Our Sanctification is a Community Project

The following is an excerpt from Paul David Tripp's excellent book, "Dangerous Calling." Though the book is written primarily for pastors, the following is equally applicable to the rest of the flock.

I thought this too good and valuable to not pass along to others:

I was raised in the "Jesus and me" privatized, individualized Christianity of the fundamentalism of the '60s and '70s. The closest our church got to an actual, functioning, ministry-oriented body of Christ was a rare pastoral visit and the Wednesday night prayer meeting. No one knew my father and mother - I mean, really knew them. No one had a clue what was going on in our home. No one helped my father to see through the blindness that allowed him to live a double life of skilled deception and duplicity. No one knew how troubled my mother was beneath her encyclopedic knowledge of Scripture. No one knew. We were a Christian family in active participation in a vibrant church, but what we were involved in lacked one of the primary and essential ingredients of healthy New Testament Christianity: a trained, mobilized, and functioning body of Christ. It was Christianity devoid of Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, and Hebrews 3:12-13.

For much of my Christian life and a portion of my ministry, I had no idea that my walk with God was a community project. I had no idea that the Christianity of the New Testament is distinctly relational, from beginning to end. I understood none of the dangers inherent in attempting to live the Christian life on my own. I had no awareness of the blinding power of sin. I had no idea that I was living outside of God's normal means of sightedness, encouragement, conviction, strength, and growth. I had no idea how much consumerism and how little participation marked the body of Christ. I had no idea of the importance of the private ministry of the Word to the health of the believer. I had no idea.

I have now come to understand that I need others in my life. I know that I need to commit myself to living in intentionally intrusive, Christ-centered, grace-driven, redemptive community. I now know it's my job to seek this community out, to invite people to interrupt my private conversation, and to say things to me that I couldn't or wouldn't say to myself. I have realized how much I need warning, encouragement, rebuke, correction, protection, grace, and love. I now see myself as connected to others, not because I have made the choice, but because of the wise design of the One who is the Head of the body, the Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot allow myself to think that I am smarter than Him. I cannot allow myself to thing that I am stronger than I am. I cannot assign to myself a level of maturity that I do not have. I cannot begin to believe that I am able to live outside of God's normal means of spiritual growth and be okay. I cannot allow the level of my spiritual health to be defined by my ministry experience and success, or by my theological knowledge. I cannot let myself think that my marriage can be healthy if I live in functional isolation from the body of Christ.

Since, as one who has remaining sin still inside of him, it is right to say that the greatest danger in my life exists inside of me and not outside of me, then wouldn't it also be the height of naivety or arrogance to think that I would be okay left to myself?

Having said all of this, it is my grief to say that individualized, privatized Christianity still lives in people who have forged a life that is live above or outside the body of Christ.

Simply put, sanctification is a community project. We hurt ourselves, our families, and others when we disobey (yes, you heard that right) Christ's command to regularly meet together for the purpose of stirring one another up by way of gospel-centered encouragement.

The body, with every part functioning properly as a unit (see Ephesians 4:16), is Christ's idea. So let us be humble enough to recognize and admit that He knows better, go against our feelings and propensities to isolate ourselves when the going gets tough, and actively seek out (yes, you must do it) a community of uncomfortable grace. This is how it works, whether we like it or not.

Dear reader, are you involved and integrated into such a community? It is not enough to show up on Sunday, download some facts, and then leave to go live out your own little life for the other 99% of the week.

May God grant us these kind of communities, where we are transformed together into the image of Christ, for His honor and glory in this world.

Rbac

Pray for Us - A Preacher's Plea

I love posting articles written by other preachers and pastors, because often I find them saying things I wish I could say to the flock, but out of false humility, fear they will think I am being selfish. But what George Whitefield, arguably one of the most powerful evangelists to ever trod this earth, writes here totally resounds with the heart of any faithful pastor and preacher.

If George Whitefield needed prayer as a minister of the gospel, how much more do the rest of us, who often feel insufficient for these things, need the constant and fervent prayers, supplications, and intercessions from their congregations, much the way Joshua needed the intercession of Moses, Aaron, and Hur when he was doing battle against the Amalekites? (Exodus 17)

The following is an excerpt by George Whitefield, taken from a devotional I purchased a couple years ago entitled, "Daily Readings", edited by Randall Pederson, to be read on January 2.

"Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you..." (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

You ought to pray for those whom the Holy Spirit has made overseers over you. This is what Saint Paul begs again and again of the churches to whom he writes...surely, if the great Saint Paul, that chosen vessel, that favorite of heaven, needed the most importunate prayers of his Christian converts, much more do the ordinary ministers of the gospel stand in need of the intercession of their respective flocks.

Much good is frequently withheld from many by reason of their neglecting to pray for their ministers, and which they would have received, had they prayed for them as they ought.

Not to mention, that people often complain of the want of diligent and faithful pastors. But how do they deserve good pastors, who will not earnestly pray to God for such? If we will not pray to the Lord of the harvest, can it be expected He will send forth laborers into His harvest? Besides, what ingratitude it is, not to pray for your ministers! For shall they watch and labor in the word and doctrine for you and your salvation, and shall you not pray for them in return?

Add to this, that praying for your ministers will be a manifest proof of your believing, that though Paul plant, and Apollos water, yet it is God alone who gives the increase. And you will also find it the best means you can use, to promote your own welfare; for God, in answer to your prayers, may impart a double portion of His Holy Spirit to them, whereby they will be qualified to deal out to you larger measures of knowledge in the spiritual things, and be enabled more skillfully to divide the word of truth.

Dear reader, please pray for your pastor regularly. Pray that he be near to Christ in sweet fellowship. Pray that he feed richly and often on the Word of God. Pray that he be a man of prayer, a man of holiness, a man of conviction, a man who fears God, a man filled with the Spirit, a man mighty in the Scriptures, a man faithful to the flock, a man who hates sin, a man who is humble, a man who loves his triune God, a man who loves the flock entrusted to him, a man who loves perishing sinners, a man who loves the glory of God, a man who loves his wife and family, a man who is filled with the Spirit, a man who has the Word of Christ abiding in him richly, a man who is used as a mighty vessel of God to draw Christ's wandering sheep to Himself.

I couldn't agree more heartily to Whitefield's plea for Christians to pray for their pastors.

Dear reader, would you please consider praying daily for your pastor(s)?

In Christ, and for His glory through the church, to the ends of the earth,
Pastor Ryan

Lending to the LORD

"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD,
     and He will repay him for his deed." (Proverbs 19:17, ESV)

This is a promise we need to remember at Christmastime, when our brains quit working spiritually and buy into the lie that more stuff will make us more happy.

Instead of getting caught up in the frenzy of consumeristic madness this season, may Solomon's words remind us of the great gospel of Jesus Christ, who, though being rich, yet for our sake became poor, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Literally, the Hebrew reads, "Lender of YHWH, gracer of poor."

The verb, "to be gracious [to someone]", "to graciously provide someone with something", "generous", is often used in contexts where one of God's people tangibly shows pity and compassion on someone in need.

Let us not miss the obvious: to show grace is to be generous to those in need. Grace's fruits are tangible, practical, physical.

This is entirely consistent with the theology of NT writer James, who says,

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you [believers] says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? (2:15-16)

I also find it so intriguing that providing for the poor was a great priority of the apostle Paul. In his letter to the Galatians, a book that is all about the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul's words in 2:10 are almost shocking, where one of the main concerns of the Jerusalem apostles was that Paul, in his great endeavour to preach the true gospel to the "uncircumcised", remember the poor saints in Jerusalem.

In a book whose one resounding note is the gospel of Jesus Christ, this almost seems out of place. And yet Paul, rather than rebuking his fellow apostles as social liberals pushing a false social gospel, says that remembering the poor was something he was "always eager to do" (NLT).

Why?

Because the Bible clearly and consistently teaches that those who have been regenerated and justified by the grace of God become people who yearn to show unmerited favor to others, especially the poor.

Those who are in Christ Jesus are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). They now bear "the image of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 5:24). They are a first-fruits of the new creation (James 1:18). Simply put, God's people are imitators of Him, people who walk in love, who give themselves up for the good of others (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Remembering the poor and being gracious and generous to them is not the gospel. But it is a beautiful picture of it. When rich Christians give up the American dream to live a comfortable and selfish life so that they can pour themselves out for the good of others, it shows that the gospel really is the power of God for salvation.

