Wisdom From Above

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in His word:

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:16-18)

We’re shown two main things here: wisdom from above (from God), and “wisdom” from below (which isn’t real wisdom, but chaos).

The ‘wisdom’ from below puts up jealousy and selfish ambition for any and everything else: we are number one, we are the most important, we are special. Not only that, but we deserve to succeed… That’s why we’ll know take all your money. — Clearly, this rather appeals to our ego (if not the police). But, let’s take a quick look at the down sides this extremely prideful thinking comes with: disorder, and every vile practice. It’s a little like Adam and Eve being enticed into eating the fruit that would “make them like God.” The fruit seems to have tons of benefits, yet leads to getting tossed out of God’s presence.

On the other hand, there’s also the wisdom from above, which is pure, peaceable and the rest: I’m nothing, God is everything. Therefore, because I am nothing and God is everything; and God doesn’t want me to fight with my brothers and sisters (in the Lord), God enabling me, I won’t fight/be jealous of (etc.) them (or anyone else). — Jame’s gives us a fuller picture of what exactly the wisdom from above is:

First of all, the wisdom from above is pure. Meaning it doesn’t get “dirty” (i.e. defiled) in the world. Then it is peaceable. A man with the wisdom from above doesn’t get into fights, either physical or with words. The man with the wisdom from above – which from now on we’ll usually refer to as “wfa,” as “wisdom from above” is a mouthful - is ‘as far as it is within his power, at peace with everyone’. The wfa is also gentle; the man/women with it isn’t harsh to those around him/her. It’s also open to reason: the person with it accepts that s/he can be wrong in things, and can be corrected. It’s also full of mercy; the person with wfa doesn’t get angry when others make mistakes; he knows he does too, so he’s merciful with them. Finally, it’s also full of good fruits, impartial and sincere: the man/woman with wfa shows his salvation by what he does; he’s full of good fruits. Not only that, but he doesn’t prefer one person over another; he’s impartial. And finally, God helping him, he doesn’t lie.

To put all that as shortly as possible: the person with wisdom from above, has the Spirit of Jesus living in him. This is simply because only Jesus can not lie, be perfectly gentle, be pure and the rest. - Though this doesn’t mean every Christian will never sin again; we still have flesh, it does mean that Christians will never be ensnared by any temptation. Even if they’re trapped for years, they will break free. Why can I say that? Because all Christians have Jesus living in them, and thus have wfa. -

So then, let’s pray that God will keep us away from the “wisdom” of the World (wisdom from below), and would give Him more of His wisdom: more of His son.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

TRG; The Righteousness of God

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in his word:

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:19-21)

for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and… Well seeing as it’s not (perhaps somewhat obviously), “the anger of man” that produces God’s righteousness, what does? Well, as my dad has told me, when you see the word, “therefore” you need to find out what it’s, “there for”.

What does produce the righteousness of God? … From now on we’ll refer to, “the righteousness of God” as ‘TRG’ because the latter ‘righteousness of God’ is a bit of a mouthful.

Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

In this case, the “therefore” is there for the purpose of, after telling us what doesn’t work, to tell us what does.

Does the anger of man produce righteousness? No, we already know it doesn’t, so then whatever produces anger (filthiness and rampant wickedness) we need to get rid of. – Alright, we’ve found the thing that doesn’t produce righteousness and gotten rid of it. Now James tells us the thing that does produce righteousness: receiving with meekness the implanted word. And what is the, “implanted word”? (I promise I’ll stop asking so many questions soon)? We know from James it’s able to save our souls; There’s exactly one thing that can save our souls and that’s the Gospel of Jesus.

Now we’ve established several things. First, that, “the anger of man,” doesn’t produce TRG. Second, that we need to get rid of that which produces anger. The reasoning behind this is simply that if it doesn’t produce something good, it must produce something bad. In the case of anger, this can be a lot of different things (physically or verbally abusing someone is probably the most common of which). Third, that the, “implanted word” is the Gospel of Jesus. – The reasoning behind that is both that the Gospel is the only thing that actually has the power to save us and that, to my knowledge the only word implanted inside of us is the afore-mentioned. – But now before I continue babbling, so what? What does it matter if we know that, “the implanted word is the Gospel? Big whoop. Why do we even need TRG?!

I’ll put it simply: Jame’s is saying two different things here. First, he’s saying the anger of man doesn’t produce TRG. Second, he’s telling us that without TRG (the righteousness of God), we only have our anger left. Big underline there. – The husband yells at the wife, the wife yells at the husband and the kids. The kids go to school, get yelled at, yell back. The husband comes home to chaos, yells some more, then goes to bed (on the couch). Repeat, repeat again and continue repeating for the rest of your life. That’s a family without TRG, that has for the most part only their own anger. – Why is it important to have God’s righteousness? Because without it we’re left with ourselves. You want to know part of the reason why solitary confinement is such a torture? Because you’re left with yourself, just yourself, and no one else (“me, mine, and I” don’t count as other people there with you).

In conclusion. The anger of man is bad and ultimately leads to no good, therefore it must be done away with (by doing away with the roots of it). We need God and his righteousness, and in general make an effort to be quick to hear, slow to speak.

You are Loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Water, Lots and Lots of Water.

Hello again!

This is the talk I had today with God through his word:

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. (Isaiah 41:17-18)

Well, alright then… So what? I already had plenty of water why would I need more?

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”^[a] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

³ For I will pour water on the thirsty land, 
   and streams on the dry ground; 
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, 
   and my blessing on your descendants. (Isaiah 44:3)

Oh, so what you’re trying to say is that the Holy Spirit is just being “likened to water”. Right? … Alright, but why do I even need the Holy Spirit, sure I get the whole part about how I would spiritually die of thirst without him but so what? What do I care if I spiritually die? In my opinion the here and now is what really matters.

²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

So what you’re saying is that I need the Holy Spirit because he in fact effects both my Spiritual and Physical life? Well I suppose that makes sense. But what if I told you I already have all the fruits of the Spirit?

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

But I am in Jesus (the vine), it’s just I don’t have the Holy Spirit living in me.

⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the^[a] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. (1 John 5:7-8)

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name (not names; plural, but name; singular.) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19)

Ah, so your telling me that if I have Jesus living in me I also have the Holy Spirit living in me… OK then, one last question. Since I am obviously the ”poor and needy person who is seeking water (the Holy Spirit)” talked about in the verse… Why is it  I’m still seeking? After all I have Jesus and therefore the Holy Spirit and God the Father living in me… Is it just that Christians are always looking for the Holy Spirit to lead in guide them?

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

Oh, so what you’re saying is that because everyone needs guidance in everything they do, the Christian always has a hunger for the Holy Spirit and always should be asking God for more Wisdom.

You are loved!

Joshua Cleveland

Related articles:

• “Help!” (pjsprayerline.blogspot.com)
• Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up (justificationbygrace.com)