Key 8 – WISDOM
The book of Proverbs says a lot about wisdom. It touches on the wise and powerful God; His holiness: His mercy; His Son; His perfection. It says you must seek wisdom; that people need wisdom; that wisdom is valuable and pays dividends and much, much more.
Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…”
With so much changing in our lives on a day to day basis, where do you begin when it comes to having wisdom? The scriptures make it very clear…FEAR THE LORD.
FEAR – to REVERE, we are not to cower in the corner or under the sheets…we are not to be afraid of Him, as you would an enemy. We are to revere God with an awesome respect, knowing that everything in our lives is in His hands. Look at the rest of verse 10 “…and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
You may understand that wisdom starts with God, but you also need to understand that His holiness is what sets him apart. We are to hold him up…revere and respect Him…the creator of it all.
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE CAUSES STRESS:
What will I do now? How will I meet these bills? How can I send my children to college? Will my husband overcome this sin in his life? Will my mother forgive me for this terrible thing I’ve done? - You could probably fit your own worry or concern in there somewhere. When we don’t know the outcome of something, it weighs heavy on our minds night and day. We can’t sleep at night or concentrate during the day. We sometimes become forgetful and filled with anxiety…all because we can’t see the end from the beginning.
To this day, I still can’t figure out how the television works, you know, how do all those little men fit inside the box in my living room. I haven’t got a clue as to how a tiny little digital computer chip can help a deaf person hear and for the life of me, an MRI is awesome. It seems to me that when you go up in the air in something as heavy as a jet plane…you should fall down, yet guess what? I watch the television without concern, I’m confident that wearing hearing aids was the right thing for my mother and may one day be the correct thing for me; I’m thankful that my daughter-in-law had the opportunity to receive help through an MRI and I travel in airplanes without fear. Why? Someone has the knowledge it takes to create and utilize the boob tube – though not me. Someone manufactures the hearing aids with intellect – it’s not me. The science world has bettered my life through technology in health and business – wasn’t me and thanks to the motorized and computerized world we have cars and planes and DVD’s etc, and not one inventor, scientist, pilot etc. asked for my help or opinion. I trust the professional. If I can trust all these people with my life and the lives of loved ones, why do I hold back on trusting the one with all knowledge – God himself?
Remember: No scientist, doctor, inventor or pilot ever accomplished their feats without God’s consent in the first place.
Lack of knowledge causes stress and it does not allow us to cope in adverse situations. If you are a believer in Christ, in the purest sense, then you have the Holy Spirit in you. Now making this clear, the Bible says you are a believer if:
You accept that Jesus is the Son of God; was born, died and rose again from the grave.
You believe that He is the only true way to the Father in heaven. (That means no works that you do, church attendance or traditions get you to heaven…only Christ himself.)
You understand that as a person who sins, you must have something to intervene, since sin cannot enter into the presence of God – you must accept Jesus as your Savior. He is the pure and holy sacrifice that takes your place.
If you know these things and have asked God’s forgiveness and asked Christ to be your savior then you are a believer, you have been born again of the Spirit.
As a believer, God has placed the Holy Spirit within you. Use its power, wisdom, strength and understanding.
Know that you have an adversary. Satan is the author of confusion and seeks to keep you in darkness and ignorant of your options. Ignorance also causes stress and builds stressful habits. Then you teach it to those around you. At best you are living it in front of others even if you are not verbally teaching it. Be sure of this – if you are a parent or have a position of authority in the work place, it is you that is setting the example of trust and wisdom OR confusion and anxiety.
In the book of James (1:5) it tells us that if we lack wisdom, we are to ask God for it. Do we do that? Do you do that? Think for a moment. The last time you were in a quandary as to how to handle a sticky situation, did you first try to figure it all out by yourself; did you stew or worry; did you call someone to help you only to be told that they didn’t know how to help or did you turn to God and ask for his wisdom?
When the believer asks for wisdom from God, this same verse says that He will give it liberally to all…..then in verse 6 James says BUT let him ask in faith… Now, that puts a different light on things. James tells us that when we need wisdom all we have to do is ask God for it BUT we then in faith - trust our God that he will give it. After all, what good is it to ask for anything if in our hearts we don’t believe that we will receive it anyhow? How simple do we need God’s word to be? Ask God and believe… may I suggest here though that whatever you ask for needs to be something that will honor God and his Son. Wisdom is a commodity to be used in all areas especially tests in our lives. When you are offered a gift, do you toss it in the trash or throw it back at the giver? Wisdom is a gift worth the asking, treat it with great respect.
Ecclesiastes 2:26 tells us that God gives the godly what is good in his sight; wisdom, and knowledge and joy. If God sees that it is good, that we receive what He says is good then shouldn’t we seek it out and accept it?
Sometimes, when people receive knowledge they squander it foolishly. Be careful that you recognize wisdom for what it is. Wisdom from God is TRUTH.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY:
Make a list of the things that you need to deal with, and then pray for wisdom concerning those areas.
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