Wisdom

Photo courtesy Stockxchng/artM

Get wisdom. Get understanding. "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom (Proverbs 4:7 KJV)."


This morning I asked God for wisdom while studying and preparing a sermon. Job said the fear of the Lord is wisdom (Job 28:28). The words of Proverbs 4:7 were the words of a father handed down to a son (Proverbs 4:3). Solomon, the son of David, did exactly what his father instructed. He got wisdom.


God asked Solomon what he wanted him to give (1Kings 3:5). Solomon asked for an understanding heart to discern between good and bad in order to judge the people (1Kings 3:9). God gave him what he asked for, a wise and understanding heart (1Kings 3:12). So praying for wisdom is a good thing, the principal thing, the most important thing. Did God answer my plea for wisdom this morning? Let's see...


James 3:13 says, "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness." Are you wise? Do you possess knowledge? Show that your actions are good by living a humble lifestyle which comes from wisdom. This is the answer God gave me this morning when I asked for wisdom. I asked for wisdom and God asked me if I was wise! I only had to read four more verses from James 3 to grasp what God was trying to show me.


James 3:14 speaks of bitter envying, arguing, pride, and lying against the truth. James calls this wisdom EARTHLY and DEVILISH (James 3:15). James 3:17 then paints a very clear picture of the characteristics of Godly wisdom:

• Godly wisdom is PURE.
• Godly wisdom is PEACEABLE.
• Godly wisdom is GENTLE.
• Godly wisdom is EASY TO BE ENTREATED or WILL YIELD TO REASON.
• Godly wisdom is FULL OF MERCY and GOOD FRUITS.
• Godly wisdom is without PARTIALITY.
• Godly wisdom is without HYPOCRISY.

Pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield to reason, full of mercy, full of good fruits, not partial, and not hypocritical. All I asked for was some wisdom for preparing a sermon and God brought me face-to-face with my shortcomings when it comes to Godly wisdom.

• First, I am a sinner. Like the Apostle Paul, I could argue (earthly wisdom!!) that I am the chiefest of sinners. I am by no means pure, but I am forgiven. I am washed in the blood of the Lamb.
• Anyone who really knows me knows that I'm not the most peaceable person in the world. I will argue with a barn door if I think I'm right (devilish wisdom)! Yet I am forgiven, washed in the blood of the Lamb.
• I am far from gentle. I am harsh and generally quite blunt. Still, I am forgiven, covered with the blood of the Lamb.
• I'm willing to yield to reason if it suits my purposes (see peaceable)! Yet my transgressions are forgiven. I am washed whiter than snow by the blood of the Lamb.
• I try to be merciful and I try to bear good fruit. Yet time after time I fail. But I am forgiven, washed clean by the blood of the Lamb.
• Partial? Who, me? Again, I am forgiven. I'm washed in the crimson flow from the Lamb.
• Who's hypocritical? Certainly not me? Yet God so loved he gave. I am forgiven. I am washed clean in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Job got it right. The fear of the Lord is wisdom. And thanks be to God for the blood of Jesus Christ. You see, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1 KJV)."

It wasn't the sermon I was preparing for, but I think I received the sermon I asked for the wisdom to prepare. God bless...

God Responds to Opposition - Digging Into the Psalms

Photo courtesy Stockxchng/svilen001

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? If you understand how I did it, then tell me (Job 38:4). Can you, who argue with God, teach God (Job 40:2)? So then, why do the nations rage and people make worthless plans? Why then do kings and rulers plan in opposition to the Anointed One (Psalms 2:1-2)?


"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision (Psalm 2:4 KJV)."


Can the created ones explain how God spoke creation into existence? Yet the created ones are in constant rage, and the created ones are constantly making plans in opposition of the Creator. Is there any human intelligent enough to teach God? Yet humanity counseled, planned, and killed the Anointed One. Humanity still plans and opposes those now anointed of God.


God sits on his throne in heaven (Revelation  4:2), and the psalmist says he laughs. God sits in heaven and laughs, mocking the plans made to oppose him. God isn't laughing because the raging, the counselling, and the planning are comical. God doesn't think opposition is funny. God laughs in mockery of the worthless plans of humanity to oppose him. Opposition displeases and angers God:


"Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure (Psalm 2:5 KJV)."


Wrath and displeasure aren't words which proclaim joy. The Contemporary English Version Bible renders verse 5 as, "The Lord becomes furious and threatens them. His anger terrifies them." The warnings and threatenings God gives to humanity who oppose him are numerous throughout the entire Bible. The first chapter of Psalms closes with one such warning, "But the way of the ungodly shall perish."


Psalm 2:5 states another warning or threat. God will vex those in opposition. I find the word vex interesting. Translated from the origonal Hebrew it means to tremble inwardly or to be suddenly alarmed or agitated. Pick up a newspaper. Listen to the news. Is anyone alarmed? Is anyone agitated? Is anyone trembling inwardly due to the fear caused by the rapidly deteriorating condition of this world?


"Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:6)."


This prophecy of Jesus Christ is exactly why God sits on his throne mocking those who dare to oppose him. "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord (Revelation 1:8 KJV)." God laughs because opposition is pointless. Those who oppose God, those who oppose those anointed to carry out the work of God, are guaranteed to lose. Psalm 2:6 is the guarantee. God is victorious.


God can do anything and everything, and he knows everything (Job 42:2). Thus any opposition of God is bound to lose. We'll dig into the details of the victory next time. Until then, your comments are always welcome. God bless...

Opposing the Gospel - Digging Into the Psalms

Photo courtesy stockxchng/abcdz2000

"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us (Psalm 2:1-3 KJV)."


We could say rather easily that opposition to the kingdom of heaven began in the Garden of Eden with a speaking serpent. Mankind was deceived into disobeying God in the beginning, and sin became the possessor of the human soul. Sin separates humanity from God, and sin places humanity into direct opposition of God.


The raging heathen translates to nations, in the sense of massing foreign nations. Strong's renders Gentile nations. Could it be said that a person living in sin, Jew or Gentile, is a foreigner to God? The raging foreign nations imagine a vain thing. Opposition to God is a worthless endeavor. You are guaranteed to lose.


I couldn't begin to write here the accounts of opposition to God written throughout the pages of the Old Testament. Jesus brought this opposition to light in his condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees of his day when he spoke of the righteous blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who was killed between the temple and the altar (Matthew 23:35). Satan has opposed the kingdom of heaven from the start. Humanity living in the grasp of sin becomes the instruments of opposition to God and his anointed. The most graphic display of opposition came when Christ was crucified.


A disciple, the high priest, the scribes, the elders and rulers, Herod, Pilate, a king and rulers took counsel together and crucified the Anointed One. The opposition would have stopped if sin and death were victorious. The Church which blazed into existence in obedience to the Gospel of Christ was quickly met with fierce opposition by priests, scribes, elders, and eventually Caesar himself.


The first recorded prayer of the apostles was about facing opposition, "Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ (Acts 4:24-26 KJV)." The prayer lists the gathering of the people and rulers against Jesus (Acts 4:27). Then a request was made: "Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word (Acts 4:29 KJV)."


The opposition didn't stop there. The history of Christianity is filled with the blood of the countless who have given their all for the kingdom of heaven. Men, women, and children are even giving their lives in our world today for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.The opposition will not stop until the One who is Alpha and Omega returns and makes all things new.


The apostle Peter tells us to not think it odd that we face opposition and trials. Here's what he tells us we should do:


"But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy (1Peter 4:13 KJV)."


God bless...