The Hand OF God Was With Ezra

In Ezra 7 & 8, Ezra successfully led a great caravan of thousands of returnees and a vast treasure given by the king for the temple at Jerusalem on a dangerous four-month journey across a wilderness to go home. He credited God for the achievement. He attributed God being with him to his conscious decision to know, follow and teach God’s law.  As he explained:

 “For on the first of the first month he began to go up from Babylon; and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was upon him. For Ezra had set [prepared – KJV, NKJV] his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.” (Ezra 7:9,10)

The safe passage of the caravan was far from the only success Ezra had. He was successful in accomplishing great and lasting things in every incident recorded of him, and in other tasks where his name is not directly mentioned. He always attributed his success to God, repeatedly saying that it was “because the good hand of his God was upon him”  (Ezra 7:9,28, 8:18,22).

Ezra understood the basic principle that success and victory belong to the Lord. As the wisdom writer said, “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But victory belongs to the LORD” (Prov. 21:31; Ref. 2 Sam. 23:10,12; 1 Chron. 29:11; 2 Kings 5:1; Ps 98:1).  God gives victory and success to those who are with Him.

A Gospel For Everyone

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature [complete - NASB] in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28, ESV)

The ethnically mixed—full of Jews and Gentiles alike—congregation of Christians in Colossae, was beset by errors that came from both Jewish and pagan backgrounds. 

Gnostic heretics tried to combine Christian thought with pagan philosophies. They often claimed various types of secret knowledge that only an elite few could have access to or even understand. 

The Jewish based heresies taught that Gentiles converts must become like the Jews, observing the rites and rituals of the Mosaic law and its practices if they were to be saved. 

Some of these issues separated brethren by supposed intellectual and consciousness-based divisions, while the others separated them along ethnic and cultural lines. But the apostle Paul was having none of any of it. 

Three times in this short span of words of vs. 28 the proclamation, the admonition, the teaching, the wisdom, and the maturity was present to EVERYONE. In the gospel proclamation all are to be warned.  All are to be taught.  This was to bring all who would receive the teaching to the full goal of making them all perfect, complete, mature.  

Sometimes we sing the old hymn, “The Gospel Is For All.”

Of one the Lord has made the race

Thro' one has come the fall

Where sin has gone must go His grace

The gospel is for all

Received ye freely, freely give

From ev'ry land they call

Unless they hear they cannot live

The gospel is for all 

The blessed gospel is for all

The gospel is for all

Where sin has gone must go His grace

  The gospel is for all

I’m sure that the apostle Paul would sing this with us.

Hard Hearts And New Hearts

Those who read the gospels will be familiar with Jesus’ rebuke of “hard-hearted” people. Jesus said hardness of heart is why Moses had allowed divorce, even though it wasn’t God’s intention from the beginning it causes great heartache for those involved (Matt. 19:9, Mark 10:5). And He was “angered and grieved” (Mark 3:5) that the members of one synagogue didn’t want one of their members healed because it was the Sabbath day.

The apostle Paul said that this attitude of mind marked the unbelieving pagans, as they “walked…in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness” (Eph. 4:17-19).

But this mindset wasn’t for Gentiles alone. Jesus “reproached” His own apostles for “unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen” (Mark 16:14). 

The only hope for a cure for humanity’s regular outbreaks of, or even permanent disposition to, hard-heartedness can be found in the gospel. This was prophesied long ago by the prophet Ezekiel. 

Ezekiel told a people in exile, deported from the promised land given them as an inheritance by God due to generations of disobedience, that God would effect a change. So prophesied this hopeful message: “And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God” (Ezek 11:19,20).

This needed change of heart is described as both a gracious work of God and the responsibility of men. Of God’s work, Ezekiel prophesied, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes” (Ezek.36:26,27). And the prophets said man’s responsibility is a matter of life and death: “Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Eze 18:31).

