ddykema5@gmail.com

27
Mar
2024

Who Will win in Round 11?

“Answer not a fool according to his folly,

Lest you be like him yourself.

Answer a fool according to his folly,

Lest he be wise in his own eyes.”

Proverbs 26:4, 5

 

Sometimes conversation with others can be frustrating. Have you had those conversations? Your point of view and the other person’s point of view are opposite. It is important to you to come to a resolution with the other person, and yet that resolution seems like a farfetched dream. Your ideas are so opposed to each other.

It is important in these situations to be evaluating what you are saying against the truth of Scripture. These conversations can be about various things. In a marriage it could be about what car to buy. In a friendship it could be where to meet for supper. In a church it could be what color to paint a classroom. These do not seem like difficult conversations, nor do these decisions seem to go with our verse and yet if we look at these situations more closely they do.

Every relationship has challenges and difficulties. We must decide to approach every relationship and every conversation with humility, grace, and truth. If we come into each relationship with pride, we will think the only one with the right opinion is yourself. We will not be open to the opinions of others. If we are listening to the opinions of others and they are contradictory to the truth especially the truth from God’s Word, then we must not answer “the fool according to his folly.” (Prov. 26:4).

  1. Answer not a fool according to his folly

When a conversation becomes a sword fight, we are answering the fool according to his folly. We are trying to get the win in the verbal battle rather than be on the lookout as to how you can help the other person grow in faith in Christ or come to know the Lord as their personal Savior. If a person is not willing to listen to what you have to say when you are speaking in love and gentleness and only wants to have their own way, we must be willing to let the conversation die and “leave the presence of the fool.” (Prov. 14:7).

  1. Lest you be like him yourself.

We become like the fool when we willingly enter into the verbal sparring match because we are so determined to make sure the other person knows how wrong they are and how right we are. If we are so determined to make sure the other person knows how right we are so we enter the verbal “boxing ring” and are willing to go 11 rounds just so we can be determined the verbal winner, we have “become like the fool.”

  1. Answer a fool according to his folly

This is like the “tit for tat.” If you hit me, I’ll hit you back. This is revenge with words. If you said unkind things to me, I will say them back. When we say words that would only come from a fool, then we would also be considered a fool. When we get caught in a verbal sparring match with another and the words or tone of voice that come from our mouth sound no different than the words or tone of voice that are coming from the fool, what would that make us?

  1. Lest he be wise in his own eyes

The fool that is listening to you utter the same words that he is using will think to himself that he is the wise one. He is listening to his own press and thinking how wise he is. “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.”  (Prov. 17:28). We so often think that we must return word for word in what we consider to be wise words to the other person’s foolish words. Rather, we must keep a guard on our mouths and refuse to enter into the sparring match that the other person so urgently wants to begin.

We must be so concerned about the soul of the other person that we need to not be worried about defending our honor or making sure that our point is heard. What matters is understanding and seeking to help the other person become more like Christ. Sometimes, our honor may be tarnished, but God who knows all is the One that will help to make things right. What we must be concerned about above all is representing Christ well. Sometimes, we must let Christ be the One who makes things right, and we must keep our mouths closed so that He can be the One to do that.

 

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20
Mar
2024

Burning Coals

“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,

and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,

for you will heap burning coals on his head

and the LORD will reward you.”

Proverbs 25:21, 22

I have not seen the play Les Misérables, but Dave and I watched the movie a few weeks ago. The main character Jean Valjean is an ex-convict. As he is trying to figure out what he is going to do with his life now that he has been released from prison, he stumbles onto a nice couple that take him in for the night. The man is a priest. During the night, Jean Valjean decides to steal the silver candlesticks and leave before he is found out. However, he is caught and the police bring him back to the priest. The priest when asked if the candlesticks were his tells the police that he gave Jean Valjean the candlesticks and asks his wife to also give him the silverware as he had meant to give him the silverware as well.

The priest was practically putting this verse into practice. He knew that Jean Valjean had stolen the silver candlesticks, but instead of berating him and putting him into jail he said to him, “Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.”

The priest had the end in mind. He knew that the best chance that Jean Valjean had for changing his life was to show him what kindness, goodness, and selflessness looked like. Too often when we are so self-involved we have no idea what true selflessness looks like. All a selfish person knows is how to look out for is themselves. They look at what their needs and wants are and do everything they can to satisfy those.

