Faith Musings: Nothing to Boast About - Part 4

After a few more busy weeks we are at the end of our summer hiatus and schools are back in session. My spouse, who is a college professor, is back in the classroom next week. I wanted to return to the verses we had been looking at in 1 Corinthians. You can see the first three parts: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 by clicking on the links.

“1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,
4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;
7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;
9 but just as it is written,

“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.””

— 1 Corinthians 2:1-9 (NASB 1995)

Image by Arnie Bragg from Pixabay

Last time we looked at the first two verses and we emphasized two important points: 1 - Paul determined, and 2 - to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. We looked at the disparity of a social gospel built only on the foundation of love and good works, and the true gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection. Make no mistake we are responsible to love and to do good works, especially to those who are less fortunate (see Matthew 25:31-46), for without the good works we are merely a clanging cymbal or a ringing bell in a symphony of humanity. Part of what makes Christianity different is the example Christ set of loving others, but not just that. The true difference lies in His death on a cross, and His ability to walk out of the grave. This is the power that gives us the ability to love the unlovely, and help the helpless.

Paul continues his letter by reminding them - I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. This was a reference to himself, and not to the people he was with. Paul was not an entertainer. Even though he was learned in the teachings and ways of the Torah and his own people, it is possible he felt “less than” among the intellectuals in Corinth. Orators of that time period were expected to wow the crowd, and this was not Paul’s gift. He simply preached the truth of the gospel. Paul continues this line of thought.

…and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power…

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

How often do we pine for the notoriety and visibility of being someone important? I grew up in an era where every young person wanted a guitar or a set of drums so they could become the next great rock and roll sensation; myself included. Now we live in a world saturated with images, and videos of people being “important” in what they say, how they dress, what they do, how they identify, and all of it being based on how many views, thumbs up or hits they get on their social media posts. We have people like Taylor Swift who started out by sharing her music on YouTube and now she is “…a cultural icon of the 21st century. She is the highest-grossing live music artist, the wealthiest female musician, and one of the best selling music- artists of all time.” (Wikipedia) How many will long to follow in her footsteps, but will never make it past the borders of the small town they grew up in?         

We now hear speakers in seminars, podcasts and talk shows discussing the art of persuasion. Being able to persuade seems to be important enough that it must be taught and discussed like ancient history or English grammar. Why are we so anxious to persuade? Because we want, not just recognition, but community in our ideologies and thoughts. We want people to agree with us, and join us in turning others to our side and our way of thinking.

Paul recognized the work of the Spirit was beyond a seminar on the art of persuasion. It was a supernatural affair. Any effect he had as an apostle he attributes to the work of the Holy Spirit. People coming to Jesus when he spoke were a demonstration of Spirit and the power. What power? God’s power?

“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.””

— Acts 1:8 (NASB 1995)

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Do a quick walk through of the book of Acts and you will see numerous places where the Holy Spirit moved, and saved, and worked. His power filled the disciples and helped the fledgling churches to grow into a world wide movement that today still holds the power of God.

Once again we are reminded that we have nothing to boast about when Paul says, “so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” God intended from the beginning that the foolish things would overcome the wise and the weak would overcome the strong.

Until next time, keep walking in His strength and in His Spirit!

Faith Musings: Nothing to Boast About - Part 1

I want to apologize for the inconsistent status of my blog right now. Life is, as it has so often been in the last decade, relentless. Just trying to live each day has become something closer to survival and I often have to stop myself from saying, “If I can just make it to 5:00, or if I can get to Friday…” Many of you are living this life as well, so I know you get it.

It seems somewhat appropriate that the thoughts coming to my heart and spirit today for this blog post are a bit of a continuation of my post from last week on The Plague of Individuality. I was searching the Scriptures wondering what to write about and this passage came across my line of sight.