What can we discern from the passages, that the new heart consists of? Consideration of the effects of your actions of others, seeking the best for them, forsaking your sins, believing in the Lord and walking in His way.

“Come Ye Disconsolate”

In many ways, the hymn “Come Ye Disconsolate” is unique. It is one of the few hymns in a minor key (consider “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”) which lends to its somber tone.  

The vocabulary is also unique, asking those who are “disconsolate,” “languishing,” and who are “wounded” and in “anguish” to kneel. Those who are “desolate” and “straying” are asked to hear the merciful words of the Comforter to heal our “sorrow.” 

This is so very different from our nearly universally upbeat music and constantly cheery words. While Christianity is an inherently optimistic pursuit—with victory the sure and eventual promise to the faithful—there are many days of lament along the way. Our Savior was “a man of sorrows acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:4) not because of something in Him, but because He experienced what we do. 

The uniquely somber vocabulary of this hymn might be because the author, Thomas Moore, was an Irish-Roman Catholic more famous in the early 1800s for his romantic ballads than his hymns. “Come Ye Disconsolate” did not become popular with Protestants until the call in the second stanza from “Come, at the shrine of God fervently kneel” was changed to “Come, to the mercy seat.”

The final unique thing about this hymn is the now replaced third verse. The third verse we have now is not the original. We sing of the great spiritual offers of God that give us comfort.

Here see the Bread of Life; see waters flowing

Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.

Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing

Earth has no sorrow but heav’n can remove.

But the original lyrics were a very different tone. Having told of the comforting words of Christ, Moore challenged the unbeliever, asking what he could tell those in sorrow. 

Come, ask the infidel what boon he brings us,

What charm for aching hearts he can reveal,

Sweet is that heavenly promise Hope sings us—

“Earth has no sorrow that God cannot heal.”

That kind of challenge is very unique in a hymn. It’s a good solid challenge that unbelievers really can’t answer, but maybe people found it a bit too militant for a hymn of comfort. 

So this hymn comes from a different geography and perspective than most of our hymns, but it’s tone captures the sorrow of life that only the gospel hope can overcome.

All Three Offices

\We often speak of Jesus in His three-fold work, holding and uniting in Himself the three great offices of the Old Testament system. 

The kings lead the people and headed the government. The priests were in charge of religious worship, practices, and sacrifices. The prophets revealed God’s word and called people to repentance and the ways of God. Jesus does all of these things for us because we need Him to. 

We need a king to lead and guide, to rule and constrain, to subdue and overcome out rebellion. We need one with a kind, yet persistent and consistent oversight of us all. 

We also need a priest who can intercede for us and mediate between us and in God in our sinful state of disobedience and alienation. He offers the very sacrifice of Himself since animal sacrifices can’t take away sins. 

We need a prophet who can enlighten and teach us, who can guide in the ways of God with both authority and clarity. 

We also need all those other jobs and roles Jesus that Jesus does for us too — as Emmanuel (God with us), the lamb of God, our shepherd, our bishop, our advocate, our mediator, our physician, the word. He is all of these and more, and we need Him in every way.

The True God And Eternal Life

1 Jn. 5:19,20 “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” ESV

The last statement of 1 Jn. 5:20 is a summary and restatement of the truth John had explained at longer length above. Some translations give the restatement as “He is the true God…” and others, “This is the true God…” 

Some think that this summary states that the God with us the true one and Jesus His Son is the way of eternal life. This is true. Others think this summary states that Jesus Himself is the true God and is the way of eternal life. This is true as well. Which of these senses John means here, you may decide for yourself. 

When John uses the phrase, “The true God” it is to connect belief in Jesus with belief in Jehovah, the living God of in the Old Testament (Ref. 2 Chron. 15:3; Jer. 10:10) as is also done by Jesus Himself and Paul. (Jn. 17:3; 1 Thess. 1:9) This great continuity of truth embodied in Jesus is the source of our salvation. He is the true God. He is life for us who believe and trust in Him. 

