Category Archives: Walk with Jesus

Spiritfire Proverbs 24:21 “Caleb’s Answer”

Fear the LORD and the king, my son,
and do not join with the rebellious,
for those two will send sudden
destruction upon them,
and who knows what calamities
they can bring.
 
We had company over the day we did this Spiritfire. After the intro’s and the declarations, we began exploring this Proverb through the lens of fear. What did it provide? A choice. We chose to obey rather than to rebel. Much like there are separate houses for the discerning and the fools, our obedience parted ways with the rebellious. If we were to join them to their destination, then their destruction and calamity would be ours as well. The deterrent would not be clear who it was for and justice would not be served. Fear kept us on a better path free from punishment and calamity.  Obedience aligns the kingdoms’ citizens with the will of their sovereign. When justly appropriated, then “justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
 
When I asked my kids and their friends where was Jesus? How does He fulfill this proverb to make us into new creations?  I heard many answers. A few said, “He is the LORD!” Some also said, “He is the King,” or “Jesus is the Son!” I heard them all, and nodded to each in turn.  When they had quieted down, I asked again, “Yes, but where is He?” Then my son Caleb, who is normally silent, said, “He is with the rebellious.” Everyone paused for a second and let the truth of that thought take flight like Noah’s dove. It is true, time and time again, we find Jesus, our LORD and King, the Son of God, with the sinners, the rebellious.  And the calamity of the cross was not evaded (Mark 15:21-41). The fulfillment of this proverb was acted out upon His flesh and a door was opened, the salvation of humankind.  And through that door flew in Noah’s dove with a leaf in her mouth (Genesis 8:6-12).  Jesus is the Living Water (John 4:14) which flows from the throne in Heaven (Revelation 22:1), giving life for all who believe in Him (John 3:16).

Thrones Tower Path 

When you don’t agree with those who make the ‘rules’ here, prepare to be on your own. I kept saying to myself everyday for years, “But, that’s not You, my Lord.”  Now either I’m wrong and I am following someone/thing truly maniacally evil, or…

We will see.


Thrones, we make them on many things. It is up to those that follow who make the ones atop them reign. Jesus’ throne was in Heaven, not here. He denied what we spend our entire lives rebuilding, and we killed Him for it. 

When the Temple became the Tower.


The path is void of glory. Every step denies our own natural vanity. It is a process of rebirth and smells like death to everyone else, even to ourselves. Yet, there is a voice that calls us onward. Every day, we make a choice to follow or not on this arid path. Its destination is not here, sometimes I wish it was, but am ever glad it’s not.

2 Healings & A Google Earth Journey

 

SMOT to remember:  This was the beginning.  We – a student of mine (In Seoul, South Korea) and I (In America), traveled north in Mongolia to Khovsgol Lake because she wanted to see a lake that was bigger than Jeju Island.

We started off on random dirt roads near ‘guest houses’ that didn’t look like they had been rented in many months.  Then while my student visited a nearby town, I saw a squiggle of a line on the lake.

I clicked it and found myself on top of a frozen lake.  I told her to get out here.  Then I saw tracks on the ice.  “They bring vehicles out here!”

Then, in the distance, I saw a small horse.  “They bring horses out here?  You got to see this!”  “Who does that?  The horses might fall through!”  Then I clicked forward and found myself on a sled pulled by a pony.  “I guess I do,” I said shocked.  “You really need to see this!” I called to my student.  “Where are you?” she asked.  “I’m heading into the shore.  I don’t like being out here.”  “Is your horse white?”  “Yes!”

 “Wow there’s a lot of people.  Oh my, are you seeing this?  Ice statues!!!”  “Wow!” 

This ended our travels in the North.  This also happened to be our last class.  During our time together we visited many places and traveled the world via Google Earth.  France, Egypt, New York and South Korea, to name a few.

