June 20th – Proverbs 20: An Invisible Inheritance?

“The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.” – Proverbs 20:7

This passage could also be translated: “The just and lawful man walks continually in innocence, integrity and prosperity, his children are left with a legacy of happiness, honesty and righteousness.” Many people today, especially men, are almost obsessed with leaving a financial inheritance for their children. This is good, to a point. The Bible tells us:

“A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous.” – Proverbs 13:20

So being wise with our finances is important. It’s best to give our kids a “leg up” on their future. Starting them on the right foundation with their finances is important. Training them to understand simple concepts like spending less than they make and how to invest their money is important. But even more important is laying up for them an eternal inheritance, that’s NOT made with money! Think about it, what is a financial inheritance without integrity? Didn’t the Prodigal Son get a crazy awesome inheritance? But without a conscience or integrity, he blew it ALL on whores and wild living in no time at all! How would you like to see your decades of hard work go up in a puff of pot smoke like that? This makes me respect the response of the Father even more! He came RUNNING to his kid that had squandered decades of HIS hard work. Amazing!

So giving my kids a financial inheritance would be nice and I will do what I can to that end. But an inheritance of righteousness is even more important. It is my ambition to give my children the most precious inheritance of righteousness and integrity. They are going to watch their parents spend themselves completely on the Lord and His purpose for our generation. I’m going to teach them what a laid down life looks like. I’m going to show them a working model of a righteous life. They will know what it looks like to live a “blameless life.” Because my concern is an eternal inheritance, I may not be able to give them a huge financial inheritance, but what I will give them will be more valuable than a fully matured CD or fully funded IRA.

LIFE LESSON:

Not all inheritances are made of money. Those kind actually pay out more at death than cash.

June 17th – Proverbs 17: Wise Servant or Disgraceful Son?

“A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son, and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.” – Proverb 17:2

There is much talk in the body today about our sonship in Jesus Christ. This is a good thing and a deep truth. Many teachers had come before Jesus, but Jesus was the only one to call Himself a son and claim that God was His Father. We ARE called to be sons of God in Christ Jesus, walking in the same power and authority of our older brother:

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.” – John 1:12,13

We are also called to serve God. One revelation does not destroy another! Jesus was the ultimate example of an empowered son who serves:

“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." – Matthew 20:26-28

Yet many believers flaunt their new-found sonship with a sense of pride and air of superiority over those poor peasant Christians who are still working for Jesus as servants. Even worse, many are using their “sonship” as a cover up for a fleshly, carnal lifestyle. Whenever they are called to account for their unspiritual behavior, out comes the “I’m a King’s Kid” excuse. This Proverb shows us that it would be better to maintain the role and mentality of a faithful servant than pervert the reality of sonship. Now, I don’t think that because many have perverted the truth we need to overreact and walk away from the revelation that we are in fact Sons and Daughters of the King! But what we do need to understand is that it would have been better to faithfully serve as a servant than to claim sonship in disgrace. In fact, the wise servant walks in greater authority than a disgraceful son.

If we are to err, it would be better to err on the side of faithful servant hood than it would disgraceful sonship. This is because a son is the pride of His Father, He carries the family name and represents His Father to the world. In the same way we are called to carry the family name and carry on the Father’s business of reconciling the world to the Father.

LIFE LESSON:

Lots of disgraceful sons look down their noses at faithful servants, not knowing that this mere “servant” just took their inheritance!

June 16th – Proverbs 16: Silver & Gold

“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!” – Proverbs 16:16

In these uncertain economic times, every other commercial I have seen on TV is telling us to invest in gold. The thinking is that when and if our currency fails, gold will be a safe haven to invest wealth in. It’s true, holding hard currency like gold or silver seems like a good idea when our paper money is being devalued. But the Word of God has an even better investment strategy. Instead of storing up gold and silver, the word of God tells us to lay hold of and possess wisdom and understanding.

The primary writer of the Proverbs was Solomon. Solomon knew more than anyone that wisdom and understanding were better than silver and gold. When he was a young man, he had an encounter with God where the Lord came to him and basically asked him “what do you want?”

