The Beginning of Knowledge

 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).

What is history apart from God? Is not history, as we find it in the Bible, the story of God’s redemptive plan throughout time, the amazing tale of His providence, mercy, and judgment in the affairs of men and of nations?

And what about geography? Is it aught else but a record of God appointing the bounds of each people’s habitation, by setting up one nation and putting down another, by extending the dominion of one people, and dividing that of another?

And what of economics? Does not the Bible itself teach us that God blesses those who trust and obey Him, but sends curses on those who do not? That the prosperity of the wicked will soon be cut off as the grass, but the righteous will be satisfied in times of famine?

God truly does intervene in the lives of men, and how can one teach these subjects without recognizing His work?

What are biology and science apart from God? Is not biology the exploration of His marvelous design in all of Creation? The world is filled with living testimonies of the everlasting God, the Lord, Maker of earth and all that is therein, who created it not in vain, but made it to be inhabited, and gives breath to all living things.

And does not studying science and the laws of nature, but give one further evidence of the absoluteness of the law of God? It is possible for God to suspend a law of nature, His ordinary course of proceeding, by walking on water, multiplying loaves, healing leprosy, etc. Is it not also possible for God to suspend the law of sin and death by mercifully forgiving us of our transgressions, and restoring us to eternal life with Him?

Apart from God, all learning is but meaningless, idle knowledge that edifies not, but only puffs up. By absorbing this information for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 9 months of the year, for 13 years, each child in the government school system is learning that there is no God, or even if there is, He does not matter.

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

Lastly, what about socialization? Apart from God, is it anything more than foolish children following each other into folly and sin? Though God gives few commands directly to children, He does instruct them to flee youthful lusts, to honor and obey their parents, to respect their elders, and to learn from them. With age comes wisdom, wisdom that must be passed on to next generation. The older must be eager to share it, and the younger must be eager to receive it. This is healthy socialization.

Let us not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we may prove that which is good, acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2).

Delighting in the Lord's Day

One part of God’s perfect design for us, yea, designed even from the beginning, before Adam’s disobedience, and modeled by the Lord Himself during the week of Creation, is one day of rest in seven. It was further commanded on that great day when, amid the exceeding loud blasting of the trumpet, and the smoke ascending as the smoke of a furnace, the Lord descended with fire upon the top of Mount Sinai, and spoke these words, even Ten Commandments, which He later engraved upon stone with His own finger:

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work… For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).

What tremendous blessings result from obeying this command! Each blessed Lord’s Day, I love resting from my own works, my own concerns and responsibilities, and focusing on His. I try to retire to bed early each Saturday to prepare my mind and rest my body for the coming day, that no fatigue distract me from devoting it fully to Him.
    
My day begins with a joy that continues throughout the course of the day. I sing to myself while readying for the meeting of the church; I pray and meditate on God’s Word during our long ride; I greet everyone with a great smile and hug, enter into worship with a thankful heart, listen eagerly to the sermon, taking extensive notes. The second service I embrace the little ones in the nursery, who are usually delighted to see me; we sing praises to God, and before snack I encourage each one to lisp out his own little prayer. I could go on and on; my day is filled with such delight. After breaking bread with fellow believers, my family goes to meet at another assembling of saints, where God unfailingly imparts to me the grace sufficient for the week ahead. I am always sad when the day is over, but I am also cleansed and renewed, eager to begin a new week of trusting God and serving Him with purity of heart. 

The Lord’s Day is undeniably a very sure way to keep us faithfully following Him. For six days we must labor to provide ourselves with earthly needs like food, shelter, clothing, and transportation, but His day we devote to feeding and clothing our spirit. We reflect on the previous week’s defeats and victories, recognize the Hand of God, repent of our impure hearts, and resolve to overcome. The public worship and praise to God refreshes the heavy spirit and rejoices the weary soul. The preaching of the Word and the sweet fellowship of the saints teach us the ways of God, build our faith, and strengthen us for the challenges of the coming week. Filled with faith, hope, and love, we are ready to face our trials with patience and perseverance.

"A Sabbath well spent brings a week of content
And strength for the toils of the morrow
But a Sabbath profaned, whate'er may be gained
Is a certain forerunner of sorrow."