Salvation from sin, yes. But also salvation from the desires of the flesh. Salvation from the desires of the eyes. Salvation from pride in possessions. Salvation from being slaves to "the course of this world" (Ephesians 2:2) which is controlled by the prince of the power of the air (2:3). The gospel destroys the idol of finding security in the god called Money, and gives us assurance that Jesus really is enough to satisfy our deepest longings.

God's people must never be merely receptacles of God's grace, as though grace stops at us. Rather, the Bible teaches that the grace of God in Christ that sovereignly flows to us must also flow through us to others.

And so this Christmas season, rather than believing the lie that more stuff will make you more happy, believe the promises of the Bible that it is more blessed to give to those who are unable to give back.

Beloved, God is honored when we give generously to our poor brothers and sisters around the world who truly know what it means to pray, "Heavenly Father, give us this day our daily bread."

May we have the mind of the Philippian believers, who gave beyond their ability, laying up in heaven true and lasting treasures (Matthew 6:19), with an amazing return rate (Philippians 4:17), and an even more amazing fragrance (4:18).

Why? Because they actually believed that their God was more than able to supply their every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (4:19).

In the words of Solomon, they believed that God would repay them for their deed of generosity to a man in financial need.

Beloved saints, let us not fall into the materialistic snare of the Devil this Christmas. May the promises of Scripture and the glory of God be more sweet to us than all the treasures this world could ever offer us (cf. Matthew 4:1-11).

God is not a man that He should lie. He will certainly repay and reward His faithful saints. Maybe not in this life, but He will. You can count on it.

God, give us grace to remember the grace You showed us as poor, miserable, helpless beggars. Renew our minds by Your Spirit (cf. Ephesians 4:23), and transform us by Your Spirit into Christ's self-denying, others-helping image (2 Corinthians 3:18).

In Christ, the only Gift this world ever needs,
Pastor Ryan

*Recommended ministries you can give to this Christmas, that allow you to give gifts to other brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those in ministry, are:

Gospel for Asia

Compassion Ministries

Or, talk to the leadership at your local church. Perhaps you could give a special gift to one of the missionaries your church supports. There are so many needy brothers and sisters around the world. They are not hard to find. Ask the Lord to guide. He most certainly will.

A Forgotten Strategy in Overcoming Anxiety

 "Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down,
      but a good word makes it glad."  (Proverbs 12:25)

As a regular attender of our weekly prayer meetings, I have noticed that consistently, one of the Scriptures most often quoted in prayer - especially for those who are going through anxious times - is Philippians 4:6-7, where the apostle Paul, in light of his previous statement that the Lord Jesus is "at hand", encourages the believers:

"Do not be anxious about anything,
    but in everything by prayer and supplication,
       with thanksgiving,
           let your requests be known to God.
 And the peace of God,
    which passes all understanding
        will guard your hearts and your minds
            in Christ Jesus."

Prayer is perhaps the best known 'guard' for the Christian's heart, as he or she simply and humbly (see 1 Peter 5:6-7) casts all their cares upon their burden-bearing Savior.

But an oft-neglected means of grace, especially (and increasingly) in our independent culture is a "Word" centered, saturated, and speaking community.

Jesus promised His people that there would be trials and hardships in this life. In this fallen, sin-sick world, anxieties are part and parcel of our lives. Whether anxieties for our families, our health, our salvation, our jobs, or whatever, God has seen fit to allow a steady supply of anxiety-creating circumstances into the lives of all people, His people not excluded.

When we are tempted to become anxious over the circumstances of life, of course the first thing we need to do is cry out in prayer as God's dependent, needy, and helpless children, being mindful that those who are His children are very dear to His tender fatherly heart.

And yet, as many Christians can attest, sometimes the slough of despond and bog of despair are so thick and sludgy that even this is seemingly impossible. The anxiety in the heart is of such a kind that the believer becomes so focused inwardly that his or her neck is unable to look upwardly to Christ in supplication.

This is why a Word-centered, saturated, and speaking community is so essential in our own personal sanctification. There have been times where I have been so overwhelmingly beaten down that I almost became spiritually paralyzed. I was stuck in the muck in the castle of despair. And unlike Christian in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, the key of promise was entirely forgotten in my bosom and foreign to my lips.