“At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." – I Kings 3:5

Solomon could have said “wealth” because politically speaking, wealth is power. Solomon could have asked the Lord to wipe out all his enemies or to give Him unlimited power, but he did something altogether unexpected:

“Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" – I Kings 3:6-9

Solomon asked for a discerning heart, to understand right from wrong. He asked for Wisdom. This request pleased the Lord. So much in fact that God gave him MUCH MORE than he had asked for:

“The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life." – I Kings 3:10-14

You see, Solomon understood what we often forget. Wisdom is supreme. Understanding is vital. Without it, we are rudderless and our lives have no context. What is a rich man without morality? What is a wealthy nation without principles? Possessing wisdom and understanding gives us access to all the wealth and prosperity we need!

LIFE LESSON:

If the dollar collapses and our economy and country falls into ruin, I would rather have wisdom than a block of metal.

June 15th – Proverbs 15: Calm or Chaos?

“A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.” – Proverbs 15:18

I’ve read this proverb many times before and I think that I am just now seeing what its saying! This Proverb could be translated; An angry man that is poisoned with rage meddles with and stirs up strife and discord, but a man who is patient and long suffering brings a sense of calm and settles a controversy wherever he goes.

The hot tempered man brings that atmosphere wherever he goes. He can walk into a room and suddenly strife and controversy will appear. If there is dissension or unease under the surface, he brings it to the forefront. As I read this, I am thinking of a couple people I have known in my life that had this affect wherever they went. You could be in a group of people and everyone could be getting along just fine until this person walks in. Suddenly the atmosphere in the room is charged with controversy and before you know it, sides have formed and the peace that was once there has long since retreated. I’ve worked on many teams, from home groups to worship teams to ministry teams and the person with anger in their heart manifests anger in their relationships.

In the same way, the person who is patient and long suffering can step into a room or heated situation charged with anger and bring calm. The same calm that abides in their spirits manifests in the room! It’s always been my desire to be that kind of person, as I have seen the power of this proverb in action. Patience and long suffering benefits the person who has it as well as everyone that person comes in contact with. In the same way, the short tempered and angry person suffers in their anger, but they also bring others into that same suffering! Basically, we bring others into the atmosphere that we carry in our spirits. If we are at peace, we bring peace wherever we go. If we are depressed and anxious, we bring that stuff with us!

Now, there is a time and place for controversy and confrontation, but the purpose is always restoration! People that never confront anything normally have LOTS of gnarly stuff going on just beneath the surface. But people that are always stirring up controversy and debate without ever getting a resolve are just a problem.

LIFE LESSON:

What do YOU bring to a situation? Calm or Chaos?

June 14th – Proverbs 14: Tearing It Down!

“The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” – Proverbs 14:1

Oh man, this Proverb is LOADED. In my last 99 posts, I have talked extensively of the foolish man and the wise man. We’ve even talked of the lady we call Wisdom and the lady we call Folly. But here another two women are mentioned; the wise woman and the foolish woman.

Here we find the wise woman doing what wise women do, BUILDING! The wise or prudent woman builds up her house. This word for build means to make, to obtain children, to set up and interestingly enough, to repair. So we find the wise woman doing all of these things to her own house. She is laying hold of and obtaining children. Why? Because children are a blessing! Any mentality that tells us that children are a burden is pop psychology and rails against biblical wisdom. Sure enough, children are a huge responsibility and not to be taken lightly (I have 3 of them) but they are amazing! Don’t let anyone tell you differently! We also find the wise woman making and setting up her home. She works diligently to make the home a place of nesting and resting. She creates a place of nesting for her as she creates an environment and atmosphere that supports life and peace in the home. She creates a place of resting for him to rest and recreate after exposure in and among the world.

Lastly, we find her repairing the home. She’s repairing the home because stuff breaks! Relationships break down, the kids need adjustment and the marriage needs constant work. Instead of talking against her marriage, her home, her finances, the wise woman gets busy repairing the problem!

Now the foolish woman is another story altogether. The foolish woman tears her OWN home down! The word for “tear down” means; to pull down, break in pieces, ruin, destroy, overthrow and beat down. The foolish woman doesn’t respond well to adversity. When the marriage starts to break down you can hear her badmouthing her “idiot” husband. When the kids are out of control, instead of working diligently to discipline and correct them, she runs her mouth about how “bad” they are and how she can do nothing for them. When finances are tight, instead of pinching pennies and being frugal, she complains and moans about how much better it would be if she married a doctor or a lawyer. The worst thing about it is that she is tearing down her own home!

