“The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.” ~ Proverbs 14:15
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” ~ 1 Peter 5:8
Our text makes an instructive distinction between the simple and the prudent. The simple accept new information without critique, without judgment. And, therefore, the simple are easily led astray. However, the prudent man carefully watches his steps: he tests new information to determine if is leading down the right path.
There is far too much “simple” thinking in The Church today. Various fads spring up and lead Believers astray, because of a lack of knowledge and laziness. The Bible is available to us and every Believer has the Holy Spirit as a guide. The challenge is whether we will use the tools God has provided us with; or if we will continue to refuse to study His Word. The choice is ours. Will we be simple? Or, will we be prudent?
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” ~ Ephesians 4:14
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” ~ 1 John 4:1
”Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.” ~ Proverbs 14:13
The truth in this verse is seen around us everyday and even in our own lives. People laugh a lot but are never very far from depression. Some people even spend their life searching for constant stimulation to avoid facing the underlying sorrow in their hearts.
However, there is ONLY one cure: The heart of man was made by God and for God. Therefore, lasting joy can be found nowhere else: real joy is only found in the heart yielded to God. Without, God there is only sorrow covered with laughter and heaviness (depression) covered with mirth.
“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” ~ Psalm 32:11
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” ~ Jeremiah 15:16
Before answering this question let us consider the following two questions:
What is spiritual growth?
Who is responsible for spiritual growth?
1. What is Spiritual growth?
Scripture describes spiritual growth as follows:
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” ~ Ephesians 4:13-15
That is to say, spiritual growth is the process by which we become like Christ. Therefore, spiritual growth is not merely knowledge of the Bible (Satan also knows God’s Word, Matthew 4:1-13). Nor is it just staying out of trouble (Jesus got in trouble with the authorities, that’s why they executed Him). Rather, spiritual growth is learning to walk in the perfect will of the Father as Christ did:
“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” ~ John 5:19
“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” ~ John 5:30
“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” ~ John 6:38
To answer this question let us use the analogy that spiritual growth can be likened to a class in which there is a teacher and a student:
For learning to take place both teacher and student share certain responsibilities. The teacher must be prepared and well equipped to teach; knowledgeable of the subject matter and skillful in imparting it. The student, likewise, has the responsibility of being prepared and equipped to learn; interested in the subject and committed to learning it.
Scripture puts it this way:
(TEACHER)“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” ~ Philippians 1:6
(STUDENT)“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of The Word, that ye may grow thereby:” ~ 1 Peter 2:2
God bears the ultimate responsibility of teaching/growing the Believer. But our growth is greatly facilitated by our attitude/appetite for God’s Word.
Growing Spiritually
Having addressed the two earlier questions of “What is spiritual growth?” and “Who is responsible for spiritual growth” we are now better placed to understand how we grow spiritually. According to Scripture, the mechanics of spiritual growth is by revelation/understanding of God’s Word by the teaching of The Holy Spirit.
Specifically, we grow and are sanctified (made holy) by The Word:
“…desire the sincere milk of The Word, that ye may grow thereby:” ~ 1 Peter 2:2
“…Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by The Word, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” ~ Ephesians 5:25b-27
And it is the Holy Spirit that teaches us The Word:
“But The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” ~ John 14:26
“Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” ~ John 16:13-14
That is to say, a Believer grows spiritually as he/she studies God’s Word (the Bible) and is thereby taught by The Holy Spirit. This is the method God has ordained for us to grow into the likeness of His son, Jesus Christ.
The Role of Suffering
There are some lessons that must be learned in the laboratory. As good as theory classes might be, doctors/nurses in training must also pass their “clinicals” (i.e., real world tests to see how well they can translate what was learned in the classroom to actual, real-life situations). As good as theory classes and flight simulators might be, a pilot in training must pass the test of flying a real airplane. And so it is with many other subjects and professions.
And so it is with Believers. As much as we learn by Holy Spirit guiding us through God’s Word, there comes a time when we must apply our faith to real world situations to see just how well we have learned the lessons of life; to see just how much we have grown. We can’t know how big our faith is until it is tested. We can’t know how much we love God until we have to prove it.
The absolute test of the purity of gold (or silver) is to heat it up; to put it in a very hot fire (the refiner’s fire). It is only then that the unseen impurities will leach out. Scripture tells us:
“But who may abide the day of His [Jesus’] coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” ~ Malachi 3:2-3
Therefore, as a good teacher, God puts us in the laboratory; He puts us through “clinicals”; He tests us in the real world of job loss, cancer, rape, persecution and all of life’s challenges.
He puts us in the furnace and turns up the heat so that we can see what we are made of; so that we can learn how strong (or how weak) our faith is; so that we can learn how much (or how little) we love Him; so that we can see how much more we have to learn and grow before we are ready to “graduate”.