Image by Pedro Ivo Pereira Vieira Pedin from Pixabay

“18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

— I Corinthians 1:18-25 (NASB 1995)

I want to focus on these verses and what follows for the next few weeks. From these eight verses we can see that God’s wisdom and man’s wisdom are vastly different. What man deems as wisdom, God deems as foolishness. What God sees as wise, the world sees as ludicrous. Let’s take a closer look.

The Cross - Foolishness or Power?

Verse 18 says “…the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Paul used the phrase, “the word of the cross” in reference to the preaching and teaching of the gospel: the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is in the cross, and its purpose that we only experience the true power and might of God.

The world sees the cross of Christ as a crutch; as something offensive and undesirable, just as the Jews of Jesus’ time did. They could not believe Jesus was the chosen One of God, nor could they believe He was the Son of God as He had claimed, because that would mean everything they had built to control and govern their people would come crashing down around them. Jesus was supposed to be a victorious king; a man of noble birth. He certainly wasn’t suppose to be the son of a carpenter and die a horrible death on a few pieces of splintered wood.

As Christ followers it is in this “foolishness” of the cross we find our greatest power. Jesus and the sacrifice of His own life on that cross has given us the ability to not only have life in Him, but to have abundant life here on this earth, even amidst the struggles and relentlessness of the fleshly grind. The cross and the blood that flowed is what gives us hope. The cross is the reminder that we are not our own, but bought with a price. The cross deletes all our boldest attempts to have peace with God, because we can’t. Only the cross could do this!

…For it is written…

I cannot say enough how important the written word of God is to the believer’s faith walk. It is with increasing numbers that people, including our children, have walked away from the faith because they have chosen to disbelieve the authority and validity of the written word. Books like Josh McDowell’s Evidence That Demands a Verdict, and Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ, are just two of the many books that explore the claims surrounding the inspiration, writing and collection of the word of God as it is laid out in our Bibles.

However, the true test of the validity of scripture is the Word itself. It baffles me how a person can read a news article, take it as God’s honest truth, with little validation, but the Bible which has been around for centuries is constantly doubted and touted as having all sorts of inconsistencies, etc. Jesus himself attested to the validity of God’s word in His high priestly prayer.

“17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”

— John 17:17 (NASB 1995)

The Wisdom of the Wise, or of God.

What follows, “For it is written…” is a reference to Isaiah 29:14. The main message of this Old Testament chapter had to do with the warning God was giving Jerusalem for pretending to follow His ways and His laws, but not really meaning it in their hearts. Matthew Henry’s Commentary says it rather well:

Image by djedj from Pixabay

“Here, I. The prophet stands amazed at the stupidity of the greatest part of the Jewish nation. They had Levites, who taught the good knowledge of the Lord and had encouragement from Hezekiah in doing so, 2 Chron. 30:22. They had prophets, who brought them messages immediately from God, and signified to them what were the causes and what would be the effects of God’s displeasure against them. Now, one would think, surely this great nation, that has all the advantages of divine revelation, is a wise and understanding people, Deut. 4:6. But, alas! it was quite otherwise, Isa. 29:9. The prophet addresses himself to the sober thinking part of them, calling upon them to be affected with the general carelessness of their neighbours.”

— Matthew Henry's Commentary

What follows is God’s discipline of His people by taking away their ability to be wise or clever. Does this seem at all familiar? “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”

The rest of this passage reminds us that it is through God’s wisdom, not man’s, that He is found. In other words, we can read all the books, listen to all the podcasts, watch all the YouTube How To’s, follow all the health, spirituality, exercise and mental well being gurus and still never find our way to God. The Jews asked for signs, which they rejected, because they could not believe Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. The Greeks searched for wisdom, but when it came in the form of the gospel of Jesus Christ it was just foolishness.

The wisdom of God is Christ crucified. This is our power. This is our wisdom.

Because -

The foolishness of God is wiser than men,

And -

The weakness of God is stronger than men.

All we need to do is put our trust in Him. End of story.