This verse tells us to demonstrate what kindness, goodness, and selflessness look like. The “enemy” will not have any idea how to change his ways if he is not shown what selflessness looks like. There is no better way to demonstrate kindness than to look at what the needs of the “enemy” is and seek to meet those needs.

So many times in relationships where we are being taken advantage of by another person or being mistreated by another person, we think that we need to flee or that we need to fight back. When we look at Jesus and how He lived His life we see that so many times what He did was demonstrate love. He chose to teach truth and demonstrate love. When our kindness is given to others, it is a stark contrast to the evil that the other person is demonstrating.

I am thankful that our society has become more aware of abuse and impact that it has on the abused. Dealing with abuse is not my intention in this short blog.

What I want us to consider is how we treat those around us. Do we think of their needs or do we think of our own? Do we seek to share the love of Christ by showering someone with kindness or trying to get our own way? The best way to show our “enemies” kindness, goodness, and selflessness is to return their evil deeds just like the priest did in Les Misérables to Jean Valjean. Jean would not have known what these traits looked like if he had not seen them demonstrated. Sometimes, it takes repeated efforts of kindness before our “enemy” changes his ways.

After all that Jesus did for me and what I do deserve, the least I can do is shower another person with kindness, goodness, and selflessness.

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13
Mar
2024

A Word Fitly Spoken

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

Proverbs 25:11

Apples. I love apples. My favorite apple is a nice cold crisp honeycrisp. They are the so delicious to me and absolutely the sweetest apple. I could eat an apple pie, cooked apples, baked apples, applesauce, apple crisp, apple turnover, etc. If there are additional ways to eat an apple, I want to know what it is. I love to drink apple cider, especially if it is from Yates Cider Mill in Rochester, MI. The have the best apple cider. It is delicious cold, warm, or as a slushy. Needless to say, I love apples.

What about when an apple is rotten? I don’t love it as much. Almost every night (at least right now because I tend to go in streaks) I love to cut up a honeycrisp apple (maybe two) and cut it into sections and then savor each section. If there is a bad spot, or a mushy part, or a brown spot I cut that part out. I don’t want a brown or mushy apple. If the apple doesn’t taste quite right, I will throw the whole thing away and get a new one. I know that sounds wasteful, but I want my apple to taste delicious not rotten. This happens very rarely.

So our verse for today from Proverbs equates a word from our mouth not just to an apple, but to an apple of gold in a setting of silver.

We can deduce that our words are very powerful.

Our words that are fitly spoken are powerful. The word “fitly” in the original Hebrew literally means “wheels.”  Our words like a wheel that “runs well.” The word fitly spoken can also mean “well-placed” or “suitable.”

A well-placed or suitable word has great power and brings beauty to the hearer. Take for instance when you have eaten lunch right before a big presentation and you have a big blob of mustard or ketchup on your face, shirt, or dress. A word well placed and fitly spoken would let you know about this ill-placed glob of condiment on your person. No one would get upset with the deliverer of such news. They would forever be grateful that they did not go before a large audience with said condiment drawing attention away from the speech and onto what you ate for lunch.

A well-placed or suitable word of encouragement will also bring beauty to its hearer. That word of encouragement would be like an apple of gold. It would not be something that you discarded like a napkin used to wipe your face after lunch, but rather you would look at that word of encouragement just like you looked at that golden apple. It would be so valuable that you would display it in a setting of silver to remind you when you were feeling discouraged of the encouraging word shared with you from another person.

What about a well-placed or suitable word of constructive criticism? Would we feel so grateful if someone confronted us about something that disfigured our character like the condiment in the previous example? If someone said that they noticed that you didn’t always tell the truth, or you were easily angered, or you were self-serving in your efforts? Would that well-placed constructive criticism seem more like a rotten apple than an apple of gold?

Our words have great power, and the words we choose to speak come from the storehouse of our hearts.

Are the words you say and the way that you deliver them like a sweet golden apple in a setting of silver because it is fitly spoken? Or are the words you say like the rotten apple that is thrown away because the taste is so rotten?

Let’s purpose to have words that are fitly spoken so that they land in a setting of silver rather than the garbage can.

