2008-01-11
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Holy Spirit is encouraging us to keep going in our comparison of Christ's Sermon on the Mount teaching on mammon, in MT 6: 24-34, and the ideal person (originally the ideal woman) of PR 31: 10-31. Remember that modern usage has changed the meaning of mammon to the active expression, "that in which much trust is placed." There is a trait for the ideal women for each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. So far, we've seen: aleph, valuable; beit, trustworthy; gimmel, righteous; dalet, industrious; hay, values family; vav, organized; zayin; decides wisely to prioritize God's Kingdom first; chet, hard working and strong; tet, wise and diligent; yod, helps oneself; kaf, generous to the poor and needy; mem, has peace of mind; nun, known for the right reasons; samech, produces in excess of family's needs-efficient; ayin, is strong, respected, not afraid of the future; and peh, is wise and speaks gently. Today we will look at PR 31: 27-28, "She is always busy and looks after her family's needs. (28) Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her."
Tzaddi: When people are occupied with useless or evil pursuits, they are busy in the worst sense. A dear friend used this acronym with me, B=being; U=under; S=Satan's; Y=yoke. A cold shiver ran through me when she said that, because I was in the habit of always saying how busy I was. Her words, said by speaking the truth in love [EPH 4: 15], forced me to examine and evaluate just how I was using my time. It turned out that some of what I was doing was for God's Kingdom; the rest wasn't. The latter was the part that I needed to alter. The incident I relate here happened many years ago, long before I found myself working full-time for the Kingdom. It was when I decided to stop working outside my home and began holding classes and seeing people for counseling in my home. The net effect was to prevent my son from being a latch key child. Needless to say, this meant much less money coming in, but there is no task God gives us more important that being a good parent to one's children, good to one's spouse, and teaching them to love the Lord God [DT 6: 4-7]. This is not to say I am a perfect parent-by far, I am not. It only says that my family's needs came first. Many others have made much greater sacrifices than Peter and I have for the sake of their families. Anyone who has raised children knows that nothing can occupy your time like parenting can. My own step-father often said (before his death two years ago) that he regretted not spending more time with his children. Instead, he made his career as a men's clothing salesman his first priority. Sadly, he had lost contact with both of his children in their adulthood. This is a regret I would hope none of us ever experience.
Koph: When we examined PR 31: 21, the verse which indicates the ideal person has peace of mind, I was forced to think about what would give us that kind of mind set in such an evil and complicated world. We are told to be satisfied with what we have. PR 10: 24 reveals God's provision. "The righteous will get what they want; the wicked will get what they fear most." This is a good reason to want righteous things. PS 103: 5 is an expression of faith in why this is true. "He [the Lord] fills my life with good things, so that I stay young and strong like an eagle." We are even told we can be at peace amidst adversity. PHIL 4: 11-13, "I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstance may be. I know now who to live when things are difficult, and I know how to live when things are prosperous. In general and in particular, I have learned the secret of facing either poverty or plenty! I am ready through the strength of the One that lives within me." That last verse can explain why our ideal person has peace of mind. He makes decisions that prioritize the Kingdom first. He has a healthy, intimate relationship with our Lord. God appreciates that and rewards this kind of thought and action. PS 146: 8, "The Lord loves the righteous." By their example of righteousness, people who live this way earn and receive both the praise of their spouses and the appreciation of their children. These things are sweet indeed, maybe even God's reward for righteous decisions and behavior. James, who I call our "parent-apostle" because of all his pronouncements, gives us wisdom in recognizing the problem with asking for things that are not with His Kingdom in mind. JAS 1: 2b-3, "You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures." Praise of one's spouse and appreciation of his children lead to a good reputation for our ideal person. 3 JN 3-4 reveal the joy of a good reputation. "I was so happy when some Christian brothers arrived and told me how faithful you are to the truth-just as you always live in the truth. Nothing makes me happier than to hear that my children live in the truth." Thinking and praying about being occupied with our family's needs and enjoying a good reputation through our family's praise and appreciation of our thoughts and actions are what I would wish for everyone reading this devotion.
PRAYER: O Lord, our heads are bowed in reverence to You. We recognize Your amazing provision of our basic needs, Your compassion in the face of our troubles, and Your wisdom when we seek You out. What You have done for believing mankind in the face of some rather awful adversities is to give us an Anchor in stormy seas, protection from the temptations of the evil one, and a way out through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. You have told us through the Scriptures that one day, we will see You face to face. PS 17:5, "And when I awake in heaven, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you face to face." REV 22: 3-4, "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads." Dearest Abba, through Your word and prayer, You give us more than sufficient motivation to live up to the ideals You give us in PR 31: 10-31 and that Christ gives us in the Sermon on the Mount on our approach to mammon [and way of living]. As we learn more about Your will for our lives, we also come to better appreciate the great sacrifice You made of You Son on the cross for us and the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us. Our impetus to live righteously is seen in PS 94: 12-15, "Lord, blessed is the man You instruct, the one whom You teach Your law. You give Him rest from the days of trouble until a pit is dug to trap the wicked. The Lord will not abandon His people; He will not desert those who belong to Him." Belonging to You is what we desire. We must look at this from Your big picture, from the point of view of our eternal lives with You. We must also live it out ideal by ideal that You give us through such Scriptures as PR 31: 10-31. In this way, we must be both the pointers and the painters of our lives, so that You remain in the center of all we do. When we live righteously, You bless us generously. When we live according to Your will, we always know we can seek and receive Your help. EPH 3: 12, "In union with Christ and through our faith in Him, we have the boldness to go into God's presence with all confidence." Today and always, we offer You our loyalty, service, desire to do You will, reverence, praise, and thanks. In Christ's holy and mighty name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, the Holy Spirit directs me to write about PR 31: 29-30, represented by the Hebrew letters, resh and shin. If you make a list in order of all the letters we discuss in this part of the series of messages, you have what you need to learn the Hebrew alphabet by memorizing it. I believe there will be a day when all of us will learn this language, because it will be spoken in heaven. God will establish His eternal home in the New Jerusalem [REV 21-22], which causes me to believe this. My hope is that all of us will be there with Him. As for mammon, look at REV 21: 26-27, "The greatness and the wealth of nations will be brought into the city. But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of the living will enter the city." That "wealth of the nations" will not be ill-gotten gain, to be sure! Because of Christ's willingness to take on the sins of the world on the cross, those who live righteously and endure in their faith in Him will enter the city. Those who don't do these things won't. That may seem a bit simplistic, but we must understand that we can't attempt to live righteously without God's direct and indirect intervention. It's why Christ said, in MT 5: 3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the Kingdom of Heaven." I testify that God is eager to help us and to have us seek Him out first when the going gets tough. He loves each and every one of us. Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn