April 7, 2018

Wisdom Is Crying

By Anthony Baker

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: – Proverbs 1:20 

Try to picture the desperate concern of Wisdom. Read the next few verses. Here the pleading in Wisdom’s voice as she cries out: “If you respond to my warning, then I will pour out my spirit on you and teach you my words” (Proverbs 1:23 CSB).

Then read of the sorrow and disappointment as Wisdom bemoans the lack of attention to her offer.

“Since I called out and you refused, extended my hand and no one paid attention, since you neglected all my counsel and did not accept my correction, I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and stress overcome you.” – Proverbs 1:24-27 CSB

Then stop and ponder (meditate upon) the dreadful finality of verse 28: “Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me…”

Tragic. Just tragic! Wisdom calls, yet few answer.

But then stop and consider this greater truth: Wisdom has a name, and His name is Jesus.

…Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. – 1 Corinthians 1:24

And Jesus has done his share of crying (both calling out and shedding tears).

“…[He] beheld the city, and wept over it…” (Luke 19:41).

“Jesus wept” (John 11:35).

Please don’t mock the things of God. Please listen to Wisdom. Don’t be like those in verse 28!

Wisdom is crying out in the street right now, tears flowing. Are you listening?

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April 6, 2018

The Kind of Fear We Need

By Anthony Baker
The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction. – Proverbs 1:7 

Fear

What does it mean to “fear the Lord?” Does it mean we should run and hide every time we hear His name? Should we quake in our boots at the thought of Him? Well, I guess that all depends on whether or not you consider Him a friend or foe.

Sure, don’t be mistaken, there is plenty of room to fear God in the sense that we should “be afraid…be very afraid.” After all, we are nothing more than little specks in the universe, and the One of which we are talking was the one who existed before it all, made it all out of nothing, and holds it all together with the power of His will. If I get nervous standing next to a train track when a diesel locomotive chugs by causing the ground to rumble and my bones to shake, shouldn’t I be a little nervous of the God who breathed out the stars?

“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! – Luke 12:4-5 NKJV

It used to be common to hear someone say, “I’ll put the fear of God in them.” Unfortunately, aside from those who no longer believe God even exists, the Lord’s own followers often live in complete denial; they can’t imagine the same God who “dances over them” will condemn anyone to eternal damnation.

The Beginning

But in reality, a healthy fear – a massive, bone-chilling respect – of God should be the very beginning of all knowledge. It is the foundation on which godly wisdom is built.

Of course, I can hear what some of you are saying: “I can become wise without fearing an imaginary creation of bronze-age man.” Sure, go right ahead and see how that works. If, by chance, you make it through this life without being eaten alive with a gnawing emptiness that at every turn begs you to reevaluate the meaning for your existence, how will your self-based knowledge prepare you for the afterlife?

The way Solomon puts it, the ones who despise wisdom and instruction are fools – that’s pretty much a given. But even more, it’s the one who seeks knowledge while avoiding the Source that’s the greatest fool of all.

The ones who actually know something fear God. 

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April 5, 2018

Getting Past Fake News

By Daniel M. Klem

“How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?”  ̶̶  Proverbs 1:22

It is because of verses like Proverbs 1:22 that some have questioned my publishing name: a simple man of God. In truth, this title simply means cutting through the fluff to keep the truth of God clutter free in life and teaching.

That hits at a major problem in the world today. Many people keep things simplified without due diligence.

The result of this is what is now colloquially called “fake news.” But it is not a problem on one side of any debate. “Fake news” can be found practically everywhere: politics, business, and religion – even within churches.

Why is this?

Because people like having their voices heard, getting their 15 minutes of fame. They like being able to call others out for their faults, and being the first to do it.

Unfortunately, this often comes at the expense of the full truth. In the name of expediency and “justice”, people will – willingly and unwillingly – scorn knowledge and people on the wings of rumors and half-truths. Then others want to help by spreading this propaganda and “news” without reading (or often caring about) the details.

This results in misinformation, mistrust, forced apologies, and broken relationships. This results in further division and “they said” and “at least we’re not like them.”

A Major Result – Fake Faith

And what does this lead to?

This same attitude of simple expediency affects our understanding of the Bible and God.

Fake faith sneaks in. We all “know” what we believe, because we have seen the memes and Facebook posts of credible people. We have read the popular books and watched the latest faith-based films.

Now, we believe in the god created by society instead of as revealed in the Bible, and we believe things that feel good and “feel right” instead of what is right and good.

Now we have people who believe they are Christians because of A, B, and C, who can not give “a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15), other than to say “Because it has worked for me.” And it is okay to believe there are other ways to eternal life, if it even exists.

If Jesus truly is “the way, the truth, and the life” and “no one comes to the Father except” by Him (John 14:6), then the worst fake news out there is spread by christians who are not sure what they believe, but “know it is true.”

