Labor Day Proverbs

 Labor Day Weekend Proverbs 

August 30, 2025

Proverbs for Labor Day:

Proverbs 28:19-20 (NASB95) 19 He who tills his land will have plenty of food, But he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty. 20 A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 12:11 (NASB95)

11 He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.

Proverbs 14:4 (NASB95)

4 Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.

(As an old farm boy, this is one of my favorites!)

Proverbs 27:23-27 (NASB95)

23 Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds; 24 For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations. 25 When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, 26 The lambs will be for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field, 27 And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your maidens.

Impossible Things

 Impossible Things

August 29, 2025

“God never asks us to do anything we can do. He asks us to live a life which we can never live and to do a work which we can never do. Yet, by His grace, we are living it and doing it. The life we live is the life of Christ lived in the power of God, and the work we do is the work of Christ carried on through us by His Spirit whom we obey. Self is the only obstruction to that life and to that work. May we each one pray from our hearts, ‘O Lord, deal with me!’ “, Watchman Nee, Sit, Walk, Stand, p. 32

John 15:4-5

 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Ephesians 2:10

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

I was reading Watchman Nee this morning where he was commenting about spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6. The quote above struck me powerfully. “God never asks us to do anything we can do.” That explains a lot of things happening around us lately. We have been asked to pray for people with terminal illnesses, suicidal depression and other intractable problems. These are things that we are powerless to change, things that could overwhelm us and cause us to despair. But God! Recently I heard someone pray, “God, do what only You can do.” We are powerless but He is all powerful. It is His power that can move mountains, so we continue to pray and encourage those who suffer because we know that He is able to save, heal and deliver. It is when we come to the end of ourselves that we find God, or maybe I should say, He finds us. When we have no other hope, He is there and He is hope. So take heart. If you are facing problems too big for you to solve, know that there is One who is bigger than your problems. When He asked us to do things that we cannot do, He is there to do it through His power working through us.

Christian Family

 Christian Family

August 27, 2025

The teaching on Christian family in Ephesians 5 and 6 have cause quite a bit of controversy in recent years. Part of the problem is when the verses are taken out of context and interpreted as rules to obey rather that fruit to grow. A man who is fully committed to Christ and is full of the love of the Lord, will grow to love his wife. A man who totally comprehends the love of Christ for the church, and thus for himself, will desire to express that same love to his wife. Likewise, his wife will recognize the love of Jesus in her husband and grow to respect and submit to him as she loves and submits to the Lord Jesus. Mutual submission is not a burden but is an act of love when both husband and wife know who they are in the Lord and are obediently walking in the Spirit. In such a marriage, the children will learn to honor their parents as they are taught to love the Lord. The problem comes when we put it all backwards and insist that the women submit to the man before he fully submits to the Lord and before he totally comprehends the love of Christ. Without being full of the Spirit such love and submission is impossible and is burdensome if you try. So the rule is to first love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and then love one another as Christ loves you.

Ephesians 5:22-33

Marriage Like Christ and the Church

22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Ephesians 6:1-4

Family Relationships

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Imitators of God

Be Imitators of God

August 26, 2025

Ephesians 5:1-2 - Be Imitators of God

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 andwalk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Ephesians 5 is full of practical advice on how to live as a Christian. But how do we interpret such guidelines without reverting to the law and living in legalism ? We need to remember the lessons of Ephesians 1 thru 4 about sitting with Christ in heavenly places and walking in the Spirit. We imitate God,  not be striving to obey a list of rules,  but by keeping our eyes on Jesus. If we go where He goes and walk where He walks, we will be imitating or following Him. When we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, we will walk as children of the light.

Ephesians 5:6-13

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of thesethings the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.

Another point in this passage that is very important in these days is verse 6; “Let no one deceive you with empty words”. Our world today is full of empty words. We are immersed in a world of radio, TV and internet which bombards us continually with empty words. How are we to discern right and wrong and avoid being deceived in such a world?  The only way is to walk in the Spirit and allow Him to guide our thoughts. The Spirit of the Lord knows truth and will tell us the truth if we listen to His voice. He often speaks with a still small voice, so is easily drowned out by the noise of the world if don’t listen carefully. So be wise and spend quiet time where you can hear the voice of the Spirit and so not be deceived by the words of darkness. Then we need to speak out and expose the works of darkness. It is time for these evil deeds to be exposed. We are beginning to see some of this happening in current affairs so we need to pray that more will be exposed and speak out for the truth whenever we have occasion. 

