Category Archives: Love (of God)

Daily Wisdom Challenge — Proverbs 31

Here we are FINALLY finished with the #DailyWisdomChallenge! What took some 31 days, only took me 56. But this challenge is not about an amount of time or some mark we check off, is it? No, it is about getting God’s Word in us and through us — Him producing results and us giving Him our time, minds, and lives to spend time with Him in His Word and share it with other. I have enjoyed spending this time with Him and sharing Him and His Word with you.

This last proverb is one that has been on my mind. I have typed and retyped this post because I just couldn’t seem to articulate it — to get my words right. Today, it is what it is and ain’t what it ain’t. Let’s dive in.

Much of Proverbs 31 (vv. 10-31) is about the virtuous wife/woman. I was tempted to pick some verses from that section and speak well of my wife, which I do as often as I can because she is amazing. But Proverbs 31:8-9 is about using our voices — in this case, my voice and platform — to speak for those who have no one to speak for them. I will always speak up and advocate for Candice, but what of those who have no advocate?

It might help to understand what it means to advocate for someone. Let’s break it down. There are two forms of the word, both spelled the same; one is a verb (meaning to support or speak in for — or in favor of — someone or something) and a noun (meaning one who supports or speaks for someone or something). To use both in a sentence: an advocate advocates for people or issues. That’s the English teacher take on it, but we need a more pastoral perspective here.

In 1 John 2:1-2 give us a good picture of Jesus as our Advocate (the ESV even using that exact word):

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

In this brief passage, we see Jesus almost as an advocate or defense attorney in courtroom. We know that Satan is known as the “accuser” in Revelation 12:10 and is “day and night” putting our sin in the form of an accusation or case against us “before our God”. Satan wants God to look at our sin and cast us out as he was so long ago. He wants to hurt God by showing Him how His children sin against Him and others. He also wants to hurt us and see us destroyed (1 Peter 5:8). We really don’t need an accuser to understand this because just like our great-great-great-great-uncle Cain, our sin cries out like Abel’s shed blood (Genesis 4:10), and God knows it, too.

Who would stand as an advocate for one who is clearly guilty? How many courtroom dramas have feature hot shot defense attorneys remarking that only a fool would ask their client if they are guilty. In this case, we know we are guilty. All have sinned (Romans 3:23) and none stand before God as righteous in their own standing (Romans 3:10). Yet John clearly says that those who are in Christ who sin (which includes any and everyone who has ever and will ever be saved) has an advocate: Jesus Christ the righteous.

Jesus stands for us when our sin cries out against us, reminding the Father that He has cast our sin as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

Jesus stands for us when the accuser comes before the Father and reminds him that He has exchanged our sin and shame for His righteousness and standing as a son (1 Corinthians 5:21).

He speaks for us when the recollection of our sin silences us and shuts the mouth of accuser, reminding us that He has saved us and him that his doom is sure.

What a joy it is to have someone speak for you when you are in trouble (Psalm 34:17)! What a relief it is to have someone advocate for you to receive help in your time of trouble (Psalm 46:1)!

That’s the point of our final proverb together: use the voice and platform God has given us to be an advocate for those in need and in trouble, people who do not have anyone to speak for them. Worldly wisdom says mind your business and stay in your lane when it comes for helping folks in precarious situations. God’s wisdom says speak up for those who have no one to speak up for them (“the destitute”) and no voice of their own (“the mute”). God’s wisdom says that we are to “defend the rights of the poor and needy” — to make sure that people can get the help they need.

Now, the argument that comes up here is always something like “What about those who are misusing the help they receive?” or some citing of something like 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and some variation of “if you don’t work, you don’t eat”. Remember this is not a blanket statement of foolishness or reckless speech; it says “judge righteously” right here in the proverb. But we are to err on the side of help rather than stinginess — advocating for help rather than silence.

So, what about you? Are you silent for the suffering or speaking for them to receive help? Does Jesus the righteous advocate for you and yet you remain silent for others?

This is the culmination, not only of the #DailyWisdomChallenge for me, but the pinnacle of the challenge of whether I will yield to God’s wisdom or roll with the world’s. John has challenged us to speak and share God’s Word with others. Now, God in His Word has challenged us to speak and share God’s Word FOR others, too.

Won’t you join me?

For the month of October (and finally finished 25 days into November), we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.

This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.

Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?

