Tag Archives: help

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Wisdom From Heaven

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James 3:17 (NIV), “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”

The world has a totally different idea of wisdom than God. The world see’s wisdom as intelligence and knowledge. In fact the Encarta Dictionary uses these definitions: good sense, wise decision, accumulated learning, opinion widely held, ancient teachings or sayings. I can right away see problems with all of those definitions! Good sense, we all need some of this, but if it isn’t based on the Bible, it isn’t good. The same can be said for a wise decision, if a decision is based on the world’s view of what is wise, the motivation will be greed, or lust, or it will be based on flawed thinking. The Bible tells us that knowledge puffs up, or gives us a “big head” so accumulated learning will only fill our heads with knowledge that we won’t be able to apply to our lives in any meaningful way. Even knowledge of the Scriptures without Godly wisdom will not profit us. Any opinion widely held is changeable. For example at one time people thought that eating the potato would kill you, and that the world was flat, need I say more? Lastly, ancient teachings can be wise, if they line up with God’s word, otherwise they are still opinions of man that happened to be spouted off years ago.

God tells us that wisdom from heaven is first of all pure. Godly wisdom isn’t motivated by anything other than love. Next, from our verse in James, we see that it is peace-loving and considerate. This kind of wisdom isn’t putting “self” first. It doesn’t have to have its own way, or demand its rights. It thinks “more highly on the things of others.” Wisdom from Heaven is submissive. I know we Americans tend to hate that word, but only because we don’t understand what it means. Submission simply means being “under a mission.” I am under the mission of God. His mission is to bring everyone to the saving knowledge of His grace. I submit to that mission. If we are using Godly wisdom there will be fruit, we will show mercy to others. God is merciful. He never gave us what we deserved, but only what would bring us to a place of fellowship with Him. Finally, this kind of wisdom is impartial and sincere. It can’t be faked. The world is full of people who see themselves as wise. They spout off information, statistics, and opinions and expect us all to be wowed by their greatness, which is neither impartial nor sincere. You can’t fake Godly wisdom, ever. Godly wisdom’s purpose isn’t to impress anyone. It’s purpose is to further God’s Kingdom here on earth.
How do we do that?

By showing God’s love, His goodness, His mercy, and forgiveness. We “make peace.”

Matthew 5:9 (ISV), “How blessed are those who make peace, because it is they who will be called God’s children!”
Luke 6:35-36 (NIV), “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. ”

So, maybe you aren’t feeling too wise right at this moment. Thankfully, God has an answer for that as well.

James 1:5 (NIV), “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Proverbs 2:6 (KJB), “For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”

Ecclesiastes 2:26 (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “For to the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.”

I think it is safe to say that the way the world thinks to acquire wisdom is through learning, and through osmosis. We, on the other hand, as Children of the Almighty, receive wisdom from God. It is a gift. We can’t earn it, but that doesn’t mean that we just sit and wait for God to deposit wisdom into us either. God always has a part for us to play. One of the ways that God imparts wisdom into us is through His word. A great place to obtain Godly wisdom is in the Proverbs. He also uses sound teaching. We need to know God’s word and how to apply it to our own lives. This is wisdom.

Why do we need wisdom? And what do we do with it?

Proverbs 11:30 (KJB), “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”
Daniel 12:3 (NIV), “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Proverbs 3:35 (NIV), “The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame.”

It takes true wisdom just to get saved. Human wisdom won’t allow our hearts to accept salvation, it stops the whole message at our head and because it simply doesn’t make any human sense, we reject it as impossible. “God would die for me? No way! I don’t have to earn it, there has got to be something wrong with this way.”

I Corinthians 1:21 (NLT), “Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.”

Godly wisdom loves, it saves souls, inherits honor, shines like the brightness of heaven.

So, get wisdom! It’s important, but make sure it is the wisdom from Heaven.

Proverbs 4:5 (NASB), “Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.”

