Posts Tagged ‘lady wisdom’

Proverbs 08:10 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: November 12, 2013 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 8:10 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice silver

How important is financial gain to you? How much effort do you put into professional improvement? Do you have a personal plan to advance professionally and improve your financial situation? How much concern, study, and time into savings or investments? Is your ultimate goal to be financially independent because you have acquired all you need?

Lady Wisdom speaks here, and she advertises her instruction and knowledge as better than silver and gold. Great efforts are made to acquire money during a lifetime, but men make very little effort in comparison to obtain wisdom and understanding. Are the priorities in your life geared toward instruction and knowledge, or toward income?

This comparison is made often in Proverbs. Solomon saw that most men were eager and diligent to pursue money, and he more than any man realized that wisdom is greater than any financial asset or accomplishment (Pr 4:7; Eccl 12:13-14). Both he and his father David exalted wisdom above riches (Pr 3:13-14; 8:11,19; 16:16; Ps 119:72,127).

America is a carnal and materialistic society. The rich are viewed as successful – the higher the income, the better the man, most believe. They spend years preparing for a particular profession, and some work many more hours than necessary to seek riches and success. But they neglect wisdom, which could save their lives from pain and trouble.

Money is a good thing to have, as it can eliminate many of life’s small irritations. Solomon wrote, “Money answereth all things” (Eccl 10:19). But it is far inferior to wisdom. For He also wrote, “For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it” (Eccl 7:12).

Instruction and knowledge are found in the Word of God. Do you value the Bible more than financial success? Does this show in your desire to read and study it? David said of the Scriptures, “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward” (Ps 19:10-11). Do you love Scripture like he did?

Men are happy to work overtime. Are you as happy when the pastor preaches overtime? Successful men go beyond expectations and competitors in performing their jobs. Do you read and study more than the bare minimum and what your peers are doing? Diligent men never miss a day of work. Are you as faithful in reading the Bible? Examine yourself.

There are 168 hours in a week. There are 1440 minutes in a day. You know how many of them are spent pursuing income. How many are spent pursuing wisdom? You cannot study the Bible even close to the hours you must work, unless you are in the ministry. But how many minutes or hours in a week do you give the fear of the Lord and the pursuit of wisdom? Finding wisdom takes the diligence of hunting for hid treasure (Pr 2:1-5).

Wisdom loves those who love her (Pr 8:17). Can she tell that you love her? Or do you appear to be in love with mammon – the world’s god of money and success? You cannot love both (Matt 6:24; I Tim 6:6-10; Jas 4:4). Set your heart on wisdom and God’s Scriptures as your heritage and joy instead of the things of this life (Ps 119:111).

“Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,” Solomon wrote (Pr 23:23). You buy these things by giving up other activities and pursuits in your life. You give up the carnal ambitions of the world to put more emphasis on wisdom. Jesus commended wise men, who sold all for His kingdom (Matt 13:44-46).

What if you gain the whole world, but lose your own soul (Matt 16:26)? If your priorities are out of line, the consequences are costly! Tell Lady Wisdom right now that you love her and appreciate her offer by confessing your slothfulness to God, and then alter your schedule to make more time for wisdom. God will hear the words, see the effort, and He will bless you with more wisdom or both more wisdom and financial gain (I Kgs 3:5-13)!

Proverbs 08:05 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: August 8, 2013 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 8:05 – You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding. 

Are people willing to take the position to admit that they are not adequate, to say I am a sinner and that I really don’t have intellectual problems?  Sometimes I think it is a joke to listen to folk with “intellectual” problems. How many times do we hear people say, “I have intellectual problems about the Bible?”  What they really have is a sin problem, and he didn’t want to give up his sin.  I have discovered that if a person has a sin problem and will turn to Christ with that problem, it is amazing how often the intellectual problems will be solved.

Wisdom calls you! Will you consider her precious gifts? She offers understanding and wisdom to the simple and foolish. Do you hear her? Or are you too busy? Or are you too proud to know you are ignorant? Or are you too rebellious to change your ways for her?

Lady Wisdom says those who reject her must love death (Pr 8:36). If you disregard her offer, you do so to your own peril. God will bring calamities into your life, and He will laugh when you tremble in fear and beg for His help (Pr 1:20-32; Ps 2:4; 37:13). He will mock your troubles and your fears. The warning is harsh, but it is truly the words of God.

