Characteristic Wisdom

On July 9, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

James 3: 17          (CJB)

But the wisdom from above is, first of all, pure, then peaceful, kind, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

Today’s verse is taken from the Complete Jewish Bible. This is another translation you may want to look at from time to time. I like what it reveals to us about our heavenly Father in this verse.

Of course the wisdom which comes from above is coming from Yahweh. The verse goes on to list the characteristics of this wisdom which comes down from above. It takes no great intellectual leap to understand that the traits listed here are the traits of the Father. I want you to see that the Father is first of all pure, then peaceful, kind, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and not hypocritical. Each of those traits is a meditation unto itself and we could end the Word of the Day right here with you meditating on those traits one by one.

There is one other thing that motivated the use of this verse though. I wish for you to see how the whole Bible fits together. You have seen other verses which reveal God’s character traits. You have even seen other verses about His wisdom. Now you see them coming together and that is what I love about the Word. It continues to reveal the Father but in connected ways. His wisdom reflects His character. That will help you when you pray for wisdom. If the answer you receive does not reflect the character of the Father, then it is not from Him. The same is true of advice. If it is not peaceable, impartial, etc. it is not from God.

These verses come together to paint a picture of God and they show you how He moves in the world. Throughout the Bible you will see His kindness revealed in everything He does. By piecing all these verses together we are gaining a better picture of who God is. He freely gives His wisdom to us and it is always from a place of love.

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Pride, Advice and Wisdom

On April 23, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 13: 10               NIV

Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

Among the unpopular topics of the day, this must be one. We have become a proud, arrogant people who value our own opinions above all others and rarely will lower ourselves to receive advice from anyone, even God. We don’t inquire of the Lord because we are smart enough ourselves. Hasn’t God given us wisdom? He has given us brains for a reason, right?

I have observed us become smarter than our doctors, smarter than our lawyers and smarter than our pastors. While no one is perfect and no one except the Spirit has all the answers, surely some people know better than we on some subjects. We have become so prideful that we do not wish to hear advice or even teaching. Learning should be a lifelong process. I heard it said one time that as soon as you stop learning, you die. The point is not that you die physically but rather the person within you begins to decay. How shall we continue to learn when we are unwilling to bow to the expertise of another? Even though the Bible is packed with the wisdom of God, Christians don’t value it very highly. We certainly are not clawing for wisdom. We worship the Bible itself but not the content.

We don’t want to be told what to do, we don’t want to be under the authority of another. To listen to the counsel of another is to raise them above us, and that we will not have. I think, “God, save me from myself,” but perhaps what I should pray is, “Father, save me from my pride.” How do we change this tendency in ourselves, much less in our culture? If we do not humbly seek our God, then how will we be able to receive the wisdom He gives others for us? We talk often about our cultural woes and bemoan how our nations are becoming less godly, but I think people have other things in mind when they decry the current state of the culture. This issue, though, is more dangerous to the fabric of our culture than some of the things people would cite. We need to understand which issues are merely symptoms and which are causes. Pride would seem to be a root cause. In fact, I believe it is embodied in the Ten Commandments in which God told us to have no gods, no idols before Him. Our arrogance lifts us up above God which is the original sin. Satan thought he was as smart as God and his insolence shook heaven. God cast him and all of his cronies out because of his insolence. Then man was silly enough to listen to the devil and elevate himself to godlike status. That is what caused man to eat of the forbidden tree.

Pride certainly does breed quarrels. It won’t allow us to listen to anyone’s thoughts so each person vies for the floor which causes friction. Wisdom awaits those who enable themselves to receive instruction. The question, though, is how to we train our egos to allow advice? What is needful? Perhaps we should throw ourselves at the feet of Christ and ask his advice?

Wisdom is for those who take advice. Therefore, seek wisdom. Inquire of God but also allow yourself to be led by those who have gone before you. If you don’t have anyone who knows more than you, you need some new friends. There is guidance available for those who will humble themselves. I pray that we all can learn this valuable life lesson.  Please think about, or even meditate on, today’s verse and email us with your thoughts.  What can we do to right this ship?  Thank you.