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Who I Am

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The Holy Spirit is a amazing gift from the Father. He is a faithful teacher and guide. He reveals to us who God is. Knowing God on a personal level is important to our walk as Christians. Another wonderful thing that the Holy Spirit does is that He reveals to us who we are, not the way we see ourselves, not how the world sees us, but how God sees us. He shows us our true image and our true nature.

He can only do this if we are in a relationship with Him.

Think about when you were young, especially Jr. High and High School. This may not mean as much to you guys out there, but to us girls, having a best friend was so important, now days they call them BFF’s (Best Friends Forever). A true friend was someone you could be real with. They knew you were afraid of the dark, wet the bed, or that you had a crush on Jimmy in second period. You knew they hated math, loved pizza, and once snuck into the movies. For us girls, we stayed up and talked for hours, we shared every part of our lives and our hearts. Another thing about a best friend was that they never let us think too highly of ourselves. They held us accountable, were honest to the point of inflicting pain at times. They had the guts to say, “that dress has to go,” or “Jimmy likes cheerleaders, and you aren’t one.”

That is the kind of relationship we need to have with the Holy Spirit. We may have been hurt a time or two by people we were intimate with, maybe they shared some of our secrets, or in some way turned against us. The Holy Spirit will never be that kind of friend. He is trustworthy and faithful. We can tell Him anything! If what we have in our heart is wrong, He will faithfully convict us, or convince us, depending on what is needful.

John 16:1-11 (NIV), “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”
That is part of His responsibility, to convict of sin, and convince us of righteousness. If we believe we can’t be healed, the Holy Spirit will convince us otherwise. If we are ignoring the word, or backing away from God, He convicts us, always in love. He guides us into the truth, He doesn’t want us to live in error, deceit, or in a way that isn’t beneficial for us.

John 16:13 (NIV), “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

John 14:26 (NASB), “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

Just like that earthly friend, the Holy Spirit knows our weaknesses. He knows we tend to have anger issues, or that we “escape” into movies or books, He knows we are getting too friendly with that co-worker, or are in places we shouldn’t be. The Holy Spirit see’s the intents of our hearts, before we ever act on anything. So, He is there to help us through, to say “no” to all temptations. He lines us back up with God’s purpose and His plan for our life, if we will let Him.

Romans 8:26 (NIV), “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

He knows our minds better than we do, better than any human friend ever could, and He uses that information to help us, guide us, and even intercedes for us according to the will of God. He reveals to us the purposes and plans that God has for us. God has a wonderful plan mapped out for each one of us, and it is the Holy Spirit that reveals that map piece by piece. His Spirit has been given to us so that we can fulfill those plans.

I Corinthians 2:9-12 (NIV), “but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

Every person born in this world ends up with an image of themselves. For the most part those images are painted from our experiences in this fallen world, from what others have said to us or about us, and from the lies that Satan has whispered in our ears. The Pharisee’s image of themselves was self importance, self indulgent, and self righteous. The woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears had a totally different self image, before meeting Christ. Over the years we have heard words like, “fat,” “stupid,” “lazy,” “ugly,” “skinny,” “poor,” “stuck up,” “whore,” and a bunch of other words that I won’t mention in Church. These words shape us. There are even people who have eating disorders who look into the mirror and see a fat person when in reality they are walking skeletons. Our images of ourselves are distorted, at best.

So God sends us His Spirit to rectify that. He tells us we are sons of God, if we are listening and following Him.

Romans 8:14-15 (NIV), “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

As He reveals who God is, He is revealing who we are. If God is love, then we are loved, and accepted in the beloved. If God is generous, and He is our Father, then we are not orphans and He will provide for us. We know that God is Healer, so we know that we walk in divine health. Satan can whisper all he wants that we are no good, too old, too fat, too weak, too whatever…we just need to tell him to shut up and hear that other voice, the One who says, “you are beautiful, you are loved, you are special, you can do anything, you are mine. We may at times feel unloved or unlovable, but the Holy Spirit is there telling us the truth. He puts a spotlight on the lies of the devil. He also shines that light on the areas were we need strength, deliverance, and change. He wants His fruit evident in our lives.