We can be assured, however, that after God put’s us through the test, after He grows our faith and our love, after He grows us Spiritually, we will make it to the “graduation ceremony” for Believer’s where we will hear,
“…These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” ~ Revelation 7:14b
Hallelujah and Amen!
CLOSING REMARKS: Teachers and Teaching
As discussed above the Holy Spirit is our ONLY ordained teacher. Yet all believers are called to teach (Matthew 28:18-20) and teaching is a Gift of the Holy Spirit for the edification of the Church (Romans 12:5-8, Ephesians 4:11-16). How can this be possible?
Jesus told us:
“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.” ~ John 14:10
Therefore, since it is Christ that lives in each Believer (Galatians 2:20), then we can expect that while a Believer is in a right relationship with God, God will speak through him/her. In other words, we teach when The Holy Spirit speaks through us. If it is not The Holy Spirit speaking through us, then we (by definition) are not teaching God’s Word.
Similarly, the gift of teaching in the church (Romans 12:5-8, Ephesians 4:11-16) is a special spiritual ability given to some to be able to convey/explain/illuminate the messages in God’s Word, because we are “dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11). Accordingly, a true teacher is enabled by the Holy Spirit and therefore speaks of Christ in the same way that the Holy Spirit does.
“…for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak… He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” ~ John 16:13b-14a
In other words, true teachers do not focus attention on themselves, their opinions, their theories etc. Rather, true teachers, who are guided by The Holy Spirit, always focus attention on Christ (“He shall glorify me”) and they focus on what God’s Word says about any matter (“for He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you”), they do not emphasize their opinions/philosophies.
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” ~ 2 Peter 1:20
Spiritual growth comes by The Holy Spirit teaching each individual believer God’s Word. Sometimes this is facilitated by human teachers specially gifted by The Holy Spirit to teach, but this is strictly an auxiliary approach. Moreover, let us be careful that the person’s we look to as teachers in the church are truly enabled by the Holy Spirit.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” ~ Colossians 3:16
“A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.” ~ Proverbs 14:30
Several clinical studies show that this proverb is perfectly correct: The Bible reveals truth that modern medicine took >2500 years to catch up to. Here are brief excerpts from just two such studies in reputable medical journals:
“Depression is associated with alterations in behavior and neuroendocrine systems that are risk factors for decreased bone mineral density…As compared with the normal women, the mean (±SD) bone density in the women with past or current depression was 6.5 percent lower at the spine… 13.6 percent lower at the femoral neck… 13.6 percent lower at Ward’s triangle… and 10.8 percent lower at the trochanter…” (Michelson et. al., The New England Journal of Medicine)
“Negative emotions can intensify a variety of health threats… …including cardiovascular disease, **osteoporosis, arthritis**, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, frailty and functional decline, and periodontal disease.” (Kiecolt-Glaser et. al., Annual Review of Psychology)
However, aside from confirming the authenticity and accuracy of the Bible, there are at least two key points we should draw from this proverb:
FIRST: Spiritual health is critical to our physical well-being. Therefore, it is important that we allow God to govern our hearts and that we protect what enters our hearts. Scripture tells us to put our hope/trust in God, not in man (Psalm 118:9, 146:3). People will break our hearts but God will always love us and do what is best for us. Here are some strategies/practices that will help us maintain good emotional health:
(A) Guard you heart from ungodly influences “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” ~ Proverbs 4:23
(B) Focus you heart on God and godly things “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” ~ Colossians 3:2
(C) Allow God to keep your “heart” healthy “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:6-8
SECOND: Avoid negative emotions, like envy. Envy is a synonym for covetousness, which the Bible tells us is the same as idolatry (Colossians 3:5). When envy consumes us, we have entered into idol worship: worshiping the the very thing we envy/covet.
However, our bodies are not designed for negative emotions: God designed our bodies to worship Him. Indeed, the Bible tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 6:19). Hence, negative emotions do not coexist well with the body: they are like a disease.
Let us give God our hearts (and minds). Let us allow The Holy Spirit, which indwells the hearts of believers, to keep us away from negative emotions and keep us in perfect peace and good health instead.
(NOTE: To be clear, NOT all diseases result from negative emotions, and even great men of God got sick, e.g., Hezekiah, Elisha, Paul, Timothy. Good Spiritual health does not guarantee good physical health. But poor spiritual health does guarantee poor physical health.)
“20The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends. 21He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.” ~ Proverbs 14:20 & 21
The verses in this Scripture passage tell us that the poor is hated by his neighbour (vs. 20), but hating your neighbour is sin (vs. 21). And, rather than hating/despising the poor (and the weak, and the downtrodden), we should have mercy on them.