A Look at Isaiah 9:6 - Part 3

I know Christmas is over, but I wanted to finish my little study of Isaiah 9:6. I thought it would be especially appropriate with all the unrest and war going on in the Middle East, and the Ukraine to pause on the last name named, the Prince of Peace.

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace..”

— Isaiah 9:6 (NASB 1995)

Looking at the word prince we get these definitions from Webster’s Online Dictionary: the ruler of a principality or state; male member of a royal family, especially the son of a sovereign. We can see by a few different scriptures that God is the King of Kings. God the Father and Jesus His son, while different are one in the same. What the Father owns, the Son has. The King and the Prince are head, rule and authority over all.

Image by Victoria from Pixabay

“16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

— Revelation 19:16 (ESV)

“9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.”

— Zachariah 14:9 (ESV)

“13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,
14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”

— 1 Timothy 6:13-16 (NASB 1995)

When we refer to Jesus as the Prince of Peace we are speaking about His authority over all things peaceful. This not only includes written treaties between nations that can’t see eye to eye, but peace within each of us in our chaotic, and fluctuating circumstances. But what does the word peace mean?

Webster’s defines peace in these ways: a state of tranquility or quiet such as: freedom from civil disturbance, or a state of security and order within a community provided for by law or custom; freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions; harmony in personal relations; a state or period of mutual concord between governments; a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity; used as a greeting or farewell.

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

The 1960’s and 70’s often used this symbol as a greeting or farewell. It was a way of wishing one another a life of peace and serenity. During those decades, there was unrest in the world and in our country. People did not believe we should be fighting in other people’s wars and protests were plentiful especially on university campuses. The problem that arose is those protests, meant to be peaceful and serene, often became violent, the exact opposite of what the protesters wanted.

We live in a world of unrest. As long as there is sin and darkness in our world there will be war, violence and tragedy. People can work for peace, preach for peace, make laws for peace, fly banners for peace, and have calm, dignified protests for peace, but there will be no peace without Jesus.

In John 16, Jesus is talking to His disciples. He is telling them that He is going to be going away. He explains, if He doesn’t go away, the Helper will not come. The Helper Jesus is referring to is the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say this Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment. Without the guiding of the Holy Spirit, we will continue to live in our sin and selfishness and we will not know peace.

“33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.””

— John 16:33 (NASB 1995)

The wonderful words that Jesus shares with us are these, “I have overcome the world.” Jesus, our Prince of Peace has overcome this dark, and violent world. He has given us all that we need to have peace.

I want to share more on this truth of our Prince of Peace, so I am going to extend this to next week when I will share with you some of my favorite verses on peace.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog. Have a great weekend!

Christmas in a Verse: A Look at Isaiah 9:6 - Part 1

Since Advent is upon us, I thought it would be helpful to focus on a familiar verse from the Old Testament book of Isaiah for these weeks leading up to Christmas. I am going to take the names in this verse and divide them up over the next three weeks. I hope you will enjoy this look at our amazing Savior.

Image by G.C. from Pixabay

There have been numerous discussions in theological arenas as to what the original Hebrew was saying in this verse with reference to the names listed. Were there only four names, as many translations portray, or is it a list of individual names with commas in between each of the names? (ie. Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty, God, Eternal, Father, Prince, of Peace.) Or is it some combination of both with Wonderful, Counselor, and Eternal, Father being separated and the other two being an adjective describing the noun following. In order to avoid this issue, I have decided to approach this in a way that encompasses both ideas. I am no theologian, but with the Holy Spirit we all have the ability to read and learn from His word.

Today I want to look at the words Wonderful and Counselor. After doing a little bit of research it appears the word Wonderful translates more closely to wonder. When we look at Webster’s Online Dictionary wonder is defined as: a cause of astonishment or admiration; marvel; miracle; the quality of exciting amazed admiration; rapt attention or amazement at something awesomely mysterious or new to one’s experience.