Daily Wisdom Challenge — Proverbs 29

This proverb struck me as a poignant example of the perspective God gives us through His wisdom that counters the anti-wisdom of this world. 

Whatever you revere or fear drives you, or at least steers you. Think about it. If there are certain holidays or people that you revere, you will act a certain way around them. Your life and behavior change in their presence or on those days. It works the same with fear. If you are afraid of someone or something, your body does its own thing in their presence. Your heart rate will elevate; your skin may grow clammy and/or sweaty; and your fight-or-flight response kicks in. 

We live in a day and age when the powers-that-be use fear to motivate. This can be in the political arena as we have seen recently in many political ads and politically-driven social media posts. The news is always doom and gloom – and changes depending on the political leanings of one channel to the next. We have become accustomed to making decisions based on fear, and per the wisdom we see here, that sort of fear is a snare.

A snare is a device meant to catch something, and often carries with it the purpose of restraining something in order to kill it. If a hunter puts out a snare to catch an animal, it is often so that the animal can be caught, killed, and eaten.  This reminds me of the description of Satan in 1 Peter 5:8 as one prowling “around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”. Satan likes snares because they catch people unaware using camouflage and trickery. 2 Corinthians 4:4 describes this work as him blinding “the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” He has no glory of his own and nothing of worth for people to follow, so he tricks and hoodwinks people, trying to keep them from seeing the Light.

God doesn’t work like that. Everything is out in the open with Him – out in the light. We have seen throughout the #DailyWisdomChallenge that following God is often referenced as the “fear of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:24, 10:12, 31:12-13; 1 Samuel 12:24; 2 Chronicles 19:7; Job 28:28; Psalm 19:9, 34:11; Proverbs 1:7, 8:13, 9:10, 14:27; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Isaiah 11:2-3, 33:6; Luke 1:50; Acts 9:31; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 12:28-29), but this is not the kind of fear that Satan uses. As we said above, what you fear or reverence drives and motivates you. The Lord is not an adversary who uses fear to drive you to a snare but one who is worthy of our reverence, respect, and worship – One worth following. We can trust Him because He, like He teaches His people refuses “to practice cunning or to tamper with [His] Word, but by the open statement of the truth [commends Himself and us] to everyone’s conscience” (2 Corinthians 4:2). We can trust Him because He deals in truth; in fact, He is the Truth (John 14:6). 

While Satan is on the prowl seeking to devour and destroy, God offers His mighty hand to lift us up and offers the opportunity to cast “all [our] anxieties on Him, because He cares for [us]” (1 Peter 5:6-7). You can trust the Lord and be safe (Psalm 62:8). There is a big difference between prowling around like a lion and being the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5)! Jesus is the genuine article and came to seek and save the lost instead of seeking destruction (Luke 19:10, John 3:17)!

Your fear of what man can do to you lays a snare. But trusting in God brings safety – from the snare, from destruction, from being devoured.

That’s good news to those who trust in the Lord! How about you? Will you be driven by your fear of man or your trust in God?

For the month of October (and November for slowpokes like me), we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.

This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.

Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?

Daily Wisdom Challenge — Proverbs 28

This #DailyWisdomChallenge has been convicting for me. As I have walked through these proverbs, God’s wisdom has outshone the anti-wisdom of the world – the anti-wisdom that lures us to sin instead of illuminating our understanding that there is a God who loves us and made a way for us to come to Him. Proverb 28:13 is a good example of this. 

Human beings mess up. A lot. When we mess up and our actions go against God’s righteous standard and expectation, going directly against what God has said, this is called sin. We all do it. First and foremost, we sin against God (Psalm 51:4). This is the case even when we are sinning against other people as well, which is the second point here. This is important to know because sometimes we like to subscribe to the idea that our sin only affects us. It doesn’t. The consequences of our sin affects others, especially when there are people who receive some of the sin we commit.

If we lie, we have sinned against God and the person we lied to. If the lie is about someone else, that adds to it.

If we murder, we have sinned against God. Clearly, we have sinned against the victim, but the sin extends to his or her family, friends, and so on. The toll can be catastrophic in some circles.

If we sin, we sin against God and others. Period.

The reality of sin is that judgment and condemnation is deserved. A holy God created this world and has the authority to say what is right and wrong, holy and righteous. We might not like it. We might wish He had decided that our pet sins were ok or to let something slide, but He is holy and cannot abide with sin. If He did, He would not be holy – definitely not righteous. The good news is that God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him and not receive that wrath that is due for our sin (Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 15:16-21).