Therefore, we must pray for God’s truth to be revealed in and through us. Instead, may we “have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths” (1 Timothy 4:7), and read God’s Word for ourselves and with sound doctrine and with others of faith that we “may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in gossip, Knowledge, Truth

April 4, 2018

Their Dark Sayings

By Anthony Baker

A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: to understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. – Proverbs 1:5-6

I’m intrigued by the last three words of verse 6: “their dark sayings.”

To begin with, Christianity is not a religion full of secret wisdom only available to initiates. There are no secret hand shakes. Christianity is an open Book.

However, sometimes there are “sayings” (puzzles, enigmas, riddles) of the wise that are difficult to grasp at first glance. As a matter of fact, even the Apostle Peter referred to the writings of Paul as “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16 CSB).

But a wise man distinguishes himself as one who will listen, learn, and seek wise counsel. When something important is a little hard to understand, he doesn’t give up and walk away, turn his back on God, and call the Bible a flawed creation of man. No, he admits there is something he doesn’t understand; he spends a little time doing his homework; and he goes to the sources to discover an answer, rather than to those who would question the wisdom of the author.

We often use light as a positive analogy, but have you ever thought of having to adjust to the dark? If you think about it, the most stunning view of the stars is not in the city; the brilliance of the Milky Way is best observed away from town, out in the country where there’s no “light pollution.”

Likewise, I believe the brilliance hidden within the “dark sayings” can only be fully appreciated once we’ve taken the time to get away from the city lights, flipped off the switches, and let our eyes adjust.

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April 3, 2018

You Don’t Want God Laughing At You

By Anthony Baker

“I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh” – Proverbs 1:26

This morning I was reading through chapter one and got all the way to verse 26. I may go back and look at some other verses later, but this one really stood out to me today.

Can you imagine God laughing at somebody in trouble? Actually, I can imagine someone saying, “That’s not a very Christian thing to do!”  (FYI, that’s a typical “gotcha” zinger atheists – both real and pretend –  love to throw at believers)

But what we see in this verse is exactly that – God laughs at people in trouble.

However, it’s not just any people; it’s those who follow after other gods when He doesn’t seem to meet their needs. Consider what God told the children of Isreal in Gilead:

Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. – Judges 10:14

While the above passage doesn’t mention God laughing, it does show Him essentially saying, “Hey, I told you so! Now, go on with your bad self and see if your little “g’s” are all you thought they were.”

But the Lord does laugh at those who want to “break the bands” of objective truth and live their own lives without Him…

“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision (mock, deride, ridicule).” – Psalm 2:4

It’s worth thinking about. God wouldn’t offer a way of deliverance if He didn’t love and care for us. But when we brush off his help like dandruff off our shoulder (I’m bald, so I don’t have that problem), don’t you think it breaks His heart?

That’s why, I believe, you see so many people crying out to God for deliverance, yet get no response. What’s it gonna take to convince us those other gods are the real failures? How many more times will I hear someone say, “I don’t believe in God anymore…I prayed to Him when I really needed Him, but nothing happened”?

I just shake my head.

That’s what God does: He shakes his head, put’s his hand on his forehead, and says, ‘Oh Myself.'”

Yeah, I know, it’s not funny. But sometimes you’ve just got to laugh at the insanity of it all.

God does.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in sin, Warnings

April 2, 2018

More Than Knowing

By Anthony Baker

To know wisdom and instruction… – Proverbs 1:2a

As I looked at the first few verses of Proverbs chapter 1, I thought to myself, “What have I not seen?”

I looked for something to write about. I looked for something to share.

But in reality, what good is it if I write a post about wisdom, yet never heed it? If I’m going to spend time in God’s word only to write blog posts, what good is that? A devotional on wisdom from a writer who didn’t apply it? Pretty sad.

Verse 2 starts off with “To know wisdom…” In other words, these proverbs are a gift to us…the product of experiences (much of which we should want to avoid). They were written for us to learn, to know…

The problem is that knowing something is different than doing something. Having access to wisdom is not the same as putting that wisdom into practice.

The same can be said about Jesus. It’s one thing to know who He is; it’s another thing to know Him on a personal level. The more we have a personal relationship with the Wisdom of God, the more our choices and actions will reflect it.

So, as I share my thoughts on these proverbs, may they be more than comments on what I see, but a calling to a deeper relationship with Wisdom Himself.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Instruction, Knowledge, Wisdom

April 1, 2018

Here’s a New Thought

By Anthony Baker

On the 1st day of April 2012, a new blog was born. Now, exactly six years later, ProverbialThought.com is being reborn…re-envisioned…rebooted…reinforced.

Welcome to Proverbial Thought (& More)!

More Contributors

Over the years we’ve had contributors come and go. Therefore, as we do a reboot, a new generation of authors will be joining our ranks, offering new and fresh perspectives. As a matter of fact, we are looking forward to having a few more ladies join our ranks this time around.

