Tag Archives: wisdom

I Am A Basket Case

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©  2013  Jeanne E Webster.   All rights reserved

 

I was lost when you found me here,
You pulled me close and held me near,
You saved me and gave me your life
Was a fool, but still you loved me
And now you’ve been made wisdom to me
I’ll be a fool, for the king of love,
You gave me wings so I could fly,
You gave me a song to color the sky,
And all I have is all from you,
And all I want is all of you

Chorus:

It’s grace your grace,
am nothing without you,
your grace your grace,
shines on me


there’ve been days when I’ve walked away
Too much to carry, nothing left to say
forgive me lord when am weak and lost
you traded heaven for a wooden cross,
and all these years you’ve carried me
you’ve been my eyes, when i could not see
and beauty grows in the driving rain,
Your oil of gladness, in the times of pain

Your grace, your grace,
am nothing without you,
your grace your grace,
shines on me

–Michael W. Smith

 

1st John 4:20 “If you say you love God and yet do not love your brother, you are a liar.  For if you do not love your brother who you have seen, how can you love God who you have not seen?”

Love is not easily provoked, nor rude.

At times when one is ill, the spirit is easily provoked and mannerisms are at times rude.  The brunt of the short provocations is usually family members/close friends.  Retorts are sharp and callous, seeking self comfort, sympathy for one’s ills, discomfort, pains and bad days.  The mean spiritedness blocks the view of our “brother’s” burdens.  If some are seen, ours are much worse and our major focal point.

Is this reflecting God’s love for our “brother?”  Focusing on self, in essence, neglects others.  We wear a basket over our heads and block out God’s light and love.  We prevent it from being spent on His glory.

“If you do not love your brother, you do not love God. “

Lord, forgive me of the times when my main concern is my own pains and sufferings.  Clothe me with your Holy Spirit, speak to my heart in words of understanding, strengthen my soul with your power to reject these arrows of Satan . . .    and focus on your work among us and through us.  For your glory we ask this.  Amen.

Shining in the Darkness

…and then there was LIGHT

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 Religious Candles and Cross

© 2013 by Jeanne E Webster. All rights reserved

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Repeatedly it’s been said,

“It was the best and worst of times.”

Discordantly, wisdom and absurdity

sang redundant rhymes.

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A tale of two cities, a contrast stark,

between heaven and earth,

Perhaps one day may give way

to a cataclysmic rebirth.

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It’s true today as it was back then

in those eighteen hundred years,
Light and Darkness administrate,

while Hope balances Fears.

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Technological sprawl litters homes

and clutters one’s workplace,
As ghastly suicides and boredom

slither at a haunting pace.

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Paradoxically, religious avow their creeds,

yet God teeters on His throne.
Deviant sexuality lusts ecstatically,

while AIDS and STDs gnaw bones.

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Is human dignity recoverable,

and standards of right and wrong?
Have we forgotten who we are…

and to Whom we truly belong?

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Dogmatic agnosticism imprisons,

and spirit and mind decay;
Wandering tediously, life’s passage echoes,

“We’ve forgotten the way!”

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Long ago Truth was manifested,

bearing witness of a place to stand;
A mystery revealed, heaven reached down

a mighty helping hand.

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The true Light shone in the darkness,

and the darkness knew it not.
How great that light! How great the cost!

Christ’s death our souls has bought!

Our Day-Spring, Come!

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

cross

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O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Refrain

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Refrain

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Refrain

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Refrain

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind

In one the hearts of all mankind;

Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,

And be Thyself our King of Peace.

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An advent prayer/song, yes; both to celebrate our Lord’s birth and, after prayerful thought, perhaps for the days at hand.  O come our King of Peace!  Amen

Snit for Snat

© Jeanne E Webster

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Proverb 31:26 “She opens her mouth with wisdom; her tongue is the law of kindness.”

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Good morning and may you be comforted in the knowledge that God loves you and watches over you.  The weather here has swapped its fall light jacket for a return to its short sleeve shirt feature.  Near 80° today, a pleasant day for finishing fall chores outdoors perhaps?  We’re plucking tomatoes off the vines and cutting gorgeous roses from our climbers out back.  Don’t have the heart to tell them both that their time to shine is a bit past.  Oh, well, they will sense it soon, as surely as my body definitely recognizes its advance towards the 71 year mark.

The proverb today came to mind when I was overtaken with a craving to refund a snitty for snatty.  Do you ever catch that modus operandi making for a hasty leap onto your pages of life before you’ve even given it a thought?  Only a listening ear for that all too familiar whisper of God will rescue you from a nasty fall from grace.

“Wisely choose your words,” it exhorts us.   Yes, Father, I shall.  However, I need a few seconds, rather, minutes to spit these despicable expressions down the drain that you see hanging from my lower lip.   I thought I had flushed those years ago.  Really.  Sorry.

