Proverbs 2

The structure:

IF (1-4) you diligently seek wisdom

Then (5-8) you find the fear of the Lord

(concerning the son’s relationship to God)

Then (9-11) you find every good path

(concerning the son’s relationship to all others)

The protection of wisdom (12-19) from

                Wicked men (12-15)

                The Adulteress (16-19)

A final promise and warning (20-22)

                The righteous are firmly planted in the land

                The wicked will be cut off

The pursuit of wisdom: the attitude for entering into the God’s classroom

·         Vs 1 Learn from the wisdom of godly parents

o        Step one is to look to me as your parent.  This teaches children that there is direction for life to be found outside of themselves.

o        Step two is to show them that we look outside of ourselves ultimately to God for our wisdom.  In other words, learn from me how to learn from God.

·         Vs 2 Be ready to listen and obey

·         Vs 3 Eagerly ask questions

·         Vs 4 Work hard

·         “If you want wisdom, you must listen to God attentively (Matt. 13:9), obey Him humbly (John 7:17), ask Him sincerely (James 1:5), and seek Him diligently (Isa. 55:6-7), the way a miner searches for silver and gold.” Warren Wiersbe

Bottom line:

“Obtaining spiritual wisdom isn’t a once-a-week hobby, it is the daily discipline of a lifetime.”  Warren Wiersbe

We need this in our own lives, and we need to model it to our children.

Obtaining wisdom in this fashion transforms the desires of the heart (2.10) resulting in a life governed by the ability to show discretion and choose the right path.

·         Discretion: The capacity for private, hidden thoughts or thinking for yourself.

Discussion Questions:

What are some ways that parents can pass on their wisdom to their children?

How would you describe the joy of discovering God’s wisdom to someone else?

How are you doing at modeling seeking God for wisdom?

Do you agree or disagree that the heart can be transformed to want to do good?

Can our capacity to want to do good be used as a barometer of our relationship with God?

I know many people whom I love dearly who would say that God’s foundational attribute is his holiness.  For example:

“God does not present His holiness as a horizontal prescription for human activity.  God displays holiness as the central and defining essence of his character…Fact is, God’s holiness demanded that sin be paid for, and then His love compelled Him to pay the price Himself.” ~ James MacDonald

I think I understand where this sentiment that without God’s holiness he would not be so different from you and I.

I also know many people whom I also love dearly who would say that God’s foundational attribute is his love.  After all the greatest commandments are not to be Holy for I am Holy but rather:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these.”

I also think I understand this sentiment that without God’s love is so central to who he is that the scriptures say that he IS love.  We all cherish both his love and his holiness.

I must confess that I’ve never really understood the need to determine God’s foundational attribute.  He is both of these things to the highest degree possible.  I want to suggest that there is no need to determine God’s foundational attribute simply because scripture does not speak of God having a foundational attribute.  Scripture does tell us to “Be Holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1.16),  and as has already been mentioned “God is love” (1 John 4:8).  I think that these two attributes of holiness and love meet so wonderfully in our Lord, especially in the mystery of the incarnation.  How a holy God was able to

1.      Humbly take on human flesh (Phil 2)

2.      Live a holy life: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” 1 Peter 2:22

3.      Demonstrated his love for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8) He did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:17)

Jesus is the only one who has been able to be both holy and loving to perfection or completion.  Please understand me when I say that: these two qualities kiss in the person of Jesus Christ.  This is our challenge as Christians to be like him in the world while not of the world.  I think we must keep these two qualities in tension in our own lives.  The danger I think is to focus on one to the exclusion of the other.  We don’t want to focus on holiness to the exclusion of love so that pull out of the world all together and forget that we are also commanded to love.  And we don’t want to focus on love to the exclusion of holiness and fall into being conformed to the world.  What a challenge!

In Sunday school the next two weeks, we will be talking about God’s holiness.  I can’t wait.  I love meditating upon his holiness.  James MacDonald encourages us to ask God to open up our hearts to reveal his holiness to us so that we can truly worship him.  I think this is a good challenge for us.

It has been a long time since I have blogged.  So, I hope you can make it to the bottom of this entry.

