Wisdom Matters

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Welcome to Wisdom Matters, the chance to reflect on a Bible verse or two each day for the purpose of living and thinking biblically. Wisdom is a gift from God that enables us to know how to filter and use all we learn for God’s higher purpose. I hope you will join me for Wisdom Matters.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    How can we love others like Jesus?

    Did you love others today as Jesus would have loved them? If we asked ourselves that question at the end of each day, how would our answer change things tomorrow? Maybe we would:  - Choose to spend more time with someone and less time with another. - Notice someone we might otherwise have walked past. - See a moment as an opportunity instead of an interruption. - Have the chance to share our faith instead of our opinion or advice. If we loved people instead of just appreciating them, how deeply would we care about their needs? If we sacrificed for someone instead of giving what we determined was enough, how would our gift change their situation, now and eternally? Jesus modeled the love of God everywhere he walked. He helped so many people, although he never helped them all. He gave his time, his attention, and his wisdom to all who would listen, but not everyone did. Jesus angered some people and saddened others, like the rich young ruler. Jesus healed many people, but not everyone. Jesus called everyone to be his disciples and then dedicated much of his time and attention to only a few. The few who followed his example changed the world.  How can we love others as Jesus does? By loving others as Christ loved us. We can give ourselves in service to others as Jesus gave himself up for us. We can enter a room as an offering to God if we simply enter the room with the goal of leaving his love behind instead of keeping it to ourselves. We won’t be able to help everyone either, but we will help some. We might even help many. Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. The only way to model the love of Christ is to allow his love to flood our lives and then overflow to others through the sacrifice and offering of our lives to his higher purpose. If we commit to “walk in love as Christ loved us,” we will change the way we live tomorrow.

    3 min

  2. 3 DAYS AGO

    What does the cross mean to your life?

    No one wants to feel responsible for the suffering of Christ. Even though we know better, we still choose to think it was the fault of Judas, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. The Roman soldiers were the ones who beat him and nailed him to a cross, and they were following the commands of their leader. Real people accused, punished, and killed Jesus. It’s difficult to think about the death of Christ and consider it necessary for our salvation. I used to reconcile the gruesome details of Jesus’ death by thinking that is what it took to cover all sins for all people. But, the truth is, Jesus died a gruesome death for my individual sins. He did the same for your sins. Jesus carried the weight of our sins to Calvary. That weight is simply illustrated by the cross. When Jesus fell under the weight he carried, we are reminded that our sins cost him so much more than we want to think about. Jesus modeled the burden of sin with every painful step to Calvary. Jesus provided that model because he wanted us to understand the magnitude of our sins and recognize how much they cost us. Jesus wanted us to “die to sin” and “live to righteousness.”  Jesus thought you and I were worth saving so he suffered the horrible consequences of the cross. Our eternal confidence is because of Jesus’ condemnation. Our eternal righteousness is because Jesus cleansed us from every wrong. We aren’t saved because we earned it; we are saved because Jesus bled and suffered so he could offer us his salvation. “By his wounds you have been healed.” Take a moment to approach the cross of Calvary. Close your eyes and imagine his suffering. Listen to the sounds, sense the pain, and imagine the separation Jesus felt from everything and everyone, especially his Father. Then meet his eyes and see him seeing you. He thought you were worth it that day, and he still does. Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. It is the pathway of eternal healing created because of his wounds. Look back at his cross with grateful humility and leave Calvary with full understanding. You are eternally healed because of his wounds.

    4 min

  3. 4 DAYS AGO

    What will we be like in heaven?