Galatians 5:22 (NIV), “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The Holy Spirit is God. He wants us to be free from out past, free from any wrong thought patterns, and free to be who God has called us to be. In order to be free, we have to know who we are! We aren’t our sins. He didn’t create us to sin, He created us in His likeness, for good not for evil. We are being transformed into the image of Christ.

II Corinthians 3:17-18 (NIV), “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

People find their identity in many things besides God. The problem with that is that circumstances change. The woman who finds her identity in her children doesn’t know who she is when they go off to college, or worse yet becomes an obsessive, overbearing, busy body in the lives of her grown children. The athlete who finds his identity in the sport that he plays loses that identity when he is no longer able to perform, the business man who finds his identity in his career is lost after retirement, and the woman who finds her identity in her husband is devastated when death or divorce comes knocking.

However, God never changes. How He feels about us, how He created us, never changes. His plans and His purposes are forever. The only thing that can change our identity in Him is a lack of relationship, a lack of intimacy with the Holy Spirit. Truthfully that doesn’t even change who we are supposed to be, we just “act the part” we have allowed the world to give us. Like some bad sit com. They tell us who they think we are and we foolishly play the part.

In my opinion, that is why so many of our young people think that they are gay. The world says that if you are a boy and you like to cook, shop, the color pink, have creative genes, and hate sports, you must be a homosexual. Or, if you are a girl and you likes playing in the dirt with trucks, love football, like working with your hands, and hate wearing dresses, you must be a lesbian. How foolish is that? Our likes and dislikes, (especially at the age of 5 or 6), do not dictate who we are! God made each one of us, He formed us in the womb, saying that a person is born contrary to God’s plan and purposes for our lives is in effect saying that He messed up or made a mistake. His original plans for men and women are still the same. A man who is loving and gentle is still a man. A woman who is strong and capable is still a woman.

Don’t let the world tell you who you are. Don’t let your weak flesh either. The ultimate authority on who we are, who we are created to be must be God. He made us, He designed us, He is the Master Potter and we are but the clay. Settling for anything less than God’s perfect plan for us will only lead to heartache and brokenness.

God is the one who wrote our part. It will never be contrary to His will, His way, and His word. His plan is already written for us. The part that God has imagined for us is the part of the main character; we have the lead in the story of our lives. We are the Hero, we save the day!

That is our destiny.

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Don’t Limit God

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Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV), “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”

We have all been in that place at one time or another, or maybe some of you are there now, where we just think our “thing” is too big for God. Sometimes we think that God can do it for someone else, just not us. There is also the thought that asking for more (healing, money, favor, etc) is greedy and we shouldn’t. I am sure we can even come up with even more ways and reasons to limit God.

However, let’s not take our own perspective or worthless word on the subject, let’s look at Ephesians again. To “Him who is able to do immeasurably more,” more than what? More than we can ask or even imagine. I don’t know about you, but I have a pretty huge and vivid imagination, after all I am a writer, it kind of comes with the territory. So the things I can imagine are pretty out there, but God says He is able to do even more. He has the power to work those things in us.

Here are a few more translations of verse 20:
(NLT), “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
(KJB), “Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us-”

That is pretty straightforward. God told Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” When Sarah laughed about conceiving at an old age. I think we all have to answer that same question. Is cancer too hard? Is owing no man (being out of debt) too hard? Is the salvation of our family too hard? How about recovering from divorce, death, or disease? Think of the hardest thing you can imagine and ask yourself, “is that too hard for God.” If your answer was “yes,” then you don’t really know who He is. It’s only our lack of knowledge of Him that prevents us from receiving from Him. Now, I know He is sovereign and His plan is perfect, we also live in a fallen world, and we have to go through some junk, but the key is going through. He is able, that is never the issue.