How inspiring to think every holy, blessed Sabbath of the literal millions and millions of people around the globe, in every time zone, gathering all hours of the day to bring praise to the Almighty God! How it must bless Him! Yet at the same time, I consider how it must also grieve Him to see the countless homes where on His day never a Bible is opened, nor a prayer said, nor a voice uplifted in praise.  

Years ago, when this country reverenced the holy Sabbath, criminals would confess that they began their career of wickedness by a neglect of the duties of the Sabbath and by vicious conduct on that day. I would argue that still today, when men begin neglecting the meeting of the church and instead follow their own pleasure, they stand in danger of neglecting God and turning away from following Him.
 
Notice the extensions of this command:

“In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates” (Exodus 20:10).

Fathers are commanded not only to honor the day themselves, but also to ensure that their whole household is also honoring it! Wow! When you behold a family convened one day in seven for the purpose of acquainting themselves with truth, you behold a family who weakens the power and breaks the yoke of sin. For how, indeed, can any sin persist long when you are weekly purging it from your heart and life?

"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isaiah 58:13-14).

This, then, is the spirit of the law, not following all the regulations the unbelieving Pharisees added, but calling the Sabbath a delight and honoring the Lord by not doing our own ways nor finding our own pleasure.

My Daddy's Going Home Celebration, Part 2

Click here for Part 1. 

[ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON OCTOBER 14, 2009] 

"We have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done. For He hath established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments” (Psalm 78:3-7).

My daddy obeyed this command. Daily did he make known to us children God’s law, His works, and His testimonies. Some of my daddy’s last words were, “Devil, you might can kill me, but I have five [sons] more behind me and you can’t touch them.” My daddy knew from the beginning that this was a direct attack from Satan trying to kill him. And he fought that devil; oh, my daddy was such a fighter! And, praise God, the battle is not lost. Even if my daddy did not live to see what will one day be numerous grandchildren, his children will be faithful to show God’s works the next generation, even to those yet unborn. My daddy gave his life for us children, and we will give our lives back to him by standing for those things he stood for. We will continue to fight his battles, and we will be victorious. Many fights take more than a generation to win, and my daddy has been faithfully equipping and preparing his children to fight the battles of the Lord.

Just a week ago, I wrote a short “About Me” statement here on Facebook. It says, 

“I am, first and foremost, a daughter of the King. I strive to show my loyalty to my heavenly Father through my devotion to the earthly parents to whom He has entrusted me. The Holy Scriptures call children arrows in the hands of a mighty man (Psalm 127). I am a yielded arrow under the sharpening hands of my father and mother. When my brothers, sister, and I are finally released into battle, I pray that our impact will reach farther than arrows, and instead have the force of intercontinental ballistic missiles! Hoping to one day raise up my own army of children for the Lord, I pray that the saints of God everywhere will embrace the blessings of children, being fruitful, increasing abundantly, multiplying, and waxing exceeding mighty, that the earth may be filled with them (Exodus 1:7)."

What long talks I often had with my daddy! He was so faithful to sharpen me - his arrow - for battle. I would bring my thoughts, theories, and convictions to him before I would take them to anyone else. He was always so gentle to point out to me why some of the things I would say were wrong. Other things I would say he would jump all over, add his wisdom to it, and then tell his friends. That’s when I knew I had something I could share with others. These conversations have sharpened me more than anything else.

"Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will show thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee" (Deuteronomy 32:7).

About two weeks ago, my brother Joshua and I were having one of our typical theory-developing conversations about how much one can learn from listening to the conversation of older and wiser men, or more specifically, to our daddy. It was then I had one of my “what if” moments. What if several young men took the time to walk and talk with the wisest men of our time? The Bible says, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20). Before many years pass, these younger men will have gained nearly as much wisdom as took these older men a lifetime. Granted, they will not yet have the experience, but the wisdom will be there. Fast forward several decades. Then, with these same young men now being older, wiser – yea, much wiser than the men before them - what if they likewise took the time to pass to several young men from the next generation the wisdom they have attained? What if this took place all over the country over several generations?

