WISDOM FROM GOD’S WORD

 

WISDOM FROM GOD’S WORD

            It is amazing what we find when we choose to read the Word of God and allow it to speak to our hearts. Many times, we are so busy that we neglect the treasure chest of wisdom God has given us in the Bible. Here are just a few of His treasures and how they can change our lives.

            Ephesians 4:32 tells us, “And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.” Kindness is one of the simplest character traits yet can be difficult to find in this world. To be kind is to be considerate or helpful. But it’s more than that. It can be as simple as a smile or taking notice of someone’s value. And it can be as complicated as forgiving a serious wrong committed against us. This Scripture describes kindness as having a tender heart toward others and forgiving their offenses against us even when we have a right to hold a grudge. Kindness always chooses not to exercise that right. A tender heart knows everyone needs kindness extended to them. And those who are the worst usually need it the most. If we extend love and kindness where it is undeserved, we just might change a heart that needs to see Jesus. It’s a little easier to extend kindness to those who don’t deserve it when we remember how Christ extended His great kindness and love to us when He took our sin on Himself and forgave us. We were guilty, but He made us righteous. Maybe you are thinking of somebody right now that could use a little kindness, but you have been reluctant to forgive them. Or to acknowledge them. Go ahead and be kind and see how a little kindness can change hearts.

            Psalm 39:4-7 says, “Lord, let me know my [life’s] end and [to appreciate] the extent of my days; Let me know how frail I am [how transient is my stay here]. “Behold, You have made my days as [short as] hand widths, And my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight. Surely every man at his best is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]! Selah. “Surely every man walks around like a shadow; Surely, they make an uproar for nothing; Each one builds up riches, not knowing who will receive them. [gather them after they are gone]. “And now, Lord, for what do I expectantly wait? My hope [my confident expectation] is in You.” This passage from Psalms could be a very depressing passage of Scripture. Or it could be a wake-up call. At this stage in my life, I often wonder, how did I get to this point so quickly? Regardless of the pace of our lives, the important question is “What will we leave behind when we leave this life?” Actually, we have already begun that process. If we are only leaving things of worldly value, we may be like King Solomon who said: “Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?” If we want to leave something of value that will make the foolish wise, we can leave a godly heritage, a godly example that will be ever etched into the minds and hearts of those who come after us – both wise and foolish. It is certain that we will not take anything from this world into the next. But when our treasures are in heaven, we can spend them here and take them with us. Then we can leave the map behind for the next generation to follow. If you’ve been laboring for the treasures of this world, it’s not too late to exchange them for the treasures of the kingdom of God. Let your confident expectation be in Christ.

            Psalm 32:1-6 begins with a blessing. “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah (That means to pause and calmly think of that). The next verse is the turning point. “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah  For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found.”  As long as we try to cover our sins, rationalize why they aren’t so bad, or just refuse to confess them, we will be miserable. God’s hand will be heavy on us. [because loves us]. We will stagger under the load of guilt. We can’t hide our sins from God. He knows every one of them. But when we confess our transgressions, and repent, we can have that heavy load lifted and be free! Why do we wait so long before we will do what is right – confessing sin, turning from it and being free? Go ahead right now and agree with God about any sin in your life. Confess, repent and receive freedom!

            In Psalm 32 we found freedom from sin. In Psalm 40 we find deliverance from overwhelming circumstances. “I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of a horrible pit [of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock, steadying my footsteps and establishing my path. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear [with great reverence] And will trust confidently in the Lord.” Notice the first word in this Psalm is “I”. The only thing that “I” did was to wait patiently on the Lord; quietly and steadily. That’s all it took to bring about all the other happenings in this Psalm. “I” simply cried out to the Lord and waited for Him to do the rest. The Lord bent down to listen to the cry of His child. Then He brought order out of chaos. He removed him from the circumstances that had closed in on him. The Lord caused the path that was slippery and unsure to become solid. That reminds me of the song, “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” He will do the same for you. And when He does, you can testify to the goodness of God and bring Him glory as well as hope to those who hear your praise.