There are plenty of us who have finally gotten this revelation, only to get stuck in the mud. Usually it is because we aren’t standing in our authority. For example: if God says we are healed and we believe He is able to heal, that He in fact already took care of that thousands of years ago when He took those stripes on His back. So in our authority, which He Himself gave us, we command sickness to leave and healing to come. We tell our bodies, or our minds, to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Then we thank Him for what He has already done. We aren’t begging Him to do something. That is sort of pointless don’t you think? If a child of our continued to beg for a toy when we had already purchased it and placed it in his hands, we would get annoyed. Thank God, He has more patience than us.

Our God is also our Father. He made everything. Take a look around you, think about the ocean, a baby giraffe, a bumble bee, a sunset, or take a look at some of the pictures from the Hubble space telescope, He is limitless. His mercy and love know no bounds. His power is unending. He never sleeps nor shuts His eyes. He is forever watching you with eyes of love. All good and perfect gifts come from the Father and He has wonderful things in store for you.

So don’t put Him in a box, don’t limit the God who made the universe.

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Vessels of Honor

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Romans 9:21 (KJV), “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

Romans 9:21 (NIV), “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?”

Do you want to be used for special purposes, or just for common use? God is the Master Potter and we are the work of His hands. His intention for each one of us is to be used for special purposes, to be vessels of honor. He has gifted us and given us talents with this in mind. Not one of us is meant to be the “chamber pot”! Instead we are to be the beautiful vase, or the chalice of a king. Unfortunately we don’t listen, or we listen and don’t obey, or we think we can’t hold water, or are too dirty to hold the kings wine. Sometimes we don’t like the process that it takes to become that vessel of honor. Clay has to go through quite the process to become anything. It is dug out of the ground, uprooted from its comfort zone. Then it is kneaded to get all the air bubble out. Next, it is thrown on the wheel, not carefully placed, thrown. The potter uses his hands and different sharp implements to shape and cut the blob of clay into the shape he wants. Most of the work is done on the inside, invasive, in the beginning and the outer work is finished up last. After all of that work, the final stage is the fire. Only through trials and through trouble can we become solid and usable.

Jeremiah 18:1-4 (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down at once to the potter’s house;?and there I will reveal My words to you.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.? But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.”

So maybe we got off track and we became flawed. Don’t fret; we are still in the Potter’s hands. This is the safest place to be! Allow Him to remake us. It isn’t always easy. In pottery class I learned a lot. Any piece can be broken down and crushed into dust. Then it is soaked in water until it is soft and pliable, only then can it be remade. If you have allowed your heart to be hardened, it will take longer and may be more painful. But always, God can start new with us.

II Timothy2:19-26 (NIV), “Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

Looking at those verses in II Timothy we can see how vessels of honor behave:
1.They name the name of Jesus.
2.They abstain from wickedness.
3.They are prepared for every good work.
4.They flee youthful lusts.
5.They pursue righteousness, faith, peace, and love.
6.They ignore foolish speculations (gossip, assumptions.)
7.They are not quarrelsome.
8.They are kind to all.
9.They are able to teach.
10.They are patient when wronged, gently correcting those in opposition, with the intent of helping them come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil.

So what will it be? Will you surrender your heart to God, The Master Potter, and allow Him to make you into something beautiful?

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A Must Watch Movie


I just watched Kirk Cameron’s “Unstoppable” movie. I highly recommend it to all. If you are one of those people who want to know why God allows suffering, or if you are a Christian who struggles with the fact that bad things happen to good people, this movie is for you. Good for all ages.

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Book Review for “Fearless”-Christian Military Biography

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This was a wonderful biography of a true American Hero. Adam was the golden boy growing up, friend and defender to all. He became up as a drug addict as a young adult, but turned his life over to God, and became a Navy Seal. His team is the one who ultimately took out Bin Laden. This true story will touch your heart and make you proud of our enlisted men and women. I give this book 5 stars and recommend it to Christian and non Christians alike. A piece of modern history!