The word “reconcile” is helpful here in our understanding of sin. You see, when people talk about sin deserving death, they balk and try to explain how their sin does not warrant such a penalty. But reconcile does not leave room for that. Because we have sinned against God, we are in need of reconciliation because the relationship has been damaged. Sinning against Him puts enmity between us (Romans 5:10). Things need to be put right.

Our proverb today says that the only way for things to be made right between people, where one has done wrong and the other been wronged, is for the transgression to be confessed. Concealing it only allows it to fester – think along the lines of a boil beneath one’s skin. Reconciliation cannot happen unless the transgression is confessed and dealt with. This is essentially the message that Paul shared with the church at Corinth when he shared with them about how God through Christ offers opportunity to be reconciled to Him where He does not count “their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). And He explains this in one of the most beautifully succinct examples of the gospel – the good news of Jesus – in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Just as it happens between people, reconciliation means confession needs to be made. 2 Corinthians 5:21 gives us a picture of the God we have sinned against putting His perfect, sinless Son forward in our place to bear the punishment of sin. Those who believe in Him exchange their sin and the debt due for it for Jesus’s righteousness and favor. Jesus, the God we sinned against, puts forth the offering that makes our relationship right. He trades our sin debt for His eternal riches of grace, mercy, and love. He trades our rightful wages of death with a gracious portion of His eternal life. He trades our rap sheet for His righteousness. 

Concealing our sin and acting like it does not exist only delays the inevitable. Confessing it – confessing Jesus as Lord and believing He rose from the grave (Romans 10:9) – gives opportunity for reconciliation and salvation. One side leads to death and the other to life. 

The advice of Proverbs 28:13 points us toward God’s wisdom and counting all we have as loss for the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8) and forsaking the anti-wisdom of the world that leads us to think there is no consequence for sin. 

Lord, thank you for offering reconciliation when we don’t deserve it – when no one else in the world would. Reconciliation is hard to come by, but it reflects Your heart toward those who turn to you. Help me to confess my sin to you instead of concealing it. Help me to do the same for others I sin against as well. Amen.

For the month of October (and *hopefully* the early part of November), we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.

This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.

Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?

Songs for Sunday, October 27, 2024 @ Christ Community Church

Tomorrow is Sunday — the LORD’s Day!

I don’t know about y’all, but I can’t wait because I need it.

I need to be reminded fresh that we gather in remembrance of Jesus’s resurrection (Luke 24:1-6). The reason we gather on the first day of the week is because that is when the stone was rolled away from the tomb, and Jesus, the Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3), rose from the dead by His own divine power (John 10:17-18, John 2:19-21). He fulfilled His promises to return, and His body just stopped being dead (Matthew 28:5-6, Romans 6:9). As Peter put it, “God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24).

I need to be reminded that I am not the only one struggling with sin and this fallen world (Romans 7:18-25). Part of gathering together is reminding each other that the God who saves and raised from the dead — who promised that He would save, die for our sins, and rise from the grave — is faithful to keep His promises (2 Corinthians 1:20, John 10:28-29, Hebrews 10:23). Part of gathering together is having my brothers and sisters “stir me up” to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24-25). I need to be stirred up or else I will get stuck like a noodle to a hot pot, so I need my faith family to stir me — to lift me — up (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Galatians 6:2).

I need to be reminded that none of this is all about me. Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus is God (John 1:1-3). All that there is belongs to Him (Colossians 1:16-17, Psalm 24:1). In fact, I belong to Him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). But rather than be humbled to despondency or insignificance, I get reminded that the King of kings and Lord of lords, God Most High, set His affections on me and saved me because He loves me (Deuteronomy 7:7-8, Ephesians 2:4-5). We all get reminded that He looks upon the weak and lowly with compassion and saves all who call upon the name of the Lord (Psalm 34:18, Romans 10:13).

I need to be reminded that all of this — my life and this world and everything in between — belongs to Jesus (Colossians 1:16-17, Psalm 24:1). I need that specific time set apart specially to worship and focus on Jesus to remind me that all my times should be so set apart (Psalm 46:10, Colossians 3:1-2). I need my focus reoriented. I need my eyes lifted up from the mire and the weights of this world and set on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2, Psalm 121:1-2). I need this reorientation turning my life back toward Him like a compass to the north (Psalm 25:4-5, Isaiah 26:3).

