Tag Archives: Christian

FROM MY CORE – ESSAY 4

September 20, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

FROM MY CORE – ESSAY 3

FELLOWSHIP From the time Laura and I joined Watermark Community…

So what did I mean by… “But that does not mean we continue to find ourselves in sin.”? The Bible is an awesome recourse for us to explore what the Source reveals to us about sin. While the Bible is a recourse, it is not the Source convicting us of sin, and please test me by checking—John 5:39-47 & 16:5-15. The Bible functions much like a collection of school books, a tutorage for the person learning about their soul in relation to sin, and God (Gal 3:23-29). I can add scripture verses all day supporting my delusions—as though the Bible has that authority—but the Bible does not have authority to give anyone eternal life (John 5:39-47). It is the Bible that contains the Scriptures testifying about Jesus coming to us in His Father’s name with His Father’s power, to give us life by receiving Him—the Source. This brings me back full circle to the initial question—So what did I mean… ? I mean that the Holy Spirit is our Source to find ourselves in the Lord our Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin:

⁷But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the ^[a]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]. ⁸And 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: ⁹about sin [and the true nature of it], because they do not believe in Me [and My message]; ¹⁰about righteousness [personal integrity and godly character], because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me; ¹¹about judgment [the certainty of it], because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged and condemned.
John 16:7-11 (AMP)

But how do I keep from sinning? How do I stop finding myself in sin? How do I do as Christ instructed, like when He said to the woman found in adultery… “Go. From now on do not sin any longer.” (John 8:11)? What do you think Jesus meant by that? And how do I remain healed after Jesus tells me—like He told the man He healed—“See, you are well! Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” (John 5:14)? What do you think Christ meant by “…or something worse may happen to you.“?

Do those instructions apply to you and me right now, tomorrow, next year; … at the day of the Lord (1 Cor 5:1-5)?

[I pray you, the reader, will experience these posts and this blog as a safe place to comment; express yourself—with love in mind.]

I argue the worst thing to happen to someone who continues to find themselves in sin/s… is regression into possession of that/those sin/s as a lifestyle where many evil spirits are coming to reside:

²⁴“When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest; and not finding any, it says, ‘I will go back to my house (person) from which I came.’ ²⁵And when it comes, it finds the place swept and put in order. ²⁶Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in [the person] and live there; and the last state of that person becomes worse than the first.”
Luke 11:24-26 (AMP)

When I refer back to my previous essays—thinking about sin—I ask myself:

“What sin am I in?

Am I still in sin?

If so …

How?“

When and how does an unclean spirit come out of a person as quoted above?

What do you think?

DISCLAIMER:
Nathan Psychology: The study of oneself for righteous behavior, and my written perspective on the experiential process of edification to sanctification. What does it mean to be born of God, overcome the world, and be made new through faith in believing Jesus Christ is the way of my salvation? I’m discovering the path through spiritual discipline—

Nathan Psychology

FROM MY CORE – ESSAY 3

September 17, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

FELLOWSHIP

From the time Laura and I joined Watermark Community Church and were welcomed into a community group with two other couples 5 years ago, the idea of fellowship within the Body of Christ took on new meaning, which brings me to the idea aforementioned in my previous essay…

However, because I am still building out my perspective on what might be titled “Two Distinct Spirits” — the Holy Spirit and human spirit — am going to leave that alone for now. I’m having fellowship with a specific brother in Christ about this biblical perspective, and not to mention; I might build the case for “Three Distinct Spirits” as opposed to Two.

Rather, my objective is to test whether there are any compromises (2 Cor. 13:4-6) in the structure of my spiritual fortification (Matt. 12:25-29).

Now… because the foundation to my fortification is built on Christ, there should be no way for the enemy to breach (1 Cor. 3:10-15). However, that has not always been the case for me while professing to be a Christian as you’ve might’ve learned from my previous essay, and that might be the case for you reading this now.

Are you someone who professes to be Christian and yet finds yourself in sin or a sinful lifestyle?

That is not a trick question although can see how it might be interpreted that way considering what the Bible teaches:

²³…for all ^[b]have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,…
Romans 3:23

And so I do NOT mean to insinuate that we can find ourselves without sin:

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
1 John 1:8-10

Because obviously …

We sin!

But that does not mean we continue to find ourselves in sin.

Until next time…

Christian, Controversial, Nathan Psychology

FROM MY CORE – ESSAY 2

September 13, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

Granted there is a psychological element to this, an element that describes why I’m so concerned about the collective gathering we call Church, but it’s not the Church, rather, those with authority in the Church…

FROM MY CORE – ESSAY 1

I take issue with the ‘Catholic’ and ‘Protestant’ Churches of … Continue reading FROM MY CORE – ESSAY 1 →

After reading back over my ESSAY 1 feel convicted to clarify ‘…collective gathering we call Church,…’ not to mean the negative connotation it can have; I guess the emotion I was experiencing when writing that was an annoyance at the idea of us—the Christian Church—as a “collective gathering” when we’re obviously a ‘divided gathering’ in the worst sense of division; so to call us ‘Church’ while divided in such a way makes zero sense to me. I don’t think it’s impossible to find us reconciled as a kingdom unit here on earth. Anyway…

MY CONCERN

The psychological element to my concern for the Church as a fellow member of the Body in the Bride of Christ partly stems from the scars of my past: series of divorces, there was physical and sexual abuse from a pastor and family members, the list feels like it gets darker and darker. I could make the case I was brought up by the devil’s schemes, and [ashamedly] have the arrogance to prove it. Does that pastor think himself justified; there is still no sign of sorrow or remorse that comes with conviction for repentance when guilty as sin. Will there be?

However, my experience to faith in God, although cultivated in a field of weeds…

“²⁴Jesus gave them another parable [to consider], saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ^[c]weeds [resembling wheat] among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶So when the plants sprouted and formed grain, the weeds appeared also. ²⁷The servants of the owner came to him and said, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then how does it have weeds in it?’ ²⁸He replied to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Then do you want us to go and pull them out?’ ²⁹But he said, ‘No; because as you pull out the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰Let them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First gather the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
_{^{Matthew 13 (AMP)}}

…is not governed by evil, because someone had come into our field during the day to sow the good seed of wheat!

Oh if I didn’t know any better, how easy it is to paint the victim. Let my sin be obvious and exposed. Where is my sorrow and remorse? Am I repenting from sin or do I embrace the chains? My war is not against flesh and blood, “…but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.” (Eph. 6:12). My aim will not miss the mark as long as my faith is in Jesus Christ; He is the authority and power! He is the Psychologist to my Psyche, the Foundation to my Structure, and Guide to my Compass!

What can sin do if it’s power be death when death was defeated at the cross of Christ? My concern for the members of the Christian Church is this idea that we’re not free from the chains the apostle Paul was chained in:

²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time [and with so little effort] you [almost] persuade me to become a Christian.” ²⁹And Paul replied, “Whether in a short time or long, I wish to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these chains.”
_{^{Acts 26 (AMP)}}

WE ARE FREE

I keep hearing pastors preach this idea that we can’t do anything about the sin we’ve been set free from, which is false. We’ve been set free by the salvation we have in Christ, and equipped upon belief with conversion to transformation—a gift given within Who convicts us of sin (the Holy Spirit of God). I am free to repent of my sin or not to, to respond to the Holy Spirit or not to; there is consequence and reward to right and wrong behavior, but it’s my faith, words and actions that reveal the nature about me. Do I have fruit that bears unbelief, or belief? My fruits will tell you everything about the condition of my body, psyche, and spirit. There are two distinct spirits…

Nathan Psychology

How Patience Is A Key Ingredient To Wisdom And Righteousness

September 8, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

It’s subjective, but I find that the most difficult—yet effective—way to learn patience is to subject myself to counsel. What this looks like as a practice is actively pursuing the Lord, my wife and the-other about a decision. No… not ‘the-other’ as in, another wife—you know what happen to Solomon—but the-other, as in, another person. And it is ideal for the person not only to be knowledgeable about the nature of the decision, but to know me personally. I’m talkin: spiritually, psychologically, financially, the works. Because if those measures aren’t known by my counsel… then making an important decision before receiving counsel will result to chaos. The experience is excruciating!

For Laura and I to make the most out of our time, advance in our field, and accomplish the ultimate goal of persuasion that the world cannot deny being the freedom we have in Christ Jesus our Lord— well… then… I need a twenty-five hundred dollar laptop!

Okay while that was meant to be funny, the point is a decision to purchase a laptop that can handle video editing software at the budget of $2,500.00! Given my personality, I want the best and don’t want to wait, because… well, I can be an idiot. It’s really as simple as that! However, I do love God and desire to honor Him with all my heart.

Patience is a key ingredient to wisdom, and after listening to the Lord, my wife, and Ryan; you’d be real proud of me! I didn’t choose the $3,100 Razer from Micro Center (considering the awesome labor day deal they had for 0 interest)—which would have been convenient—and settled on a $2,584.00 ASUS from Amazon. We’ll see how it turns out, but I’m confident the value of this transaction was experienced in the eternal development of my character for righteousness by the process of procedure we executed together, not myself alone for some financial gain, material possession, or grandiose idea (not that those are wrong, bad, or evil). But the aim is not to miss the mark!

Nathan Psychology

[TIME OUT]

August 12, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

This is a simple post, a reminder and reference point of change. I’m a very impatient person, which is very unhealthy to the growth of change that requires a process of procedure. A process of procedure is actually practicing the procedure of change that will become the “new” me. This process is a difficult discipline, but the value is pure gold from Heaven.

DISCLAIMER:
Nathan Psychology: The study of oneself for righteous behavior, and my written perspective on the experiential process of edification to sanctification; what does it mean to be made new through faith by believing that Jesus Christ is the way to my salvation? I’m discovering answers through spiritual discipline—

Nathan Psychology

Exploring A Framework Of Innocence To Build On For The Soul Held Captive To Sin

August 11, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

If you are a person who believes in right and wrong, and the just consequence for wrong behavior as well as the just reward for right behavior… then you might believe in God. But regardless of your position on the matter of religion or relationship with God, the reality is that we suffer experience to injustice.

From my experience, I feel pain—and those respected emotions that map it out (fear, sadness, worry, anger, ect. etc.)—when something ‘wrong’ happens as well as feel euphoric when something ‘right’ happens or is happening. To deny my experience of these truths that accompany right and wrong circumstance is to deny the sanity of my writing… yes, writing… because that is what my soul is doing. It’s writing every detail of action, thought, and experience.

My soul is innocent at this endeavor to document every detail about my share in this life; whether in the bed of a hospital due to cancer or the beds of many mansions around the world due to wealth, everything is recorded and bears the weight of meaning; the measure of value to our purpose on earth is of eternal significance.

How I conduct myself in respect of righteousness even in the most unfortunate of circumstances seems so blatantly obvious to signify something beyond this brief time on earth… yet in review of my past to present choices would be found guilty to unrighteousness and wonder what justice means beyond the grave.

So here I am, wondering, and if you by chance… ~~chance~~, providence, happen to read my previous post, then you’ll remember the Doc’s document—Essay_Writing_Guide.

