Jesus told his disciples, “You will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately” (Matthew 24:6 NLT). When Jesus said “don’t panic,” his words were in the form of a command. In other words, panic is not our option. 

Every generation has wars. Every generation has worries and concerns. Every network does its best to sensationalize the news these days because simply reporting the facts will send most of its viewers to a different network. 

Wisdom Matters is intended to bring biblical truth that will transcend the thoughts and opinions created by the world’s news. In the end, we have the certainty of our salvation. We therefore live each day with the confidence that whatever our earthly lives hand us, we have nothing to fear.

Jesus didn’t tell us to try to be brave. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid.” The psalmist said, “The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid.” The most important word in that verse is the two-letter word my. A stronghold is a fort, providing walls of protection. The psalmist was saying, “If I run to God and take refuge in him, I will have nothing to fear.” God cannot be our refuge or stronghold until we run to him and give him that place in our lives. 

If you have ever watched a toddler become frightened, you have watched them run as quickly as they can to the person they most trust to keep them safe. The parent, grandparent, or caregiver scoops them up and speaks quietly in their ear, “It’s okay. You are safe with me.”

Compared to God, you and I aren’t even toddlers! The illustration is still true. Our Abba, Father, is present and ready to protect all who will run to him. We have been commanded, “Do not panic, do not be afraid.” The only way not to break those commands is to know and trust the One you can run to at any time. 

Of whom are you afraid? Don’t be. Run to God and rest in his perfect, protective love. When God said not to panic, he wasn’t making a suggestion for your spiritual life; he was giving you a command. Yielding to God is spiritual wisdom. He is your stronghold, your fortress, and it is wise to live there.

The most important lesson Christians can learn from Scripture about controversies, battles, warfare, and even the daily irritations we might find ourselves in is this: The battle is the Lord’s. We don’t know what to say or do until we ask God for his wisdom and direction. 

Making Jesus our Savior was an easy choice. Allowing him to be the Lord of our lives is much more difficult. We can experience joyful peace when we remember that the battle is not ours to fight. The Lord has basically said, “Hop off my throne and allow me to handle this in a way that is best for everyone.” God always has a kingdom purpose as his goal. He doesn’t just want to fix the problem today; his plan likely includes the best fix for our eternal lives as well.

Our battles are simply opportunities to step into his strength and surrender our own. There might be consequences to our earthly lives that are actually blessings for our eternal lives. The Bible teaches us that “iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17). God allows many of our struggles in life because they provide a way for us to strengthen and hone our faith and receive his favor and blessings as our reward. 

God wants us to be strong and he wants to bless us for our choices. The greatest victories in our earthly lives will have heavenly rewards. Who or what do you need to surrender to the Lord and allow him to fight for you? Don’t panic, dread, or fear when an enemy comes against you. Just “tell God on them” and hear him say, “We’ve got this.”

God has promised victory to those who allow him to own the fight. The best way to know God has fought the battle is that the outcome turns out to be a spiritual blessing for all involved. 

We have a wise and powerful God. Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Allowing him to fight with us and for us is our hope of victory.

Those guards are an image for our Christian faith. Paul told the Corinthian believers to be “watchful.” Corinth was a rough, ungodly city in Roman culture. The first-century Christians were very different from most people in the city, and they were carefully and curiously watched. The church in Corinth became one of the most influential churches of the first century. 

Paul closed his letter to the church in Corinth by telling the members to pay attention to their witness inside the church as well as out among the culture. Their job was to “stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” 

Christians are supposed to be like those guards in front of Buckingham Palace. We aren’t supposed to look like the rest of the crowd, and we aren’t supposed to act like them either. We have a job to do because we are enlisted in the King’s service.

We stand our post when we stand firm in our faith. There is no reason to waffle about because of different opinions. We don’t have to tolerate or accept what the Bible defines as sin. We don’t have to weaken our faith to make it acceptable to others. We are called to stand firm and serve our King.

We are to be strong, steady, dependable, convinced, mature, and confident in our faith.

That witness greatly impacted the decadent, sinful city of Corinth in the first century, and that same witness will impact our culture today.

How would you describe your witness to others? Chances are, most people know you are a Christian and they know what Christians believe. We speak our loudest sermons sometimes by using no words. We simply take our post, stand firm, and remain focused on whom we are serving. The “tourists” can jump around and act crazy, but we are immovable, certain of the truth.

Those guards at Buckingham Palace serve an earthly monarch. Christians serve a heavenly King. Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. His strength and our dedication to serve will provide an influential witness to those who are watching. Are you willing to yield your life to faithful service of the King?

Often in a crisis time, we look for verses from the Bible that will provide the answers we need. God gave us his word for a reason. He knew we would need to reach for his voice and hear it as we read.

The author of Chronicles had a different solution. People didn’t have Bibles sitting on a shelf in their homes or accessible through technology. In the Old Testament, the Spirit was present but didn’t indwell a believer’s life. In 1 Chronicles 16:11, we are instructed to “seek the Lᴏʀᴅ and his strength; seek his presence continually.”

The Hebrew word for seek meant to search for something of value or importance. Think of how you would look for a treasured object like a lost wedding ring or an important key. That is the way we have been told to seek the Lord and his strength. 

Our search for God and his strength is not just because we have a casual appreciation for his companionship. We are taught to seek him because there is no other option or substitution for his presence in our lives. We desperately need God’s direction and power in our lives. 

And we are to seek his presence continually. When the Apostle Paul taught us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16), he was teaching the same truth found in the Old Testament truth of 1 Chronicles. God is faithful to be present in our lives when we seek him. He is our patient, holy Father and will most often wait to show his Presence until he is invited.

If we don’t seek God's presence continually, we cannot yield each moment to his wisdom, and yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Seek—chase after—the Lord and you will find his presence and his strength.

If the Apostle Paul struggled with his sins, we should expect to struggle too. We want to be consistently faithful to God, but we can also know that consistency will always be difficult to achieve.

Thankfully, we have a perfect, loving Father who, as Paul said, “is faithful” to us. God does not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability and always provides a way for us to stand strong in the temptation and escape the sin. Paul knew that God provided him with the spiritual strength he needed, even when he didn’t live with that strength as he should. 

There are moments we are tempted to set aside our faith in order to fully enjoy a pleasure the world offers. Later, those moments have passed and we are left with words we wish we hadn’t spoken, people we wish we hadn’t hurt, and a witness we wish was more intact. We had a good time, for a moment, but we know that we “set aside our faith” for the sake of something less important.

Why do those moments happen in the life of every Christian? Paul told us we had a way of escape and that we wouldn’t be tempted beyond what we could endure. Yet we were tempted, and we did not escape our own choices. 

The Holy Spirit is a one-time addition to our lives, but being led by the Holy Spirit is a moment-to-moment choice. The Spirit of Christ is constantly speaking his thoughts into our day, but, as with any conversation, it is up to us to listen and then act on the words we hear.

Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We shouldn’t expect to live in this world temptation free. Even Jesus was tempted in every way. Jesus was the only sinless person who will ever exist. Our failures are inevitable, and God redeems those times by helping us find our way out of those weaknesses and giving us the strength to endure and overcome them the next time. 

Our earthly spiritual lives are not about perfection; they are about growth. Our heavenly lives will be our perfect reward. Until then we remember: yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Whenever we are tempted, we can choose to yield those moments to God and he will lead us through the temptation to a greater reward.

Moses was praising God for bringing his people across the Red Sea on dry land and giving the people triumph over Pharoah and their enemies who were pursuing them. All of God’s people, especially Moses, understood that their triumph was the direct result of God’s miraculous provision.

Moses had spoken for God, and the Pharaoh had been told Jehovah was the source of each plague. Moses had followed God’s calling to confront Pharaoh and lead his people from captivity. When they stood on the shore of the Red Sea, the waters parted, making a path for the freed slaves, and then the waters ceased parting and the Egyptian army was killed. Moses knew all that God had done and praised him, saying, “The Lᴏʀᴅ is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

We often remember to praise God for the “big” victories in our lives. But some of our most important victories can often go unnoticed. The world’s coincidences are often God’s doing. Near misses are often an angel’s work in our lives. God has never stopped “parting the seas” that his children face. That said, God doesn’t always part the sea; sometimes he just swims the waters alongside us.

