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Proverbs 8:34, Various

The Blessings Of Wisdom

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 2, 2024

When Solomon was offered the opportunity to ask God for anything he wanted, he didn’t ask for gold, fame, or pleasures. He asked God for wisdom.  According to 1 Kings 4:29, God granted his request.  It says, “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.  For he was wiser than all other men…He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.”  In Matthew 12:42, Jesus confirms the Old Testament historical account of the great wisdom of Solomon.  In this quote, Jesus also commends the Queen of the South.  He says, “The queen of the South…came from the ends of the earth to hear the Wisdom of Solomon…” We also read about other kings and queens coming from long distances to hear the wisdom of Solomon. There were no airplanes, trains, or automobiles in those days. Solomon didn’t have all the technological advances that we enjoy today, but he had something more important. He had divine wisdom. The wisdom that Solomon offered was the most desirable thing in the world. Today, it seems like “information” is the most desirable thing. Information and knowledge without wisdom is a dangerous brew. Tom Morris says, “Knowledge without wisdom, just like action without wisdom, can take a person, or an organization, off the rails as quickly as anything. Because of this, as well as for many more reasons, we ought to be hiring for wisdom, training for wisdom, promoting wisdom, and encouraging it in every way we can in business, politics, and our personal lives. Any other course is, of course, unwise.”[1]

We don’t have to travel vast distances to get advice from the wisest man who ever lived. We need only open our Bibles to the book of Proverbs.  Both wisdom and folly call out to us every day, according to the first ten chapters of Proverbs.  Every day, we need to seek its advice. We will face many decisions each day of our lives that demand a decision in the form of a thought, word, or action.  What Timothy George said about the Bible as a whole is especially appropriate for the book of Proverbs. He writes, “The Bible is a living book. You cannot read it and put it down the way you might the sports page or a Stephen King novel. It addresses you, provokes you, questions you, commands you, and calls out to you. It has your number.”

During the course of the book of Proverbs, Solomon promises his readers something special. Proverbs 8:34 says, “Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.” Proverbs are not “promises.” They are general observations of truth to which one might point out that they don’t always come true. It’s clear that the Bible does not guarantee a life without trials. Jesus told us that in this world, we will have trials, but to take heart because He has overcome the world. Job shows us that even the righteous sometimes suffer. Yet we cannot deny the truth that those who align with truth are more likely to experience success than those who are foolish. In that sense, wisdom can rightly speak of the benefits her lessons bring.”

[1] The Dangers of Knowledge Without Wisdom — Tom Morris (tomvmorris.com)

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Proverbs 1:1-7

Wisdom Is Lost In Information

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 1, 2024

The world’s economy used to be based on agriculture. During the Industrial Revolution, the economy shifted to an economy of production. The age of the machine took over as the basis of the economy. Then we moved into what is called the “information age.” Since the advent of the computer, knowledge has increased exponentially, and there is now at your fingertips more information about everything in the world than ever. But many argue that the information age is over. We are now in the age of “Artificial Intelligence.” I suggest we’re still in the information age, but artificial intelligence currently manages that information. I remember 1969. That was a long time ago, and a duet from Lincoln, Nebraska, had a number one hit on pop charts, “In The Year 2525.” This is how it went: “In the year 2525 If man is still alive. If woman can survive They may find. In the year 3535 Ain’t gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies. Everything you think, do and say Is in the pill you took today. In the year 4545 Ain’t gonna need your teeth; won’t need your eyes. You won’t find a thing to chew. Nobody’s gonna look at you. In the year 5555 Your arms are hanging limp at your sides. Your legs got nothing to do Some machine’s doing that for you In the year 6565 Ain’t gonna need no husband; won’t need no wife You’ll pick your son, pick your daughter, too From the bottom of a long glass tube In the year 7510 If God’s a-comin’, he oughta make it by then. Maybe he’ll look around Himself and say Guess it’s time for the Judgment day.” My point is that the advances in every area of human life lead to a frightening future. I’m not sure Zaiger and Evans, the singers, are right with their doomsday prophecy, but things seem to be tending that way. If everything we think do and say comes from Google today and tomorrow from some kind of artificial intelligence program or robot. Information is increasing!

Although there is more information and more knowledge available at any time in history, there seems to be an increasing lack of wisdom. “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?” asked the late British poet, T.S. Eliot.  No time in the history of man is the need for wisdom more acute than it is today. Warren Wiersbe said it well, “What’s needed today is wisdom. The Book of Proverbs is about godly wisdom, how to get it, and how to use it. It’s about priorities and principles, not get-rich-quick schemes or success formulas. It tells you not how to make a living, but how to be skillful in the lost art of making a life.”