During lockdowns and quarantines, it is good to breathe a little and explore.  Adventure is everywhere if you look for it.  For example, when we were in Paris trying to get a view of the Tower, I appeared right in front of a police car!  I ran for it and ended up clicking off the side of the road by accident, which was a bridge.  Suddenly, I found myself on a boat traveling down the Seine.  Of course, I didn’t plan that, but I acted like I did.  I called my student down so we could make a quick getaway, but the boat was super slow.  So with the police yelling down at us from the bridge, we continued onward to visit the Louvre.

Again, adventure is in the eye of the beholder, so if you’re trapped at home because of another outbreak, take a moment and travel the world.  Don’t be afraid of squiggly lines.  Click them because they might lead you to a digital version of a cultural highlight.  The meta verse holds many mysteries yet to be explored.

The class may have ended for one student, but 2 more had just begun their faith journeys.  I wasn’t going to include these but God left me with the impression of “Why not?”  Although I am not permitted to give details,  two students of mine were in pain, so I asked if I could pray for them.  One has experienced a problem with her lungs and the other has had constant back pain for 10 years.  Again, I was in America and they were in South Korea.  Neither of them believed in Jesus as both claimed no religion, but I prayed in Jesus’ name for their healing.  Both were instantly healed.  One student shouted, “Your God does exist!”  I tried to speak with her more about Him, but she got pretty quiet and didn’t want to continue our conversation.  God gave me patience for her and reminded me that His work will be a daily reminder of His love for her.   My other student wanted to know more about God but is also facing imminent military time.  I assured him that we could continue our conversation even amidst his tour and that I’d pray for him.

The meta verse may indeed hold many digital mysteries for us to explore; another one is God’s healing power over space and time.  

Spiritfire- Proverbs 24:11 “A Star Wars-ian Proverb”

“Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.”
 
This was a rather odd way to begin a proverb.  No mention of the houses, or even of the innocence of those “being led away to death.”  True, we have read many proverbs that would allow us to assume that “they” would require innocence before such aid would be given.  Would we or should we rescue the guilty from their justified fate?
 
Our journey to explore the depths of this proverb lead us to “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”  For it was in the third episode of the book of Boba Fett that Boba rescued a gang of cyberpunk kids by paying off a portion of their debt to a local water vendor.  Since there was no work with which they could attempt to pay the vendor’s exorbitant fee, Boba Fett recruited the gang to work for him.  My kids got to witness first hand how Boba Fett used the wisdom in this proverb to secure members for his personal army.
 
When I asked them “Where is Jesus?” in this Star Wars-ian Proverb, the line between what Boba Fett did for the cyberpunks and what Jesus did for humankind couldn’t be clearer.  Again, Boba Fett paid a part of what was owed for the gang’s theft.  Jesus paid it all.  He was the One “being led away to death” – a death on the cross.  A death we deserved but of which He was innocent.  He was the One “staggering toward slaughter”.  No one rescued Him or held Him back and because of His sacrifice, a way was paid for us to become new creations adopted into His family.   Our thievery, our sins, though they be like scarlet were washed white as snow and now we are made blameless in His sight, Isaiah 1:18, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:3-10.

Spiritfire- Proverbs 22:14, “Deep Pit, Living Stone”

“The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit;
     he who is under the LORD’s wrath will fall into it.”
 
Here, we have the preeminent member of folly’s household.  The adulteress is the eldest of their number for she garnered special attention for her notoriety in earlier chapters.  The development of Folly’s house throughout the book of Proverbs seems to have had its beginning at her corner, at the time of night and darkness.  The simple go there, those who ‘lack sense’, 7:7-9.  In verses 10-20 we heard a clear picture of what she wants and what happens to those who heed her call.  7:27 revealed the ultimate destination of those who enter ‘her house’, which becomes the end for all the members of Folly’s House.
 
After being exposed to the Adulteress’s wicked ways early on in chapter 2:16-19, it is easy to develop a hatred for her.  After all, “For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead.” 2:18.  The opposite belong to those who avoid her words, “Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble,” 3:23.  Other members of Folly’s house- the violent man, perverse man, and mocker, find their first mentioning after the adulteress at the end of Ch. 3; the sluggard in 6:6, scoundrel and villain v. 12, and the false witness/gossip v. 19.  No other member holds the seat most opposite of Wisdom.  This is most clearly seen when comparing chapters 4 and 5, 7 and 8.  “I guide you along the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths,” 4:11, resounds clearly against 5:5-6 and even in the previous verses of 2:13-15.  We are given the clearest definition possible of the adulteress along with instruction to avoid her at all costs.
 
