Wisdom

Proverbs 3

13 Joyful is the person who finds wisdom,
the one who gains understanding.
14 For wisdom is more profitable than silver,
and her wages are better than gold.
15 Wisdom is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.

Wisdom is found in the Word of God. Wisdom is found in following the Word of God. Wisdom is found in loving and living out the Word of God. I’ll take wisdom over silver & gold any day. I am a far richer man today than I was 25 years ago because of the time I have spent in the Word of God. May my life reflect the wisdom of God, and may this goober stay out of the way so that God’s Word can do what it will in me and through me.

Harvesters Needed

Matthew 9

37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Funny how we in the “church business” spend so much time trying to figure out how to bring more people into our fellowship, but rarely do we discuss how to bring more harvesters into the fields. There is a huge difference between someone who will “sit in the pews,” and someone who will spread the Good News. My desire is not just for bodies to fill a Celebration Service. My desire to to attract people who will live lives that attract others to the Saving Grace of Jesus.

No Matter What

Psalm 10

16 The Lord is king forever and ever!
The godless nations will vanish from the land.

Tucked away in the Psalms is this warning. As America continues her descent into pure godlessness, those of us who follow Christ and who live in this land should not be surprised, nor even alarmed if our nation disappears into the ash heap of human history. May we remain faithful to the Lord Jesus no matter what.

Who is this man?

Matthew 8

27 The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”

The question of the ages is asked in this verse. “Who is this man?” The disciples have just seen Jesus clam a storm simply by speaking. He demonstrates in person for these men that He is the Word of God. Their reaction? Amazement. Then, comes the question: “who IS this man?” Lot of folks have asked that question since that stormy night on the sea of Galilee. The answer is the same: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. May my life reflect that Truth always. I serve the Christ. I follow the Christ. May the Christ be glorified in my life always!

Faith

Matthew 8

5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Oh to have the faith of that Roman Officer (Centurion). May God increase my faith this year, and yes, I do realize that I am asking to be put in situations where my faith will have to be increased in order to get through them.

Correct Identification

Matthew 7

15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

Ya know, people love to throw around that “judge not, least ye be judged” stuff, but you rarely hear anyone quoting Jesus when He says “you can identify people by their actions.” Yeah. Jesus doesn’t want us to be timid in calling a spade a spade. Nor does He want us to be seduced by false prophets. He certainly doesn’t want us to be bullied into not identifying sinful behavior and warning others about it. Now, sinful behavior by pagans is normal. Sinful behavior by those who claim to want to follow Christ is not! THOSE are the folks to call out. Sinful behavior is the behavior to correct, rebuke, and of which to repent. Identifying people by their behavior is our responsibility.

Silly

Genesis 18

32 Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?”

And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

33 When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent.

As many times as I have read this account of Abraham bargaining with God over the fate of Sodom, this morning something different has hit me. Yeah, I put the last part of the bargaining session here, remember, Abraham starts with the number 50, and “gets” God to “compromise” all the way down to ten. While I used to think that it was amazing for Abraham to be bold enough to bargain with God, this morning a different thought overwhelms me. Abraham didn’t change what would happen to Sodom with his bargaining ploy with God. Sodom didn’t have even ten righteous men living there, and GOD ALREADY KNEW THAT! So, Abraham’s efforts to bargain with God were silly. So are mine.