Him From Whom Every Family Derives Its Name

In Ephesians 3, the Apostle Paul begins his prayer for the faith and spiritual strength of believers saying: “I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name” (v. 14,15).

Ephesians emphasizes that Jews and Gentiles alike have obtained the same standing before God by faith in Christ. The Jews had previously enjoyed a privileged spiritual position and made sure the Gentiles knew it. The Gentiles had been “called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so-called ‘Circumcision’…and were excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:11,12).

Part of the Jews’ glory was that God had called their father Abraham and they had their blessings through Him. They had the best lineage and were proud of it. But for Gentiles, many of whom came from very dubious earthly lineages and families and tribes from which they had much to be ashamed, Paul reminds us that we all our have our ultimate parentage in God. 

Physically, the Father in heaven is the Father of us all. We all share the same ancestors from Noah back. But spiritually, He is much more intimately our father. So “do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven” (Matt. 23:9). This is true of Jew and Gentile alike as Paul taught the pagan philosophers in Athens. “He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’ Being then the offspring of God…” (Acts 17:27-29).

So in Athen Paul taught the pagans about God based on the nature of man. Then Paul taught the Christians in Ephesus about their value based on the nature and provision of God. 

The more we come to appreciate God and the great things He has done for us all, the more we, like Paul should be driven to worship and praise saying, “I bow my knees before the Father” (v. 14).

“A Man After God’s Own Heart”

God, “testified and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.’” (Acts 13:22) By this, David became a man of great and lasting influence. He left a legacy of cities (both Jerusalem, 2 Sam. 5:7 and Bethlehem. Luke 2:11), of generations of kings (2 Chron. 1:1; 34:1,2) and ultimately the Messiah: Jesus, the son of David (Matt. 21:9-11). To this day David is one of the most popular names for our boys. 

His legacy with God was a great blessing for Israel for generations to come: “I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake’” (2 Sam. 5:7) even in times of national unfaithfulness. “Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David because of the covenant which He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and his sons forever” (2 Chron. 21:7).

He reflected the mind of God in his righteous indignation at the outrages of Goliah (1 Sam 17:24-30), in his respect for God-ordained authorities (1 Sam. 26:9-12), in his humility (2 Sam. 5:12), and righteous (2 Sam. 8:15). But maybe most strikingly and famously, in his confessions of sin when he erred. In his sins he confessed, “But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have acted very foolishly” (2 Sam. 24:10) and “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Sam. 17:13) Obedient, respectful, humble, confessing — examples for us in the ways of God. 

“As One Who Serves”

“But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’” — Matthew 20:25-28

When the disciples argued over which one of them was going to be greatest in the kingdom—each one putting themselves forward as the ideal candidate for the position—Jesus informed them that's not how His kingdom works. The “greatest" would be a servant and the "first" would be a slave to others. Some have forgotten that Jesus gave service as the chief qualification and job description. Today people line up to take the leadership in churches and religious communities for the wrong reasons. 

So serve. Cook, clean, wash, mow, sweep, visit, wipe, carry, babysit, drive, encourage, donate, volunteer, lend, tutor, just be there, appreciate, encourage, love. As you do, you probably shouldn't say as Jesus did, “I came to serve” — just serve. That is unless you need to directly teach someone to serve, like your children. Tell them and show them how to serve. Teaching them to serve is a good lesson. Saying, “Come on, let's go help” is a great one. 

“In Faith”

Hebrews 11 speaks of the importance of faith:

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” (Heb. 11:1,2)

Then, after speaking of Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, he concludes: “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises…” (11:13)

They died in faith. As Christians, we understand there are only two ways to die: In faith, or in sin. How did these die in faith? They died in faith because they lived in faith.

“…welcomed [the promises] from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth…But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

They died in faith because they lived in faith. For us faith is the only way to live. Fatih that God will wipe away all tears. Faith that the spirit will return to God who gave it. Faith that we will rise again. 