“Speak kindly words that are sufficient for the time and place.”    Yes, Father, I hear you.  Kindly is a choice word:  Friendly, caring, gentle, compassionate, and more.  Nice.   All are well-spoken and fit for a king, or a child of the king.  Hey, that’s me!  I am His child.  Amen.

I suddenly realized that kindly is how I want to be treated, and by returning snatty with a kindness . . . well, that takes away the sting, the pain, the chance of misunderstanding, and the further lowering of respect for that person about to receive my snitty in return.    That’s how my Father expects me to live.

I’m surely glad my Father whispers to me!  He loves me, this I know . . .  for the Bible tells me so.

An afternoon and evening of kindly phrases and praises to you all.

Shalom

Look’a–Hear!

 

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© Jeanne E Webster

Proverbs 2

“My sons, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments, then listen to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding it.

If you cry after discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek it as silver and search for it like treasures… then you shall understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.  He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous; he is a shield to them that walk uprightly.  He keeps the paths of judgment and preserves the way of his saints.  Then you will understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yes, every good path.

When wisdom enters into your heart, knowledge is pleasant to your soul.  Discretion shall preserve you; understanding shall keep you. It shall deliver you from the evil man:

from the man who speaks perverse things, leaves the paths of righteousness to walk in the ways of darkness, rejoices to do evil and delight in the perversity of the wicked, makes crooked and devious your ways.

Wisdom will deliver you from the immoral person, even the stranger who flatters you with words; who forsakes the guidance of youth and forgets the covenant of God.  That house is sinking down to death.

None that live immorally will ever be the same again.  You must walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of righteous, for the upright shall dwell in the land; the blameless shall remain in it.  But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.”

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Shalom, my friends:

The Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want…ever.  He has given us wisdom to live righteously, if we will only listen and follow; that’s the key.  We can listen but not follow; we can follow but not listen.  Either way, we fail miserably.

Have you ever tried to carry on a conversation with someone who is watching television or listening to the radio or a musical recording?  Impossible!  If you’re patient, you may get a “huh?” response or “Wait; this is the best part.”  But you’ll never get their full attention as long as their eyes and ears are tuned to alternatives.

Daily we are telling God, “Huh?” to His words of wisdom, or “Wait,” because we are too busy with more pleasurable things.   We have 24 hours, one day at a time.  Days fly by like snowflakes in midwinter.  “Well, we always have tomorrow.”  No, we will not always have tomorrow.  Our days are numbered; our time is limited.   Listen!  Watch!

Why?

Your television shows are unlimited but not eternal; your music and video games are unlimited but not eternal; your “APS” on your cell phones, iPods, Readers, video games, etc., all boast of unlimited offerings to you.  Buy now!  Play now!  Watch now!  Listen now!  Do you ever wonder why they all play up the word, “NOW?”  Perhaps it is because even they acknowledge that time is fleeting and will be gone one day!  They want you to spend your short lifetime listening to their worthless babble and watching their decadent pictures.  Will you reach your goal of eternal life in heaven with God and our Lord Jesus by feasting on these?  No!

There’s an old joke that will help illustrate this point:

A rancher raced toward home after learning his house was burning down.  His horse ran so fast and long, the critter’s heart gave out and died before they reached the house.  The rancher was distraught til he saw a horse trader’s cabin up ahead.  Running over to the horse trader, he told him he needed a good horse fast, as his ranch was on fire. 

The trader showed him three horses he would sell and boasted the attributes of each one.  The first one was a good horse but bucked if ridden too far.  The second horse was a fair horse but would pull up lame if ridden too fast.  The third horse was of excellent stock but didn’t “look’a so good.”

The rancher, excited now, bought the third horse, thinking it was the best bet to get him home the quickest.  “All right,” the trader said, “but remember, I told you he don’t look’a so good.” 

Barely listening to the end of the deal, the rancher hopped on the horse and took off like he was fired out of a cannon.  All went well til the first turn in the road.  Whump!  The horse ran right into a big tree, knocked the rancher into the dust and keeled over and died. 

The horse trader came riding up and, as he dusted off the crumpled rancher, said, “I told you that that horse no look’a so good!”

Let’s not buy a blind horse, folks.  Read God’s word and listen to his voice.  We’ll not only get to heaven, we won’t have a fire to put out when we get there.

Shalom

 

     

Fools Rush In

© Jeanne E Webster

Proverbs 1:20-33 KJV

20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:   21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,   22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?   23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.   24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;   25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:   26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;   27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.   28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:   29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:   30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.   31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.   32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.   33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

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My mother used to say, “Straighten up and act like somebody!”  By that I knew she hadn’t approved of my latest behavior and was rebuking me in her own gentle way.  Those she has passed on through this life, I still hear her words of wisdom in the still night air as I chide myself for my faults of the day.   “Jeanne, straighten up!”  Ok, Mom.

Pray for those folks who are playing the fool.  It’s easy being a fool in life; it’s harder to listen to well-meaning advice.

