Proverbs 15

 This chapter starts off with wisdom concerning our words. The first is how we speak, either gently or harshly. We see Jesus using harsh words, at times, but when he does, it stirs up anger. Usually, it is the religious leaders who are on the end of this, but I believe Jesus wanted to stir them up. They were content in their religiosity and could not see the problems in their lives, but if they were going to be saved, they needed to be stirred up. The admonition here is that there may be a time to use harsh words, but be prepared for the backlash. 

I am amazed at people who are offended that other people are upset with their harsh words. The Proverbs tells us this is normal, so don't be surprised. So, if you don't want to face anger, don't use harsh words. 

If you aren't willing to listen to this or any wisdom, then the last part of verse 2 will be your life. You will go about speaking folly. Side note here: folly or foolishness here is the same root word in Hebrew as evil. No surprise there. 

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Judges 2

 

The Angel came and warned them. The people wept and offered sacrifices, but didn't do what the angel said. They didn't get up and drive out the people the angel said were the problem. They felt bad but didn't do.  The question comes to my mind: What good did their weeping and sacrifices do? Nothing. It reminds me of the abusive spouse when drunk, apologizing later, but then drinking again. What would we tell someone in that relationship? Dump them. God does and doesn't. This reminds me of the warning James gives in the New Testament:

  James 2:14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

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Judges 1

 

When this chapter opens, Judah is being blessed by God, and they are having victories. They ask the tribe of Simeon to join them, but when we get to verse 19, they find they can’t get victory. It is recorded that they couldn’t overcome the iron chariots, which was true, but what we don’t see is them calling on God here or asking for more help from the other tribes. They started off good, but when things changed and it got harder, they quit. How human, let us learn from them and when victories stop to seek God and maybe even help from our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

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Love Unites, Hate Divides! (Maybe not)

Love is a powerful emotion and an even more powerful choice. We can overcome prejudice, weakness, and fear when we choose to love. The problem is, we can also twist love to mean something it isn't. In Greek, there were four words for love, whereas in English, love comes in only one word. To say it another way, the Greeks would disagree that love is love. 

This is just the top of the way people often look at love. One big idea that has been promoted is that love unites and hate divides. This sounds really great, but it falls short on real examination.  Looking at scripture and history, I could say just as easily that Hate unites and love divides. 

God is love, but it is clear that doesn't mean that he tolerates sin in his presence, a separation. Jesus showed love, but he too spoke of people being divided from God. Shockingly, Jesus also said in Matthew 10:34-36, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, -- a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household." If that isn't division, I don't know what is. 

Often, people think that love means we don't correct or disagree. The Bible speaks of love motivating God to discipline us and tell us we need to change. Which, in the West, isn't called loving. However, even in The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (a very un-Christian political theorist) says it's better to be feared than loved because someone can love you and not obey or even work against you because of that love. Love doesn't leave us as we are and it can divide. 

Hate, on the other hand, can divide, but it can also unite. Nothing unites people like a common enemy. WW2 brought together people who despised each other so they could fight against someone they hated. Even the "Love unites" (meaning, celebrate me even if it's a sin) groups are often united in hate against those who disagree with them. 

Jesus speaks of what seems to be a paradox in many people's minds. He says love your enemies, but also to choose Him over family, money, and power. He wants unity in his body according to Scripture, but also for us to be separate from the world without being separated from the world. The Scriptures say that hate towards people destroys and that human anger doesn't produce the righteousness of God. Yet, we are to hate the world's system and our own sin. If we want to define love as tolerance, then what the Bible says doesn't make sense, but when we see love as a choice to seek the best in ourselves and others, then it does. 

Let's define love and hate in God's way.

Jeremiah 10

 One of these things is not like the other. This phrase is often used to point out what should be an obvious difference in things. Jeremiah is saying, Look at the gods the nations around are worshiping. They are nothing but wood and metal that people create. They don't talk or have power. God, on the other hand, made the universe. He is uncreated. The obvious answer is, Why are you worshiping these things? Today, we in the West may not worship carved idols, but often we do worship or at least serve Idols we make with our own hands. We serve money, family, organizations, and countries that men have made, and they are just as foolish to worship as an idol made of wood.

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1 Corinthians 7

 

I read this chapter in a morning Worship service and was challenged once again about my relationship with God. The leader of the group pointed out that as we read this Scripture, we see that since marriage is a covenant relationship, our Spiritual life isn’t just us and Jesus. Our spouse is part of this. If marriage is what it should be, then our salvation is between ourselves and Jesus, but our life, including our spiritual life, is bound with this other person. We can’t say that our marriage is separate from our spiritual life because our spiritual life should be our life; there is no divide. 

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1 Corinthians 6

 Paul is confronting people who are saying My body is my own, I can do what I want with it, besides, it's going to be destroyed anyway. Paul makes it clear that our bodies aren't our own if we are Christians; they belong to God. The only way your body is your own, and therefore especially when you sin sexually, you are sinning against your own (God's) body. The more we discover about sex and sexually transmitted diseases, the more we have proof other than the Scriptures to point out that this is true. So what do we do with these bodies? Honor God with them, just as we are to honor God with every other area of our bodies. 

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