Well, my “what ifs” have actually happened. I have always been fascinated by the writings of our Founding Fathers. These men had a knowledge of the Bible, history, and all subjects in general, that I don’t see paralleled today, even though many of those same men had merely a few months of formal schooling. Their wisdom was the direct result of generations of wisdom being passed down through one generation to the next, each generation being wiser than the one before.

But allow me to tell you another “what if” story. What if young men had no interest in learning from their elders? What if they chose to learn everything the hardest way – firsthand experience. As they age, they, too, would grow in wisdom; however, what if the cycle continued? What if the next generation again wanted nothing to do with their elders, whose wisdom is buried with them? What if this took place all over the country over several generations?

Again, the “what ifs” are true, and we are seeing them unfold right before our very eyes. But, like I said before, my daddy was faithful to declare the works of the Lord to his children, and not just my daddy. We have countess men and women who have traveled the same paths before us. Several, having conquered the numerous temptations along the way, have left markers, testimonies of the truths they learned through their struggles and victories, to encourage those who come after to press on.

What a shame that we so often fail in the very battles that our fathers have already conquered! We need to give diligent heed to God’s works in the lives of our fathers and should be prepared, not only to conquer the same temptations they did, but to focus our energies on further conquest.

May we not be the stubborn and rebellious generation the Bible talks of:

“A generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God… They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in His law; and forgot His works, and His wonders that He had shown them. Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters to stand as an heap” (Psalm 78:8-13).

The Lord is the Source of all joy. Material possessions may bring temporary happiness, but they don’t bring that incomparable, fulfilling joy of the Lord that comes from putting your faith and trust in God, yielding your life to His control. How can you be miserable one day and the very next full of unspeakable joy when nothing whatsoever has changed in your circumstances? The difference is your trust in God. Like an innocent child, you can have no fear of the future. You can be filled with joy, regardless of circumstances. Don’t you just love that joyous feeling when you’re out somewhere, full of joy, wanting the world to know of your happiness? You know, that light-hearted, little-girl-like, skipping step, with head raised high, face aglow with smiles, and you’re having to refrain yourself from whistling some merry tune?

"The joy of the Lord is our strength!" 

My Daddy's Going Home Celebration, Part 1

It was suggested that my siblings and I speak at our father’s funeral. I unhesitantly agreed to do so, for how I could refuse this opportunity to rise up and call my father blessed, to praise him also, and in so doing glorify my Heavenly Father, who commands children to honor their parents?

Utterly exhausted from my night watch the eve before, that night I lay down and slept very soundly; but in the early hours of the morning I unwontedly awoke, and all the events of the day before filled my mind. You would think that at such a time all I would experience is anguish and hopelessness, but God – oh, how gracious He is and full of compassion! – began bringing numerous things to my remembrance, a little incident here, a word spoken there, decisions made great and small, all that revealed to me of how He knew beforehand and was preparing me for this time, even when I knew it not nor expected it.

Oh, yes, so very many things that I cannot recall them all! Eventually I felt compelled to get up while I had them all so clear in my mind and begin composing what I would say. But the written words just wouldn’t come. I thought and typed and backspaced. I had no idea of what to say; my thoughts were jumbled; clarity and conciseness had escaped me. 

We were staying at my older brother's house, and I wished myself at home where surely I could find something I already written to give me some inspiration. Ah, Facebook! I logged into my week-old account, where I had already posted a few “Notes.” 

Aside from two new paragraphs and some editing, I drew entirely from things I had posted online just days before. I still cannot believe how it came together. My God is amazing! 

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).

However, my biggest concern was, “Will I really be able to say all of this without choking on tears or perhaps even breaking down in sobs?” Even as I was writing it, I had hardly been able to focus on the screen because of my unceasing flow of tears. But I wanted to say it all; I felt that it was what God would have me to say.

I consulted my older brother, asking him to read it; he said it would indeed be impossible. Ah, perhaps I could film myself speaking and show it on the projector? The next afternoon when I finally had some time to do so, I took myself outdoors with a tripod. The video looked awful; my red, tear-stained face looked awful. Still, from running through the printed page a few times, I almost knew it well enough to speak it word-for-word.

That night I received some much-needed encouragement from some dear friends who had experienced the loss of close family. Both strongly assured me that I would definitely be able. It was a relief.

