Shirt on Backwards

The other day, I go to put a shirt on and it wasn't until I looked in the mirror that I noticed it was on backwards. Haha! Oh the truthfulness of a mirror. It's weird how right it felt, but oh so wrong it was.

Likewise, when you trust your own heart rather than looking to God's law/word as the authority, you have a warped view of reality. Things that the Bible declares bad, you will call good. And the good things God says, you will despise (Isaiah 5:20). God's law is the standard; not your heart, not your feelings, nor your emotions.

Take this as another reminder of which you will be held accountable for on judgment day. Myself included.

Here's a question for you. Why are you prone to follow your own heart? Why, after knowing the truth and having received the Spirit of God, do you (if you are a Christian) still experience the pull of sin? What is the remedy in fighting and resisting that pull?

How does one find knowledge?

Proverbs 2:1-5

"My son, if you receive my words
    and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
    and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
    and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God."

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What does the wise son do?

Desire for wisdom that propels one to diligently apply God's Word to his or her life is what makes someone wise of heart. Wisdom says to "receive my words," "hide my commandments with you," "incline your ear unto wisdom," "cry after knowledge," lift up your voice for it," "seek her as silver," "search for her as for hidden treasures." Do these things and you will find the knowledge of God, that is, the fear of the LORD. To increase in wisdom is to increase in fearing the LORD, which is loving Jesus by obeying his commandments. The one who says he loves God, but does not keep God's commandments has not the fear of the LORD and therefore has not received the wisdom of Christ.

How should a wise son value wisdom taught by his parents during family worship?

The wise son is someone who recognizes that having the fear of God is of utmost importance. To value something is to pursue it. Pursuing the fear of God is to value the wisdom of God as revealed in the Bible. So, how does the wise son value the wisdom his parents teach him during family worship? He is to soak up the instruction his parents give like a sponge soaks up water, and he thinks and meditates on the matters day and night anticipating the opportunity to apply the teaching to his life, whether it is thoughts, words, or his deeds. 

Do you struggle to appropriately value the wisdom you hear in church and family devotions?

The struggle to value wisdom is my lack of meditating on the principles that are learned heard. Or are they even learned? To some extent, yes. Maybe I should say heard. The lack of intentionality in applying God's Word reveals the value that one places on the Word of God. To think about circumstances and situations, filtering them at all times according to the Scripture is to meditate on God's Word day and night. Meditation is not simply meditating on Bible passages isolated from life. Meditation is thinking on Bible passages in order to apply the principles of Scripture to your life--every area of life--home life, education, work, hobbies, politics, everything. The struggle is to be consistent and view, engage, and interact with everything from a thorough Christian worldview. Valuing wisdom takes practice.

Do You Reject Wisdom?

Proverbs 1:24-33

"Because I have called and you refused to listen,
    have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
because you have ignored all my counsel
    and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
    I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm
    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
    when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
    they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
    and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
would have none of my counsel
    and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
    and have their fill of their own devices.
For the simple are killed by their turning away,
    and the complacency of fools destroys them;
but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
    and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."
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What will happen to the fool who rejects the wisdom of God?

God will laugh at the calamity that comes upon the person who has rejected the wisdom of God. The Bible says that God will mock the fool when terror, distress, and anguish come upon him. At this point the fool will want God's help after all the years of rejecting God, but God will not have it. He says, "Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me." The fool will get what he deserves and eat the rotten fruit he has produced. Because the fool does not have the fear of the LORD, he in his simplicity is killed; his complacency destroys him.

What will happen when you listen to the wisdom of God?

Wisdom declares that the person who listens dwells secure from the destructive path of fools. The person who loves wisdom will be at ease, having peace, and not have the dread of disaster that comes upon fools. The wise person is answered upon by wisdom. God does not mock or bring punishment upon the people who love and obey his commandments. Loving and obeying God's commandments is rooted in the fear of the LORD. The Christian wants God's counsel and turns to God's wisdom in search for how to live this life in a way that God calls good and righteous. God pours out his Spirit to those who fear him. The fool will only get God's wrath in the end. Are you a fool? Do you reject wisdom?