    Our culture defines and categorizes people in many different ways. Christians are defined by Scripture as: “all one in Christ Jesus.” Heaven is impossible to define because we don’t own the needed vocabulary and we don’t have the ability to comprehend eternity. Yet one eternal distinction clearly made in Scripture applies to every human being today. Everyone you know is either one with Christ Jesus or living separately from him. When it comes to interpreting Galatians 3:28, debates, laws, and attitudes have changed over the decades. We still tend to define people by their nationality, religion, social status, and gender. Those distinctions are for life on earth but will not exist in heaven. We are all one in Christ Jesus. A Christian will be defined eternally as “a child of God.” If you are able to read and understand Hebrew, you know that some of the names and descriptions of God are male while others are female. God is Father and Mother because he is uniquely able to fill both human roles. Yet, in truth, God is neither male nor female. He is simply fully God. So is the resurrected Christ and his Holy Spirit. Jesus walked on earth as a man yet was also fully God. To be one with Christ Jesus is to become God’s child, even though still living in our human form. Jesus is the model for our faith. He grew to be a man but eternally always saw himself as God’s child. We can know God as our Abba Father, just as Jesus did.  Thinking of ourselves as the world classifies us is normal. But wouldn’t beginning and ending each day with an understanding of how God sees us be more helpful? We are his children. We are not yet perfected, but God already knows us as the people we will be eternally.  Jesus walked through his earthly life with a sense of eternal purpose and we can too. Jesus saw himself through his Father’s eyes and we should too. Jesus was and is the model for our faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. The next time you pass a mirror, step away from just the appearance of things and into the reality of full knowledge. You, Christian, are a child of the Creator God, and you always will be.

    4 min

  4. 5 DAYS AGO

    Why is a salvation experience necessary for all people?

    Jesus lived a sinless life, the life that God would wish for all of us. Yet, no one but Jesus could model a sinless life completely. Jesus died and was raised from the dead to model for us God’s provision for the redemption of every person. You and I can’t die without sin except through faith in Christ. When “we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord,” we are stating our belief in his sinless, perfect life sacrificially atoning for our sins. We are saying that we need Jesus to be Lord of our lives because we know we can’t be. Without Jesus, we cannot pay for our sins and be made holy.  When we believe in our hearts that “God raised him from the dead,” we believe in our hearts that God can do the same for us. We can live with the assurance of heaven because we live with the assurance of Christ’s resurrection.  Anyone “will be saved” who acknowledges their need for Jesus and chooses him as their Lord and Savior. Salvation is not found in the belief that Jesus died for everyone; it is found by admitting and accepting the fact that Jesus had to die for our own personal sins. We must confess we cannot be the lord of our own lives and remain holy enough to live with God. We need Jesus to be our Lord as well as our Savior.  Our redemption and our salvation are his gift to us—from his cross. We can’t earn or deserve that gift. We can only open our mouths to confess our need and our desire to receive the blessings Jesus died to give. Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus modeled the death and the resurrection that will belong to everyone who has become “free” from the penalty of sin.  Have you confessed your personal need for Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  If so, “you will be saved.”

    3 min

  5. 6 DAYS AGO

    What does it mean to walk faithfully with God?

    Jesus modeled wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, but he also modeled suffering. Jesus told his disciples that we would be persecuted in this world just as he was. It isn’t a popular or comforting thought, but it is the truth of God’s word. Revelation 17 describes the attack on God’s people from the forces of the Evil One. The attacks will take many forms, but all unmistakably belong to the spiritual forces of evil. Satan cannot claim the soul of someone who is saved, so he will do his best to claim a person’s witness.  Believers, especially those who are dedicated to their faith, experience spiritual attacks from the Evil One. Many things in our culture draw us away from God’s holiness. One of the signs revealed in the book of Revelation is the increase of the persecution that will exist in the last days. The increase of “lawlessness” and hearts that grow cold, or weak, in the faith. We should never underestimate the power and influence of “the beast” (Revelation 17:13). At the same time, we should always remember the victory that is ours in Christ. Even though the powers of evil “make war on the Lamb,” the “Lamb will conquer them” (Revelation 17:14). We know that Jesus is the “Lord of lords and King of kings.” The rest of verse 14 speaks to those who have chosen to use Jesus as the model for the way we walk this life. We are “called and chosen and faithful.” We are called to model the way Jesus lived. We are also called to model the way Jesus suffered.  Are you experiencing persecution for your faith? Have you been tempted by the evil and sinful things in our world? Remember that “you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus battled evil and suffered persecution in order to live faithfully for God.  Are we willing to do the same?

    3 min

  6. 1 APR

    Why is God with you today?