Simply put, I need Jesus, and my brothers and sisters in Him need Jesus, too.

Tomorrow, at Christ Community Church, that is what our focus and effort will be aiming at: pointing people, pointing each other, to Jesus.

Our songs will be focused on seeing Jesus as the Bible presents Him. We will see Him as God and be overwhelmed by His magnitude and magnificence (Colossians 1:15-17, Hebrews 1:3). We will see Him as the prophesied man of sorrows who bore our sin and shame to give us life (Isaiah 53:3-5, 1 Peter 2:24). We will see Him as the reigning King who promised to return to rescue us in power and finality (Revelation 19:11-16, Matthew 24:30). We will Him lifting us up and fighting our battles (Romans 8:37). We will see that He has a frightening level of power that humbles us and moves us to worship Him all the more, in awe of what He has done, can do, and will do (Job 26:14, Revelation 5:12-13).

Our time in the Word will see our pastor, John Goldwater, open God’s Word and point us to Jesus.

Our time spent in worship together will remind us of the solidarity that comes from being in a family — dysfunctional as we be — who is bound together by love and common-purpose. I cannot wait to stand to raise my voice in the crowd and hear my brothers and sisters singing to Jesus and proclaim His gospel to me.

What about you?

What are your plans for the LORD’s day?

If you are in or around Grenada, MS, we at Christ Community would to invite you to gather with us and allow us to introduce you to King Jesus.

Here are our Scriptures and songs:

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Daily Wisdom Challenge — Proverbs 20

For the month of October, we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.

This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.

Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?

One of the greatest joys I have had while walking through the Proverbs in this #DailyWisdomChallenge is finding little gospel nuggets like Proverbs 20:6. I have to remind myself, still after years of knowing Christ and studying His Word, that learning Him is not an academic exercise or wisdom for wisdom’s sake (Ephesians 4:20-21). No, time spent in study of God’s Word is time spent with Him. And as we walk through it, Old Testament or New, it is Jesus we know more and more.

Proverbs 20:6 does not directly point to Jesus, but He is such a stark contrast to this rhetorical question that He appears. Before the question of “a faithful man who can find?” comes a statement: “Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love…”. That word translated “steadfast love” here is the Hebrew word hesed (or chesed depending on your pronunciation). It, like the NT word agape is used throughout the OT to describe the great love of God – His never failing, never giving up, eternal love that He has for His people. This is where the contrast comes in: the proverb states that there are “many” men who are proclaiming their own “steadfast love”. 

I don’t know about you, but any time I go to proclaiming my excellence or how good I have something or can do something is right about the time that I am humbled (or humiliated). For many to profess their own steadfast love is recipe for a letdown. That is the reason for the question about who can find a “faithful man”. 

Human beings are not capable of “steadfast love” on their own. Our love is all too often the opposite of steadfast. If agape is “unconditional love”, our human love is conditional. Sadly, our love for our own selves outweighs our love for others. Our love for comfort outweighs love for others. Our love for our own honor and what we deserve or feel entitled to outweighs our love for others. I could keep going, but I am guessing you get the picture. 

The “steadfast love” of God is different. He is kind of defined by His “steadfast love” as it is part of the way He introduced Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6 – that He is a God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”. We see that identity solidified in the NT in 1 John that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and that He shows us His love by sending “His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9). His love motivated Him becoming the “propitiation” – the wrath-bearing atoning sacrifice – for our sins (1 John 4:10). And, if we are to be capable of that kind of love it is because “He first loved us” (1 John 4:19)!

You may have experienced hurt from someone who proclaims love for you and disappoints. It’s a pretty common thing. People fail at this, even people who have experienced the saving love of God in Jesus. You may have been – or are now – at a point when you found yourself asking like Proverbs 20:6 who can find “a faithful man”. Rest assured, Jesus is the “faithful man”! He described this great love Himself on His last night with His disciples before He was crucified for our sin: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down His life for His friends” (John 15:13).

Thankfully then, in Jesus we can turn the question in Proverbs 20:6 into a definitive declaration of God’s love and faithfulness. God proclaims His own steadfast love, and He is truly faithful!

Daily Wisdom Challenge — Proverbs 18

For the month of October, we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.

This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.

Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?