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The Vantage Point That Christians Have Over Halloween

Matthew 10:16 states “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." These words of Jesus are in the context of persecution and missions (I encourage you to read the whole chapter). Every Christian is on mission whether he or she is abroad or here at home. We are called to be intentional about our faith. Being on mission does not mean that you should quit you job and evangelize full time (Although, Jesus does call some people to this). Being on mission is the Christian life. The mission field is the world and the workplace is just one of many areas to exemplify Christ's work ethic.


As Halloween approaches we should be focused on how to relate the gospel to the situation. We need to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Halloween is a perfect time to engage people in conversation about the gospel. Skeletons, ghouls, goblins, and zombies are a good reminder of death, which comes to all people. If you see someone with halloween costumes and trinkets, this is your springboard to strike up a conversation. Remember, your aim is the gospel, not to get into a debate. You could say something like: "I couldn't help but notice that skeleton you have there and was wondering what you think about death? What do you think happens after someone dies?" Bingo, you're now into a conversation and you have a goal--to explain the truths of the gospel. Ask something like, "Would you consider yourself to be a good person?" "Do you think you've kept the 10 Commandments?" Then take them through some of God's commandments to "bring the knowledge of sin" as Romans 3:19-20 reveals. Show them that God even sees their thought life just as Jesus told us in Matthew 5:28 that lust is counted as adultery. Reveal to them that God must punish unforgiven sinners in hell and that place is as real as the ground their standing on. Ask them, "Do you think God should reward you with heaven or hell for the life you've lived?" If they think heaven, point out the fact that criminals must pay for their crimes and that God is the just judge of all the earth. He must punish you for breaking His laws. Then, give them the good news that Jesus died on behalf of those who will humble themselves enough to turn from their sins (repentance) and place their hope in Jesus--the one who lived a perfect life, keeping God's laws, and then dying on the cross as a substitute for sinners. Three days later Jesus rose from death. He has the power to cleanse you of a guilty conscience and your sins, and restore you to a right relationship with God.

Now's a good time to encourage them to take seriously what they heard. Admonish them to attend a church to hear the word of God preached on a regular basis. Give them a Bible if they don't own one. You can also give them a gospel tract to remind them what they just heard.

If you are too timid to speak up you can do something just as brave--walk up to someone and say, "Hello, did you get one of these?" And hand them a Halloween gospel tract this year.

Another option is to leave your light on this year and hand out great snacks (that children will remember you by) and attach a gospel tract to the treat. Doing so is a great way to send out the gospel! What other night do you have lots of people coming to your doorstep? Be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove.

If you don't already have some biblically sound gospel tracts, I have some at www.seedshakers.com
You can share them with other Christians to help you pass them all out.

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

At first reading of the title you would think this is about Jericho, when the Israelites marched around the city for 7 days and followed the instruction of the Lord. No, it's not about that but it is about the after effects of a city without walls. "A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls" [1]. This is a golden nugget of a proverb. There is a lot of spinach here to chew on. It's good for us to dwell on challenging verses in the Bible, especially this one, which seems to not make a lot of sense on the surface. But with a little thinking power, the truth of the proverb sets in and causes us to rethink our lives.

What does Solomon mean by it? A man who has forsaken discipline is like an ancient city without walls--it remains defenseless and open to attack from the enemy.

Where are you lacking self-control? The enemy you need to worry about first and foremost is yourself. I'm not denying that the world system of autonomy and the devil are your enemies, but if you can't defend against attacks from your old way of life (pre-regenerate days), you certainly can't fight against those other two beasts [2]. Your depravity--your old nature--as Paul explains in Colossians is to be put off and its practices sentenced to death. The new nature you received when you became born-again, is what Paul reminds his readers about. Because you were granted a new self by God, you are to bring forth fruits of the new nature [3]. Self-control is one of those fruits, which brings us back to a man without self-control, he is like a city broken into without walls. A man who lacks this fruit of the Spirit is living as an unbeliever in particular areas of his life and basically saying that God has no jurisdiction or authority over those areas. The city has holes in its walls. What holes do you have in your walls? In other words what do you know you need to get control over in your life?  