            Psalm 18:30, 32 – “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.” God never makes a mistake. He is completely flawless and has no defects. Everything He does is perfect. God never mis-speaks. Whatever He says will come to pass and He always speaks Truth, justice and mercy. We don’t have to wonder if He will do what He says. He has proven time and again that He will. Whatever He sees that needs to be done, He brings it to pass flawlessly, exactly fitting the need at exactly the right time, without fail. It’s easy to believe that about God; but what about the part that says, He makes my way perfect? When we trust the Word of God, He is our shield. Notice it says, “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.” It is the strength of God that does the work. Not our own strength. If we just trust in Him, He will give us the Holy Spirit. That’s the Spirit of God Himself inside of us. He comes to guide us in the way we should go, give us the power we need to overcome obstacles, to say the right things at the right time. To speak Truth, justice and mercy. He will give us the strength to do what is right. He will give us His knowledge to say what is right. We can’t make our way perfect, but God can. If we  simply trust Him He will arm us with strength and make our way perfect.

                Psalm 19:14 is a prayer. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” That may be a prayer that seems impossible to have answered, but it’s not. Yet how many times have we had words come out of our mouths that we wished we could take back, but it was too late. One of the ways to prevent that is to think on the right things in our innermost being. Will that cure us from ever messing up again? No. But it will lead us on the path of being more like Jesus as we learn to push out thoughts that are not worthy of consuming our minds. Satan or other people may be used to put thoughts in our minds that are harmful, whether they cause us to distrust God, to think bad thoughts about others, or to cause us to fear or be angry. Those thoughts will come, but we don’t have to let them linger there. We can replace them with Scripture or other good things. Then our mouth will speak words acceptable to God. Our words are usually contingent on our meditation.

            Psalm 20:6-8 gives us great instructions on trusting in God. “Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright.” When trouble comes our way, what is the first thing we do? A lot of people try to reason it out, work it out or bring out the trouble shooters. But the psalmist here had a better, more sure way. He looks at those who put their trust in the things of this world, and he sees their end result is destruction. So, he chooses to put his trust in the name of the Lord his God. He has full assurance that the Lord will hear from heaven and save those who call out to Him, to those who put their trust in Him. The name of God encompasses His character and His authority. When we know Him personally, we know we can trust both His character and His authority.  He is the God of the whole earth. Who are you trusting in today? We can draw strength from the Word of God and put our trust in Him without fear.

THE LIFE OF SURRENDER AND EFFECTIVENESS

 

     I love to read, and there are some books that I read at least once a year and some even more frequently than that. Most of the books in the re-reading category are the ones that inspire me and stir up the flame of God’s Spirit within me, pushing me toward God’s purpose. They remind me of the goal of the high calling of God in my life. Many of the books are life stories of some of the great men and women of God. So, they give me real-life examples of people who were nothing according to this world, but God chose to use them in a powerful way because they were available to Him. They listened for His voice and believed what He said, enough to act on it. One such book is “The D. L. Moody Collection” compiled by James S. Bell. I want to share with you what God has been speaking to me as I re-read this book.

D. L. Moody was raised in a poor home and there was no early indication that he would ever amount to anything. Even when he became involved with a Sabbath School and had a teacher that took an interest in him, the teacher didn’t really think he could amount to much. Here is what that teacher said about those early days: “I can truly say (and in saying it I magnify the infinite grace of God as bestowed upon Mr. Moody), that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker when he came into my Sabbath-school class, or one who seemed more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear, decided views of gospel truth, still less to fill any sphere of extended public usefulness.”

Yet D.L. Moody became the greatest evangelist of his time both in America and overseas. People flocked to his meetings and were born again because the presence of God was there. They didn’t leave the meetings talking about what a great orator he was. Some actually criticized his poor grammar. But people left with changed lives. And that was D.L. Moody’s motive; to see as many people come into the kingdom of God as possible. So, it wasn’t just during his meetings that he extended an invitation for people to know Jesus Christ. Regardless of where he was, whoever happened to be around him would hear the gospel message. And many were saved that way…on trains, in homes, in barber shops or on the street. He never took a count of those saved in his meetings. He wasn’t concerned about numbers, but about souls.