The book of Proverbs was written over 3000 years ago and still addresses some of life’s most critical issues with real wisdom. When I read Proverbs, it makes me think about how I live. Socrates was famous for saying, “The unexamined life isn’t worth living.” Solomon promises his readers wisdom, not information. The first five verses explain why Solomon wrote the book. It says, “To know wisdom and instruction; to understand words of insight; to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning.” But the most potent phrase is in Verse 7. It summarizes the key lesson of the whole book. It says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

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Psalm 29:2, Various

Light My Fire!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 31, 2024

The songbook of the bible, the Book of Psalms, often has songs with lyrics that call us to glorify God. Psalm 29:2 says, “Ascribe to the Lord the Glory that is due His name.”  Psalm 66:2 says,  “Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!”  Psalm 86:12 says, “I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.”  Yes, whenever we gather together and make God the subject of our singing, we glorify God. Actually, we are doing exactly what we were made to do. God made us for the community, the church. God made us to glorify His Name: Worship. It’s only in a healthy, loving, learning, and living community that we can truly become all that God intended for us to be. Surely, having personal faith glorifies God. Confession and repenting of our sin glorifies God, but when we gather together to glorify God, something bigger than ourselves takes place when we participate in corporate worship.

Kent Hughes had some interesting comments on this subject. He writes, “…if you absent yourself from church, you will encumber your ability to glorify God in worship. Congregational worship makes possible an intensity of adoration that does not as readily occur in solitude. On the tragic level, a mob tends to descend to a much deeper level of cruelty than individuals. It is also understood that the appreciation and enjoyment of an informed group of music lovers at a symphony is more intense than that of a single listener at home. This holds true for worship as well. Corporate worship provides a context where passion is joyously elevated and God’s Word ministers with unique power.” Martin Luther spoke of this when he confided, “At home in my own house, there is no warmth or vigor in me, but in the church when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart, and it breaks its way through.” It’s only in a corporate setting that worship can really light my fire and keep my heart burning. We need each other!

During my years attending Seminary, we enjoyed daily chapel services, which always began with worship. We’d sing in a chapel that sat about 500 people. They were mostly men during my days there. When the one hymn that everyone knew was played. The male voices filled that chapel. I always loved participating in that hymn, “All Hail The Power of Jesus’ Name. Let Angels prostrate fall.” I would get goosebumps listening to all those male voices sing together. I expect heaven to be something like that. The Westminster Confession says the purpose of man is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” We cannot truly do that alone. We need a corporate setting. We need others to light a fire in our worship.  Alone, we will just go out! We are like the embers in a campfire. As long as we’re together, we keep each other going. When we’re separated and dispersed, our passion soon burns out. We need each other to keep our hearts burning within us as we love, learn, and live out God’s call on our lives.

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Matthew 6:34, Proverbs 9:10-11 and 14:27,

One Day At A Time

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 30, 2024

John MacArthur said, “We live in a day when people worry about how long they will live. That’s a harmful practice because you can worry yourself to death but not to life.” Kathy and I were sitting on our swing in the front yard, worrying about how long we were going to live this morning.  Would we see all of our Grandsons grow up and marry? Will we see their children? My Dad died at age 64. When I passed that age, I became more alert to my mortality. My Mother died at age 72. When I passed that age, I became more alert to my mortality. You might say, I began to plan for my demise. We talk a lot about healthy living and how it could impact our life span.  Worrying, however, does nothing. Of course, it’s Jesus who gives us the truly authoritative teaching on the uselessness of worry. The translations differ in their rendering of Jesus’ question in Matthew 6:27.  Some argue that the question should be “Who can add one cubit to his height” (See KJV, HCSV, AV, and ASV).  Some translations say it refers to adding a minute to one’s lifespan.  The ESV translates this question as “Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life?” The point is worry won’t accomplish anything of any value. Either translation makes the same point: worry won’t make you taller, nor will it make you live longer! It accomplishes nothing favorable and brings all kinds of negative results to our health.

The fountain of youth, or eternal life, is something we have all thought about, and there have been times when we’ve searched for it. Back in the 16th Century, the Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon set out to find the fountain of youth. I think he landed in Florida. If you would visit Florida today, you’d know there is no fountain of youth there! The age of the population of Florida is higher than the national average.  (Think about it!). But the wisest man in the world, Solomon, informs us that although there is no fountain of youth, there is something that’s really much more important. Proverbs 14:27 says, “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning people away from the snares of death.” But my favorite verse talking about our longevity is in Proverbs 9:10-11. It leaves nothing to the imagination when it says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by Wisdom, your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.”

