04 April 2014
Numbers 19
Proverbs 14
Galatians 5; 6
"WHOEVER IS PATIENT HAS GREAT UNDERSTANDING"
We are now nearly halfway through the book of Proverbs. They are a solid read and if we try to read quickly we do not get much nourishment for our minds from them. It is good to mark those verses you find most meaningful to you personally; better still, to create large signs with the words on them. In some homes people like to have pictures of Christ, but these are all based on human imagination. There is only one passage in the Bible that indicates what Christ looked like! You won't find it in the New Testament; it is in the opening verses of Isaiah 53, that remarkable prophecy of the work of the "arm of the LORD", i.e. Jesus and what he would accomplish. It describes his rejection by men and that "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him" [Isaiah 53:2]
So all the pictures that show him as a handsome man with curling golden hair are wrong! People were attracted - or repulsed - by what he said, not by what he looked like. Remember King Saul was tall and outstanding among the people, but being physically attractive did him no good!
Far better than having meaningless pictures on the walls of our dwelling we should note the Proverbs which are really meaningful to us and put them up as a constant reminder of godly principles. Ten days ago we made particular comment on Proverbs 2 and the process by which you can come to understand the fear (awe) of the LORD.
Now today's chapter has two references to "the fear of the LORD" In Proverbs 14:26 "In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence" and what we read in Proverbs 2 showed how that is achieved to create in you strong confidence in his protection. Then in Proverbs 14:27, "the fear of the LORD is a fountain of life" Fountains provide water, our awe of God creates "living water"
Finally, look at Proverbs 14:29 - would you put those words on your wall?
-------
- DC
Thought for the Day
04 April 2014
"Paul had a very searching word for the Jew in his day: "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you". They had a high calling-the chosen people of God. They were watched. We have inherited that high and holy calling. We are watched. But another one has declared: "I know thy works". But here it is Christ risen and ascended to heaven who speaks, and his knowledge of us goes further than outward observation. He sees all. He knows our hearts. Nothing is hidden. It is a solemn thought. Let us take warning, but let us take comfort from the knowledge that while he sees our failings he also sees our repentance and our strivings. He will be our Judge-a merciful Judge."
- H. Hewett
The Jew First, and Also the Gentile (1952)
Numbers 19
Proverbs 14
Galatians 5; 6
"WHOEVER IS PATIENT HAS GREAT UNDERSTANDING"
We are now nearly halfway through the book of Proverbs. They are a solid read and if we try to read quickly we do not get much nourishment for our minds from them. It is good to mark those verses you find most meaningful to you personally; better still, to create large signs with the words on them. In some homes people like to have pictures of Christ, but these are all based on human imagination. There is only one passage in the Bible that indicates what Christ looked like! You won't find it in the New Testament; it is in the opening verses of Isaiah 53, that remarkable prophecy of the work of the "arm of the LORD", i.e. Jesus and what he would accomplish. It describes his rejection by men and that "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him" [Isaiah 53:2]
So all the pictures that show him as a handsome man with curling golden hair are wrong! People were attracted - or repulsed - by what he said, not by what he looked like. Remember King Saul was tall and outstanding among the people, but being physically attractive did him no good!
Far better than having meaningless pictures on the walls of our dwelling we should note the Proverbs which are really meaningful to us and put them up as a constant reminder of godly principles. Ten days ago we made particular comment on Proverbs 2 and the process by which you can come to understand the fear (awe) of the LORD.
Now today's chapter has two references to "the fear of the LORD" In Proverbs 14:26 "In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence" and what we read in Proverbs 2 showed how that is achieved to create in you strong confidence in his protection. Then in Proverbs 14:27, "the fear of the LORD is a fountain of life" Fountains provide water, our awe of God creates "living water"
Finally, look at Proverbs 14:29 - would you put those words on your wall?
-------
- DC
Thought for the Day
04 April 2014
"Paul had a very searching word for the Jew in his day: "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you". They had a high calling-the chosen people of God. They were watched. We have inherited that high and holy calling. We are watched. But another one has declared: "I know thy works". But here it is Christ risen and ascended to heaven who speaks, and his knowledge of us goes further than outward observation. He sees all. He knows our hearts. Nothing is hidden. It is a solemn thought. Let us take warning, but let us take comfort from the knowledge that while he sees our failings he also sees our repentance and our strivings. He will be our Judge-a merciful Judge."
- H. Hewett
The Jew First, and Also the Gentile (1952)
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