            I don’t know who you are or what your standing is in the eyes of this world, but you can be used of God if you will surrender your life completely to Him. Yes, you can make a difference in every life you touch. You may ask “How?” One of D. L. Moody’s closest ministry companions was R. A. Torrey. He wrote about the attributes that allowed God to use Moody as He did. If we want to be used of God, there may be some things that need to change in our lives.

First, we need to repent and be born into the kingdom of God. We need to be fully surrendered to Jesus, not to other people and not to ourselves. What is in us that needs to be emptied so we can fully serve God? We need to remove anything that separates us from God’s presence. If we reserve part of ourselves, we are not fully surrendered to Him. So, we need to empty our selfish ambitions and take on the form of a servant. Jesus said if we want to be great in His kingdom, we need to be the servant of all - just like Jesus. If Jesus had clung to His “rights” instead of being wrongly treated and wrongly murdered; If He had been like the Pharisees and wanted to be noticed and served, we would have no hope of salvation. But Jesus gave up His rights and majesty in complete humility and obedience to the Father. When God speaks to us, we need to obey. If we are obedient and selfless, He can use us in extraordinary ways and He will be with us. We can’t trust our own understanding, so we need to be led by God. It is imperative that we know when He is speaking to us, and we need to be listening.

That means we need to be people of prayer and come to recognize the voice of God. Prayer is a two-way conversation between us and God. We are not to spend all our time asking Him to do our will but asking Him what His will is for us. Are we spending time with God and actually listening to His voice? If we are open to Him, His Spirit will speak to our spirits. We will have a knowing within us as to which direction we are to go, what to do or who we are to speak to.

Another way we can hear God speak to us is through His Word, the Bible. If we want to grow in our Christian walk, we need to know what God is like. We need to be diligent students of His Word. When we are born into the kingdom of God, the Bible becomes our light in the darkness of this world. We can understand the Word of God because we have come to know the God of the Word and He will enlighten us to its meaning. If we want to make a difference in our world for Christ, we need to read and obey His Word.

Humility is another characteristic that seems to be very difficult for people to accept these days. Everybody wants to be looked up to. They want to make sure they get their fair share of attention and applause for their lofty deeds. Humility is not like that. Neither is it thinking of yourself in a negative way. It’s simply not considering self at all because we are considering the purpose of Jesus Christ. If we think of ourselves more highly than we ought, we are not much use to God. Let’s look at the humility of Jesus in Philippians 2:5-10: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;” Imagine God taking on human flesh so He could redeem us! Why was Jesus willing to do that? Because He loves us and because it was the will of the Father.

The Apostle Paul suffered so much persecution, but he didn’t let it stop him from proclaiming the gospel. He never stopped preaching God’s Word regardless of whether it was accepted or rejected. His passion was to carry out the great commission. He did it because it was the will of God. We need that same passion in walking with God. His passion should be our passion. His desires and goals, our desires and goals. We need a renewed passion for the salvation of the lost. There are only two eternal destinations – heaven and hell. They are both endless destinations, so it is vitally important that everyone hears the gospel message so they can make a decision for Christ before it’s too late. That’s our job.

