SarahMay, there isn’t a lot of commentary on here that I’ve seen…but I believe you wrote that to me. I’ve been struggling lately and truly appreciate and hear your words. Thank you!
Amen, Rebecca! The Lord loves you so much more than you can imagine. Praying for you to know His deep love today, that He will give you the assurance that He will carry you through all you’re facing as you trust in Him.
There are many themes in these 2 chapters of Proverbs, but what stuck out to me were the “ways” mentioned repeatedly. It seems there are 2 paths (only 2!)–the path of the righteous, and the path of the wicked. I often complicate things and make it seem like there are many more to choose from and I have to choose the “right” one, but the message is clear: it’s either leading you closer to Jesus or away from Him.
-The Lord detests the way of the wicked,
but He loves the one who pursues [the way of] righteousness.
-Discipline will be harsh if you leave the path of righteousness
-Slackers have to work through thorns on the path, but the path of the upright is clear, leads to life, & stays far from evil
-Finding the path of life takes discernment and avoids death
-Our ways might seem okay to us, as we plan in our hearts, but it’s really the Lord who knows our motives.
-We need to allow Him to determine the steps we should take, to surrender & trust where He is leading us and not analyze/rationalize what would be right in our own eyes/understanding.
-Our enemies can’t find a reason to fight us when our ways please the Lord (and it points them to peace with Him!)
-Guarding the way we take (choosing it carefully, taking care to stay within God’s guidelines/guardrails, & not allowing others to pull us onto another path) will protect our lives
-If our way seems right to us but isn’t what God desires for us and if we refuse to follow His lead, it leads to death.
-Bad friends/neighbors can entice/trick us to go down the wrong path.
How do you find this path that leads to life? It starts with a personal, daily, relationship with Jesus. It means surrendering your life to Him, confessing your sins and asking Him to be the Lord (ruler, overseer, director) of your life. It means daily spending time in His Word, the Bible, not as a checklist, but as a time of fellowship where He can speak to and direct and convict your heart on how to live for Him. It is a daily surrender of your desires & what you think is best, or even what the world around you says is best. It’s not taking the easy path, but often the hard, uphill way that requires complete dependency on Jesus as your provider, protector, and guide. This is the path that leads to abundant, fruitful life! And it’s a path, not a destination, so we trust Jesus every day, every step we take.
(Just felt that someone might need to hear that today. Praying for each of you to draw closer to the lover of your soul, who gave His all so we could live with Him for eternity).
Praying for you to know when to step out in faith, and for Him to close doors that aren’t what would be His best for you! Keep trusting, surrendering, and be willing to obey what he asks, esp walking away from things he’s shown you aren’t helping your walk with Him. It’s a hard walk but He is faithful!
32 Better a patient person than a warrior,
one with self-control than one who takes a city.
I love this juxtaposition of patience vs physical power. It’s a beautiful reflection of the nature of God to place value and worth on things that are often overlooked by humanity. We praise the power, might, and strength of the warrior but God lifts up those who are overlooked. I love that the spiritual giant is unexpected in our culture and society. God’s love shines so brightly through patience and self control.
Is it just me or were there so many proverbs on not speaking in anger or having a gentle tongue today?? Figures it would be today too! A gentle reminder to me after I spent most of last night frustrated with my daughter who would just not go to bed. It’s so hard to speak gently and peaceably when my heart is filled with frustration. By God’s grace I will do better today!
I’ll admit it, Proverbs makes me feel a little desperate. I so want to be the righteous person Proverbs talks about and it feels like I could never be that wise. And I couldn’t… On my own. But I’m not on my own, am I? It is Christ who makes me good, who is constantly reforming me, rebuilding me from the inside out. This is the kind of person He wants me to be, righteous and wise, and He will not stop His work in me until I am like that, until I am like Him. It is now that I can read Proverbs with hope instead of despair. Because it’s a journey, not an instant transformation.
I see at at the end of the passage in Acts the folly of Simon’s heart: he doesn’t understand or want what God desires.
When he asks for the Holy Spirit in exchange for money, he sees God as a tool to be used for his own glory.
