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"Looking Good in the Neighborhood"

Listen, my son, to your father's instruction
and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
They will be a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.

My son, if sinners entice you,
do not give in to them.

If they say, "Come along with us;
let's lie in wait for someone's blood,
let's waylay some harmless soul;
let's swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

[color=green] we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
throw in your lot with us,
and we will share a common purse"â€â€

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"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:6b

Pastor John C. Blackburn

proverbs is so full of sound common sense .....

what is apparent that common sense was no more common then than it is today.

God's laws are not given to stop us having fun .... rather they point us to a way of living that is ultimately fulfilling and satisfying .... that gets better the longer we live .... that build that most precious of gifts - human relationships.

blessings

Dinah

They will be a garland to grace your head - Victorious and Prosperous
and a chain to adorn your neck. - Guarded and Protected

Wisdom does make you look good. the problem is that many people think that they have to be cool, hip, grunge, or whatever to be appreciated. It is not true. Wise is where it is at!

I can remember carrying around some extra coca-cola when I was in college. Some times I would drop by a get together and be the only one with soft drinks - I became the "supplier" and helped some kids avoid drinking too much. (or at all)

Yes, I was the fat sober kid who would give kids a lift so they could get home safely and give the girls a friend if their date was not nice,

but thesae verses are not just for college kids - making good decisions gives great joy and happiness to all ages. One fo the great myths od life is that it is fun to be married to someone dangerous - not so - it is not fun, rather it is, well - dangerous, scarey, unstable, and full of unhappiness.

There is also that phoney belief that normal lives are not exciting. I have almost more excitement than I can stand. Apreacher with an exciting life? - you better believe it.

Listen guys and gals - I get to

1. work a job with neat and fun people,
2. do good and help people eat and get medical care everyday,
3. make love to a beautiful woman on a regular basis,
4. get paid to study and teach the Bible
5. eat food I like and spend my spare time in the way I choose
6. Lets not forget - Talk to the Living God
7. Live a happy and productive life forever and ever

I did not even mention that my boss has a great sense of humor and only my wife is kindler. gentler, and loves Jesus as much as my Mom did. And that brings up my adoption - I was not born into this. By the grace of God I was chosen for all of it.

Now, I am talking alot - preacher - remember, but the point is this, if you will indeed alow God's wisdom to be your wisdom - you also may find incredible satisfaction in this life. Once you see everything with God's perspective - joy will follow.

John

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"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:6b

Pastor John C. Blackburn

you see .... the devil has deceived us as to what constitutes happiness and a happy and successful life.

God Himself is our joy .... anything that brings you closer to Him results in joy ....

"You have made known to me the path of life;
you fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand." (Ps.16:11 NIV)

I have been married 43 years ..... and sometimes when I look at my husband, I praise God for this true wealth and joy.

Dinah

Nehemiah 8:10 10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Context (NET)

Real joy is only found in God - regardless of our earthly circumstances, he is our joy, and he does not change.

Our health may go, our wealth be wiped with the stroke of a banker's pen. Our family may be taken, our friends forsake us. Wars may rage; earthquakes, droughts and floods, volcanoes and plagues detroy our land. But whilever we abide in him, we can know joy regardless of any outside circumstance.

As the hymn says, "All other ground is sinking sand!"

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Avid Reader

“Lord, in my zeal for love of truth, let me not forget the truth about love.” - Thomas Aquinas
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Yes, but we get to enjoy being here. My point is that the Christian has it all. God enables us to have joy in each and every circumstance. Let me make another list.

1. My mother gave me up for adoption
2. I was born with the tendency to be fat
3. I have been betrayed both by Pastors who supervised me and deacons who promised to support me.
4. My wife is disabled.
5. we could not have children
6. We filed bankruptcy in 1987
7. I have a "bad " heart according to my cardiologist. 5 byasses in 2001. 30% of it is dead, and I will probably be in atrial fib for the rest of my life.
8. I am in chronic pain and have to give myself an injection of pain medicine every four hours.
9. I had prostrate cancer last year.

Now what is the difference between the lists - If we were not Christians - we could just say that one emphasized the positive and one emphasizes the negative. Such an understanding is a Biblical approach.

Philippians 4:8-9 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. 9 And what you learned and received and heard and saw in me, do these things. And the God of peace will be with you. Context (NET)

Yet I am not just suggesting that we focus on the positive because God actually transforms the negative into a positive.

