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. 14 hr ago

    Who is “the boss of you”?

    Even two- and three-year-old children rebel against being “bossed around.” If you are a parent, you have probably heard one of your children say, “You’re not the boss of me.” Why did God create us with free wills when he knew we would want to use them in the wrong ways? God could have created us as robotic believers who knew nothing except how to obey. God could have limited people’s ability to sin. Why did God create us with the right to choose while knowing we would choose wrongly? God created us to love him and to love others. Love is a choice, so we were created with the ability to choose. We could not have a personal relationship with God, or with anyone else, if we didn’t have the ability to make choices. God is love, and we were made in his image. That’s why God’s perfection requires a sacrifice for sin. God knew sin couldn’t exist in heaven or heaven wouldn’t be paradise. Paul wrote, “You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.” Who is the “boss” of us? The One who bought us. He didn’t want us to be led or controlled by anything less than his perfect, loving will for our lives. Exercising our free wills in this world is normal. Actually, the world applauds those who do. It takes spiritual strength to choose to submit our wills to our heavenly Father. We serve whomever we follow. God wants us to follow him. A bondservant indentured himself to someone for a price and was, in many ways, “owned” by his master. Our Master bought us himself so we would no longer be owned by the world. Who is the “boss of you”? The Father who bought you and wants only the best for your life. God’s priorities are wisdom. Aren’t you glad God made your salvation his high priority?

  2. 1 day ago

    Who can walk with God’s priorities?

    The confident Christian is the one who can know their path has been directed by God. Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done” in the model prayer (Matthew 6:10). The psalmist taught that our steps are “established by the Lord” but then provided a contingency. Our steps are established by the Lord “when he delights” in the way we have chosen. God cannot lead the person who will choose not to follow. We were created with the freedom to choose, and God honors our free will. God is a good Father and wants nothing more than to provide us with the wisdom and direction we need to walk in his ways. But God will allow us to lead, to wander, and to make different choices as well. A good Father gives advice to his child then allows his child the consequences or rewards for the choices made. Who can walk with God’s priorities?  The child who is willing to trust the wisdom of his Father more than his own.  The child who wants to delight his Father with his choices rather than the child who seeks to delight himself or others. The child who knows that God directs the paths of those who will in every way “acknowledge” or know God’s priorities are wisdom. Imagine knowing that your choices have “delighted” your heavenly Father. Imagine the confidence of knowing that the steps you are taking are those the Lord has established for you to walk. All of that is possible for the Christian who values the priorities God has set forth in his word. God’s priorities are wisdom. God is delighted each time you choose to walk in his ways.

  3. 2 days ago

    Why should we make Bible study a high priority?

    The words of Scripture are powerful and life changing. We call the Bible the word of God because it is his message, preserved throughout history, to help people know him as their God. John called Jesus “the Word” because God so loved the world that he wanted us to have his Word in the flesh. It is easy to become too casual with our Bibles. We are able to consume Scripture in so many ways today. I own coffee cups, dish towels, and coasters decorated with a verse from the Bible. It is good to read the Bible each day and surround ourselves with the words of God. But Scripture isn’t just casual information to know; it is the wisdom and instruction of God so that we can know him and live for him. Proverbs 8:10–11 reminds us that the most valuable thing we own is our Bible. There are no riches in this world that we should desire more than to know and understand Scripture. God didn’t intend for us to simply read the words; we are called to study Scripture and incorporate each lesson into our lives. It is possible to know a great deal of Scripture and a great deal of theology and still miss knowing the voice and leadership of God’s truth. The Pharisees and Sadducees had dedicated their lives to knowing God’s laws, but they missed knowing God and hearing his voice when Jesus, God Incarnate, stood in front of them. The same thing can be true in our lives today. We shouldn’t study the Bible simply for the sake of knowledge. We should study the Bible for the sake of understanding. The author of the proverb said, “Wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.” God’s priorities are wisdom. God left us his wisdom in his word. The next time you pick up your Bible to read, choose to study instead. Wisdom is knowing what to do with the information you have. We have God’s priorities written on the pages of our Bibles. We have God’s wisdom when we study to understand his word.

  4. 3 days ago

    What priority will God hold against you?

    One of the most sobering verses in all of Scripture are the words of Christ to the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was a favorite port city of the first-century Roman culture. The ruins of Ephesus are one of the most interesting and compelling sites in modern-day Turkey. Ephesus was a beautiful Mediterranean seaport where the world and its ideas, cultures, merchandise, and philosophies were meshed together. The architecture was amazing, and the theater, the library, and the homes were among the finest in the world. The temple to Artemis is considered one of the “Seven Wonders of the World.” Ephesus, with all of its glory, was also one of the most decadent cultures of the day. Paul, the apostle John, and others led the Christian church in Ephesus, and it was considered one of the most important churches in the first century. The gospel changes lives, and many in Ephesus came to know the saving power of Christ through the church and its members. Yet Jesus, appearing to John on the island of Patmos, told him to write this message to the Ephesian church. That message remains an important message for every believer today. Jesus told John to tell the Ephesian Christians, “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” Love has a way of growing cold over time if we don’t make that love a priority. Life slips in and the combination of good days and bad days begins to redefine what is acceptable as what becomes normal. Jesus told John to tell the Ephesians that they had abandoned what was acceptable and adopted what was normal instead. Do you love God more today than you ever have? Is your spiritual life thriving with God’s overflowing love, or has it dulled and become an everyday routine? God doesn’t need our love. We need to love God in order to live with his wisdom and priorities. God’s priorities are wisdom. God wants us to return to that “first love” so that we can once again share his priorities.

  5. 4 days ago

    Why is your ministry a priority?