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Go Deep

On March 15, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 2: 6

For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

You probably like all of God’s good gifts. Where does wisdom rank? I had a friend once who, though she had spent years in the Bible, said she never really got into Proverbs. This one of the first books I was attracted to because wisdom is all over it. I figure if you have the wisdom of God, you are likely going to be in pretty good shape.

The question becomes, “How do you position yourself for God’s wisdom? Where do you place yourself so you can hear the knowledge and understanding that comes from His mouth? Verses 1 – 5 give us those answers: “My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.” That’s good, isn’t it?

God actually wants to give you His wisdom. He has stored it up for you but there is something you must do. Sometimes I wish Father would rain all of His wisdom and goodness down upon us, but it just does not work that way. We must put ourselves in the position to receive. I often think of American football. The quarterback intends to pass the ball downfield to his wide receiver. It is his desire. However, if the wide receiver never runs his pattern, there is no one to throw to. We need to just run the pattern God called in the huddle and He will take care of getting us the ball. Then we can run with it.

Today’s word tells us which pass pattern to run so that we will receive wisdom, knowledge and understanding. You’ve got to want it, ask for it and listen. We have to pay attention to His words and commandments. Which commandments, you ask. Every word which proceeds from His mouth. In our seeking, there is finding. A hungry heart will be satisfied. Now, go deep!

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Prayer for Wisdom

On March 7, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 21: 17

… that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Here is a beautiful blessing that the Apostle Paul prayed over the Ephesian church. I pray the same thing for you this day. What greater blessing could I want for you but that you would have increasing revelation of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? You do not need anything else when you have revelation knowledge of Him. He is all the answers you need as well as your comfort and peace. He is love so revelation of Him is going to reveal more of His tremendous love for you. He is forgiveness and kindness. He is our joy and our strength. He is all good things. So, my prayer today is that you increase in the spirit of wisdom that He has given to you and that you increase in your revelation of Him. May you be blessed in the love that is the Father, the peace that is the Son, and the power that is the Holy Spirit.

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Proverbial Wisdom

On January 9, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 4: 1

Here, O sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding.

The book of proverbs is packed with wisdom, instruction and encouragement. There is no way, in daily excerpts, that I can give you any taste of the richness of the Proverbs. I would wish for you to spend a day in there or a lifetime because after all these years of reading them, I still find jewels embedded in those chapters. The proverbs were written by the wisest person ever to live, at least until Jesus. He had an intimacy with wisdom unlike anyone before or after him. He shares those deep insights with us in these pages. As you find wisdom, you find life. You could spend a month in the fourth proverb alone.

In the selected passage, God is tells us that if we will be attentive to his Word, we will receive understanding. He will give us wisdom. And really, if you want to know the whole truth, He already has given us wisdom. It is up to us to appropriate it by reading His word. It is like a field that He has already planted and cultivated such that a very bountiful and rich harvest has grown. All we need do is go reap His harvest. It is there awaiting us. And believe me, there is a lot of good fruit in the proverb section. If you want to start there you could feed yourself for a very long time.

Come. Enjoy the fruits of His labor. Eat and be filled in Jesus’ name.

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Wise Counsel

On September 14, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

James 3: 17

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

Learning to hear and recognize the voice of God is a skill and like all skills, it can be learned. One of the questions I am asked most frequently is, “How do I know that I hear is God speaking?” That is a good question. Brother James gives us a good response today. If what you hear in your head (or heart) contradicts any of the godly characteristics he lists above, then it is not God. When you ask God for advice and/or wisdom, He will always answer with pure, peaceable, reasonable, merciful, unwavering, non-hypocritical answers which are full of good fruit. One caveat, however. What God tells us does not always sound reasonable to our human minds but when you look at it through the eyes of the Spirit, you will see the reasons for it.