Essay Writing Guide  

You can use this word document to write an excellent essay from beginning to end, using a ten-step process. Most of the time, students or would-be essay writers are provided only with basic information about how to write, and most of that information concentrates on the details of formatting. These are necessary details, but writing is obviously far more than mere formatting. If you write your essay according to this plan, and you complete every step, you will produce an essay that is at least very good. You will also learn exactly how to write an essay, which is something very valuable to learn.  

To start writing your essay, go to the next page, for Part One: Introduction.      


      Jordan B Peterson

The document is a framework of innocence, as innocence represents the soul or conscience guiding what is written about me in a manner worthy of the truth that holds me accountable to the source of innocence, but what happens when I decide to accept a different offer from a false source representing what I know to be the truth? I think the answer that I’ve experienced when accepting the lie, is a debt that I cannot pay.

So what is immoral about the following document?

Essay Writing Guide 

You can use this word document to write an excellent essay from beginning to end, using a ten-step process. Most of the time, students or would-be essay writers are provided only with basic information about how to write, and most of that information concentrates on the details of formatting. These are necessary details, but writing is obviously far more than mere formatting. If you write your essay according to this plan, and you complete every step, you will produce an essay that is at least very good. You will also learn exactly how to write an essay, which is something very valuable to learn. 

To start writing your essay, go to the next page, for Part One: Introduction.

     Nathan Dooley

DISCLAIMER:
Nathan Psychology: The study of oneself for righteous behavior, and my written perspective on the experiential process of edification to sanctification; what does it mean to be born of God, overcome the world, and be made new through faith in believing Jesus Christ is the way to my salvation? I’m discovering answers through spiritual discipline—

Nathan Psychology

The Weight And Measure Of Value In The Soul

August 10, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

When holding in your hand one one-hundredth of the United States dollar (a penny), you might see the value as copper plated zinc whereas someone else might see the emancipation proclamation. If we can judge the face on the one-cent coin representing the person of freedom measured invaluable as equal to the value of one one-hundredth unit of currency in the U.S. dollar… then why not judge the face on the human race representing the image and likeness of God as equal to the value of faith in eternal life?

To answer the question, “Why?”—from my previous post—is…

LOVE

I recognize my capacity to save life or take life, and upon learning more and more about what those capacities mean and their nature, am convinced that my living soul is a consequence to innocence. I find at the beginning of Genesis (ch.2) in the Bible—where God breathed into the nostrils of Man and Man became a living soul—that my soul borne since that beginning, is innocent.

However, I have the problem of sin.

Before contending with sin, let me present a framework to the soul as innocent. I think the framework will also reveal the framework of sin.

I’m obviously still working out how to conceptualize this… but somehow the following—at least—makes sense to me as a starting place.

If you’re not familiar with Dr. Jordan B Peterson yet, I’m sure it won’t be long before you are, hence—Essay_Writing_Guide

Essay Writing Guide
You can use this word document to write an excellent essay from beginning to end, using a ten-step process. Most of the time, students or would-be essay writers are provided only with basic information about how to write, and most of that information concentrates on the details of formatting. These are necessary details, but writing is obviously far more than mere formatting. If you write your essay according to this plan, and you complete every step, you will produce an essay that is at least very good. You will also learn exactly how to write an essay, which is something very valuable to learn.
To start writing your essay, go to the next page, for Part One: Introduction.
Jordan B Peterson

That is an excerpt from the document that anyone (with technology) can download. As soon as you open that document you will read what is quoted, but the point is that it’s a sharable document where anyone can edit within it to build their own essay or rewrite whatever they want. So whenever the document is downloaded, it’s innocent by the fact that it hasn’t been tampered with by something sinister, malevolent, evil. When it’s downloaded, the purpose of the “document” (soul) is to guide the person on how to write an essay, or… make them aware of the essay they are, and that is perpetually writing.

When God breathed in us a living soul, He breathed the innocence of life we are aware of right now. And the weight and measure of such value can only be governed calculable by the source of Who breathed.

Nathan Psychology

Exploring My Christian Faith With An Open Mind

August 9, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

There are many professing Christians, but what does it mean to be Christian?

MORALITY

What first comes to mind is the concept of morality. And so for anyone who might not be familiar with the Christian faith; the short description from my perspective is—people who experience morality governed by God through the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

See… now… this is where you being the reader really helps me out. Because I’m trying to think about every possible thing or idea; every obstacle, person, and place around the world; the history… the culture… you name it; I’m trying to consider it.

At this point, I imagine if I were the reader I’d be wondering,

“Why?”

Nathan Psychology

Snake In The Backyard

August 6, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

I appreciated a dialogue that I had with a young lady that still doesn’t believe in God, but she had learned through a Christian lady on tictok about the responsibility we have to share our faith. And it went something like this…

Lets say you and I lived together in the same house with an awesome backyard, and I was out in the backyard reading my Bible while you were inside watching a movie. After I finished reading…

^{Psalm 119}
²⁵My soul clings to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
²⁶I have told of my ways, and You have answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.
²⁷Make me understand the way of Your precepts,
And I will meditate on Your wonders.
²⁸My soul weeps because of grief;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
²⁹Remove the false way from me,
And graciously grant me Your Law.
³⁰I have chosen the faithful way;
I have placed Your judgments before me.
³¹I cling to Your testimonies;
Lord, do not put me to shame!
³²I shall run the way of Your commandments,
For You will enlarge my heart.

Gradually looking up from my Bible to think on what the Spirit is communicating to my soul see something move on the ground not far from where I’m sitting in the backyard. Thinking nothing of it, I ask myself, “What does it mean for my soul to cling to the dust?” … movement takes my attention again; I focus in on the object—it’s a snake! So I head back to the house to go inside, but once at the door notice you are coming outside.

At this moment there’s a choice I have to tell or not tell you about the snake, but is there a wrong choice, if so, how and why?

The snake represents what is evil in this world, and the knowledge I have about that snake is what condemns my soul to cling to the dust of death as every dead cell flacks and falls from the skin of my sin. So what if I chose not to tell you about that snake in the backyard? Am I responsible if you get bit and die? Say you do get bit; was it the snake that was evil… or me? And if I am evil, then who can hold me accountable for the choice that I made? Does a person’s life only measure so far as it’s biological makeup, or does the fact that we’re conscious of good and evil mean justice beyond our dust of death? Will knowledge advance the human race to become like God, or become the Satan?

Is there no reward in sharing information about what will harm you, such as the experience of love by telling someone…

There is a snake in the backyard!

The choice is yours to proceed with that knowledge.

Nathan Psychology

Patience

August 4, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

There is a time to listen and a time to speak, a time to write and a time to read. The attributes of patience is a good reminder for the soul and plan for the future. While the concept of patience varies with each person’s personal experience to new situations and environments, the practice of critical thinking for an appropriate response builds relationships, and will open doors to opportunities for the end goal of ones endeavor. I pray to honor the meaning of patience.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
James 1:2-5

Nathan Psychology

When Yesterday Means Forever

August 3, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

Imagine yourself as a book, and your experience of yesterday is a page turned. What you did is not forgotten, and what you said will be remembered. Everything about your relationship to yesterday was written down for eternity to read. But what will be read about you? What will that page number reference when your book is opened after it’s been closed?

Nathan Psychology

7 – 31 – 21

July 31, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

When bitter coffee tastes’ sweet.

It might have been a 6th generation blue mustang parked with the lights on at 0200 not far from the site I was guarding. The distance between my golf cart and location of the mustang was about 200 yards. It was reported that a truck was stolen not many days ago from this site, and although that incident was in the middle of the day I wasn’t about to be passive. I was not able to make out the person or people inside the mustang, but they for damn sure could see me flexing, and now we wait…

These past few days have been heavy for me to say the least, and this morning the meaning of repentance settled deep within the bitter coffee of my soul. The reason I believe Jesus identified the Holy Spirit as the Helper—according to the book of John chapter 16 in your bibles—is because there is no repentance from sin nor significance to repentance without faith in the sweetness of Help. It doesn’t take 2 sugars and a creamer to make bitter coffee, sweet; it takes a wooden stirrer and metal spoon. The salvation of my soul took a wooden cross and metal nails. It’s the Helper of discipline from a Holy Father of love sent by the resurrected Jesus Christ that makes bitter coffee taste sweet.

Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

^{_{Job 2:4}}

Whenever sin is treated passively, the devil is prepared to take my soul. Whenever suspicion is treated passively, your truck gets stolen. The blue mustang has horse power over my golf cart, but the blue mustang met my God and left the site—my golf cart then proceeded to cut the head off the blue mustang. Satan is testing mankind to the limit, and if I don’t lose myself for the sake of Christ and the gospel… there is by no other means to experience salvation.

DISCLAIMER:
This is Nathan Psychology. What you read is my discipline of edification to sanctification. What I write is from my perspective as I learn more and more each day with you.

Nathan Psychology

Nathan Psychology and The War Against Pride

July 29, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

DISCLAIMER:
This is Nathan Psychology. What you read is my discipline of edification to sanctification. What I write is from my perspective as I learn more and more each day with you.

I was dressed to the nines looking like I owned the place. People were seated around tables talking life, eating and drinking; the bride and groom just finished their dance and it was time to give my speech; I was handed the microphone, got up from my seat and…

For some odd reason my former best friend chose me to be his best man, and I should’ve listened to my wife in preparing something for the best man speech. The consequence of pride is the fall, and when you haven’t hit the ground hard enough to realize the wisdom to the 5 “P’s”: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. You’re liable to make another mistake of pride in a way you won’t forget, or,… your wife won’t let live down. So there I was with a microphone in hand and… nothing. Shock! Is probably a better word. But everything from disoriented speech to cringing embarrassment at the confused claps of the audience, ‘clap here clap there’, until finally they decided to make me feel better by booing me into a dark corner as my wife joined in on the action by hitting me in the face with wedding cake. The scars are no joke, and I still have nightmares. It’s no wonder he’s my “former” best friend.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
1 John 2:16

Okay, he’s still my best friend and even helped me recover from my failed best man speech by his unique style of dancing—if we should call it that. I mean… the guy stands at about 6′ 4″, and if standing is the new dancing. Shoot, he danced like no ones business. He raised the bar of wedding dancing to a whole new level, I’m talkin 6′ 4″ level baby! Anyway, the occasion provided this opportunity to describe the nature of pride and how it can destroy the soul if I—or quite possibly, you—let it. No I wasn’t actually booed or curled up in a dark corner, but my wife did remind me of her wisdom… thanks, I guess. No, but seriously, I really should’ve listened! She wasn’t just right, but dead on.

The war against lust and pride are at the core of my soul to experience and overcome.

Nathan Psychology

Nathan Psychology and The War Against Lust

July 26, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

When reading, “…the lips of an adulteress drip honey…”, two emergent thought processes take shape and form instantaneously. The first is of a worldview that symbolizes a woman’s anatomy part. The second is to stop thinking.

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, And her speech is smoother than oil;
Proverbs 5:3

That verse is my next I die devotional, and I’m still working on it for—what might appear to be—obvious reasons. Let me be clear, how I interpreted the first part of that verse was not necessarily because I’m male; when I’d read it to my wife, she also thought what I thought without me preluding to it. So then it became about understanding the nature of why, and I asked my wife about what she experiences when ovulating. It was very enlightening to say the least and helped me better understand the why of an adulterous although not excusing the behavior nor saying my wife is an adulterous.

