Wisdom Matters

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. 1日前

    Do you choose to treasure the stability of God?

    There will always be unsettling times in our world, in our nation, and in our personal lives. Israel experienced the worst of times when most of her people were taken captive and enslaved. People lost their land, their families, and their futures. Isaiah was a prophet to Israel during their worst times. He brought words of discipline and words of hope.  Isaiah taught God’s people that even though they would experience great distress, God had also provided them hope. Isaiah said that God would be “the stability” of their times. World history speaks to the truth of Isaiah’s words. God is the stability of every generation. His truth and wisdom have remained consistently relevant to every era of human history.  God is the stability of our times, and that will be truth for all time.  God has abundantly enabled the salvation of people throughout history. His wisdom was truth for King David and remains truth today. His knowledge is perfect; therefore, he is the perfect source for all we need. In changing or volatile times, God remains the stability of this world.  That is why Isaiah could say “the fear of the Lᴏʀᴅ is Zion’s treasure.” To fear the Lord is to hold him in reverent esteem. It’s to know his greatness and embrace his authority. That relationship with God is the treasured relationship we each should seek to have with our Creator.  The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He always has given that treasure to those who fear him.

    3分
  2. 3日前

    Do you choose to think about God throughout the day?

    On average, a human being will have more than six thousand thoughts each day. Paul told Timothy to spend a lot of those thoughts focused on God. Almost everything we need for our lives is reachable from a computer keyboard. In many ways, the internet has replaced our need to think.  Our best decisions require more than information. We need to know what God wants us to do with what we know. Wisdom and understanding are difficult to google. God’s leadership and discernment come from our thoughts and prayers. Paul told Timothy, “Think over what I say.” Paul’s words are considered Scripture today. The teaching in our Bibles is God’s word for our lives.  When we take the time to think about God’s word, the Lord gives us understanding and discernment about what to do with what we know. And God’s word applies to “everything,” according to Paul. The Lord wants us to make wise choices throughout the day, and we can if we take the time to think about God’s priorities and teaching all day long.  We have more than six thousand thoughts each day. Thinking takes time. So, when we make time for the God thoughts, God has the opportunity to guide and direct our lives.  One of the most amazing and humbling realizations is that the God of the universe wants to be involved in our thoughts and lives. Our thoughts about God are numbered, but his thoughts about us are immeasurable.  The God of the universe is thinking about you right now.  The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. We have daily access to his perfect counsel. How many of your six thousand thoughts will include God’s thoughts tomorrow?

    3分
  3. 4日前

    Do you choose to abide in God’s truth?

    A short letter, 2 John is most likely addressed to a church with which the apostle John had a pastoral relationship. John describes himself as an “elder,” or overseer, and the church as an “elect lady,” a reference to them as God’s chosen people. The children would likely be the members of the congregation.  This church was loved by John and others who understood the “truth” of God. In John’s greeting to this church, he teaches something about God’s truth that all Christians and all churches need to know: “the truth abides in us and will be with us forever.”  God’s truth is permanent and should never be changed. Because Scripture is truth, it applies to everyone in every situation. Times change but God’s truth doesn’t change with the times. John said God’s truth “abides in us and will be with us forever.”  Many aspects of God’s creation reflect his eternal nature. The moon we see each night is the same moon people have viewed throughout history. The olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane today are produced from the same roots that existed when Jesus was there. The ebb and flow of the oceans have continued since the time God separated the land from the seas. God’s truth is eternal as well.  People will always try to adapt God’s word to their beliefs, but only those who know the truth will abide in the truth. John loved this church and her members because they were aligned with the truth of God’s word. God’s truth for the first-century congregation remains his word for congregations today.  The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He will always give those blessings to those who abide in his truth, which will be true forever.

    3分
  4. 5日前

    Do you choose to approach God in repentance and truth?