We can only live in faith or in sin. And we are fully aware of the end of each life. 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23)

Hope While Returning To Dust

Right after sin entered the world God told Adam the curse that sin would bring. 

Gen. 3:19  “By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

A life of hard work ending in death is the fate of every everyone. This is happening to us. To all of us. All the time. We are dying in this body. God had given the tree of life in the garden so that we might live. But God did not want sinful man to live forever, so the tree was lost. So we die.

But thanks be to God that He is merciful, and gracious and gives us time to do something about it. God lets our dying be slow. 

2 Pet. 3:15  “and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation…”

God gives us time. And God gives us Christ.

1 Cor. 15:22  “For as in Adam all die……..so also in Christ all shall be made alive.”

In Christ, there is a way for us in this dying body to find life anew., peace again with God, purpose and ultimately glorification. 

Thanks be to God for all that is offered to us in Christ Jesus. 

“As One Who Serves”

“But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’” — Matthew 20:25-28

When the disciples argued over which one of them was going to be greatest in the kingdom—each one putting themselves forward as the ideal candidate for the position—Jesus informed them that's not how His kingdom works. The “greatest" would be a servant and the "first" would be a slave to others. Some have forgotten that Jesus gave service as the chief qualification and job description. Today people line up to take the leadership in churches and religious communities for the wrong reasons. 

So serve. Cook, clean, wash, mow, sweep, visit, wipe, carry, babysit, drive, encourage, donate, volunteer, lend, tutor, just be there, appreciate, encourage, love. As you do, you probably shouldn't say as Jesus did, “I came to serve” — just serve. That is unless you need to directly teach someone to serve, like your children. Tell them and show them how to serve. Teaching them to serve is a good lesson. Saying, “Come on, let's go help” is a great one. 

Bow The Knee

At the name of Jesus, “every knee” should bow and “confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10,11). As the old hymn says, 

	O worship the King, 

	all glorious above, 

	And gratefully sing 

	His power and His love.

Worship is the great spiritual adjuster. Bowing the knee at the name of Christ and kneeling at His cross lowers the haughty chin. It softens hard-heartedness and causes stubborn shoulders to yield. 

Worship lifts up those weighed down with burdens and stooped over with cares. It straightens those who are bent out of shape and strengthens the lame and those made to [who are made] limp as we go through life’s troubles and trials, It eases our strains, soothes our aches and calms all those things that are flared up but shouldn’t be.

Worship clears our throat and looses our lips to sing His praise. It opens our closed eyes to see and unstops plugged ears to hear of His glory. It elevates hearts to Him and opens our mind to His great truth. 

Worship lifts ups our eyes to Jesus, His life and love, and the realities of Heaven where He is now. It properly positions us before Him and realigns us for the carrying out His will.

“The Poor Plead”

Proverbs 18 tells how people of status and means commonly elevate themselves over others while the poor don’t dare. It says, “The poor person pleads [entreats,  make supplication], but the rich one answers roughly” (Prov. 18:23, CSB). 

We’ve all heard stories of powerful people and celebrities who demean their staff or sometimes don’t even want them to make eye-contact with them. But everybody who has been at a material disadvantage in relation to another has received some of this treatment. You know you can’t talk to the boss the way they talk to you, even as you know they don’t talk to their own boss that way. 

Most people try to get away with whatever their position lets them. “The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; in his imagination it is like a high wall” (v. 11). While those who think themselves secure imagine themselves walled off from the rest of it, the poor get to the deal with the reality that, “A poor person is hated even by his neighbor, but there are many who love the rich” (14:20). Woe to those who take advantage of this to mistreat and oppress others. Instead, “whoever shows kindness to the poor will be blessed” (14:21).

Instead of concern about earthly status, let all believers—especially those who might have some power or status over others—remember this truth: “The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the maker of them all” (22:2).

“Was It For Me You Fasted?”