 Another important element of being useful in God’s kingdom is to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples to wait for the promise of the Father. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, He knew they would not be able to do the work He had called them to. He knew they needed the Holy Spirit to empower them and lead them in the way they should go. Many messages are good, but few change lives without the power of the Spirit of God being present. We need the Holy Spirit if we are to obey Jesus’ command to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” Paul said he did not bring the message of Jesus Christ in word only, but in “demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” If a person is a great orator and can move a crowd with their words, their message will point to the speaker. If a person is empowered by the Holy Spirit, their message will point to Jesus Christ. During a writer’s conference some years ago, one of the presenters made it very clear that they were an inspirational publication. They did not mention the name of Jesus in any of their publications. I marked them off my list of publishers to submit articles to in the future. I didn’t care how well known they were if they did not lift up the name of Jesus, the Name above all Names. We need the power of the Holy Spirit if we are to make a difference. We need to speak the Truth of God’s Word and let people know how to be saved. If they don’t know what it is to be saved, they will be deceived into believing they are going to heaven when they are not. If you have not taken the first step toward Jesus, which is repentance; turning away from sin and turning to Jesus as Lord and Savior, you can do that right now. If you are not born again and following Jesus, you are not saved. John 3:3 says, “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Works will not get us into the kingdom of God. Our knowledge of the Bible will not get us in. Our good intentions won’t get us in. Our sincerity in believing the wrong thing won’t get us in. We must hear the Word of God and obey in repentance and surrender to Him. If we sincerely believe in another way to heaven, we will be sorely disappointed when we stand before God and hear, “I never knew you…depart from Me.” Just any way is not THE Way. We must be born of the Spirit. We can be wrong about many things, but it is eternally destructive to be wrong about the way to heaven. Read the Bible.

Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

 

 

RESTORATION AND RELEASE

 

 The chapter in Scripture that foretells the release of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding of the old waste places, also foretells what Jesus would do for us in the spiritual realm.  It’s found in Isaiah 61. These words of Isaiah the prophet were fulfilled by God when Cyrus allowed the captives to go back to their homeland. Much later, Jesus declared to be the fulfillment of those words when He read them in the synagogue in Nazareth where He had been brought up. He said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” All that was lost to Judah, God would restore. All that was lost in the Garden of Eden, Jesus restores to us. Jesus came to restore what was broken – our fellowship with God and our ability to relate on a higher spiritual plane.

            Jesus is the antidote for every part of us that has been left in ruins. Matthew Henry said of Isaiah 61, “As Isaiah was directed to proclaim liberty to the Jews in Babylon, so was Christ, God’s messenger, to publish a more joyful jubilee to a lost world.”

There are many people who wind up with broken lives - some even shattered into pieces. As a matter of fact, we all start out with broken lives because we are born with a sin nature. Jesus does not want any life thrown away. He wants to renew, rebuild, and restore every damaged or ruined life. Jesus not only can restore broken lives to usefulness, but He is also willing to do it. Most of us need restoration in at least one area of our lives. Yet nobody is worthless.  Nobody is useless. We just need the touch of the Master’s hand. Jesus came to rebuild and restore us! God has a plan. He is a builder and a rebuilder. God is a creator and a recreator. He is a restorer of broken lives. If something needs to be restored, it was obviously once in its prime, in healthy working condition. And it has somehow fallen from that condition.

            Let’s look at the first part of Isaiah 61. Jesus read, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord has anointed me. Anointed means to rub with oil. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. That is what we need above all, to have the Holy Spirit in us, leading us and empowering us.

Jesus said one of the things He was anointed to do was to preach good tidings to the meek. Good tidings are glad news. We are the meek. We are the poor and afflicted, needy in circumstances. But the good news is that we can be raised up and anointed. Then we can be the bearers of the good news! We can be on both sides of this – We receive, then we give. We need to look at ourselves as both receivers, and givers.

            This passage of scripture goes on to say, “he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. Our heart is our mind, our will and emotions. Our heart is the very center of who we are. That’s why we are told in Proverbs 4:23 to “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” What is in our hearts will spill out in everything we do. And we don’t have to be broken. To be broken is to be hurt, crushed or broken in pieces. Jesus can bind us up when we are broken. Just like a broken bone is set and wrapped to cause it to merge together again, we can be wrapped tightly with Jesus and grow as one with Him. We are the brokenhearted, yet we are the binders of the brokenhearted by the anointing! Our restoration is the catalyst by which we can offer others restoration through Jesus.