DISCLAIMER:
This is Nathan Psychology. What you read is my discipline of edification to sanctification. What I write is from my perspective as I learn more and more each day with you.

My experience to this war against lust is real, but to describe the nature of it I find to be challenging because I overthink. I get anxious by the idea of someone else on the other side of this screen similar to feeling anxious when face to face with a soul just as susceptible to sin as I am. Thinking on that verse, there is an enemy most attractive. But it’s not an adulteress from my point of view. The most attractive creature that rules this world is one not seen, but experienced. A snake knows how not to be seen, and while they might have aesthetic features… they’re not exactly attractive. However, the attraction of a ruler—much like a snake—is in their capacity to be ascetic (powerfully self-disciplined). An adulterous doesn’t exactly sound like someone who is self-disciplined; a person with raging hormones will cause an untamed response. The natural response to procreate can be so demanding that the experience of its intoxication will devour God given senses—unless disciplined in the fear of the Lord. That said, just because someone is self-disciplined—even appearing as though disciplined in the fear of the Lord—doesn’t mean they’re not the enemy of your soul. The ruler of this world is one that is ascetic while preying on the vulnerable.

belief-structure, God and Coffee, Journal, Nathan Dooley, Personality, Psychology, Therapy

An Update 7-14-21

July 15, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

What happened? I blinked, and it’s been nearly 3 weeks since I’ve posted. Time is unrelenting. You might remember a few of my *cringing* ‘public journal’ posts with a draft and revised outline as you’ll find linked below:

//DRAFT//

Jesus Christ is my belief structure.
1. What does that mean? (salvation).
  1. Human soul and God.
    1. Saved by grace through faith.
    2. How does faith work?
I love my wife—priority.
1. She is the core/center of my responsibilities.
  1. I need structure.
    1. Public Journal/accountability
Job with hours to aid me on this trajectory.
1. Not ideal, but blessed.
  1. I work nights and days.
  2. Best option at the moment.
    1. Aim for only nights if available.
    2. Or learn how to write, like, very good!
Psychology Professor—Jordan Peterson.
1. Mentor/Maps of Meaning/(biblical skeptic?)
  1. I think Jordan’s strategy to understand ‘meaning’ is awesome!
My personality— understand and improve.
1. 1 Peter 3:15 (but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;)
  1. There is a hope in the personality of a believer.
    1. My personality is wild; I want to understand it.
Skill/s to master:
1. Writing.
Goal/s…
- Is there more than one?
  - Where is the sacred ground?
    - What is this going to do?
      - How will this be effective?
        What is the sacrifice?
        Will the practice, preach?
        What does it mean?
        When is it time to plant?
The seed is to sanctify Christ as Lord in my heart.

//REVISED//

Jesus Christ is my belief structure.
1. What does that mean? (salvation).
  1. Human soul and God.
    1. Saved by grace through faith.
    2. How does faith work?
I love my wife—priority.
1. She is the core/center of my responsibilities.
  1. I need structure.
    1. Public Journal/accountability
Job with hours to aid me on this trajectory.
1. Not ideal, but blessed.
  1. I work nights and days.
  2. Best option at the moment.
    1. Aim for only nights if available.
    2. Or learn how to write, like, very good!
Psychology Professor—Jordan Peterson.
1. Mentor/Maps of Meaning/(biblical skeptic?)
  1. I think Jordan’s strategy to understand ‘meaning’ is awesome!
My personality— understand and improve.
1. 1 Peter 3:15 (but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;)
  1. There is a hope in the personality of a believer.
    1. My personality is wild; I want to understand it.
Skill/s to master:
1. Writing.
2. Videography.
Goal/s…
- Is there more than one?
  - Where is the sacred ground?
    - What is this going to do?
      - How will this be effective?
        What is the sacrifice?
        Will the practice, preach?
        What does it mean?
        When is it time to plant?
The seed is to sanctify Christ as Lord in my heart.

If the above outline is new to you, perfect, don’t worry about investigating it. I’ll give a brief background as to why they’re relevant.

The outline dates back to December of 2020 (approximately 7 months ago). I was prepping for the typical new years resolution (2021). Judging from my outline, that wasn’t all; there was obviously much more going on with me than setting goals. I had questions. And although I didn’t realize it at the time, the heart of my outline manifested as a kind of framework. A framework that might otherwise be described as an abstract place of reference, and a compass that’s navigated me to writing this post today. In reviewing the two outlines, there’s a very miniscule, but invaluable revision.

Skill/s to master:
1. Writing.

Skill/s to master:
1. Writing.
2. Videography.

Now, of course—as the mastery of any developing value system requires the discipline—I have yet to master either of these arts, but the point of the revision in my outline is the fact that I wrote those specific skills of profession down with the intention to master them. The writing them down with intention is key. And while unpaid as a writer of this site, also unpaid as a content creator uploading YouTube videos on various “experimental” (most failed) channels I’d created over the past few years; the evidence of providence that this site means to represent gives me the privilege to tell you that my foot is now in the door as a professional video editor. But hold on! I’m just getting started! It took 5 months after writing out that revised outline before becoming a paid video editor. Much has happened over the course of 7 months since that outline.

OUTLINE

[12/16/20] Jesus Christ is my belief structure.
1. [12/16/20] What does that mean? (Salvation).
  - [7/14/21] Philippians 2:12-13
1. [12/16/20] Human soul and God.
2. [7/14/21] What is the relationship between a person’s soul and God?
  1. [12/16/20] Saved by grace through faith.
  2. [7/14/21] Featured photo of this post update is an example of my work in developing frameworks that workout abstractions and understand axioms for righteous behavior.
[12/16/20] How does faith work?
- [7/14/21] This outline is proving an example of how faith works.
[12/16/20] I love my wife—priority.
1. [12/16/20] She is the core/center of my responsibilities.
2. [7/14/21] This has not changed although a much needed constant reminder.
  1. [12/16/20] I need structure.
    1. [12/16/20] Public Journal/accountability
      - [7/14/21] This post marks a good direction in structure and accountability.
[12/16/20] Job with hours to aid me on this trajectory.
[7/14/21] Trajectory of James 5:19-20
1. [12/16/20] Not ideal, but blessed.
  1. [12/16/20] ~~I work nights and days~~.
    1. [12/16/20] ~~Best option at the moment~~.
    2. [12/16/20] Aim for only nights if available.
      1. [7/14/21] I’m currently working a night shift!
    3. [12/16/20] Or learn how to write, like, very good!
      1. [7/14/21] Still a work in progress, but progressive nonetheless.
[12/16/20] Psychology Professor—Jordan Peterson.
1. [12/16/20] Mentor/Maps of Meaning/(biblical skeptic?)
  1. [12/16/20] I think Jordan’s strategy to understand ‘meaning’ is awesome!
    - I’ve bought JP’s 3 books, purchased his personality course, his big 5 personality assessment, and his self authoring suite.
[12/16/20] My personality— understand and improve.
- [7/14/21]
- Agreeableness: 85
  1. Compassion: 96
  2. Politeness: 45
- Conscientiousness: 35
  1. Industriousness: 44
  2. Orderliness: 30
- Extraversion: 99
  1. Enthusiasm: 96
  2. Assertiveness: 98
- Neuroticism: 92
  1. Withdrawal: 72
  2. Volatility: 97
- Openness to Experience: 75
  1. Intellect: 28
  2. Openness: 95
[12/16/20] 1 Peter 3:15 (but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;)
1. [12/16/20] There is a hope in the personality of a believer.
2. [7/14/21] See above…
  1. [12/16/20] My personality is wild; I want to understand it.
  2. [7/14/21] See above…
[12/16/20] Skill/s to master:
1. [12/16/20] Writing.
  - [7/14/21] Still writing.
2. [12/16/20] Videography.
  - [7/14/21] Continually developing my skill in the field – video editor.
[12/16/20] Goal/s…
- [12/16/20] Is there more than one?
- [7/14/21] Yes.
  - [12/16/20] Where is the sacred ground?
  - [7/14/21] It’s between the spoken and written Word given from the Spirit above to emerge from the soul beneath as truth.
    - [12/16/20] What is this going to do?
    - [7/14/21] …
      - [12/16/20] How will this be effective?
      - [7/14/21] Look from where you started to where you are, and analyze.
        [12/16/20] What is the sacrifice?
        [12/16/20] Will the practice, preach?
        [12/16/20] What does it mean?
        [12/16/20] When is it time to plant?
[12/16/20] The seed is to sanctify Christ as Lord in my heart.

Have you outlined the heart of your vision and mission in life on this earth? If you haven’t, then let this post be a coach to you, and encourage you. Keep striving toward your goals with faith, and expect the providence of God.

RESOURCES

Jordan Peterson
- Home | Jordan Peterson (jordanbpeterson.com)
Bible Gateway
- BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages.

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God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Observe discretion and reserve knowledge | P5-V2

June 26, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

Pitfalls of Immorality

Proverbs 5:2

I die devotional.

¹My son, give attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding;
²That you may observe discretion
And your lips may reserve knowledge.
³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey
And smoother than oil is her speech;

When I observe how God handled the situation with Solomon in 1 Kings 11, I perceive discretion, but what do you think?

1 Kings 11 —But King Solomon [defiantly] loved many foreign women—the ^[a]daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. ²They were of the very nations of whom the Lord said to the Israelites, You shall not mingle with them, neither shall they mingle with you, for surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Yet Solomon clung to these in love. ³He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart from God. ⁴For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect (complete and whole) with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. ⁵For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abominable idol of the Ammonites! ⁶Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as David his father did.

If you, reader, could look into the actions of my past, you’d find the details of my love for “foreign” women. And it just so turns out that I married a foreign woman—Mexican all the way baby—but marrying a foreign woman is not what I’m talking about, nor do I think is what God is talking about, but of course, please, test what I divulge (1 Thess 5).

I believe God knows the intimate details of our hearts, that if mine—my heart that is—was disclosed for you to see in detail the pornographic nature of it, how ashamed I would be for what cannot be changed about that knowledge reserved, those pieces of my past to present experiences lodged deep within my soul to torment me day and night as cringing reminders of my coming judgement; whether in thought or deed, the heart contains the secrets only God can do something about. And if you’ve sinned against God as both David, Solomon, and myself, have, then I pray we respond as David did and not Solomon.

I think we can make sense of the pornographic nature that God was warning Solomon about while recognizing the discretion God used in the words of His Scriptures, that nature of perverse beauty, Seductress. God didn’t have to go into detail as to describe the nature of His warning—avoid such seduction—to Solomon. So many people today, are not only held captive to pornography, but willingly embrace it as though it’s natural. Now that we have technology to connect Mankind around the world, we don’t have to wonder about the nature of our hearts… we can see just how depraved we are by surfing the wave of the internet. It’s quite obvious that the human race doesn’t exactly use discretion let alone reserve knowledge.

But I believe with God’s help of His Holy Spirit, we can influence change starting with ourselves. The same warning applied to Solomon exists today by God’s Word, so the question I ask myself, “Will I go fully after God?” As David did?