Everything God does in our lives is worthy of his praise. All that God does or allows is within his character and can be seen as his direct work and will. We were taught to pray, “Thy will be done,” but are we careful to notice his answers to that prayer and give him our praise?

Like Moses we can say, “The Lᴏʀᴅ is my strength and my song.” God is the reason Christians can live with the confidence of our eternal salvation in Christ. We can praise God at any time for the hope that is ours, now and always. 

We often congratulate or praise people for their personal achievements. How would your day be different tomorrow if you filled it with praise to your God for the immeasurable blessings he has provided in your life? 

Praising others is usually good. Yielding our highest praise to God is always good. Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Yielding our time and our praise to the One who is most deserving is wise.

God told his people if you will stop and allow me to be first, if you will come back to me and rest yourself in my Presence, I can save you from all kinds of mistakes and hardships. God told them our earthly life shouldn’t be about working harder, doing more, and striving to be more successful with earthly things. The Lord taught them that if they would just be still, to listen and wait for him to lead, then they would be spiritually strong and truly successful in the things that matter most. 

God told his people that he could bless their lives if they would just obey his teaching, and then he voiced some of the most convicting words in all of Scripture. God said, “But you were unwilling.”

Have you ever wondered why it’s difficult to yield our schedules and our plans in order to spend time focused on the Lord? Satan would rather you hurry through your life doing one hundred good things than take the quiet time necessary to hear and obey the God-things that will change your life, and likely the lives of others. 

It will probably always be a difficult choice to rest in the Lord and remain there long enough for him to strengthen our lives and direct our paths. Satan wants us to remain self-sufficient instead of God-dependent. Satan isn’t threatened by our good success in the world; he is threatened by those moments we walk in God’s plan and find spiritual success in our lives and ministries.

Are you willing to take the time to rest in the Lord and allow the world to rush past? Is there a place where you know you can spend quiet time with God, uninterrupted by anyone but the Holy Spirit? 

The question is, are you willing to yield your good ideas and your own plans in order to wait for God’s perfect guidance? Rest in God and you will be saved from making wrong choices. Rest in God and trust his direction because yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength.

Spiritual wisdom is a gift from God. Spiritual service is not accomplished with human strength. Spiritual strength isn’t measured by how much knowledge we have acquired about God; it is measured by how well God can use all that knowledge we have acquired.

That’s what the Lord was telling Zerubbabel, a king of Judah. Zerubbabel was tasked with building a temple in Jerusalem. The people had returned from the Babylonian captivity and they needed a place to worship. Zerubbabel was overwhelmed with trying to build even a simple structure, let alone something that compared to the temple Solomon had constructed.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by a calling from God? Have you faced a trial or tragedy that seemed too difficult to overcome? Maybe there was a time when the effort of remaining faithful to God seemed too costly in a culture that doesn’t believe he matters.

God did not give us his Holy Spirit as a favor. God’s Spirit indwells Christians because he is a necessity to our spiritual lives. God’s word to King Zerubbabel remains his word today. The Lord spoke to the king, saying, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.” 

The king wasn’t going to build a temple because of his great wealth or powerful abilities. The temple would be built because God’s Spirit would provide all that was needed. God’s Spirit would inspire the people to work, give, and serve. God’s Spirit would inspire the king’s leadership and protect the people from their enemies. The temple was God’s idea; therefore, God’s Spirit was essential for every aspect of its construction.

We don’t accomplish great things for God in our strength or because of our training. We accomplish great things for God when we allow the Spirit to be powerful through us. 

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. We cannot be strong in the Lord until we yield to his Holy Spirit.

Isaiah made the point that even young people grow tired physically. Then he described the strength that only God can give. He said, “They who wait for the Lᴏʀᴅ shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.” We should hear Isaiah’s words with Isaiah’s perspective. Picture the prophet as a young boy, watching an eagle soar above the earth and imagining what it would be like to do that himself. 

Christians today can sit in an airplane and arrive in a completely different country. We can travel in cars to faraway cities. We grow weary of waiting in security lines, or we hop out of our cars, weary of driving. Isaiah and the people of his day couldn’t imagine the lives we lead today. Yet we have one thing in common: every human being, of every era of history, has needed the strength of God for their circumstances in life.

Isaiah was telling the people that God could give them the strength they could never have had otherwise. He said, “They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Spiritual strength is the strength only God can provide. Physically, we can train our bodies to run a marathon, but no one can run two marathons in a row without rest. That is true spiritually as well.

Every day requires water, food, exercise, and rest for our physical needs. Every day requires spiritual filling as well. Only God can renew our spiritual strength, and he does so as we spend time with him. 

Are you willing to seek the Lord’s wisdom and wait for the Lord’s spiritual strength each day? We don’t have the strength to run a marathon unless we train for it. Neither do we have the spiritual strength for tomorrow unless we wait on the Lord to provide it.

God’s strength is renewed in us when we wait for it. Waiting for God’s strength each day is wisdom, and it is also the ability to soar through our lives on wings like eagles. Flying is usually easier than driving. Driving is easier than walking. Living with God’s strength is easier when we wait for him to provide it.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Wait for it and you can find the strength to fly like an eagle through the day ahead.

Jesus didn’t choose the trained church leaders of his day to become his disciples; instead, he chose faithful men who knew how to run a fishing business. He chose a tax collector who wanted to be right with God. Jesus even chose a man who would one day betray him. The wisdom of Christ teaches us to value people for the strength of their faith more than their abilities. The wisdom of Christ reveals the importance of knowing and faithfully choosing God’s leadership, even when it might seem illogical to others.

Logic should have led Jesus to choose the men who had dedicated themselves to studying the scrolls of God’s word. It would make sense that the Pharisees and Sadducees would be the most logical men to recognize and understand Christ’s life as the fulfillment of the numerous messianic prophecies of Scripture. Yet, it was the men who were Jesus’ most logical choice to be disciples who would later shout “Crucify him!” and call for their Messiah’s death.

People today often fall into the same mistake of following human logic instead of following the Spirit’s wisdom.

God told Moses to part the Red Sea and lead the Israelites to step off the shore and cross to the other side. God told Joshua to lead the people into the promised land by crossing the Jordan River—at flood stage. Jesus told his disciples that greatness in heaven would be found by clawing their way to the bottom. Scripture doesn’t exist to strengthen our logic; it exists to strengthen our faith in God’s power and wisdom.

Why does God insist on working in ways that seem to contradict logic? 

If Moses and the people had been able to cross the Red Sea on a boat, would his enemies have been slain? If Joshua had waited until the Jordan River was shallow, would his enemies in Jericho have hidden within the city walls, fearful of Joshua’s God? If Jesus had picked the Pharisees and Sadducees, would they have wanted to listen to his teaching or debate their own thoughts and ideas?

God has an affinity for people who humbly consider themselves the least. God often calls people to lead who will understand their need to follow. That’s why Jesus said, “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest” and the “leader as one who serves.” Remember, David was the youngest of all the brothers, yet he was the one chosen by God to become the king.

Until we yield to God’s wisdom, all we have is human knowledge and human strength. God’s ways are not our ways. They are higher and holier. Spiritually, we will be much stronger when we trust that spiritual truth should always give direction to our human logic.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. It is perfectly logical to yield to the wisdom of our perfect God.

Paul’s words to the Roman church have been proven truth for every generation. Paul said the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Truth has power. The early church understood that fact and they “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.”

If we want to devote our lives to God, we must devote our lives to the study and application of God’s word. Bible study is essential if we want to be devoted followers of Christ. God used a host of people to write his truth down, and those words were preserved as the words of our Bibles. 

The problem isn’t knowing God’s truth; it’s living devoted to the truth we know.

That’s why the early believers, and all Christians since, have been encouraged in Scripture to devote themselves to a community of fellow believers, their church. The Christian community was devoted to remembering Jesus in the breaking of bread, and they became a body of believers who supported one another in prayers.

A community of faith should exist to help its members be strong in the Lord and devoted to serving him and others. A strong community of faith is founded on, and grounded in, the truth of Scripture. We devote our lives to God when we are devoted to his purpose in our lives.

Peter was strengthened when he received God’s Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Then Peter was devoted to preaching the truth of the gospel and three thousand people were saved in one day.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. A life that is devoted to God is a life that is a witness to his wisdom and filled with his strength. 