    “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” —1 Corinthians 1:30 One of the best descriptions of Jesus is to see him as God, in human form. It is difficult to understand how Jesus could be fully God, yet fully man. Jesus is the only One in human history who will ever carry that distinction. When Jesus spoke, he spoke with the wisdom of God. Jesus lived each day of his life in a righteous or right relationship with God. Jesus led a life of holiness, sanctified by God and set apart to serve him. And Jesus was born to be the Messiah and provide for our redemption.  Paul described Jesus as the One who became wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. When we received Christ as our Lord and Savior, Jesus became the source of God’s character in us, through his Holy Spirit. Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our relationship with God as our Father. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” —Isaiah 7:14 The prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming Messiah and assigned him the name Immanuel, meaning the character of God—with us. Jesus lived on earth as God incarnate. He was and is God with us. Immanuel, God with us, was redefined in the days that followed Pentecost. Forty days after Christ ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit came to indwell those gathered in Jerusalem. Jesus, through his Holy Spirit, is God with us. God has given us a “sign” of his reality. Anyone who has the Holy Spirit has the continual presence of Jesus in their life. Just as people sought the presence of Jesus when he walked in this world, we should seek his Presence today through the Holy Spirit. God, three-in-one, is with us now and has made certain we could be with him eternally.  Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God.  Can you sense the presence of Immanuel right now?

    3 min

  7. 31 MAR

    Do you know the key to contentment?

    Paul probably wrote his letter to the prosperous Roman colony of Philippi while under house arrest in Rome. He had intended to go to Rome, but not as a prisoner of the government. Yet, while under house arrest he wrote several letters that are now part of our Bibles. Paul had no idea that people would be reading his words to Philippi thousands of years later.  Paul had been a successful, acclaimed Pharisee. His salvation cost him everything he had worked to have. The Apostle had been hunted, slandered, imprisoned, and arrested. He also lived with a condition he called his “thorn in the flesh,” which brought him a great deal of pain. Now, he was chained and a prisoner of the Roman government.  Yet, the Apostle could say, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” Paul had learned that his ministry was not limited to human effort; it was only bound by the will of God. Paul worked tirelessly for the sake of the gospel and endured great hardship. But Paul trusted God to use his work and bless the outcome, regardless of his earthly challenges.  The word content in the Bible means accepting the circumstances God has allowed, knowing that God is always and abundantly sufficient for whatever needs we have. The key to contentment is accepting our limitations and understanding that our God has none.  If Paul could be content to write from his prison, we can learn to be content with our circumstances. Our limitations cannot limit God. His will and his word will succeed. When you feel discouraged, just consider Paul’s words and his circumstances. If the Apostle learned to be content, so can we.   Allow the words of Christ to dwell in you richly, knowing that contentment is our choice because of our salvation.

    3 min

  8. 30 MAR

    Do you know why God requires our complete commitment?

    God doesn’t want to be our governor; he wants to be our King. God doesn’t ask his children to work for him from nine to five. He asks us to serve him 24/7. Why do God’s demands require our complete commitment?  The Sermon on the Mount was the foundation of truth for Christ’s entire ministry. It's found in Matthew 5–7. Jesus was preaching what it would mean for a child of God to walk in obedience under the New Covenant. To sum it up, God’s children would need to make him their King.  Jesus taught his disciples that the relationship the Lord wanted to have with them was that of a sovereign authority with a subject. Why is that the relationship God wants to have with each of us?  Jesus taught that when we seek God’s word and will, and when we live a life that is righteous (right with him), then God is able to provide his blessings, now and eternally, to our lives. Jesus had already taught the crowd the Beatitudes, the model prayer, and other lessons about living a godly life. After he said those things, he taught them to “seek first” God’s sovereign reign in their lives. Jesus wanted his disciples to seek to be righteous so that all those promised blessings in the Beatitudes and other passages could be added to their lives.  When we make God our King, he is able to direct our choices so that we live a life he is able to fully bless. God demands our complete commitment because that is the way he is most able to reward our earthly lives, now and eternally.  What has become a higher priority than fulfilling these words of Christ? Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and the Lord can add blessing upon blessing to your life now and to your life eternal.   We have a King, not a governor.

    3 min
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About

Welcome to Wisdom Matters, the chance to reflect on a Bible verse or two each day for the purpose of living and thinking biblically. Wisdom is a gift from God that enables us to know how to filter and use all we learn for God’s higher purpose. I hope you will join me for Wisdom Matters.

Information

  • Channel
    Denison Forum
  • Creator
    Foundations with Janet Denison
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    359
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Foundations
  • Show Website
    Wisdom Matters

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