Outside of God saving me, the single greatest blessing in my life is God allowing me to be married to Candice. It does not take much thought or thinking through our relationship over the last twenty-three years to confirm that she is definitely my “good thing” and an example of God’s grace and “favor” in my life. And none who know or care for me would disagree.

But Proverbs 18:22 is not just about me and Candice. It, like so many other proverbs, finds its meaning not only in its own words but in contrast to others. As we looked at when discussing the “forbidden woman” v. the wife of one’s youth in Proverb 5, there is a contrast between the life that God prescribes and the paths that forge on their own. In the coming chapters of Proverbs (21:19 and 25:24), there is a contrast between wives who seek to be something other than a good thing or godly favor but to drive their husbands to be better off living “in a desert land” (Proverbs 21:19) or on “a corner of the housetop than in a house” (Proverbs 25:24).

Proverbs 18:22 represents living according to God’s wisdom in contrast to the anti-wisdom of the temptations of the forbidden woman or the plight of a quarrelsome marriage. God has a specific design for marriage and, as He Himself invented marriage, His design works best.

Before we get into God’s design for marriage, let us clarify as we did in our our “Adorned With Christ in All of Life: Marriage” part of our Colossians series, marriage isn’t for everyone, as Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 7. Marriage is good and “should be held in honor” (Hebrews 13:4), but Paul says those who stay unmarried can have even greater devotion to Christ (1 Corinthians 7:38).

God’s design for marriage began when He remarked in the Garden of Eden that it was “not good” that Adam “should be alone” and decided to “make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). God performed the first surgery and the first marriage in quick succession. He created Eve from Adam’s rib and joined them together as man and wife. Their union was to be the example for those marriages moving forward — in intimacy as well as how it was set apart (Genesis 2:23-25).

Many try and abuse God’s design for marriage by citing the term “helper” (Genesis 2:18) and the call to submission in Ephesians 5:22, but those picture something different for marriage — something better. You see, God did not create marriage for a man’s benefit but also for women.

While it is “favor from the Lord” for man to find a wife, it is not a curse for the wife. The husband is to love and care for his wife “as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Marriage is to be a picture of the gospel (Ephesians 5:32).

To find God’s purpose for your life is a good thing. If it is singleness, that is a good and godly pursuit. If it is marriage, that is a good and godly pursuit. But both should be sought as God prescribes.

Marriage works best the way God intended with husbands caring for and loving their wives and wives caring for and loving their husbands. When I think specifically of how God has blessed me and shown favor to me in my wife, I think of the rib He used to make Eve (Genesis 2:21). God did not just design marriage; He also designed the human body. He made the rib cage to protect the most vital human organs like the heart and lungs. My wife is small, but she is fiercely protective of those she loves. She is protective of me even when I think I do not need protection. She looks to care for me even when I think I am the only one doing the caring and providing.

She has also taught me what it is to be a “helper” in the Genesis 2:18 sense. Everything that I do is enhanced because God has put her in my life. He has changed and grown me immensely over the years by His indwelling Spirit, and He has given me a desire to change, grown, and be better for the wife He has given me.

If you are reading this and married, take time and thank God for the spouse He has given you. Then, talk to your spouse and tell them you are thankful for them. Know that God has a plan for your marriage as surely as He has a plan for you (Ephesians 2:10), and see to it that you represent God’s favor to your spouse rather than husband-ing or wife-ing in such a way that they are headed for the desert or the roof! As Martin Luther said centuries ago, “Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.”

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of marriage. Thank you for the way that Your relationship with Your church gives us the perfect example of love and a high standard to live up to — a standard worth striving for. Thank you for Candice and make me a man worth being married to!

Daily Wisdom Challenge — Proverbs 17

For the month of October, we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.

This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.

Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?

This proverb his my right square in my heart.

I spent the bulk of my childhood being the butt of many jokes, and made fun of quite mercilessly. I was beat up and often bullied. The bruises faded and broken glasses were replaced, but the scars — physical and emotional — remain.

This is one of the reasons I wanted to become a teacher. Throughout those years of being bullied, there were a handful that took notice, but most, for whatever reason, were oblivious or chalked it up to that’s just the way kids are. If you have never been treated like this (or were on the giving side of these sorts of encounters rather than the receiving), you do not know what a relief it is when someone notices and helps you. Carrie Mack and Linda Bumpers at Willa Wilson Elementary were blessings from God that helped me see my value despite the efforts of bus riders and drivers who were glad to see it stomped out. These ladies still to this day look for and out for me and are encouragements in my life. Seeing either of them today fills my heart with joy and encouragement and reminds me of light in the midst of darkness.