It is curious that in some countries a stray dog will be taken from the street, housed, fed and receive treatment. But a poor man/woman will be left behind. We know there are more complexities with helping humans. But the point remains true: to the poor, to the weak the downtrodden, to the single mother with too many children, to the homeless man on the corner, our ATTITUDE should always be one of MERCY; not indifference, not judgment, not anger, but MERCY.
AND, when we have an attitude of mercy, when we are merciful to others, especially to the poor, the weak the downtrodden, we will experience true, heaven-sent happiness. (“but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he” v. 21b).
Happiness never comes from hate, happiness never comes from judgment, happiness never comes from ignoring others in need. Happiness comes from being merciful, being generous to those who might not even “deserve” our love.
Find some happiness today, be merciful to someone in need.
“And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them, to praise and to GIVE THANKS, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward.” ~ Nehemiah 12:24
Nehemiah was in the process of guiding the Hebrews (who had returned from captivity in Babylon) to celebrate the rebuilt wall of Jerusalem with a worship service and an overall to renew their focus on worshiping God. Accordingly, as a part of worship preparations, several Levites were appointed the special duty to “give thanks” to God.
Today, since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christians are now the ones appointed to GIVE THANKS; because Believers are the royal priesthood of God (1 Peter 2:9-10). It is Believers who must show the world how to GIVE THANKS to God!
In Nehemiah 12 a list is given of the Priests and Levites who were to serve: to lead the people in worship. And, in our text, specific mention is made of three Levites who were appointed to GIVE THANKS and one of them also had his father (also a Levite) listed as well. To gain additional insight from our text, it is helpful, therefore, to look at the meanings of the names and the context of the verse.
Hashabiah: “Jehovah has considered”
Sherebiah: “Jehovah has scorched”
Jeshua: “he is saved”
(the son of) Kadmiel: “God is the ancient one”
Secondly, the context of this verse is that the people had returned from captivity in Babylon where they had been sent for seventy years as punishment for their rejection of God. After being back in Judah for a while they were had just completed the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and were in the process of re-establishing worship. (Indeed, later in the chapter they would have a great worship service as they dedicated the wall to God.)
This now helps us to understand the message of the verse.
(Hashabiah: “Jehovah has considered”) God had examined His people and saw their sinful state.
(Sherebiah: “Jehovah has scorched”) God had punished them for their sins—Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon and God’s servant (Jeremiah 25:9, 27:6 and 43:10), actually scorched Jerusalem when he defeated them and took many of them into captivity.
(Jeshua: “he is saved”)BUT, he (i.e., Israel) is saved (notice the verb used is in the present tense). Israel WAS punished, but Israel still remained the people of God.
(son of Kadmiel: “God is the ancient one”) And that salvation comes out of The Son of God (JESUS!!!) who has always been their Saviour, from the time of the ancients.
What a GLORIOUS message!!!
GIVE THANKS!!!
The story for Believers is the same. God has considered our state. He has prepared an ultimate place of scorching for sinful man. But He has also prepared trials for Believers, for His people here on earth, because of our sinful ways. The scorchings we endure are not to destroy us, but to purify/refine us as fire drives dross away from silver (Malachi 3:1-4). BUT there is a Saviour from long ago, from the very beginning, the Son of God, who has secured our salvation. Hallelujah! AMEN!
Let us GIVE THANKS to our merciful Saviour who has snatched us out of the fire, who has rescued us from the pit!!! Let us GIVE THANKS to The Holy One who has taken us out of captivity not because of our righteousness which is nothing, but because of His righteousness which is everything!!!
“Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of His, and GIVE THANKS at the remembrance of His holiness.
For His anger endureth but a moment; in His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” ~ Psalm 30:4-5
What does God’s holiness have to do with God’s mercy?
In our text, We are encouraged/instructed to “GIVE THANKS at the remembrance of God’s Holiness” (v. 4) because of God’s mercifulness, as described in v. 5.
When we consider God’s holiness we recognize God’s glorious perfection in righteousness and our shameful sin-induced disfigurement in our unrighteousness. And we cry:
“What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?” ~ Job 7:17
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” ~ Psalm 8:4
It is in that moment when we are overwhelmed by our abject sinfulness before the pure holiness of The Almighty, that we are instructed to remember His mercifulness and GIVE THANKS.
God is Holy, but He will not be angry with us forever, for “in His favour is life”. God will discipline us for our sin, but “…joy cometh in the morning”! Hallelujah!!! GIVE THANKS!!!