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21
Feb
2024

Righteous and Wicked

“For the righteous falls seven times and rises again,

But the wicked stumbles in times of calamity.”

Proverbs 24:16

 

I am so thankful for Christ, and what He willingly did for me. He loved me so much that He took the punishment for my sin and paid the price for my sin that I could not pay. Christ, the perfect son of God, took upon Himself my sin and paid the price for my sin so that I could have hope. He also willingly did this so that I could have a relationship with Him. He sacrificed His life to have a relationship with me. What have I done to deserve such sacrifice? NOTHING! I deserve eternal punishment and eternal separation from God, and yet Christ gave His life for me. This is the good news of the Gospel.

I am a sinner. (Rom. 3:23). The payment for my sin is death. (Rom. 6:23). Jesus paid that price by dying for my sins and taking all my sin and all my shame. (Rom 6:23; Heb. 12:2). All we must do is “confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead.” (Rom. 10:9). If we do this, “we will be saved” (Rom 10:9) from eternal death, eternal separation from God.

The good news of the Gospel gives us hope. The good news of the Gospel gives us a purpose to live. The good news of the Gospel once accepted wipes away our shame, guilt, and despair.

Our Proverb today talks about two different people. The righteous and the wicked. What is the difference? The righteous have accepted Christ as their Savior. They believe that Christ has redeemed them and rescued them from the pit of sin they were in and gave them hope of eternal life and an eternal relationship with God. The righteous have a secure eternity because they have placed their faith and hope in God. The righteous still sin.

The majority of people think that once we have accepted Christ as our personal Savior we are now perfect reflections of Christ. How I wish that were true. I would love to represent Christ in the most perfect way in every interaction I have, every word I say, every action I perform, every thought that I think, etc. How wish that every thought, word, and deed in my life was a perfect representation of my Savior, but it is not. I have not been perfected yet because I am not in heaven. So every time that I do stumble and sin, I “rise again.” (Prov. 24:16). I may stumble in the same sin or in a variety of sins, but I do not stay in the sin.

My goal in life is to look more like Christ every day. This is what we call progressive sanctification. Every day, I want to look a little bit less like the sinner that I was and a little more like Christ. The only way this is possible is because I allow the Holy Spirit to help me. I allow the Word of God to be lived out in my life.

The contrast is the wicked person. The wicked person stumbles in his sin and does not “rise again.” (Prov. 24:16). The wicked wallows in his sin. He enjoys his sin. He keeps going back to his sin. There is no conviction by the Holy Spirit when he sins. When he is confronted with his sin, he does not seek repentance and restoration. Rather, the wicked person continues in his sin and does not desire to change. When faced with a circumstance or a “calamity” (Prov. 24:16) in his life he has two choices, as we all do. Will we choose Christ and choose to respond to the situation as Christ would respond? The second choice is will we choose to sin “stumble” (Prov. 24:16). Every time something happens in life we always have a choice. Will we live for Christ or will we live for ourselves? The righteous person may sin in the moment, but then they realize their sinful ways and repent and choose to live as Christ would in the next situation.

The wicked will sin in the moment, but when confronted with their sin they continue in their sin. There is no repentance, but only blatant desire to continue in their sin. The key difference between the righteous person and the wicked person is the fruit of their lives.

The Gospel is the good news that gives us hope. The Gospel is the perfect love that Christ had for us that challenges us to live righteously. We all have a choice and with that choice the fruit that we produce gives evidence of what is in our hearts.

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14
Feb
2024

Buy Truth

Buy Truth, and do not sell it;

Buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

Proverbs 23:23

Truth…We have all by now heard people say “live your truth,” “my truth,” or “you wouldn’t understand you are not a part of this generation.” Truth has become a variable. When did truth become a variable? It has been a slow evolution from things being black and white to grey.

Our Proverb today says that we should “buy truth and not sell it.” However, we live in a culture that has sold truth. The Bible used to be the source of truth for so many, but now we have Bible scholars that believe that Genesis is myth and Job is an allegory. The more that truth is sold and lies are believed the more the foundation of our society, our culture, and the world becomes unsteady. What can we count on what can we rely on if truth is sold?