In middle school, I know teachers saw me being bullied. The example that first comes to mind is Mike Miles. He knew what I was going through without being told. He went and had my schedule changed so that I would be out of the study hall where my misery was always the subject of study to his study hall. He taught me how to play chess. He encouraged me to read books if that’s what I liked to do. In fact, that was the gist of what he taught me (other than the math he was tasked with): he taught me to be who God had made me to be and not let others diminish that. When I see him even today, I never hesitate to tell him how thankful I am that God used him to save my life — that when others worked to convince me my life had no value, God used him to remind me who and Whose I was.

There was one particular memory that came to mind when I read this verse that convicts me still to this day. When I think of this particular memory, I am filled with nauseating guilt even though it has been over twenty years ago.

In sixth grade, Carolyn Swanson saw that I had been bullied and mistreated as well. She also noticed other students who endured the same. Sixth grade back then meant mandatory PE a few days a week (some days library or music). For me, that was like painting a giant bullseye because that meant either getting picked last for teams or not at all (this was the 1990s; participation was not mandatory, and exclusion/mockery were allowed). Even though I did not want to be picked because that would mean I could go up into the stands and read rather than embarrassing myself athletically in a very public way, I really wanted to be picked. Well, I really wanted to belong.

One particular day, a group of the more popular guys approached me and pointed out one of my classmates. Me and this other guy were basically tied for least popular in the sixth grade as well as in who could be made fun of more. Neither of us were athletic. Neither of us came from families with much money. Both of us were quiet and clothed differently than others. The guys convinced me that the surest way to be one of them — to get picked for teams and get to hang out with them — was to make fun of the other guy. He had just gotten some new boots that he was proud of and had worn them to school. It made me sick to my stomach to think of doing that to someone else, but this could have meant that I got bumped up a level and got a reprieve from being made fun of. So, right there in the middle school gym, I let the other guy have it. I was ugly. It was shameful. He cried. And then the other guys started in — on me.

Their plan all along was to embarrass me and show that I was fake. They knew I professed to be a Christian and saw this as an opportunity to cast aspersions on that profession of faith. They gave me every bit of what I gave the other guy and worse. I cried, too, but not so much for what I was receiving but that I had allowed myself to do to the other guy what I knew was terrible.

Mrs. Swanson somehow found out about this, and I can remember what she said to me about it like it was yesterday. She told me that it was worse for me to do that than the others because I truly knew what it felt like to be treated like that. This was not a means for her to belittle me but to invest in me. She fussed at me, and I deserved it. She told me that she expected more out of me and knew that I would learn from this and grow into the man she knew I could be — despite my failure and because I would learn from it.

I am ashamed to say that it took months for me to get the courage to apologize to the other guy, and before I could, he moved away. It took nearly twenty years to get in contact with him again. I won’t tell you a story of apology and reconciliation here because I do not want to paint myself as a good guy for any of this. I want to help you understand Proverbs 17:5.

Everyone you come into contact with is made in the image of God. He created them and formed them in their mother’s womb. Each of us is unique, with unique features and personalities. Some of us, like myself, are more different than societal norms than others. And it is all too easy to make fun rather than to show care and respect.

This is not wrong merely for the human life you did not respect. It is a slap in the face of their “Maker”.

If someone is going through a tough time — some “calamity” — whether it is their fault, someone else’s fault, or nobody’s fault, it is not a time for mockery. Even if you think someone is getting the “calamity” they deserve, it is not a time to mock and make fun; we sure don’t enjoy it when calamities of our own making find us.

I guess this is really a plea to be kind to others and recognize that the same God who made you made them. There is never a time to mock or insult. There is always time to show love and care.

For me, this drove me to become a teacher. The examples of those who took up for me influence how I interact with kids — all of them I have and all that I can — on a daily basis. The example of the one who saw me becoming like the others and intervened has a daily impact, too, on the man God made me to be as well as in ways that I can watch out for others as well. I pray that this little bit of testimony helps you along the way, whether you are the bully, the bullied, or the bystander. Let us look out for others and look to God for how He would have us to treat folks.

Daily Wisdom Challenge — Proverbs 16

For the month of October, we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.

This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.

Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?