And then, in God's sweet mercy, a dear brother or sister, a messenger of the Lord's deliverance, has come with a "good word" for me. In God's great providence, this has brought not only emancipation from my slavery to anxiety, but has also brought exaltation from my heart to Christ. In the words of Solomon, my heart was "made glad" by another's "good word."

Only a few verses earlier (12:18), Solomon tells us that "the tongue of the wise brings healing." And in 12:26, the very next verse, he says, "One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor." Oh how often a dear saint, one of those declared righteous by their faith in Christ, has come as a faithful physician, bringing with them the great elixir of healing to guide my wavering heart back to the old, old story of Jesus and His unwavering, steadfast love.

Indeed, with the hymn writer I must confess that through prayer the Lord has often delivered me from the tempter's snare. But, in all truthfulness, I may equally confess that a good word, spoken by another in season, has often been an effective healing balm to my soul.

And so my encouragement for the reader (myself included) is to endeavor to become an active participant in a Word centered, saturated, and speaking community: not merely to receive from others the good words of the gospel, but also to deliver them.

By active, I mean not merely 'being there,' but actually participating, actually speaking, actually and actively ministering. There may be a dear brother or sister who is so engulfed in their anxiety that their weak hands are unable to grasp, let alone wield, the sword of the Spirit. They are unable to preach the gospel to themselves. They feel too unworthy or unaccepted to dwell on the good Word. This is where Christ-centered community is needed.

In our isolated, individualistic culture, we as Christians often forget that we are not alone in this battle against the cosmic powers over this present darkness. We are in a war, and yet Christ has not left us alone. If Paul needed his "fellow workers and fellow-soldiers" to cheer him up in the rainy seasons of ministry, how much more do we need our brothers and sisters in our lives? How often when my gospel shoes don't seem to fit, do I need a brother or sister, whose feet have been shod with a readiness to proclaim the gospel, to come along side me in my weakness and speak that good and heart-gladdening word in season?

May our churches be filled with those, who being filled with the Spirit, "address one another in psalms, and hymns, and Spiritual songs." Because, as Paul tells us in the same letter, when we do speak the truth in love, the body 'grows up into its Head'. That is, the body matures together as we minister to and encourage one another with Christ's life-giving, and life-sustaining, Word (see Ephesians 4:11-16).

If your church has prayer-meetings, or Sunday school, or community groups, or college and career, or youth groups, I would heartily encourage you to prayerfully consider attending one of these corporate gatherings where you can both minister, and be ministered to, with such "good words."

Because, as Solomon, says,

"Anxiety in a person's heart weighs his heart down,
    but a good word makes their heart glad."  (Proverbs 12:25, my translation)

O Jesus, our "good Word" par excellence, please gladden the hearts of Your people even this day! May we be a community of saints who bear one another's burdens, fulfilling Your great law of love.

In Christ, and for His Father's glory to the ends of the earth, through His church,
Pastor Ryan

That Your Trust May Be in the LORD, I Have...

As Christians, our greatest desire should be a greater trust in the LORD.

All it takes for me is to read a chapter like Hebrews 11, and I often find myself yearning and pleading and saying, "I want a faith like Abraham's. I wish I could trust in the LORD like Moses. I wish I had the courage of Daniel."

Of course I know that faith is a gift (Eph. 2:8). And yet there are ways to cultivate it. God has given His people means of grace by which His free gift is procured.

So, though it is noble to 'humbly' yearn for a greater faith, there is much more. Yes, God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). But humility is not to be equated with idleness. In fact, in Proverbs 22, Solomon links the increased trust of a disciple with the disciple's reception and application of his "wise words."

Of course, some will object that this idea seems mechanical, robotic, and perhaps even heart-less. This concern is valid, but it must be remembered that those who belong to the new covenant have not only been given new hearts that are receptive and malleable to God's instructions, the very law of God has been written upon them (Eze. 36:26; Jer. 31:33). Put simply, those who are in Christ Jesus love His commands. John, the disciple whom the Lord Jesus loved, tells us that,

Loving God means keeping His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3, NLT)

If we love God, we will love His commands. And if we love His commands, we will keep His commands. Anyone who reads Psalm 119 can clearly see a man full of God's grace. And yet it seems that the whole psalm is law, law, law. In some Holy Spirit-inspired and mysterious way, God uses His Word, and our obedience to it by faith, to work grace deep into our lives, producing an increased trust, setting in motion a glorious cycle of blessing.