Jesus also came to proclaim liberty to the captives and “and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” This tells us we can be free from our sins. Chains and yokes can be cut off. Isaiah 10:27 says “And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. The sin nature can be broken, and we can be free to be joined to Jesus. But there is more. He said He would bring recovering of sight to the blind. We all know Jesus restored blinded physical eyes, but He will also restore our spiritual insight and enlighten us to the kingdom of God. No more thinking from a darkened mind but having insight into spiritual things by the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes I think we are not fully aware of how blessed we are to be able to see spiritually and be free spiritually. We are blessed to be able to understand spiritual things.

            Jesus also came to “proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord”.  Every 50th year in Israel was the Year of Jubilee, the year of release. Servants were set at liberty. Debtors had their debts wiped out, those who had mortgaged their lands, had them returned to them again. And in our spiritual jubilee we have our sins washed away, our sin debt paid and the blessings of the Lord restored to us! GOD IS A RESTORER!

            Next, He speaks of “the day of vengeance of our God.” Vengeance is revenge. Satan had taken possession of God’s creation, but Jesus took it back. Jesus overcame.  He conquered.  If we are in Christ, we too are overcomers!

He also came to comfort all that mourn, to give unto them beauty for ashes. What kind of ashes do we have in our lives? Ashes are the charred remains of what used to be alive and useful. You can’t recognize what it used to be from looking at the ashes left behind. What places in us used to be thriving, but are now a pile of ashes? He will give us beauty for those ashes. And He will give us “the oil of joy for mourning”. Not just any joy, but joy unspeakable! It comes from God, not the world. And the joy of the Lord is our strength. His joy will raise us up in power. Have we lost it? Have we lost the joy of the Lord? It can be found in His presence, in being connected to Him. Our joy can be full by the Holy Spirit within us.

            He gives us “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Heaviness is a burdened, failing spirit. But Jesus will replace it with a spirit of praise if we let Him.

Jesus fulfilled all this so that we might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord so that that He might be glorified. That God’s glory would be openly seen through us as others see His righteousness in us.

This is what God desires for us. We don’t have to beg Him to do it. It is already done. We just need to receive it.

What has been damaged in your life?  What is no longer working in you?  What lies in ruins and ashes?  What has you so burdened that your shoulders are drooping, and your legs are shaking under the weight? You can be stored!

Hebrews 12:12-13 says, “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”

            This prophecy that Jesus fulfilled goes on to say, “And they shall build the old wastes,

“ancient ruins”. Those are the places in our lives that have been ruined and destroyed. They crumbled slowly, a little at a time, so we accepted it as part of our lives a little bit at a time. Jesus came so those places can be restored, rebuilt and repaired. Are we willing to live with things as they are, or do we want to rebuild? Are we okay with being frail and unable to move forward, or have we decided to rise up?

            I love the wording here. It says, “they shall raise up the former desolations” They aren’t just seeing the unfruitful deserts that used to be lush and green and remembering when it was full of life and bearing much fruit. They aren’t just wishing for the glory days when all was good. They decide to do something about it. Where we have been unfruitful, are we willing to accept it, or do we want to raise it back up by the anointing of the Holy Spirit?

            “And they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” It may have been in that sad condition for a long time, but today can be the day to change it all. We don’t have to accept things in the broken condition they are in, no matter how long they have been that way. Instead of saying, “Well, that’s how it’s always been.”, we can bring back the glory of God to it and shine in righteousness. It can be repaired, new, put back in good condition, renewed, restored. Iniquitous traits are passed from generation to generation when people say, “Well, that’s how it has always been.” But they can stop the cycle when someone finally says, “Jesus restores. We can put a stop to it because of what Jesus has done for us.” Are we willing to break free from how it’s always been when “how it’s always been” is less than what God has for us? We have a part in it.  God will help us, but we have to take the first step. Remember, before healing people or having them join Him, Jesus often said things like, “Stretch forth your hand”, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam”, “Follow Me” “Come unto Me”. We have a part to play. We have a choice to make. Are we willing to live with things broken down and in ruins, or do we want to be restored, rebuilt, renewed and made useful again?

 

“Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”