PROVERBS 20:15 PRECIOUS JEWELS IN THE TREASURE CHEST OF GOD’S WORD

PRECIOUS JEWELS

IN THE TREASURE CHEST

OF GOD’S WORD

There is gold, and a multitude of rubies:

but the lips of knowledge

are a precious jewel.

Proverbs 20:15 (KJV)

Gold and rubies bring a high price, and we can put a value on them based on size and purity. However, the value of wise words is inestimable. Gold and precious stones are abundant compared to finding someone who truly speaks wisdom on a consistent basis. If we find a wise friend of whom to seek counsel, we are blessed indeed. However, in most of our homes, we have the greatest jewel of wisdom ever written—the Holy Bible. Do we display it like the crown jewels of England or is it hidden from view? Or do we carry it ostentatiously to church each Sunday, wearing it like we would a ruby bracelet but never open it at home? Do we mine its wisdom daily by reading it, pondering it, memorizing it, and praying the Lord will sink its wisdom into our hearts? Or does it gather dust on the bookshelf until another Sunday rolls around? Our brothers and sisters in countries where Christians are actively persecuted treasure God’s word with their lives. They will risk everything to own even a few pages of a Bible and painstakingly copy those pages to share with others. Lips that speak knowledge, that share wisdom from the word of God, are a precious jewel. Are my lips jewels or are they fools gold?

Father, place Your purifying fire on our lips as you did for Isaiah that we may speak wisdom that can only come from You. Help us to immerse ourselves daily in Your word in order to mine the precious jewels of wisdom found there. 

LUKE 21:4 THE GIFT OF BEING ABLE TO GIVE

THE GIFT OF BEING ABLE TO GIVE

For all these have of their abundance

cast in unto the offerings of God:

but she of her penury hath cast in

all the living that she had.

Luke 21:4

There is a little used word in the King James version of this verse. We know from the context (and more sermons than we can count) that the widow was impoverished; but we wanted to know the exact definition of “penury” and turned to our favorite dictionary for the answer:

American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828.

PEN'URY, noun [Latin penuria, from Gr. needy.]—Want of property; indigence; extreme poverty.

We both agreed that we had always pictured the widow as elderly, but as we searched for artist’s interpretations of the scene, many pictured her as still raising children. The Bible does not indicate her age at all. She may have been a young widow whose sons were not old enough to aid in her support or an elderly widow who either had no children or had outlived them. Neither Susan nor I are widowed, but we are single with a small income. We can identify with this woman who had a heart for God. She did not struggle to pay a tithe of what she had but generously, graciously gave it all. What faith! We are both convicted that we must give with an attitude of trusting rather than testing God. We both tithe, and we also give a tenth from the donations we receive for Precious Jewels Ministries to our local church. When the Lord impresses upon us to give above the tithe either to some program of our church, to another ministry endeavor, or to someone with greater need than we have, we give it and trust God to provide for us. Whether it be a meal shared with us, clothes given to us, or money sent by a friend just at our time of greatest need, God has always taken care of us.

Father, giving is one of the most enjoyable things about living for us. Our salvation, the opportunity to teach, and the privilege of giving all give us a rush. Thank You for providing for all our needs and enabling us to share with others. 

JOHN 20:18a I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!

I Have Seen the Lord!

KSH, 7/29/16

Mary thought it was the gardener when she turned around,

She asked where Jesus’ body was which she had not yet found.

But when the Lord answered her, calling her by name,

She immediately recognized Jesus, and then she exclaimed,

“Rabboni,” which means “my teacher,” and fell at His feet.

Jesus urged her not to cling to Him, giving her a message to repeat

That He would soon be returning to be with God the Father,

But at the first the disciples thought women were a bother.

A woman’s testimony would not hold up in their courts of law,

But Jesus turned the tables when women were the first who saw

The resurrected Savior standing before them in human skin.

According to Mark’s gospel, Jesus reproached those unbelieving men.

Mary Magdalene, who had been delivered from demons by Jesus Christ

Had the extreme privilege to be the first to see Him alive!

MATTHEW 27:50-51a THROUGH THE VEIL

THROUGH THE VEIL

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

 And, behold, the veil of the temple 

was rent in twain

from the top to the bottom.

Matthew 27:50-51a (KJV)

Having therefore, brethren, boldness

to enter into the holiest

 by the blood of Jesus, 

By a new and living way,

which he hath consecrated for us, 

through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.

Hebrews 10:19-20 (KJV)

At the very moment Jesus breathed His last on the cross, a miracle occurred. The veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple in Jerusalem was torn from top to bottom. This was nothing a person could accomplish. This veil was thick enough that it was completely opaque (no one was allowed into or could even look into this holy place except the high priest once a year on the Day of Atonement). It was as much as sixty feet tall. Therefore, scaffolding would have to be built to start tearing it from top to bottom! This is an impressive miracle, but it was merely a symbol of the greater miracle Jesus accomplished by His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave on the third day. The way to the Holy of Holies in the Temple was physically exposed by the tearing of the veil, but access to the true Holiest place where God is seated upon His throne was opened to us by the tearing of Jesus’s flesh when He was scourged and then nailed to the cross. Because of the blood of the Prince of Peace, we have peace with God. Because of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, we become the sheep of the Great Shepherd. Because God gave His Son to die in our place, we can become children of the Heavenly Father. Because the veil, Jesus’s body, was torn we can be raised from the walking death of our sin to a new, eternal, joyous life in which we can boldly approach the Holy, All-Powerful God through prayer.

Father, thank You for giving all who believe and trust in Jesus the ability to bring our cares to You, to approach You boldly as Your own children. Our redemption cost the blood of Your Son. May we be thankful each day for the miracle of Your grace. 

LUKE 22:41-42 THY WILL BE DONE

THY WILL BE DONE

And he was withdrawn from them

about a stone's cast,

and kneeled down, and prayed,

Saying, Father, if thou be willing,

 remove this cup from me:

 nevertheless not my will,

but thine, be done.

Luke 22:41-42 (KJV)

From the beginning, Jesus was set upon doing God’s will. From leaving Heaven to be born of a virgin to His death on the cross, Jesus was being obedient to His Father (Philippians 2:6-8, John 5:30). At twelve years old, Jesus told His earthly parents that He must “be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). When He taught His disciples to pray, He instructed them to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). In John chapter 17, Jesus prayed for His disciples and all who would follow Him in the future that they would be “one” with Him and the Father, that we would seek God’s will. The ultimate test of Jesus’s willingness to surrender to the will of the Father was in the Garden of Gethsemane. He agonized in prayer over the ordeal He knew awaited Him, a temporary separation from the love of His Father as He bore the weight of our sins upon the cross. Luke records the intensity of His prayer: “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). However, in the end, Jesus submitted to the Father’s will knowing it was the divine plan to rescue us from sin and death. Do we, too, have the courage to pray, “Not my will, but Yours be done”. It is only possible when we are infused with the strength and power of Jesus (Philippians 4:13).

Father, please reveal Your will for us in each decision we face. Then give us the strength to carry out Your will rather than resorting to our own ways.