In Proverbs 22:17-19, Solomon tells us,

          Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
              and apply your heart to my knowledge,
          for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
              if all of them are ready on your lips.
          That your trust may be in the LORD,
              I have made them know to you today, even to you.

It seems almost too basic. No magical wands. No fluttering feelings in our viscera. No mystical phenomenon. Nope. Solomon simply lays forth words of wisdom and tells his son to hide his words in his heart (cf. Psa. 119:11a).

Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the message of Christ." Of course, the inevitable objection will be that Paul is talking about missions here. True. But as one reads Paul, it is clear that he doesn't place the gargantuan divide between justification and sanctification that many of us do today. For example, in Romans 1:16, the gospel is the power of God for salvation for all who believe. But this truth is just as true for unbelievers who need to be "saved" (justified) as it is for believers who needs to be "saved" (sanctified). "Salvation" is the umbrella term that includes all 3 aspects of justification, sanctification, and glorification. And "salvation" (including sanctification) comes by hearing the Word with faith (see also Galatians 3:1-6). In this context, increased trust in the LORD comes through letting the Word dwell richly in our hearts (cf. Col. 3:16).

So, let us with the Galatians, and let us with Solomon's son, incline our ears to the words of the wise and apply our hearts to his knowledge. If we do, they will be pleasant as our lips recite them to our wandering hearts. Such glorious truths will become like a solid dock providing deep moorings for our wayward souls.

As we "take up and read" (latin: tolle lege), we with Augustine will find the LORD slowly [but surely] increasing our faith and trust in Him. As the Word permeates and penetrates our hearts, everything will be changed. Our conversation with others will become marked by "psalms and hymns and Spiritual songs" and thankfulness (cf. Eph. 5:18-19). Our lives will characterized by joy. Obedience will become less of a chore and struggle. Those around us will begin to ask us about the hope that is within us.

Though I am not Solomon, my intention of this blog is the same: I have written it because I desire Christ's lambs to have an increased trust in Him. The more we hear our Good Shepherd's voice, the sweeter we will realize it is; the more we hear our Good Shepherd's voice, the uglier the voice of Lady Folly will become as our ears become more 'grace-tuned' (i.e. her belligerent beckonings will sound more and more out of tune with the melody of grace we are increasingly humming all the day long).

Reader, the glorious thing is that these "words of the wise" can be heard and applied everyday. Everyday your trust in the LORD can be increased. Let us then seek early the living Manna of Christ. He promises to bless those who incline their ear to His words and apply their hearts to His knowledge.

Let us then take Him at His word, resolved to draw near to Him (see James 4:8).

      "That your trust may be in the LORD,
           I have made this known to you today, even to you."

In Christ, and for His [increasing] glory in our lives,
Pastor Ryan

A Soft Answer Turns Away Wrath

"A soft answer turns away wrath,
    but a harsh word stirs up anger." (Proverbs 15:1)

This past Sunday we looked at James 3:1-12 in our Sunday School lesson. In this section, James reminds us just how powerful such a small instrument can really be. As a small spark can become an unstoppable and uncontainable blazing inferno; as a little dose of poison can kill; as a small leak in the roof can destroy a house, so also our small tongues have the potential and ability to cause great damage in the lives of others.

And yet, though the tongue can wreck great havoc, it also can bring great healing. The answer therefore is not merely to stop talking altogether, just like gouging our eyes out will not eliminate our propensity to lust after the things of this world.

As we study the Bible, and the book of Proverbs especially, we see the inextricable link between the state of one's heart and the words of one's mouth.