Ritual fasting is the practice of many religious people, ancient and modern. Those who had been sent into Babylonian captivity had yearly fast to mark the tragic event. When God’s hand restored back to the promised land, some of them asked a very good question, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?” (Zech 7:3). In return, God asked an even better question, “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?” (7:5).

Fasting in the scriptures is associated with mourning (Matt. 19:14,15; 2 Sam. 3:35; 12:16; Ps. 35:13). Loss of appetite and prayer are good and natural responses to sorrow. Fasting is also associated with deep concern, like for ones’ very survival (Ezra 8:21-23; Esther 4:16). And fasting is associated with a penitent attitude in turning away from sin (1 Kgs. 21:27; Ezra 10:6; Jonah 3:5-7; Joel 2:12-15). 

But the one thing fasting is not: it was never a ritual commanded by God. Search the scripture about feasting and fasting and you will find only of them one commanded on a schedule. 

Turning back to the prophet’s answer from God about fasting, he said what was need was to “Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother” and don’t oppress anyone, even the most vulnerable, like the “widow, stranger or poor” (Zech. 7:9,10). 

True justice, kindness, and compassion always trump any ritual. 

And for further reading on fasting, read Isa. 58:6-10.

“Lord, Increase Our Faith”

Jesus said “temptations” (ESV), “stumbling blocks” (NASB), “offenses” (KJV), or “occasions of stumbling” (ASV) “were certain to come” (Luke 17:1). Sometimes we’re the ones tempted, offended and stumbling. At other times, we’re the ones causing it for others. 

We can’t diminish  DISMESS  the seriousness of this because it’s so common or dismiss it because we can find ourselves so easily either side of it. Rather, “woe to the one through whom it comes! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin” (v. 1,2). Jesus wants us to take our conduct towards others most seriously and soberly. “Pay attention to yourselves” (v. 3), He said.

While being so careful about our own conduct towards others, we must be forgiving of them when they act poorly, or even sinfully, towards us. Yes, “forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him” (v. 3,4).

Jesus’ first hearers truly understand the real difficulty of having such circumspect conduct and also having such a forgiving and forbearing spirit. So “The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” (v. 5). 

Realizing our need, we likely need to pray the same thing: Lord, increase our faith. And Lord, keep us from giving offense and help us to forgive.

“Saved To The Uttermost”

The last verses of Hebrews 7 tell of priesthood of Jesus. We are told of the purity, position, permanence, and power of His priestly work. In purity, Jesus is “holy, innocent, undefiled, [and] separated from sinners” (v. 26). In position, He is “exalted above the heavens” (v. 26). In duration, Jesus “holds His priesthood permanently” so that He “always lives to make intercession for them” (v 25). 

These things are all powerfully used to help us, so that Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him” (v. 25, ESV). The fullness of this “saved to the uttermost” is seen in how completely He deals with sin for us. First, He saves us from the penalty of sin, forgiving us and declaring us just. Then through the process of sanctification, we are saved from the power of sin as He quickens us to live by the Spirit and put to death the deeds of the body. And ultimately, Jesus will free us from even the presence of sin, as we, the redeemed, will be removed beyond all corruption, death, mourning, crying or pain to a state of eternal bliss. 

So Jesus—the pure, powerful, permanent and well-position priest—saves us from sin’s penalty, power, and ultimately, it’s very presence. Truly, “salvation to the uttermost.” So let us all gladly follow the admonitions to “draw near with confidence” (4:16), “with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…holding fast the confession of our hope without wavering” (10:22,23). Let us come to Christ. 

If Anyone Wishes To Be My Disciple

Jesus taught some things that were—that still are—hard to follow. In the gospel of Mark, He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34). Jesus required three things of those who wanted to come after Him, that is, to be His disciple. 1.) Deny yourself. 2.) Take up your cross and then 3.) following Jesus. 

Although many seem to hope and try otherwise: YOU CANNOT FOLLOW JESUS ON YOUR OWN TERMS. You cannot truly be His follower part-way, or part-time, or only when and how it is comfortable and pleasing for you do so. 