When he asks for Peter to pray that none of these bad things happen to him, he is focused on not experiencing the pain of this world (and Gods healing that can come through that) and rather wishes to continue in his “painless” way of life, that will leave him apart from God.
His response never says, “I want God.” It only says, “I want self.”
Lord, may I be willing to go through the pain that it will take for you to restore my ways to You, and not seek pleasure in this world or my own glory!
I sometimes think that this is a fault of mine, too. So often I find myself praying or just having a mental conversation where I ask for something and find myself relating it back to how it can help me. This selfishness that Simon is acting upon without thinking is something I think a lot of us probably struggle with, too. How often do we pray so we can avoid pain? In today’s society, it seems that being a Christian itself is maybe not painful per say, but definitely a struggle. So often, we pray to God for strength and courage and for our suffering to end. I like what you and Elizabeth both said: may our hearts be open and in the right place! If that pain is what we are meant to endure, so be it so we can seek our peace in him instead of in the world!
“As soon as they arrived they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them , for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then, Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers and they received the Holy Spirit.” — Acts 8:15-17 [NLT]
I have some confusion that I need help to understand. I’ve been taught and have always believed that as we believe and received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit in our hearts… that water baptism is an outward expression of our faith..
But these verses confused me a bit, when a new believer received Jesus, does she needs to have a baptism of the Holy Spirit? is it different from water baptism? Do we not received the Holy Spirit the moment we surrender our lives to Jesus?
Looking forward to your insights… thanks and God bless!
Maybe this will help it is from BibleHub.com
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Have ye received the Holy Spirit? – Have ye received the extraordinary effusions and miraculous influences of the Holy Spirit? Paul would not doubt that, if they had “believed,” they had received the ordinary converting influences of the Holy Spirit – for it was one of his favorite doctrines that the Holy Spirit renews the heart. But, besides this, the miraculous influences of the Spirit were conferred on many societies of believers. The power of speaking with tongues, or of working miracles, was imparted as an evidence of the presence of God, and of their acceptance with him, Acts 10:45-46; 1 Corinthians 14. It was natural for Paul to ask whether this evidence of the divine favor has been granted to them.
Since ye believed – Since you embraced the doctrine of John that the Messiah was soon to come.
We have not so much as heard … – This seems to be a very strange answer. Yet we are to remember:
(1) That these were mere disciples of John’s doctrine, and that his preaching related particularly to the Messiah, and not to the Holy Spirit.
(2) it does not even appear that they had heard that the Messiah had come, or had heard of Jesus of Nazareth, Acts . Acts 19:4-5.
(3) it is not remarkable, therefore, that they had no clear conceptions of the character and operations of the Holy Spirit. Yet,
(4) They were just in that state of mind that they were willing to embrace the doctrine when it was proclaimed to them, thus showing that they were really under the influence of the Holy Spirit. God may often produce important changes in the hearts and lives of sinners, even where they have no clear and systematic views of religious doctrines. In all such cases, however, there will be a readiness of heart to embrace the truth where it is made known.
Being baptized in the Holy Spirit and being water baptized are different. Yes, when you receive Christ as your Lord and savior the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you-but it can do so much more if you allow it.
From my experience receiving the Holy Spirit/ being baptized in the Holy Spirit is like a next step in faith. It’s different from being water baptized because when you receive it’s gifts you can speak in tongues/ receive different kinds of Holy gifts. (1 Corinthians 12.) When I first heard this I was thinking “woah no way, I thought speaking in tongues was like evil or something?…” but when I opened my heart to it and studied Gods word it’s actually mentioned several times in such an amazing way…
I Corinthians 2:7-13 explains it perfectly as words not taught by human wisdom but words taught by the Spirit. He also goes on about it in 1 Corinthians 14 that paints a clear picture what speaking in tongues/speaking words from the spirit actually is.
Romans 8:26-27 also describes this beautiful gift as something we can use in our weakness when we don’t know what to pray. And to me it’s so astounding God can give us that as a result of our personal relationship with Him.
God wants EVERYONE to be able to speak in tongues.
