WALKING WITH PROPHETIC PURPOSE

This is the title of the series of messages my pastor Mark Stafford has most recently been preaching on Wednesday evenings at our church, Light Of Life Christian Center. It is an almost inexhaustable subject of which ought to say some things in retrospect at some point in time, but right now this is just another thought as a place holder until I can get back up to speed again.

PROVERBIALLY SPEAKING - PROVERBS 6

Proverbs 6 (JTM)




1My son, if you are surety for your friend,

if you have stricken your hand with a stranger,



2You are snared with the words of your mouth,

you are taken with the words of your mouth.



3Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself,

when you are come into the hand of your friend;

go, humble yourself, and make sure your friend.



4Give not sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.



5Deliver yourself as a roe from the hand of the hunter,

and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.



6Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:



7Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,



8Provideth her meat in the summer,

and gathers her food in the harvest.



9How long will you sleep, O sluggard?

when will you arise out of your sleep?



10Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to sleep:



11So shall your poverty come as one that travels,

and your want as an armed man.



12A naughty person,

a wicked man, walks with a froward mouth.



13He winks with his eyes,

he speaks with his feet,

he teaches with his fingers;



14Frowardness is in his heart,

he devises mischief continually;

he sows discord.



15Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;

suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.



16These six things doth the LORD hate:

yea, seven are an abomination unto him:



(1) A proud look,

(2) A lying tongue,

(3) Hands that shed innocent blood

(4) An heart that devises wicked imaginations

(5) Feet that be swift in running to mischief

(6) A false witness that speaks lies

(7) He that sows discord among brethren.



20My son, keep thy father’s commandment,

and forsake not the law of your mother:



21Bind them continually upon your heart,

and tie them about your neck.



22When you go, it shall lead you;

when you sleep, it shall keep you;

and when you awake, it shall talk with you.



23For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light;

and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:



24To keep you from the evil woman,

from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.



25Lust not after her beauty in your heart;

neither let her take you with her eyelids.

26For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread:

and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.



27Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?



28Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?



29So he that goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

whosoever touches her shall not be innocent.



30Men do not despise a thief,

if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;



31But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold;

he shall give all the substance of his house.



32But whoso commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding:

he that doeth it destroys his own soul.



33A wound and dishonor shall he get;

and his reproach shall not be wiped away.



34For jealousy is the rage of a man:

therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.



35He will not regard any ransom;

neither will he rest content, though you give many gifts.

TRUE GRIT

Today, my sister, Patricia Ann Devers, suprised me with a premature Birthday outing to the Cinema Cafe to see the movie, True Grit. Patsy Ann and I had watched the original movie while growing up, with John Wayne, Kim Darby, and The Rhinestone Cowboy, whose name I'll remember later and replace here. The original was toughminded and all about people with grit stepping up to difficult situations and getting things done, but managed to be redemptive on some level and endearing in the presentation of it's leading characters, and subsequently more believable.

PROVERBIALLY SPEAKING - PROVERBS CHAPTER 5

Proverbs 5




























1My son, attend unto my wisdom,









and bow your ear to my understanding:





















2That you may regard discretion,









and that your lips may keep knowledge.





















3For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb,









and her mouth is smoother than oil:





















4But her end is bitter as wormwood,









sharp as a two-edged sword.





















5Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.





















6Lest you should ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable,









that you can not know them.





















7Hear me now therefore, O you children,









and depart not from the words of my mouth.





















8Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:





















9Lest you give your honour unto others,









and your years unto the cruel:





















10Lest strangers be filled with your wealth;









and your labours be in the house of a stranger;





















11And you mourn at the last, when your flesh









and your body are consumed,





















12And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;





















13And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,









nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!





















14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.





















15Drink waters out of your own cistern,









and running waters out of your own well.





















16Let your fountains be dispersed abroad,









and rivers of waters in the streets.





















17Let them be only your own,









and not strangers’ with you.





















