THE GOOD AND THE BAD
Suggested Reading: Proverbs 9-10
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
The beautiful view looking from the balcony of the Beit Bracha guest house in Migdal (the hometown of Mary Magdalene), next to the Sea of Galilee. This Christian ministry house is run by CMJ (www.cmj-israel.org). Looking down on this restful garden the proclamation is clear. Every believer has the responsibility to share his or her faith, in person and in support of ministries who do share the faith!
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Proverbs 9:8-9
Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
In Proverbs 9 wisdom is personified as a woman who invites guests into her house. Foolishness, similarly personified, does likewise. Wisdom and foolishness both presume the necessity of choice. Both invitations are sounding in his ear, and it is clear that he cannot have both! He must make a choice, and that is the most urgent and pressing business in life: MAKING A CHOICE!!!
The second section of Proverbs begins with chapter 10. There are 375 proverbs to come. In the Hebrew language letters have numerical value. It’s interesting that the letters in Solomon’s name add up to 375. In this chapter the list of the rewards of the two men are opposites. The wise man receives many blessings; the unwise man reaps a harvest of sorrow and death.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, You give such great blessings to those who live in Your wisdom! I pray that You will put a watch over my mouth so that, with Your Word and Your Spirit, I will communicate only that which will bring encouragement, life, love, knowledge, good food for the soul, strength, and wisdom. I come to You, Lord, in and through the Person who does all this and much much more, the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I’ve just turned in my Bible to Hebrews 4:9-13 where I read about the Word of God being living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. Here in Israel our group of 100 people visited Nazareth Village last Sunday. There we were shown a Roman two-edged sword from 2,000 years ago. I don’t think that any symbol does an adequate job of describing the power of God’s Word. I experienced that power as a boy in our family devotions. For example, I can’t begin to count the number of times I heard my father quote Proverbs 10:22. “The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” Never once did I think that Dad was talking about material possessions. He was a minister for four years of a country circuit with two congregations, one in Haley’s Station and the other in Admaston, Ontario. We had a big garden with lots of vegetables and farmers would often bless us with a gift of meat. It seemed that we only needed money for gas for the car, and that cost about 20 cents a gallon. I knew we were “blessed” and “rich” in the things that were really important in life. Dad read the Scriptures out loud to us at breakfast and at supper. I got the message!!!
Yours for all God has for us,
David
P.S. I chose the key verses because giving “Instruction,” “Teaching,” which will result in “An increase in learning” is a primary purpose for this blog! Here in Israel we are learning much as we travel and listen to our excellent guides, Bena and Val. Here are some of our fellow learners atop the famous mountain, Masada, after riding up in the cable car. From left to right – June from Alix, Alberta – Don and Sheila from Fredericton, New Brunswick – Louisa from Brampton, Ontario – Faiza from Port Alberni, British Columbia – Wayne and Della from Inuvik, Northwest Territories – Linda from Young’s Cove, New Brunswick – Freda from Young’s Cove, New Brunswick – Helen from Red Deer, Alberta.
The Fortress of Masada rises from 1,300 feet below sea level to 100 feet above sea level. You can see the cable car wires on the left.
The cable car ride up Masada!
Good morning David…It has been a real joy
to follow your tour and to note from the pics
where the people have come from.
The pic of Masada reminded me of when we
went. There was a Dr. In the group who had
a T shirt on that said, “I left the Tour Group”,
and that day we visited Masada and he chose
to walk up the whole way rather than take the
cable car. amazing! God keep each one well
and full of strength.
Blessings to all as we make wise choices today!
I appreciated your prayer today David and have
written it in the margin of my Bible.
There is one thing that all of us must do in this life and that is to make choices. Some choices may be good and some bad, but choices we must make. God in His grace, has given to each of us the freedom to make choices, but with it comes responsibility and inevitable consequences. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” To those people Jesus had directed His comment to, now had a decision to make. They were given a choice, would they follow Him, or would they turn away. Jesus still poses this statement to us today, will we follow Him or will we decide to turn away? Some choices have eternal consequences. I pray that all of us seek God and use wisdom to make wise choices.
Praying for my blog-buddies and your concerns. Wishing everyone a great day!
What does it mean when in Proberves says wisdom is said is mentioned she there are still many things I don’t know or understand and perhaps never will please help me to understand.
I love to follow all of you and your group and see the pictures hope you are enjoying
every minute
Lianne Hogg .
I am not a Bible expert but I have come to that same realization — a truly wise person will admit they can’t know everything– why? Because if we could truly know everything we would be God, and only God can be God. So, when wisdom states she doesn’t understand everything and might not ever know everything, she is being what her names states, wise.
Surely in life you have known people who think they know all the answers and are experts in everything, but often when sharing their so called knowledge they just come across looking foolish.
So I think this proverb is meant as caution that as Christians as we mature in Christ we might get a false sense that we know everything there is to know about God, His Kingdom and His plans, but the truth is we only know what He has shared with us. We cannot know everything because God hasn’t revealed everything to us. So let us be like wisdom and admit we don’t always have the answers. I hope that helps.