This proverb applies to every area of your life, not just "spiritual" matters of reading your Bible, going to Church, evangelizing, and doing ministry. Actually, every thing you do is spiritual, you can't escape from this reality. All of life is to be under God's authority. Doing church or reading your Bible is no more of a spiritual exercise than going to work or eating dinner. We are to do all things to the glory of God! How you go about completing tasks, duties, and even enjoying pleasures is what makes it a spiritual issue. That's key: How you go about doing something. A pastor can do his work in either a Christian way or he can do a poor job that wouldn't be classified as very Christian like. Same goes for the plumber. He can do his work in a Christian manner or he can do it in a non-Christian like way. How you go about doing something reveals the spiritual quality, you might say, of your thoughts, words, and actions. Am I thinking and acting like a Christian? If I read my Bible but I'm not a doer of the word, what does it say about me spiritually? Or what if I eat dinner but complain and murmur about the food placed before me? I'm not being very Christian like, huh? Or even, what if I have bad eating habits that cause my body to deteriorate in an untimely manner, what does it say about me spiritually? Am I living this particular area of my life as a Christian is suppose to? Let's be careful not to leave compartments or areas of our life untouched by the authority of God's word, for a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

[1] Proverbs 25:28

[2] The autonomy of the world is the natural impulse of the unregenerate. They seek to be their own gods and have their own rule (autonomy) apart from God's rule and authority (theonomy). The world system that John speaks of is the system of thoughts and actions contrary to God's law. The autonomous world system is the continuation of that first original sin of Adam and Eve, the desire to rule their own lives. We see where it got them and their posterity--curse and judgment--they received negative sanctions for refusing to submit to God's law. Adam and Eve lacked self-control and opened themselves up to attack, they were as a city without walls, they were open to the attack of deceit that came from the devil. "Be self-controlled;" Peter tells us, "be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Peter goes on to say that you are to resist the devil, firm in your faith. Being firm in your faith is not a passiveness on your part and an asking of God to have pity on you, but rather, it is a call to action--a call to stand with self-control, to rebuild the crumbled walls that you have let fall.  1John 2:15-17, 1Peter 5:8

[3] The fruit of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23

Making the Most of Life

Making the Most of Life

The Meaning of Opportunities

Excerpts from J.R. Miller

The real problem of living, therefore, is how to take what the hours bring. He who does this, will live nobly and faithfully, and will fulfill God’s plan for his life. The difference in men is not in the opportunities that come to them, but in their use of their opportunities. Many people who fail to make much of their life, charge their failure to the lack of opportunities. They look at one who is continually doing good and beautiful things, or great and noble things, and think that he is specially favoured, that the chances which come to him for such things are exceptional. Really, however, it is in his capacity for seeing and accepting what the hours bring of duty or privilege that his success lays. Where other men see nothing, he sees a battle to fight, a duty to perform, a service to render, or an honour to win. Many a man waits long for opportunities, wondering why they never come to him, when really they have been passing by him day after day, unrecognized and unaccepted.

"They perish, and are set down to our account”

There is something truly startling in this irreparableness of the past, this irrevocableness of the losses which we have suffered through our follies or our sins. About two centuries ago a great sun dial was erected in All Soul’s College, Oxford, England, the largest and noblest dial; it is said, in the whole kingdom. Over the long pointer were written, in large letters of gold, the Latin words, referring to the hours, “Pereunt et imputantur.” Literally the meaning is, “They perish, and are set down to our account” or, as they have been rendered in terser phrase, “They are wasted, and are added to our debt.”

It is said that these words on the dial have exerted a wonderful influence on the boyhood of many of the distinguished men who have received their training at Oxford, stimulating them to the most conscientious use of the golden hours as they passed, and bearing fruit in long lives of earnestness and faithfulness. The lesson is one that every young person should learn. In youth the hours are full of privileges. They come like angels, holding in their hands rich treasures, sent to us from God, which they offer to us; and if we are laggard or indolent, or if we are too intent on our own little trifles to give welcome to these heavenly messengers with their heavenly gifts, they quickly pass on and are gone. And they never come back again to renew the offer.
On the dial of a clock in the palace of Napoleon at Malmaison, the maker has put the words, “Non nescit reverti”; “It does not know how to go backward.” It is so of the great clock of Time – it never can be turned backward. The moments come to us but once; whatever we do with them we must do as they pass, for they will never come to us again.

"Then privilege makes responsibility."

We shall have to give account to God for all that he sends to us by the mystic hands of the passing hours, and which we refuse or neglect to receive. “They are wasted and are added to our debt.”