RESOURCE

Proverbs 5 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org | biblegateway.com

COMMENTARY

Chapter 5

Matthew Henry (P5-V2) Commentary
II. The caution itself, and that is to abstain from fleshly lusts, from adultery, fornication, and all uncleanness. Some apply this figuratively, and by the adulterous woman here understand idolatry, or false doctrine, which tends to debauch men’s minds and manners, or the sensual appetite, to which it may as fitly as any thing be applied; but the primary scope of it is plainly to warn us against seventh-commandment sins, which youth is so prone to, the temptations to which are so violent, the examples of which are so many, and which, where admitted, are so destructive to all the seeds of virtue in the soul that it is not strange that Solomon’s cautions against it are so very pressing and so often repeated. Solomon here, as a faithful watchman, gives fair warning to all, as they regard their lives and comforts, to dread this sin, for it will certainly be their ruin. Two things we are here warned to take heed of:-

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

My son | P5-V1

June 22, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

Pitfalls of Immorality

Proverbs 5:1

I die devotional.

²⁷Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.
¹My son, give attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding;
²That you may observe discretion
And your lips may reserve knowledge.

Wisdom, although from the mouth of Solomon, a man given over to the lust of his flesh that no man can overcome void the fear of God; these proverbs are of God our Father, not kept by Solomon, and given for our understanding. God means what He says, and we will do well to listen as David did.

1 Kings 11 —But King Solomon [defiantly] loved many foreign women—the ^[a]daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. ²They were of the very nations of whom the Lord said to the Israelites, You shall not mingle with them, neither shall they mingle with you, for surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Yet Solomon clung to these in love. ³He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart from God. ⁴For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect (complete and whole) with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. ⁵For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abominable idol of the Ammonites! ⁶Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as David his father did.

I think what happens to Solomon in 1 Kings 11 is a perfect parallel to this chapter in Proverbs because not even the wisest man that walked the face of the planet—until Christ our Lord—could resist the temptation of perverse beauty, a beauty that this chapter of Proverbs describes so well as a “…strange woman” (or “loose”, “foreign”, “adulterous”, etc.). Now, since the Lord our God, the God of all, has come, died, and resurrected in the Name of Jesus Christ so that the world might be saved through His Name; I’ll refer to this “strange woman” as, Seductress.

When you look at the featured photo you’ll see feminine hands, and the minds’ eye, undercover of night or… rather, more appropriate, under the covers of another god. Seductress might appear as beautiful as the stars shining bright like diamonds in the sky (don’t tell me you don’t know that song), but the pleasure she intends to experience is at the cost of our souls, the cost is death. The true God, the God of Wisdom, warns the consequences of such behavior. Wisdom, like a mother, a woman of honor and dignity, calls for our attention as sons, “My son…”. So it’s important I/we listen, and listen with application.

RESOURCE

Proverbs 5 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org | biblegateway.com

COMMENTARY

Chapter 5

Matthew Henry (P5-V1) Commentary
The scope of this chapter is much the same with that of ch. 2. To write the same things, in other words, ought not to be grievous, for it is safe, Phil. 3:1. Here is,

I. An exhortation to get acquaintance with and submit to the laws of wisdom in general (v. 2).
II. A particular caution against the sin of whoredom (v. 3-14).
III. Remedies prescribed against that sin.
- 1. Conjugal love (v. 15-20).
- 2. A regard to God’s omniscience (v. 21).
- 3. A dread of the miserable end of wicked people (v. 22, 23).

And all little enough to arm young people against those fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

Pro 5:1-14

Here we have,

I. A solemn preface, to introduce the caution which follows, v. 1, 2. Solomon here addresses himself to his son, that is, to all young men, as unto his children, whom he has an affection for and some influence upon. In God’s name, he demands attention; for he writes by divine inspiration, and is a prophet, though he begins not with, Thus saith the Lord. “Attend, and bow thy ear; not only hear what is said, and read what is written, but apply thy mind to it and consider it diligently.” To gain attention he urges,
- 1. The excellency of his discourse: “It is my wisdom, my understanding; if I undertake to teach thee wisdom I cannot prescribe any thing to be more properly called so; moral philosophy is my philosophy, and that which is to be learned in my school.”
- 2. The usefulness of it: “Attend to what I say,”
  - (1.) “That thou mayest act wisely-that thou mayest regard discretion.” Solomon’s lectures are not designed to fill our heads with notions, with matters of nice speculation, or doubtful disputation, but to guide us in the government of ourselves, that we may act prudently, so as becomes us and so as will be for our true interest.
  - (2.) “That thou mayest speak wisely-that thy lips may keep knowledge, and thou mayest have it ready at thy tongue’s end” (as we say), “for the benefit of those with whom thou dost converse.” The priest’s lips are said to keep knowledge (Mal. 2:7); but those that are ready and mighty in the scriptures may not only in their devotions, but in their discourses, be spiritual priests.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Turn your foot from evil | P4-V27

June 18, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:27

I die devotional.

²⁶Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.
²⁷Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.
¹ My son, give attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding;

Much like someone walking into a gym for the first time to workout does not start out by repping their max, but first discovers what their max is and builds from there; the goal is not (only) to increase their max, but to develop form and will power to enter the gym again, and again, and again…

So too is that someone who first believes in Christ and Christ reveals the truth to being a Christian, that someone does not start out doing anything righteous, but discovers what the truth is and means; the goal is not (only) to increase in the knowledge of the truth, but to develop form and will power to obey the truth by dying, again, and again, and again…

Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
Matthew 16:25 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
Mark 8:35 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].
Luke 9:24 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake, he is the one who will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].
Luke 17:33 Whoever seeks to save his life will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] will keep it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].

Do not settle for what this world has to offer, turn your foot from sin.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V27) Commentary
VI. We must act with steadiness, caution, and consistency: “Let all thy ways be established (v. 26) and be not unstable in them, as the double-minded man is; halt not between two, but go on in an even uniform course of obedience; turn not to the right hand not to the left, for there are errors on both hands, and Satan gains his point if he prevails to draw us aside either way. Be very careful to remove thy foot from evil; take heed of extremes, for in them there is evil, and let thy eyes look right on, that thou mayest keep the golden mean.” Those that would approve themselves wise must always be watchful.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

All your ways will be established | P4-V26

June 15, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:26

I die devotional.

²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
²⁶Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.
²⁷Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.

Okay, this devotional marks a change in the structure of my devotionals, a minuscule change at that. I’ve updated these devotionals from “I die daily devotional” to ‘I die devotional‘ because of the obvious—this hasn’t been a daily event—but plan on continuing the course of completing all the book of proverbs as my devotion, only… it won’t be a daily thing. It’s for good reason, however, because my devotion is divided into much more than just these devotionals for this site. You’ll see.

²⁶Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established.

To watch the path of my feet is by no means an easy feat considering other paths that merge into mine, and or how mine, might cross into yours. So I ask, Wisdom, “What do You mean?” She might tell me to reflect on the past, and there is a lot in my past for resources I’m uncertain to use. She might tell me to see the future, but all paths lead to death, so where does that leave me? It leaves me with the truth of faith in Jesus Christ right now, His feet establishes my path into the place I watch with eyes of love. All my ways are established in the truth of Jesus’ life, resurrected from death and ascended at the right hand of God—an eternal covenant between God and Man through the Son of Man, Christ Jesus!

^{Hebrews 13:20}Now may the God of peace [the source of serenity and spiritual well-being] who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood that sealed and ratified the eternal covenant, ²¹equip you with every good thing to carry out His will and strengthen you [making you complete and perfect as you ought to be], accomplishing in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V26) Commentary
V. We must act considerately in all we do (v. 26): Ponder the path of thy feet, weigh it (so the word is); “put the word of God in one scale, and what thou hast done, or art about to do, in the other, and see how they agree; be nice and critical in examining whether thy way be good before the Lord and whether it will end well.” We must consider our past ways and examine what we have done, and our present ways, what we are doing, whither we are going, and see that we walk circumspectly. It concerns us to consider what are the duties and what the difficulties, what are the advantages and what the dangers, of our way, that we may act accordingly. “Do nothing rashly.”

VI. We must act with steadiness, caution, and consistency: “Let all thy ways be established (v. 26) and be not unstable in them, as the double-minded man is; halt not between two, but go on in an even uniform course of obedience; turn not to the right hand not to the left, for there are errors on both hands, and Satan gains his point if he prevails to draw us aside either way. Be very careful to remove thy foot from evil; take heed of extremes, for in them there is evil, and let thy eyes look right on, that thou mayest keep the golden mean.” Those that would approve themselves wise must always be watchful.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Let your gaze be fixed | P4-V25

June 9, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:25

I die daily devotional.

²⁴Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.
²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
²⁶Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.

It’s convenient for me to look back in the direction of my past, at the cross, and go in that direction. It’s convenient to become the victim. It’s convenient to believe the lie of the devil by living my life to the fullest—whatever that means—and not concern myself about the words or… literature, of biblical wisdom.

However, wisdom inspires my eyes to see the goal. The focus of my gaze is on the Man who went on ahead of all, the Man who took my sin of death, and defeated it! My eyes are looking directly ahead, my gaze is fixed straight in front of me, and the way of resurrection is before me—secure and complete. So although my eyes are blind to see the Man—known as Jesus of Nazareth—I see Him alive today through faith in His gospel of eternal life at the right Hand!

Do you see the Man?

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V25) Commentary
IV. We must make a covenant with our eyes: “Let them look right on and straight before thee, v. 25. Let the eye be fixed and not wandering; let it not rove after every thing that presents itself, for then it will be diverted [from] good and ensnared in evil. Turn it from beholding vanity; let thy eye be single and not divided; let thy intentions be sincere and uniform, and look not asquint at any by-end.” We must keep our eye upon our Master, and be careful to approve ourselves to him; keep our eye upon our rule, and conform to that; keep our eye upon our mark, the prize of the high calling, and direct all towards that. Oculum in metam–The eye upon the goal.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Put away from you a deceitful mouth | P4-V24

June 7, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:24

I die daily devotional.

²³Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
²⁴Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.
²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

I take notice in how Wisdom addresses the heart in our previous verse, then moves to the mouth in today’s verse by addressing our speech … before moving to the eyes and addressing our line of sight in our next verse. But why is that do you think? There are certain biblical texts that begin to emerge in my mind, prompting me to consider!

¹⁵Peter asked Him, “Explain this parable [about what defiles a person] to us.” ¹⁶And He said, “Are you still so dull [and unable to put things together]? ¹⁷Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? ¹⁸But whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonors the man. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming). ²⁰These are the things which defile and dishonor the man; but eating with [ceremonially] unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

How we construct our speech reveals the nature of our hearts, and I know when I judge myself by the words of Jesus am found guilty of what He described to be…evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming). And that goes without boasting, a head full of shame, but I think it goes without saying my confessions in detail—of which is volumes of books only this world contains—when they’re on display by the truth of Jesus’ words and my life span on this earth … as good as dead.

If we believe in Jesus Christ, having died in baptism, born again through faith, then does our speech not change to reveal the new creatures that we are in Christ? Or if we were to have a conversation, would the knowledge of the truth that all possess in their conscience judge me to be a liar?

