The Next Ten Years......

The next ten years should tell us a lot about what will become of the United States of America. Those of us who came to the Lord in the 60's and 70's may have a ready made ministry on our hands. There is a political war of great magnitude taking place in our country right now. Decisions are being made right now that could turn the tide of revolution in America. Government control is creeping up on us and somehow I have to believe that behind the scenes there is spiritual warfare as well. The core beliefs of our nation are under attack and specifically the United States constitution. The constitution is a restrictive document that our forefathers wrote for our own protection. The political progressives of the day deem the constitution to be out dated and too restricting. The constitution reigns in the federal government and the progressives want big government.

The American Church is simultaneously under scrutiny only for different reasons. The American Christian brand has worn on many because it has become big business and brash in the eyes of those not attending the institutionalized church. Many well intentioned people do not see this because the institutions that they belong to have caused them to become inward and secluded from the plight of the world around them. There is a gradual decline right now that will eventually grow into large numbers as the years go by.

Politics and Religion in America are both on a collision course of some kind and somehow they must be inter-twined because each one can have great affect on the other. Is this stirring something significant in the course of history? The next ten years should reveal a lot and for those of us who know Jesus, we may find this decade to be the necessary ingredient for real change and spiritual revival in America. I always thought the problem in the church was so enormous that it would take some kind of major event to move those in Christ into a greater dimension of ministry and service. It could be a new beginning for all of us.

Help us Lord

Grant us wisdom and grace for what is to come.....

Who is Wisdom?

I know that's a strange question but the writer of Proverbs 8:22-36 leads us down a different path by personalizing wisdom. The writer says that wisdom was appointed from eternity, from the beginning before the world began. Before the oceans were made and before the mountains and hillsides were set in place, wisdom was given birth. Wisdom was with the Lord before the heaven and earth was made and wisdom was by His side when He finally decided to create the heavens and the earth. The writer says that wisdom was filled with delight day after day rejoicing in His presence. Proverbs 8:35 says that whoever finds me (wisdom) finds life and receives favor from the Lord but whoever fails to to find me (wisdom) harms himself.

This is a beautiful passage that clearly reveals Jesus Christ as the personification of God's wisdom. He was with the Father from the beginning and knew that someday he would become the pathway for all of us who want to return to the father. He left the majesty and beauty of His father's heavenly realm to become like us so that we might see what the Father was like first hand.

When we find true wisdom we find Jesus.

Wisdom yields better returns than gold......

That's right! Proverbs 3:14 says that wisdom is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. It sounds like the supreme investment. It seems to me that wisdom is so central in the book of Proverbs because wisdom brings us closer to how God manages His creation. It's probably better to think of God as a wise father rather than a smart professor. Our Lord does not really want to conduct a seminar for us or communicate to us as classroom students. He wants to father us and the sooner we dismiss the teacher-student concept of God the better it will be for all of those who want to know God.

Do you really think that we are getting the biggest bang for the buck by attending all these church services and seminars? We attend these things all the time and when they are over we go right back to our non-relational lifestyle. What does church attendance and seminar Christianity yield in our lives? Do we come away from them closer to God? Sometimes we do but it can be momentary at best. Here's the deal. The same wisdom given to the Preacher and the teacher is readily available to you. It can come through other people for sure because the Lord wants us to minister one to another and live as a family under Him but God can speak to us directly as well. We don't trust our ability to hear from God because we have become leaners. We expect others to hear from God for us. That has to stop.

The yields and benefits of having a relationship with God are far and away better than our man made substitutes. The best advice we can give others in moments of distress is to urge them to seek God immediately. He's a father lying in wait for His children to return to Him.

His wisdom yields better returns than gold.......

We Just Don't Understand......

One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3:5,6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

What I love most about this scripture is that my understanding is not necessary in order for me to walk with God. Comprehension really has little to do with faith. I don't think that many of us understood what our parents were doing when they were guiding us as small children. We just trusted them because they loved us and we loved them. It was all based on relationship. This is the failure of modern day Christianity. For some reason we treat God like a concept that has to be learned and understood. No wonder people are leaving the church in droves. Down deep inside we want our God to be real and personal. Guess what? He is!

Take a step back from all this religious stuff and ask yourself, Do I really know Him? Have I ever met Him? Men cannot understand women and women cannot understand men and there is a reason for that. God made that union to exemplify relationship. It's all worked out in a relationship that is vulnerable because love is vulnerable. Trust and faithfulness are necessary to make marraige work. Why did God do it that way?

I have a suspicion that God loves an on going relationship. There is real life drama in love and marraige that is lived out within the covenant. The same is true with God. If He seems far away then it is on us to seek Him because when we first came to Him we made an eternal covenant with Him. He is there in person and will never be found in religion.

It's about our journey with Him and we will never completely understand where He is leading us but that doesn't matter.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding......

Wisdom will protect you.....

Proverbs 2:11 says that discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you. Did you ever have great apprehension about a decision that you had to make? The less wisdom the more insecure we are about where our decisions will lead us. None of us are wise right from childbirth and so the gaining of wisdom does take time. On the other hand, I know a lot of unwise elderly folks and also know some folks that are very wise at an early age. Time can be frittered away and so folks that have a lot of time on this earth do not necessarily have great wisdom. Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age but rather with an attitude of heart that is teachable.

I have seen many with less talent surpass those with more because of their dedication and teachability. We call these folks over achievers. I disagree. I think these folks are wise and because of their teachablity they become all that God wants them to be and more. The wisdom of these folks have protected them from the negative and seductive reasoning of the world which is puffed up and prideful.

Wisdom will protect you....

Get Wisdom.......

The book of Proverbs continually makes a plea to all that read it's contents. The writer of the book makes it very clear that we are to "Get Wisdom". The first few verses of the book says that the Proverbs of Solomon were written so that we could attain wisdom,understanding and insight. Who doesn't need some of that? Wisdom seems to be more than knowledge as you read through the book. Knowledge is information but wisdom requires application because wisdom has a cause and affect. The Bible says that knowledge can puff us up and prideful but wisdom is different. It is embodied by our very conscience and leads us into our decision making. A lack of wisdom surely will lead to some very poor decisions.

Why do some people seem so wise and together? The first chapter of Proverbs says that the process of obtaining wisdom starts when we are children. Chapter one verse 8 says that we should listen to our father's instruction and not forsake what our mother teaches. If we stop right there, we can see that the foundation of gaining wisdom starts at a very young age. What a responsibility we have as parents. Children with little guidance become insecure because they start making bad decisions right from the start. A child that grows up undisciplined will have a rough go of it in their adolescence because their insecurity will show itself to their peers and will cause a loss of self worth and confidence.

My sister is eight years older than me. She has told me many times that I was a very talented little boy growing up and that my parents didn't offer me much guidance. my parents loved me but were not able to channel and cultivate my God given abilities because they themselves were in such great need. Later on in life, I began to sporadically channel my ambition but I lacked consistency and faithfulness. When the Lord came and rescued me I began to see a whole new set of rules for living a purposeful and meaningful life. It's never too late to obtain wisdom but the process needs to start because wisdom comes from a lot of trial and error. Our life is nothing more that a series of decision making and so wisdom is so very important. Without wisdom, we wander through life aimlessly.

Get Wisdom.......