Solomon continued his personification of wisdom in this chapter.  See the comments on Prov 8:1. Wisdom, the ability to judge correctly, is presented as a woman here and in other parts of this book. It has been said, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!” It is your prudence to soberly consider the gracious offer of this glorious and terrible woman.

In this verse, Lady Wisdom exhorts simple and foolish men to take the wisdom and understanding she offers. All men are born foolish and ignorant, and she implores them to take and use her wisdom. Implied is the rhetorical question, Why do you want to continue in the stupidity and lusts of your ignorance (Pr 1:22; Ex 16:28; I Kgs 18:21)? Why?

Every parent thinks this about their children, and every pastor thinks it about church members. Parents watch their children ignore instruction and rush into pain and trouble, and pastors watch members do the same. The father and preacher in this book, Solomon, by the inspiration of God, calls for you to hear his instruction and learn wisdom.

Are you offended being called simple and foolish? It should not offend you. You came into this world messing on yourself, and you will go out doing the same. Unless you take God’s offer of wisdom, you are not any better right now. The world spews pagan and perverse filth at you daily in increasing intensity – you need God’s wisdom desperately.

If wisdom is the ability to rightly judge, do you have it? If understanding is accurate discernment, do you have it? There is only one way to know. Are your thoughts and actions in perfect agreement with God’s written word? Scripture alone defines wisdom, and any thoughts to the contrary are insane (Ps 19:7; 119:130; Isaiah 8:20; I Tim 6:3-5).

You cannot know wisdom by nature; you must obtain it by instruction. You cannot find truth by rationalization; it requires revelation from the God of truth. There is no better source than these proverbs for wisdom (Pr 1:1-4). Do you fear and crave their words? The Bible is God’s book of truth (Ps 119:160; 19:9). Do you love it preached to you?

Scripture addresses every area of your life – sex, employment, speech, money, eating, children, exercise, driving, thoughts, hair, television, clothing, friends, etc. If you think or act contrary to what is written, you have not advanced beyond the diapers that recently protected you, and your thoughts are the braying of a donkey (Job 11:12; II Pet 2:12).

Why be a fool? Take the offered wisdom and understanding today! How? Humble yourself before God’s word and this warning, repent of your foolishness, repudiate your sins, admit your ignorance, and conform every thought, word, and action to His holy word. Find a Bible-preaching church that emphasizes truth and wisdom and join it.

Proverbs 09:12 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: May 9, 2013 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 9:12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.”

Your future is in your hands – in your heart and mind – for good or bad. Your response to wisdom will drastically affect your life one way or the other. Great privileges have great responsibilities. Individual liberty has individual consequences. What will happen to you?

The great choice of life, which Solomon repeated often, is the choice of wisdom. If you choose her, you will be blessed; if you reject her, you will be punished. There is no escape; your choice will be repaid. You will bear the consequences. Your wisdom cannot benefit God, nor does your folly hurt him (Job 35:5-8). You alone will bear the results.

The Preacher of the New Testament, Paul warned, “Every man shall bear his own burden” (Gal 6:5). Do not be deceived; God is not mocked; whatever you sow, that is what you will reap (Gal 6:7-8). So dear reader, you must prove your own work, and then you may have rejoicing in yourself, without measuring by others at all (Gal 6:4).

The personification of wisdom continues from the previous chapter to this climactic verse. Lady Wisdom offers you a house and wonderful feast (Pr 9:1-5). What will you do with her invitation? This is the chance of a lifetime! Blessings beyond description are offered (Pr 8:11)! Or will you ignore her and choose certain death for yourself (Pr 8:36)?

After this dramatic conclusion, you are reminded again of the foolish and whorish woman, Folly, of which there are many in the world (Pr 9:13-18). This woman intends to destroy young men. She also has a house, prepared with a perfumed bed, but she takes her foolish and unsuspecting guests to hell with her (Pr 5:3-13; 6:23-35; 7:6-23; 9:18).

Today, dear reader, you must choose. And tomorrow you must choose again. Will you humble yourself before God’s perfect words of wisdom? Or will you reject them in the pride, stubbornness, and rebellion of your foolish heart? You cannot avoid the choice. What will it be? You will govern your thoughts, words, and actions by revealed wisdom, or you will reject it and allow your habits, lusts, the world, and others to direct your life.

What does the Bible mean to you? How important is it for you to learn and obey it? The great men of Bible history craved it and diligently followed it. Do you faithfully listen to the preaching of it by a man chosen by Jesus Christ, who does not entertain at all but rather declares God’s will without apology or compromise? If not, why not? If not, you must be a scorner. Remember the warning of the proverb, “Thou alone shalt bear it.”

Ezekiel wrote, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek 18:20). Solomon warns, “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself” (Pr 14:14). If you backslide from wisdom, the Lord will fill your life with the painful results. But the man who rejects folly will be satisfied with personal blessings.

Moses warned, “Be sure your sin will find you out,” (Num 32:23). These eight words are as certain as gravity and death. No matter what you think of sin, it has consequences. No matter where you sin, God sees and knows all (Pr 15:3; Jer 23:23-24). No matter what precautions you take to protect yourself, they will absolutely not work (Pr 11:21; 16:5).

If you play with sin, you will suffer for it; if you choose godliness, you will be blessed. The way of transgressors is hard (Pr 13:15), and you will not know how hard until it is too late (Pr 1:20-32; Ps 36:1-3). When God swears in anger, there is no deliverance, even if you try to repent (Pr 29:1; Num 14:39-45; Ps 95:7-11; Heb 4:1; 10:26-31; 12:16-17).

Lot scorned wisdom, violating this proverb; he lost great potential blessings and riches; you last see him sitting in the mouth of a cave, ruined, with his two daughters pregnant by his own folly. But Abraham chose wisdom. God called him His friend, told him he was righteous, and covered him with many blessings in a very long life. Heaven is called Abraham’s bosom, and his Seed sits at the right hand of God and provides its million!

Last, consider this contrast from Jesus Christ: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). And another, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). Have you believed and been baptized Wisdom’s way?

Proverbs 18:17 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: May 8, 2013 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me and those who seek me find me.

Lady Wisdom promises love to those who will love her, and she promises to be easily found by those who will seek her early. If you love wisdom, she will love you in return and bless your life. If you seek wisdom, you will find her easily, as she is not far from any man (1:20-23; 8:1-5). What is your problem? Love wisdom and seek her now!

Lady Wisdom in this text makes herself available to all who will love and seek her. What is wisdom? The power of right judgment! What is its basis? The fear of the Lord! Where is wisdom most clearly defined and explained? In the word of God! If a man loves Scripture and seeks it early, he will most certainly find knowledge and understanding.

Lady Wisdom loves those who love her. Her love brings honor, riches, life, and God’s favor. What more could you want? Her love is better than rubies, silver, gold, or anything you can imagine. Do you love her? She measures your love by the priority you give her.

Most of the world hates Lady Wisdom (Ps 14:1-3). They love her greatest enemy – the wicked woman Folly (Pr 2:16-19; 9:13-18). They want the world’s foolish lies and soap bubbles – gaily decorated by Hollywood, public education, the news media, and ignorant peers. They resent and despise God, wisdom, and truth. They love death (Pr 8:36).

But what about you? The value of Solomon’s proverbs in your life depends on what you do with them. Do you love wisdom? How do you show it? What emphasis or priority does wisdom have in your life? Do you seek her early? Do you aggressively seek her?

In much of chapters 8 and 9, Solomon personified wisdom as a lady offering affection and friendship. Contrasting Lady Wisdom with the strange woman Folly, he created a powerful image of two women seeking the souls of men. Compare the two women and their invitations of companionship that lead to very different results (Pr 9:4-5,16-17).

Lady Wisdom promises love to those who love her, and she promises to be easily found by those who seek her early. If you love wisdom, she will love you back and bless your life. If you seek wisdom, you will find her easily, as she is not far from anyone (Pr 1:20-23; 8:1-5). What holds back your affection and desire? Love wisdom and seek her now!

What does Lady Wisdom represent? What is wisdom? It is the power of right judgment, knowing the perfect response to every situation. What is its basis? The fear of the Lord! Where is wisdom most clearly defined and explained? In the Bible! If a man passionately loves and emphasizes God’s word, he will gain knowledge to drastically improve his life.

Lady Wisdom does not owe favor to any man. Men rejected wisdom in the Garden of Eden, so they have no right to truth; the asinine opinions now believed by educated men on all subjects prove their depravity. When a man chooses one lie, God will send him strong delusion to believe many more to his destruction (Ezek 14:7-11; II Thess 2:9-13).

Here is a sincere invitation and offer from God and Solomon, but it is only recognized and obeyed by the children of God. Most men have no faith, so they reject both the living God and His words in the Bible. What will you do with this gracious and kind invitation? The apostle Paul considered all things to be loss and dung in comparison with divine wisdom, which is most fully expressed in knowing Christ Jesus the Lord.