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V24) Commentary
III. We must set a watch before the door of our lips, that we offend not with out tongue (v. 24): Put away from thee a froward mouth and perverse lips. Our hearts being naturally corrupt, out of them a great deal of corrupt communication is apt to come, and therefore we must conceive a great dread and detestation of all manner of evil words, cursing, swearing, lying, slandering, brawling, filthiness, and foolish talking, all which come from a froward mouth and perverse lips, that will not be governed either by reason or religion, but contradict both, and which are as unsightly and ill-favoured before God as a crooked distorted mouth drawn awry is before men. All manner of tongue sins, we must, by constant watchfulness and stedfast resolution, put from us, put far from us, abstaining from all words that have an appearance of evil and fearing to learn any such words.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Watch over your heart | P4-V23

June 4, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:23

I die daily devotional.

²²For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.
²³Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
²⁴Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.

Thank you Father, thank you for giving Your Son so that I/we might have faith in the Holy Spirit to help us in our time of need through belief, ‘belief’… such an awesome word of utility for revealing the medium between that which is Holy and Unholy, as righteous or unrighteous, the justice of your vengeance is the knowledge of our state and consequence for sin that so immediately separates us from eternal life to death for eternal judgement, and justifiably so, but belief is what You’ve sown.

^{Hebrews 6:1} Therefore let us get past the elementary stage in the teachings about the Christ, advancing on to maturity and perfection and spiritual completeness, [doing this] without laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, ²of teaching about washings (ritual purifications), the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [These are all important matters in which you should have been proficient long ago.] ³And we will do this [that is, proceed to maturity], if God permits.

I believe in Your Spirit, that by Jesus Christ my eyes will see and watch over my heart with all diligence so that from it flows springs of life rather than issues of sin that speak death even to the end.

^{Matthew 18:6}but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V23) Commentary
II. We must keep a watchful eye and a strict hand upon all the motions of our inward man, v. 23. Here is,

1. A great duty required by the laws of wisdom, and in order to our getting and preserving wisdom: Keep thy heart with all diligence. God, who gave us these souls, gave us a strict charge with them: Man, woman, keep thy heart; take heed to thy spirit, Deu. 4:9. We must maintain a holy jealousy of ourselves, and set a strict guard, accordingly, upon all the avenues of the soul; keep our hearts from doing hurt and getting hurt, from being defiled by sin and disturbed by trouble; keep them as our jewel, as our vineyard; keep a conscience void of offence; keep out bad thoughts; keep up good thoughts; keep the affections upon right objects and in due bounds. Keep them with all keepings (so the word is); there are many ways of keeping things-by care, by strength, by calling in help, and we must use them all in keeping our hearts; and all little enough, so deceitful are they, Jer. 17:9. Or above all keepings; we must keep our hearts with more care and diligence than we keep any thing else. We must keep our eyes (Job 31:1), keep our tongues (Ps. 34:13), keep our feet (Eccl. 5:1), but, above all, keep our hearts.

2. A good reason given for this care, because out of it are the issues of life. Out of a heart well kept will flow living issues, good products, to the glory of God and the edification of others. Or, in general, all the actions of the life flow from the heart, and therefore keeping that is making the tree good and healing the springs. Our lives will be regular or irregular, comfortable or uncomfortable, according as our hearts are kept or neglected.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Life to those who find them | P4-V22

June 2, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:22

I die daily devotional.

²¹Do not let them depart from your sight;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.
²²For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.
²³Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.

God our Father has given humanity His only Son, and by Him, we have the Holy Spirit. The promise of eternal life through belief in Christ is that life to those who find them. Jesus is the health to all their body. ^{2 Cor 3}You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V22) Commentary
2. The reason why we must thus make much of the words of wisdom is because they will be both food and physic to us, like the tree of life,Rev. 22:2; Eze. 47:12. Those that seek and find them, find and keep them, shall find in them,

(1.) Food: For they are life unto those that find them, v. 22. As the spiritual life was begun by the word as the instrument of it, so by the same word it is still nourished and maintained. We could not live without it; we may by faith live upon it.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Keep them in the midst of your heart | P4-V21

June 1, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:21

I die daily devotional.

²⁰My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹Do not let them depart from your sight;
Keep them in the midst of your heart.
²²For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.

God our Father has provided to us the Person of His new covenant with mankind, that Person was Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world by dying on the cross so that the world might be saved through Him! And today we have the best selling book that testifies of His Word—for being preached into all the earth. In the Word of God we have this promise that reminds us to live and experience eternal love by believing in Jesus Christ as the Savior for mankind sent from God our Father. So do not let the Holy Spirit depart from your sight and keep the Word of God in the midst of your heart.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V21) Commentary
(2.) We must retain them carefully (v. 21); we must lay them before us as our rule: “Let them not depart from thy eyes; view them, review them, and in every thing aim to conform to them.” We must lodge them within us, as a commanding principle, the influences of which are diffused throughout the whole man: “Keep them in the midst of thy heart, as things dear to thee, and which thou art afraid of losing.” Let the word of God be written in the heart, and that which is written there will remain.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Give attention to my words | P4-V20

May 28, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:20

I die daily devotional.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.
²⁰My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
²¹Do 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.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

The way of the wicked | P4-V19

May 27, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:19

I die daily devotional.

¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.
²⁰My 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:}⁷But 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]. ⁸And 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: ⁹about sin [and the true nature of it], because they do not believe in Me [and My message]; ¹⁰about righteousness [personal integrity and godly character], because I am going to My Father and you will no longer see Me; ¹¹about 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; ⁸And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: ⁹regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; ¹¹and 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—¹⁹The 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.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

The path of the righteous | P4-V18

May 26, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:18

I die daily devotional.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness
And drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
¹⁹The 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.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Bread of wickedness and wine of violence | P4-V17

May 25, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:17

I die daily devotional.

¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness
And drink the wine of violence.
¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

As the night deepens and cover of darkness thickens, so too are the souls resisting the breath of the Holy Spirit for salvation from which evil rules, a conscience seared by the branding iron of death for eternal destruction.

^{1 Timothy 4:1} But the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons, ²[misled] by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared as with a branding iron [leaving them incapable of ethical functioning], ³who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from [certain kinds of] foods which God has created to be gratefully shared by those who believe and have [a clear] knowledge of the truth.

My heart breaks for all, but especially those within my sphere of influence, that would much rather deny the eternal covenant made between God and man for eternal salvation to have but a moment of relief offered by the dragon of this world. My heart breaks…

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V17) Commentary
(2.) Mischief is meat and drink to them; they feed and feast upon it. They eat the bread of the wickedness (they eat up my people as they eat bread, Ps. 14:4) and drink the wine of violence (v. 17), drink iniquity like water, Job 15:16. All they eat and drink is got by rapine and oppression. Do wicked men think the time lost in which they are not doing hurt? Let good men make it as much their business and delight to do good. Amici, diem perdidi-Friends, I have lost a day. And let all that are wise, and wish well to themselves, avoid the society of the wicked; for,

[1.] It is very scandalous; for there is no disposition of mind that is a greater reproach to human nature, a greater enemy to human society, a bolder defiance to God and conscience, that has more of the devil’s image in it, or is more serviceable to his interests, than a delight to do mischief and to vex, and hurt, and ruin every body.

[2.] It is very dangerous. “Shun those that delight to do mischief as thou tenderest thy own safety; for, whatever friendship they may pretend, one time or other they will do thee mischief; thou wilt ruin thyself if thou dost concur with them (ch. 1:18) and they will ruin thee if thou dost not.”

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

For they are robbed of sleep | P4-V16

May 24, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:16

I die daily devotional.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness
And drink the wine of violence.

Okay, so… as promised, from our previous devotional; Jesus is the line drawn in the soul of every person. And the Holy Spirit convicts the world by that line—we’ll get to that. But just as the scribes and Pharisees tested Jesus by bringing a woman caught in adultery—not for the reason of adultery, but for accusing Him—so do we do to each other as a faith body; we are the church, and yet, we test Jesus and seek occasion to accuse the Holy Spirit by apostasy.

^{John 8:6}They said this to test Him, hoping that they would have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and began writing on the ground with His finger. ⁷However, when they persisted in questioning Him, He straightened up and said, “He who is without [any] sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸Then He stooped down again and started writing on the ground.

Now lets fast forward, after our Lord’s ascension to the Father, we find the apostles functioning as that line drawn. Check this out! Remember when Ananias and his wife Sapphira were busted for lying? What happened to them?

^{Acts 5:3}But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and [secretly] keep back for yourself some of the proceeds [from the sale] of the land? ⁴As long as it remained [unsold], did it not remain your own [to do with as you pleased]? And after it was sold, was the money not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this act [of hypocrisy and deceit] in your heart? You have not [simply] lied to people, but to God.” ⁵And hearing these words, Ananias fell down suddenly and died; and great fear and awe gripped those who heard of it.

Lets not forget that these men are still men born from the seed of Adam, men that we would judge no different than us as sinners saved by grace through their faith in Jesus Christ, and yet… there they were, empowered with the authority of the Holy Spirit to exercise justice among the growing church of believers.

So now lets fast forward to modern times, why do believers today behave as though the Holy Spirit is not here?

For anyone who claims themselves as Christians and practices sin… have you then, truly believed? Do you truly understand what it means to be saved and equipped with the Holy Spirit, having faith that produces fruits for righteous behavior? Do you truly have a personality changed by the fact of your baptismal event, or was it just an event?

If a person is still in sin, making a practice of lustful feeling and prideful thinking, that person has yet to be born again because only then can that person truly be empowered with the help of the Holy Spirit to change from old sin to the new creature within, the creature of righteousness!

 ¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

The wisest man ended up chasing after other gods even in fellowship with the God, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. Are we so prideful to think that we’ve been saved to remain in our sins as though bound by other gods to feel out pornography or to think lies unseen by God? …

Can you sleep?

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V16) Commentary
II. The reasons to enforce this caution.

1. “Consider the character of the men whose way thou art warned to shun.” They are mischievous men (v. 16, 17); they not only care not what hurt they do to those that stand in their way, but it is their business to do mischief, and their delight, purely for mischief-sake. They are continually designing and endeavouring to cause some to fall, to ruin them body and soul. Wickedness and malice are in their nature, and violence is in all their actions. They are spiteful in the highest degree; for,
- (1.) Mischief is rest and sleep to them. As much satisfaction as a covetous man has when he has got money, an ambitious man when he has got preferment, and a good man when he has done good, so much have they when they have said or done that which is injurious and ill-natured; and they are extremely uneasy if they cannot get their envy and revenge gratified, as Haman, to whom every thing was unpleasant as long as Mordecai was unhanged. It intimates likewise how restless and unwearied they are in their mischievous pursuits; they will rather be deprived of sleep than of the pleasure of being vexatious.
- (2.) Mischief is meat and drink to them; they feed and feast upon it. They eat the bread of the wickedness (they eat up my people as they eat bread, Ps. 14:4) and drink the wine of violence (v. 17), drink iniquity like water, Job 15:16. All they eat and drink is got by rapine and oppression. Do wicked men think the time lost in which they are not doing hurt? Let good men make it as much their business and delight to do good. Amici, diem perdidi-Friends, I have lost a day. And let all that are wise, and wish well to themselves, avoid the society of the wicked; for,
  - [1.] It is very scandalous; for there is no disposition of mind that is a greater reproach to human nature, a greater enemy to human society, a bolder defiance to God and conscience, that has more of the devil’s image in it, or is more serviceable to his interests, than a delight to do mischief and to vex, and hurt, and ruin every body.
  - [2.] It is very dangerous. “Shun those that delight to do mischief as thou tenderest thy own safety; for, whatever friendship they may pretend, one time or other they will do thee mischief; thou wilt ruin thyself if thou dost concur with them (ch. 1:18) and they will ruin thee if thou dost not.”