I look back at the wake and then the funeral with unexplainable delight and joy. All those things that God brought to my remembrance that night, plus others that He had shown my friends and family, were bits and pieces of a wonderful testimony that I shared with every person I spoke to. There were over seven hundred people who came to the wake, I am told, and I tried to talk to every single one. I am naturally quiet and reserved in large crowds, but I completely lost myself and all self-consciousness in my desire to give praise to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with a strong earthly father. It was an amazing feeling. 

I was very hoarse afterward, another obstacle to sharing the speech I had put together. It was awful to have so much to say and no voice to say it with. It’s funny to think now of such little, insignificant things, but I drank lots of lemon and honey and gargled lots of salt water in order to be able to even enunciate with any kind of clarity.

But not one tear broke my voice, nor the slightest bit of nervousness interfered. I shared with unwonted boldness all that I had written. It was a testimony in the weeks to come, as person after person came up to me and said how very blessed they had been by my speech. I can’t take credit for it, not even an ounce, for it was undeniably God’s work and not my own.

I thank God for counting my family worthy to be entrusted with such a testimony as we have.

I’ll post the speech tomorrow.

Click here for Part 2.

Remembering the Works of God, Part 1

A year: three hundred sixty-five risings of the sun; fifty-two meetings of precious fellowship with the Body of Christ; the round of holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries… What great things can be accomplished in a year!

But of all things I could have resolved to accomplish this year, I chose to read the Psalms every day. You’d think a book read daily would get old by September, but can I tell you I find more delight than ever in drinking from them each day! They are inexhaustibly refreshing! I want to know them, I want to memorize them, I want them to be in my heart and on my tongue. Such a shame that they are no longer included in our public worship, as they were exclusively centuries ago.

Today I read Psalm 105:

“Remember His marvelous works that He hath done; His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth… He hath remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations” (Psalm 105:5, 8).

Wow! This was an astonishing revelation: We expect God to remember and fulfill to us the promises He made 2,000 years ago, but we do not remember the works He did for us last week!

What importance this attaches to documenting the God’s works throughout the course of our lives. Today I examined both Psalm 78 and 105 with new eyes, asking, “If God wrote a tale of His works in my life, of my unbelief, lust, and pride, and of the grace and mercy with which He worked all things for my good, what would it say?” Someday I'd love to take the time to look back and consider the turning points of my life, the circumstances surrounding them, my heart and my attitude, and tie all together for God’s glory, writing it out in the style of these two Psalms.

As the first anniversary of that precious day (Psalm 116:15) my father ended his pilgrim journey draws nigh, I find myself reflecting on this past year, my first year without Daddy. To think I may live forty or fifty years more without him… that’s a hard thought. That’s why it’s so important for me to remember. I was just thinking tonight on the way home from church, of how I thank God for the long ride because of the unforgettable conversations I had with Daddy every time we rode together.

I love to go back and read the truths God was revealing to me in the weeks that followed us facing the death of husband, father, protector, provider, and head of the home. In such times, priorities are much clearer to us than during the daily grind of life. God can teach to me more in a day through hurt and tears than I can learn alone through years of studying. I will soon be sharing here* on my blog some of the things I wrote during that time.

*To read, click these links: Oct. 14, Oct. 23, Nov. 4, Nov. 9, Nov. 29, and Dec. 7.

Delighting in HIS Story

I love history.
 

History: The narration of the redemptive plan of God Almighty throughout time; the story of His providence, mercy, and judgment in the lives of men and of nations, ending finally with the triumphant return of Christ to claim His bride.
 

Fathers are commanded to teach history to their children:   

“We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments: and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God” (Psalm 78:4-8).

This generation is stubborn and rebellious. Their heart is not right, but tied up in lust, temporal pleasures, and immediate gratification. They know not the works of God, neither keep His commandments; and therefore, judgment may come upon them.

Except they repent. Except the Lord have mercy. Except the men of God stand boldly and courageously for truth, and convert the sinner from the error of his way, saving his soul from death and hiding a multitude of sins (James 5:19-20).

History is overflowing with examples of great men and women who rose to the defining challenges of their day and broke through to glorious victory; “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight…” (Hebrews 11:33-34).