We have been encouraged to believe that what makes us happy is what we should trust in. If a relationship will make us happy, we should go after that relationship even if that relationship contradicts what the Bible says. God gave us guidelines in His Word, because He created us and He knows what is best for us. Just like the manufacturer of a chain saw knows that you need oil and gas mixed together in order for the chain saw to run well, so God wrote the Bible as our guidebook so we would know how to live. When we buy truth and not sell truth four happiness, we will actually have more joy and peace than we could ever imagine.

We think that if we do things our way rather than God’s way, we will get what we are looking for. Just like the person that thinks that running the chain saw without oil mixed with the gas will work okay, so our lives will begin to malfunction when we do not follow the truth of God’s Word.

Our verse not only encourages us to buy truth and not sell it, it also encourages us to buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. How do we do this? We are humble enough to seek others out for wisdom and discernment. When we buy wisdom, we are saying in essence that we need it. When I go to the grocery store every week, it is because I need things to eat for the week. I go there to buy things because I need them. So we need wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

Since they are such great needs in our life, we must seek out those that are wise. Do the people that we are seeking out following God’s Word, or are we seeking people that will only tell us what we want to hear? It may be easier to just put gas in your chainsaw, but is it best. In order to follow the manufacturer’s directions for the chainsaw, you need a separate gas can and special oil so that you can mix the oil and the gas together. Follow the manufacturer’s directions and your chainsaw will run well, but do it your own way and it won’t run well.

So it is with our lives. When we see God, His Word, and those that choose to live by God’s Word as the source for wise living, we will experience more peace and joy. The byproduct of buying truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding is a life that will be filled with more peace, hope and joy. Our circumstances may not change, but our response to them will.

We buy what we need. We need to be sure we understand that what we need is truth, wisdom, and understanding. That is what we need to be focused on buying.

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07
Feb
2024

Apply your Heart and your Ear

Apply your heart to instruction

And your ear to words of knowledge.

Proverbs 23:12

 

I like to read. If you spend any length of time with me, you will hear me start expounding the virtues of listening to books. I started listening to books last year, and it has opened up a whole new world for me. Do you realize how many listening hours you have? Do you realize how many wasted hours we have in our day that we could be listening to a book? I listen to books while I am driving (obvious), doing laundry, doing dishes, making meals, doing other chores around the house. Sometimes, if the book is really good and I can’t wait to find out what happens next, I will listen while I am outside feeding the birds and the cats. I don’t like to do that very often though because when I am outside I want to hear all the beautiful creatures and outside noises. I read/listened (because I still actually do read) 70 books last year. My goal for this year is 100 books. In January, I listened to 10 books so I am well on my way.

I listen to a wide variety of books, but the books that I take the time to actually read the printed word are books that help me in my Christian walk. I call these my “counseling books.” They are the books that help me to better understand the people that God has sent for me to use His Word to counsel them through the difficult circumstances of life. No matter what book I am reading to assist someone else, there are always truths from God’s Word that I can apply to my own life.

As a believer in Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross, I am always endeavoring to progress in my sanctification. I want to be more like Christ every day. Progressive sanctification is a process whereby I take the truth of God’s Word and apply it to my life so that each day I look more and more like Christ and less and less like my “old self.”(Eph. 4: 22) I will not accomplish this overnight nor will I accomplish it this side of heaven, but I want to be progressing. I want to be growing.

What are you applying yourself to? What are you listening to? What are you spending your time doing? One of the books that I listened to talked about the impact of our cell phones. It was a secular book, but I was very convicted by what it said. Because of that book, I have started turning my phone to airplane mode while I am spending time with the Lord. That way I don’t have to be distracted by it. When I am reading my Bible and spending time in prayer, this needs to be uninterrupted time with my Lord. How can I apply myself to the truth of Scripture if I keep allowing myself to be interrupted by my phone?

The idea of applying your heart (Prov. 23:12) gives us the idea that we need to apply our desires and the things that we love to instruction. Do we want to allow our desires to learn the truth of Scripture or do we want to allow them to run rampant in our lives? What we are filling our thoughts and our time with shows us what it is that we desire.

Are we desiring to grow in our sanctification? We will diligently apply ourselves and listen to things that help us to grow and be more like Christ. What do we listen to? We also need to “apply our ears to words of knowledge.” (Prov. 23:12). As the saying goes “garbage in, garbage out.”

