Only for fools

The timing of April Fool's Day this year, (just one day after the Resurrection), makes an interesting conversation starter. Can you imagine how difficult it was for the original disciples to:

a. Believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead?
b. Tell others about it!

They would have seemed like crazy fools. 

And yet, here we are - 2000 years later, still talking about the miracle of the Resurrection. If it had been a silly joke, it wouldn't have gained any traction, and the idea of the Resurrection would have soon faded from memory. However, the reality of this miracle continued to gather momentum amongst the disciples and as soon as Jesus appeared to them, they no longer felt so foolish.

Thought: There are people that still think we are foolish to believe in Jesus and the Resurrection. I am content to be considered a fool.

Psalm 2:1 - "What fools the nations are to rage against the Lord! How strange that men should try to outwit God!"

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Facing the bear

"Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly." - Proverbs 17:12

Somehow I had missed this beautiful proverb. It is so true, especially if you consider the consequences of fools who are hell-bent on doing their own wicked things. I think that we would agree, that there are plenty of examples (of fools) around our world at the moment. 

By the way, a bear who has been robbed of her cubs is not a pleasant sight at all. The mother bear's rage would be so violent and aggressive that none of us would want to cross her path. 

So, these wise words teach us that the destruction of a fool is far worse than a heart-broken mother bear.

Luke 6:45 - A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

What do you think? 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Fly in the ointment

In old English there is a saying that goes:

"'Tis that dead fly in the ointment of the Apothecary."

We know it more as 'the fly in the ointment', which refers to a small glitch in an otherwise good plan.

Reading through Ecclesiastes 10, we note that this idiom has it's origins in the time of Solomon. I am struck by how ancient wisdom has been carried into our modern era and how we can still understand the concepts of people like Solomon.

"As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
3 Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are." - Ecclesiastes 10:1-3

Some thoughts are timeless.

“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words, "And this too, shall pass away." - Abraham Lincoln

Living in Grace

D3LM3

18 - Fools and Friends

Solomon was certainly someone who encountered many fools in his lifetime. I am sure that he also had a lot of acquaintances, but probably only a few friends. The same may apply to you too - perhaps you know many fools and have few friends. Jesus had the same troubles - many people came to him because they needed something, but there were only a few people whom he called 'friends.' 

May we all be friends of Jesus. Read these words and allow them to guide you through today.


"Unfriendly people care only about themselves;
    they lash out at common sense.

² Fools have no interest in understanding;
    they only want to air their own opinions.

⁶ Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels;
    they are asking for a beating.

⁷ The mouths of fools are their ruin;
    they trap themselves with their lips.

¹⁹ An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city.
    Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars.

²⁰ Wise words satisfy like a good meal;
    the right words bring satisfaction.

²⁴ There are “friends” who destroy each other,
    but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

Living in Grace

D3LM3