Paul told the church in Rome, and every Christian who reads his words, that we must consider ourselves “dead to sin.” In other words, we must see our faith and God’s Holy Spirit as the power we need to resist the temptation to sin. God didn’t guarantee our salvation so that we could live unconcerned about our sins, as if they didn’t matter. Instead, Paul said we needed to remember that we are now “alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Blaise Pascal was a child prodigy who became a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic author. He was the inventor of what we now know as the mechanical calculator. 

Physically, Pascal struggled with frailty and illness. Spiritually, he had the strength only God could provide. He was a brilliant mind and wrote this in Pensées: “There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous.” 

All of us have personal sins we likely repeat because deep down we just don’t think of them as being all that sinful. A lot of personal sins are committed by Christians who don’t realize that all sin has consequences in the lives of others. 

Words muttered in private are often uttered out loud later on.

Private sins often mean another human being, created by God, has been objectified.

Smaller sins often stretch the boundaries and allow us to tolerate sins with greater consequences.

Paul taught us to live and see ourselves as dead to sin. From the time we become Christians, we begin to put to death the sins that cost Jesus the cross. To live free from sins doesn’t mean we live without the consequences of our sins. Rather, it means we live without the eternal penalty of those sins.

The time we spend committing a sinful act is time we waste apart from God’s will. It is time spent without the eternal reward of refusing that sin. God would much rather reward our godly choice than forgive our choice to sin.

We are alive to God through Christ. We walk into each circumstance of our lives with God’s Presence within us. Setting aside a sin is much easier when we realize how much we don’t want to include Jesus in that sin. Max Lucado said it well in A Gentle Thunder: “To call yourself a child of God is one thing. To be called a child of God by those who watch your life is another thing altogether.” Who will be impacted by your witness tomorrow as they watch you, God’s child? 

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Pray for the wisdom to live dead to sin and you will be able to walk confidently with Christ tomorrow.

Ananias was probably part of the group that had fled Jerusalem after Stephen had been stoned. He knew Saul of Tarsus wanted to harm Christians and he wanted nothing to do with him or his recovery. Yet, when the Lord said go, Ananias went! We don’t have to like God’s call to choose it.

When Ananias placed his hands on Saul, he called him “brother.” When Ananias told Saul he knew about his experience on the road to Damascus, Saul knew he had a brother he could trust as he was from God. When Saul of Tarsus was filled with the Holy Spirit, they both knew God had redeemed past sins for his holy purpose.

But Ananias didn’t leave Saul alone. Most scholars assume Ananias baptized Saul and helped him regain his physical strength with food. Scripture says that for many days Saul joined the disciples in Damascus. Quite likely, Ananias made that possible. The passage continues: “Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by testifying that Jesus was the Christ” (v. 22).

We all have one or more Sauls in our lives, people who seem antagonistic to our faith. We might think of them as hopeless prospects for the salvation and biblical wisdom we would like to share with them. Ananias didn’t just share God’s message; he also shared his love and compassion. Saul might not have received his words except that they were accompanied by a godly witness.

Ananias was a wise Christian man who understood that God’s calling was not offered as a suggestion. God accepted and answered Ananias’ concerns, and Ananias accepted and answered God’s call. Human history was absolutely changed as a result. Saul became the Apostle Paul and was baptized, cared for, and strengthened for his ministry.

The strength God provides is the strength needed for the task at hand. Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. His strength has value and purpose we cannot always comprehend. Ananias had no idea what his faithfulness to God would ultimately accomplish. How might the Lord call you and strengthen you to accomplish his good purpose in the days ahead? Yield to his wisdom now and you will be ready.

Why does prayer time with others have such high value in God’s word and in our own lives? Jesus provided that answer when he said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” How would it change our public prayers if we remembered that one of those bowed in prayer with us is the Lord Jesus?

When we are with people who “have gathered” in the name of Jesus, we are with Jesus himself. He is a tangible presence in our circle. He is the one voicing our prayers, guiding our prayers, listening to our prayers, and interceding with God for each request. When we are gathered in the name of Jesus, we are gathered for his purpose and his glory.

If every person recognized the presence of Jesus in the room, stepping outside of his purpose for prayer would be very difficult. With Jesus in the room, our natural inclination would be to offer love and grace instead of opinion or judgment. Knowing Jesus was praying with us would make it much easier to trust that our prayers would be perfectly answered.

Everyone needs to be prayed for and prayed with. All of us need to pray in the name of Jesus knowing we pray in the presence of Jesus. 

When King David prayed he said, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lᴏʀᴅ, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). 

When two or three Christians are gathered in the name of Jesus, we should speak and pray with David’s words in mind.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Gathering God’s wisdom for prayer isn’t difficult when we know Jesus himself has gathered with us to pray.

When others need prayer, do they ask you to pray?

Those questions are important because they speak to the way others perceive your walk with the Lord.

There are people whom we believe can sit at the Lord’s feet and talk to him about our needs. They know God in a deeply personal way. They know God’s word so they know how to pray for his will and for his glory. They are people who pray with a heart of compassion and grace for us and others. 

James said, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power.” That is biblical truth that applies to all generations. We should want to be that righteous person so we can pray those powerful prayers.

A righteous person is simply a person who is right with God. None of us is perfect, but there are those who quickly seek forgiveness for imperfections and work hard to live a life God can work through and bless. A righteous person isn’t a sinless person, just a person who wants to sin less today than the day before.

How do we become a righteous person who can pray powerful prayers for others? Consider James’ advice to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.” Christians should be a safe place for people to share successes and sins. We should help one another and learn from one another as we pray for one another. We should be a community of believers who encourage one another to become increasingly right with God, knowing the prayers of a righteous person have great power as they are working.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Let’s be people who are yielded to God’s wisdom and filled with God’s love so others can trust that our prayers will be offered to the Lord with spiritual strength.

It's so important to remember that our feelings don’t change the facts of our faith. Feelings are temporary and change with our circumstances. Our faith is upheld by the reality of the object of our faith, Jehovah God. When we find ourselves in a low moment spiritually, we need to turn toward what we know is true rather than what simply feels true at the time.

The Apostle Paul had more struggles than most, and he was honest about his feelings in many of his letters. He was also honest about his faith in God. Paul knew how to seek God and find strength for his circumstances. He knew that spiritual strength was something received. Spiritual strength is a product of our desire to know God and walk with him through life. 

We are only spiritually strong when we yearn for, pray for, and choose to receive the Lord’s strength into our lives. It is the “strength of his might” that gives guidance to the lost, that provides wisdom for our confusion, that brings comfort and peace to our greatest struggles. The strength of God’s voice speaks spiritual facts into our feelings.

Our spiritual strength results from our relationship with the Lord. It is from that relationship we draw the “strength of his might” into our own lives. 

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Yielding our feelings to that fact will lead us to be strong in the Lord in the strength of his might.

We were given the person, the power, and the purpose of Jesus when his Holy Spirit came to indwell our lives at the moment of our salvation.

Jesus told his disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). He then told them about the “Helper” who would soon come, the “Spirit of truth.”

The moment we became a Christian and received the Holy Spirit we were born again as an eternal child of God. We are no longer simply flesh and blood; we are people who carry within us the holy Presence of God. We have been given God’s power to accomplish his will. We have been filled with God’s strength and character. We bear God’s name.

Have you underestimated your ability to serve God? Have you undervalued your purpose in the world? You are a child of the King of kings. You bear his spiritual DNA in your life. Your true “self-image” should be the image of yourself as a powerful, blessed child of God.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. His wisdom indwells your life through the person of the Holy Spirit. You have his strength and the ability to do “great works” for his glory.

God still speaks to his children, but we have his voice in a way that those in biblical times did not. Most of us have several Bibles on our shelves, not to mention access to God’s word through our technology. In the first century, only the priests and rabbis had access to the Old Testament scrolls. In the New Testament days and beyond, only some knew how to read. The letters and Gospels were usually read aloud to groups in the churches. For centuries, the Bible was painstakingly handwritten by priests who preserved the integrity of each word. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that people were given the chance to own a Bible, and it was the 1900s before owning a Bible became commonplace. 

We refer to the Bible as “God’s word.” But we could also refer to the Bible as God’s voice to his people today. We shouldn’t just read the words; we should learn to hear God speak his word, from the pages, especially those phrases that begin with “And God said.” 

Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan when he said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus used Scripture to answer Satan’s temptations and taught his disciples to do the same.

There are many remarkable statistics about the accuracy and history of our biblical text. Suffice it to say that the Bible is known to be a sacred and miraculous volume of historical and proven truth.

The Bible is God speaking his wisdom to us from its pages. Reading the Bible is time spent listening to the word and will of God. The Bible is the unchanging wisdom of our unchanging God. When you read Scripture, you can hear the words “And God said” from each page. The Bible is everything everyone needs to know in order to know and trust God’s authority in their life and live in obedience to his will.

God’s voice is the best source of his wisdom. He can speak into your life at any moment but will most often speak to you from the pages of his comprehensive, historical, miraculous word.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. We live for God when we study and obey his voice of wisdom, written and preserved for us in the Bible. 

Have you ever stepped out in faith only to fall flat? If so, you are part of centuries of Christians who understand, having done the same thing. It's difficult to trust Paul’s words when we have lived with past failures. How do we conquer our doubts when we are abundantly aware of our weaknesses? 

Actually, being aware of our weakness is the first step to achieving “all things.” Paul taught the church that he could do “all things” because of God. It was his Lord who provided him the strength to accomplish his calling.

We know God has given us talents and abilities. We also know that we have weaknesses and fears. Paul wasn’t teaching the Philippians a lesson about self-confidence; he was speaking a message of wisdom. He wanted them to understand that the source of Christian confidence and ability is God. 

Paul had committed crimes against the family of God. Paul had experienced the discipline of God on the road to Damascus. Paul had seen God do miracles and had often been persecuted because of his very successful and difficult ministry. Paul lived a grueling life with poor eyesight and what he called his “thorn in the flesh.” 

Philippians 4:13 is a verse in the final chapter of Paul’s letter to Philippi, a letter written while Paul was living under house arrest in Rome. Paul wasn’t saying Christians can do anything they set their minds to accomplish. Instead, he was teaching Christians to understand that when God calls us to a task, God provides us the strength and direction to fulfill our calling. 

We conquer our weakness and doubt by understanding we should doubt our abilities to accomplish God’s will in our own strength. God’s calling isn’t what he wants us to do; it is what he wants to accomplish himself through his Holy Spirit within us. 

Consider Mary’s words after the angel had revealed her calling. She, a virgin, would bear a Son. Mary said, “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). Faith in God’s power is the key to conquering the doubts we have about our own abilities.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. You can do anything God calls you to do when you allow his Spirit to be your strength.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength.

We live in a culture that is impressed with and influenced by success, confidence, and experience. Scripture teaches that yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. Therefore, as Christians, we should submit all that we know to the One who knows all things. 

James was writing to his Christian brothers and sisters when he asked, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” James answered his own question by telling his church to look for the person who “by his good conduct” would “show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” Wisdom is knowing what to do with all that you know. Our good conduct, our godly conduct, will yield our good ideas to God’s perfect wisdom. 

A person who is wise and understanding has gained spiritual strength from the wisdom of God.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” —2 Timothy 1:7

Every word of Scripture is God’s wisdom, but what about the questions the Bible doesn’t clearly address? It’s estimated that most human beings make about thirty-five thousand decisions each day. How could God possibly speak his wisdom into our lives for all of those choices?

The answer is found in the Spirit God gave us. God told us to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 NIV) because he knew we would need the Spirit’s influence all the time. The Holy Spirit’s thoughts and ideas flow through our minds all day. We just need to learn how to recognize his influence from all others.

When the Holy Spirit guides our lives, he does not make us afraid or timid. Instead, his thoughts come with power and the direction needed to choose his will. His thoughts are motivated by his love for us and his desire to help us control, or discipline, our own ideas so that we choose his wisdom instead. When we learn to “keep in step” with his Spirit, our own ideas are often inspired by his. Our thoughts extend beyond personal goals and his priorities begin to transform ours.

Yielding to God’s wisdom is spiritual strength. You can know a thought is from God if it gives you the power, love, and self-control you need to discern and choose the wisdom of God.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to end each day with the realization that God had found favor with the way we spent our time, our money, and our talents. The most peaceful prayers are those spoken to our Father when we know he is smiling down on us, his children. 

We have God’s word so we can study and know the things we can do that bring him delight and incur his favor. There is nothing more important to God than investing in our eternal lives and helping others do the same. If you have Jesus, you have eternal life and God’s eternal favor.

But the rest of the proverb is also worth considering. We can also know what hinders God’s favor in our lives. When we fail to know God and “find” his ways, we injure ourselves. God cannot find favor with things that harm his children. Again, we have God’s word so we don’t have to wonder what the Lord can, and cannot, bless. If we allow our sin to bring us and others harm, we cannot receive his blessings and favor. If people continue to live without God, they will die without God. They have chosen to love death more than eternal life.

God created us for heaven, for himself. God wants to bless and therefore will bless all that he is able. The source of our joy is God’s favor in our lives. Jesus lived his earthly life submitted to the will of his Father. His perfect life became our greatest blessing. When we came to know Christ as our personal Savior, we gained life everlasting, and God’s most valuable blessing, his eternal favor.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus is the reason we have found favor with God, forever. 

There is also nothing that draws our hearts’ attention to another person more quickly than their tears. God created us to need one another. We are supposed to love one another, and the price of loving someone is grieving with them and one day, for them. Honest grief prompts honest compassion from our friends. They don’t just feel for us, they feel with us. That is the meaning of “com-passion.”

Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus, his friend. There has been much speculation about why Jesus wept. Was Jesus sorry to pull his friend back from heaven? Was Jesus grieving Mary and Martha’s loss? Was Jesus sorry people didn’t understand the joy of dwelling in heaven?

We can focus on why Jesus wept, but maybe that isn’t why this passage exists. It is an extraordinary moment in Scripture. Jesus, the Son of God, wept. We can know that our Lord and Savior feels grief too. We can know that when Jesus took on flesh, he shared the grief we feel over the loss of someone we love.

Our culture wants us to move on or even past grief. Those who love us, hurt when we hurt. Chances are, they don’t want you to hurt because they can’t help but share the pain themselves. Jesus didn’t stop Mary and Martha’s grief, he wept with them and for them. 

After those moments of compassion, Jesus taught them the only eternal solution for grief. He raised Lazarus from the dead, and grief was transformed to joy, by his power.

We should embrace grief and feel grief because Jesus did. We should also do all we can to provide the only joy for grief. Christians can grieve with hope. It’s important to remember, Lazarus was raised from the dead, but he would one day, die again. Mary and Martha would as well. We don’t have those stories in Scripture, we have this one.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Scripture tells us, “Jesus wept.” Jesus modeled compassion when he embraced the grief of others and felt “with them.” And Jesus modeled the hope Christians can embrace as well. God created us to cry. There is a good reason, a God-reason, for our tears and a God-promise of hope and joy.

Jesus is our model of faith, our cornerstone, by which we are to determine our direction for life. Eight hundred years before Christ’s birth, the prophet Isaiah had described the Messiah saying, “So this is what the sovereign Lord says, ‘See I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed’” (Isaiah 28:16).

Jesus was rejected by the “builders” of the first century because he wasn’t their desired “model” for a Messiah. They wanted a soldier king and Jesus was a servant King. So, most of the leaders of the day chose not to align their lives with God’s own Son. There are still those who reject Jesus as their cornerstone, their model for faithful living. 

Jesus is our cornerstone. When we build our lives according to his perfection, our lives go in the proper direction and we build a life that is aligned with God. If we use the wrong cornerstone, we build incorrectly. “There is salvation in no one else.”

Our culture defines success in any number of ways. Our desire for freedom and freedom of expression allows for buildings to be formed in a variety of shapes, sizes and architecture. There are so many ways for people to design and build their lives, but there is only one perfect cornerstone. “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

If we don’t continue to build our lives in line with the cornerstone, we shouldn’t be surprised when things begin to shift and even fall. Thankfully, Jesus is a miraculous architect. He can “make all things new” again, and he is a perfect “remodeler” for all of our mistakes.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. He is the Cornerstone we need to build and rebuild our lives with perfection.