We all have the same 24 hours in our day. We also have control over many parts of our day. During the times that you can control, what are you choosing to apply yourself to? What are you choosing to listen to? You know how you spend your time. Allow the Lord to convict you as He has me, to be spending your time applying yourself to the learning and practicing of His Word. Let 2024 be the year, that you look more like Christ and less like your old self.

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24
Jan
2024

Unbind the Folly Through Training

“Train up a child in the way he should go;

Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,

But the rod of discipline drives it far from him.”

Proverbs 22:6, 15

 

Children! Sunday (January 20, 2024) was Sanctity of life Sunday. We had a baby dedication at church on Sunday morning and ten families dedicated their babies to the Lord. It was a beautiful sight to see. Children are a blessing from the Lord! This dedication service is more for the parents than it is for the children. This ceremony is a commitment by the parents that they will “raise up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Eph. 6:4b). Eph. 6:4b is a command given to us by the Lord that takes time, prayer, and patience to follow.

The definition of a Proverb is a short sometimes pithy saying that states a general truth or piece of advice. So our Proverb today gives us a piece of advice and a general truth.

Let’s start by looking at Proverbs 22:15 “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child.” Folly is the same thing as foolishness. Folly is a lack of good sense. Foolishness is lacking good judgement. A child has many things to learn. They need to be taught how to read, write, do math problems, understand chemistry, how to drive a car, etc. They also need to be taught that the stove is hot and we should not touch it. A road is a dangerous place and we need to watch out for cars. Frozen ice may or may not be safe to walk on (there are still adults that are learning this lesson.)

From a biblical perspective, we have to teach our children how to live their lives according to God’s Word. Children do not have to be taught to serve their own interests. Rather, they have to be taught to serve others, deny themselves, and worship God. Our natural inclination is to love and serve ourselves because we are all born with a sin nature (Rom 3:23). Sin is luring and seductive telling us that if we satisfy our desires, we will be happy.

A child does not have to be taught not to share their toys, rather they must be taught to share. A child does not have to be taught disobedience, rather they must be taught obedience. Selfishness, disobedience, lying, stealing, pride, etc. is folly and as the Proverb says it is bound up in the heart of a child. We as parents have to do the work of unbinding this folly that is in their hearts. We must work at training them and teaching them that even though their selfishness satisfies for a moment, it will not bring long term satisfaction.

How many times do we ever want just one cookie or one candy bar? We have one and think that will satisfy, but it only feeds our thirst and desire for more. Why do people struggle with addictions? Because one is never enough. One never satisfies.

Training takes time, energy, focus, intentionality, prayer, Bible reading, and modeling. If we want our children to be kind, we must teach them kindness and also demonstrate kindness. If we want our children to have self-control, control their anger, and be gentle, then we must demonstrate self-control and gentleness. If we want our children to follow the Lord, then we must demonstrate so they can see us reading God’s Word and spending time in prayer. We could add many more things to the list, but you get the picture.

Our children’s natural inclination is to follow their selfishness. So is ours for that matter. We must be diligent trainers. If we allow our children to follow their natural bent, that is the kind of person they will be when they are adults. We have been given the responsibility to train our children in the Lord.

We all want a guarantee that if we do the right things we will have perfect children. There are many examples in the Bible of godly parents having ungodly children and ungodly parents having godly children. So what do we do as parents?

We will one day stand before God and give an account of how we lived our lives and how we raised our children. What our children do as adults is something they will have to give an account of before God. As parents we must live our lives to the glory of God, our children have the same responsibility. How we trained them while they were under our care is what we must give an account for, how they live as adults is what they must give an account for.

Be diligent in training your children and unbinding the folly that is in their hearts.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 2 comments
17
Jan
2024

A Good Name

“A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

And favor is better than silver or gold.”

Proverbs 22:1

 

Happy New Year!  Can you believe it is 2024? (Next year, we will say “Can you believe it is 2025:)  Time has a way of escaping us until one day, we realize that it is a new year. That is why we usually make our “New Year’s Resolutions.” We want this year to be different. We don’t like how last year ended, the state of our health, finances, relationships, or our spiritual condition or walk with the Lord. So we make some goals for the year so that this year does not end like last year did.