A true disciple of Jesus must follow to the point of a true loss of their own life. It’s not that all must become martyrs—although we should do that if called on—but that all must give their lives over to Him so completely that He rules our will.  

The great battle between faith and unbelief, between faithfulness and unfaithfulness, is fought within our minds. It is a struggle over who controls our will. Our desires become the testing ground, the battleground is within us. Everyone has the same conflicting thoughts in themselves, but the faithful subject them to Christ. The apostle Paul said the goal was to “take every thought captive to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5) and Peter taught that we are to “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts” (1 Pet. 3:15).

Proverbs, Not Promises

The book of Proverbs is one of the greatest collections of wisdom ever assembled, applying across all times and cultures. As the Psalms are tied to David, “the sweet singer of Israel” (2 Sam. 23:1), even though he didn’t write all of the psalms, the Proverbs are tied to Solomon, the wisest king of all times (1 Kg. 4:29-24), even though they don’t all come from him. 

Those who learn and live by the proverbs are told that following its wisdom will be a “shield” (2:7) and “guard” (2:11) to them, bringing “long life” (3:2), “favor with God and man” (3:4), and many similar blessings. 

But it is an error to think that each proverb is a solemn promise of God to provide a particular blessing if we do a particular act. Proverbs are general truths and wisdom, not direct promises. 

Sometimes those who think this way will take one proverb in isolation—as though it were the entirely of God’s revelation on a subject. They think that proceeding in the prescribed way will automatically equal some good outcome. If that doesn’t appear to them to come true, they think God has failed. Or when they find that those who acted in the wise way are still beset with difficulty or persecution, they think they’ve found a contradiction in God’s word. But it is not a verse here and there that is God’s truth, but the whole of it is, as the psalms say: “The sum of Your word is truth” (Ps. 119:60). 

And we must certainly avoid thinking that following the wisdom of a proverb builds up bargaining chips with God, so that we might think that since “I did this,” therefore “I’m owed that.” This way of thinking is virtually guaranteed to disappoint because we’ll certainly over-estimate our devotion to and performance of the wise course given in the proverbs. And at the same time we’re likely to underestimate how God has blessed us, thinking that we’re due more, or we’ll be impatient and think that God owes us sooner. 

No, proverbs are guidance, not promises. So in all things:

	Trust in the Lord with all your heart

	And do not lean on your own understanding. 

	In all your ways acknowledge Him,

	And He will make your paths straight. 

	Do not be wise in your own eyes;

	Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.  — Proverbs 3:5-7

So read, study, learn and live the Proverbs. Trust in God as you do. And when disappointing or bitter days come, seek all the more be a follower of God’s wisdom, and not a judge of it.

Something To Give

In Mark chapter 6, large crowds people rushed to a deserted place on short notice because the knew Jesus was going there. Even though Jesus had chosen that “secluded place” to go “rest for a while” (Mark. 6:31), when Jesus and the disciples got there there was a large crowd. 

Jesus did not show aggravation or disdain for them interrupting His planned R&R, instead, “He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things” (vs. 34). Jesus gave what He had—and what was most valuable—His time, attention and teaching. 

When it was “already quite late,” his disciples expressed other concerns in saying that these folks should be sent away “that they may go…and buy themselves something to eat” (vs. 35,36). Jesus told them “You give them something to eat!” (vs. 37). They objected saying that they didn’t have enough money or food, and were only able to come up with a few small loaves and a couple of fish. From these, Jesus fed the 5,000 until all were satisfied and “twelve full baskets” of left-overs were taken up (vs. 43). 

Did the apostles learn that in and with Jesus they always had something to give? Did the baskets full of left-overs that each one of them now held tell them something about the fullness and generosity of His provision? No, they didn’t go handing out loaves in His name all the time, but He did promise “rivers of living water” would flow from the “innermost being” of those who “believe in Me” (Jn. 7:38). Let us all learn that in Jesus, we always have something to give.