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Avoid it | P4-V15

May 23, 2021 Nathan Dooley 1 Comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:15

I die daily devotional.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.
¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

I just burned myself… yep… with coffee. Never a good idea! I could’ve avoided that from happening had I not prepared any coffee whatsoever, should’ve passed on from that coffee maker, but it looked at me; or … I could’ve just paid more attention to what I was doing.

Okay, so…

This is no weak discipline that I can attest to experiencing when heeding the instruction of this wisdom. To believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God in a world that resists the Holy Spirit is ever challenging to the soul because of what the flesh craves by way of reminder, what we’ve been saved from through repentance of old sins.

^{2 Peter 1:9}For whoever lacks these qualities is blind—shortsighted [closing his spiritual eyes to the truth], having become oblivious to the fact that he was cleansed from his old sins.

The world that resists the Holy Spirit is regressing further into the delusion of sin, and much of that activity can appear very… enchanting, to the flesh, not the spirit—if the Spirit of Christ is in us.

So how do we avoid it, the enticing behavior of regressing sinful activity? How do we go forth from our church, or home, into the world and not pass by it; sin?

Or how do we go to work, turn away from it and pass on without becoming homeless?

Better yet… at what point is the line drawn for unrepentant people, and we remove ourselves from that environment?

Well…

You got me! We’re all gonna die!

No, but here is what I really think…

Jesus is that line drawn in every person’s life whether they’ve accepted or resisted the judgement of that line. There is a lot to say about that concept, but the idea was inspired by the verses where Jesus is writing on the ground:

^{John 8:1} But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Early in the morning He came back into the temple [court], and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began teaching them. ³Now the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They made her stand in the center of the court, ⁴and they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. ⁵Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women [to death]. So what do You say [to do with her—what is Your sentence]?” ⁶They said this to test Him, hoping that they would have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and began writing on the ground with His finger. ⁷However, when they persisted in questioning Him, He straightened up and said, “He who is without [any] sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸Then He stooped down again and started writing on the ground. ⁹They listened [to His reply], and they began to go out one by one, starting with the oldest ones, until He was left alone, with the woman [standing there before Him] in the center of the court. ¹⁰Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” ¹¹She answered, “No one, Lord!” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]

More to say on this tomorrow.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V15) Commentary
I. The caution itself, v. 14, 15.

1. We must take heed of falling in with sin and sinners: Enter not into the paths of the wicked. Our teacher, having like a faithful guide shown us the right paths (v. 11), here warns us of the by-paths into which we are in danger of being drawn aside. Those that have been well educated, and trained up in the way they should go, let them never turn aside into the way they should not go; let them not so much as enter into it, no, not to make trial of it, lest it prove a dangerous experiment and difficult to retreat with safety. “Venture not into the company of those that are infected with the plague, no, not though thou think thyself guarded with an antidote.”

2. If at any time we are inveigled into an evil way, we must hasten out of it. “If, ere thou wast aware, thou didst enter in at the gate, because it was wide, go not on in the way of evil men. As soon as thou art made sensible of thy mistake, retire immediately, take not a step more, stay not a minute longer, in the way that certainly leads to destruction.”

3. We must dread and detest the ways of sin and sinners, and decline them with the utmost care imaginable. “The way of evil men may seem a pleasant way and sociable, and the nearest way to the compassing of some secular end we may have in view; but it is an evil way, and will end ill, and therefore if thou love thy God and thy soul avoid it, pass not by it, that thou mayest not be tempted to enter into it; and, if thou find thyself near it, turn from it and pass away, and get as far off it as thou canst.” The manner of expression intimates the imminent danger we are in, the need we have of this caution, and the great importance of it, and that our watchmen are, or should be, in good earnest, in giving us warning. It intimates likewise at what a distance we should keep from sin and sinners; he does not say, Keep at a due distance, but at a great distance, the further the better; never think you can get far enough from it. Escape for thy life: look not behind thee.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Do not enter or proceed | P4-V14

May 22, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:14

I die daily devotional.

¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.
¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.
¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it;
Turn away from it and pass on.

It’s these particular proverbs that impact me differently than others, and I think the reason might be because of what information I’ve gathered about people (including my wife) who have come to a place of belief where worthiness of the upright path is seemingly impossible, after all, we’re all sinners, so that answers that, right?

What I find peculiar about this wisdom is how Solomon didn’t keep it:

^{1 Kings 11:9}So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe (remember, obey) what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. ¹²However, I will not do it in your lifetime, for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son (Rehoboam). ¹³However, I will not tear away all the kingdom; I will give one tribe (Judah) to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

Which seems to me that Solomon became much like that anointed cherub angel we read about in Ezekiel 28:

¹⁴“You were the anointed cherub who covers and protects,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire [sparkling jewels].
¹⁵“You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness and evil were found in you.

See… God… by His Word, gives us the path of wisdom and way of understanding, but not manipulatively; the choice to be and remain blameless in our ways is within our capacity to do so by the fact of God’s Word, His Spirit of fellowship with us who’ve died to sin for righteousness within. Jesus Christ didn’t die so that we would believe ourselves unworthy of obedience to righteousness, but died so that we might become worthy of His righteousness that reconciles us to God by fellowship with His Spirit alive in us today.

The responsibility we have to our precious gift of salvation is this faith filled proclamation—eternal life. The Lord our God is not sitting idle as though a throne of stone, but because Jesus Christ is the Son of God at the right hand of power, our Father in Heaven—Hallowed be His Name—the Kingdom is come, and His will… finished on the cross …be done. What more need be said?

^{1 John 5:11}And the testimony is this: God has given us eternal life [we already possess it], and this life is in His Son [resulting in our spiritual completeness, and eternal companionship with Him]. ¹²He who has the Son [by accepting Him as Lord and Savior] has the life [that is eternal]; he who does not have the Son of God [by personal faith] does not have the life. ¹³These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God [which represents all that Jesus Christ is and does], so that you will know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have eternal life.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V14) Commentary
Here is,

I. The caution itself, v. 14, 15.
- 1. We must take heed of falling in with sin and sinners: Enter not into the paths of the wicked. Our teacher, having like a faithful guide shown us the right paths (v. 11), here warns us of the by-paths into which we are in danger of being drawn aside. Those that have been well educated, and trained up in the way they should go, let them never turn aside into the way they should not go; let them not so much as enter into it, no, not to make trial of it, lest it prove a dangerous experiment and difficult to retreat with safety. “Venture not into the company of those that are infected with the plague, no, not though thou think thyself guarded with an antidote.”
- 2. If at any time we are inveigled into an evil way, we must hasten out of it. “If, ere thou wast aware, thou didst enter in at the gate, because it was wide, go not on in the way of evil men. As soon as thou art made sensible of thy mistake, retire immediately, take not a step more, stay not a minute longer, in the way that certainly leads to destruction.”
- 3. We must dread and detest the ways of sin and sinners, and decline them with the utmost care imaginable. “The way of evil men may seem a pleasant way and sociable, and the nearest way to the compassing of some secular end we may have in view; but it is an evil way, and will end ill, and therefore if thou love thy God and thy soul avoid it, pass not by it, that thou mayest not be tempted to enter into it; and, if thou find thyself near it, turn from it and pass away, and get as far off it as thou canst.” The manner of expression intimates the imminent danger we are in, the need we have of this caution, and the great importance of it, and that our watchmen are, or should be, in good earnest, in giving us warning. It intimates likewise at what a distance we should keep from sin and sinners; he does not say, Keep at a due distance, but at a great distance, the further the better; never think you can get far enough from it. Escape for thy life: look not behind thee.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Take hold of instruction | P4-V13

May 21, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:13

I die daily devotional.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
And if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.
¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked
And do not proceed in the way of evil men.

Having put forth the effort to understand instruction in order to take hold of it, am inspired through that discipline … and grow in discovery of my Father in Heaven. To take hold of instruction is to experience the discipline of the Spirit; the invisible nature of God my Father is right here in my presence—the Holy Spirit—and my conscience is affected by the sight of an objective observer. Jesus Christ is the objective observer according to my belief through faith in Him, and am, therefore, disciplined by the instruction of His Word, the gospel of righteousness.

As long as I do not let go of the instruction of wisdom that disciplines me, and guard her as my salvation depends on it, my life is preserved in Jesus Christ, for she is my life.

God our Father is giving us constant instruction by the discipline of His Word being present with us for fellowship between us and our Father through Jesus Christ.

The instruction I feel in constant contention with is coming in our next verse because my heart goes out to those that suffer in the path of wickedness by proceeding in the way of evil men. Evil men are those who’ve beguiled the vulnerable to suffer a fate of their demise, desperate for what they cannot have, and thus manage to succeed in society by playing their biggest hand known as—”royal victim”. These people will fault the devil and blame God in every circumstance that doesn’t appeal to their desired way of survival, rather than taking responsibility for what they know at heart is wrong!

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V13) Commentary
Some make David’s instructions to Solomon, which began v. 4, to continue to the end of the chapter; nay, some continue them to the end of the ninth chapter; but it is more probable that Solomon begins here again, if not sooner. In these verses, having exhorted us to walk in the paths of wisdom, he cautions us against the path of the wicked.

1. We must take heed of the ways of sin and avoid them, every thing that looks like sin and leads to it.
2. In order to this we must keep out of the ways of sinners, and have no fellowship with them. For fear of falling into wicked courses, we must shun wicked company.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

When you walk or run | P4-V12

May 20, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:12

I die daily devotional.

¹¹I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
¹²When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
And if you run, you will not stumble.
¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go.
Guard her, for she is your life.

It’s quite the privilege to have the ability to walk or run, or to even watch those abilities being performed before our eyes; it’s simple to miss, really; it’s out of mind. And I think we might take it for granted, not by intention of course, but as though we’ve forgotten how to be in awe of such complex work as the human being. Remember when we actually had to watch before we could learn, and then had to learn how to walk before we could run, and then to throw a bicycle in the mix… I mean, that’s pretty crazy; I’m just simply in awe of the significance to such abilities we have, made by the hands of God.

^{John 16:13}But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future].

As I was thinking about what it means when you walk, so that your steps will not be impeded; and if you run, you will not stumble; the memory of truth comes to mind, how the Spirit of Truth will guide us into all the truth. Jesus comforted His disciples with this promise, the promise to send them a Helper as He was about to leave them to go to the Father who sent Him. Jesus knew and understood the purpose of His direction clearly, but what I notice is that His words speak of accomplishing an outcome that has yet to be undergone—or at least that’s the appearance, after all, this is Jesus we’re talking about, the gifter of eternal life, (“So what is time, really?”)—or so it seems, and not only that because the future will be disclosed to these apostles as well.

