Friday, May 16, 2014

Oh Boy! Where to begin??? Proverbs 8 - even if you’ve read it before, we urge you to read it again! 

Wisdom – “where the paths meet, she takes her stand.”
Many paths meet; truth and falsehood, evolution and creation, moral and immoral, righteousness and foolishness, godly living and worldly living, prudence and folly, bad decisions and good decisions, etc.
Wisdom is the distinguishing factor as to which path we take. Only wisdom that comes from God gives us the ability to judge which is the right path. 

Wisdom is the first of God’s creation. It is with wisdom that everything was created. Seems as if wisdom and Jesus go hand in hand.
Prov 8:22-23
"The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.
Prov 8:30-31
Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.
Prov 3:19
By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;

Read Proverbs 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 9 substituting the following for wisdom.
Wisdom is "knowledge of Jesus as personal Lord and Savior (salvation, redemption)".  We could also include the Holy Spirit in our understanding of what wisdom is.
Here is our summary of those verses in Proverbs, substituting Jesus for wisdom: Jesus calls out. Jesus takes a stand. Jesus is more precious than rubies. Nothing can compare to JesusJesus is the craftsman.Jesus will enter your heart. Jesus will save you from the ways of wicked men. Blessed is the man who finds JesusJesus is a tree of life. By Jesus the Lord laid the earth’s foundations. Jesus calls aloud in the street.  Get Jesus. Do not forsake JesusJesus is supreme. AMEN and AMEN! 

Now contrast wisdom and folly using Jesus in place of wisdom and Satan in place of folly from Proverbs 9:13-18.
Satan is loud, undisciplined and without knowledge.  Satan sits at the door, at the highest point of the city, calling out to all who pass by.  Satan tries to get the simple minded to come to him, luring them with the possibility of gaining wisdom.  He makes them think that anything stolen or done in secret is to be desired. Relate these things to what is said by wisdom in Proverbs 8:32-36.  Satan tries to copy wisdom by saying the same things, but misquoting enough for it to be wrong.
Paints quite a picture doesn't it?

Proverbs 4:11
I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.
The Holy Spirit guides us to the ways of Jesus.

Proverbs 4:18
The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
Wow!  What a description of the life of a Believer.  Once we make that decision for Jesus, we begin our life with the first gleam of dawn.  As we continue our life's journey, things get brighter as our understanding grows.  The closer we get to understanding God and closer to our eternal life with Him, the brighter things are until we reach our final destination in the full light of day.

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