18Let you fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of your youth.





















19Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe;









let her breasts satisfy you at all times;









and be you ravished always with her love.





















20And why will you, my son, be ravished with a strange woman,









and embrace the bosom of a stranger?





















21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD,









and he ponders all his goings.





















22His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself,









and he shall be held with the cords of his sins.





















23He shall die without instruction;









and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

REDEEMING THE TIME

Today, I've been mostly concerned with the thoughts of how best to make use of my time. The scripture tells us to "Redeem the time because the days are evil". Probably more so now than when those words were first written. Most recently I have been turning off my television more often. I have friends who agree that we leave it on for background noise even if we are not watching anything in particular. The problem is that any constant companion seems to make demands of their own on our time in some way shape or form, as when commercials become louder than the show in order to be sure we are listening on a different level and will sublimate what they are trying to sell to us. What if God who is often speaking in a still small voice is unwilling to compete for your attention with the monotonous voices of our times?

PROVERBIALLY SPEAKING - PROVERBS CHAPTER 4

Proverbs 4




1Hear, you children, the instruction of a father,

and attend to know understanding.



2For I give you good doctrine,

forsake you not my law.



3For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved

in the sight of my mother.



4He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words:

keep my commandments, and live.



5Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not;

neither decline from the words of my mouth.



6Forsake her not, and she shall preserve you:

love her, and she shall keep thee.



7Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom:

and with all your getting get understanding.



8Exalt her, and she shall promote you:

she shall bring you to honour, when you do embrace her.



9She shall give to your head an ornament of grace:

a crown of glory shall she deliver to you.



10Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings;

and the years of your life shall be many.



11I have taught you in the way of wisdom;

I have led you in right paths.



12When you go, your steps shall not be straitened;

and when you run, you shall not stumble.



13Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go:

keep her; for she is your life.



14Enter not into the path of the wicked,

and go not in the way of evil men.



15Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.



16For they sleep not, except they have done mischief;

and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.



17For they eat the bread of wickedness,

and drink the wine of violence.



18But the path of the just is as the shining light,

that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.



19The way of the wicked is as darkness:

they know not at what they stumble.



20My son, attend to my words;

incline thine ear unto my sayings.



21Let them not depart from your eyes;

keep them in the midst of your heart.



22For they are life unto those that find them,

and health to all their flesh.



23Keep your heart with all diligence;

for out of it are the issues of life.



24Put away from you a froward mouth,

and perverse lips put far from you.



25Let thine eyes look right on,

and let your eyelids look straight before you.



26Ponder the path of your feet,

and let all your ways be established.



27Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left:

remove your foot from evil.

RENEWING YOUR MIND

The scripture tells us we need to renew our minds daily, and if we would start doing that on a regular basis during the mundane seasons of our lives, then it would not be such a stretch to renew your mind, and thereby everything else that pertains to our lives, when we suffer a serious loss of thoughts, fellings, focus, and desire.

PROVERBIALLY SPEAKING - PROVERBS CHAPTER 3

Proverbs 3




1My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:



2For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to you.



3Let not mercy and truth forsake you: bind them about your neck;

write them upon the table of your heart:



4So shall you find favor and good understanding

in the sight of God and man.



5Trust in the LORD with all your heart;

and lean not unto your own understanding.



6In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he shall direct your paths.



7Be not wise in your own eyes:

fear the LORD, and depart from evil.



8It shall be health to your navel,

and marrow to your bones.



9Honour the LORD with your substance,

and with the firstfruits of all your increase:



10So shall your barns be filled with plenty,

and your presses shall burst out with new wine.



11My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD;

neither be weary of his correction:



12For whom the LORD loves he corrects;

even as a father the son in whom he delights.



13Happy is the man that finds wisdom,

and the man that gets understanding.



14For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver,

and the gain thereof than fine gold.



15She is more precious than rubies: and all the things you can desire

are not to be compared unto her.



16Length of days is in her right hand;

and in her left hand riches and honour.



17Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.



18She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her:

and happy is every one that retains her.



19The LORD by wisdom has founded the earth;

by understanding has he established the heavens.



20By his knowledge the depths are broken up,

and the clouds drop down the dew.



21My son, let them not depart from your eyes:

keep sound wisdom and discretion:



22So shall they be life unto your soul,

and grace to your neck.



23Then shall you walk in your way safely,

and thy foot shall not stumble.



24When thou lie down, you shall not be afraid:

yea, you shall lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet.



25Be not afraid of sudden fear,

neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes.



26For the LORD shall be your confidence,

and shall keep your foot from being taken.

27Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,

when it is in the power of your hand to do it.



28Say not unto your neighbor, Go, and come again,

and to morrow I will give; when you have it by you (now).



29Devise not evil against your neighbor,

seeing he dwells securely by you.



30Strive not with a man without cause,

if he has done you no harm.



31Envy (you) not the oppressor,

and choose none of his ways.



32For the froward is abomination to the LORD:

but his secret is with the righteous.



33The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked:

but he blesses the habitation of the just.



34Surely he scorns the scorners:

but he gives grace unto the lowly.



35The wise shall inherit glory:

but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

TRANSFORMERS: NOT THE MOVIE

I've been sitting here watching "Transformers:The Movie". I had the option of watching "House", which is more familiar and convenient in a sense, because it continues in the genre we know and love where men try to outsmart one another while outsmarting diseases and more often outsmart themselves before they accomplish anything else, because they finally see their own vulnerability and looking at themselves differently allows them to see everything else around them differently and rework the equations differentlt than had ever seemed possible before. So what about you? What are you looking at in the same old way that is keeping you from making any real progress in your life?

PROVERBIALLY SPEAKING - PROVERBS CHAPTER 2

Proverbs 2

1My son, if you will receive my words,

and hide my commandments with you;

2So that you incline your ear unto wisdom,

and apply your heart to understanding;

3Yea, if you cry after knowledge,

and lift up your voice for understanding;

4If you seek her as silver,

and search for her as for hid treasures;

5Then shall you understand the fear of the LORD,

and find the knowledge of God.

6For the LORD gives wisdom:

out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

7He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous:

he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

8He keeps the paths of judgment,

and preserves the way of his saints.

9Then shall you understand righteousness,

and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

10When wisdom enters into your heart,

and knowledge is pleasant unto your soul;

11Discretion shall preserve you,

understanding shall keep you:

12To deliver you from the way of the evil man,

from the man that speaks froward things;

13Who leave the paths of uprightness,

to walk in the ways of darkness;

14Who rejoice to do evil,

and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

15Whose ways are crooked,

and they froward in their paths:

16To deliver you from the strange woman,

even from the stranger which flatters with her words;

17Which forsakes the guide of her youth,

and forgets the covenant of her God.

18For her house inclines unto death,

and her paths unto the dead.

19None that go unto her return again,

neither take they hold of the paths of life.

20That you may walk in the way of good men,

and keep the paths of the righteous.

21For the upright shall dwell in the land,

and the perfect shall remain in it.

22But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth,

and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

APRIL FOOLS' DAY - 2011

Following my heart attack and now that I am back at work writing, which for me seems now to be as breathing, after gasping for air in my mind to voice all those things I had never said and might never say, unless I became more serious about the writing rather than just the thinking of those thoughts, I have decided to try to set forth more than at the first, making use of both the well studied as well as the more spontaneous opportunity of this blog. So whether or not the page is filled it shall yet be there to return to and pursue to an eventual conclusion, as the "miles to go before I sleep".