Just be aware, it will probably take a little time for everyone to get on board…some have yet to be asked.

A More Flexible Format

The last time we went through Proverbs we had a specific format. Every day we looked at a new proverb, one at a time in consecutive order, until we eventually commented on every proverb from chapter 1 to 31.

The last time around our contributors pre-selected what verses we would cover, put our names to them, then submitted a post in the proper order and (usually) at the appropriate time.

This time is going to be different.

This time we are going to cover a chapter a week. This time there will be no schedule. This time there will be no pre–selection of verses. This time we are going to be sharing our thoughts only on the verses that stand out, the ones God selects for us. If two people happen to pick the same proverb/verse, that’s OK – none of us will have the same perspective.

We haven’t worked out all the details at this point, but we hope to at least have a post a day from somebody, even if it’s only me (Anthony).

More Thoughts

All of our previous “proverbial thoughts” had a goal of around 500 words, give or take. Each post was to be like a mini-commentary with personal observation and application. The idea was to explain the proverb then give examples from our personal experiences how the wisdom of each proverb played out.

This time around we are simply going to share what the Holy Spirit is showing us, whether it be about ourselves, each other, our communities, or life in general.

And then we will ask for your thoughts.

More Than Practical

The book of Proverbs is a book of practical wisdom, but it’s more than that; it’s inspired Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 1:24 we read that Jesus Christ is “the wisdom of God.” In Luke 24 we read where Jesus expounded the Scripture, “beginning at Moses and all the prophets,” and explained to the disciples how He was the subject of it all.

In Proverbs, Jesus is Wisdom personified.

As we start afresh in our relationship with Proverbs, it is our prayer that this blog will do more than offer practical advice for life. This time around we hope you get to know the Author of Life and the Wisdom that makes life worth living.

And speaking of living, happy Resurrection Day! He is RISEN!

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March 23, 2018

Updating Archive Tabs

By Anthony Baker

For everyone’s convenience, I am going to be updating the chapter tabs at the top of the main page. As of this post, I only have chapters 1 and 2 uploaded, but more will come very soon.

As for April 1st (Easter), I’m still open to suggestions as to where to go next. Let me know.

Anthony

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March 10, 2018

Starting Again All Over Again

By Anthony Baker

Hey guys (and girls)!

It was on April 1st, 2012, that the first installment of Proverbial Thought was posted. Over 700 posts later, with only a few verses missed, those of us who contributed to this project shared our thoughts about 99.9% of all the proverbs in the book of Proverbs.

The total word count was over 350,000!

Needless to say, that was a lot of thinking, and it’s all still here, available to anyone who wants to read it.

But April 1st (Easter) is just around the corner, and now the time is here to decide what to do with this blog.

Do I just repost (for a 3rd time) the posts that have already been written? Or, do we do something different?

Here are some options being considered…

  • Start all over from scratch
    • If this option is chosen, we’ll need to recruit some new talent
  • Repost everything in order as it was originally done, but just update what’s needed as it comes along.
  • Do a hybrid version…repost the original stuff, but allow for new content to be submitted when available.
  • Should tabs be created (Chapter One, Chapter Two, etc.) to give easy access to past posts?
  • Do a new project through a different book (i.e., Chris Jordan suggested doing something similar with the book of James).
    • If this option is chosen, should we start a new blog altogether or keep this one?

I would love YOUR thoughts! Please leave a comment telling me what you think.

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February 23, 2018

Where to Go from Here? I Need Your Thoughts!

By Anthony Baker

Hello, everybody!

Wow! Can you believe it’s been so long since this blog was first started? Nearly six years ago I approached several friends whom I trusted and asked if they would like to participate in a study through the book of Proverbs. The journey on which we eventually embarked proved both a challenge and a blessing, and I’ll always be grateful for the many hours of study invested.

But where do we go from here? Do I keep reposting the old posts? Do we start fresh? What about new contributors (in addition to the ones who’d like to continue to contribute)?

One suggestion came from Chris Jordan. He suggested that we start a project similar to this one, only this time through the New Testament book of James. That would certainly be interesting, wouldn’t it?

If we start with a new book of the Bible, do we start a new blog? Do we just continue with this one? Maybe update the format? I’m open to suggestions.

Oh, there’s something else. The cost for this blog (domain and stuff) is $26 dollars a year – that’s the basic cost. Would any of you like to help cover the annual cost? It’s actually due today, incidentally 😉 

I have to ask… If you’d like to help me pay the renewal charge, you can go to my PayPal account (you can find a link on my other blog, TheRecoveringLegalist.com) and make a small donation – anything would help.

There are a lot of more costly WordPress formats, you know. If you guys could contribute, we could upgrade to a more robust format, one that could be more customizable, but could also facilitate audio and video uploads. The possibilities are something to consider.

So, please, let me know what you think. Every idea will be considered.

Thank you for six years in Proverbs!

Anthony Baker

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