Mark 16:16-18 says “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons: they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison it will not hurt them at all: they will place their hands on sick people, and they will all get well. ” It’s amazing what faith can do- and the best part is that it’s offered to everyone who believes!!!! (Jesus confirms this many times in the bible, one example is John 15:14-15)
God gives us such authority over this world in His name!!!
That might lead you to think, how can I get this gift?!
1 Timothy 5:14 speaks of a gift given through prophetic message when a body of elders lays their hands on you (much like they laid their hands on Simon)
Talk to your church leaders. Ask them about it- they can give you guidance.
But also our God is so so gracious and full of compassion. Open your heart to Him and diligently pray about this next step in your faith. Seek Him, and maybe just maybe He will grant you this gift the same way the Holy Spirit came upon Peter and John themselves (Acts 4:23-31)
These verses are a bit confusing. I looked it up in The Matthew Henry Commentary and it says this about verse 16: The Holy Spirit was as yet not fallen upon none of them; that is, he had not fallen on them with extraordinary powers that were conveyed by the outpouring of the Spirit.
So from that I take it to mean that they had the Holy Spirit living in them as a result of their salvation, but they did not have the same gifts that the Holy Spirit provides like tongues or healing the way the apostles did. When Peter and John laid hands on them they were also given the same gifts or powers of the Spirit.
The way I perceived verses 15 and 16 was as a background, if you will, explaining their situation before the actual event took place. The reason I say this is because verse 17 goes on to say “Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”
So yes I agree! They had the Holy Spirit within them as a result of salvation, but had yet to be given the extraordinary powers until Peter and John laid hands on them… Which is what I was attempting to point out in my first post. (That there’s a difference between being water baptized and being baptized in the Holy Spirit… which is what I understood them to have experienced in these verses.)
The Holy Spirit dwells within us forever from the point of salvation, but it’s only when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit that we are given extraordinary powers such as tongues.
So I think for the most part we are on the same page? I’m thankful for you ladies for keeping everything clear and aligned with the word of God. I realize I strayed from the original story in attempt to answer a question which I perceived to be about application of the word in our own lives, and I’m so sorry if I was confusing!!!
I had this same question, and upon researching it it’s because this group was the Samaritans which had a lot of animosity between the Jews. The original disciples needed to be present for the receiving of the Holy Spirit for them so that the Jews would accept that it was the same Spirit that they received and was eye witnessed by the Jewish disciple. Apparently Peter had been given those keys from Jesus so he opened up the Spirit for non-Jews. It was a special case, but not the norm for all of us. We receive when we believe and accept Christ as our Savior.
This was a special case because the Jews and Samaritan’s had a lot of animosity between each other. There needed to be an eye witness of the original Jewish disciples for the Samaritan’s to receive the Holy Spirit so they Jews would accept it was the same as their Spirit. This isn’t the normal case for all of us but was a special case to establish the non-Jewish church and keep us all together.
“Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.”
This made me smile – my husband and children are vegetarian and I often find myself wishing they weren’t! But how true that it is better to eat pasta with marinara when we love each other than chicken casserole while we hate each other. :)
Ha ha! Yes I highlighted that too. Have a vegan daughter, and myself and my other daughter said we would eat vegan for the month of August to support her. Husband though doesn’t like vegetables, and likes his meat! Very little income at the moment, but God is still providing for us and ensuring we eat well. It always blesses me when we get a bag of veg for very little money, God loves us and not only provides food, but provides the most wholesome nutritious food we need.
❤️
❤️
❤️
✅
1A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
It was interesting to learn about Simon the Sorcerer. I had never read about him before
Me either! And although he was amazed by the teachings of Jesus, he didn’t get it!
A soft answer turns away wrath and the wise accept reproof.
9The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
but he loves him who pursues righteousness.-ellie
SarahMay, there isn’t a lot of commentary on here that I’ve seen…but I believe you wrote that to me. I’ve been struggling lately and truly appreciate and hear your words. Thank you!
