First of all, I love reading the wisdom that is written in the book of Proverbs, and remember, there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, one for each day of the month.  If you read Proverbs 31 today (today is May 31st), it speaks to us men about the “Wife of Noble Character”, and the qualities she possesses.   So gentlemen, take a little time today and remind our “Proverbs 31” wives  how important and special she is, not only to us, but to our children, and those she comes in contact with and makes an impression upon.

Speaking of our reading today, Proverbs 15:1 is a verse that we can all use in a practical sense just about every day:  “ A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (NIV).  We have all been exposed to situations and circumstances that can become volatile with just the right (or wrong) word or action (Guilty as charged).  Keeping ourselves calm during these situations, will have a positive impact on the person or circumstance we are dealing with. 

This becomes even more important in this technological age of instant gratification and instant messaging; so don’t fire off that email, text, or face book post too quickly without first thinking about the long term consequences it may have on yourself, your family, and others.  A practice that I have been using lately is to leave the “To” line blank until I have had a chance to let my emotions play out so that I can more realistically approach a particular situation in a more Christ honoring fashion.

And don’t forget to smile.  No one can put down an honest and sincere smile.  We can even tell if you are smiling when we are talking to you on the phone.  It changes the whole conversation immediately.  One saying that was very popular in the 60's and 70"s, and has still stood the test of time is:  "Smile, God Loves You".  :)

Have a blessed weekend………….Larry

Proverbs 11:1-13:25

Better late than never....not a proverb tonight...just a truth.  These past few weeks have been anything but smooth, more like a roller-coaster.  There was a time when I lived in the peaks and valleys, honestly not a good time.  The beauty of the wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs is the consistency that wisdom provides; to absorb the truth.

As of late, I have battled through a season in the valley.  There have been some distractions, some brought on by my own decisions, others out of my hands, throw in a health scare just for good measure and there you have it a recipe for distraction.  But today, God showed why He is God.  In a chance meeting (divine appointment) I saw an old friend of mine who is going through a difficult time.  I was able to share some insight from today's reading..  Proverbs 13:1 says, " A wise child accepts a parent's discipline, a mocker refuses to listen to correction."  My friend, like so many parents blame themselves for the mistakes their grown children make.  I was able to pray for my friend, his family, and the situation, after which he said that I had what he needed to hear today and that I had helped him.  As I walked backed to my car, I thanked God for giving me the opportunity, as that was what I needed today.

Tonight I am just thankful for God's simple wisdom and truths.

PTL.......Art

   1) I always like reading Proverbs. I particularly like the personification of traits, qualities, and non-animate things. The writing almost  gives you a visual image of Wisdom and Folly as women of different sorts. Several months ago I came across Proverbs 1:9. It says that Wisdom built her house; she has carved seven columns. Then I found James 3:17 which says “…the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
I also recalled Psalm 111:10 saying the fear of the LORD is the beginning or foundation of wisdom. So my rendition of Proverbs 1:9 is shown with this posting. Each of the seven columns has a message of its own. 
 
Proverbs 10:18 says “Hiding hatred makes you a liar; slandering others makes you a fool”. After sharing this with several co-workers, we discussed it for a while and ended with a few admissions of being “honest fools”.

One of the most incredible stories of failing God and His forgiveness is what we read in today's Scripture reading. God said that David was a man after His own heart, yet here we see David failing God in some very extreme measures.

"Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice to Deceive". This is a commonly quoted line from Walter Scott and published in 1808. This time that David was living could not be more of an example of this line. David first spots Bathsheba taking a bath and becomes taken by her beauty. Rather than avert his eyes or at least stop thinking of her, he allows his passions to begin making opportunity for him to have her.

At first it was sexual relations he was hiding. But when she became pregnant he sought a way to have her husband sleep with her so that when she had the child everyone would believe it was Uirah's (Bathsheba's husband), even Uriah would believe this.

This didn't work because Uriah was a devote man. So David sought to have Uriah killed. This way Uriah could not say the child was not his.

That worked.

But God sees everything and knows everything. God still loved David, but He punished David for what he had done. God killed the child and brought a curse on David that his own household would be against him. His wives would be taken from him publicly.

Evan though David prayed and mourned that God would repent from killing the child God still took him. But God, in all His merciful ways, brought another child to David by this same woman. He was named Solomon and became great himself.

This is not to say, "go ahead and do bad because good will come anyway." This is to say, repent from your sins and God will bless you, love you, and save you.

Isaiah 42:8 says, "I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols." (ESV)

All throughout the Bible, God makes it clear that everything is for His glory.  I couldn't help but think about that as I read through today's reading.  It said that everyone in the world was flocking to Solomon to see all the splendor and hear his wisdom.  The queen of Sheba even came and testified of how great everything was in every aspect of his kingdom.  I mean, you know you have a tremendous excess of gold and peace all around you if you are making battle armor out of it.  It had to be completely useless in battle because gold is such a soft metal, so it must have been just for beauty.

Anyways, I think God used all this to bring attention to Himself and that He was the true God. and Creator of all that was to be worshiped.  Think about it.  Solomon's palace was right next to the temple.  As people came to visit Solomon, they had to see the incredible temple of God and wonder who this God was that was blessing this nation.  Then, they must have wondered where Solomon got all this wisdom from.  I would hope and think that Solomon pointed them to God who gave him all of it.  I wonder how many believed in the one true God during this time period.

You see, even back then, God was in the business of letting every person in the whole world know who He is.  We should have this heart as well today.  We should be striving to let every person in the whole world know who He is.

Looks like the “Festival of Shelters” was quite a get together.  As we saw, and as Art eluded to in yesterdays reading; as soon as the Ark was placed inside the temple, a cloud filled the Temple (1 Kings 8:10), and the Priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple (vs. 11).