If we use the word wonderful instead of wonder, it really doesn’t lose any of its meaning. Wonderful is defined as: exciting wonder; marvelous, astonishing; unusually good; admirable. Is it possible for wonder to be wonderful? It is certainly possible for the child (Jesus) who was born to us to be both a wonder and wonderful. Our savior is both the cause of our astonishment or admiration and marvelous. He is unusually good, and also a worthy mystery for us to give our rapt attention to.

The word counselor is simply one who counsels another. This could be a mental health worker, a pastor, a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher or many other entities. A father might counsel his son on how to ask a girl on a date. A financial guru might counsel someone on how to save for retirement. A police officer might advise a young person to stay out of trouble. Other words for counselor include: advisor, consultant and advocate.

Image by beate bachmann from Pixabay

There are numerous Biblical references that use the word wonder. See Psalm 9:1, 26:7, 40:5, and 72:18. God’s works are wondrous, and they are often referred to in the Bible as “your wonders.” Wonderful is also used repeatedly in the Scriptures. 1 Chronicles 16:24 speaks of God’s wonderful deeds. In Job 42:3 Job refers to the things of God as being things he did not know and things that were too wonderful for him to understand.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The Bible is also full of examples of those who sought or used counsellors. During the time of kings in the old testament, many sought counsel, unfortunately from men who didn’t know God. See 2 Samual 15:12, 1 Kings 12:6, It seems that David always sought God’s counsel directly, just read most of the Psalms. This may be what made him a man after God’s heart.

Coming back to Isaiah 9:6 we can begin to understand, no matter how you look at these words, they are describing our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is a wonder, and He is wonderful. His is a counselor and offers us only the best and most perfect counsel in His word. Indeed, He is the Wonderful Counselor. No matter what you are facing in life; no matter how overwhelming the questions or uncertainty of the future, Jesus can lead the way. He is not only the Wonderful Counselor, He is the Way.

Have a great week.

My Favorite Things - Trust, Healing and Refreshment

Many of you who follow me are familiar with the Sound of Music, a musical drama staring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer set in pre WWII Austria. The film, one of my favorites, is an adaption of a stage musical by Rogers and Hammerstein. The movie is filled with uplifting musical numbers, beautiful scenery and budding romance. A number that has been with me since our choir sang it in junior high was My Favorite Things.

I had the idea come to me this morning that it might be fun and beneficial to share with you a number of my favorite passages of scripture. There is always a reason we have favorites. We might have a favorite ice cream, perfume or movie. Our faves are ones we like to revisit over and over.

I love to see a garden full of bright colorful flowers. Flower gardening is an activity I would like to do, but like so many things, I just don’t seem to get to it. That is okay. I can still enjoy the flowers at our local botanical gardens and adorning the front walkways and porches of many homes I drive by in the summer time.

Scripture is something that I desire to cultivate in my life. I am learning over and over how important and powerful God’s word is in my life, and that is why I want to share with you passages that I go back to on repeat. Just like the beautiful flowers we see in the warm weather, God’s word is a beautiful. It is meant to be looked at, mulled over and enjoyed. Yes, there are hard bits, bits that I remind me of my sin and my short comings, but God’s word is so much more than that. Let’s take a look.

“1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
2 For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.
3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good repute
In the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones.”

— Proverbs 3:1-8 (NASB 1995)

God’s word is meant to teach us. As I look at this portion of Proverbs 3 I know the author is King Solomon, David’s son by Bathsheba. Isn’t it amazing how God took a messy, sinful situation and turned it into something for His glory and honor? He is a master at that.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

As Solomon penned these words we know that he was inspired by God, and it is written like a father speaking to his son. Whether Solomon had a son in mind when he penned these words, or he was relaying what God’s spirit inspired him regarding the Father - child relationship we have with God, I am not sure, but these words apply just as readily to us today as they did to people from long ago.

These verses could be said to be written like poetic couplets. Each set of two verses goes together with the first verse being a command, and the second verse being the benefit of obeying the command.

“1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
2 For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.”