For example, in the same chapter, Solomon reminds us that,

"A gentle [literally: 'healing'] tongue is a tree of life,
    but perverseness in it breaks the spirit." (15:4)

"The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
     not so the hearts of fools." (15:7)

"The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
     but the mouth of fools feed on folly." (15:14)

"The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
     but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things." (15:28)

This is perfectly congruent with our Lord's own teaching regarding this:

"What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart." (Matt. 15:18)

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth evil." (Matt. 12:33-35)

So before we seek to apply Proverbs 15:1 to our lives, we need to understand that if we are speaking harshly to others instead of speaking gently, the real issue is that our words and motives are wrong, ultimately because our hearts are wrong.

I agree 100% that a soft answer turns away wrath. I have seen this principle fulfilled in a myriad of contexts in a multitude of ways. But before my words are truly soft, my heart must first be softened; and before I can truly speak life-giving words to others, I must first be letting these life-giving words abide richly in my own heart (cf. Col. 3:16).

In Sunday school, I likened our tongues to a tattle-tale. In grade school, it seemed that there was always a tattle taler ratting me out and getting me in trouble. Our tongues likewise tattle on our hearts. Our tongues express and make visible to others the true state of our hearts. Bitter words evidence a bitter heart. Gracious words evidence a heart marinated in grace.

Living in a fallen world, it is inevitable that circumstances will require us to make a split second decision as to whether we will speak softly and harshly. Your boss makes an unfair accusation. A foe purposefully slanders your reputation. A class mate spreads a fallacious rumour that impugns your character. Your husband comes home and accuses you of doing nothing all day. Your kids comment on how lousy supper is. Your wife, not realizing you've just worked an agonizing 10 hour day, asks you to help with supper, or the dishes, or in getting the kids ready for bed, when all you want to do is rest. Your kids are fighting again, or nagging again, or complaining again. The possibilities for speaking harshly are almost infinite.

When these unforeseen situations arise, the state of our hearts will determine our decisions. If we have been immersing ourselves in anything other than the gospel, the battle is already lost, just as a man surfing the internet with his heart on "gospel empty" will inevitably choose porn if and when it is offered. Likewise, in a heated discussion, whatever is filling our hearts at that moment will consequently fill our mouths, and ultimately fill our hearers' ears.

The solution is found in one of the most important verses of all the Bible: "Above all keeping, keep your heart." (Prov. 4:23) Why? "Because out of the heart flow the issues of life", or as the NLT translates it, our hearts "determine the course of our lives." Likewise, the state of our heart "determines the course of [or "coarseness of"] our speech."

And so this day, let us gaze intently upon our glorious God of grace. Paul says this is done by immersing our minds and hearts in the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:6). As we contemplate the underserved mercy that we have received from His beneficent, nail-pierced hands, we - including our tongues - will be transformed from one degree of glory to another. As we regularly renew our minds in the Scripture via the Spirit (see Eph. 4:23), we are enabled to both put off the speech of our old man and put on the new man's speech, which is created in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:22,24).

When we truly keep the great commandment (Matt. 22:37), namely loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, as well as loving our neighbour as ourself, we will ultimately speak soft words that seek healing and reconciliation. As we are built up in the gospel of truth (Eph. 4:15-16), we will inevitably seek to build others up in that same truth, out of love.

When we are presented with the choice of speaking words that edify or words that vilify, there is hope, if our hearts and hopes are, in the words of Isaiah, "stayed on Thee" (26:3, KJV).

May we all seek to be filled with the Spirit, and consequently speak Spiritual words that bring healing, and not hurt (cf. Eph. 5:18-20; Col. 3:16-18).

In Christ, and for His glory in His people,
Pastor Ryan

Poverty and Riches in Proverbs 10:1-6

Today is October 10th. Therefore, as is my custom, part of my devotional reading for the day is from Proverbs 10. Reading one chapter of the Proverbs every day has been a habit of mine pretty much since my conversion, and I would strongly encourage the reader to give reading a chapter of Proverbs each day a 'test drive.'

In fact, I would be so bold as to say that to do so is even more beneficial than eating an apple a day, which, at best, can only keep the doctor away. As Proverbs 1 makes abundantly clear, those who acquire and appropriate  and apply wisdom will be delivered from a multitude of follies and calamitous circumstances that are common to life "under the sun." My life bears testimony to this.

Not surprisingly, the working out of this principle - namely, being delivered from a wasted, foolish life through the application of wise counsel - is seen in chapter 10. Those who heed Solomon's wise sayings will not only be spared the consequences of folly, but will be richly rewarded for walking in wisdom.