Today’s proverb is another example of how we can see the gospel clearly pictured in the proverbs. This shows the beauty of God’s wisdom showing us how to come to Him and the danger of the anti-wisdom of the world that leads us away from Him.

We have looked at the “fear of the LORD” in most every chapter of Proverbs so far. To understand the “fear of the LORD” in the context of the gospel is especially important in present-day America when many preachers use fear as a means for convincing people to walk an aisle and make a decision for Jesus. This sort of fear-driven invitation time leads can lead to confusion and false conversion — and people wanting to be “re-saved” every time they sin and find themselves afraid of God’s wrath. When it comes to Biblical “fear of the LORD”, this definitely ain’t that!

The “fear of the LORD” described in the Bible (Proverbs 1:29, 2:4-6, 3:7, 8:13, 9:10, 14:26-27, 15:33, 16:6; Job 28:28; Psalm 34:11; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Acts 9:31) is best described as having deep respect, admiration, and awe for God. It is the basis for truly understanding and knowing Him and comes from having a relationship with Him because He saved and redeemed you. It changes your life and is fueled by having His Spirit within you and seeing Him influence your desires, attitudes, choices, feelings, actions, and goals. Knowing Him this way understands that He has a frightening level of power and wrath, but you do not have to live in fear of Him because He cares for you and His Son bore His wrath on your behalf.

This “fear of the LORD” gives us a desire to turn “away from evil” because you see Him and “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus [as] Lord” (Philippians 3:8). This “fear of the LORD” is fueled by His “steadfast love and faithfulness” despite our “iniquity”, knowing that He atones for sin for those He saves.

For those who do not turn to Him, those who reject Him and put their trust in themselves, there is much to fear, in the traditional, literal sense of fear, but this fear does not see people turn from their sin. People may curb their behaviors or hide their desires because of fear, but no real change happens. The change God brings in people through His steadfast love and faithful salvation brings real change, from the inside out.

What about you?

Do you fear the Lord in the Biblical sense, or are you merely scared of His wrath?

Is He the God of the universe or some vengeful and distant deity?

One is the God who saves as presented in the Bible. His name is Jesus.

It is my prayer that you see Him for who He is, confess Him as Lord, and believe in Him.

Daily Wisdom Challenge — Proverbs 13

For the month of October, we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.

This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.

Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?

We spoke of discipline in the #DailyWisdomChallenge for Proverbs 12, and here it shows up again.

First, let me add a disclaimer that this is not a proverb or post advocating child abuse or the beating of children. God did not mean that in Proverbs 13:24. God is a loving Father who knows what appropriate discipline is for His children — and thereby ours.

Raising children is hard, but it is such a worthwhile thing. I thought I knew what love was until I met Candice; then, I found that my heart had the capacity for more love than I thought possible. Then, I heard Keri’s heartbeat for the first time in the doctor’s office and realized I knew nothing. Then, came Xander and I found yet more room and capacity for love. Add to them my nieces and nephew. I have discovered more love than I knew existed.

If you talk to me for very long or often, my wife and kiddos come up. I write a lot about Candice and our marriage as illustration for various Bible studies, but I try to lay off the kids because, well, the internet and to keep from them thinking their lives are nothing but sermon fodder. My children bring me more joy than I am capable of expressing in words, either spoken or written. Both of them are unique and special. I, of course, am biased. I am their biggest fan (by size only and second only to their mama). They are good kids. And they are bad kids, too.

My kids are not perfect, and I try to live with the understanding that I can never say what they will never do because, like their father, they have the capacity to sin and mess things up. That brings in my least favorite part of parenting: discipline. I hate having to do it. Read that again: HAVING to do it.

I have to discipline them because I want to protect them from dangers outside and inside of them.

I have to discipline them because they need to learn from their mistakes (and ones I have made in the past, too).

I have to discipline them because that is the way God set up parenting in this fallen world. It is the model He gives in the way that He parents us (Hebrews 12:5-8).

Our proverb today says that parents discipline out of love (Proverbs 13:24), and it mirrors the way that “the Lord disciplines the one He loves” (Hebrews 12:6).

I definitely don’t have all of the answers to how to discipline children, and I don’t claim to. What I do know is that the discipline that has to be done is supposed to be borne out of love. If it seems that I am repeating myself, it is because I am. I am repeating for emphasis, and not in a way pointed at others, but as a reminder for myself.

I can remember my daddy telling someone once that he was glad to be in the stage of life when my sister, brother, and I were grown. He said that once the parenting was over, he had gained friends in his children. The person he was talking to asked something, signifying that they thought his comment was odd. What he said after that is what is so poignant for our subject today. Daddy said that he loved spending time with us when we were growing up, but that he loved us too much to try and be our friends when we needed a daddy more than a friend.

When I look at Keri and Xander (and Sophie, Krislyn, Penelope, Caleb, Sunday, and Mae), my heart swells with love that I cannot describe. I love to spend time with them. I love to hear their jokes and their dreams and their complaints and whatever they want to tell me. I am so glad when they talk to me because I know it will not always be the case. As they grow, I will not always be a favorite person. When correction is needed, I am not what they want. But, Lord willing, I will have the Spirit-filled courage to be who they need. Then, when they are all grown up, I can rejoice in what the Lord has done in them and who He has made them to be.

In the meantime, the tough love of discipline is worth it because they are worth it.

Daily Wisdom Challenge — Proverbs 12

For the month of October, we are answering the challenge John Goldwater, pastor of Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS, laid out — the #DailyWisdomChallenge. Each day, we are going to read through a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month.

This fits with what we have studied in Colossians, specifically Colossians 3:1-2, namely that we should seek “the things that are above, where Christ is” and set our minds like a thermostat “on things that are above, not on things that are on earth”. Imagine what a month meditating on God’s Word daily can do for us.

Won’t you join us on this #DailyWisdomChallenge and set your minds on Christ?

Today’s verse immediately brings a quote by fictional character Dwight Shrute. In an episode of The Office, Dwight was responding to the the faux documentary crew asking what the best advice his boss, Michael Scott, had ever given him. Here’s his response:

“Whenever I’m about to do something, I think, ‘Would an idiot do that?’ And if they would, I do not do that thing.”

While that is quippy and meant to be funny, it fits well with Proverbs 12:1. 

I had to read this verse twice, which led me to choose this for the 12th installation in the #DailyWisdomChallenge. After having the above quote come to mind, I asked myself who in their right mind “loves discipline”? Well, this is why we are seeking wisdom from God in this challenge – to get in the right mind and thereby set our minds on things that are above rather than on the things of this world and the false or anti-wisdom that comes with it (Colossians 3:2).

My views on discipline have changed drastically over the years. As a kid, I hated it. I genuinely hated everything about getting in trouble. The older I got, the more the discipline and correction changed. The things that did not embed in me through quick punishment required longer punishment. There were lengthy conversations and explanations of why right was right and the dangers of the wrong. When I thought I knew better (and was “stupid” by hating my parents’ “reproof”), the discipline hurt all the more as I got to see my parents disappointed in me, knowing that I was supposed to know better.

As I got older and began working with kids – whether it be at church or my time spent tutoring at the Reedy Acres campus of the Baptist Children’s Village, my views on discipline changed. There were times that “reproof” needed to happen, and I found myself on the side of doling out discipline. All my thoughts of wanting to try my parents’ side of discipline quickly evaporated as I learned that it was not at all enjoyable to work and repeat “reproof” often enough for it to have the opportunity to sink in. 

Now, I have kids of my own and classrooms full of kiddos at work. Discipline is part of it. It is a responsibility. It is not to be taken lightly. But it is necessary as it is how we learn. 

Who in their right mind “loves discipline”, then? Well, the man or woman who has received discipline and grown from it. This, of course, fits with the parental and teacherly discipline I spoke of above, but it fits even better when we look at the grace and love our heavenly Father shows us when He bears with us and disciplines us. Read that again: the discipline of the Father is a gift of grace borne out of His love for us. 

In Hebrews 12, we see a beautiful picture of how to interpret proverbs like ours today. The writer quotes Proverbs 3:11-12 in Hebrews 12:5-6:

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.”

It is easier to love discipline when you know what it is to be loved by the Father. It is easier to love the tough-love He gives from time to time when we realize that in so doing He is “treating [us] as sons” (Hebrews 12:7).

If you are struggling with this, you are not alone. But, if you’ll forgive one more fictional character quote, Forrest Gump’s mother spoke true when she taught him, “Stupid is as stupid does.” In the case of Proverbs 12:1, stupid is hating reproof and learning nothing. God graciously offers the opportunity to repent and learn from Him.

May we learn to love His discipline more than we desire to do what we want to do!

May we learn that it comes from His love and lean into His discipline rather than kicking against it!