LIFE LESSON:

As her once beautiful home crumbles all around her, you can see the foolish woman gripping a sledgehammer whilst standing over a pile of rubble, LOUDLY wishing her husband would have done more to save it.

June 13th - Proverbs 13: Either Way, You Get Paid

“He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded.” – Proverbs 13:13

Everything we do in life is a choice. I abhor the idea that we are simply slaves to and powerless over our circumstances. This mentality creates a culture of victimization and makes deliverance from the circumstances nearly impossible. No, the truth is that we have power to affect our circumstances. In circumstances that we can’t control we at least have the power to affect ourselves and our reaction to circumstances. We are powerful people!

Many people look at the circumstances of their life, whether it’s relational difficulties or financial difficulties and forget that they had choices in the creation of such circumstances. The person that’s in debt up to their eyeballs or struggling to make payments on their house often forgets that they signed on the dotted line and made a covenant to pay X amount on the X day of the month at X interest rate. But when that bill comes due, all of a sudden, we develop amnesia, forgetting our commitment! Or consider the person that’s struggling greatly in their marriage. Very rarely do people suddenly overnight sprout a serious disorder or sin pattern. No, more than likely it was discovered maybe during the engagement or when they first started dating, or even early in the marriage. Many folks, afraid of confrontation don’t bother to deal with such things in their infancy hoping they will just go away. But when they come to maturity, say 5, 10 or even 20 years in the marriage all of a sudden we act surprised!

The truth is we made a choice. A choice to not confront TODAY is a choice to deal with the repercussions TOMORROW. Likewise, a choice to confront TODAY is a choice to blunt the effects TOMORROW. We all make choices. This proverb describes such a process: It tells us that the person that despises and loathes correction, instruction and rebuke will suffer greatly. Another translation says that they will be destroyed. This Hebrew word also means bound, offended and to writhe in pain. This is the fruit of a choice. A choice to scorn instruction is a choice to hurt. In the same way, a person that chooses to respect a command or heed instruction is choosing to be rewarded.

Taking responsibility for our lifestyle, relationship and financial choices may seem like a difficult task. But suffering the effects of bad decisions as a victim is MUCH worse.

LIFE LESSON:

Own your failures. Admit them and make a CHOICE to overcome them.

June 10th – Proverbs 10: The Blessing of the Lord

“The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.” – Proverbs 10:22

This is an amazing scripture and also an amazing observation. I’ve seen so many people working for the blessing of the Lord, increasing their hours each week they are working, increasing their responsibility to attain God’s blessing and favor. The only problem is that isn’t God’s blessing! When God blesses us, He simply adds to what we are ALREADY doing. We see an increase in production, effectiveness and income WITHOUT added toil or energy being expended!

But first, let me qualify that… We are all called to work diligently and with excellence. Is this because we just love our boss or company? No, it’s because we are truly working for the Lord, not men.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23,24

Some people are just lazy and don’t work diligently or with excellence. When they begin working diligently, there is an increase in production and hours or energy. When they see God blessing this effort, they associate blessing with hard work. Yes, we need to work hard and work diligently, but the nature of God’s blessing is that it comes WITHOUT added toil or energy being expended. I can always tell when God is blessing me because I am not doing anything additional to earn it!

The word trouble here is translated: sorrow, grievous toil and even “idol”. This is important that we understand this! Many folks begin their quest for the blessing of God when the Lord gives them a promise that He is going to bless them! When it doesn’t happen in their time table (and it never does) often folks are prone to work hard for what God has promised freely! With us, when God promises blessing and that blessing seems delayed, we are tempted to “help him out” by working more, starting a new business, becoming a real estate investor or stock market analyst, etc. forgetting the very nature of God’s blessing: “He adds no trouble to it.”

It was the same way with Abraham, God promised to bless him dramatically. When the blessing didn’t materialize, Abraham figured he would help God out a bit by sleeping with his maidservant, Hagar. That effort produced Ishmael, not Isaac. Isaac was the child of promise, Ishmael was the product of Abraham’s fleshly effort.

LIFE LESSON:

Virtually ALL of the conflict in the Middle East today comes from the enmity between Ishmael and Isaac. I wonder how much of the conflict in our lives is due to us “helping” God bless us?