One way to view “the fear of the Lord” is to understand it as faith, trusting God to do what God does best. He is much better at handling all the things that are outside of our control. We know that God is sovereign when it comes to the years of our lives. No one knows when our day will come, but we do know it will come. But we also know that God has good plans for us, and He has blessed us with life and truly wants us to enjoy it. The only way to do that is “one day at a time.” Jesus concludes His dissertation on worry in Matthew 6:34. There, He says, “Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

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Romans 4:20, Various

Giving Glory To God

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 29, 2024

The scriptures often exhort us to “give glory to God.”  Isaiah 42:12 cries out for the mountains, rivers, and all inhabitants of villages, cities, and everywhere else to “give glory to the Lord!” The Hebrew word for Glory is “weighty.” It means heavy or important. Is it possible for mankind to add any weight to God? Can we make Him any more important than He already is? No, of course not! But we can bring attention to His Glory to the world around us. This is, perhaps, what is meant by “give glory to God.” Maybe giving glory to God is simply acknowledging the glory that is already His. When I look at the world around me, I acknowledge that the whole universe declares God’s glory.

There are many ways one can call attention to God’s glory, but what seems to do it best is faith. Philip Ryken says, “How can you reflect God’s glory? First, by putting your faith in him. Until you trust God, it is doubtful whether you can glorify him at all. You have to begin by admitting that you cannot save yourself, that only Jesus can save you. Once you do that, then all the glory for your salvation will return to God.” Actually, Ryken is correct, and we see that in Romans 4:20, where Paul explains how Abraham gave glory to God. This passage says that Abraham “was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” Faith is not subscribing to a particular set of doctrinal beliefs. It is confidence in and trust in a personal being. In this case, that being is God. We must trust God through all the joys and trials of life. That’s one way we “give Him glory.” Trusting God acknowledges His greatness and sovereignty, and everyone can see that when we do it. I’ve frequently argued that saving faith is not just believing that God exists. Saving faith is trusting God to have my best foremost in mind through all of life’s circumstances and situations. We need to constantly resist the temptation to see God ill-disposed toward us in any way because of what we might be going through. Saving faith involves trusting God to turn it all out for our good.

When a believer worries, he takes glory from God. Well, at least he withholds attributing glory to God. Worrying is such a worthless practice.  Charles Mayo wrote, “Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, and the whole nervous system. I’ve never met a man or known a man to die of overwork, but I have known a lot who died of worry.” MacArthur adds to this thought when he says, “We live in a day when people worry about how long they will live. That’s a harmful practice because you can worry yourself to death but not to life.” Finally, John Piper concludes my thoughts when he says, “Sometimes we just have to get tough with ourselves and say, ‘Soul, this fretting is absolutely useless. You are not only messing up your own day but a lot of other people’s as well.’ Leave it with God and get on with your work.” We magnify the Lord; we give Glory to God like Abraham did when we trust Him. When we’re strong in our faith, God is glorified.

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Isaiah 26:3-4, Various

The Rock Of Ages

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 28, 2024

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai after having seen only the back parts of God, his face was so brilliant that Aaron and all the Israelites fled from his presence. When Paul talked about the shining face of Moses, he made it clear that the “glory” that was reflected by Moses was really the Glory of God’s standards of the Law. In 2 Corinthians 3:7, Paul writes, “Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face…” It’s the failure of man to live up to God’s standard that brings such fear. That’s exactly as it is explained in Genesis. Just as Aaron and all of Israel were afraid of God’s glory, so too were Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:8 tells us, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”

 We sometimes think that Moses was the exception. After all, he was the one whom God allowed to see a glimpse of His Glory.  The glimpse was preceded by a solemn warning. In Exodus 33:20, God said to Moses, “… for man shall not see me and live.” Furthermore, we can’t miss the fact that it was only a glimpse and that it was preceded by God’s own protection. Verses 21 and 22 go on to describe God’s provision, God’s protection from the unbearable standards of Glory that God was about to give to Moses to present to the people of Israel and to us. They tell us, “And the LORD said, ‘Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.’”

Moses’ life was at stake! Do you think he was afraid?  I don’t! I think he was at perfect peace because he had God’s Word.  God put Moses on a rock, an immovable object that would be “cleft” in a way to protect him from the consequences that must befall every sinful man who stands in the presence of a gloriously righteous God. The scriptures make it perfectly clear that after death, all of us will stand before a Holy God. We need not tremble. We must stand on the Rock, rest in the cleft of it that God provides, and trust Him to cover us with His hand.  This passage is the basis for our old Gospel Hymn, “The Rock of Ages.” Isaiah wrote about Him (the Rock) in Isaiah 26:3-4. He said, speaking directly to God the Rock, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”  The Hebrew phrase translated in this passage as “everlasting rock” is more literally rendered as “the Rock of Ages.” Christ is the Rock of Ages. Doug Bond, in his history of Toplady, says, “It has been said that ‘No other English hymn can be named which has laid so broad and firm a grasp upon the English-speaking world’ as Toplady’s ‘Rock of Ages’. An illustration of this occurred early in 1892, as Albert Victor, grandson of Queen Victoria, lay dying of influenza. It is told that he recited ‘Rock of Ages, Cleft for me’ on his deathbed. ‘For if in this hour,’ he reportedly said, ‘I had only my worldly honours and dignities to depend upon, I should be poor indeed’”.[1]

[1] Bond, Douglas. 2012. Augustus Toplady. Darlington, England: Evangelical Press.

