Post Sunday August 10

“That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth…” Proverbs 22:21

OK, that is pretty cocky don’t you think? Sunday we took a look at Solomon’s words in Proverbs 22:17-21 communicating to us that we should focus the deepest part of ourselves, our hearts on acquiring and applying the words of wisdom that he was sharing with us. Then we heard Jesus flat out tell us that if we will hear His words and do them there ain’t nothing that is going to take us down. (Matthew 7:24-27).

Who said the Christian faith is a blind faith? Who said it is only a faith that those with emotional needs run to? I’m sorry, the words that we read on Sunday pretty much seem like live or die, fly or fall, pure Clint Eastwood stare you down and with all that grit in his voice say, “Well do you feel lucky? Well do you?” If we were in need of an emotional fix, I really don’t think Solomon and Jesus would be the right people to hang around with for if they noticed us living or thinking a certain way, they would tell us the hard line truth and Jesus would add if you do not do this, just so you know, it will be like building your life in the sand and when the storm comes, you’re going down. Both Solomon and Jesus knew that if you truly want to be emotionally stable you are going to need to know the truth and then live it out in your life, regardless of your feelings. That is the incredible strength and beauty of a life that follows Christ; it is a life that contains the truth that sets us free!

Sharing the hard truth: Is that being mean or is it an act of love? There is a way we can make the truth mean, when we communicate it harshly, rudely and in a way that makes the other individual feel stupid. The flip side is withholding the truth, which is also mean because we are allowing poor behavior to continue, which eventually will harm the individual, others around them and put them behind the 8 ball so to speak. Helping others know the certainty of truth is loving when it is communicated from a loving person. We would consider it a tragedy if we saw someone build their lives on unstable ground (the sand, Jesus would say) and not say anything to them. Providing them with an option to upgrade their home (life) to a place on the immovable, unsinkable rock, that is the kind of truth communication that needs to be spoken. The good news of helping others move out of those kind of places is that you do not even have to put their old place on the declining real estate market, just let the floods wash that old home away. (Maybe the IRS will let them write it off….Not!)

Bring the truth to your loved ones in this manner….James 3:17-18 “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

Those two verses above take those seemingly cocky verses and instead turn them into life changing, humble, confident, life giving, loving words. Solomon is not sharing his wisdom because he wants to be “The Man” or the High Sheik of Israel. Jesus isn’t sharing His wisdom to help us better understand how dumb we are. Both of them are sharing this wisdom with us because they truly want us to know God and the know the life He wants for us. Solomon wrote “so that your trust may be in the Lord;…” Proverbs 22:19.

I heard again recently someone comment on the Bible that; “Well it was written a long time ago and some of these things are out of date.” How can something eternal go out of date? My attempt to bring back 80s music, now that is out of date. My trying to explain how good The Love Boat was to my children, now that is out of date. Now what God communicated to us through His Word, No, that is not out of date. If it was we would all be in a lot of trouble. For we would be making up the truth for each situation as it arises, thus the truth would change depending on who had the loudest voice or the strongest army. Truth would eventually become irrelevant and we would simply live whatever way we chose to, eventually leading to mass chaos. The Bible isn’t out of date; it is our lack of desire to dive deeper into it and understand the people, the times and their places. Let’s be honest, how many times have you begun to read and just shook your head, this seems old, it is so boring, I can’t read this. My grandmother is old, but she contains a wealth of wisdom, I wouldn’t want to throw her out. OK, morbid example, but you get my point. From time to time, I have to ask my grandmother a few more questions so I can better understand her time, place and how she has chosen to communicate. With God’s Word when we begin to uncover it, it is amazing that this ancient book speaks in such a powerful way right now in the present and it is going to continue speaking right into our future.

Living in a manner that is confident and sure is easier than we think. We have a God that loves us so much that He desires that we know the certainty of His truth, by sending His Son and by leaving His Spirit to guide us in all truth. John 16:13”However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

Questions to Ask Yourself

Read Matthew 7:24-27

1. Basing your house on these verses, what kind of house do you have?
2. If a disciple of Jesus means that we are His learners, His followers, what should be the natural sign of one who has chosen to follow Him? (Hint: Answer contained within Matthew 7:24)
3. What areas of your life have you heard Jesus speak about and carried out what you heard? What areas of your life have you heard Jesus speak about and not carried out what you heard?