Proverbs 3:31-35, God's Secret Counsel

When I read these last verses of Prov. 3, it would be easy to judge others, but they make me judge myself. I could easily proclaim judgment on the wicked, but I find myself looking at the wickedness in my flesh.

I am driven to the second part of verse 32 that says, "His (God's) secret counsel is with the upright." My only hope for "uprightness" is in the secret counsel of God, which can only be found through intimate relationship with Him. It is what Adam had walking in the Garden with Him before the rebellion. It is what Paul calls for in Romans 12:2, to know the "perfect will of God."

God's "perfect will" is shown in verse 1 of Romans 12. It is that we have intimate relationship with Him through the sacrifice of our body and "service" to Him, which is worship, not religious activity directed toward men.

My hope is to seek His secret counsel through intimate relationship. I must go now and be with Him!

Proverbs 3:27-30, It's really about us

When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus gave two. He said the first is loving God with our whole being and the second is loving our neighbor, "as we love ourselves." This proverb directly address the 2nd, which cannot be accomplished without the first.

Withholding good, delaying payment, devising evil against our neighbor and "striving without a cause" are all actions that are taken when we do not love our neighbor. Doing any (or all) of these things puts us at odds with the Father, with peole and even with ourselves. When Jesus added "as we love ourselves," He indicated a very deep truth. We can only do for others what we already have within ourselves.

Doing evil against another is rooted in the evil we really feel we deserve for ourselves. For me, the best one word definition of love is acceptance. For a Christian, loving ourselves is not accepting who we have always been but accepting who we are in Christ - a new creation, recreated in the image of Christ Himself. So, fulfilling this proverb and Jesus statement is really about us and how we accept ourselves, not about others.

Proverbs 3:21-26, Sweet Dreams

This section of Proverbs 3 is a key to peace that will allow restful sleep.

As I read v. 21, I realized why the Lord had directed me to Matt. 6:22-23 just minutes before. This is such a key to peace and rest - watching what you watch. Jesus warns that the eye is the lamp of the body. When we focus on, or even watch, disturbing things, our body is disturbed and even becomes sick. The disturbing focus may even be on something like the news, not something "immoral and indecent." I remember on 911 watching the same scenes over and over as planes crashed into the World Trade Center and people ran for their lives. The images didn't change, but the sickening feeling just got deeper and deeper.

This passage parallels Ps. 91 in speaking of the safety of our walk so that we do not stumble or get caught in the snare of the enemy. When we know our steps are ordered (Ps. 37:23-24) and protected we can lie down and have "sweet dreams" and restful sleep.

Of course, we must remember that Ps. 91 begins with dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. We must get into His presence and stay there.

Proverbs 3:13-18, Wisdom

A key word throughout Proverbs is wisdom. Wisdom is more than an abstraction or even the wisdom of God made available to us. Rather than being referred to as "it" wisdom usually has a personal pronoun, "she." Wisdom is alive and comes with relationship with the Lord.

In these verses wisdom produces happiness, understanding, length of days, riches, honor, pleasantness, and peace. These are the kinds of things that are also seen in the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22. They certainly are more precious than silver, gold or rubies.

Recently, I've been made aware of people who are trying to produce these things through a machine, which they say will actually give you love, peace and joy. Jesus said there would be those who proclaimed to be "Christ," the deliverer who give love, peace and joy. We are seeing that done boldly and with great deception. These are only found in a permanent way through relationship with God through Jesus, the only true Christ.

Proverbs 3:18 says that wisdom is a "tree of life" and we are happy when we hold on to her. Jesus said He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15) and we can only maintain life and produce fruit by abiding in Him. Centuries before Jesus walked the earth the same thing was said in this proverb.

Proverbs 3:11-12

This proverb is quoted several times in the Scripture because of its importance for understanding the nature of God's love. In Hebrews (12:6) we are told that we have forgotten this exhortation that we must accept in order for God to deal with us as legitimate sons. Jesus says in Rev. 3:19 that He chastens and rebukes and we are to be zealous and repent. To me that says we are to be excited about His rebuke and chastening because it leads to repentance and freedom.