In today’s reading, sometime during the sacrifices, and after Solomon had finished the prayer of dedication for the Temple, “fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the offerings and sacrifices” (2 Chron. 7:1), and the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple”.  Again, “the Priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the glorious presence of the Lord filled it” (vs. 2).

How would you have reacted in the presence of the Lord?    What would you have done if you had witnessed this spectacle?  As indicated in verse 3, “When all the people of Israel saw the fire coming down and the glorious presence of the Lord filling the Temple, they fell face down on the ground and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying “He is good!  His faithful love endures forever!”   These folks saw firsthand the glory of our Lord God.

But they got to see it Larry, so it means a lot more since they were there.  Sure, being there would have been awesome, but we experience God’s glory each and every day.  His miracles of life, love, forgiveness, humility and humanity, and as I was reminded last night in small group, His never ending provisions for His children as expressed in Philippians 4:19.

See, you and I are special and set apart from many others because we did not witness those many things.  No, we weren’t present during the time of Jesus, and did not see the miracles He performed, or His ultimate sacrifice at Calvary and resurrection.  But we are in a league of our own, and Jesus knew how special we were to become, and He specifically called us out when speaking to Thomas in John 20:29 - Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  Thomas had a belief based upon sight, unlike you and I, that belief is based upon our faith in Him, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of His word.  If God says something, we honor Him by believing it; we dishonor Him by demanding further evidence.  May we be inspired by His word and His constant presence in our lives. 

Blessings…………Larry

As I read today's scripture I did so with the purpose of finding the one thing that God wanted me to know. With the Temple completed, the furnishings brought in from the treasuries, the Ark of the Lord is now being brought into the Temple and God enters the Temple as a thick cloud fills the Temple.

Solomon then blesses the people of Israel, praising them for their labor and help in completing the Temple.  Solomon then says a prayer of dedication.  He begins thanking God for His faithfulness, His Love, and asks God to remember the promise made to King David, "If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow me as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel." (1 Kings 8:25)  Solomon then begins asking God to remember Israel even if they fail, if we are defeated by our enemies because we sinned, remember and restore us when we repent. Then Solomon says, “In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name," 

That was it!!! That was the message I was looking for.  Solomon was praying for me.  I was that foreigner, not of the people of Israel, and I have heard of the One True God who filled that Temple..  For the Temple that Solomon built is no longer standing, but Solomon's prayer was heard as redemption was made by Jesus Christ, who from the lineage of David, sits on the throne, and His temple will not be destroyed.

If you have accepted Christ you too were that foreigner who heard of the One True God.  Think back to how you heard of God and of His Son, Jesus.  Many of you right now, like I, might be saying a prayer of thanks to the one person who made the introduction to Christ.  Now the challenge.  How are foreigners to hear if we don't speak?  Today, Let someone hear of Jesus.  Blessings to you............Art.

As I read about Solomon building his palace and the temple a couple of thoughts came to  mind. First both of these structures were magnificent works of architecture. The  stones were evenly cut and probably interlocked with surgical precision. The cedar wood was probably polished smooth with its natural fine grain luxuriously displayed. The intricate detailed decoration of the pillars was done by a master craftsman (1 Kings 7:14). How significant is the fact that it took 13 years to build his place and 7 years to build the Temple? Or the fact that the place was larger than the Temple? Some could question Solomon’s pride because he put more
time in to building his abode than he put into building God’s; or His place was larger than the temple. 

A world view would say that the more time devoted to something equates to a greater commitment to it; and the bigger is better because size equates to importance. In reality the size that God decrees is the right size; and God’s timing is the optimal timeline. Even as Christians we tend to use worldly yardsticks to measure Godly progress or success. So I am reminded of Josh’s posting on April 13th about how man looks at the outward appearance. 1 Sam 16:7 “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 

It seems we desire a lot of things in life.  Things that we think we need but in reality are only wants.  So.lomon had a daunting task ahead of him as he led the nation Israel.  He could have sought many things that would have seemed to be the right tools to accomplish his leadership needs.  Things that were conventional to all kings and were the latest trends of the day, but he chose to seek only one thing from God....Wisdom.  Wisdom is the ability to apply truth in any given context practically.  As the scriptures say, it begins with a fear of the Lord.  We would all do well to be reminded that all of life comes from and is sustained by the Lord.  As we gather wisdom from Him on a moment by moment basis regarding work, family, finances, children, etc.,, we may find that not only will we have greater success in life but we will have the blessings of God upon us as Solomon found when he pursued wisdom as the principle thing.  Have a blessed and wise week.  Blessings, Pastor Rick

We all too often wish to think of only the good things, the blessing that God brings upon our lives. We really don’t want to be face to face with the bad things in life such as hatred, lawlessness, death, etc. And this is good as long as we are looking at our lives realistically.

In these Scriptures today we read of our loving God setting down the terms of a covenant which He is asking His chosen people to obey. This covenant is filled with great blessing, but it is also filled with great curses.

Simply put, God says, “If you obey my commands and follow my laws I will bless you and your household. And if you do not obey and follow my laws I will bring devastation upon you. You will be sick, you will lose all that you have, you will starve, be lost, and be abandoned.

We already have all of the bad things he has promised in this world. Look around and see if you do not see them. And we can partake in that unpleasant lifestyle if we choose to ignore God’s call to obedience. Or we can be set apart and be blessed by obeying God and following His laws of love.

God knows what will make us happy and live long lives. He offers it to us each and every day. All we have to do is receive His mercy and choose to follow His ways.

Blessings to all.