Sometimes verses like 1 Timothy 2:5 cause us to picture God in an incomplete way. There are countless works of art that portray the wrath of God. There are many verses that describe his reactions to the sins of men. God sent the flood and only Noah and his family were saved. God promised his people a land flowing with milk and honey, but then allowed their enemies to remove them from their homes. Scripture describes God as a “jealous God,” and his wrath is a very real part of his character. But, his wrath is never a complete picture of who he is. 

1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” God’s wrath is simply one aspect of his love. God hates whatever hinders people from knowing him and wanting a relationship with him. God cannot allow evil to exist in heaven because he wants nothing in heaven that will harm his children. Some of his angels were cast out of heaven because God is going to protect heaven from anything unholy.

John 3:16 explains God’s love saying, “For God so loved the world, he gave us his only Son.” God gave us Jesus so that we would have a mediator. Jesus stands between us and our holy God to reconcile us to one another. His blood sacrifice makes us holy, and therefore, we can one day enter the perfection of heaven. Jesus, our mediator, will stand with us and tell his Abba, his dad, that we are his brother or sister. We are his family.

God knew we would never be holy enough for heaven, so he gave us his Son so that we could be made holy. God’s perfection makes it impossible for him to accept what is harmful to our lives, our sins. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

There is only one God and there is only one Jesus, our mediator. Jesus functions in our lives today, through his Holy Spirit, reconciling us to God and making us fit for heaven. Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus is the only Son of God and the only mediator we need to be made righteous and ready for an eternity with our holy God. 

We want to believe that God rewards faith, even if that faith is placed in a different god. We want to trust that God understands how a person is raised to believe and therefore accepts their mistakes. Most of us have quietly questioned the blunt words of John 14:6. Especially the phrase, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”

People have skirted that phrase by choosing to believe that Jesus died for everyone, therefore everyone is saved. The problem with that belief, called universalism, is that Jesus spoke of hell and those who would go there. In his parable of the sheep and the goats he taught that all people would be separated into those two groups. The sheep would “inherit the kingdom” while the goats would be sent away “cursed . . .into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). If Jesus was going to save everyone, he would have taught that lesson instead.

If “faithful” people were going to be accepted into God’s Kingdom, Jesus wouldn’t have been so angry with the Pharisees and Saduccees, and the disciples wouldn’t have sacrificed their lives in order to share the gospel with their devoted families and friends. 

If people of any faith can be saved, then what about the people who worship Satan faithfully? If faithfulness is the answer, then heaven should belong to those who faithfully do evil in the name of their god. Universalism makes us feel better about those who remain outside the Christian faith, but it isn’t biblical truth. If Jesus didn’t teach universalism, then we should ask, “who is the author of that idea?”

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus also said, “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14).

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. If there was another way to heaven, Jesus would have told us. He is our model so his message must be our message.

Someone could enter that narrow gate one day and rush to find you, eternally grateful that you taught them the blunt truth of John 14:6. Jesus is the only way because only one way leads to eternal life in heaven.

God created men and women to be “flesh and blood.” We were created to live in the perfection of Eden. God wanted his children to walk with him. We were created for safety, provision, and peace. We were created to enjoy God’s perfection. Sin changed everything!

After sin entered the world, God set about redeeming the sin so that people could return to the perfect existence in which God had created them to live. Finally, God “so loved the world that he sent his Son.” Jesus experienced the temptations of the flesh but didn’t submit to those temptations because he was fully submitted to God.

Jesus took on flesh so that he could take on the sins of the world and “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). When Jesus said, “It is finished,” he was pronouncing Satan’s death sentence.

Satan no longer has power over our eternal lives, so he will do all he can to control and influence our earthly witness. Jesus became a man and endured an earthly life so that he could pronounce the promise, “It is finished.” Christians can endure whatever we face in this life because we have that promise. 

Jesus didn’t want to suffer and none of us will want that either. Jesus took on flesh and lived as a man so that we could understand that these “flesh and blood lives” are temporary. God didn’t create us for this world so he did whatever was necessary to provide us heaven—the existence he wanted for us. 

Jesus chose to become a man so that he could, “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. You have eternal victory because Jesus became a man. Let’s live our lives knowing that “it is finished” and we have the perfection of Eden, God’s heaven, as our promise.

Sometimes the darkness seems to have invaded our lives even though we belong to Christ. Those are good times to pause and consider the truth of John 8:12. If our lives are filled with darkness, then our lives are not filled with Christ. Who or what might we be choosing to “follow” instead of Jesus?

We can’t avoid the distractions of living in a fallen world. We can work to not “follow” those distractions and their influence in our lives. Jesus said if we follow him, we will not walk in darkness. Instead, we will have the light of life.

Our witness to others may best be described using those words. When people are with us, do they experience the light of Christ in our words and actions? The reason our witness matters is that the light we are able to share is the light of “life” – eternal life. People can see the presence of Christ in us, and then his light can draw people away from the darkness of this world.

As the world grows darker, the light of Christ will become more and more visible. God will allow whatever is necessary for people to come to the realization that they desperately need his love and salvation. 

Christians are the visible and tangible light of Christ in the world. Jesus told his disciples they were the “light of the world.” Then he said, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5: 14–16).

Whatever your plans are for tomorrow, do everything with the understanding that we have been given the ability to lead others out of the darkness in the world and toward the “light of life.” We have been given that light because we have been given the Spirit of Christ. Now, we must become the lampstands who lift his light to others. 

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. We have been given a high and holy privilege. May the Lord help us shine his light to others.

Jesus didn’t come to save our earthly lives, or to promise prosperity on earth. He came for the sake of our eternal lives, knowing that mankind was unable to escape their sins without his sacrifice.

People often choose to live for themselves instead of living for God. When we break God’s commandments, we transgress. We have iniquities because we act immorally and treat people unfairly. Those are sins in our lives because we know to do better and sin anyway. For that, Jesus allowed his hands and feet to be pierced by nails. He allowed his heart to be crushed in sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). We deserved to be separated from God but Jesus bore our chastisement so that we could have his peace.

Our lives have been healed, eternally. We should have been pierced, crushed, and separated from God’s blessings, but Jesus paid our debt so we could receive all we needed to be saved. Jesus gave everything so that we could live eternally with God.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. How should we sacrifice our lives, so others can gain eternal life? Pray for the wisdom and devotion to live the life Jesus modeled for each of us.

In many ways, our salvation was received as a “gift basket.” It was a one time gift with many things inside. Some items included in our gift of salvation are

the promise of eternal life.

the assurance of forgiveness.

the hope of heaven.

the promise of eternal reward.

the peace of knowing we belong to an eternal family.

the constant presence of Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit.

the God-produced abilities to serve our Kingdom-purpose.

Most gift baskets arrive covered with a clear wrapping and tied with a bow. So it is with our gift of salvation. It is possible to own the gift, see what is ours, but never really tear into it and use what we have been given.

Some Christians work as if their promise of salvation still needs to be earned. Some never live as the forgiven, loved child of God. Some still wonder if heaven is real, and if they will go there. Some live knowing they are saved, but not living for their eternal rewards. Some of God’s children live lonely lives, not understanding what a large family they belong to. And some Christians still live according to their old nature, rather than submitted to the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit. 

Why is the Holy Spirit our most important gift? Because we could never pay the cost for his Presence in our lives. Because we could never work to earn all of his blessings in our lives. Because only God could give what we could never have acquired for ourselves. 

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus used every gift God gave him to serve his Father’s purpose. Is there anything you have left unused from your basket? Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Use and enjoy all the gifts Jesus came to give.

The author of Hebrews was probably not speaking about heaven when he wrote about the Sabbath rest for the people of God, at least not only about heaven. Instead, God’s rest is available for the people of God now, and ultimately ours in heaven.

Hebrews was written to Christians who had come from the Old Covenant, rule-driven faith of the first-century rabbinic teaching. The Pharisees had written and added hundreds of extra laws to obey, and they taught that the laws were necessary for obedience to God. The end result of all they added was the sense that pleasing God was impossible.

The writer of Hebrews said the “Sabbath rest” belonged to God’s people. It was the chance to rest from our works just as God had rested from his. What did he mean? He was explaining that the path to our salvation was complete. When a person places their faith in Christ as their Lord, there is no more need to “work out” a way for our salvation. When Jesus said, “it is finished” the road to heaven was paved for all who place their faith and trust in the sacrificial offering of his life.

