God's Word

16
Aug
2023

All Clear

“In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,

 And his children will have a refuge.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,

 That one may turn away from the snares of death.”

Proverbs 14:26, 27

 

 

As a child our first introduction to being afraid is often times related to their being monsters under our bed or in the basement. How many siblings have sent their siblings before them to check and see if there were monsters hiding in the closet or going to jump out at them when they went into the basement? I know my girls did thisJ  Now as adults, we may have something that we are afraid of though we may not verbalize what that exactly is or may not even be aware of that thing we are fearful of.

These verses referring to the “fear of the Lord” is not telling us that when we are afraid of God we will have confidence. Those two thoughts seem to be an oxymoron of sorts. When we are afraid we will have confidence. Usually, when we are afraid we lack confidence. Remember the sibling sending their sibling in to check under the bed, in the closet, or down the basement stairs to check to make sure it was safe? There was no confidence in what could have been only confidence in the “all clear” from the sibling.

The “fear of the Lord” means to reverence or hold the Lord in the highest of esteem. So we might ask ourselves how holding the Lord in the highest of esteem will produce confidence in our lives. Let’s go back to the example of my daughters. The one who was afraid had confidence in the one who gave the “all clear.” She trusted in what her sister told her. She had faith in the words of the sister who declared “all was clear.”

So we can have confidence in life if we trust in the Lord and follow His commands. Do we live by the principles that He has given to us in His Word, or do we live how we think we ought to live?

As we live out our lives daily following the principles that God has given us in His Word, we will have confidence. When we choose to live life adverse to the principles in God’s Word, we will live in fear.

Our next verse likens the fear of the Lord to a fountain. Have you ever been so thirsty and all you could think about was a cool glass of refreshing water? When we fear the Lord, we are satiating the desires that our heart is seeking for satisfaction. We think that if we obey the Lord then we cannot have what we want and our needs will not be met. When we believe this, we are believing a lie. God is our Creator and who better to tell us what we need and how to live then our Creator.

Have you ever put something together or gotten out the operator’s manual so you knew how to put that thing together or how to operate your new gadget? We may even watch a YouTube video so we better know how to operate our new gadget or put together our new item. One wouldn’t look at the instructions for a highchair when you are trying to put together a crib. Each has it’s own individual instruction manual. So it is when we try to live life without looking at what God’s Word says in how we are to live. When we try to do things our own way and not follow after God’s way of doing things, we will lack confidence and our thirst will never be quenched.

When we fear God, we want to know what God says about how we are to live life so we can have confidence in living. Wouldn’t you rather get the “all clear” from God who made you in His Image rather than something else that will lead you astray?

Fearing God takes trust that He is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. So it took my daughters trusting in their siblings that when they said it was “all clear” it really was “all clear.” I never did hear anybody screaming through my house that there was something scary in the closet, under the bed, or in the basement. The coast was always clear.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
19
Jul
2023

Work or Worthless Pursuits

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,

But he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

                                                  Proverbs 12:11

 

I enjoy gardening. I have posted pictures of my fence around my garden. I often take pictures of the beautiful flowers that adorn the various flower beds around our house. I enjoy seeing my hard work of trimming, weeding, fertilizing, mulching, etc. produce beautiful flowers and yummy produce. This year has been a difficult year for some of my produce. Some of my produce has done pretty well. We had a drought at the beginning of the summer so I was dutifully watering every other day. I think I planted sunflowers three different times because the seeds I planted were not growing. I finally have some coming up, but I am not sure if they will be able to bloom before the frost of winter sets in. my strawberries, black and red raspberries, and blueberries have done pretty well. We have had some green beans and some peas so far. There is nothing like eating the produce from your own garden. I am thankful that there are grocery stores because we would starve if it were up to me to supply enough food to feed us throughout the entire winter.

Our Proverb today is similar to a Proverb we studied earlier, “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” (Proverbs 6:6). The ant teaches us valuable lessons about working hard. You can go back and read that blog, Go to the Ant. The ant is motivated, plans ahead, glorifies God, and has busy hands.

A hard worker will have plenty of bread. The reason that the hard worker has plenty is because he is so busy working he does not have time for worthless pursuits. In America, we have become a nation that enjoys our leisure activities. However, we are not the first or the last people to enjoy our leisure. We could take a walk through history and read about all those that have gone before us that enjoyed their leisure. They enjoyed following “worthless pursuits.”

Is it wrong to enjoy leisurely activities? No. Is it wrong to have a hobby that we enjoy doing in our free time? No. The problem is when these leisure activities begin to consume us and cause us to disregard our duties and responsibilities.

First and foremost, do your leisure activities get in the way of spending time in God’s Word and in prayer? Does your job suffer because your focus is more on putting in your time so that you can enjoy your leisure activities? Does your family suffer neglect because you are too focused on your leisure activities?

There are pursuits that are sinful in and of themselves: Pornography, gambling, gossip, etc. No matter what these are sinful.

Video games, social media, internet browsing, and other technology driven activities have become addictive in our society today and though not evil in and of themselves they have become addictive and have caused people to waste inordinate amounts of time. These are the people that lack sense.

Our time is a non-renewable commodity. These moments that we are spending on these various pursuits will never be able to be done over. We will never recapture those moments.

With the 24 hours per day you have been given, what will you spend your time doing? Will you work hard? Performing your job to the best of your ability, caring for your family, ministering to the needs of others? Will you faithfully spend time in God’s Word and in prayer? Do you use your time in a sensible or nonsensible way? Someday, we will give an account for our actions. What will God say about yours?