We have settled into a routine here of working in the coffee shop.  We spend most of our time there because the shop is open from 11am to 7pm Monday through Saturday.  The coffee shop has a pretty good flow of people who come in for english conversation, and we have started developing relationships with those who come often.  Last night we had a Japanese couple over for dinner that we met through the coffee shop.  We also invited Jessica and Dan Sadowitz over to help us translate, which was very helpful.  Michelle made chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and rice.  Ikuko brought over a really good stew with meat, potatoes, and carrots. She also brought a tuna fish salad with spinich in it that was very tasty.  And for dessert we had a Miykonojo specialty dessert that they brought with some hot tea.  We enjoyed showing each other pictures and showing them where we lived in America on a map.  They were kind enough to bring Toby a modern kimono styled outfit for a toddler.  We will have Toby wear it when we get back in the states.  It will knock you out!

Saturday was Toby's birthday.  He is now officially 2 years old.  However, if you ask Toby, "How old are you?"  He will still loudly proclaim that he is "ONE!"  But we are working on that.  All of the missionaries' children that have befriended Toby here went out of their way to make Toby feel special on his birthday.  They all brought him little presents and made him cards.  I know that this made a big impression on Toby. Yesterday I realized that Toby was being really quite, which usually means that he is getting into trouble.  So, I went to investigate, and he was just sitting in his room studing the birthday cards that his friends gave him.  I wish you could have seen the look of concentration on his face!
The Sadowitz's were kind enough to take us to Miyazaki to help us celebrate Toby's birthday.  We went to a large mall there.  We all got some coffee drinks from Gloria Jeans.  Then, we took Toby to a huge play land in the Jusco.
I bought several T-shirts at the mall that have english on them that doesn't make any sense.  English on your clothing is way "cool" over here.  It doesn't matter what the words actually mean.  Sometimes this can be quite funny.  For example, I bought a shirt that says "CUT DIRT not budge an inch abbreviate".  My other shirt says "usual, genuine, agency, whip along, odds, headway, candor, bask, PROPICIOUS MOMENT, piece of luck!"
I was talking with our friend Nahoko in the coffee shop about this, and she said that when she travels she sees the same thing with Japanese Kanji.  The funniest instance of this that she saw was a on a big, muscular, tough english man that she met in England.  He had a Kanji tatooed on his neck because it looked cool, and he didn't know what it meant.  She died laughing when she saw it becuase the Kanji meant "little sister".

We have been able to call our families with Skype.  I found out that I can call my Mother-in-laws cell phone from Japan with my computer for a little over 2 cents a minute.  Isn't that amazing!  I couldn't believe it.  I think she was a little surprised too because when we told her who it was that was calling her, she responded with, "Who is this!"  Like we were someone just pretending to be her daughter and son-in-law.

Tom Carr was kind enough to share the pulpit with me.  So, yesterday I preached from John 12 at their church here.  I had two main points: 1) Mary didn't hold onto what she had until it was too late.  What a better way to use her expensive perfume than on the Lord.  2) I talked about how Jesus is worthy of this kind of worship.  I used this to talk about a lot of the things that Pastor Randy has taught me about Jesus' exaltation.  I obviously preached in Enlgish, and a young Japanese woman named Izumi translated for me.  From what I could tell she did a great job.  I think I probably sounded better in Japanese than I did in English.  I told the Church that this was my first time preaching in my socks and that I liked it very much. 

This week Evan, Elsbeth and Mariah are coming to visit us for a few days.  We are looking forward to seeing them and showing them around Miyakonojo a little.

In closing I have been compiling a list a of things that make me go Hmmmmm about Japan because they are the exact opposite of how we do them in America.  I will share a few of them with you now.  Pastor Doug trained us to say that things are different and not weird.  Once the culture shock wears off a little, these things are interesting and fun to observe.
1. Japanese drive on the different side of the road (we drive on the "right" side).  I have gotten used to this, but I still try to get in the wrong door as a passenger.  Tom Carr has taught me to pretend that I am doing a safety inspection of the tires when this happens.
2. I have heard that screws work differently here.  Think "Righty loosey, Lefty tighty."  However, I have yet to experience this phenomenon.
3. Books start at a different end. Sometimes you might wonder why everyone else is in Revelation when you're supposed to be studying Genesis!
4. When talking about themselves Japanese people don't point to their chest but to their nose. Don't worry they are not trying to tell you that you have a booger hanging out of your nose.
5. Typhoons are really the same thing as Hurricanes the name is just different.  So, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  I know this because learned about it from a reliable source: Wikipedia!

That's all for now!  Congradulations on making it to the bottom.