Verse Twenty One: Proverbs 2:14

They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil. Pro 2:14

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Wow. 

I have been staring and praying and staring some more at this for a while now. It's the second or third time I have come back to this entry, simply because all the sudden my little project went from being a poetic heart cry to a very real warning. And it throws me for a loop! What does that say about me? It's rather eye opening.... convicting... life isn't a blissful leap from one joyous moment to the next, joy isn't all about me and a feeling and joy certainly isn't reserved for the good things of this world. Otherwise the choice would be easy, wouldn't it? On the other side of that decision, to be a Christ follower, I know the reward, the worth, the value of walking with Him and that it truly outshines anything the world has to offer. I also remember the truth of my past, that there was a time that I took pleasure in doing wrong and enjoyed the ways of evil. For a time, in the moment, it was easy to do. I said, "No regrets!" and I believed it. 

We may be capable of experiencing joy when we indulge in evil, but its not the same joy we experience with Christ. We've seen the overpowering evidence of this through the testimonies in Psalms and all of the circumstances that joy can overcome and now in Proverbs we are given a new insight and perspective. It's almost like the difference between the right and left brain :) Proverbs approaches the matter from a different angle: Wisdom. 

Two verses stood out to me as I read Proverbs 2. Proverbs 2:10 (NLT) says, "For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy." Verse 21 and 22 says, "For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it. But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted." 

The path of wisdom and righteousness brings joy, and yet we also see that evil can bring joy. So what's the difference? Why choose one over the other? I feel verses 21 and 22 hold the key when they describe the wicked being "removed from the land". In my experience, the joy that evil brought was short lived. I felt empty...just...void. I tried to do what gave me pleasure before and it left me lifeless. It was like being cut off, Joy was the land and I couldn't stay, because accessing it through wicked means couldn't only last for so long. Eventually, I'd be uprooted and unable to get back that way. Maybe this is why we jump from thing to thing when we don't have Christ. But the joy brought by wisdom to those who are truthful and whole (and the only way to be whole on every level is through the healing power of Jesus) THAT joy will reain and we will remain in it. Thank you, Lord!

Verse Twenty: Psalm 149:2

Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Psa 149:2 KJV

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Ever wonder why God made you? I've wondered this too many times to count. And not usually in a positive way either, right? There is no joyful praising the Master Craftsman for His workmanship in you LOL No... If we are honest its more like, "What the hell were you thinking? Why the #&$@ am I here? I am so sick of feeling _____" I usually fill in the blank with "like and idiot" or "clueless" or "like a failure." (My husband is reading this going, "That's a lie! Don't think that!" haha! That's why I love you, baby) Don't get me wrong, I am not doing this everyday (ok...not anymore) but there are times of frustration when nothing is going the way you thought it would or think it should that you really question what the heck God was thinking when He made you, because you sure don't feel like you are accomplishing anything worth living for. 

Anyone else just think of It's a Wonderful Life? I <3 that movie. It's a good reminder. 

I guess this verse just really hit home for me today because it reminded me of how many times I have done the opposite and just how much I have learned about this in the past year.  

In order to rejoice in something, you have to accept it. Interesting word accept. I can think of so many times this word has been used as a portrayal of resistent resignation. (to" tolerate or submit to (something unpleasant or undesired)") But that is one usage out of many for accept. Others can be more positive like "regard favorably or with approval." My favorite, however, is the origin of the word:  

ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin acceptare, frequentative of accipere ‘take something to oneself,’ from ad- ‘to’ + capere ‘take.’ 

"Take something to oneself."  

Is being made by God something that I can accept? That I can bring to my self?  Can I take who He made me, what talents He did or didn't give me and what that means? That's hard enough just accepting it, but this psalm isn't even saying "Accept what God made you and deal with it best you can." It's saying accept it and then be all excited about it! 


"I can't be all excited about it, there is nothing about me to be all excited about." Imaginary person then goes on to list all the reasons they suck (and by imaginary person I mean me in one of my depression spirals, so I'm not judging here). So whats the answer? Same psalm, different verse: 

Verse 4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

The Lord takes pleasure in you! He probably knows what He's talkin' about, right? ;) All Knowing God verses Me, I think I'd bet on All Knowing God knowing what He's doing. If He thinks there is something to delight in then there must be something. OH! And interesting tid bit here, there original hebrew for the word "pleasure" in this verse includes "to be pleased with, be favourable to, accept favourably" Oooooo way to tie it in there, Lord... So lets see...

If God takes pleasure in me and accepts me....then that means there is something to take pleasure in and accept .... which means I'd be believing a lie if I believed otherwise... Which means I should go ahead and believe Him and accept myself as a creation God spent time on and made... And if I can do that, then life really starts to look up, I start to see me the way God sees me, see my life the way He does, and everything gets a lot more beautiful :) How awesome is that?? Thank you, Jesus! 

Verse Nineteen: Psa 118:24

This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.  

Psa 118:24

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I feel silly even writing about this verse. It's self explanatory, isn't it? Maybe you've known it for so long its even easy to ignore. What's so important about the day being made by God, anyway?

I wasn't born cynical, a lot of life things came about and eventually it was easier to be cynical (notice that they didn't "make" me cynical. I chose it, even if it was out of a perceived need to protect my emotional self). It's become hard for me to just be all optimistic and sunshiny bear about life. Can't you just hear this verse being said by some disgustingly peppy morning person as you stare hazily at them through your coffee steam wishing for Friday? Makes you want to punch them in the face doesn't it? Yeah me too. But then that's not what God's Word is supposed to really trigger in us, so something is wrong here. My guess is it's my attitude ;)

"But," you protest, "I am having a bad day and I really don't care if the Lord made it. It doesn't matter either way, this straight up sucks." I know how you feel. I want to know why it should matter too. So lets explore that.

The word used for "made" (according to Strongs) could also be read as "to labour, to work about anything" and it gives the example of working with gold or silver. This is slightly more powerful. God labored over this day, like a craftsman labors over their work.

And He did this out of "goodness," we are told. Verse one says to "give thanks to the Lord for he is good and his mercy endures forever." Here's the interesting thing about that word good. Again looking at Strongs and the Gesenius Lexicon, we find more depth and complexity to the word that gets lost in translation. It isn't just "good" it's a bountiful, pure and precious goodness. The word mercy is complicated too. I think it's easy to think that mercy is somehow a negative. We get the mental image of a haughty God, seated at his throne watching us be beaten in judgement and then he holds up his hand just before the point of our death to halt the torture, showing us "mercy" in that we get to live. Not a happy image.  The reality is that, in this hebrew form, it's synonymous with lovingkindess, ardour, and desire. Mercy, it seems, is like a desire to correct or reproach another being from a place of fervent love. If this is sounding almost too close to a sort of manipulative emotional abuse ("I love you that's why I hurt you") remember that God is also purely good. He is incapable of abuse. He instructs and disciplines (verse 18). How else could we come from the situation actually singing His praises and declaring how wonderful He is?

So what about a bad day? Well, according to the rest of Psalm 118, when the world, man and nations come against you all you have to do is call on the Lord and He will set you free from it. Verse five, "Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free." and verse 14 "The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."

For such a short verse I sure have gone on a lot :P So after ALL that what is the conclusion? Well this isn't just any day. This is a day the Lord fervently, ardently labored over and, because He is purely good He creates nothing but good things, we have reason to joyfully sing about it. Those good things can go bad, the world can attack us from all sides but even then the answer is the Lord; He will save us when we call and His freedom will get us singing!