Christians have no need to “work” our way to heaven because we can’t. We can rest knowing that the work has been done, and we have been received into God’s family. We can say, “it is good” and rest from our work. The future of our souls is in the safe hands of Jesus. 

We serve God now, not to earn his love, but in gratitude for his love. We aren’t working for our salvation, we are living our sanctification, the process of being made holy. Scripture says, “Jesus increased in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus didn’t need to grow, he chose to. 

We don’t need to grow to be certain of our salvation. The work is done, and we can rest in that knowledge. But, we need to model our lives after Jesus. We choose to grow so that we can become more like him each day. One day, we will enjoy our Sabbath rest eternally, in his presence.

That same Jesus will reach out to every Christian one day and say, “It’s time to come home.” Jesus is the same now as he has always been, and always will be. And one day, we will meet him, face to face.

One of the most powerful aspects of our Christian faith is that we share a love and faith for Jesus that every generation of humanity has experienced. King David loved and worshiped the same God we do today. It’s important to see all of God’s children as part of one, amazing eternal family.

Church history is a story marked by change. Everything on earth changes, including our churches. But, the worship of God is consistently defined in his word. John 4:24 says, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” We share the same worship of God as everyone who has worshiped in “spirit and truth.”

Jesus has not changed, therefore his parables are still truth. Jesus would teach the same lessons to his disciples today that he taught to the disciples in the first century. God’s truth is as unchanging as the Author of the truth.

One day in heaven, we will live fully experiencing God’s unchanging truth. Until then, we must choose to be faithful to Jesus and his unchanging words. Are there areas in your life or your thinking that have shifted away from the truth of God’s word? Has your view of God, or his Son, become something different than is revealed in Scripture? It is good to remember that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” 

Christians have the same Scripture, the same teaching and truth, that was given to those in the first century. Our faith should increase and grow, but should never be redefined. Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. The model is unchanging because the model is perfect. And one day, we will dwell with Jesus because of that truth.

Moses spoke with God in Exodus 33 and asked God to show him his glory. God told Moses that while he stood in the cleft of a rock, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name.” God also told Moses that “man shall not see me and live” so Moses would be covered with his hand until after God had passed by (Exodus 33:18–23).

God revealed his glory, his holy character, to Moses as he passed by saying, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6–7).

When God revealed and defined his character to Moses, he revealed the character his Son would one day reveal on earth. Those who saw Jesus, saw the Word, the glory of God, who had become flesh and had come to dwell on earth. Jesus, the glory of God, was “full of grace and truth.”

If we want to fully know Jesus, we must know him as the divine character of God the Father, who became flesh. Jesus was fully God, while fully man. There was never a time that Jesus was not full of both grace and truth.

To glimpse Jesus is to glimpse God’s glory. He was the essence of perfect grace, and he was also God’s perfect truth. God spoke to Moses of his grace, his goodness, his mercy, patience, and abounding steadfast love. God also spoke to Moses about the truth of his perfect justice and fairness. The fullness of God’s grace and truth includes judgment. God does not “clear the guilty,” and sins are inherited by the coming generations.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus is also the model of God’s eternal character. Jesus was and is the glory of God, full of grace and truth.

Tolerance would be an effective witness in our culture today except that Scripture teaches “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things and through whom we exist” (1 Corinthians 8:6). Scripture doesn’t give us permission to acknowledge, value, and tolerate false gods. In fact, the first commandment has always been, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).

We can tolerate a person’s right to choose without tolerating or accepting a wrong choice. There is only one pathway to heaven because there is only one heaven. There is only one God because there is only one Creator of all that exists. Every other god is created. 

People don’t need other gods; they do have to choose the God they need. Is that the message we are teaching the world? We must first ask, is 1 Corinthians 8:6 the message we each believe? Secondly, is it the message of truth I teach?

I would like to believe that a faithful person will be saved and that God will honor their faith. But, that isn’t the truth of Scripture. The truth of Scripture is that the one true God has given the world his only Son, because his Son is the only Savior anyone needs.

Read 1 Corinthians 8:6 again, and again, until you understand the narrow truth it reveals. Jesus knew and preached the one true God and never gave other gods as an option. There is only one God and only “one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” 

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. We need to believe in biblical truth ourselves in order to be able to teach it to others. There is only one God because there is only one Creator. That is the only message about God we can tolerate because it is the only message that is true.

It is John 3:17 that tells us what God did not send his Son to this world to do. John 3:17 says, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world.” Jesus wasn’t born into the world to condemn people to an eternity in hell. His purpose wasn’t to bring God’s judgment, it was to bring the assurance of his grace. God sent Jesus to earth so that anyone could be saved through him, if they just believed in him.

If we examine our words, do we spend more time teaching why God sent Jesus into the world, or condemning the world Jesus came to save? Do our words cause people to feel wanted by God, or judged by him? Pick the person who you think of as most outside the Christian faith. Do you think about what they are doing wrong, or how God wants to save their soul and help them live rightly?

If God didn’t send Jesus to condemn, then we aren’t called to condemn either. Jesus has called us to speak the truth. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32). The apostle Paul told the church to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). 

How do we help people know they are loved by God and live for God without speaking words that can sound like condemnation? Every Christian shares this struggle, or it should be our struggle. Jesus befriended the woman at the well before he told her she needed the water of life. He told the parable of the prodigal son, but included the sin of the older brother. He ate with sinners and held righteous anger for those who saw themselves as too holy to do the same. 

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus never told a sinner their sin was allowed or permitted. He did tell them how they could be forgiven and told them to “sin no more.” Jesus lived a perfect sinless life, but didn’t use his perfection to condemn those who were imperfect. In fact, his strongest words condemned the religious leaders who didn’t realize their sin was the most costly to God’s purpose. If Jesus modeled that witness, we must be careful to do the same. We must speak God’s truth, but we shouldn’t say anything until we can speak with his love.

Paul told the church, “you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” When we received the Holy Spirit, the fullness of deity came to dwell in us. Have we limited ourselves by failing to understand we are capable of doing anything Jesus wants us to do? Do we see ourselves as only human beings, or as human beings who have been “filled” with the holy presence and power of Christ?

Jesus is the “head of all rule and authority.” Jesus can do all things and Christians can do “all things through him who strengthens” us (Philippians 4:13). The name “Christian” actually means “little Christ.”

Our lives are not hindered by a culture that refuses to believe. Our witness is not weakened because people argue with or slander our faith. God is not who people believe him to be; God is who God has revealed himself to be. The same God that created the world is the God who governs the world today. And Christians have been filled and gifted by his Holy Spirit. 

God isn’t limited in our lives unless we choose to limit him. We don’t feel the hand of Jesus like the disciples did, but his hand does touch our lives. We don’t hear the voice of Jesus like those who physically walked with him, but his voice is just as clear in the red letters of our Bibles.

Jesus returned to heaven and then the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us bodily. We have been “filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” What ministry will Jesus accomplish tomorrow through your surrendered, obedient life?

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus is the Holy Spirit who empowers every Christian’s life today, and he tells his disciples, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

The Lord gave us the opportunity to bring our sins to him and lay them at his feet. We don’t have to pay the full price of our sins because only Jesus could do that. Yet John wrote, “if we confess our sins” God will forgive them. Why do we need to confess what God already knows? Why do we need God’s daily forgiveness if we have been made eternally righteous by our salvation?

God didn’t want us to wait for heaven to live a righteous life. God wants us to live as his children now, even as we live on earth. God wants us to understand and help others understand that our sins have consequences to our lives now and to our lives eternal. He wants us to live high and holy lives and help others do the same.

God calls us to “confess our sins” so that he can cleanse us from those sins now. He wants us to live righteous lives and model the character of Christ to those around us. We can’t model the perfection of Christ, but we can model the “perfecting” nature of Christ’s presence in our lives.

We confess our sins so that we acknowledge those things in our life that cause us to be less than godly. Confession isn’t for God’s sake, it is for ours. When we acknowledge our sins we are less likely to repeat them. God wants to clean up our sins so we can live righteous lives now. So, he gave us the ability to confess so he could cleanse our lives and teach us to live rightly.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus never had to model confession because he didn’t sin. Jesus did model the powerful life of a person who is fully right with God. He modeled the best way for us to live as we walk our pathway to heaven. 

We don’t have to walk our pathway carrying the burden of our sins. Spend some time laying your burdens at the feet of Jesus.