You can extrapolate a bit further with this advice from James. What if you have asked another person for advice or wisdom? Run whatever they say through this machine. If it does not pass the test of James 3: 17, then it is not “wisdom from above.”

Okay, now take it even one step further. What if a person runs a business in which its guiding principles are not as enumerated above? It does not mean the owner is not a Christian but it does mean that God’s wisdom is not being employed in that business. We are all on a learning curve so don’t judge the owner. They, perhaps, have just not learned how to run a business in partnership with God yet. However, you should ask yourself if it is a business you are comfortable aligning yourself with. And, if you really want to hear something radical, watch all of the businesses you deal with. You may actually find a non-Christian who employs more of God’s wisdom than the Christian.

James told us that we are to ask God for wisdom and that the Lord gives it freely (1: 5). Now you know how to check it to determine if it really is wisdom from above.

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Good Treasure

On May 26, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 6: 45

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good: and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

I didn’t know what to write on today so as I looked through my Bible, this verse jumped out at me. We’ve all read it before and heard the sermons. Still, we are often fooled by people so maybe it is worth looking at again.

I noticed that the way we can often tell what is in a person’s heart is by what comes out of their mouths. If they are sold out to God and trying to be like Him, then they will speak kindness and their speech will be gentle for those are the characteristics of God.

What about the silver-tongued devil – you know the one, he talks a good game. When you first meet him he is charismatic and charming. He even talks about God and the Bible as if is heart is with God. Do you know that the anti-Christ will be the same way? He will say soothing things that will lead many people astray. Keep listening though and these people always reveal themselves. As you get to know them better, you begin to see harshness in their character. They aren’t kind and generous. In fact, my experience is that they are completely self-serving. If you have something they need or want they will ooze charm. The minute the advantage wanes, however, they begin to show you another side. You have been used. Their hearts are not filled with the love of God no matter how pretty a yarn they weave. Godly thoughts are not self-absorbed. Godly thoughts are always focused on other people.

What should you do? First, you must penetrate the veil. You may have been fooled for a while but once you look at the fruit of their life and the words of their mouth you will see the truth. Look at their relationships. Are they always in confrontation with someone? Do they constantly have new stories about some jerk at the store or at work? It is always someone else’s fault, they will tell you, but this is a good indication that the source of the problem is really them. Look at their relationships with their spouse and children. What do you see? Go beyond the immediate family. Are they kind to their parents and siblings. Do they do nice things for their nieces and nephews? As you check the fruit on their tree, look for generosity. Our Father is foremost a giver. God is extremely generous, even with people who don’t deserve it. Do they give easily and frequently? Are they good tippers. Do they give gifts to their pastor or do they just suck off other that person’s fruit and never restore them?

And here is a big thing – do they tell the truth even if it will cost them something. Do they do what they say they are going to do. If they say they will call you back, do they? If they say they will meet you, do they continually find excuses to change the schedule? If a person can’t even return your phone call or do what they have told you they are going to do then I can tell you without meeting them that the fruit on their tree is bad.

One thing I have noticed is that people usually tell on themselves. Eventually they let you know where they are. Your job is to go get a new friend. There is a reason Jesus told us to check the fruit on people’s trees. We are supposed to exercise wisdom and seek better and more edifying relationships. We are not to be found in the company of fools. Some people are hard to get away from, I understand that. Bosses, co-workers and family are examples of people we are forced into relationship with. My advice is to limit your exposure, and to tell these people the truth in kindness if they confront you. Don’t let them drag you down and learn to say “No” to them. Take control of your life and don’t let them bully you. Just say, “No.” I know it is hard but we must grow up in wisdom and stop letting these people suck the life out of us. Their heart is not where it needs to be so pray for them but don’t hang out with them. Pray daily but do not continue to be a victim to their manipulations. That is your responsibility and God has better for you than people with evil in their hearts.  Look again at the series on love from First Corinthians and let that be your guide in relationships.

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