by Eric Holter on March 5, 2006
“…that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.” Colossians 2:2b-4
The world goes after gold. But the gold a Christian seeks is the wisdom and knowledge of God. I should go hard after such wisdom. Sadly, it is the tendency of my flesh to undervalue the wisdom and knowledge of God, and overvalue things that are easier to be had. No wonder the book which is so chock-full of wisdom begins with repeated exhortations to heed wisdom’s call and resist the tendency toward naiveté and simplicity. Neglect and complacency are the enemies of wisdom and understanding. To take my ease and be satisfied with my current understanding is a death knell for my soul. Rather I am called to a pursuit, a search, a quest for the wisdom and knowledge of God. To give up on this hunt is to heed the call of fools, which ends up in destruction. But to pursue wisdom and explore out its depths is to inherit treasures far beyond any earthly find.
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by Eric Holter on April 5, 2005
“And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
Luke 1:34
Jude 24 is such a hopeful verse, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.” I am often dismayed at how rarely and how briefly I glimpse His glory so that I can rejoice in it. The eyes in this earthly body of mine just don’t have the capacity for beholding glory. Even when, in His mercy, God gives me a spiritual glimpse, its brightness fades quickly. Such glances are short refractions of glory, dimmed, and clouded. It is necessary for God to limit my view, because while I live in the body, if I were to get a direct view, I could not stand. I am simply unequipped to look at God. I could more easily stare directly into the sun and suffer fewer ill effects than if I looked directly into the glorified face of Christ. But I have the promise in Jude, that one day, Jesus will change my body, and I will have new eyes that have improved capacities – I will be able to stand in the very presence of His glory and look! I will not be destroyed. I will not shield my eyes. I will look and be filled with great joy!
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by Eric Holter on February 10, 2005
“My son, eat honey, for it is good,
Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;
Know that wisdom is thus for your soul;
If you find it, then there will be a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.”
Proverbs 24:13
This year my wife discovered and introduced me to at a terrific show on the Food Network called “Good Eats” It’s a cooking show. It’s informative and instructional like other cooking shows but it is so much better because its host, Alton Brown, provides extremely interesting historical and scientific information about the process of cooking. On top of that, the show is very entertaining, fun, silly, and captivating.
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by Eric Holter on February 5, 2005
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
Romans 2:4
One of my motivations for putting pen to paper when I meditate on the Word of God is to save myself from thinking lightly about the riches of God. My joy in reading and pondering God’s Word fades quickly when I don’t write down my observations. If I move too quickly over the Word I’ll think lightly of them. But if I slow down and let them sink in, they gain weight. Writing out my thoughts slows me down – it requires me to think more deeply about the words. Not only has the discipline of writing caused me to give more weight to the Word, but it also helps me to handle the Word in a more fitting way, in a manner that reflects the treasure chest of glory that it truly is.
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by Eric Holter on December 10, 2004
“…for they all put in out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”
Mark 12:44
I will probably never have the honor of the poor widow. God has put me in the place of the one who gives out of surplus. How humbly then, should I give? I should never compare my giving with the world’s – who thinks that a fraction of a percent is a huge sacrifice. No, I should compare my giving with the widows and humbly confess, “I have only done my duty.” The honor of giving goes to the widow, not to those who put in large sums of money out of surplus.
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by Eric Holter on December 5, 2004
“‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’”
Malachi 1:6
O Lord, how easy it is for me to sin and dishonor you, despising your name. Thank you for this warning from Malachi. It reveals how my heart tends toward despising your name. Help me to take heed and remember the two tendencies that quantify what it means to despise your name. Help me to hold onto this knowledge, because just as the priests asked incredulously “how have we despised your name?” I fear that I may also be blind not realizing when my heart drifts and I begin to despise you, my wondrous and awesome God.
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by Eric Holter on April 10, 2004
“The upright see it and are glad;
But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things;
And consider the loving kindness of the Lord.”
Psalms 107: 42-43
This Psalm displays the loving kindness of the Lord through how He delivers His people in their distresses. Four different kinds of distress are described; hunger and thirst from wandering in a wilderness, the misery of being under the yoke of hard labor, suffering the affliction that results from our own foolish and rebellious ways, and the grave danger of being on a ship tossed about on high seas.
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by Eric Holter on February 20, 2004
“The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than John is here. The Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”
“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came;’ and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
Matthew 12:41-45
I think there might be a connection between Jesus’ rebuke, and his illustration of the unclean spirit. In the illustration the man who had the unclean spirit had his life cleaned, swept, and in order. One might think this is a worthy goal for any of us; to have a stable, clean, and well ordered life. But Jesus warns that such a person is in danger and at risk because he is unoccupied. His life is empty even while being balanced, and by all outward appearances – in good shape. However, it is not filled or occupied with anything greater, and so the unclean spirit may return and bring others. The connection I see between this illustration and the previous rebuke has to do with the question “what should the man be filled with, so as not to end up in a worse condition?”
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by Eric Holter on November 20, 2003
“Be Thou to me a rock of habitation, to which I may continually come.” Psalm 71:3
Jesus is my rock of habitation. He is my rock – a strong, firm, dependable fortress. This strong fortress is also a place of habitation. He is my dwelling place, a place of comfort, rest, and security. My rock of refuge is never changing, always present, and never moving. Yet I come to it continually. I inhabit my home of rock, yet I also leave it and must frequently return.
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by Eric Holter on November 12, 2003
“But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:16
My faith rests on a solid foundation, a firm platform confirmed and established in the past. My faith is secure because of what God has done and declared in the past. He demonstrated with all earnestness His purpose to save me on the cross. In the past God declared an oath by which I have a sure and steadfast anchor for my soul. What great encouragement I have in such a refuge of hope. God has done all this so that I can look back and have great confidence that I will lay hold of it.
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