— Proverbs 3:1-2 (NASB 1995)

The writer is telling his son to not forget the things he taught him. He even speaks to the issue of his heart. Why is it important for our hearts to keep God’s commandments? The simple truth is, head knowledge does not make us more godly or Christ like. It is when we allow the words of the Scriptures to permeate our hearts that we truly delve into the layers that are God.

Image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay

The author gives the reason heart knowledge is so important, because it benefits us. “…length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.” Our society pushes the idea of exercise and eating right to help us live longer, but that is not the only piece of our health puzzle. Living our lives for God in obedience to, and in love with our Lord will benefit us in more ways than we can even understand.

“3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good repute
In the sight of God and man.”

— Proverbs 3:3-4 (NASB 1995)

We hear so much about being kind these days. We see the phrase, “Be kind” written on signs in front of schools, on tee shirts and other apparel and we are constantly telling our children and grand children to be kind. The idea of kindness isn’t new and obviously, if Solomon felt it was necessary to mention, then you can bet back in his day there were probably all sorts of bullies and social difficulties. The man had 700 wives and 300 concubines! How could there not be social difficulties? Have you ever heard of a cat fight? Ha, ha.

It wasn’t just kindness that Solomon suggested, he said kindness and truth. He told the reader to bind them around their neck and write them on the tablet of their heart. As women we like to adorn our necks with jewelry or pretty scarves. A pretty statement necklace or flowy scarf really take an outfit up a notch. Being kind is always more appealing than being nasty. Being truthful is typically better than being deceitful, especially if the first lie leads to more and more lies.

Once again we see a reason why the command is given, “So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man.” We aren’t just pleasing God, but we will be looked up to and respected by others when we are kind and truthful.

“5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.”

— Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB 1995)

These two verses are probably the more well known of all the verses in this chapter. Once again Solomon speaks of the heart. We are to trust the Lord, not just with our heads, but with “all” our hearts. The next phrase is huge. In a society where we are constantly being told we can do it, we can figure it out, we got this, we are fierce and infallible, it is very hard to not lean on our own understanding. Don’t I know what is best for me? Well, not really. Only the One who made you knows what is truly best for you.

The author goes on to say in all our ways to acknowledge Him and this is where we hone in on the real problem; the heart problem. We don’t acknowledge God in any of our ways, or maybe we do in one or two of our ways, but that is precisely why we lean on our own understanding. “I” will figure it out. “I” will fix this. “I” will do what it takes. “I” don’t need anyone’s help. We can be all about that, but in reality there will be times you can’t figure it out, fix it or do what it takes and you are going to need help. His help.

Image by Silvia from Pixabay

He will make your paths straight. Once again, the command is followed by the benefit. God will take all the crooked, messed up pile of chaos that you created and He will make it straight. Quit leaning on your own understanding. Trust with all of your heart. Acknowledge Him and He will do it.

“7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones.”

— Proverbs 3:7-8 (NASB 1995)

The final couplet again speaks to wisdom and its source. Solomon tells the son to not be wise in his own eyes. Do you ever think of yourself as wise? Have you ever had one of those pride moments when you figured out how to fix something or found out something you said helped another person. It is wonderful to have those moments, but we have to remember where all wisdom comes from. Solomon speaks to it in the next line, “Fear the Lord…” Wisdom starts with the Lord. Solomon takes it one more step, “…and turn away from evil.”

Turning away from evil is essential to having true wisdom. Solomon is a case study, because as wise as he was, he ended up being influenced by all of his many wives who came from various heathen countries and worshipped various heathen gods. For all the wisdom he had, he wasn’t very wise about keeping things under God’s authority.

Why should we fear the Lord and turn away from evil? The answer is in the second part of the couplet: so we will have healing and refreshment. Following after evil can be hard on the body, not just the physical ramifications of overeating, drinking alcohol or taking drugs, but also on a person’s mental and emotional well being causing anxiety, fear, depression and even eventual suicidal tendencies.

I hope you enjoyed this look at one of my favorite passages. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.