Spirit Spoken

Ecclesiastes 2:24  There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. The book Ecclesiastes is said to be written by King Solomon, whom also wrote a major portion of the Proverbs. Some who have studied this book say that this was an exhortation from the King from all that he had come to learn in his experience of wisdom, wealth and power. Through all of his extreme wealth, extraordinary wisdom, and power beyond belief he finally comes to the depressing conclusion that all is vanity. Vanity in a manner of frustration through application. King Soloman finds himself without satisfaction in all this wealth, power, wisdom. The more he searched for this fulfillment the more he found all was vanity and being lead astray further from God as he searches he finds himself bored with life. I think we've found ourselves conducting the same experiments with life, tryi...

Proverbs 3:12 "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." For every new believer there comes the time where God begins to cut things out of our lives which at first being the prideful and stubborn humans we are, isn't always a pleasant process. Proverbs gives this sort saying to us about God's love and with that love is discipline just as loving father raises a son. A loving father will discipline his son with thorough correction part of which is setting boundaries. By setting boundaries the father can protect the son from things he doesn't fully understand because he loves his son. For example, children are tought not to play in the street and to be cautions around street traffic which is something children don't fully acknowledge the danger of but when they grow older they understand. God is the same way with us, he corrects us when we're to close to danger because he can see the danger clearly when we do n...

Hebrews 13:5  "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." In the last chapter of the letter to the Hebrews the writer, which is unknown, writes about sacrifices pleasing to God. That brotherly love be continued, showing hospitality to strangers, keeping in mind those who are in prison and have been mistreated, holding honorable marriage, that these acts of good should continue within the body of Christ. A healthy verse to keep in mind when reading chapter 13 is Hebrews 13:16 "Not to neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to the Lord". The piece I mostly want to focus on is verse 5, reason being that it's talks about contentment. In ESV it's pretty clear about covetousness "keep your life free from the love of money". I think that us alone being content with the things we have can be a pleasing sacri...

Luke 3:14  "And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages." In Luke's gospel, as it is prophesied by Isaiah that one would begin to prepare the way, John begins his baptism. John does this by teaching  a biptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. With his teachings the people heard, from tax collectors to soldiers, all could come to be baptized. In John's teaching he touches on the subject of contentment. Contentment is a valuable virtue to have and can be very rewarding. In my opinion contentment is often mistaken for happiness and it can confuse a lot of us from the very start. Happiness is a temporary emotion and is not the solution for fulfillment in Christ. For example if we just got the raise we wanted and we're happy about that, yes it's great to be financially stable but that doesn't lead us to contentment; a f...

Proverbs 3:7 "Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." What this means is that we should find no confidence in the flesh through the knowledge of the world. As Christians we cannot not be influenced by wisdom from the world because it generally tells us that we don't need God or we don't always have to answer to Him. We end up being motivated by self causing us never to rely upon nor fear the Lord. When fearing the Lord we learn the wisdom of the Lord. Wisdom is what reproves us and brings discipline into our lives. If I were to choose never to listen to the Lord's reproof I'd be a fool leading to self-destruction. In Hebrews the scripture in chapter twelve tells us not to be weary when the Lord reproves us but to recognize that the Lord disciplines us because He loves us. A house without discipline is a house without love. Discipline allows us to have discernment and power to depart from evil. I pray that I may have discernment t...

1 Timothy 6:6-8 "But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content." In this section of Pauls letter he writes to Timothy about false teaching and teaching that accords with godliness. Reading from the text you can conclude that at this time there might have been teachers that taught godliness was a way of gain, or a way to become rich. The Christian walk isn't for material gain but spiritual fulfillment. Sometimes we can be so distracted by what we don't have that we lose focus on what we do have. The calling Christians have is a calling full of sacrifice and service to God. How can we then be in desire of things that aren't apart of God plan? We can't justify the wants of the flesh and trying would be a sin. God knows our needs and will provide for his people. David expresses his experience in Ps. 37:25 "I ha...

Genesis 41:52 "The name of the second he called Ephraim: for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."  Here Joseph has just risen to power in Egypt because the Pharaoh saw that the Spirit of God was with him. Joseph went from prisoner to second in command over all of Egypt. Entering into his plentiful years Joseph married and had two sons. The first was Manasseh which means "making forget" and the second was Ephraim which means "making fruitful". The meanings behind their names represented God's faithfulness in Joseph's life. Joseph saw that God's Spirit stayed with him through all his afflictions. First his brothers wanted to kill him but then they decided to sell him. As a slave he's brought down to Egypt and sold to a an Egyptian officer that finds favor with him being that the Spirit was with him. Joseph is then framed for a crime that he didn't commit and put in jail. Through all of this Joseph still trusted in God...