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Jude 24-25, Various

Too Heavy For Me

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 27, 2024

Moses once asked to see God. God allowed him to see His “back” part only. From that vision of the back part of God, Moses’s face shone out with God’s glory. When Moses returned from his mountaintop encounter with God and addressed the people with God’s newly given laws for life (the Ten Commandments), the people could not bear to look at him. Exodus 34:30 says, “When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.” This must have been a dim reminder of what Adam and Eve must have looked like while living in the Garden of Eden before the fall. They enjoyed the fellowship with God and even walked with him in the Garden. Now I understand what happened to Adam and Eve when they sinned. Just as Aaron and all of Israel feared God’s glory, so were they. Genesis 3:8 tells us, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the garden’s trees.”

The Hebrew word translated as “glory” is also the word that’s translated as “heavy.” We might speak of a significant person as a “heavyweight,” but the idea is that God is the most important person. God’s glory is called His “heaviness.” The interesting thing about God’s glory is that He desires to share it with us. This was such an essential truth that David wrote a song about it.  The Psalmist, in Psalm 8:5-9, is talking about man in general when he sings, “Yet you (God) have made him (man) a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” If Moses reflected the glory of God from being exposed to the back parts of God, can you imagine what Adam and Eve must have looked like before they sinned?

Moses glowed with God’s glory when he came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments under his arm. He found the children of Israel worshipping the golden calves when he returned to the camp. When the sinners looked at Moses, they could not bear to look at his shining face. It was only a “reflection” on Moses’ face. It wasn’t the real thing. Yet it was so glorious they could not bear to look at it. The Law Moses brought down to the people is often referred to as God’s glory. People who worship some form of a golden calf can’t bear to look at it. Indeed, the Law, as it reflects the perfect character and nature of God, makes us all run and hide. Like Adam and Eve, as well as the Israelites, we would much rather run and hide than face such glory. We are guilty. But we have Jesus, who fulfilled the law on our behalf. Jude 24-25 points to Jesus and tells us, “Now to the one who is able to protect you from harm and to cause you to stand in the presence of his glory blameless in gladness, to the only God, our deliverer through Jesus, who is the Christ, the Lord, be honor, majesty, sovereignty, and dominion before all the ages and now and unto all the ages. Amen.” Jesus calls us to come to him because he will carry the load for us! He promises to give us rest for our souls.

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Matthew 11:28-30, Various

God Is The Heavyweight

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 26, 2024

In his book, “God in the Wasteland,” David Wells coins an interesting phrase describing a current condition in society with reference to the importance of God. He calls this condition “the weightlessness of God.” This is what he says, “It is one of the defining marks of Our Time that God is now weightless. I do not mean by this that he is ethereal but rather that he has become unimportant. He rests upon the world so inconsequentially as not to be noticeable. He has lost his saliency for human life. Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God’s existence may nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers’ sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness.”

Commenting on this phrase, Philip Ryken says, “We have become children of a lightweight God.” Reading this about the “weight” of God reminded me of my Hebrew vocabulary. The word for “glory” comes from the same root as the word for “heavy.” Sometimes, the word appears to refer to something that’s physically heavy (Eli the priest in 1 Samuel 4:18), and sometimes, it was used to refer to someone who was “heavy” with material possessions. Genesis 13:2 says, “Abram had become very wealthy (actually “heavy”) in livestock and in silver and gold.” But primarily, the word referred to those who deserved honor and was used for warriors, princes, merchants, priests, and, of course, kings. In our vernacular today, we might call such people “heavyweights.”

The true “heavyweight” should be God. To glorify God is to recognize His grandeur, his majesty, His Omniscience, His Omnipotence, and His Omnipresence. Ryken goes on to say “The Creator God is so heavy that he has left his imprint on the universe like a work boot in wet cement.” When we read the Psalms, we get a glimpse of the “heaviness” of God. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 57:11 says, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.” God is the true heavyweight in all ways and deserves glory and honor. Making God “heavy” makes all the struggles in life light. Jesus calls those who are carrying “heavy burdens” to come to Him in Matthew 11:28-30. He promises to give us rest for our souls because his burden is not heaven; it’s light!

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