Scripture says, “Jesus emptied himself” not counting “equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Jesus left everything he was in heaven behind, in order to come to earth and serve as our Savior. He took on the likeness of men, with all our frailties, so that one day we could leave this earth as a citizen of heaven.

Paul told the Philippian church, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” Paul had just told them, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). We don’t need to wonder what it means to live as a servant of God. Jesus modeled what it means when he, though he was God, stepped into our lives to serve as our Savior. The Creator chose to serve those he created.

Jesus served his family as a carpenter. Jesus humbled himself to be baptized. Jesus lived as an itinerant Rabbi, modeling what it means to help others know God. Finally, Jesus knelt to wash the feet of men. Then he waited in the garden for the soldiers to arrive. Finally, he submitted himself to the darkest behaviors of men so that he could carry a cross and die for them.

Paul would say, “the next time you esteem yourself too highly, have this in mind.” The next time you hesitate to serve, remember the life Jesus modeled for you. Jesus became “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” (Philippians 2:8–9).

We cannot understand what it was like for Jesus to leave the glory of heaven, but we can know Jesus wanted us to share the glory of heaven with him. 

We are called to serve others like Jesus served us so that “every tongue” will confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11). 

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. May we model the servant heart of Jesus to others.

Maybe we would: 

- Choose to spend more time with someone and less time with another.

- Notice someone we might otherwise have walked past.

- See a moment as an opportunity instead of an interruption.

- Have the chance to share our faith instead of our opinion or advice.

If we loved people instead of just appreciating them, how deeply would we care about their needs?

If we sacrificed for someone instead of giving what we determined was enough, how would our gift change their situation, now and eternally?

Jesus modeled the love of God everywhere he walked. He helped so many people, although he never helped them all. He gave his time, his attention, and his wisdom to all who would listen, but not everyone did. Jesus angered some people and saddened others, like the rich young ruler. Jesus healed many people, but not everyone. Jesus called everyone to be his disciples and then dedicated much of his time and attention to only a few. The few who followed his example changed the world. 

How can we love others as Jesus does? By loving others as Christ loved us. We can give ourselves in service to others as Jesus gave himself up for us. We can enter a room as an offering to God if we simply enter the room with the goal of leaving his love behind instead of keeping it to ourselves. We won’t be able to help everyone either, but we will help some. We might even help many.

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. The only way to model the love of Christ is to allow his love to flood our lives and then overflow to others through the sacrifice and offering of our lives to his higher purpose.

If we commit to “walk in love as Christ loved us,” we will change the way we live tomorrow.

It’s difficult to think about the death of Christ and consider it necessary for our salvation. I used to reconcile the gruesome details of Jesus’ death by thinking that is what it took to cover all sins for all people. But, the truth is, Jesus died a gruesome death for my individual sins. He did the same for your sins.

Jesus carried the weight of our sins to Calvary. That weight is simply illustrated by the cross. When Jesus fell under the weight he carried, we are reminded that our sins cost him so much more than we want to think about.

Jesus modeled the burden of sin with every painful step to Calvary. Jesus provided that model because he wanted us to understand the magnitude of our sins and recognize how much they cost us. Jesus wanted us to “die to sin” and “live to righteousness.” 

Jesus thought you and I were worth saving so he suffered the horrible consequences of the cross. Our eternal confidence is because of Jesus’ condemnation. Our eternal righteousness is because Jesus cleansed us from every wrong. We aren’t saved because we earned it; we are saved because Jesus bled and suffered so he could offer us his salvation.

“By his wounds you have been healed.”

Take a moment to approach the cross of Calvary. Close your eyes and imagine his suffering. Listen to the sounds, sense the pain, and imagine the separation Jesus felt from everything and everyone, especially his Father. Then meet his eyes and see him seeing you. He thought you were worth it that day, and he still does.

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. It is the pathway of eternal healing created because of his wounds. Look back at his cross with grateful humility and leave Calvary with full understanding. You are eternally healed because of his wounds.

Everyone you know is either one with Christ Jesus or living separately from him.

When it comes to interpreting Galatians 3:28, debates, laws, and attitudes have changed over the decades. We still tend to define people by their nationality, religion, social status, and gender. Those distinctions are for life on earth but will not exist in heaven. We are all one in Christ Jesus. A Christian will be defined eternally as “a child of God.”

If you are able to read and understand Hebrew, you know that some of the names and descriptions of God are male while others are female. God is Father and Mother because he is uniquely able to fill both human roles. Yet, in truth, God is neither male nor female. He is simply fully God. So is the resurrected Christ and his Holy Spirit.

Jesus walked on earth as a man yet was also fully God. To be one with Christ Jesus is to become God’s child, even though still living in our human form. Jesus is the model for our faith. He grew to be a man but eternally always saw himself as God’s child. We can know God as our Abba Father, just as Jesus did. 

Thinking of ourselves as the world classifies us is normal. But wouldn’t beginning and ending each day with an understanding of how God sees us be more helpful? We are his children. We are not yet perfected, but God already knows us as the people we will be eternally. 

Jesus walked through his earthly life with a sense of eternal purpose and we can too.

Jesus saw himself through his Father’s eyes and we should too.

Jesus was and is the model for our faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. The next time you pass a mirror, step away from just the appearance of things and into the reality of full knowledge. You, Christian, are a child of the Creator God, and you always will be.

When “we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord,” we are stating our belief in his sinless, perfect life sacrificially atoning for our sins. We are saying that we need Jesus to be Lord of our lives because we know we can’t be. Without Jesus, we cannot pay for our sins and be made holy. 

When we believe in our hearts that “God raised him from the dead,” we believe in our hearts that God can do the same for us. We can live with the assurance of heaven because we live with the assurance of Christ’s resurrection. 

Anyone “will be saved” who acknowledges their need for Jesus and chooses him as their Lord and Savior. Salvation is not found in the belief that Jesus died for everyone; it is found by admitting and accepting the fact that Jesus had to die for our own personal sins. We must confess we cannot be the lord of our own lives and remain holy enough to live with God. We need Jesus to be our Lord as well as our Savior. 

Our redemption and our salvation are his gift to us—from his cross. We can’t earn or deserve that gift. We can only open our mouths to confess our need and our desire to receive the blessings Jesus died to give.

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus modeled the death and the resurrection that will belong to everyone who has become “free” from the penalty of sin. 

Have you confessed your personal need for Jesus as your Lord and Savior? 

If so, “you will be saved.”

Revelation 17 describes the attack on God’s people from the forces of the Evil One. The attacks will take many forms, but all unmistakably belong to the spiritual forces of evil. Satan cannot claim the soul of someone who is saved, so he will do his best to claim a person’s witness. 

Believers, especially those who are dedicated to their faith, experience spiritual attacks from the Evil One. Many things in our culture draw us away from God’s holiness. One of the signs revealed in the book of Revelation is the increase of the persecution that will exist in the last days. The increase of “lawlessness” and hearts that grow cold, or weak, in the faith.

We should never underestimate the power and influence of “the beast” (Revelation 17:13). At the same time, we should always remember the victory that is ours in Christ. Even though the powers of evil “make war on the Lamb,” the “Lamb will conquer them” (Revelation 17:14). We know that Jesus is the “Lord of lords and King of kings.”

The rest of verse 14 speaks to those who have chosen to use Jesus as the model for the way we walk this life. We are “called and chosen and faithful.” We are called to model the way Jesus lived. We are also called to model the way Jesus suffered. 

Are you experiencing persecution for your faith? Have you been tempted by the evil and sinful things in our world? Remember that “you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus battled evil and suffered persecution in order to live faithfully for God. 

Are we willing to do the same?

One of the best descriptions of Jesus is to see him as God, in human form. It is difficult to understand how Jesus could be fully God, yet fully man. Jesus is the only One in human history who will ever carry that distinction.

When Jesus spoke, he spoke with the wisdom of God. Jesus lived each day of his life in a righteous or right relationship with God. Jesus led a life of holiness, sanctified by God and set apart to serve him. And Jesus was born to be the Messiah and provide for our redemption. 

Paul described Jesus as the One who became wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. When we received Christ as our Lord and Savior, Jesus became the source of God’s character in us, through his Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our relationship with God as our Father.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” —Isaiah 7:14

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming Messiah and assigned him the name Immanuel, meaning the character of God—with us. Jesus lived on earth as God incarnate. He was and is God with us.

