Tag: Knowledge and Truth are God's - Proverbs 22

Proverbs 22:12

The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,

but he overthrows the words of the traitor.

Proverbs 22:17-19

Words of the Wise

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 known to you today, even to you.

Proverbs 22:20-21

Have I not written for you thirty sayings

of counsel and knowledge,

to make you know what is right and true,

that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

Tag:  Knowledge and Truth are God's 

We live in a society that celebrates and rewards those who seek knowledge and claim to have it.   Going to "college" after high school is "almost" (for some) a natural thought process.  Those who don't consider or don't extend for further education are, in our society, looked upon as less valuable.   The problem is that knowledge does not belong to man.  As you can see in the above verses, knowledge belongs to God.   God is the keeper off all things "truth."   God disperses it as He will and He lets some know it and, to others, He hides its beauty.   When we seek knowledge from God we can be assured He will deliver it to us ... but, it begins by fearing Him.  Those who do not fear Him might "know" things, but they don't "know" what they could if they only feared and reverenced God.   Notice what Solomon wrote earlier in this book of his many proverbs:

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

You can have knowledge of things without God, but you can't have insight.   God gives both knowledge and insight to those who fear Him.  He gives it through His Word.   

Tag: God's Faithfulness - Psalms 105-107

Psalms 106:44-46

Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,

when he heard their cry.

For their sake he remembered his covenant,

and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

He caused them to be pitied

by all those who held them captive.

Tag:  God's Faithfulness

To understand the above three verses you have to read the first 43.   In the first 43 we read everything the nation of Israel did wrong and how they doubted God's promises, spurned His grace and lived in sin.   Each of the previous verses gives numerous reasons why God should stop loving them.   However, the above verses do not read, "... and as a result God stopped loving the nation."    Instead it reads that God did love them and will never stop loving them.  This is the amazing covenant of God.   He is abundant in mercy and grace.   He is never ending in love.  He provides protection for them.   God is an amazing God.   He hears our cries.  He looks at us with pity and with mercy and with grace.   

Tag: Limited Leadership - 1 Chronicles 20-24

1 Chronicles 22:6-8

Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.

Tag: Limited Leadership

In the business world we talk about Volitional Capacity False Imprisonment.   This is what happens when employees and management limit themselves by perceived beliefs that are false assumptions about themselves.   The typical line in this mindset would say something like, "I can't do that because I have this in my background."   The world would want you to believe you "can be all you want to be."    Some might say this is what David is doing in the above passage.  He is "willfully limiting himself" due to past behaviors and circumstances.    Whereas this Volitional Capacity False Imprisonment can happen and people can and do believe they are limited in their leadership due to certain circumstances of their past, in the above text this is not the case.  David plainly tells his son, Solomon, that the limit he has come to accept (he can't build the Temple HIMSELF) is because God has deemed him unworthy to do so.  The Temple is such a holy endeavor, God has limited David due to the circumstances of the past.  This doesn't stop David, however, from doing what he can.  He is about to prepare all the materials for Solomon to build the temple.  Great leaders need to realize when God says no ... but still do what God will allow them to do.  David was such a leader.   David could have simply sat on the sideline and rested out his "retirement years" (think King Hezekiah).   Instead, David accepts the limits of God's service and moves forward with what he COULD do.   God limits those who would serve in the ministry in 1 Timothy 3, because the ministry is a holy thing.   However, that doesn't mean there are not other areas for someone to serve God.  Godly leaders should not be limited by Volitional Capacity False Imprisonment.   However, they SHOUD recognize the limits God puts on them and yield to that.  

Tag: Intercessory Prayer - Numbers 13-17

Numbers 14:13-19

Moses Intercedes for the People

But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

Tag:  Intercessory Prayer is Based Upon God's Character

The nation of Israel, in this section of Numbers, is in a rebellious cycle toward Moses and Aaron, in regard to their leadership.  Over these chapters there is a constant demand for their removal and a "shared" leadership format.  God is not pleased with this "envy" in the hearts of these other leaders.  As a result God is about to destroy them all.  However, Moses steps in to intercede for these envious men.   Moses could have simply allowed them to be consumed by God's anger.  But, Moses considered the character of God and understood what that would mean to the witness of God and the reputation of God.  Moses was not concerned about His own witness, but about God's character and God's testimony.   God's character demanded that God grant them mercy and not destroy the entire nation.  God would destroy these rebellious leaders.   But, Moses was willing to intercede and ask God to remember His mercy and grace and steadfastness and love.   He would ask God to "pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now."   That is forgiveness based upon the character of God and NOT according to the performance of the people.  We can be thankful that our salvation is NOT based upon our performance, but upon God's character and plan.  