Ephesians 5:15-17

15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but aswise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

So as Paul says, the days are evil so we need to be careful how we walk and be wise. By walking in the will of the Lord we demonstrate light and truth to the world. They may not appreciate being exposed to the light, but if enough people come to the light the kingdom of God will grow and flourish in the earth, as it is in heaven .

Walk part 6. Run till the End

 Walk- 6, Run

August 23, 2025

Hebrews 12:1-3

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easilyentangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

2 Timothy 4:6-7

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finishedthe race, I have kept the faith.

We’ve been talking all week about walking. And when you talk about walking, oftentimes you talk about beginning to walk. Your first steps are important and memorable. But in the scriptural context, walking is more about the long term. Going from learning to walk to running, and then running with endurance. I’m no expert on running. I’ve often said that if you see me running, look behind to see who is chasing me! But in the scriptural sense, running is not so much about speed as it is about endurance. The important thing is not to use a lot of effort to run impressively fast, but to continually be filled with the Spirit so that you can face every trial, confront every temptation without stumbling, and finish the race with faith. I’ve been at this walk for a pretty long time. There have been many occasions for stumbling, but the Lord has sustained me and in all my struggles, I have never fallen away from the Lord. I have fallen through a roof, but the angels helped me so that I didn’t break my neck! Most of the saints in the Bible stumbled on occasion. Moses had his Egyptian murder and King David had his Bathsheba, but in the end, they finished the race. Paul testifies to Timothy the same. He endured many trials, but in the end, he fought the good fight and finished the race. I can only pray that I will be able to say the same thing.

So walk in a manner worthy of your calling, endure every trial, and run the race till the end. In this race, it’s not who finishes first, but who finishes with faith in the Lord. The Holy Spirit gives the power to endure, so lean into Him and let Him lead you and guide you and give your the power to walk, and then run, and then to finish the race to the glory of God.

Walk- Part 5

 Walk- 5

August 22, 2025

Today’s blog comes from Watchman Nee, Sit, Walk, Stand, where he talks about the power to walk in the Christian way.

“We are faced with a challenge. Matthew 5 sets a standard that we may well feel is impossibly high, and Paul in this section of Ephesians endorses it. The trouble is that we just do not find in ourselves by nature the means to attain to that standard—to walk “as becometh saints” (Eph. 5:3). Where then lies the answer to our problem of God’s exacting demands? The secret is, in the words of Paul, “the power that worketh in us” (3:20). In a parallel passage (Col. 1:29) he says: “I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.” We are back again in the first section of Ephesians. What is the secret strength of the Christian life? From where does it derive its power? Let me give you the answer in a sentence: The Christian’s secret is his rest in Christ. His power derives from his God-given position. All who sit can walk, for in the thought of God, the one follows the other spontaneously. We sit forever with Christ that we may walk continuously before men. Forsake for a moment our place of rest in Him, and immediately we are tripped, and our testimony in the world is marred. But abide in Christ, and our position there ensures the power to walk worthy of Him here.“ …

“But until we are willing for God to work it in, it is useless for us to try to work it out. Often we try to be meek and gentle without knowing what it means to let God work in us the meekness and gentleness of Christ. We try to show love, and, finding we have none, we ask the Lord for love. Then we are surprised that He does not seem to give it to us.”…

“God has given us Christ. There is nothing now for us to receive outside of Him. The Holy Spirit has been sent to produce what is of Christ in us; not to produce anything that is apart from or outside of Him. We are “strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; . . . to know the love of Christ” (Eph. 3:16). What we show forth outwardly is what God has first put within.“

___________________

Biblical References:

Matthew 5:1-12 NASB

The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Ephesians 5:1-3

Be Imitators of God

1 Thereforebe imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

3 Butimmorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;

Ephesians 3:16-19

16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 sothatChrist may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:20-21