I have long admired their strength and resolve – men such as Washington, who admonished his troops, “The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage of THIS ARMY... We have, therefore to resolve to conquer or die.” 

What has become of such men?

For some time, I feared they had disappeared! But praise God, He has His faithful few laboring diligently for the sake of Him and His Kingdom. These strong, visionary leaders have taken the narrow path, refusing (as oft is possible) to contribute their time, their money, and their children to the State for its unrighteous ends. On the contrary, all these things are devoted to the Lord and His work.

Most importantly, these culture-challenging followers of Christ are committed to raising up the godly seed. They are training and discipling their children, AND THEY ARE MULTIPLYING! Praise the Lord! Their children are well-educated, respectful, and thankful, their sons brave and adventurous, and their daughters joyful and industrious.

They are the hope of our nation and the hope of our future, and I sat with some of their mothers this afternoon, as around the table we exchanged ideas for seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. These beautiful ladies are hosting a brunch three Saturdays hence to mentor younger women in the faith, teaching them "to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed" (Titus 2:4-5).

We are - you are - a part of history: the story of HIS plan to redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:14).

 

May God bless our efforts.

Delighting in the Paths of Righteousness

A story of centuries ago tells of two children whose daily walk to school is bordered on one side by a gigantic hedge of thorns. Immediately above the hedge rises the generous branches of a prolific apple tree, amidst the glorious expanse of the western sky.

Desiring the forbidden fruit and deploring the hindering thorns, the wayward brother daily expresses his dissatisfaction with the path before him, eventually resolving to break through the hedge into freedom. His credulous little sister listens in wonder.

And so he begins his struggle to cut through. His arms scratch and bleed, yet he remains undeterred.

“Now, sister, try to get through the Hedge first, for you are the least, and I will follow.”

The sister crawls a short space before she cries out fearfully against the darkness and thorns. In a fit of passion and disgust at her timidity, he thrusts her further, but her cries grow louder, “My brother, my brother! The thorns, the thorns!” Hastily dragging her out, he finds to his horror a face pierced and bleeding!

Poor, ignorant children! The very object of their discontentment, the restrictive hedge, has barely rescued the little girl from a violent death, for it sits next to a deep ravine where it was planted decades earlier to prevent young children from falling.

Oh, blessed thorns that keep the wayward soul from sin and destruction! Blessed thorns that keep us on the path of righteousness!

God in His providence has provided “hedges” to deter His followers from straying from the path of eternal life. These restrictions are not to harm us, stifle us, or enslave us, but actually to check our tendency to choose the destructive path of sin.

Those who rebel against the hedge and struggle against the thorns will be pierced with pain, sorrow, and eventually death; but the thorns are seldom felt by those who patiently walk in the paths appointed them, without attempting to break from them, either to the right or to the left.

“Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them” (Proverbs 22:5).

The very things we chafe under, that seem to stifle our freedom, are sometimes actually a means God is using to restrain us from sin and make clear to us the direction He wants us to follow. These “hedges” can be so many things: the strictness of parents, the expectations of elders, sickness, handicap, poverty, death of family or friends, unreasonable in-laws, a wayward child, ailing parents, etc.

When I struggle with discontentment, I like to picture myself as one of these children. The way was so plain before their eyes, so uncomplicated, so protected. Why must they draw aside to injure themselves with the thorns? Why must I grab after what is beyond my reach – Ouch! Let me thrust the thorns out of my way – Ouch! I will fight more fiercely; I will conquer them – Ouch, ouch, ouch!

Oh, God forbid! May I have the faith to say yes to Him, in total surrender, and so never feel the wounding thorns! Let this ever be the thought of my heart:

“I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law in within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).

Delight. What thrill this word stirs in me! Does aught other word express a joy so rich and lasting, so satisfactory?

Webster defines:

DELIGHT: “To affect with great pleasure; to please highly; to give or afford high satisfaction or joy; as, a beautiful landscape delights the eye; harmony delights the ear; the good conduct of children, and especially their piety, delights their parents. ‘I will delight myself in thy statutes.’ Psalm 119.”

Yes, I delight in His will! I will rejoice in the way He has chosen for me. I am journeying on the narrow path to everlasting glory. “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11).