I wrote my blog posts last year walking through the book of Proverbs, and since I was not quite completed I wanted to finish it up this year. We ended last year in Proverbs 21.

What a fitting way to start this year off with Proverbs 22:1. How we live our life is our reputation, our name.

I am currently reading through the book of Genesis and have been reading about Joseph’s life. His desire to glorify God meant more to him than anything else. It meant more to him than physical pleasure (Potiphar’s wife – Gen. 39), money or an easy life (Potiphar’s wife – Gen. 39), fame or glory (prison – Gen 40). Every opportunity that Joseph had to tell His story, Joseph always told God’s story. When Potiphar’s wife accosted him his response was “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9). When he had the opportunity to deliver the interpretation of the dream to the cupbearer and the baker, his response was “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Gen. 40:8).

Two years went by and Joseph was still in prison. The cupbearer forgot about Joseph, but Joseph remained faithful to God. When the opportunity came to reveal to Pharaoh the interpretation of his dreams again Joseph’s response was “It is not in me, God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” (Gen. 41:16).

Who became 2nd in command to Pharaoh? Joseph. He did not pout or try to seek the glory for himself. Joseph‘s story could have been totally different if he had made different choices. The name Joseph could mean something totally different based on who he chose to glory in and the choices that ensued.

Our name means nothing until we give it meaning. How many teachers have you heard say, “I would never name my child ___________?” Why do they say that? They have had a student named that and the student was difficult and the name will always mean for that teacher the difficult student. When we name our child after someone, it is because that name brings a sense of love and fondness to our minds and bestows honor to the person the child is being named after.

Joseph was a Hebrew not an Egyptian, and yet his name and his reputation were of great honor and favor. “A great name is to be chosen over riches…” (Prov. 22:1). There were probably many other people that thought they deserved the honor that Joseph received to be the 2nd highest in command. They were probably Egyptians with great wealth and the “family name.” but Joseph had proven himself to be trustworthy. His reputation was one of dependability and honesty. He lived a life that was above reproach. When the doors were closed and no one was watching, Joseph was still going to do the thing that honored God.

So as 2024 lays before us. We still have about 350 days left to change who we are. There is still time to have your name mean favorable, honest, dependable, high regard, and good. When you get to December 31, 2024, what do you want said about you and your year?

If we are going to be like Joseph, we must care only what God has to say about us because He is the only One that can see us at all times. He knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. (Heb. 4:12, 13). He sees us even when no one else does, and His approval is truly the only approval that matters. When we honor and glorify the Lord and represent Him well, we will receive favor.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 2 comments
20
Dec
2023

Pursue Righteousness and Kindness

“Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness,

Will find life, righteousness, and honor.”

Proverbs 21:21

I love Christmas. I love decorating our house for Christmas. I love shopping and buying presents for people. I like having a list to shop from, but I also like figuring out what someone would like and getting that for them. Then seeing the look of pleasure and surprise on their face knowing you figured out just the thing that they wanted or needed. I also love the opportunity to get together with family and friends to celebrate the reason for this special time – JESUS.

As I consider this verse from Proverbs 21:21 and ponder the purpose for Christmas, I can’t help but think about all that Jesus left behind in heaven so that He could be an example to us in pursuing righteousness and kindness. Jesus didn’t just pursue righteousness and kindness, He is the personification of righteousness and kindness. He isn’t just the personification of righteousness and kindness, but He willingly gives us “robes of righteousness.” (Is. 61:10).

How do we receive these robes of righteousness? “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9). Jesus died in our place paying a debt that we could not pay, and once He paid that penalty and we believe that He did, we receive from Jesus “robes of righteousness.” It sure seems like those who believe in Jesus get the better end of the deal. We deserve nothing and did nothing and yet we get everything.

Looking at our verse in Proverbs 21:21 Jesus pursued righteousness and kindness, and what did he receive in return? He gives us the hope of eternal life. He gives us righteousness. We receive honor because we have the hope of spending eternity in heaven with God.

So how does Jesus benefit from living a righteous and kind life? He brings honor and glory to His Father. He represents His Father to us. We see how living a life of serving God by serving others brings the greatest peace, hope, joy, and satisfaction we could ever desire.