    Psalm 51 is one of the most powerful passages in Scripture. King David wrote it after he had sinned with Bethsheba. It has been said that David’s sin with Bathsheba broke every one of the Ten Commandments. King David had every reason to expect God’s wrath, but he asked for God’s forgiveness and restoration. The psalm begins, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions” (Psalm 51:1).  King David knew God and understood God’s desire to redeem even the worst, most unforgivable choices. David also knew God required what brought God “delight.” When we approach God with “truth in the inward being,” God is delighted to hear.  When it's necessary to confess, the first step is to come to a place of complete truth in our own hearts. God knows our thoughts, even our deep and dark thoughts, and that is where confession begins. God teaches his wisdom to our “secret heart,” that place in us that only God is fully aware of. It’s to our “secret heart” that God will teach us his wisdom.  Back then, the Hebrew people had limited knowledge of science. But, they did know that when a heart stopped beating, life was gone. They understood the most powerful moments in life caused their hearts to beat faster. In Scripture, the heart indicates the center of life, passions, and motivation. King David asked God to teach him wisdom for the very source of his life—his secret heart.  God accepted David’s honest repentance and granted him a restored life. David lived with the consequences of his sins but did not remain separated from God because of them. God restored David’s heart until he could redeem David’s life eternally.  The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Only God can apply those blessings to our secrets. He will blot out our transgressions when we receive his word into our inward being, our “secret heart.” You can draw near to God with your true repentance, knowing you will be received and welcomed into his presence because our Father delights in truth.

    4分
  5. 6日前

    Do you choose to live in the light of his truth?

    The psalmist was calling out to God, asking him to send out his light and his truth. It’s so important to remember that if God has led the way, opened a door, or spoken a word, we can know that it's truth. God cannot act apart from his holiness.  If something is only partially true, it’s not fully God. When something compromises our character, it’s not God. When something must be accomplished “in the darkness,” then God’s light is not present. Sometimes a decision is as clear as this: if it isn't pure, complete truth, it isn’t of God.  God sends out his light and his truth so that he can direct our path. That path, according to the psalmist, leads to his holy hill, his dwelling. Those words are a reference to the highest, holiest place on earth.   The Jerusalem temple was built on the highest point, and the Holy of Holies, the place that held the Ark of the Covenant, God’s holy seat, was there. The psalmist taught that God would send the light and the truth to draw us to his presence.  When we feel distanced from God, we can pray the psalmist’s prayer. God’s word leads us into his presence. Scripture is the voice of God, and we need to hear the words as we read them. We can ask for God to reveal his light, his direction, through Scripture. We can ask God to lead us with his truth as we make our decisions and plans.  God provided his word to us so that we could be drawn to his holy hill—his very presence.  The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Ask him for his light and his truth. The Creator of the universe wants to bring you into his holy dwelling and spend time with you.

    3分
  6. 2月5日

    Do you choose to invest your life in God’s work?

    Paul wrote the letter we know as 2 Timothy while confined to a prison he knew would likely lead to his death. These last words to Timothy, his protégé, have always been especially poignant. Paul was writing to Timothy about what he should expect in the “last days” from people who were godless. Paul described them as “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (3:7). He then taught Timothy how to live differently from those who didn’t know God.  Paul’s lesson to Timothy can be summed up in this way: “Remember what you have learned from me, from your family, and from others. We have taught you God’s truth.” That’s when Paul reminded Timothy that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable” to every area of our lives. Scripture is how God equips his children to accomplish the good work he has called us to do.  If a financial investment came with a guaranteed return, we would do our best to be included. Scripture offers our lives a promise. If we invest our lives in God’s word, there will be a profit. If we want to fill our lives with “good work,” then we should fill our lives first with God’s word.  Paul wanted Timothy to understand that the foundation of his ministry needed to be the word of God. When Paul wrote his letter he had no idea that he would continue to teach countless generations the important truth he taught his first-century protégé. The same Scripture that grounded Timothy’s ministry serves the Lord’s disciples today.  The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The words of your Bible were “breathed out” by God himself, and he has promised to use them to profit your life and ministry when you invest in his truth.

    3分

番組について

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.

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