    When you received Christ as your Lord and Savior, you received the power and presence of his Holy Spirit in your life. Every Christian is called to be a minister and is spiritually gifted to serve their calling. Your ministry is a high priority to God, and, like Paul, we should consider completing our ministry as our priority—more precious than anything else in our lives. It is common in our culture to think that only those called into full-time ministry, like Paul, should have that priority. But God has gifted and equipped all of his children with his Holy Spirit. Each of us has been called to “testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Scripture describes those who serve full time but assigns discipleship to everyone. Understanding your spiritual gifting will help you know how the Lord is most likely calling you to serve him. When are you most likely to share your faith? What is that thing you do that is not your doing but the work of Jesus through you? When have your “works” caused people to want to know your Lord? Every Christian has been uniquely gifted to fulfill God’s calling in their life. We should make it a high priority to understand how we are gifted so that we can be faithful to serve him and “finish the course and the ministry” we have received from the Lord. Your ministry is God’s high priority. God’s priorities are wisdom. Are you wisely focused on fulfilling God’s calling in your life? Through his Spirit, Jesus has gifted you to serve him. Our ministry is an eternal priority until we have finished the course and crossed the finish line into heaven.

  6. 5 days ago

    Why is God’s plan your priority?

    Throughout Scripture God assures us that he has a plan for each of our lives. His plan is our blessed life now and the path for eternal blessing in heaven. Our priority is clear. We want to know God so that we can walk with him on the path he has set for our lives. Yet Scripture also makes clear that none of us walk through our lives perfectly in his will. Thankfully, Scripture also teaches us of God’s love, grace, and redemption. God stands ready to guide us back to his plan if we will repent and return to his leadership in our lives. If we fully understood the perfection of God’s plan, we would never question the directions he provides. The Lord will “fulfill his purpose” in our lives. His purpose is motivated and controlled by his steadfast love for us, which “endures forever.” God has a perfect plan designed for this life that will result in the blessings and rewards of our lives eternal. We are not to live this life simply waiting for our eternal rewards. We are to live this life joyfully knowing we are given daily opportunities to receive those rewards. “The work of our hands” is simply our obedience to his divine guidance. Those are the works that will be blessed eternally. God’s plan is to be our high priority because God’s plan will fulfill his purpose for our lives. We need to live confidently knowing that God’s priorities are wisdom. When we want his plan for our lives, we will want his direction and seek to follow the Holy Spirit’s leadership each day. God’s priorities are wisdom, motivated by his steadfast love that endures forever. What has God planned for your life tomorrow? Will you make the answer to that question your high priority for prayer?

  7. 6 days ago

    Which priorities will God reward?

    Scripture tells us that there is a reward for living with God’s priorities. So often in the Bible, the word reward is associated with our eternal lives, but Proverbs 22:4 tells us there is an earthly reward as well. God is quick to reward two behaviors in our lives. God blesses those who choose to be humble and those who live in reverent awe of the Lord. According to the proverb, the reward for choosing a godly lifestyle is “riches and honor and life.” God’s standards seem to stand in stark contrast to the messages in our culture. Could it be that is why the world teaches us to strive for success, elevate our self-images, and think of ourselves first? The world teaches us to earn our own blessings, and God tells us what he is quick to reward. We need only remember that Satan is the prince of this world to know which message we should follow. God wants us to humble ourselves so that we can follow him as our King. Even Jesus submitted himself to God’s plans while on earth. God’s Son is our finest example of what it means to honor the Father and live humbly under his leadership. The difference between living with the world’s message and living with God’s is the source of our reward. When we seek to build our own reputations, earn our own acclaim, and elevate ourselves, then we can never stop striving to keep the life we built from falling. It is the lesson Jesus was teaching when he spoke about building our lives on the solid rock rather than on the sand. When we live with God’s standards of humility and reverent awe, our rewards are his gifts of “riches and honor and life.” A life marked by humility and fear of the Lord should be our high priority. That is the life lived peacefully in harmony with God and with others. It is a life God is able to reward with his blessings. God’s priorities are wisdom. What do you need to do to fully step into the blessed life God can reward?

  8. 22 Jul

    Why is family not to be our highest priority?

    One of the most difficult lessons a Christian must learn is that even our families can become an idol in our lives if we are not careful. Every Christian should love and serve their family, but our families are not to be our highest priority. That phrase just seems wrong but look at our first-century examples. Jesus told his disciples to stop what they were doing and follow him. Jesus’ family tried to stop him from preaching and he ignored their concerns. Every disciple except John died in service to Christ, with many leaving their families without their help as a result. Jesus’ words in Matthew 10 sound harsh, irresponsible, and even heartless. Yet, Christ said that whoever loves their family more than me is not worthy. Christ wasn’t teaching that family wasn’t an important priority; he was teaching us not to make our family our highest priority.  God created the concept of family. He divided the Holy Land according to families. We are commanded to “honor” our parents and care for our children. Biblically, we are commanded to make our families a high priority, but Jesus taught us not to make them our highest priority.  If we put family ahead of God, we are not teaching our family to know God as he is to be known. When we place family priorities ahead of God’s eternal priorities, we will teach others to think of themselves more highly than they should. If our family is an idol, we will serve our family at a higher level than we serve God. God’s priorities are wisdom. When family becomes a higher priority than God, we have created an idol in our lives. If we trust idols, we step away from trusting God. Has your family become an idol in your life? For their sakes, repent of that choice and choose to be “worthy” of Christ. The wisest choice we can make for the sake of our families is to cause them to know and love Christ as their highest priority. We want those we love to be worthy of his saving grace.

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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.

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  • Channel
    Denison Forum
  • Creator
    Foundations with Janet Denison
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    356
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    © 2026 Foundations
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