Tag: Leadership and Mentorship - 2 Timothy 1-2

2 Timothy 2:1-2

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Tag: Leadership and Mentorship 

A good servant of God has the mind to be a servant who produced more servants of God.   Duplication is a principle and paradigm of Gods plan.   Moses duplicated himself into Joshua.   Paul duplicated himself into Timothy.  Paul wants Timothy to duplicated himself into others.   Jesus duplicated Himself into His disciples.   That is the plan of God's for the spread of Christianity.  Look how it work; or, is working!!   The world calls it mentorship.   The problem with the world's approach, however, is a watered down product.  Men or duplicating "themselves" rather than duplicating Christ.   When we ask people who do they most want to be like the answers run along family lines, business models, military lines and/or political leaders.  The Christian world view is that we, too, should be doing some mentoring, but it is called "discipleship" and that is what Timothy is charged to do.  He is not charged to build a church with big numbers, large bell towers, or one with political clout.  He is changed with making disciples after the pattern of Christ.   We can get so caught up in the world's system and then we have some model or pattern to follow they have "perfected."  Yet, Paul gives Timothy the only pattern he needs to follow:  Make more Christ-like people.  

Tag: Leadership by Fear - John 9-10

John 9:22-23

(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

Tag: Leadership by Fear

The above verse is taken from the story of the blind man that was healed by Jesus.  The religious leaders of the day saw him rejoicing and asked why.   He told them he was healed by Jesus.  Rather than joining in the worship with him the Pharisees were upset that Jesus would dare to heal on the Sabbath.   They disputed that the man was even born blind and brought his parents in for clarification.  However, as we can see from the text, his parents feared reprisal and retribution.  Such was the leadership style of the Pharisees.   They had a leadership of fear.  They refused to submit to the leadership of God and lead by faith, grace, mercy and love.   They walked around to intimidate and to cause fear in the lives of those they oversaw.   Leadership by Fear is so demeaning and restrictive.  It causes others to see that they aren't valued for who they are but for what they do and how they do it.   Leadership by Fear promotes performance based living.  However, it also promotes a performance based living that knows it can never reach the standards that the leader is demanding.   The Pharisees were supposed to lead others to God. Instead they lead by fear and caused people to be restricted from God.   God wants us to "fear" Him, but in reverence and awe.  Not because we think He will blast us from the earth and kick us out of His "club."   The Pharisees lead by fear.   That damaged and hindered people coming to God. 

Tag: Know God - Know Good - Hosea 9-14

Hosea 8:1-3

Set the trumpet to your lips!

One like a vulture is over the house of the Lord,

because they have transgressed my covenant

and rebelled against my law.

To me they cry,

“My God, we—Israel—know you.”

Israel has spurned the good;

the enemy shall pursue him.

Tag:  Know God - Know Good

Hosea is God's spokesman to give a message to a nation who rejected their God.   Israel had sought after the gods of this world.  They were not chasing shinny new cars, million dollar homes on the beach, or corporate board seats, but they were chasing the equivalent of those things in their time.  They were chasing what the world presented around them.  They forgot they were chosen and redeemed by God.  They were His children.   In the above passage we see that God is condemning their claim, "My God, we - Israel - know you."    Israel, in their despair wanted to claim they "knew" God and therefore should have some favor as a result.  The "vulture" in the first part of the verse is referring to the Assyrian army who was bearing down upon them.  It is typical of those who had an "experience" with God to call on Him during a time of crisis.   They say, "Hey, God, you know me!! Can I get your help, here?"   Yet, they reject, or, at least, ignore God under all other conditions. Christ came so that we would "know" God. 

John 17:3

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

But, all the "good" God had given to the nation they had rejected it.   The last part of the above passage states "Israel has spurned the good."    James tells us that anything in our lives that is "good" is from God. 

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Israel, in trouble, wanted to claim a special relationship with God.  Yet, when God had given them gift after gift, they pursued other gods.   Our relationship with God can't simply be in a time of crisis.  It has to be a seeking to "know" Him and trust Him in all times of our lives.