Day 9/8 – Faith vs. Timidity

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Faith vs. Timidity
Day Two Hundred Fifty-one

“Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what evil may happen on earth.” Ecclesiastes 11:1-2

The world’s perspective on life is the antithesis of God’s. Turn the world upside down and you begin to understand God. “That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination with God.”334 Thus it requires faith to walk with God. Solomon says that an uncertain future means you should give rather than accumulate. Note that he gives a precept (cast) and a promise (find). The promise gives life to the precept. You often read of people who are impoverished by self-indulgence, but rarely by liberality. The Bible says a great deal about hoarding and stinginess; nothing suggests that you can be too generous.

Cast not just the bread of money, but also your time and energy, all the resources God has given you to steward. Lavish spending is only possible with unlimited resources. Again and again God calls upon us to demonstrate that we believe all we have is a gift of His grace. If you believe this, then giving becomes easy, for God’s resources are unlimited. Most are so afraid of poverty that they refuse to risk anything beyond that which they feel they can afford. When the Savior calls upon His children to risk all, they obey.

Casting upon the waters is more than giving; it is investing in whatever God wants, including the marketplace. The motive for such investing can never be hoarding so as not to have to trust Him in the future. God wants you on the edge of dependence. The world says you cannot afford to be liberal, for you know not what tomorrow will bring. Solomon says you cannot afford not to be liberal, for you know not what tomorrow will bring. The argument Solomon uses to be liberal, we use to be stingy.

334 Luke 16:15

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Proverbs 3-5 2 Corinthians 1 (New King James Version)

Proverbs 3-5
Guidance for the Young
3
My son, do not forget my law,
But let your heart keep my commands;
2
For length of days and long life
And peace they will add to you.
3
Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
4
And so find favor and [a]high esteem
In the sight of God and man.
5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall [b]direct your paths.
7
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
8
It will be health to your [c]flesh,
And strength[d] to your bones.
9
Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
10
So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
11
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor detest His correction;
12
For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
13
Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding;
14
For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,
And her gain than fine gold.
15
She is more precious than rubies,
And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
16
Length of days is in her right hand,
In her left hand riches and honor.
17
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
18
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who [e]retain her.
19
The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
By understanding He established the heavens;
20
By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
And clouds drop down the dew.
21
My son, let them not depart from your eyes—
Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
22
So they will be life to your soul
And grace to your neck.
23
Then you will walk safely in your way,
And your foot will not stumble.
24
When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
25
Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;
26
For the Lord will be your confidence,
And will keep your foot from being caught.
27
Do not withhold good from [f]those to whom it is due,
When it is in the power of your hand to do so.
28
Do not say to your neighbor,
“Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.
29
Do not devise evil against your neighbor,
For he dwells by you for safety’s sake.
30
Do not strive with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.
31
Do not envy the oppressor,
And choose none of his ways;
32
For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord,
But His secret counsel is with the upright.
33
The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the home of the just.
34
Surely He scorns the scornful,
But gives grace to the humble.
35
The wise shall inherit glory,
But shame shall be the legacy of fools.
Security in Wisdom
4
Hear, my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding;
2
For I give you good doctrine:
Do not forsake my law.
3
When I was my father’s son,
Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
4
He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commands, and live.
5
Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
6
Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
7
Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
8
Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
9
She will place on your head an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”
10
Hear, my son, and receive my sayings,
And the years of your life will be many.
11
I have taught you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in right paths.
12
When you walk, your steps will not be hindered,
And when you run, you will not stumble.
13
Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life.
14
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
15
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
16
For they do not sleep unless they have done evil;
And their sleep is [g]taken away unless they make someone fall.
17
For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
18
But the path of the just is like the shining [h]sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
19
The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble.
20
My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
23
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
24
Put away from you a [i]deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
25
Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
26
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
27
Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.
The Peril of Adultery
5
My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
[j]Lend your ear to my understanding,
2
That you may [k]preserve discretion,
And your lips may keep knowledge.
3
For the lips of [l]an immoral woman drip honey,
And her mouth is smoother than oil;
4
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5
Her feet go down to death,
Her steps lay hold of [m]hell.
6
Lest you ponder her path of life—
Her ways are unstable;
You do not know them.
7
Therefore hear me now, my children,
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8
Remove your way far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house,
9
Lest you give your [n]honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one;
10
Lest aliens be filled with your [o]wealth,
And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;
11
And you mourn at last,
When your flesh and your body are consumed,
12
And say:
“How I have hated instruction,
And my heart despised correction!
13
I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,
Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!
14
I was on the verge of total ruin,
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15
Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.
16
Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
[p]Streams of water in the streets?
17
Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
18
Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
19
As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be [q]enraptured with her love.
20
For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?
21
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He [r]ponders all his paths.
22
His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,
And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
23
He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Footnotes:
• Proverbs 3:4 Lit. good understanding
• Proverbs 3:6 Or make smooth or straight
• Proverbs 3:8 Body, lit. navel
• Proverbs 3:8 Lit. drink
• Proverbs 3:18 hold her fast
• Proverbs 3:27 Lit. its owners
• Proverbs 4:16 Lit. robbed
• Proverbs 4:18 Lit. light
• Proverbs 4:24 devious
• Proverbs 5:1 Lit. Bow
• Proverbs 5:2 appreciate good judgment
• Proverbs 5:3 Lit. a strange
• Proverbs 5:5 Or Sheol
• Proverbs 5:9 vigor
• Proverbs 5:10 Lit. strength
• Proverbs 5:16 Channels
• Proverbs 5:19 Lit. intoxicated
• Proverbs 5:21 observes, lit. weighs

2 Corinthians 1
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comfort in Suffering
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any [a]trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our [b]consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.
Delivered from Suffering
8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our [c]trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and [d]does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on [e]our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.
Paul’s Sincerity
12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in [f]simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. 13 For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end 14 (as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Sparing the Church
15 And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit— 16 to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. 17 Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? 18 But as God is faithful, our [g]word to you was not Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. 20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
23 Moreover I call God as witness against my soul, that to spare you I came no more to Corinth. 24 Not that we [h]have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.
Footnotes:
• 2 Corinthians 1:4 tribulation
• 2 Corinthians 1:5 comfort
• 2 Corinthians 1:8 tribulation
• 2 Corinthians 1:10 NU shall
• 2 Corinthians 1:11 M your behalf
• 2 Corinthians 1:12 The opposite of duplicity
• 2 Corinthians 1:18 message
• 2 Corinthians 1:24 rule