Several weeks ago Joseph began praise and worship with Psalm 92:7 and made a great application of what the Lord had said to him, as he meditated on this verse. It is not just about the wicked prospering and God then destroying them forever. It is also about Him bringing up the iniquity in us so that He can destroy it. WOW, what a beautiful perspective on the Love of God. He will bring up what we despise about ourselves in order to get rid of it. That is uncomfortable and even embarrassing. It will feel like chastening and rebuke, but it will produce the freedom that Jesus came to give.

Thank You for Your awesome love, Lord!!

Proverbs 3:9-10, Giving

The greatest way to "honor the Lord with your possessions" is to acknowledge that all of your possessions are His. When I became a "slave of Christ," I gave up all of my possessions. Actually, it put me in the position that God intended from the beginning that I would be a steward of His creation and take dominion on His behalf.

I get to enjoy the benefits of His possessions AND must seek Him for proper management of His creation. It causes me to seek Him more. It produces great joy to give away the firstfruits and allows for fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham in which we are blessed in order to be a blessing. Moreover, giving is at the core of God's nature. He gave His Spirit in creating man. He gave His Son in redeeming man. Not only does the Bible say, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" but also Jesus said we should give before we should expect to receive (Luke 6:38).

In keeping with the theme of Proverbs 3, the right heart is essential. If I give only to receive, I have the wrong heart. Giving is God's heart and I give because it is my heart, too.

Proverbs 3:5-8, Learning to Trust

It is so hard to learn to trust in the Lord with "all your heart." As circumstances arise in life, my flesh wants to take over and resolve conflicts, solve problems, or give my own answers to questions. As I practice, I pray I am gaining ground and "acknowledging the Lord in all my ways."

This is the third segment of Prov. 3 that calls on us to get things right in our heart. After all, it is the heart that the Lord searches (Jeremiah 17:10). The heart really is more important than the thoughts or the acts. Thoughts can be cast down and submitted to the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:5). If we act with the wrong heart, we are hypocritical (Jesus to the Pharisees). If we act with the right heart, I believe we will "receive our reward" from the Lord (Matthew 6:1-6).

Again, the promises/rewards are clear -"It will be health to your flesh and sttrength to your bones"- something I certainly need.

Proverbs 3:3-4

As Betty and I continue to meditate on and discuss Proverbs 3, we find a richness of God's love in verses 3 & 4.

To think of mercy and truth is to think of God's goodness toward us. He shows so much mercy that we don't even realize or think about. Betty says, "You cannot give what you do not have" (or realize that you have). So many of us fail to give mercy because we do not stop to think on how much of God's mercy we have. It "forsakes" us because we do not write it on our heart and keep it alive in our thoughts. Instead of being judgmental and harsh toward people, we should give mercy to them, but "we can only give what we have."

Truth always make me think of freedom, which Jesus said He came to give (Luke 4:18) and tells us that abiding in His word will give us the truth that will set us free (John 8:31-32). Not only does God give us mercy by not giving us what we deserve, but He also gives us freedom. What a God we serve!!!

The proverb says, "bind them around your neck," which reminds me of Jesus saying, "Take my yoke upon you" in Matthew 11:29. This proverb promises that we will find favor and high esteem with God and Man, and Jesus adds that we will find rest for our weary souls.

So many of us are weary trying to please God and man, when realizing the mercy and truth we already have will set us free from trying to earn what God has given us!!!

Proverbs 3:1-2

Betty and I have been meditating on Proverbs 3 together this week. This is such a rich passage for our times.

Verse 1 is a reminder that we can get the "law" of God in our minds, but His commands are kept in our heart. Jesus commanded us to love as He loved (John 13:34). Without this command in our heart, we will become legalistic, judgmental, inflexible, Pharisees quoting "the word" and being without the love of God. I could even say, "Being without God," since He is love. We could become like those who do great things in the name of the Lord, but are not even known by Him (Matt. 7:21-23).

The promise of peace for keeping His commands in our heart is so essential for times filled with turmoil, uncertainty, ungodliness, lawlessness, and disasters. Times like those in which we live. Times Jesus said must come.