So by the looks of it, it almost seems counter productive to walk or run let alone do anything, but that’s not the case at all because we have a promise to walk in and run after. We have something so near and dear, a treasure that gifts us with an inheritance. I, much like a baby having the faintest idea about the world beyond myself, although smart enough, have only an idea that there is a New Jerusalem beyond my line of sight; a new heaven and earth where tears are wiped away, no more crying, no more pain. Streets of gold! What?! That’s exciting, but not near as exciting as being present with our God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son by the Holy Spirit who’ve organized such a place to fathom for unity one day… the Church.

I think I’ll go for a walk…

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V12) Commentary
[3.] It would be much for his own advantage: “If thou be wise and good, thou shalt be so for thyself.”

First, “It will be thy life, thy comfort, thy happiness; it is what thou canst not live without:” Keep my commandments and live, v. 4. That of our Saviour agrees with this, If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments, Mt. 19:17. It is upon pain of death, eternal death, and in prospect of life, eternal life, that we are required to be religious. “Receive wisdom’s sayings, and the years of thy life shall be many (v. 10), as many in this world as Infinite Wisdom sees fit, and in the other world thou shalt live that life the years of which shall never be numbered. Keep her therefore, whatever it cost thee, for she is thy life, v. 13. All thy satisfaction will be found in this;” and a soul without true wisdom and grace is really a dead soul.
Secondly, “It will be thy guard and guide, thy convoy and conductor, through all the dangers and difficulties of thy journey through this wilderness. Love wisdom, and cleave to her, and she shall preserve thee, she shall keep thee (v. 6) from sin, the worst of evils, the worst of enemies; she shall keep thee from hurting thyself, and then none else can hurt thee.” As we say, “Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee;” so, “Keep thy wisdom, and thy wisdom will keep thee.” It will keep us from straits and stumbling-blocks in the management of ourselves and our affairs, v. 12.
- 1. That our steps be not straitened when we go, that we bring not ourselves into such straits as David was in, 2 Sa. 24:14. Those that make God’s word their rule shall walk at liberty, and be at ease in themselves.
- 2. That our feet do not stumble when we run. If wise and good men be put upon sudden resolves, the certain rule of God’s word which they go by will keep them even then from stumbling upon any thing that may be pernicious. Integrity and uprightness will preserve us.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

I have directed and led you with wisdom in upright paths | P4-V11

May 19, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:11

I die daily devotional.

¹⁰Hear, my son, and accept my sayings
And the years of your life will be many.
¹¹I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.
¹²When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
And if you run, you will not stumble.

As I consider the meaning of an idea, an idea about direction, a direction that is not in the way of wisdom; what that might look like. I think of those who’ve yet to hear this good news of wisdom, to understand the upright paths of eternal life … what about them? Are they directed in the way of wisdom, and led in upright paths?

How could the gospel come to someone like me, and inspire me with hope for salvation from the path of the evil one leading me to destruction? A path I seem all too familiar with, a direction ever present in the way of cunning.

^{Romans 9:30}What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness [who did not seek salvation and a right relationship with God, nevertheless] obtained righteousness, that is, the righteousness which is produced by faith; ³¹whereas Israel, [though always] pursuing the law of righteousness, did not succeed in fulfilling the law. ³²And why not? Because it was not by faith [that they pursued it], but as though it were by works [relying on the merit of their works instead of their faith]. They stumbled over the stumbling Stone [Jesus Christ]. ³³As it is written and forever remains written, “Behold I am laying in Zion a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense; And he who believes in Him [whoever adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] will not be disappointed [in his expectations].”

Wisdom explains the justice of God through faith, that even those who’ve walked and are walking in faith yet to hear about the person of the Messiah, the Son of God—Jesus Christ—are counted as righteous, having obtained righteousness through faith although ignorant about the law. It is these people—once hearing the gospel for the first time—will act like new born babies sensing the closeness of the teat until finally latching on for the pure milk of the Word.

And so the way of error, not recognized by those who’ve yet to hear, but those who’ve heard and make effort in obedience to the law, that succumb to a direction of disobedience by their willful blindness to faith. As long as the evil one has convinced those that it’s by obedience to the law for salvation, death reigns with condemnation for the soul directed on the “upright” path.

Jesus has directed us in the way of wisdom, and the Spirit testifies, I have directed you in the way of wisdom. Jesus has led us in upright paths, and the Spirit testifies again, I have led you in upright paths. There is no excuse for anyone dead or alive, the Spirit of the gospel affirms the nature of faith so as to be saved. To reject and deny the Word of God upon your hearing is instead to accept the judgement according to your unbelief, affirmed by the faith of Christ you’ve stumbled over, the revelation of your soul condemned in the direction of sin in the path of the wicked.

Repent.

^{2 Peter 2:11}whereas even angels who are superior in might and power do not bring a reviling (defaming) accusation against them before the Lord. ¹²But these [false teachers], like unreasoning animals, [mere] creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed, reviling things they do not understand, will also perish in their own corruption [in their destroying they will be destroyed], ¹³suffering wrong [destined for punishment] as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a delight to revel in the daytime [living luxuriously]. They are stains and blemishes [on mankind], reveling in their deceptions even as they feast with you.

^{2 Peter 3:8} Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. ⁹ The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish with a [mighty and thunderous] roar, and the [material] elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and the works that are on it will be burned up.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V11) Commentary
(2.) By way of motive and inducement thus to labour for wisdom, and submit to the guidance of it, consider,

[1.] It is the main matter, and that which ought to be the chief and continual care of every man in this life (v. 7): Wisdom is the principal thing; other things which we are solicitous to get and keep are nothing to it. It is the whole of man, Eccl. 12:13. It is that which recommends us to God, which beautifies the soul, which enables us to answer the end of our creation, to live to some good purpose in the world, and to get to heaven at last; and therefore it is the principal thing.
[2.] It has reason and equity on its side (v. 11): “I have taught thee in the way of wisdom, and so it will be found to be at last. I have led thee, not in the crooked ways of carnal policy, which does wrong under colour of wisdom, but in right paths, agreeable to the eternal rules and reasons of good and evil.” The rectitude of the divine nature appears in the rectitude of all the divine laws. Observe, David not only taught his son by good instructions, but led him both by a good example and by applying general instructions to particular cases; so that nothing was wanting on his part to make him wise.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

The years of your life will be many | P4-V10

May 17, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:10

I die daily devotional.

⁹“She will place on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty.”
¹⁰Hear, my son, and accept my sayings
And the years of your life will be many.
¹¹I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.

When I think of “Hear, my son,” I think of what God might be saying right now as opposed to searching elsewhere in the Bible for a verse that testifies of God speaking, such as…

^{Joshua 1:2}“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise [to take his place], cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.

My knowledge dissolves as my spirit moves through information, wondering what certain things mean as those things seem to indicate the inevitable outcome of hell?

Why that outcome?

As I process, “and accept my sayings,” the revelation of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, comes into view.

^{1 John 5:4}For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God].

There is reason it’s instructed to accept the sayings of wisdom, it’s because we have the option not to, and that becomes evident in our behavior and tongue. Not all accept their gift of faith to believe in Jesus as the Son of God.

The consequence of such a lasting decision to reject the sayings of wisdom is ultimately… delusion. And a strong delusion at that. People will believe so strongly (as they already are) in the science of evolution, that into evolution they will go, turning into their primal instincts for survival, possessed by the biggest “lobster”—only, there won’t be an identity.

^{2 Thessalonians 2:10}and by unlimited seduction to evil and with all the deception of wickedness for those who are perishing, because they did not welcome the love of the truth [of the gospel] so as to be saved [they were spiritually blind, and rejected the truth that would have saved them]. ¹¹ Because of this God will send upon them a misleading influence, [an activity of error and deception] so they will believe the lie, ¹²in order that all may be judged and condemned who did not believe the truth [about their sin, and the need for salvation through Christ], but instead  took pleasure in unrighteousness. ¹³But we should and are [morally] obligated [as debtors] always to give thanks to God for you, believers beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through the sanctifying work of the Spirit [that sets you apart for God’s purpose] and by your faith in the truth [of God’s word that leads you to spiritual maturity].

However, to accept the sayings of wisdom is to have eternal life, “and the years of your life will be many.“

^{John 17:3}Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V10) Commentary
Some make David’s instructions to Solomon, which began v. 4, to continue to the end of the chapter; nay, some continue them to the end of the ninth chapter; but it is more probable that Solomon begins here again, if not sooner. In these verses, having exhorted us to walk in the paths of wisdom, he cautions us against the path of the wicked.

1. We must take heed of the ways of sin and avoid them, every thing that looks like sin and leads to it.
2. In order to this we must keep out of the ways of sinners, and have no fellowship with them. For fear of falling into wicked courses, we must shun wicked company.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

She will place on your head a garland of grace | P4-V9

May 16, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:9

I die daily devotional.

⁸“Prize her, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.
⁹“She will place on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty.”
¹⁰Hear, my son, and accept my sayings
And the years of your life will be many.

Jesus reveals to us the garland of grace and crown of beauty by wisdom given through belief in Him.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V9) Commentary
This he insists on (v. 9): “She shall give to thy head an ornament of grace in this world, shall recommend thee both to God and man, and in the other world a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee, a crown that shall never totter, a crown of glory that shall never wither.” That is the true honour which attends religion. Nobilitas sola est atique unica virtus-Virtue is the only nobility! David having thus recommended wisdom to his son, no marvel that when God bade him ask what he would he prayed, Lord, give me a wise and an understanding heart. We should make it appear by our prayers how well we are taught.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Prize her | P4-V8

May 15, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:8

I die daily devotional.

⁷“The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;
And with all your acquiring, get understanding.
⁸“Prize her, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.
⁹“She will place on your head a garland of grace;
She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

^{1 Kings 3:10}It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, ¹²behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. ¹³I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. ¹⁴If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”

To prize her, wisdom—hmmm… I need to think about this more, how to articulate it, but—I think is experienced when implementing respect for the Lord. And she will exalt you.

^{Proverbs 9:10}The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

By respecting the justice of God and Jesus our Lord, is to behave in a way that cooperates in and with His will, His domain. It is by His divine power that has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence…

  ^{2 Peter 1:4}…For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

And so she will honor us if we embrace her. To embrace wisdom is to escape the corruption that is in the world by lust. How I’ve made sense of that—without the idea of “removing” myself—is by actively putting to death the conscious elements of my fleshly being so desiring the freedoms of this world encapsulated by lust. To make practice of this is by no means an easy discipline considering the unseen and seen temptations constantly present for tasting, but only amounts to apostacy by committing such adultery against wisdom.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V8) Commentary
[3.] It would be much for his own advantage: “If thou be wise and good, thou shalt be so for thyself.”

First, “It will be thy life, thy comfort, thy happiness; it is what thou canst not live without:” Keep my commandments and live, v. 4. That of our Saviour agrees with this, If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments, Mt. 19:17. It is upon pain of death, eternal death, and in prospect of life, eternal life, that we are required to be religious. “Receive wisdom’s sayings, and the years of thy life shall be many (v. 10), as many in this world as Infinite Wisdom sees fit, and in the other world thou shalt live that life the years of which shall never be numbered. Keep her therefore, whatever it cost thee, for she is thy life, v. 13. All thy satisfaction will be found in this;” and a soul without true wisdom and grace is really a dead soul.