Where do we find Jesus?  John 8:1-11 was the most dramatic response He was forced to give to the teachers of the law and to the Pharisees.  In verse 7, He summed up the state of mankind, for all will fall before the judgement seat, Romans 14:10.  The stones Jesus said to cast will be our only rescue as our sinful lives seek a covering- to be buried under mountains, Isaiah 2:19, Luke 23:30.  Unless we are made into new creations and washed in His blood, 1 John 1:7, we are bound to our previous lives, 2 Corinthians 5:17-18.
 
When we looked further, we even found Jesus among the ridiculous verse of Proverbs 5:16.  It summed up a good description of where we find Him and the blood He shed for all who believe in Him.  His streams of Living Water pour from His throne, Revelation 22:1, and are given to all who ask, John 4:10.  Come to Jesus today and receive the gift of eternal life, Romans 6:23.  For He is called the Living stone, 1 Peter 2:1, and instead of being cast on us for sins, He is the cornerstone and “the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame,” v. 6.
 
In a way, we saw how Jesus cast Himself into the pit and became the only stone high enough to lift out those trapped there.  As they stand on Him, they hear His parting words to the adulteress in John 8:11, “Then neither do I condemn you.  Go now, and leave your life of sin.”

Spiritfire- Proverbs 22:13, “The Sluggard’s Vaccine”

“The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside!’
     or, ‘I will be murdered in the streets!’”
 
For my family, the ‘sluggard’ has become the comic relief in the book of Proverbs.  This approach was first shown to me  by my Old Testament professor who enjoyed describing the sluggard’s inability to feed himself in Proverbs 19:24.  For this verse, my daughter took a turn at reading it in her most terrified voice.  We pictured him giving these excuses to be his justification as to why he shuts himself inside and refuses to work.
 
Today, we have COVID-19 and this lion is invisible.  It keeps many inside for fear of bringing it to susceptible loved ones.  For just like a lion, it often preys on the weak.  Though, unlike the sluggard whose ‘imaginary’ lion was a means to an end and was what kept him in bed, COVID-19 is a very real virus, and the fear is also very real.
 
I have spoken with people across the globe who are so afraid of the pandemic infecting loved ones that they have sealed themselves inside, and only leave when necessary.  Government restrictions, however oppressive, are nothing compared to their own self-inflicted ones.  The promise of the incoming vaccine is the only hope they hold onto for deliverance.
 
For my family, regarding our devotion time, we asked ourselves “Where is Jesus?”  We saw the lion as Caiaphas, the high-priest, and we saw Jesus being led to Pilate for his inevitable execution.  After being witness to the book of Proverbs and the teachings handed down for generations from Moses to Solomon that were originally from God, we saw the wave of religious fervor that fashioned the cup Jesus prayed to be spared from, Matthew 26:39, but it could be no other way.
 
Because of Adam and Eve’s original sin, Genesis 3, humankind’s approach to the Divine had to always be behind a covering.  The Law and the temple’s veil were both such coverings and were given to us because of sin.  It could be seen then that Jesus’ death was to free us from our desperate need for a covering, and was the price that needed to be paid for that freedom- the tearing of the temple’s veil.  
 
Jesus bravely went to the sluggard’s lion and was indeed ‘murdered in the streets’.  He paid that price to free us from fear.  Jesus is the only vaccine we will ever need.

Spiritfire- Proverbs 22:12, “The Eyes of the LORD”

“The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge,
     but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful.”
 
Here, the picture of the LORD keeping watch is reminiscent of a father keeping guard over his son.  He does this by frustrating the foolish words of the unfaithful.  Knowledge is then protected and the path to Wisdom’s house is secure.
 