I totally agree with you Donna. My dad always says, “until you are ready to accept that you don’t know everything, you won’t be able to learn new things, for even a fool says something Wise once in awhile. It is your job to pick the SENSE out of the NON-SENSE”.
I have done something very human I made a mistake. Yesterday I believe I misread Lianne’s question and thought she was asking a question about a proverb that stated wisdom said she might not ever know everything and that she Lianne wanted to understand what wisdom meant by that.
I like many of you have not memorized all the proverbs so I didn’t check to see if such a proverb existed I just thought it did because of how I read the question.
However re reading it today I see now that was Lianne was speaking of herself and I am not sure which proverb she wanted to understand.
I believe my comments are still valid and others on this blog agreed with me, but I cannot find a proverb that actually says what I said wisdom said in my comments above. So I wish to correct that mistake and promise to read and be more careful commenting of Scriptures to be certain I got the correct words God used and not what I thought I remembered. Good lesson to learn, thank you Jesus for pointing it out to me. Amen
If the blind obey the blind, they both fall in the ditch. I have some personal experience from which I speak when I quote that statement from Jesus. It is not good to be lead by fools and wicked people. Pertaining to the reference to Wisdom not knowing everything, I can’t find the verse. However, I remember that Solomon said that the wise man knows that he does not know everything. Today, the proverb says that the wise man welcomes correction but the fool will hate you for it. Yet, as Peter said, people with no understanding pervert all the scripture to their folly and teach others the same.
Good morning David:
I am very grateful for your blog. Every day they minister something new and challenging to me. What insight they have. I have been following your blog since the beginning and am gaining such faith and courage. My brother has an incurable neurological disorder and is a devout Buddhist. However I know that God will use his condition to bring him into His Kingdom and my brother will be saved. I gain such strength when I hold James 1:2-8 in my heart. They are such powerful words.
Thanks again for your tenacity in blessing our lives. Hope you have a great day.
Christy
Amen! Your faith will surely make a way for you where there seem to be no way, by the Grace of our one true God!!!
Today’s reading is long. It will take another look at it to digest it all. Quite often, when I read the chapters each day in your blog, it seems to be exactly answering something I said the day before. I know this is most often God’s work. If it were not me who made a comment the day before, I would assume that I was reading ahead. I have not. The reference to wisdom, yesterday and today as a person, seems to be the Holy Spirit.
“When He assigned the limits of the sea, so that waters would not transgress His command; When He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight; Rejoicing always before Him. Rejoicing in His inhabited world. Rejoicing with the sons of men (proverbs 8 29-31)”
Correction: and my delight was with the son’s of men.
Sons
We will make wise decsions and when we make poor choices God knew before we did and His love never changes Oh how perfect is the love ofGod
You precious brothers and sisters have a day filled with Gods favor and bring healing to Christy s brother in Jesus name AMEN
Looks like quite an adventure up the side of Masada!! How many closed their eyes? We visited the infamous “Boot Hill” yesterday in Tombstone, were many who were hanged or shot are buried. Today’s proverb 10:17 stood out as well for me, “He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray.” It is like trying to swim upstream, eventually one will be overtaken!! Sound judgement and understanding are such key elements in Proverbs. Living life on impulsivity and pleasure as if there is no tomorrow, leads to eventual shipwreck. Thankfully, we can be challenged daily by this blog and the scripture pointing us in the way of light and understanding. Have a great day, to all!
Well put Donna M.
Praying for your brother Christy, believing with
you for his salvation.
F.
Until we draw our last breath, the Lord will teach us. Help our understanding Lord and help us to make right choices. Thnk you Lord.
May the peace and blessing of our good Lord be with you all !! May you all on this journey be able to find more insight and faith in The Lord our God by the end of this trip:) May the God Lord continue to strengthens us all in the name of the one who died for sins He knew nothing about, JESUS! Amen
🙂
M.
Blessings to all!
🙂
M.
Good blog as usual, David M. Also good advice, Donna M and David. Praying for your brother, Christy for conversion. I have a request which is a little different but a concern for my neighbours and myself. We get a strong north wind in the wintertime here against our houses and I heard tonight, that a landowner is cutting down all the trees that help block the wind for us. Would you please join us in prayer that he will not cut them all and go to his other woodlots. Thanks for your prayers as we have little protection from the wind which comes down from the mountain covered with windmills. God bless you all.
Dear David:
I’ve been enjoying the trip this year through your pictures. I hope everyone is having a wonderful time. I’m so glad that Val is back as a guide. I found him to be outstanding; full of knowledge, very professional and so personable . I hope he’s there next year when I go back to Israel with you.
I just read a story on the internet that pertains to our trip last year. A pair of lion cubs (a boy and a girl) was born On November 19, 2013, at the Hamas-run Bissan amusement park and zoo, in the town of Beit Lahia . They died on November 21, 2013 due to health complications at birth. The zoo apparently lacked the resources to accommodate the birth and treatment of cubs.
The cubs