Amen, Rebecca! The Lord loves you so much more than you can imagine. Praying for you to know His deep love today, that He will give you the assurance that He will carry you through all you’re facing as you trust in Him.
There are many themes in these 2 chapters of Proverbs, but what stuck out to me were the “ways” mentioned repeatedly. It seems there are 2 paths (only 2!)–the path of the righteous, and the path of the wicked. I often complicate things and make it seem like there are many more to choose from and I have to choose the “right” one, but the message is clear: it’s either leading you closer to Jesus or away from Him.
-The Lord detests the way of the wicked,
but He loves the one who pursues [the way of] righteousness.
-Discipline will be harsh if you leave the path of righteousness
-Slackers have to work through thorns on the path, but the path of the upright is clear, leads to life, & stays far from evil
-Finding the path of life takes discernment and avoids death
-Our ways might seem okay to us, as we plan in our hearts, but it’s really the Lord who knows our motives.
-We need to allow Him to determine the steps we should take, to surrender & trust where He is leading us and not analyze/rationalize what would be right in our own eyes/understanding.
-Our enemies can’t find a reason to fight us when our ways please the Lord (and it points them to peace with Him!)
-Guarding the way we take (choosing it carefully, taking care to stay within God’s guidelines/guardrails, & not allowing others to pull us onto another path) will protect our lives
-If our way seems right to us but isn’t what God desires for us and if we refuse to follow His lead, it leads to death.
-Bad friends/neighbors can entice/trick us to go down the wrong path.
How do you find this path that leads to life? It starts with a personal, daily, relationship with Jesus. It means surrendering your life to Him, confessing your sins and asking Him to be the Lord (ruler, overseer, director) of your life. It means daily spending time in His Word, the Bible, not as a checklist, but as a time of fellowship where He can speak to and direct and convict your heart on how to live for Him. It is a daily surrender of your desires & what you think is best, or even what the world around you says is best. It’s not taking the easy path, but often the hard, uphill way that requires complete dependency on Jesus as your provider, protector, and guide. This is the path that leads to abundant, fruitful life! And it’s a path, not a destination, so we trust Jesus every day, every step we take.
(Just felt that someone might need to hear that today. Praying for each of you to draw closer to the lover of your soul, who gave His all so we could live with Him for eternity).
Thank you! I have definitely been trying to find my path and where I fit in his plan
Praying for you to know when to step out in faith, and for Him to close doors that aren’t what would be His best for you! Keep trusting, surrendering, and be willing to obey what he asks, esp walking away from things he’s shown you aren’t helping your walk with Him. It’s a hard walk but He is faithful!
Still praying for you, Brit.
I wonder if the point of these proverbs is less “do better next time” and “rely more on the Lord in your weakness”.
Nadine, I think that is exactly it!
I think so! What a wonderful summary of them and a great daily reminder.
Great point! :)
32 Better a patient person than a warrior,
one with self-control than one who takes a city.
I love this juxtaposition of patience vs physical power. It’s a beautiful reflection of the nature of God to place value and worth on things that are often overlooked by humanity. We praise the power, might, and strength of the warrior but God lifts up those who are overlooked. I love that the spiritual giant is unexpected in our culture and society. God’s love shines so brightly through patience and self control.
Is it just me or were there so many proverbs on not speaking in anger or having a gentle tongue today?? Figures it would be today too! A gentle reminder to me after I spent most of last night frustrated with my daughter who would just not go to bed. It’s so hard to speak gently and peaceably when my heart is filled with frustration. By God’s grace I will do better today!
28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.
Finally starting to see my heart tend to “ponder” more than “pour”. Thank you for changing my sinful heart Spirit…
I’ll admit it, Proverbs makes me feel a little desperate. I so want to be the righteous person Proverbs talks about and it feels like I could never be that wise. And I couldn’t… On my own. But I’m not on my own, am I? It is Christ who makes me good, who is constantly reforming me, rebuilding me from the inside out. This is the kind of person He wants me to be, righteous and wise, and He will not stop His work in me until I am like that, until I am like Him. It is now that I can read Proverbs with hope instead of despair. Because it’s a journey, not an instant transformation.
