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Posts Tagged ‘God’

Some Thoughts on Proverbs 4:20-22

Posted in Proverbs, tagged , , , , , , , on June 24, 2025|

My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. (Proverbs 4:20-27 ESV)

Pay Attention
In Proverbs 4:20, we are first called to “be attentive” which is also translated “listen” or “pay attention.” This exhortation suggests that choice, diligence and even self-control are being called for by the teacher. We must choose to listen or pay attention, and we must apply ourselves or employ diligence to continue to be attentive, and we must use self-control to not allow distractions or other desires to pull our attention from what is being taught.

Be Teachable
In the second part of the couplet, we are told “incline your ear” which could be emphasizing or repeating the idea in the first part of the verse, which is not uncommon in Hebrew poetic or wisdom literature. It is also possible, that this phrase is offering a slightly different nuance. One could argue that it might be speaking to teachability. We need to both pay attention to receive information (physically), but also we need to receive information into our thinking, to allow it to change our ideas and behaviors. This speaks of maintaining a teachable heart.

What might interfere with teachability? I generated a short list of some of the attributes often associated with the fool, who is, at best, unteachable.

Unrighteous
Self-reliant
Divided heart
Arrogant
Lazy

Any one or more of these characteristics or patterns of behavior can render us unteachable. Let us examine ourselves to see where we fall short and how we may have allowed such patterns to become ours.

In Proverbs 4:21, we are exhorted not to let the sayings of the teacher escape from our sight–to “keep them within your heart.” The word “heart” here is also translated “mind.” In the ancient world, the heart was seen as the seat of the emotions and thoughts. The idea is that we should keep the scriptures–the words of the Creator before our eyes at all times. This would suggest, daily study, meditation (and memorization), and reminders of scripture throughout the day. This is similar to the teaching in Deuteronomy 6:6-9, “these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” This requires strategy, diligence and effort. It is the “working out” of one’s salvation spoken of by Paul in Philippians 2:12.

But the rewards will outweigh the effort required as we are told in Proverbs 4:22. “For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.” In these sayings (the Torah) is life and physical healing. What more could we desire?

 

It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page. 

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Knowing God (His Love is Amazing – Esther)

Posted in Attributes, Bible, God, Love, Old Testament, tagged , , , on February 27, 2021|

A wonderful picture of God’s amazing love is seen in the life of Queen Esther.  She, a Jewish girl orphaned at a young age, is raised by her uncle in Shushan, the capital city of the Medo-Persian empire.  She ends up in a nationwide beauty contest for which the first prize is to become queen.  She becomes the queen of the country.

But the evidence of God’s love in the story of Esther is not about her becoming Queen.  This is no Cinderella story.  Rather, this is the story of a God who sees everything, the beginning from the end.  He knows what lies ahead for His people, and He makes provision for them, even provision in the form of a young, scared Jewish girl.  He keeps all the promises to them no matter how long ago He made them.

When the wicked Haman, an important man in the King’s court, came on the scene and convinced the King of Medo-Persia to pass a law whereby the Jews would be slaughtered and their possessions taken by their neighbors, God had a plan already in place.  That plan was carried forward by Queen Esther.  God had hidden Esther in the pavilions of the palace of the King of Medo-Persia.  She would, in due time, be the vehicle by which God saved His people, the people from which the Messiah would come forth in the fulfillment of time.

You know the story . . . Esther convinces the King through a series of meals and events to pass another law which allows the Jews to survive, thereby preserving the Messianic line for the time hundreds of years later when a baby would be born to a descendant of David, of the tribe of Judah, in the town of Bethlehem as it was promised.

This is God’s love for us.  He makes a promise and never allows it to be broken, so that in the fullness of time, He can keep His promise.   God cannot lie.   Study to know what God has promised for you.

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Living Deliberately

Posted in Relationship with God, Walking with God, tagged , , on January 20, 2014| 2 Comments »

RomansRoad132x200I rarely have opportunity to quote a Diana Ross song for spiritual insight or inspiration, but I hear God’s voice in these lyrics from the song made famous by Diana Ross and written by Gerry Goffin and Michael Masser:

Do you know where you’re goin’ to?
Do you like the things that life is showin’ you
Where are you goin’ to? Do you know?

As I begin 2014, I ask myself, “Do I have a direction in which I am headed?”  “Am I headed in the same direction as God?” I see the new year as an opportunity, a time to adjust the headings and evaluate what was accomplished last year, and what the goals should be for the coming year, spiritually speaking.

If you are having trouble focusing or setting goals, here are some questions to help you:

  • What have you learned about God this year?
  • What have you learned about yourself from God this year?
  • What things do you continue to struggle with and need God’s assistance or deliverance this year?

May God bless you and give you grace to walk humbly with Him.

Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:22-24

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Firsts in Genesis 1

Posted in Bible, Genesis, Old Testament, tagged , , , , on August 19, 2012|

It is not surprising that a book entitled “Genesis” , which means origins or beginnings, has within it, many important “firsts.” For example, in verse 3 we have the origin of light. In verse  5, we have the first morning and the first day. In verse 6, we have the first atmosphere (firmament). In verse 9, we have the first appearance of dry land. In verse 10, we have the first seas. In verse 11, we have the first grass, the first herb that yields seed, and the first fruit trees. In verse 14, we have the origin of the stars and seasons. In verse 16, we have the origin of the sun and the moon.  In verse 20, we have the first sea creatures and the first birds. In verse 22, we have the first blessing recorded. In verse 24, we have the first land creatures. In verse 27, we have the origin of man.

Those are all I saw.  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know if I missed any.

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Poem: No Coward Soul is Mine

Posted in God, Poem, tagged , , , , , on May 21, 2012|

No coward soul is mine,
No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere!
I see Heaven’s glories shine,
and Faith shines equal, arming me from Fear.
 
 O God within my breast,
Almighty ever-present Deity!
Life, that in me hast rest
As I, undying Life, have power in thee!
 
Vain are the thousand creeds
That move men’s hearts, unutterably vain;
Worthless as withered weeds,
Or idlest froth, amid the boundless main.
 
To waken doubt in one
Holding so fast by thy infinity,
So surely anchored on
The steadfast rock of immortality.
 
With wide-embracing love
Thy spirit animates eternal years,
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears.
 
Though earth and moon were gone,
And suns and universes ceased to be,
And thou wert left alone,
Every Existence would exist in thee.
 
There is not room for Death,
Nor atom that his might could render void
Since thou art Being and Breath,
And what thou art may never be destroyed.
 
–Emily Bronte

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Poem: The Mirror

Posted in God, Poem, tagged , , , , on May 7, 2012| 1 Comment »

Lord, make my soul

To mirror Thee,

Thyself alone

To shine in me,

That men may see

Thy love, Thy grace,

Not note the glass

That shows Thy face

–Blanche Mary Kelly

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Poetry: Grace

Posted in Attributes, God, Poem, tagged , , , , on April 30, 2012|

How much, preventing God, how much I owe

To the defences thou hast round me set;

Example, custom, fear, occasion slow, —

These scorned bondmen were my parapet.

I dare not peep over this parapet

To gauge with glance the roaring gulf below,

The depths of sin to which I had descended,

Had not these me against myself defended

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Poetry: God You Have Been Too Good to Me

Posted in Attributes, God, Poem, the provider, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on April 23, 2012|

God, You have been too good to me,
You don’t know what You’ve done.
A clod’s too small to drink in all
The treasure of the sun.
 
The picture fills the lifted cup
And still the blessings pour
They overbrim the shallow rim
With cool refreshing store.
 
You are too prodigal with joy, 
Too careless of its worth,
To let the stream with crystal gleam
Fall wasted on the earth.
 
Let many thirsty lips draw near
And quaff the greater part!
There still will be too much for me
To hold in one glad heart.
 
    –Charles Wharton Stork

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So what is Christmas?

Posted in Bible, Christmas, God, Jesus, tagged , , , , on December 24, 2011|

Christmas is the celebration that always looks both to the past and to the future at God’s promises.

The Holy Father, recognizing the total inability of sinful man to be in relationship with a  Holy God, sent His only Son (Jesus – the God-man) to provide the perfect (complete) sacrifice, once and for all, to satisfy the righteousness requirements of a Holy God.

The Son came and showed us the character of the Father and how to obey God by the power of the Holy Spirit. He lived the perfect life having no sin.   When the time for the sacrifice came, the Son showed us how to obey the Father unto death.

Having left the earth to return to the right hand of the Father, the Son left us the Holy Spirit to be our comforter, teacher, and the guarantee of our inheritance.  The Holy Spirit is given to those who belong to the Son – for whom the Son shed His sacrificial blood.

May your Christmas be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.  May you know the goodness of the Lord in all things especially in your personal relationship with Him, as you walk and abide with Him.  Be encouraged, He is coming back soon for His church.  May you be found ready, with plenty of oil in your lamp.

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Holiness is a matter of the heart

Posted in Attributes, Bible, God, Holiness, Holy, Legalism, Walking with God, tagged , , , , on May 20, 2011|

Jesus said,  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”  Matthew 23:27.

He meant they appeared to be clean on the outside, but inside they were nothing but a grave, full of the bones and carcases of dead men.  Jesus was getting at the issue of holiness.  Holiness is not outward compliance with rules and regulations . . . that is the definition of legalism.

Holiness is a heart transformed, desiring to go God’s way.  For the  truly holy man or woman, no outward rules are required.  The desire to please God, to obey God, to maintain fellowship with God will keep him or her from evil.  The Christian has very few outward restraints on his or her conduct.  The restraint is borne out of relationship with God.

May your heart be transformed so that you require no outward rules to make or keep you holy, but only a desire to please the heart of the Father, a love for the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit.

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