Let’s start with prayer.

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to study your word today. We ask forgiveness for our sins and repent in the name of your son Jesus. We thank you for the grace that you extend to us, and we praise you for the love you shine down to all of us here on earth.

God we humbly ask to receive your word so that we may be brighter lights in our community. Please strengthen us and enlight us with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Acquiring wisdom through the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 8

Pro 8:1 Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?
Pro 8:2 On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand;
Pro 8:3 beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
Pro 8:4 “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man.
Pro 8:5 O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.
Pro 8:6 Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right,
Pro 8:7 for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
Pro 8:8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
Pro 8:9 They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.
Pro 8:10 Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,
Pro 8:11 for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
Pro 8:12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.
Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Pro 8:14 I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.
Pro 8:15 By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;
Pro 8:16 by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly.
Pro 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
Pro 8:18 Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.
Pro 8:19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.
Pro 8:20 I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice,
Pro 8:21 granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
Pro 8:22 “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
Pro 8:23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
Pro 8:24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.
Pro 8:25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth,
Pro 8:26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.
Pro 8:27 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
Pro 8:28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,
Pro 8:29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Pro 8:30 then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,
Pro 8:31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.
Pro 8:32 “And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways.
Pro 8:33 Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.
Pro 8:34 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.
Pro 8:35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD,
Pro 8:36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Notes on Proverbs

2) God is waiting at the crossroads of every decision in our lives (Actually he’s walking right next to us) for us to listen to him and learn what to do through his wisdom.

5) The Hebrew for simple ones is used in a derogatory sense, referring to those who are easily deceived.

7-9) I learned more about the power of our words this past weekend in a Cleansing streams seminar. A brief rundown is that God used words to create the world. Words have power. I don’t mean this in some weird “hocus-pocus” way, but

Mat 15:18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

I heard Joyce Meyer explain it as thus. “Our words are our thought life turned inside out”. We speak these words, and once we have them out of our head, two things may happen.

1. We hear them and they become further entrenched in our mind.
2. Others may hear them and we can damage their faith.

Obviously neither is good. The first is that we damage our own faith and become our own worst enemy against the promises of God occurring in our lives. The second is worse.

Mat 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

In this particular case, Jesus is talking about literal children. However, I see no reason to believe that this does not apply to anyone, as we are referred to as children of God, and some are further categorized as spiritual infants. Watch your words! This is an important topic, and if anyone would like for me to go through some of the weapons of spiritual warfare that may help us combat our own words, add it to the comments below this post, and I’ll get cracking on it – probably will share sometime after this series.

13) Further enlightenment on the fear of the Lord – it is a respect and awe of God’s mighty power, but it also means that we are on God’s side. What God is for, we are for and what God is against, we are against. God hates evil – it is the opposite of his very nature. We can draw from the second part of the verse that this hatred of evil should not manifest itself in pride and arrogance (self-righteousness) that Christians are so often accused of. Whether it is true or not is another story, but the perception is there for a reason. Just like in business, one angry customer will tell 100 people, while a satisfied customer tells just a few. Does it really matter though? God gave us a mission and the power of God to see it through with love and compassion. Let ‘em think whatever they want. They’ll just be surprised when they see our serving attitudes.

15 & 16) I always thought that God is responsible for placement of every leadership position. I didn’t have the Biblical knowledge – it was just antecdotal. Well here it is…. sort of…. It says that God is responsible for leaders in office (governments, business, family, etc), but the second part of each verse leads me to believe that God takes responsibility for the wise and just ones. Does this mean that the unjust and unwise got their by their own power? Feel free to share your ideas below. I may just be understanding this incorrectly.

22) Wisdom is the personification of God here. Some studies that I read seem to think that this is referring to Jesus Christ. That seems to be a bit of a stretch, but maybe my “seemer” is broken today. What do you think?

Regardless, God’s wisdom has always existed. We can easily see it in the creation of the world. It is absolutely amazing how complex this world and the entire universe is.

30-31) These verses give a bit of credibility to the “Jesus theory”, but it is still vague. Still think it is a personification of God.

33-34) the word “neglect” implies an ongoing process. So is “listens”, “watching”, and “waiting”. Obtaining wisdom is not a one-shot deal. It is a lifelong process of drawing closer to the Lord through his word, prayer, and obedience. This course will not give us all the tools. It is merely a crash-course to get us pointed in the right direction.

35) We obtain wisdom and we receive favor from the Lord – no maybe, or sometimes. God comes right out and says it. That is not why we obey the Lord, but those who do seek him for material possesions are quickly revealed as they are just living through the Law, not the Holy Spirit.

Gospel of John, Chapter 8

Joh 8:1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Joh 8:2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.
Joh 8:3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst
Joh 8:4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
Joh 8:5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
Joh 8:6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
Joh 8:7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Joh 8:8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
Joh 8:9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
Joh 8:10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
Joh 8:11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]]
Joh 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Joh 8:13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”
Joh 8:14 Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.
Joh 8:15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
Joh 8:16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.
Joh 8:17 In your Law it is written that the testimony of two men is true.
Joh 8:18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”
Joh 8:19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
Joh 8:20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
Joh 8:21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
Joh 8:22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”
Joh 8:23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
Joh 8:24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
Joh 8:25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.
Joh 8:26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”
Joh 8:27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father.
Joh 8:28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.
Joh 8:29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
Joh 8:30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Joh 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
Joh 8:32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Joh 8:33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
Joh 8:35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.
Joh 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.
Joh 8:38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
Joh 8:39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did,
Joh 8:40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
Joh 8:41 You are doing what your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father–even God.”
Joh 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
Joh 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Joh 8:45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
Joh 8:46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
Joh 8:47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Joh 8:48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
Joh 8:49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.
Joh 8:50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.
Joh 8:51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
Joh 8:52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’
Joh 8:53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Joh 8:54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
Joh 8:55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.
Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
Joh 8:57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”
Joh 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
Joh 8:59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

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