20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be theglory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Colossians 1:28-29

28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

Walk, Part 4

 Walk- 4

August 21, 2025

Galatians 5:16-18 (NASB95) 

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spiritagainst the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Galatians 5:22-25 (NASB95) 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things thereis no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Watchman Nee points out in Sit, Walk, Stand, that the root of our problem in walking with the Lord goes back to the garden of Eden and the two trees in the center of the garden. When Adam and Eve chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, mankind forever after that has had a desire to choose for itself what is right and what is wrong. This leads to making laws and expecting others to keep them, even when we can’t keep them ourselves. This is legalism. When Christ died on the cross, he became to us the Tree of Life. Now, instead of trying to decide what is right and then striving to do it, we need to enter into the life of Christ and let His life live through us. 

Galatians states this as walking in the Spirit and yielding the fruit of the Spirit. An apple tree doesn’t say to itself, “Today I will try to be an orange tree and strive to produce oranges.”  No, by its nature it is an apple tree, and when the branches remain attached to the root in good soil, and there is sufficient light and water, the branches naturally yield apples. That is the way with us and Christ as our tree of life. When we are grafted into Him and remain attached to Him, we naturally yield the fruit of the Spirit. When we try to decide right and wrong and strive to do the right thing in our own power, we are reverting to tree of good and evil thinking and that only yields rotten fruit. So walk in the Spirit that you remain in Him, abide in him, and you will yield good fruit.

Walk- Part 3

 Walk- 3

August 20, 2025

Ephesians 5:15-21

15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled withthe Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

“Be careful how you walk…” and a key to how to do that is found just a bit further on in verse 18, “but be filled with the Spirit”. That reminds  me of a story from a sci-fi movie some years ago called “The Navigator”, In that story, an alien flies his spacecraft to earth,  but is stranded when he has problems with his navigation computer. He abducts this small boy intending to use his brain as his computer. It doesn’t work very well so he releases the boy, but then they become friends. The boy asks why he was released and the alien explains that he had loaded his brain with all of his celestial navigation maps, but then then his brain leaked, so he couldn’t use him. That’s the way it is with us and being filled with the Spirit. We can be completely filled one day, but the next day we leak, so we need to be filled again!

Verse 19 helps us with this problem. Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs help us to keep being filled with the Spirit. This encourages us and helps us to encourage one another. Sometimes when I’m having trouble with my walk, it helps to just sit down at the piano and play some Christian music. It’s when I forget to do that that I get myself into difficulties. If you don’t play yourself, you can put on Christian radio or look up some good music on YouTube. Also, just reading the Psalms and meditating on their message will encourage you. So do whatever it takes to be continually filled with the Spirit so that you can walk in wisdom, and continually give thanks for all things. 

Walk, Part 2

 Walk - 2

August 19, 2025

Ephesians 4:1-2

1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with allhumility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,

Ephesians 4:17-18 - The Christian’s Walk

17So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

Ephesians 5:1-2

1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offeringand a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Ephesians 5:15-17

15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do notbe foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Yesterday, we started to consider what it means to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Watchman Nee discusses this in some length in his little book, Sit, Walk, Stand. He first makes the point that you cannot walk until you first sit. That is, you cannot make progress in the kingdom of God until you acknowledge your place as a son of God, adopted into His family and seated with Him in heavenly places. Only then can you begin to walk as He directs your steps. One interesting analogy that he uses is a picture of a man in an electric wheelchair. He is seated but moves forward, “walks”, but with a power that is not his own. The electric motor and battery are like the power of the Holy Spirit that enables him to make progress, not his own strength. 

Thus, it is only when we realize that we are powerless to do anything in our own power, that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk. In chapter five, Paul admonishes us to walk in love (agape). This is impossible for our fleshly bodies. Only God can love with agape love, but when we accept His new life, He can use us to love others. His power to love enables us to love others. 

Walking in the Spirit is an activity that involves total surrender. We give up our old life and accept His new life and let Him accomplish His will through us. That is what the Christian walk is all about. So then, walk as wise men and make the most of the time so that we may understand what the will of the Lord is.