Many of us struggle with sin in our lives and with that struggle comes shame and a sense of worthlessness. Eventually, we question whether God will even come near us, whether God could even work through us. Sometimes we get so low, that we pull ourselves away from serving Him, because we feel so unlovable. When we come before God in prayer we find nothing to GIVE THANKS for, because our “sin is ever before” us (Psalm 51:3).
But God is merciful:
“He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.” ~ Psalm 103:9
It is when we consider God’s mercy that we are able to GIVE THANKS. As we consider God’s holiness and our comparative sinfulness, let us never lose sight of His mercy. And thereby let us GIVE THANKS!
“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.” ~ Psalm 4:1
Just about every emotional challenge we experience today was faced by the psalmist many years ago. If we will observe what he did when he struggled, and receive from God the grace to respond as the hymn writer responded, we can often overcome our emotional challenges.
In Psalm 4 the psalmist faces the emotional challenge of distress. If you drop the first two letters, the word becomes stress. We all have stress. If we do not have stress we atrophy. I have not put stress on my legs for 30 years. Consequently, my legs are the size of your arms. “If you don’t use it you lose it” is the way the physical therapists describe atrophy.
Our loving Father God knows that what is true for our bodies is also true in our spiritual life. God is fiercely committed to the proposition that we are going to grow spiritually. If we have no spiritual stress we will experience spiritual atrophy. He therefore will not only permit, but direct into our lives any stress that will grow us as He gives us the grace to cope with that stress.
God tells us through the prophet Isaiah: “I… create darkness… and… evil” (Isaiah 45:7). Many of us can trust God for the good things that comfort and sustain us. But do we have the faith and the knowledge of God to see Him in the challenges that make the difference for us between spiritual growth and spiritual atrophy?
The Greek compound word hupomone, translated as “perseverance” in our English Bibles, literally means “to abide under.” To apply hupomone, we should ask God for the grace to abide under stress, grow spiritually, and not atrophy.
“Unto thee, O God, do we GIVE THANKS, unto thee do we GIVE THANKS: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.” ~ Psalm 75:1
God’s wondrous works: the harmony of everything in the universe, declares, shouts, that He is near. God is not far away so that we can’t reach Him or know Him. We can know God’s character by observing life around us. Scripture also tells us:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” ~ Psalm 19:1-3
“The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.” ~ Psalm 97:6
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” ~ Romans 1:20
The wondrous works of God make it plain for ALL to see that God is real and that God is to be praised.
We can close our eyes, our hearts, and our minds to truth is we wish. But for those who believe, let us GIVE THANKS.
Let us GIVE THANKS for God who is close to us and who makes Himself known to us.
Let us GIVE THANKS to God who draws us into fellowship with Himself so that we can know His name, His wonderful name.
“Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will GIVE THANKS unto thee for ever.” ~ Psalm 30:11-12
Our text reveals two very important truths.
FIRST, the only correct response to God’s blessings is PRAISE and THANKSGIVING. Earlier in the Psalm, the psalmist (David) tells us that when God had blessed him previously, he had become haughty, confident in his own ability to sustain himself:
“And in my prosperity I said, ‘I shall never be moved’.” ~ Psalm 30:6
Then, when God “hid His face”, the psalmist was troubled (v.7) and in trouble (vv. 8-10): apparently, he was about to die.
Then, God saved him.
We are not given the details in the psalm. But, it is clear that the psalmist learned his lesson. Instead of responding to God’s blessings with pride, he declares “my glory may sing praise to thee” and “I will GIVE THANKS unto thee for ever.”
It is easy for us to think that the good things in our life come from our own efforts.
“I have a Ph.D. because I studied harder than…”
Do we realize that both the aptitude and the opportunity for study come from God? There are smarter students who never got the opportunities we did.
“I am wealthy because I worked harder than…”
Do we realize that both the strength and the opportunity for work come from God? There are harder workers who never got the opportunities we did.
When God blesses us, let us not praise ourselves or our strengths/abilities. Instead, let us PRAISE and GIVE THANKS to Him.
“Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.” ~ Psalm 115:1
“…Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” ~ 1 Peter 5:5b
The SECOND truth revealed in our text is the importance of giving thanks regardless of our circumstances. To see this, let us note the tenses used in the verses:
The phrases: “hast turned”, “hast put off” and “[hast] girded” are all present perfect tense, which is used to “say that an action happened at an unspecified time before now”. Therefore, it was at some earlier time in the psalmist’s life that God had blessed him.
Therefore, the psalmist is saying: “God has blessed me in the past and for that I will GIVE THANKS to him forever.” Notice that the psalmist places no obligation on God to bless him in the present or in the future. The psalmist had experienced God’s blessing and so he will GIVE THANKS regardless of how things work out going forward.
Has God blessed you in the past? If He has, then you have enough reason for a lifetime of THANKSGIVING.
Reflections in The WORD 