Jesus came to earth as a baby to grow up and live a sinless and righteous life to demonstrate His love (Rom. 5:8) for us and teach us how to live. (Phil. 2). So how than shall we live?

We should live righteously demonstrating love and kindness to others. The more our love for God grows the easier it is to love and serve others. Jesus is our greatest example of this.

The more we love ourselves the harder it is to love, serve, and show kindness to others. How can we live righteously and show kindness to others when we are always looking at how to please ourselves? As we give of our life to others, just like Jesus did, we are breathing life into others.

As we plant seeds of righteousness into others, we will see the seeds of that righteousness flourish and grow in their lives. As we seek to love and serve others, we are demonstrating honor to others.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11).

As we celebrate Christmas and remember the true purpose of Christmas, we need to appreciate Christ’s sacrifice for us. We must be thankful for the righteousness and kindness that He showed to us, and we must cherish the example He was. As we experience feelings of dissatisfaction related to our selfishness, we then need to turn to the only One who can really give us peace, hope and joy. There is not one verse in Scripture that encourages us to look out for our interests. There is not one verse that says we are to focus on ourselves and deny others. God made us in His image. Since we are made in the image of God, the logical conclusion based on the example of Christ is to focus on others and deny ourselves.

Let’s commit to celebrating Christmas, by living lives of righteousness and kindness and demonstrating God’s image to everyone we come in contact with by loving and serving them well.

Merry Christmas!

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 2 comments
29
Nov
2023

Deep Water

 

 

 “The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water,

But a man of understanding will draw it out.”

Proverbs 20:5

Christmas is coming, and with Christmas comes Christmas presents, Christmas shopping, and Christmas lists. We all like to receive and most often we ask everyone for their Christmas list. We want to get others something that they want. We don’t want to get something for someone and when they open it up their face falls. Rather than joy and excitement on their face, they have a look of almost disgust. Rather than a heart of thankfulness, there is a heart of complaining. We have all seen this at Christmas or at birthday celebrations.

What about the unexpected present that was never asked for, but is a gift that brings the recipient much joy? That surprise gift that brings great pleasure to the recipient because it was never anything they asked for, rather it was something that because you knew them you knew it would be the perfect gift. So you bought it for them and gave it to them.

We celebrated Christmas at Thanksgiving with our kids this year. My husband is a very thoughtful gift giver and pays attention to what is said and it immediately goes into his Amazon cart:) I received a few other presents that were also very perceptive of the giver; things that I did not ask for, but are very special because the givers did a great job at listening to what I said or noticing what I needed.

Our Proverb for today is similar to gift giving. It is the art of perception. It involves the art of observation, and the science of asking good questions. Our hearts are the seat of our desires. Oftentimes, we do not even know or understand what we are desiring or what we are wanting. Have you ever asked or been asked, “Why are you crying?” and the response to the questions was “I don’t know.” I have been asked this question and have had this very same response.

The desires or purposes in our hearts are like water that are deep in the earth. We live out in the “country.” We have 5 acres and have no connection to city water, so we have a well. Have you ever seen the machine that is used to dig a well? (if not, see the picture that goes with this post) It is a truck with a big “boom” on the back that is used to bore a hole into the earth until it hits water. These drills bore 100 -500 feet into the earth. There needs to be enough water for a house to meet its water needs.

A person of understanding will be perceptive enough to ask the right questions in order to “bore” into the person to find out the purposes and desires in their hearts. Just like the process of digging a well is long and challenging, so the process of understanding another person can be hard and challenging. It takes multiple questions, quiet observation skills, and the gift of perception.

The discovery, though, of what might be in the heart of another person may be a surprise to both. Herein lies the beauty of the person of understanding, they know what to do next with what is discovered. They know how to help the other sort through the purposes and desires by helping them evaluate those purposes with grace and humility.

As a biblical counselor and as a mom this verse is a challenge to me. I want in every interaction that I have with others to be a woman of understanding. I want to carefully and delicately understand the desires of the other person, and then help them evaluate those desires against the truth of God’s Word. I am still learning how to do this and will always be learning how to better represent Jesus in my everyday interactions with others. I want to represent my Lord well by being perceptive, asking good questions, and having quiet observation skills of others.

“The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water,

But a man of understanding will draw it out.”

Proverbs 20:5

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments