The family of God.
We were reflecting on our time at New Community Church this summer, what a blessed time, it felt like coming home to the children of God. It was like what Paul teaches us in Scripture.
“All of us, regardless of our circumstances in life, are “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,” as Paul says in Ephesians 2:19. You and I have been adopted into God’s family and have become God’s children (Romans 8:16). God’s family becomes visible on earth through his church.”
Of course we know that the church is a family, we all know that. We love each other, we respect each other, we are patient with each other, we forgive each other, we encourage each other and we never give up one anyone, like children in all real families. But what we learned this summer is that: this does not only go on at Sunday morning, families take care of each other every day of the week, 24/7. On Sunday we come together to thank God and celebrate for what God has done for us during the week. Thank you for setting that example. We thank God. Blessings!
Pastor Case and Gremar
# 09 2023 Dev. Prov. 9:10. Knowledge and Understanding! Read all of chapter nine first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story! Do you believe that this is also our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Proverbs 9 continues the theme of “wisdom” and “knowledge” The chapter compares two imaginary houses, two opposing ways of life and two opposite world views. Here also, the author personalizes wisdom and folly as a righteous woman and an unruly woman. This can be said of men as well.
Vs.1-6 is a house of wisdom, a lot of work has gone into the house, she (has hewn out. see note) and set up seven pillars, the number of completeness of the house and completeness of her or his life. “Let all who are simple come to my house!” Come, eat and drink, come and learn to “walk in the way of insight.”
Vs.7-9. Here as well, we have the contrast, the comparison of two world and life views. We have all learned that those wise in their own eyes do not take advice well, but those seeking wisdom, listen.
Vs.10-12. The fear of the Lord, the respect for God’s ways and for God’s precepts, we only need to be afraid if we ignore God’s ways. But through wisdom “your days will be many…add years to your life.” Years of peace and harmony.
Vs.13-18. The author has given us the way of wisdom and the results of prudence. In these five verses he gives us the opposite, the opposing view. “Folly is an unruly woman” or man. She does not send out servants to call those seeking wisdom, no, she sits in her door way, she is the temptation. She is in a place, visible. Her message is the same “Let all who are simple come to my house!” Meat, water, wine, or sex when “stolen is sweet”, it is all delicious, more exciting but it leads to death. The end result of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the lust for goods is “that her (or his) guests are deep in the realm of the dead.” A word to the wise.
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Heavenhigh 