Hold on to instruction, do not let it go. Guard it well, for it is your life. ~Proverbs
4:13
“When the counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or Me. I have told you this; so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you.
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” ~John 15:26-16:4; 16:12-15
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will Guard your heart and your mind which is in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:7
We are so fortunate. We read these Proverbs with Solomon’s admonitions to hold them close, guard them with our lives for protection and blessing, but when Solomon was teaching, his hearers were dependent on their memories to retain what he was saying. They did not have the Holy Spirit to help them. Again, I must say, we are so fortunate. God has made it so easy for us. Besides the Holy Spirit, we have it written down in black and white, with a few red letters in some Bibles.
It is still good to do the work of being familiar with Scripture and learning God’s ways and wisdom. The more we have in us, the more the Holy Spirit has to work with to help us. It’s kind of like lifting weights. Don’t expect to be able to pick up 500 pounds in an emergency if you’ve only been doing 50 in your daily work out, or if you haven’t been working out at all. If you are working on becoming familiar with God’s Word, the more you memorize, the more the Holy Spirit within you has to work with. And the Holy Spirit has been given by your heavenly Father to help you keep His instruction close.
The Holy Spirit is more than interested in guarding His instructions for you. The Holy Spirit is more than interested in giving you life through what you are learning. Jesus assured His disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them even more than He had been able to do during His brief life on this earth. He also assured them that whatever they learned, that was sincerely from the Holy Spirit, it could be trusted because it would be based on truth.
In Solomon’s day, truth wasn’t necessarily under attack as it is today. Everyone came to Solomon to learn because it was known that he was very wise and that his wisdom was from God Himself. What Solomon said was trusted and known to be true.
Today, it’s hard to say something and have it be trusted. Relativism has made it so hard for anyone to believe another, because it is believed that what is true for you may not be true for all. Relativism pretends that your preference is good enough for your truth. Solomon himself probably wouldn’t be trusted today. He’d probably experience the same challenges we do. Our Culture has changed the standards for Truth. Our views of right and wrong are under attack.
Emotions have replaced reason as the guiding force in society today. Yet, there still is an absolute truth whether you believe in it or not. What is true is true. It doesn’t matter what you think, unless you agree with what God says is true. So, to know His truth and wisdom, we are so blessed. We don’t need to travel to someone, we just need to take the time to listen, read, pray and meditate on what He has already given and the Holy Spirit within will help and encourage us in the paths of truth and righteousness. His peace, beyond our understanding, will be given through it all.
Prayer: Today, Lord, with my mind and heart I devote my life to live by the absolute Truth of your wisdom. Thank you for providing clear instructions. Help me to line my will up with yours and let my fleshy, sinful longings, that blur the Truth, die with Jesus on the cross. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hymn: Open My Eyes
“When the counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or Me. I have told you this; so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you.
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” ~John 15:26-16:4; 16:12-15
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will Guard your heart and your mind which is in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:7
We are so fortunate. We read these Proverbs with Solomon’s admonitions to hold them close, guard them with our lives for protection and blessing, but when Solomon was teaching, his hearers were dependent on their memories to retain what he was saying. They did not have the Holy Spirit to help them. Again, I must say, we are so fortunate. God has made it so easy for us. Besides the Holy Spirit, we have it written down in black and white, with a few red letters in some Bibles.
It is still good to do the work of being familiar with Scripture and learning God’s ways and wisdom. The more we have in us, the more the Holy Spirit has to work with to help us. It’s kind of like lifting weights. Don’t expect to be able to pick up 500 pounds in an emergency if you’ve only been doing 50 in your daily work out, or if you haven’t been working out at all. If you are working on becoming familiar with God’s Word, the more you memorize, the more the Holy Spirit within you has to work with. And the Holy Spirit has been given by your heavenly Father to help you keep His instruction close.
The Holy Spirit is more than interested in guarding His instructions for you. The Holy Spirit is more than interested in giving you life through what you are learning. Jesus assured His disciples that the Holy Spirit would teach them even more than He had been able to do during His brief life on this earth. He also assured them that whatever they learned, that was sincerely from the Holy Spirit, it could be trusted because it would be based on truth.
In Solomon’s day, truth wasn’t necessarily under attack as it is today. Everyone came to Solomon to learn because it was known that he was very wise and that his wisdom was from God Himself. What Solomon said was trusted and known to be true.
Today, it’s hard to say something and have it be trusted. Relativism has made it so hard for anyone to believe another, because it is believed that what is true for you may not be true for all. Relativism pretends that your preference is good enough for your truth. Solomon himself probably wouldn’t be trusted today. He’d probably experience the same challenges we do. Our Culture has changed the standards for Truth. Our views of right and wrong are under attack.
Emotions have replaced reason as the guiding force in society today. Yet, there still is an absolute truth whether you believe in it or not. What is true is true. It doesn’t matter what you think, unless you agree with what God says is true. So, to know His truth and wisdom, we are so blessed. We don’t need to travel to someone, we just need to take the time to listen, read, pray and meditate on what He has already given and the Holy Spirit within will help and encourage us in the paths of truth and righteousness. His peace, beyond our understanding, will be given through it all.
Prayer: Today, Lord, with my mind and heart I devote my life to live by the absolute Truth of your wisdom. Thank you for providing clear instructions. Help me to line my will up with yours and let my fleshy, sinful longings, that blur the Truth, die with Jesus on the cross. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hymn: Open My Eyes
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