Secondly, “It will be thy guard and guide, thy convoy and conductor, through all the dangers and difficulties of thy journey through this wilderness. Love wisdom, and cleave to her, and she shall preserve thee, she shall keep thee (v. 6) from sin, the worst of evils, the worst of enemies; she shall keep thee from hurting thyself, and then none else can hurt thee.” As we say, “Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee;” so, “Keep thy wisdom, and thy wisdom will keep thee.” It will keep us from straits and stumbling-blocks in the management of ourselves and our affairs, v. 12.

1. That our steps be not straitened when we go, that we bring not ourselves into such straits as David was in, 2 Sa. 24:14. Those that make God’s word their rule shall walk at liberty, and be at ease in themselves.

2. That our feet do not stumble when we run. If wise and good men be put upon sudden resolves, the certain rule of God’s word which they go by will keep them even then from stumbling upon any thing that may be pernicious. Integrity and uprightness will preserve us.

Thirdly, “It will be thy honour and reputation (v. 8): Exalt wisdom (do thou but show thy good-will to her advancement) and though she needs not thy service she will abundantly recompense it, she shall promote thee, she shall bring thee to honour.” Solomon was to be a king, but his wisdom and virtue would be more his honour than his crown or purple; it was that for which all his neighbours had him so much in veneration; and no doubt, in his reign and David’s, wise and good men stood fairest for preferment. However, religion will, first or last, bring all those to honour that cordially embrace her; they shall be accepted of God, respected by all wise men, owned in the great day, and shall inherit everlasting glory. This he insists on (v. 9): “She shall give to thy head an ornament of grace in this world, shall recommend thee both to God and man, and in the other world a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee, a crown that shall never totter, a crown of glory that shall never wither.” That is the true honour which attends religion. Nobilitas sola est atique unica virtus-Virtue is the only nobility! David having thus recommended wisdom to his son, no marvel that when God bade him ask what he would he prayed, Lord, give me a wise and an understanding heart. We should make it appear by our prayers how well we are taught.

God and Coffee

The beginning of wisdom is | P4-V7

May 14, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:7

I die daily devotional.

⁶“Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.
⁷“The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;
And with all your acquiring, get understanding.
⁸“Prize her, and she will exalt you;
She will honor you if you embrace her.

From my experience, the acquiring of wisdom is of a meditative practice. When I pray to God and meditate on His Word meaning His Son, the conviction of the Holy Spirit inspires me to listen and hope for the next moment, minute, hour, and day, that will opportune my acquiring.

I’m learning that wisdom is not understood as wisdom until the opportunity to discover it as such, which is what each moment is permitting me to explore as I navigate through a world of knowledge. I have to trust that God as my Father will help me in my fall to understand what I’ve tripped on before proceeding or else I might fall again and again until I won’t get up or can’t get up.

So the beginning of wisdom is: acknowledge the sin of your character as the cause of stumbling over the stumbling stone. The stumbling stone is not the problem, the sin is the problem; the stumbling stone is Christ.

^{Romans 9:31}but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. ³²Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

When we’ve acknowledged the sin of our character by reason of Adam, we’ve acquired wisdom, but what about getting the understanding? And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

To get understanding does not imply I sin in order to get that understanding, but rather, to learn the meaning of possessing the knowledge of good and evil by reason of Adam and Eve. To have the knowledge of good and evil does not come without the consequence of guilt innate by the sin of my condition (we’re obviously separated from eternal life by suffering in death) by which the Holy Spirit convicts my conscience for getting the understanding. So the Holy Spirit gives the getting of understanding, of which is of faith to comprehend.

So by acquiring wisdom and getting understanding, the reward is a place of intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ by faith here, but in reality, there, where God is present with us as our sustenance for eternal life promised in Jesus Christ at His Kingdom. As I grasp for the meaning of eternal life by faith here as reality there—where Christ is now—am then going to behave in a manner of faith by repenting from my sin that my flesh so desperately craves.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V7) Commentary
(2.) By way of motive and inducement thus to labour for wisdom, and submit to the guidance of it, consider,

[1.] It is the main matter, and that which ought to be the chief and continual care of every man in this life (v. 7): Wisdom is the principal thing; other things which we are solicitous to get and keep are nothing to it. It is the whole of man, Eccl. 12:13. It is that which recommends us to God, which beautifies the soul, which enables us to answer the end of our creation, to live to some good purpose in the world, and to get to heaven at last; and therefore it is the principal thing.
[2.] It has reason and equity on its side (v. 11): “I have taught thee in the way of wisdom, and so it will be found to be at last. I have led thee, not in the crooked ways of carnal policy, which does wrong under colour of wisdom, but in right paths, agreeable to the eternal rules and reasons of good and evil.” The rectitude of the divine nature appears in the rectitude of all the divine laws. Observe, David not only taught his son by good instructions, but led him both by a good example and by applying general instructions to particular cases; so that nothing was wanting on his part to make him wise.

God and Coffee

Do not forsake her | P4-V6

May 8, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:6

I die daily devotional.

⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶“Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.
⁷“The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;
And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

Do not forsake wisdom, she guards our understanding and watches over the salvation of our souls.

For me to acquire wisdom is to die—put to death my flesh—by the judgement due my sin cast upon Jesus Christ our Lord and Son of God.

God granted wisdom and understanding.

Psalms 9

⁷But the Lord sits as King forever;
He has established His throne for judgment,
⁸And He will judge the world in righteousness;
He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.
⁹The Lord will also be a stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
¹⁰And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You.

If we know Jesus Christ and put our trust in Him, He’s given His Word not to abandon us in our search for Him as we patiently wait upon His return, hoping for all to be saved.

To love wisdom is to hate sin.

Do you hate sin?

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V6) Commentary
Secondly, Forget her not (v. 5), forsake her not (v. 6), let her not go (v. 13), but keep her. Those that have got this wisdom must take heed of losing it again by returning to folly: it is indeed a good part, that shall not be taken from us; but then we must take heed lest we throw it from us, as those do that forget it first, and let it slip out of their minds, and then forsake it and turn out of its good ways. That good thing which is committed to us we must keep, and not let it drop, through carelessness, nor suffer it to be forced from us, nor suffer ourselves to be wheedled out of it; never let go such a jewel.

Thirdly, Love her (v. 6), and embrace her (v. 8), as worldly men love their wealth and set their hearts upon it. Religion should be very dear to us, dearer than any thing in this world; and, if we cannot reach to be great masters of wisdom, yet let us be true lovers of it; and what grace we have let us embrace it with a sincere affection, as those that admire its beauty.

Fourthly, “Exalt her, v. 8. Always keep up high thoughts of religion, and do all thou canst to bring it into reputation, and maintain the credit of it among men. Concur with God in his purpose, which is to magnify the law and make it honourable, and do what thou canst to serve that purpose.” Let Wisdom’s children not only justify her, but magnify her, and prefer her before that which is dearest to them in this world. In honouring those that fear the Lord, though they are low in the world, and in regarding a poor wise man, we exalt wisdom.

God and Coffee, I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Acquire wisdom and understanding | P4-V5

May 6, 2021 Nathan Dooley Leave a comment

A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4; I die daily devotional.

⁴Then he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
Keep my commandments and live;
⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
⁶“Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
Love her, and she will watch over you.

As I read over our verse and process what to make of it, there is an experience of change within my character difficult to describe because the nature of the change is subtle and abstract, having yet to manifest beyond my present.

As I think about what it means to acquire wisdom; the idea is quite paralyzing when hyperaware to the motion of things, the action of phenomena.

And then instructed to acquire understanding—seems humorous when fixed in awe by observing the action of things before applying what unique value I might possess to serve life from wisdom acquired—of which is suicidal.

I’m realizing how blind I truly am to any wise decision of action—struck dumb in speech by what is impossible to understand without God. At any moment my heart could give out, an asteroid hit my location, the building collapses on me, ground beneath me opens, or will the elements of nature require my marrow?

Every breath I take is faith to experience the meaning of wisdom and understanding to my being, this human vessel, that is only appreciated by complete stillness of action whilst transfixed by the words of my mouth. There is no amount of value that can pay back this faith used to exist and have life with love.

How absurd it would be to forget the words of wisdom and turn away from understanding.

RESOURCE

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

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V5) Commentary
2. What these instructions were, v. 4-13.

(1.) By way of precept and exhortation. David, in teaching his son, though he was a child of great capacity and quick apprehension, yet to show that he was in good earnest, and to affect his child the more with what he said, expressed himself with great warmth and importunity, and inculcated the same thing again and again. So children must be taught. Deu. 6:7, Thou shalt whet them diligently upon thy children. David, though he was a man of public business, and had tutors for his son, took all this pains with him himself.
- [1.] He recommends to him his Bible and his catechism, as the means, his father’s words (v. 4), the words of his mouth (v. 5), his sayings (v. 10), all the good lessons he had taught him; and perhaps he means particularly the book of Psalms, many of which were Maschils-psalms of instruction, and two of them are expressly said to be for Solomon. These, and all his other words, Solomon must have an eye to.
  - First, He must hear and receive them (v. 10), diligently attend to them, and imbibe them, as the earth drinks in the rain that comes often upon it, Heb. 6:7. God thus bespeaks our attention to his word: Hear, O my son! and receive my sayings.
  - Secondly, He must hold fast the form of sound words which his father gave him (v. 4): Let thy heart retain my words; and except the word be hid in the heart, lodged in the will and affections, it will not be retained.
  - Thirdly, He must govern himself by them: Keep my commandments, obey them, and that is the way to increase in the knowledge of them, Jn. 7:17.
  - Fourthly, He must stick to them and abide by them: “Decline not from the words of my mouth (v. 5), as fearing they will be too great a check upon thee, but take fast hold of instruction (v. 13), as being resolved to keep thy hold and never let it go.” Those that have a good education, though they strive to shake it off, will find it hang about them a great while, and, if it do not, their case is very sad.
- [2.] He recommends to him wisdom and understanding as the end to be aimed at in the use of these means; that wisdom which is the principal wisdom, get that. Quod caput est sapientia eam acquire sapientiam-Be sure to mind that branch of wisdom which is the top branch of it, and that is the fear of God, ch. 1:7. Junius and Tremellius. A principle of religion in the heart is the one thing needful; therefore,
  - First, Get this wisdom, get this understanding, v. 5. And again, “Get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding, v. 7. Pray for it, take pains for it, give diligence in the use of all appointed means to attain it. Wait at wisdom’s gate, Prov. 8:34. Get dominion over thy corruptions, which are thy follies: get possession of wise principles and the habits of wisdom. Get wisdom by experience, get it above all thy getting; be more in care and take more pains to get this than to get the wealth of this world; whatever thou forgettest, get this, reckon it a great achievement, and pursue it accordingly.” True wisdom is God’s gift, and yet we are here commanded to get it, because God gives it to those that labour for it; yet, after all, we must not say, Our might and the power of our hand have gotten us this wealth.

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