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 2 comments
18
Jan
2023

Fear God or Foolishness

The theme of the book of Proverbs is generally agreed to be Proverbs 1:7.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

There are 2 groups of people in this verse. Those that fear the Lord and those that do not.  I understand things so much better if I break them down into a list and sometimes I need a picture to also help me illustrate the point. Let’s make a list out of this verse.

Fear the Lord

Accept/admire/cherish wisdom

Accept/admire/cherish instruction

Fear the Lord

Beginning of knowledge

Fools

Despise Wisdom

Despise Instriction

Dishonor/scorn/insult the Lord

No Knowledge

In order to fear the Lord, we must first be willing to be humble before the Lord. We have to realize that the answers to life’s most important questions are found in God’s Word. When faced with any decision in life whether big or small, we must seek God through prayer and reading His Word to find answers. When we are not sure what choice we should make, we must seek the counsel of those that are wise.

Since we see that a fool despises wisdom and instruction, we see that the fool is seeking to make themselves happy. They do not want someone to get in the way of their happiness. If they seek the counsel of someone that disagrees with their desires, they will reject their wise counsel.

A fool wants to satisfy their desires for happiness or admiration from others. Maybe they see their way of doing things as an easier way of life. It could be that following the path of wisdom will be hard.

The book of Proverbs is a manual that helps us understand how to live. It helps us understand the character of mankind. What are the characteristics of a wise person? What are the characteristics of a foolish person?

Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs to his son. Solomon had many sons and there is not a specific son that it was written to, but it was written so his children could learn from the wisdom that he had been given by God.  However, we see in I Kings 12 that his son did not learn the wisdom that his father was hoping to pass on to him.

“And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.” (I Kings 11:43). Rehoboam was faced with a decision to lighten the work load that his father had put upon the people or make it heavier. So Rehoboam sought counsel with his father’s advisors and then he sought counsel with the young men who he had grown up with. He listened to his friends rather than the wise counsel from his father’s advisors. The people revolted and Rehoboam feared for his life. This is known as Rehoboam’s folly.

As we seek to become wise people, we need to be sure that the people we spend most of our time with and people we go to for advice are wise. Do these people that I seek advice from cherish instruction? Are they humble?

What do we do when we have conflicting words of advice from different people, or what someone shares with us conflicts with our own desires? What do we do?

  1. Go back to God’s Word
  2. Pray
  3. Be sure that the people you are seeking advice from are godly

If we make a decision that is in contradiction to God’s Word, it is not a wise choice. Just because something feels right doesn’t make it right. Eating a quart of ice cream in one sitting feels good, but is it wise? We cannot make a decision based on our feelings. They will change. We must make our decisions based on the solid truth of Scripture.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
29
Apr
2020

I Hope in Your Word

Here we are facing more days of the “stay-at-home” order from our Michigan governor as she extends this stay home order to May 15. While I appreciate her desire to decrease the spread of the virus, I also think that the citizens of this great state understand the severity of the virus and the risk involved to each individual if one should get the virus. I see people that are careful when they go to the grocery store. People don’t get near each other. People are wearing masks. The grocery stores are cleaning like never before. We have all learned our lessons on how to prevent the spread of the virus.

During my time with the Lord each morning I spend time praying through the Psalms. I am currently in Psalm 119. I especially liked the following verses and felt like they are so applicable to us as we all face different challenges of our own. Everyone is dealing with these restrictions and struggling with them in different ways, yet God’s Word is relevant to each of us in our situation.

145With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD! I will keep your statues.    146I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies.  147I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your  words.   148My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,  that I may meditate on your promise.     149Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O LORD, according to your justice give me life.  150They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law.  151But you are near, O LORD, and all your commandments are true. 152Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever.                                                           (Psalm 119:145-152)

As you read these verses, notice the first part of each verse in the first five verses. Life is hard. We have difficulties and challenges that seem overwhelming. We cry out to the Lord with our whole heart, we call out to God, and we are awake at night because of the challenges that face us in our lives. The author of this Psalm (probably David) knew challenges and heartaches. We have these in our lives too. Those that are facing unemployment. Those that cannot pay their bills. Those that are sick with the virus. Those that are sick with the virus and cannot work. Students who have had their school years disrupted. The list of the challenges that we all face are many. These challenges cause us to struggle emotionally because the current events and the unknown events of the future are challenging.

That is the beauty of these verses. We cannot hope in the circumstances around us. If we spend our time focused on them and worrying over them it will do nothing more than cause us to be discouraged. So what do we do?

The Psalmist says he cried out to the Lord. He asked the Lord to hear him. The last part of each of these verses then tells us what to do. Focus on God’s Word. Keep God’s laws.

This crises that we are in will not be the last crises that you will face, nor is it the first crises that you have faced. How have you handled previous crises?

Over the last year and a half I have been memorizing scripture. I have memorized Psalm 145, Daniel 9:3-19, Psalm 103, and now I am in Colossians 3:1-17. What I have found as I have committed myself to not just memorizing Scripture, but rehearsing it when I go on my walks in the morning, when I drive in the car, or when I lay down at night to sleep is my focus has changed. It has been a slow and a gradual process, but I have noticed in myself that I do not worry as much. I do not focus as much on all the negatives that happen. When something bothers me I do not hold onto the bad feelings for as long.

God’s Word via the memorization of it has transformed my heart. I understand the words that the Psalmist wrote in these verses. I have worried about things and been in turmoil over them, but then I remember God’s Word.

I challenge you during these extended days of our “stay at home” order to memorize Scripture. Do something productive rather than sit and fret over all that is wrong. Focus on what you know to always be true no matter the circumstances: GOD’S WORD.

…I hope in your Words. (Psalm 119:147)

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