remember who you are!

Monday Rewind: What are you demonstrating?

Yesterday my husband spoke an awesome word about the gospel of demonstration.  Just like the Gospels were written to provide a witness to those who read and believe in the name of Christ, God is calling you and me to be a living witness through demonstration of the Word (practically) in our lives. He is calling us to be a living epistle, or letter, able to read by the world.  Paul states we are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. 2 Cor 3:3   

I thought my husband did an awesome job in teaching us that, without demonstration, our faith is only an explanation of what we believe.  This is no longer good enough for the world we live in.  This world is providing increasingly more options to the unbeliever.  It is up to you and me to demonstrate that living in Christ is the best option available. After all, why should people believe that a godly life is the best life if WE don’t show them that it’s actually true and working for us?

So what are you demonstrating? If you never spoke a word, what about your life would indicate that you are a Christian who believes that the Word of God actually works?  Remember, the world is watching those who call themselves Christians. The scripture states that the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:9). That’s you and me! So with a sincere heart, try your very best to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit toward others, and make every effort to be an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in love, in spirit, in faith and in purity (1 Tim 4:12). 

What a powerful word!  You and I have something that this world needs and wants. The question is how are we going to convince others of this fact? Simple. By demonstrating that what we have is better than what they currently have.  In other words, live like someone is watching!

Have a wonderful week!

Nicole

Pearls of Wisdom: Listen!



Proverbs 1:20-23



²⁰Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:  ²¹She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,  ²²How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?  ²³Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

It is quite interesting that Solomon chose the female pronoun to describe wisdom.  She cries…She utters.   Is it because wisdom has a feminine quality?  Like a virtuous wife, wisdom is something that must be pursued and it is the greatest treasure for all who are blessed to obtain it.  Like a caring mother, wisdom provides protection, guidance and training that is necessary for us to be fruitful, successful and purposeful.  Like your best girlfriend, wisdom is honest, trustworthy, encouraging and always holds you accountable.  God so desires for us to obtain wisdom that He makes wisdom cry out to us in His word.  With wisdom He provides instruction for every detail of our lives because He would have us lacking in nothing.  It is with wisdom that we accomplish everything in His will and so He asks how long we will ignore wisdom and choose to operate in foolish ignorance.

How long? How long will we ignore wisdom and wonder why we are not living abundantly? How long will we ignore wisdom and wonder why our marriages are not healed? How long will we ignore wisdom and wonder why we never have money?  How long will we ignore wisdom and wonder why the scale hates us so much. J

God is asking how long we will ignore the one thing we need to obtain everything we’re chasing.  All of our dreams, goals, pursuits, purpose, potential…you name it…we need wisdom to get it, and we need wisdom to manage and keep it.  So, listen out for wisdom’s cry.  She is anxious to help make your life better.  Are you ignoring her?

Pearls to ponder.

In what areas of your life are you ignoring wise instruction? How can you use wisdom to be more efficient and effective in managing your priorities?  Is there someone in your life that provides wise counsel for you? If you do not have a wise friend, who can you get close to that can provide the wisdom you need to manage your life?

Pearls to treasure.

Ecclesiastes 2:26
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.

Colossians 2:2-3
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.