So what now shall we conclude about April Fools' Day, beyond the fact the correctly placed apostrophe persuades us there are more than one of kith and kin, and "misery loving company" is well assuaged of all common solace, that "there is no temptation nor sin which has overtaken us, but that which is common to man", and at tmes unto even better men than we ourselves vainly profess to be. What can history find here, beyond the limitations of our blindly accepted tradition, that all these celebrations into which we were born unawares by the entitlements of camaraderie always were and always will be both extant, profligate, and continuous in their regularly ransomed perpetuity, both then and now, as if Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, on every new forboding of opportunity was once more springing full grown from the head of Zeus, as a split decision, so even the "double-minded" god is unstable in all "our" ways?

PROVERBIALLY SPEAKING - PROVERBS CHAPTER 1

I've always enjoyed reading the King James Version of the Bible, because of it's literary and poetical qualities. I enjoy quoting it, and using "thee" and "thou", for the lyrical quality, which for me flows liltingly off the tongue, and gives the word a surreal quality, being expressly the voice of God, as if set apart from common speech, and elevated to a sacred difference. But I've realized over the years that not everyone shares this sense and sensibility of the text as literature. The average man, not common man, but regular guy, just wants to hear something practical, that relates to his everyday life, as the word from God who is ready, willing, an able to meet him right where he is here and now. So I have been letting go of my prejudice in favor of my brother's need, and learning to revise my quotations to more contemporary speech. I had a wonderful expectation when they first announced there was going to be a New King James Version, and I thought it was going to meet this need, but I was quickly and completely disappointed shortly after someone gave me a copy as a birthday present. During that same week, I was looking for a passage of scripture I had previously studied, and I could not find what I had read before. I realized the purveyors of  the NKJV had also presumptuosly taken it upon themselves to change not just the style of the language but also the words that were being used. Every word has a denotation which is the primary definition, and when we use that word as our source of reference we are also able to access all the attendant connotations to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as He guides us into all truth. But when we replace a connotation for the denotation, that connotation does not support an adequate context to differentiate the subtleties of nuance God intends for us to experience. I read the passage over again a number of times and still I did not hear within my spirit the same interpretation as at the first, but when I finally returned to the original KJV there it was again, precisely rendered and consistentlt directive to the truth in which I had trusted. So in doing this study of the Book of Proverbs as a beginning place, I have attempted to quite simply change "thee" and "thou" to our modern "you", and replace "-eth" with "s". I have also tried to break up the phrases into their reasonable segments to facilitate our understanding as "rightly dividing" the Word into it's component parts. It is in the experimental stages so I will greatly appreciate your responses to the experience, although even a majority may not dissuade me from the personal efficacy it affords me. Thank you.


Proverbs 1




1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

2To know wisdom and instruction;

to perceive the words of understanding;

3To receive the instruction of wisdom,

justice, and judgment, and equity;

4To give subtlety to the simple,

to the young man knowledge and discretion.

5A wise man will hear, and will increase learning;

and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

6To understand a proverb, and the interpretation;

the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:

but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8My son, hear the instruction of thy father,

and forsake not the law of thy mother:

9For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head,

and chains about thy neck.

10My son, if sinners entice thee,

consent thou not.

11If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood,

let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

12Let us swallow them up alive as the grave;


and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

13We shall find all precious substance,

we shall fill our houses with spoil:

14Cast in thy lot among us;

let us all have one purse:

15My son, walk not thou in the way with them;

refrain thy foot from their path:

16For their feet run to evil,

and make haste to shed blood.

17Surely in vain the net is spread

in the sight of any bird.

18And they lay wait for their own blood;

they lurk privily for their own lives.

19So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain;

which takes away the life of the owners thereof.


20Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets:

21She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates:

in the city she utters her words, saying,

22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?

and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

23Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you,

I will make known my words unto you.

24Because I have called, and ye refused;

I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

25But ye have set at nought all my counsel,

and would none of my reproof:

26I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when your fear cometh;

27When your fear cometh as desolation,

and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind;

when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer;

they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

29For that they hated knowledge,

and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,

and be filled with their own devices.

32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them,

and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

33But whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely,


and shall be quiet from fear of evil.