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

 

Eyes in Our Heart.

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in his word:

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18)

Let’s focus on just one particular part of this verse; what is it Paul means when he talks about “the eyes of your hearts”? Somehow, these eyes in our hearts are supposed to let us “know what is the hope to which he,” Jesus, “has called you,” etc. How can we have eyes in our heart? And if we did, which we don’t according to any cardiac surgeon you might care to ask, have eyes in our heart, what good would they do us? How could they help us know hope? – Well, as any just about any Christian (cardiac surgeon or not), can tell you, the eyes in our hearts Paul is referring to, are Spiritual and not physical eyes. But what exactly does it mean to have “the eyes of our heart” open? Well let’s look at the above verse in context:

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:17-18)

Having the eyes of our heart “enlightened” mean’s having gift’s only God can give: a Spirit of Wisdom and of Revelation in the Knowledge of him (Jesus is who he’s referring to). And all of this so that we may know the hope which God has called us to; Jesus!

Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wutmEjdbedE

You are loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

Fear Not, For I Am With You

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in his word:

fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. (Isaiah 41:10-11)

I now feel safe on Earth… But what about after I die, then what?

Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 41:14)

Alright but that still doesn’t answer my question does it? What happens after I die? Sure I can feel good and safe here on Earth. But what about afterwards? So far all you’ve told me is that I’m a worm, and that you are my (redeemer)… Oh.

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, (Ephesians 1:7-8)

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

OK, I get the picture… God is my physical and spiritual savior and what not. But frankly, so what? What exactly does all of that mean?

 ¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. ¹² It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and Godly lives in this present age, (Titus 2:11-12)

OK but I’m already a pretty perfect fella. I don’t need any help in pride, worldly passions, self-control, or even living uprightly. I don’t even need to be redeemed; my perfection will get me to Heaven no sweat!

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

You must have misunderstood; I’m not like that! I really am perfect.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Alright then, point taken… So, how about that grace you were talking about earlier?

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

You are loved!

Joshua Cleveland

 

The Fear Of the Lord

Hello again!

This is what God gave me today in his word:

And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” (Isaiah 29:13-14)

This makes perfect sense doesn’t? I mean, look at it! Because they are wicked God will bless them but make sure that don’t have discernment or wisdom… Yep, it makes perfect sense… So now then; we’ve established this is confusing. So what does is it in the bible for? Let’s review part of the verse:

“Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men

So, we should obviously be “Fake Christians” and not really believe in God. Right? … “By no means!”; We’re looking at this passage in the wrong way. So, let’s change our point of view:

The wisdom of the world is, quite frankly, nonsense. God was going to get rid of their “wise men” and their worldly “discerning men“. There are two types of discerning, there’s Godly discerning and worldly discerning, one is good, the other not so great. But how do you explain the fact that God is quite clearly saying that because they are “faking Christianity”, they are being blessed! Let’s look at what Paul says on the matter:

²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)

¹ What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4)

In short, because they were sinning, God blessed them… But he blessed them so that they would stop sinning. It seems strange I know; but if you read the verse again, you’ll see how that works out. But, there is another matter; the verse also infers that their having “the fear of the Lord” was another cause for their being blessed:

²⁷The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. (Proverbs 10:27)

²³The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil. (Proverbs 19:23)

So was the “Fear of the Lord” part of God blessing them? Well, the verse seems to say so:

and their fear of me – This is God speaking here – is a commandment taught by men, therefore, (etc)

So the point is, simply, does the fear of the Lord bring blessing or not? Well, it depends. God isn’t a dispenser waiting for you to get the correct level of fear before dropping millions (of dollars) on your head… So what and how do you and I get the correct fear of the Lord? – Incorrect fear of God would be if you were actually scared of him. Correct fear of the Lord is when you’re humbly submissive to him, because quite frankly, he’s God. – Well, as I mentioned in my happened off section, we can receive the fear of the Lord by simply fearing him correctly. Where that doesn’t mean we will suddenly be blessed by God, it is something that we all need to have (the fear of the Lord, that is).

You are loved!

Joshua Cleveland