There is a story on this topic that illustrates Solomon’s point here:

“On a mango tree in a jungle, there lived many birds. They were happy in their small nests. Before the onset of the rainy season, all the animal of the jungle repaired their homes. The birds also made their homes more secure.

Many birds brought twigs and leaves and others wove their nests. “We should also store some food for our children,” chirped one of the birds. And they collected food until they had enough to see them through the rainy season. They kept themselves busy preparing for the tough times.

Soon the rains came. It was followed by thunder and lighting. All the animals and birds stayed in their homes.   It continued raining for many days.

One day a wet monkey in the rain came into the forest. He sat on a branch, shivering with cold, water dripping from its body.

The poor monkey tried his best to get shelter, but in vain. The leaves were not enough to save him from the rains. “Brrr! It is so cold!” said the monkey.

The birds were watching all this. They felt sorry for the monkey but there was little they could do for him. One of them said, “Brother! Our small nests are not enough to give you shelter.”

Another bird said, “All of us prepared for the rainy season. If you had, you would not be in this piteous situation.”

“How dare you tell me what to do?” said the monkey, growling at the bird. The monkey angrily pounced on the bird’s nest, tore it and threw it on the ground. The bird and her chicks were helpless.

The poor bird thought, “Fools never value good advice. It is better not to advise them.”

Good story.

Shalom

Warning

© Jeanne E Webster

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Proverbs 1: 7-9

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  My son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother. For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck.”

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Fearing God, believing and knowing He is the ALLmighty, is The place to begin in achieving growth in wisdom and grace.  He has the “whole world in His hands,” as the song goes.  If you are in this world, my friend, you are in His hands.  Learn of God; don’t be as fools.   Let the jewels of wisdom shine from your being yet warn you of your attempts at folly.

“Always distinguish between warning and threatening.  God never threatens; the devil never warns.  A warning is a great arresting statement of God’s, inspired by His love and patience.  This throws a flood of light on the vivid statements of Jesus Christ, such as “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?”  There is no element of personal vindictiveness.  Be careful how you picture our Lord when you read His terrible utterances.  Read His denunciations with Calvary in your mind.”  –Taken from Oswald Chambers’ Studies in the Sermon on the Mount.

Shalom

Crumby Foods?

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 © Jeanne E Webster

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Proverbs 1: 5-6

“A wise man will hear and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels, to understand a proverb, and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings.”

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The sounds of wisdom will resonate in the ears of a wise person, bidding him/her to come closer and take counsel from them.  Dining at the table of wisdom will fill us with visions of clarity and prudence throughout our daily walk with God.  Choose carefully the types of food you digest; many are masked as nutritious yet contain toxic alterations.

Lord, we seek Your design for our lives; open our ears and eyes that we may discern Your will and obey it.  May we shake off the moldy crumbs of past blunders and dine solely upon the daily manna You so faithfully provide.  Show us how to apply Your wisdom that we may draw closer to You in love and understanding.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Shalom

Morals, morals, morals

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 Proverbs 1: 1-4

“The Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice and judgment and equity; to give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.”

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Solomon’s proverbial proverbs subsist of bywords, laments, and thought-provoking pronouncements.  In totality, these proverbs are tools that will teach the reader skills necessary for a successful life.  The Book of Proverbs is best read slowly and with determination, giving time to digest the multiple-choice topics contained within.  The first nine chapters carefully clarify the title, purpose and motto of the book, exhorting the reader to know and understand the two ways of living:  the way of wisdom and the way of folly.

So read, absorb, discipline and instill into your life the moral practices discussed here; they will lay a solid foundation for which you can live a most successful life.

 

Many thoughts and concepts for this study have been chosen and/or paraphrased from the Liberty Annotated Study Bible, KJV.

Shalom 

Do You Know? Do You Understand?

A Study of Proverbs

© Jeanne E Webster

 

Proverbs 1:2…to know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding.

 

Wisdom is the key word in the book of Proverbs.  It means skill in living, or success in living well.   How can we live successfully?  Learn from the Word of God.  Instruction refers here to the moral discipline of one’s life whereas understanding is the ability to know truth from falsehood, good from bad, and what is important in life and what has no relevance at all. 

Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly seeking wisdom every day of our lives.  In the same context, we are learning what is truly important in our lives.

 Have you ever read the classic book by John Bunyan, “Pilgrim’s Progress”?  If not, why not make a point to pick up a copy and absorb the rich Biblical lessons so wonderfully illustrated?  If you have read it, read it again.  I’m going to.  Why?  I need a refreshing of those wordy pools of animations, lessons I seek each time I read it.  Trust me, you will be blessed if you chance to sit a spell and chew on some good soul food found therein. 

 

Living and learning go together like eating and sleeping…one enhances the other and both are necessary for a healthy life.   As we share, I pray we will grow in love and understanding with one another as the Body of Christ was meant to do.  Struggle, we must; but together we stand in the strength of the Lord.

 

Shalom