Godly Treasure

“Incline your ear to wisdom, and

apply your heart to understanding;

yes, if you seek her as silver, and

search for her as for hidden treasures;

then you will understand the fear of the Lord;

and find the knowledge of God. For the

Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth

come knowledge and understanding.”

Proverbs 2:2-6 (NKJV) 

We have so much and yet, it’s easy to think we need more stuff, new stuff and better stuff.  But God promises to provide for all the needs of His redeemed children (not our greed).   And we have been given every spiritual blessing; in Christ, we have richly all the things that truly matter.  Thus, we’re not to store up for ourselves earthly treasure, but rather heavenly treasure  (Matthew 6:19).  God’s wisdom is treasure we should seek. 

To obtain this treasure, our hearts need to have the right attitude--reverence for God because fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).  Then we need to ask for wisdom since Scripture says God gives it “liberally and without reproach” as longs as we ask in faith without doubting (James 1:5-6). 

Also, God’s word is a treasure given to us and we find God’s wisdom there.  Look how it’s described in the above passage:  inclining your ear, applying your heart, seeking it as silver, searching for it as for hidden treasure.  Quick devotional reading of the Bible is likely not sufficient on its own. Effort and study and diligence is required. We need to mine God’s word as if trying to extract diamonds because it’s that precious for our spiritual growth. And not just learning what God’s word says but applying it to our lives.

Finally, we’re told that in Christ is hidden “all treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).  He is our source of truth, He is our example, He is our wisdom. 

My prayer is that we will earnestly seek the treasure of God’s wisdom in Christ and be diligent in mining His word for truth to apply to our lives.

Thursday Devotional - Timely Encouragement

My Dad’s been back in the hospital this whole week with lots of fluid on the left and right side of his lungs. They gave him strong medicine to help drain the fluid, but he still can’t move much or breath well. Yesterday, they surgically went in and drained another liter of fluid and he’s still not a lot better. On top of that, he got a hematoma where they made the incision in his back. So, it’s been a scary week for all of us. He’s lost over 20 pounds since he’s been in the hospital, so now he’s down to only 160 pounds (and he’s 6 feet tall).  

The doctors still don’t know why fluid is pooling or what the underlying issue is. He had stents put in a couple arteries back in the summer, changed his diet completely and got an excellent report back in September. However, now his heart function is very poor and they don’t know why.

We know we can trust God and ask Him for guidance and healing and care. We’ve been crying out to Him. In God’s perfect timing, we’ve been studying several chapters in the Psalms in Bible Study the last couple of weeks. I’ve read and re-read them. Here are a few of the verses that are especially encouraging right now.

Psalm 59:17  You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
    you, God, are my fortress,
    my God on whom I can rely.

Psalm 23:4    Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

Psalm 139:13-16      For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

Maybe you are going through something difficult or you know someone going through something difficult. Which of these verses encourages you and which ones will you share with someone else to encourage them?

Alice

Heart Smart

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”  Matthew 6:19-21

One of my challenges as a Christian is taking God’s word too literally.  I am not here saying that what is written is not true nor that it should not be followed.  What I am saying is that we must always be careful not to take the words of God outside of their context and be prudent to discern its intent.  Here is an example.  This past week, my pastor used this verse:

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Jeremiah 17:9 NLT

Now in reading it, one might appear to believe that the heart is a bad thing, and thus, we must be ‘head smart’ whenever we are following God’s word.  Now I am not questioning the pastor’s use of this verse, and there is truth to being ‘head smart.’  However, we note that Samuel said to Saul about David, “for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (1 Samuel 13:14b)  So this ‘heart’ thing can be very complicated.  Where does God want us?  Are we following His word above our heart?  I think of things my doctor would say about a healthy diet.  He talks about watching my sugar level and lessening my cholesterol intake.  These tips are as one spaghetti sauce label would say ‘heart smart.’  In that same vain, the answer to these questions lie in our intake of the right things toward having greater wisdom of what God wants from us.

A heart that is filled with love for God will make godly decisions.  The verses in Jeremiah do not necessarily say that the heart is bad.  Instead, it should be viewed as a warning.  It is to ensure that we are not blind to times where our heart is driven to do things that are not what God wants.  Think back to when you were a child, and your parents gave you a punishment for wrongdoing.  At the time, you probably felt emotions ranging from anger toward them to disappointment toward yourself.  Now ask yourself, “How did your parents feel?”  Do you think it brought them joy to discipline you?  Of course not!  Fast forwarding to today, we realize that they did these things out of love.  Not that they wanted to see us sad or take things away.  Their hearts were toward helping us grow to see what was right and good.  In that same way, God’s word will challenge us where at times we will be sad and disappointed when we do not follow His word.  That is a true measure of whether our hearts are in the right place.  David struggled in many ways.  But he recognized when he was wrong, and his heart broke for those things that God’s heart broke for.  That’s why David was a man after God’s heart, and likewise, it is what Jesus was getting at in today’s verses.  If we treasure those things that God treasures most, our hearts will follow His will.  It does not mean we will be perfect.  But like David, we will recognize our failures, and turn to God both in repentance and for forgiveness.

A heart for God is a great thing!  It guides us into following those things that God would ask of us, and it keeps us on that narrow and righteous path that Jesus spoke of (see Matthew 7:13-14).  There will be times where our hearts strings will be pulled.  Sometimes it is God, but other times it is our own wants.  Our goal is not to ignore those feelings.  Instead, we must look to God and His word for greater understanding, then apply it toward serving Him with love and compassion for others.  That’s what He wants for us.  Do you pause when your heart strings are being pulled?  How can you ensure that you heart is filled with God’s intent?  My prayer is that we focus on filling our hearts through His word to ensure that we are indeed ‘Heart Smart.’  Amen.

Discipline

Hebrews 12:5-6

And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

When I must discipline my son, he of course gets mad and tries to tell me that I don’t love him.  Of course, as adults, if you have kids or not, we know that this is not true, very much the opposite.  We discipline our children because we love them and want them to correct their wrong doing. 

So why is it when we stray from God and we are disciplined, that we want to say that God isn’t there for us or that he doesn’t love us?  It is actually just the opposite.  God disciplines us because he loves us.

Sometimes I get frustrated with my son.  As I think about this relationship, I have to remember my relationship with God.  I have to stop and think about how I feel or how God must feel when I, as his child, do something equivalent. 

Today I challenge you to stop and think about your relationship with God.  How can you be a more obedient child to him?  Do you need to change how you react to the discipline he shows?  Put yourself in the position of the parent and look at it from that side also.