A Life Worthy

Tag: wisdom

  • One-a-Day Wednesday, 8/27/14

    number 1The wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit… (James 3:17).

    You can tell a tree by the fruit it produces.

    That’s a pretty simple metaphor.  You find it all through the Bible.

    And it makes sense.

    If you are walking in the wisdom of God, you will do things that reflect God’s character.  You will be merciful, because the God you follow is merciful.  You will walk in grace and strength and purity because these are qualities of the One you serve.  Conversely, if you walk in the wisdom of this world, you will bear the fruit of self-centeredness, greed, arrogance, and folly.  Because that’s what this world is about.

    You see where I’m going, here?

    If you want to want to judge a tree, look at its fruit.

    If you want to judge a heart…

    It’s Wednesday, Beloved.

    Be a good tree.

  • One-a-Day Monday 8/25/14

    number 1The wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate… (James 3:17).

    What does James mean, that wisdom should be considerate?  Well, try this.

    Do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).

    The wisdom of this world says, “Look out for yourself.”

    The wisdom of God says, “Look out for the other guy.”

    Without Christ, taking care of yourself is a full-time job.  Who’s got time and energy to think about others?  Besides, you’ve gotta look out for Number One, because if you don’t, who will?

    But you are not without Christ.

    You are in Christ, and he is in you.

    And he is Number One.

    In Christ, you are strong—it does not weaken you to put others first.

    In Christ, you are safe—it does not endanger you to put others first.

    In Christ, you are complete—it does not diminish you to put others first.

    So…do it.

    It’s Monday, Beloved.  Walk in wisdom.

  • One-a-Day Friday, 8/22/14

    number 1The wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure; then peace-loving… (James 3:17). 

    Do you love peace?

    Hold on.  Before you respond with, “Of course I do!” ask yourself a few questions.  Do you ever pick an intellectual fight?  Do you ever snipe at someone—you know, taking that little shot that makes you look smart and them foolish?  Do you ever make the oh-so-slightly-gossipy comment designed to bring down someone who irks/annoys/offends you?

    If the answer to any of the above is yes…

    As you know, people sometimes bug me.  When they do, I have known myself to act in the ways I just mentioned, trying to win whatever imaginary battle I’m engaged in.  When I do that, I’m not looking to bring peace—not between them and me…not between them and God.  I’m looking to win.

    But I lose.  Every time.

    Beloved, we stand as men and women of God in a broken and fallen world.  It is our mission to seek and save, not to search and destroy.

    I’ve gotta admit, this is a tough one for me.  I get real satisfaction out of dinging someone who has hurt me.  It makes me feel strong; it makes me feel smart; it makes me feel better…

    But then, it’s not supposed to be about me…is it, Beloved?

    Walk in love today.  Walk in peace.

  • One-a-Day Thursday, 8/21/14

    number 1The wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure… (James 3:17).

    Wisdom that isn’t clean…

    isn’t flowing from righteousness…

    isn’t honoring to God…

    isn’t .

  • One-a-Day Friday, 8/1/14

    number 1But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed about by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does (James 1:6-8). 

    Is he God, or isn’t he?

    Is Jesus Lord of your life, or is he not?

    If he is, then why do you hesitate?

    From time to time, people ask me for advice.  When they do, I bathe their situation in prayer, line it up against Scripture, apply good old common sense, and give them an answer that I believe comes from wisdom.

    Sometimes they follow that advice…great.

    Sometimes they thank me, verbally embrace the soundness of my advice, and go off and do the opposite…and their situation falls apart.

    Drives me crazy.

    Now, I’m just Michael, and my wisdom is pretty limited.  I can’t even imagine what it must be like for God, who has given us Scripture, and experience, and the Holy Spirit, when we receive his wisdom and respond, “Gee, I don’t know…”

    I know some situations are complicated, and there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer.  God knows that too, and I don’t think he faults us for times of genuine confusion.

    But.

    More often than not, the answer is simple enough; it just isn’t the answer we want.  So our emotions come charging in to cloud the issue, and everything becomes more convoluted and complicated than it needs to be.

    Have you asked for wisdom, Beloved?  Have you gone to Scripture, gone to prayer, gone to godly mentors?

    Have you received an answer?

    Well, then…?

    It’s Friday, Beloved.  Walk in wisdom this weekend.

  • One-a-Day Thursday, 7/31/14

    number 1If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).

    What does wisdom look like?

    This is a dangerous passage, because many people read it and think that God is going to give them some sort of tingly feeling, an ooh-aah-oh-aha! moment, and suddenly they will know what they need to do.

    And God can do that.

    On occasion, he does.

    More often than not, however, wisdom is the result of less mystical things, like study of the Scripture, or listening to the advice of those who have demonstrated wisdom in their own lives, or learning from our mistakes.

    Sometimes God uses those trials we’ve been talking about to build wisdom.

    Wisdom is a gift, but unlike your salvation, wisdom is a gift you earn.  If you’re waiting for that mystical flash from Heaven, you may find yourself waiting for a long time.  Worse, you may be tempted to absolute foolishness because it feels like God is telling you something.