As we read the chapter, we note that there is an intentional structure that Solomon uses, comparing and contrasting the "ways" of the wise/righteous versus the foolish/wicked. Perhaps breaking each of the verses in the immediate context will help us to better understand and interpret what the Holy Spirit, through Solomon, is trying to communicate to us in this section:

10:1 - A wise son makes a glad father
10:2 - Righteousness delivers from death
10:3 - The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry
10:4 - The hand of the diligent makes rich
10:5 - He who gathers in the summer is a prudent son
10:6 - Blessings are on the head of the righteous

It was not until one realizes this structure that a verse like 10:3 is properly understood. It is a maxim (that is, a general rule of thumb) that the LORD does not let the righteous go hungry. But when we see it aright in its original context, we also see the means of how the LORD sovereignly brings this provision of food about: those who are righteous are are also wise, diligent, and prudent. That is, as a general rule, the righteous do not go hungry because they are diligent workers who gather their food with prudence and wisdom. Having sufficient food is, at least in this context, one of the clearest and most obvious "blessings" on the heads of the righteous (v.6).

On the contrary, Solomon says that the LORD will thwart the craving of the wicked. The reasons are seen when we look at the context of the verses in the negative:

10:1 - A foolish son is a sorrow to his mother
10:2 - Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit
10:3 - [The LORD] thwarts the craving of the wicked
10:4 - A slack hand causes poverty
10:5 - He who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame
10:6 - The mouth of the wicked conceals violence

What causes poverty? In a word, folly (v.1). Instead of being wise and doing what is "right" (v.2) - as God commanded Adam in the garden before sin entered the picture - the fool tries to gain his treasures in an ungodly way. Ironically, the insatiable desires of the wicked are never satiated (v.3), since they are contravening the very creation order God instituted in the beginning. Instead of working hard as to the LORD, the fool's hand is "slack" - he is a lazy sluggard (v.4). Instead of making the best use of his time when the fields are white unto harvest, he decides a short siesta is in order (v.5). Rather than eating of the fruit of his labors, his mouth is filled with treachery and violence (v.6).

To put a spiritual spin on this concept of eating versus staving, as even Jesus was wont to do (see John 4, 6, etc.), we may say that the reason many of us languish spiritually is because we are not walking wisely and redeeming the time (cf. Ephesians 5:15-17). Those whom the LORD is letting go hungry have chosen to go hungry: we choose sleep over study, laziness over diligently harvesting the field of God's Word, entertainment over prayer.

We tell others that we truly crave to be nearer to God. But unfortunately, our intentions remain just that (read James 1:22-25). Instead of feeding our souls with the living manna, we fill it with the unsatisfying lies of the world, which in our day and age, is basically entertainment and technology (read: watching way too much T.V., playing way too much video games, spending way too much time on FaceBook, checking our emails way too much, and wasting way too much precious time watching braincell-killing YouTube clips that have absolutely no relevance to our lives).

Reader, are you a wise son or daughter that makes your Father glad by how you use the time He has allotted you on this earth? Are you making "righteous" decisions that deliver you from spiritual death? Is the LORD letting you go hungry? Is your hand diligent in spiritual matters? Are you prudently gathering the bounty of God's Word while it is yet summer time? Is the blessing of the LORD on your head?

May God, in His lovingkindness, draw us back to Himself in cords of love, enabling us (by the Holy Spirit) to look carefully how we live - not as unwise, but as wise. May we, who are the new creation in Christ, live in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called, and make the best use of the time, for the days are evil.

Let us simply take God at His Word, and make it our goal to return to the LORD afresh, for as the prophet reminds us, "in returning [i.e. repentance] and rest you shall be delivered" (Isa. 30:15). May we not be like foolish Israel, who were unwilling to yield to God's loving reproof, and said "No" (30:16).

Remember, the blessing of the LORD makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it (10:22). How different from all the 'blessings' the world offer us, which so often become like gravel in our mouth when we foolishly and blindly partake of them!

May the blessing of Christ be lavished upon each one of our heads, to the glory and honor of our loving Father, whom we simply want to make glad in all that we say and do. Amen.