❤️
I see at at the end of the passage in Acts the folly of Simon’s heart: he doesn’t understand or want what God desires.
When he asks for the Holy Spirit in exchange for money, he sees God as a tool to be used for his own glory.
When he asks for Peter to pray that none of these bad things happen to him, he is focused on not experiencing the pain of this world (and Gods healing that can come through that) and rather wishes to continue in his “painless” way of life, that will leave him apart from God.
His response never says, “I want God.” It only says, “I want self.”
Lord, may I be willing to go through the pain that it will take for you to restore my ways to You, and not seek pleasure in this world or my own glory!
I saw this too! When we seek or selves first, we are blocking ourselves from receiving the Holy Spirit. Let our hearts be in the right place!
Christians still make mistakes.
I sometimes think that this is a fault of mine, too. So often I find myself praying or just having a mental conversation where I ask for something and find myself relating it back to how it can help me. This selfishness that Simon is acting upon without thinking is something I think a lot of us probably struggle with, too. How often do we pray so we can avoid pain? In today’s society, it seems that being a Christian itself is maybe not painful per say, but definitely a struggle. So often, we pray to God for strength and courage and for our suffering to end. I like what you and Elizabeth both said: may our hearts be open and in the right place! If that pain is what we are meant to endure, so be it so we can seek our peace in him instead of in the world!
Amen Emily
“As soon as they arrived they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them , for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then, Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers and they received the Holy Spirit.” — Acts 8:15-17 [NLT]
I have some confusion that I need help to understand. I’ve been taught and have always believed that as we believe and received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit in our hearts… that water baptism is an outward expression of our faith..
But these verses confused me a bit, when a new believer received Jesus, does she needs to have a baptism of the Holy Spirit? is it different from water baptism? Do we not received the Holy Spirit the moment we surrender our lives to Jesus?
Looking forward to your insights… thanks and God bless!
I have the same question.
Maybe this will help it is from BibleHub.com
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Have ye received the Holy Spirit? – Have ye received the extraordinary effusions and miraculous influences of the Holy Spirit? Paul would not doubt that, if they had “believed,” they had received the ordinary converting influences of the Holy Spirit – for it was one of his favorite doctrines that the Holy Spirit renews the heart. But, besides this, the miraculous influences of the Spirit were conferred on many societies of believers. The power of speaking with tongues, or of working miracles, was imparted as an evidence of the presence of God, and of their acceptance with him, Acts 10:45-46; 1 Corinthians 14. It was natural for Paul to ask whether this evidence of the divine favor has been granted to them.
Since ye believed – Since you embraced the doctrine of John that the Messiah was soon to come.
We have not so much as heard … – This seems to be a very strange answer. Yet we are to remember:
(1) That these were mere disciples of John’s doctrine, and that his preaching related particularly to the Messiah, and not to the Holy Spirit.
(2) it does not even appear that they had heard that the Messiah had come, or had heard of Jesus of Nazareth, Acts . Acts 19:4-5.
(3) it is not remarkable, therefore, that they had no clear conceptions of the character and operations of the Holy Spirit. Yet,
(4) They were just in that state of mind that they were willing to embrace the doctrine when it was proclaimed to them, thus showing that they were really under the influence of the Holy Spirit. God may often produce important changes in the hearts and lives of sinners, even where they have no clear and systematic views of religious doctrines. In all such cases, however, there will be a readiness of heart to embrace the truth where it is made known.
Being baptized in the Holy Spirit and being water baptized are different. Yes, when you receive Christ as your Lord and savior the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you-but it can do so much more if you allow it.
From my experience receiving the Holy Spirit/ being baptized in the Holy Spirit is like a next step in faith. It’s different from being water baptized because when you receive it’s gifts you can speak in tongues/ receive different kinds of Holy gifts. (1 Corinthians 12.) When I first heard this I was thinking “woah no way, I thought speaking in tongues was like evil or something?…” but when I opened my heart to it and studied Gods word it’s actually mentioned several times in such an amazing way…
I Corinthians 2:7-13 explains it perfectly as words not taught by human wisdom but words taught by the Spirit. He also goes on about it in 1 Corinthians 14 that paints a clear picture what speaking in tongues/speaking words from the spirit actually is.