Yet that very passage tells us that God also supernaturally works to change our attitudes and emotions through prayer.

Later on Paul explains why earthly circumstances are incidental to a christian's emotional state:



Now. back to Proverbs - God desires that we have the best possible life that His wisdom will allow. Please avoid the ditch on each side of the road - there is what the health and wealth fellows preach in one ditch -that it is God's will for all believers to be materiely blessed - hogwash of course, Yet in the other ditch are those who act like marriage, money, vocation, hobbies, and the like are somehow less than spiritual. They do not grasp that God's Word is given not only to bring us tor heaven, but to bring the truth and blessings of God into every sphere of our existence.

That was one of the glories of the Reformation - Luther discovered in God's Word not only that marriage was allowable for all men, but that it is commended to men, marriage is a positve spriritual benefit to all those whom God has not called to a life of singleness.

I was going to move on tonight, but it is important to understand that God wants us to have good and productive lives. In fact such is the normal result of a saved soul living in thankfulness to the One who redeemed him

John

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"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:6b

Pastor John C. Blackburn

I did not mean to sound so negative! Our joy is in the Lord - in good and bad times alike, of course.

You are so right here John. At bible study yesterday morning, a lady commented that being a Christian does not mean we cease to be human with all the varied experiences and reactions that make up what that entails - we were speaking of grief and the times that weep, as well as the times of joy when we feast and sing and celebrate. What a blessing, that in our humanity, forgiven through the death of our Saviour, we can know God - and know that he loves us. From that comes lasting joy indeed.

But we need to get back to Proverbs! Sorry if I have led us down a side track.

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Avid Reader

“Lord, in my zeal for love of truth, let me not forget the truth about love.” - Thomas Aquinas
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Forum Code of Conduct
Forum Statement of Beliefs

I think I started that side-track ..... but side-tracks can be so much fun .... provided they eventually lead us back to the main path.

I stand by my first statement .... we have to be careful that our idea of what constitutes the 'good life' .... is in line with how God sees things ... and not how our culture sees things.

This is the point I think the writer of Proverbs is always trying to make .... or as it is summarised for us in Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."


once that is firmly in place .... then enjoy everything God sends to you, and praise Him for His goodness in giving it.

joy

Dinah

Moving on...

An Independent Look
My son, if sinners entice you, - Not considering sin
do not give in to them. - Not starting to sin

A Compassionate Look
If they say, "Come along with us; - Not rebelling
let's lie in wait for someone's blood, - Not thrill seeking
let's waylay some harmless soul; - Not conceited
let's swallow them alive, like the grave, - Not power mad
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

Many young people and some of us older folk pride ourselves on our independence - yet often our independence is merely the slavish following of the most current fad. It is not independence to say that you want to be just like your friends - independence is choosing the right thing regardless of your friends' choices.

This is why parents, pastors, and teachers need to show their youth how to think for themselves. I ask kids if they want to be poor, if they want to be frustrated, if they enjoy losing control of their situation, and if their main goal is to make other people sad! Sinning will do all those things.

You see the appeal of sinning fades away when we thenk about it accurately. Sinning never makes sense. It always leads to unhappiness.

Now sinners often make sin a group outing and most of us love to be part of a group. Look at all the TV shows which have featured groups - Friends being the most obvious example. It was a hilarious show which presented sinful behaviour as innocuous and even beneficial. It was make believe. People do not really like being betrayed and ridiculed. The end of intimate relationships often lead to depression, isolation, and frutration.

A sinful lifestyle always puts down other people. You hear athletes putting down nerds and non-athletes complaining about jocks. And the band members make fun of both of them. You see if you make other people sound unworthy - than you feel like you can take advatage of them or merely embarass them for your amusement.

We also like to be in control - is there anything more unchristian than pledging a fraternity or sorority in some schools? I will not say that there might not be some good organizations somewhere, but the ones that I am familiar with are cliques for those who have more to seperate themselves from those who have less. Need we even speak of gangs?

Do not let others take advantage of you by filling any needs in your life with destructive and sinful answers. Instead, let God and His people come to your aid. Be in a church, student organizartion, gideons, or other believeing social community which can meet your needs for family and community without robbing others of their dignity and property.
John

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"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Gal 5:6b

Pastor John C. Blackburn