Monthly Archives: May 2021

I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Give attention to my words | P4-V20

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A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:20 

I die daily devotional.

19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.
20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your sight;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.

Pruning off the previous devotional. We discovered that the ruler of this world is Satan, and Satan has been judged condemned. And if we circle back to John 8, we discover that the father of the unbelieving Jews is the devil. To believe in Jesus is to give attention to His words and incline your ear to His sayings because they are of our Father in Heaven by fellowship with us in the Holy Spirit today.

RESOURCE

Proverbs 4 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org | biblegateway.com

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V20) Commentary
Solomon, having warned us not to do evil, here teaches us how to do well. It is not enough for us to shun the occasions of sin, but we must study the methods of duty.

  • I. We must have a continual regard to the word of God and endeavour that it may be always ready to us.
    • 1. The sayings of wisdom must be our principles by which we must govern ourselves, our monitors to warn us of duty and danger; and therefore,
      • (1.) We must receive them readily: “Incline thy ear to them (v. 20); humbly bow to them; diligently listen to them.” The attentive hearing of the word of God is a good sign of a work of grace begun in the heart and a good means of carrying it on. It is to be hoped that those are resolved to do their duty who are inclined to know it.
I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

The way of the wicked | P4-V19

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A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:19 

I die daily devotional.

18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.
20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.

I hope you, reader, are sleeping well, or having a good day, wherever you are in this world. I pray that your devotion as a follower of Christ is consistent and are found in good spiritual health; I hope for all that are within our sphere of influence—no matter where we are—to be impacted by our shared faith in Jesus, the God and Savior of mankind.

Jesus said, 

 (AMP) John 16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you]. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world about [the guilt of] sin [and the need for a Savior], and about righteousness, and about judgment: 9 about sin [and the true nature of it], because they do not believe in Me [and My message]; 10 about righteousness [personal integrity and godly character], because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me; 11 about judgment [the certainty of it], because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged and condemned.

Note: something I like about the AMP version is the inserted [added] context of which aids in perspective, but let me just say; I don’t think of that aid as what Jesus meant when I read the text, rather—as I read—only to offer help in navigating the context that can be quickly abandoned when fleshly desires rule interpretation (which is our common temptation and not a good feeling when realizing it).

The world is convicted about sin, righteousness, and judgement…

That text in John, Jesus gives, sends me on a spiritual journey that seems to end in a distant future place where only mental images might describe as, my symbolic arrival to the revelation of such judgement described in the text, a judgement that occurred at this Word junction of Christ some 2000 years ago; 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: 9 regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; 11 and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

If I’m understanding correctly, the “He” Jesus is referring to, is the ‘Holy Spirit‘. And the Holy Spirit was not only poured out on the Jews, but us Gentiles as well, and that feels like a profound discovery of understanding considering our verse—19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know over what they stumble—because the knowledge of the truth is essential when recognizing the sin, righteousness, and judgement, Jesus is talking about. Those who are resisting the Holy Spirit will continue to stumble over their lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and their pride of life, all of which is described throughout the Old and New Testament.

But why?…

When I think of the people of this world categorized as wicked, my old self comes to mind because of my ignorance to the knowledge of the truth during my practice of wicked behavior—while believing myself to be saved as a Christian. I thought I was sealed as promised by the Word of God, but there was so much that didn’t make sense to the reason I chose to experience what was contrary to the gospel, behaving in a way that pleased my flesh, although miserable to the point of suicide on many occasions; prescription drugs and confusion will do that.

I think its only been by the truth of my ignorance, love of the Holy Spirit, and grace of God that the power of Christ has manifest in my survival from death and spiritual condemnation. And if that’s true, then that might be you too, and that is why this site is called what it is. But to come to the knowledge of the truth is to learn what it means to escape from the lust of this world and by faith, increase in moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.

There are those I know that seem ignorant of the knowledge of the truth, and I can’t help but to wonder what that ignorance might mean for them as many are held captive to false teaching, but is it that they are held captive against their will or are they desiring rather to be held captive by the wicked pleasures of sin?

Hmmm….

RESOURCE

Proverbs 4 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org | biblegateway.com

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V19) Commentary
(2.) The way of sin is as darkness, v. 19. The works he had cautioned us not to have fellowship with are works of darkness. What true pleasure and satisfaction can those have who know no pleasure and satisfaction but what they have in doing mischief? What sure guide have those that cast God’s word behind them? The way of the wicked is dark, and therefore dangerous; for they stumble and yet know not at what they stumble. They fall into sin, but are not aware which way the temptation came by which they were overthrown, and therefore know not how to avoid it the next time. They fall into trouble, but never enquire wherefore God contends with them; they consider not that they do evil, nor what will be in the end of it, Ps. 82:5; Job 18:5, 6. This is the way we are directed to shun.

I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

The path of the righteous | P4-V18

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A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:18

I die daily devotional.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
And drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.

Gawww I love this verse, it’s so uplifting in contrast to the doom and gloom of our previous verses—although necessary.

The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, our sun ever shining brighter and brighter until the full day in the nether regions across the globe as the earth spins on its axis, providing light for those caught in the thicket of wickedness to the path of righteousness. I pray we’re on the path of righteousness by the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ, thank you Lord.

Whenever we’ve been set on the path of the righteous, the experience is like the joy of light when seen at dawn, how the body is moved from wonder to purpose, until finally, glory!

Don’t get me wrong, the process to righteousness is structured on the revelation of Christ, and Christ our Lord, Jesus, suffered the discipline of our Father to the point of death so that we might understand this gift of eternal life through belief in Him. The process of discipline is painful, and thankfully we have the Holy Spirit to help us in our time of need when resisting the temptation of Satan to have the pleasure of sin and belief in “Him”. The death we must die, is a death we died with Christ in baptism, and now comes the testing, but don’t worry, look to the light of dawn as your mental state transforms from the old self to the new.

The measure of righteousness is the brightness of the shine, and so are we shining brighter and brighter or regressing dimmer and dimmer? Just look to the light of dawn—Jesus Christ.

RESOURCE

Proverbs 4 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org | biblegateway.com

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V18) Commentary
2. “Consider the character of the way itself which thou art warned to shun, compared with the right way which thou art invited to walk in.”

  • (1.) The way of righteousness is light (v. 18): The path of the just, which they have chosen, and in which they walk, is as light; the light shines on their ways (Job 22:28) and makes them both safe and pleasant. Christ is their way and he is the light. They are guided by the word of God and that is a light to their feet; they themselves are light in the Lord and they walk in the light as he is in the light.
    • [1.] It is a shining light. Their way shines to themselves in the joy and comfort of it; it shines before others in the lustre and honour of it; it shines before men, who see their good works, Mt. 5:16. They go on in their way with a holy security and serenity of mind, as those that walk in the light. It is as the morning-light, which shines out of obscurity (Isa. 58:8, 10) and puts an end to the works of darkness.
    • [2.] It is a growing light; it shines more and more, not like the light of a meteor, which soon disappears, or that of a candle, which burns dim and burns down, but like that of the rising sun, which goes forward shining, mounts upward shining. Grace, the guide of this way, is growing; he that has clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. That joy which is the pleasure of this way, that honour which is the brightness of it, and all that happiness which is indeed its light, shall be still increasing.
    • [3.] It will arrive, in the end, at the perfect day. The light of the dayspring will at length be noon-day light, and it is this that the enlightened soul is pressing towards. The saints will not be perfect till they come to heaven, but there they shall themselves shine as the sun when he goes forth in his strength, Mt. 13:43. Their graces and joys shall be all consummate. Therefore it is our wisdom to keep close to the path of the just.