Romans 8:26-27 also describes this beautiful gift as something we can use in our weakness when we don’t know what to pray. And to me it’s so astounding God can give us that as a result of our personal relationship with Him.
God wants EVERYONE to be able to speak in tongues.
Mark 16:16-18 says “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons: they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison it will not hurt them at all: they will place their hands on sick people, and they will all get well. ” It’s amazing what faith can do- and the best part is that it’s offered to everyone who believes!!!! (Jesus confirms this many times in the bible, one example is John 15:14-15)
God gives us such authority over this world in His name!!!
That might lead you to think, how can I get this gift?!
1 Timothy 5:14 speaks of a gift given through prophetic message when a body of elders lays their hands on you (much like they laid their hands on Simon)
Talk to your church leaders. Ask them about it- they can give you guidance.
But also our God is so so gracious and full of compassion. Open your heart to Him and diligently pray about this next step in your faith. Seek Him, and maybe just maybe He will grant you this gift the same way the Holy Spirit came upon Peter and John themselves (Acts 4:23-31)
1 Timothy 4:14 in regard to Elders laying hands…
These verses are a bit confusing. I looked it up in The Matthew Henry Commentary and it says this about verse 16: The Holy Spirit was as yet not fallen upon none of them; that is, he had not fallen on them with extraordinary powers that were conveyed by the outpouring of the Spirit.
So from that I take it to mean that they had the Holy Spirit living in them as a result of their salvation, but they did not have the same gifts that the Holy Spirit provides like tongues or healing the way the apostles did. When Peter and John laid hands on them they were also given the same gifts or powers of the Spirit.
The way I perceived verses 15 and 16 was as a background, if you will, explaining their situation before the actual event took place. The reason I say this is because verse 17 goes on to say “Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”
So yes I agree! They had the Holy Spirit within them as a result of salvation, but had yet to be given the extraordinary powers until Peter and John laid hands on them… Which is what I was attempting to point out in my first post. (That there’s a difference between being water baptized and being baptized in the Holy Spirit… which is what I understood them to have experienced in these verses.)
The Holy Spirit dwells within us forever from the point of salvation, but it’s only when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit that we are given extraordinary powers such as tongues.
So I think for the most part we are on the same page? I’m thankful for you ladies for keeping everything clear and aligned with the word of God. I realize I strayed from the original story in attempt to answer a question which I perceived to be about application of the word in our own lives, and I’m so sorry if I was confusing!!!
I had this same question, and upon researching it it’s because this group was the Samaritans which had a lot of animosity between the Jews. The original disciples needed to be present for the receiving of the Holy Spirit for them so that the Jews would accept that it was the same Spirit that they received and was eye witnessed by the Jewish disciple. Apparently Peter had been given those keys from Jesus so he opened up the Spirit for non-Jews. It was a special case, but not the norm for all of us. We receive when we believe and accept Christ as our Savior.
This was a special case because the Jews and Samaritan’s had a lot of animosity between each other. There needed to be an eye witness of the original Jewish disciples for the Samaritan’s to receive the Holy Spirit so they Jews would accept it was the same as their Spirit. This isn’t the normal case for all of us but was a special case to establish the non-Jewish church and keep us all together.
“Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.”
This made me smile – my husband and children are vegetarian and I often find myself wishing they weren’t! But how true that it is better to eat pasta with marinara when we love each other than chicken casserole while we hate each other. :)
Ha ha! Yes I highlighted that too. Have a vegan daughter, and myself and my other daughter said we would eat vegan for the month of August to support her. Husband though doesn’t like vegetables, and likes his meat! Very little income at the moment, but God is still providing for us and ensuring we eat well. It always blesses me when we get a bag of veg for very little money, God loves us and not only provides food, but provides the most wholesome nutritious food we need.
I eat vegan. Lentils, beans and brown rice inexpensive and very good for you. So many recipes these days on line and in books.