Wisdom expects you to love her. Wise men will separate themselves from foolish goals in life to focus on getting wisdom (Pr 18:1). They will make pleasing God first in their lives (Matt 6:33). Unless you have great passion for wisdom, you will search for it in vain (Pr 2:1-5). David said, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Ps 119:97). Anything less will not work. Neglecting wisdom is to love death (Pr 8:36).

Wisdom expects you to seek her early in life, before you learn man’s foolishness, or damage your life with folly, and while you have the passion and strength of youth. Solomon wrote, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not.” (Eccl 12:1). Childhood and youth are vanity, so it is the best time to reject folly and seek wisdom to avoid youthful sins (Eccl 11:10; Ps 25:7; Pr 22:6; II Tim 2:22).

Wisdom expects you to seek her early in the day, before the duties and distractions of life take your heart and mind away from the most important love of your life. Take time first thing in the morning to read God’s word and tell Him how much you love Him and desire His wisdom (Ps 63:1-6; 84:1-2; 119:18). Great men in scripture did this (Gen 19:27; Ps 5:3; 119:147). Or do it three times a day like David and Daniel (Ps 55:17; Dan 6:10).

The precious news of the gospel is that God loved His children long before they loved Him, even when they were His enemies (I Jn 4:19; Rom 5:8). God’s love for His elect is so great He drew each one to Him, caused each one to love Him, will display His love to each one more and more as they love Him, and not a single one of them can be separated from His love in time or eternity (Jer 31:3; Hos 11:3-4; Jn 14:23; Rom 5:5; 8:35-39).

Proverbs 09:03 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: April 9, 2013 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Proverbs 9:3 She has sent our maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.

The world’s best woman wants you! She has a house with seven pillars (Pr 9:1). She has prepared a feast (Pr 9:2); she wants to have an intimate meal with you (Pr 9:5). Solomon personified wisdom as a desirable woman, Lady Wisdom. Will you accept her invitation?

Wisdom is available for any man or woman who wants it. It is not far away; it is not difficult to obtain. It is not hard to find; it is not just for the intelligent or educated. There are no age or sex limitations. The only prerequisite is simplicity, or ignorance (Pr 9:4)!

If you are perplexed with any aspect of life, Wisdom is calling you. The blessed LORD God offers wisdom and understanding to men. All they must do is act on the invitation to humble themselves before Him and diligently apply the instruction He freely offers them.

Wisdom is found in creation (Ps 19:1-6), for God revealed His eternal power and Godhead by created things you see. It is also found in parents, teachers, counselors, and pastors (Pr 5:13; 24:6; Mal 2:7; Eph 6:4). But it is mostly found in the Bible (Ps 19:7-11).

The psalmist declared, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Ps 119:130). Scripture can make a minister perfect (II Tim 3:16-17). You should give attention to it, as the only light in this dark world (Is 8:20; II Pet 1:19).

God gave you a manual of wisdom in the Bible! He also promised His Spirit of wisdom to those who ask, and He will give both liberally (Luke 11:13; Eph 1:17; Col 1:9; Jas 1:5). With an offer like Solomon’s dream, do you pray for wisdom and understanding?

Her maidens want your attention. She cries out to you. You cannot please God without her. You need her to be successful or happy. You cannot face God after death without her. If you neglect or reject her call, she will punish your folly (Pr 1:20-32; 8:32-36).

Test your heart about Lady Wisdom right now. Do you appreciate your parents reproving you? Friends correcting you? A pastor warning you? Do you crave the assemblies of the saints, where the Word of God is boldly preached? Even when the sermon is long?

Do you read these proverbs carefully, seeking to extract every morsel of wisdom you can, since they are God’s inspired wisdom from the pen of King Solomon? You do not have to look far to see the maidens Lady Wisdom sent to invite you. What will you do right now?

Jesus Christ is Wisdom personified (I Cor 1:30; Col 2:3). God’s wisdom is seen clearly in the life of Jesus Christ. His apostles, eyewitnesses of His resurrection, preached His gospel throughout the world. Have you believed and obeyed that message of wisdom?

Proverbs 08:1-3 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: March 8, 2013 in Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Proverbs 8:01-03 (1) Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? (2) On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand, (3) beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud

A woman wants you! A fabulous woman! She wants to help you! She cries for you today. She is easy to find; she is right before you. You cannot miss her. She offers you wisdom and an understanding heart; she will tell you excellent and right things (Pr 8:1-6).