    I have a friend who wanted to write a worship song.  He decided to let God give him the song, by letting his Bible fall open and writing about whatever verse was first on the page.  His bible fell open to Leviticus.

    And he gave the world that immortal song And the Eunuch Shall Not Enter the Temple.

    I’m not saying that God doesn’t speak through feelings sometimes.  What I am saying is that, if that feeling of yours doesn’t match up with Scripture…it ain’t from God.

    You need wisdom.  Ask for it.  But then don’t just sit back, close your eyes, and wait for it.  Work for it.  Dig for it—in Scripture, in experience, in your brothers and sisters in Christ.  It’s there, and it’s for you.

    Just put your gloves on and get to work.

    Happy Thursday, Beloved

  • One-a-Day Tuesday 5/20/14

    number 1Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word

    I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord

    Thou my great Father; I thy true son

    Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one

    Whence cometh thy wisdom, Beloved?

    Sorry…I got a little caught up in the whole Thee and Thou business.

    The question, however, is still valid—where do you get your wisdom?  Do you look to the world, with its political leaders and life coaches and self-help gurus?  Do you watch T.V., and adopt the attitudes and mores of the celebrity set?  Do you listen to the prevailing opinion of society, and claim it as wisdom?

    Because you know that the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God, right?

    Like the first verse of this hymn, this one asks God to do more than provide.  It asks him to be.  Be wisdom in me.  Be truth in me.  You see, wisdom and truth aren’t just tools that you can get from God and go off and use on your own, like some sort of spiritual ratchet set.

    Though I do find that concept intriguing…

    Wisdom and truth come from, and are used in, relationship with the Father.  As we grow closer to him, we grow closer to the source of all wisdom and all truth.  They sorta seep into us, like vitamin D when you’re out in the sun.  They become part of us.  Walking in wisdom and truth then becomes as natural as, well, as walking.

    I must admit, I still walk with two left feet and a bit of a stutter step, but I’m working on it.

    What about you, Beloved?  Are you spending enough time with your Father to soak in his wisdom, his truth?

    Make the time today.  I know you’re busy, but he’s worth it.

    So are you.

  • One-a-Day Friday 4/4/14

    number 1Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil (Proverbs 3:7).

    I’m not nearly as wise as I think I am.

    Neither are you.  Trust me.

    Our wisdom is far too polluted by the ideas of this dark world.  It gets skewed by sin and perverted by pride.  Our wisdom is, of itself, utterly unreliable.

    So, am I saying that we should all get lobotomized and drool our way into the Kingdom of God?

    No, although that is an interesting image, don’t you think?

    God gave you a brain, and he expects you to use it.  He offers wisdom to those who will take it and use it for his glory.  But it has to be his wisdom, from his Spirit and through his Word.  Anything else is foolishness at best.

    And blasphemy at worst.

    Praise God, he keeps it pretty simple for us.  He gives us two prime examples of his wisdom here in this verse.

    1. Fear the Lord—Well, we talked about this on Monday, didn’t we?
    2. Shun evil—Stay away from it.  Don’t embrace it, don’t flirt with it, don’t compromise with it.  Shun it.

    See, wisdom doesn’t have to be complicated…of course, that doesn’t make it easy.

    Happy weekend, Beloved.

  • One-a-Day Wednesday 4/2/14

    number 1My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:1-5).

    That there’s a lot of if’s.

    If you accept my words and store up my commands—You have to make the choice.  You have to decide to believe God and follow his ways.  Have you made that decision, Beloved?

    If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding—You have to want it, and want it bad.  How much do you want it, Beloved?

    If you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure—You have to be willing to dig.  I know I told you yesterday that wisdom is not hidden, that it is there for the taking, but you still have to take it.  You have to be willing to dig deep into the Word of God to uncover the riches that it contains.  Are you willing to dig, Beloved?

    Because if you are…

    Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

    Ask and it will be given to you.

    Seek and you will find.

    Knock and the door will be opened.

    Are you ready, Beloved?

    Go.

  • One-a-Day Tuesday 4/1/14

    number 1Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she calls out, in the gateway of the city she makes her speech (Proverbs 1:20-21).

    Wisdom isn’t hiding from you.  It’s not stashed away in a cave on a mountain peak, or buried beneath the ocean floor.  It is there for the taking.

    So take, already.

    My problem is, I don’t always want wisdom, because wisdom doesn’t always fit with my desires.  There are some things that I want that are not good for me, and wisdom points this out, and that annoys me.  Since I know that it is not good to be annoyed by the things of God, I sometimes choose to avoid wisdom, pretending that it is some hidden mystery that I just can’t puzzle out rather than simple truth waiting to be embraced.

    I’m so glad that you have outgrown such petty struggles, Beloved.

    James tells us that if we ask, God will give us wisdom.  Simple as that.  Of course he goes on to point out that we are responsible for using the wisdom God gives. (That’s in James 1:5-7, if you’re wondering.)   Apparently we can’t use it only when the mood takes us, when we’re feeling mature.

    Wisdom is a tool, not a toy.  It is a grown-up type responsibility, for grown-up type believers.

    And Wisdom is calling us…

    Dare we answer?