If the words of the unfaithful were true and contained in them the blessings and benefits of Wisdom’s house or led to another house altogether which claimed to be greater because the reverential awe and fear of God isn’t there, then the entire matrix of the houses would be broken by folly.  Discernment, which stands as the sign differentiating between the houses, would be meaningless.  And the doom of Folly’s house would reign supreme.
 
But it is the LORD who keeps watch over knowledge, and He does not sleep, Psalm 121:1.  The words of the faithful pour forth from a pure heart.  The LORD allows them knowledge and gives them access to its hallowed halls.  It is faith that is the key, Hebrews 11:6.
 
We then spoke of Jesus, who is the Father’s Son.  It is said that God spoke 3 times regarding Jesus: Matthew 3:17- after Jesus’ baptism, Mark 9:7- during His transfiguration, and John 12:28- before His crucifixion.  2 times God spoke directly about how proud He was of His Son.  God’s eyes were fixed on Jesus, His eyes were finally upon the One who would obey Him, 2 Chronicles 16:9.
 
Jesus went to the cross and was obedient to death, (Philippians 2:8), so that all who believe in Him might be saved.  His death and resurrection fulfilled the houses, the Law and the Prophets.  He brought hope to Qoheleth, the author of Ecclesiastes, who denounced the point and purpose of discernment, Ecclesiastes 2:12-16.  He fulfilled knowledge and wisdom providing the way for us to become new creations by our faith in Him, 2 Corinthians 5:17.  He opened the way for us to gain eternal life, John 3:16.
 

Spiritfire- Proverbs 22:11, “My friend, the King”

“He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious
     will have the king for his friend.”
 
We live in a “Who Do You Know?” kind of world.  The proper connections can open doors to places that would have been closed before.  Gaining entry to such places sometimes requires a bribe, or a secret password.  Nepotism, the right clothes, and the right ethnic background can also gain you access.  For this proverb, we must go straight to the heart.  It must be pure, not fettered with selfishness, nor boastful and filled with brash arrogance.  Having a ‘pure heart’ is mentioned many times throughout Scripture as being one who loves self-sacrificially, 1 Timothy 1:5, and it is a necessity to gain the blessings of God, Psalm 24:4-5.
 
Having gracious speech is not always easy on the road or behind the wheel.  We are more prone to speak out of anger there for the price of foolish driving is too high.  Filling our mouths with wholesome words even for the foolish so that we may be regarded as obedient to Him is an area beyond the ability of many, save One.
 
When I asked my kids “Where is Jesus?”, they said, “He has the purest of hearts and the most kind of words.”  We considered Him who, on the cross, gave us the utmost definition of sacrificial love, and when He could have called down judgement on those who had crucified Him, He beseeched God to forgive them, Luke 23:34.  Jesus fulfilled all of this so that we may take on His righteousness and be made among His friends, the King of kings, John 15:15.

Spiritfire- Proverbs 22:10, “The Mocker’s Arsenal”

“Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;
     quarrels and insults are ended.”
 
This proverb gives us an understanding of the arsenal the Mocker uses against its victims.  We mentioned before how:  “Mockers stand just off the path to Wisdom’s house, scoffing and casting stones of derision upon those who walk it.  They offer nothing of themselves and only find purpose in assaulting the pilgrims.”  According to this proverb, they also cause the strife of quarrels and insults.  
 
When I asked my kids if they’ve ever felt the sting of the Mocker’s weapons, they said they had.  Mockers, it seemed, also attended their junior high.  They were there leading their little groups, mocking and laughing at kids that were brave enough to try the different activities, often for the first awkward time.  We’ve all been there.  It’s almost as if it was a rite of passage.
 
Then I asked, “Where’s Jesus?”  Since we couldn’t find an example in Scripture of Jesus mocking anyone, we again looked at the reflection and saw Him there.  We restated this proverb according to what we saw:
 
“Invite Jesus into our lives, and in comes life:
    peace with God and blessings will begin.”
 
Again, we were privileged to see how Jesus fulfilled this verse by giving us His peace, John 14:27.  “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,” KJV.  
 
Invite Jesus into your heart today.  Let His peace unite you with God, and may you be blessed.