You are incredibly blessed today! Greetings! Lady Wisdom introduces herself as you read this sentence! She offers you pure truth, instruction, knowledge, and wisdom, which are better than silver, gold, rubies, and all the things you might desire (Pr 8:7-11).

She cries for your attention. If you two do not become close friends and companions, she will not lose – you will lose! You were born foolish and ignorant, and you will stay that way; she wants to save you from a dysfunctional and painful life and eternity.

Do not resent this proverb. Are the words boring and appear meaningless? God inspired each one of those words, and they are designed to discourage and offend foolish men, but wise men will rejoice that He sent Lady Wisdom to them today, and they will read on.

Solomon used various means in Proverbs to get your attention and teach you wisdom. He used threats, promises, pain, reward, short proverbs, long parables, observations, rules, illustrations, analogies, comparisons, social phenomena, lessons from animals, his father’s advice, the teachings of Agur, and even a letter from a royal mother to her son.

Here he used personification – the literary tool of representing an abstract thing by a person – to present wisdom to you as a noble and wonderful woman, Lady Wisdom. She introduced herself and appealed to you to hear her (Pr 8:1-10); she described her benefits for you (Pr 8:11-21); she described how God used her in creating the universe (Pr 8:22-31); and she concluded by begging you to receive her or be punished (Pr 8:32-36).

You are blessed today! The Creator has sent a written offer for you to share knowledge, truth, understanding, and wisdom that He has? His is no vain religion of ceremonies, chantings, ritual prayers, superstitions, manmade traditions, dark mysteries, offering buffalo entrails to the Great Spirit, bathing in the filthy Ganges, kissing a meteorite in Mecca, or praying the Rosary to God’s mother. Here is eternal truth and wisdom!

Lady Wisdom is before you! She wants you to see her! She cries for your attention at the city entrance, where you travel every day. She pleads to help you (Pr 8:1-5). She offers excellent and right things – the only such things you will find in this foolish, blinded world (Pr 8:6). Her every word is truth and righteousness (Pr 8:7-8). Her instruction is easy to learn (Pr 8:9), and it is better than wealth and anything else desirable (Pr 8:10-11).

Nature plainly teaches truth in every language to all people (Ps 19:1-6)! But man rejected the Creator for his own hallucination – that you and everything else came from an explosion of cosmic gases in a purposeless universe; ocean slime became tree frogs; and baboons became your grandparents! From total ignorance at birth, man rushes downward to the institutionalized insanity of evolution. So God judges them (Rom 1:18-32)!

God sent much more truth by the Bible about Himself, man’s origin and future, and how to prosper in life and eternity (Ps 19:7-11; II Tim 3:16-17). But rebel man has burned it, burned its publishers, chained it in churches, read it in Latin, outlawed it in schools, ridiculed it for public office, removed it from courthouses, confused it by new versions, and relegated it to the shelf! So God judges them (John 12:47-48; II Thess 2:9-12)!

God sent His pastors to teach you His words and their right sense (Jer 3:15; 23:28-32; Acts 8:30-35; Eph 4:11-14). But the world fed them to lions, pulled them apart on the rack, burned them at the stake in Catholic inquisitions, banished them, and still scorns them today! Most Christians today have rejected them for popular and smooth operators that feed them entertainment and fables instead of sound doctrine (II Tim 3:1-7; 4:1-4).

Most men reject Lady Wisdom, whom they meet in creation, Scripture, and the ministry! And she is being rejected today. Do you tremble and rejoice at creation, knowing it is the handiwork of a Creator with eternal power and Godhead? Do you love and study the precious and true words of God in the Bible? Do you attend and support a church faithfully where a sober man preaches God’s words without compromise or distraction?

You are blessed today! Lady Wisdom met you at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Love her; she will bless you in time and eternity with incredible advantages and blessings (Pr 8:17-21). Reject her; she will mock as your life implodes on you. The choice is yours; the consequences are God’s! He has promised. If you neglect her offer of truth, she will laugh at your cries when your calamities come (Pr 1:20-33).

Is the proverb too boring? Its commentary too simple? You are not moved to repent of your foolishness and sinfulness, thank God for Lady Wisdom, and ask Him to show you His truth? It is better to be broken by repentance than to be ground to powder due to rebellion. Jesus Christ said about Himself, “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” (Matt 21:44).

You cannot endure the sound doctrine of this commentary? Your church has replaced the pulpit with a praise band (II Tim 4:3-4)? What happens if you reject God’s offer of truth? What happens if you walk away from Lady Wisdom? “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thess 2:10-12).

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