Immanuel, God with us, was redefined in the days that followed Pentecost. Forty days after Christ ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit came to indwell those gathered in Jerusalem. Jesus, through his Holy Spirit, is God with us.

God has given us a “sign” of his reality. Anyone who has the Holy Spirit has the continual presence of Jesus in their life. Just as people sought the presence of Jesus when he walked in this world, we should seek his Presence today through the Holy Spirit. God, three-in-one, is with us now and has made certain we could be with him eternally. 

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. 

Can you sense the presence of Immanuel right now?

Paul had been a successful, acclaimed Pharisee. His salvation cost him everything he had worked to have. The Apostle had been hunted, slandered, imprisoned, and arrested. He also lived with a condition he called his “thorn in the flesh,” which brought him a great deal of pain. Now, he was chained and a prisoner of the Roman government. 

Yet, the Apostle could say, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” Paul had learned that his ministry was not limited to human effort; it was only bound by the will of God. Paul worked tirelessly for the sake of the gospel and endured great hardship. But Paul trusted God to use his work and bless the outcome, regardless of his earthly challenges. 

The word content in the Bible means accepting the circumstances God has allowed, knowing that God is always and abundantly sufficient for whatever needs we have. The key to contentment is accepting our limitations and understanding that our God has none. 

If Paul could be content to write from his prison, we can learn to be content with our circumstances. Our limitations cannot limit God. His will and his word will succeed. When you feel discouraged, just consider Paul’s words and his circumstances. If the Apostle learned to be content, so can we.  

Allow the words of Christ to dwell in you richly, knowing that contentment is our choice because of our salvation.

The Sermon on the Mount was the foundation of truth for Christ’s entire ministry. It's found in Matthew 5–7. Jesus was preaching what it would mean for a child of God to walk in obedience under the New Covenant. To sum it up, God’s children would need to make him their King. 

Jesus taught his disciples that the relationship the Lord wanted to have with them was that of a sovereign authority with a subject. Why is that the relationship God wants to have with each of us? 

Jesus taught that when we seek God’s word and will, and when we live a life that is righteous (right with him), then God is able to provide his blessings, now and eternally, to our lives. Jesus had already taught the crowd the Beatitudes, the model prayer, and other lessons about living a godly life. After he said those things, he taught them to “seek first” God’s sovereign reign in their lives. Jesus wanted his disciples to seek to be righteous so that all those promised blessings in the Beatitudes and other passages could be added to their lives. 

When we make God our King, he is able to direct our choices so that we live a life he is able to fully bless. God demands our complete commitment because that is the way he is most able to reward our earthly lives, now and eternally. 

What has become a higher priority than fulfilling these words of Christ? Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and the Lord can add blessing upon blessing to your life now and to your life eternal.  

We have a King, not a governor.

God told the prophet to come to him and we will argue it out. It's easy for God to invite us to a debate because he already knows how to win. God wants to win because he wants his best for our lives. 

The rest of the verse is a message that even a prophet of God needs to hear. The Lord told Isaiah that even though his sins were like scarlet, they could be as white as snow. In this era of history, scarlet was among the most saturated colors that a fabric could absorb. At the same time, a pure white color was rarely seen. Newly fallen snow would be the perfect example, or pure, washed wool. 

Our sins can saturate our lives at the deepest levels, but God can forgive and redeem us to be pure and guiltless in his eyes. That’s why God wants us to argue things out with him. He wants to win the argument so that we will submit ourselves to his truth and his ability to purify our lives. 

In what areas are you angry or disappointed with what God has allowed? What sins do you accept as part of your life that God doesn’t? What have you chosen to believe that his word teaches against? 

God wants to “argue it out” with you. He wants you to come to him with your thoughts so that he can fill you with his. Imagine: the God of the universe invites us to reason things out with him. Don’t hesitate to bring him any argument.  

He wants you to allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly. That blessing is worth every discussion.

The fact the psalmist wants God to judge his heart is his best defense. He wants to know what God thinks of his thoughts and his actions. He wants God to “search” his life and know him at his deepest, most secret levels.

It's comforting to realize that we can trust God to judge us in a way that benefits us. The psalmist wants to know God’s conclusions about his life because those are the only judgments that matter. 

How would our lives be changed if we petitioned God to search our hearts and thoughts? If we knew God’s judgment of our lives, would anyone else’s opinion carry much weight? 

We often make choices we think will bring approval from those around us. The psalmist sought the correction and approval of the best judge, God himself. He knows us, he loves us, and he wants the very best for us. At the end of the day, if we find ourselves right with God, does any other opinion truly matter? 

Allow the word of Christ to dwell in your life richly and, like the psalmist, you can eagerly ask God to search your heart and your thoughts because he will see his Son in your life. At the end of the day, his approval is all you truly need.

These outside speakers presented a message that appealed to many of those who were young in the faith and not strong in the teaching of the apostles. John’s heart for the people is seen in the way he addresses them as “Beloved.” They were his church, his “children” in the faith, and he didn’t want to see them lose sight of the true gospel message. 

John told the church he loved, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” It has always been important to distinguish between what sounds or seems like something God would say and submit those words to biblical truth. The culture has usually taught a message that differs from the message of Christ. 

As John said, “Many false prophets have gone out into the world.” John gives the same warning to Christians today. We don’t have to wonder if the culture is still influencing God’s people with a message that conflicts with God’s word. False prophets will always teach a false message. But John would warn that some of those false prophets will enter the church as well.

A false prophet is anyone who teaches a message contrary to the truth of God’s word. We have all heard a message like that, and, most likely at some point, we have delivered false truth as well. Many words are spoken “in the name of Christ” that aren’t authored by the “word of Christ.” 

How can you tell if someone is a false prophet? Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly. The best way to determine if a hundred-dollar bill is counterfeit is to study one that isn’t. The same is true of God’s word. When truth dwells in us “richly,” we will be able to discern more easily what is only partially true. Beloved, don’t believe every spirit. A true prophet teaches biblical truth, even when that truth is unpopular or unappreciated.  

A true prophet has allowed the word of Christ to dwell in their life and their message.

We are human beings, living in a fallen world. Many of our thoughts are formed from our own desires, opinions, and dreams. God’s thoughts are always formed from his perfection. 

God is not capable of a wrong or selfish thought. Paul taught the early Christians that even as they had thoughts no one knew except themselves, so God has thoughts that no one but the Spirit can comprehend. And Christians have been given the Spirit of God. We won’t think like God, but the Holy Spirit within us will think as God.  

Every day we will have thousands of thoughts, and some of those thoughts will be authored or inspired by the Holy Spirit. God wants us to have his perspective, his priorities, and his plan. We can trust that the Holy Spirit will be directing us through our thoughts. We need “only listen” to our thoughts and pray for the spiritual discernment to distinguish those which are authored by God. “No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” 

Pause to consider the fact that you have been given his Spirit. You will have God thoughts every day. What did the Lord’s Spirit say today? You can trust that he will speak to you tomorrow. 

Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly. Christ’s words are the thoughts of God, inspired by the Spirit of God, so the children of God can comprehend the presence of God’s thoughts in their daily lives. We can know what God is thinking through his Holy Spirit!

His peace isn’t found because of our efforts to achieve it. God’s perfect peace is the result of being “kept,” or held, by his sufficiency rather than our own. Sometimes the most difficult part of achieving his peace is learning to submit our best efforts to his perfection. 

We do all that we can hoping we will achieve all we want. God’s perfect peace is the result of trusting in the One who fully knows what we need. The person whose mind is “stayed” on God understands that every other resource is imperfect. When we “stay,” or fix, our minds on God, we don’t escape our challenges; we simply allow God’s peace to transcend our challenges. 

Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). When tough times come, it's common to feel like God has let us down or our faith isn’t strong enough. But the promise of Scripture is that we “will have tribulation.” We can take heart, not because God promised to spare us from trials, but because he promised that we would overcome those trials. Our peace is trusting his promises for life eternal rather than expecting that those promises are alway provided for in our lives on earth.  

How can we have God’s peace? We can allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. Jesus said we would have tribulation, then he said we would overcome—because he did. In the tough times, we fix our eyes on Christ, fill our minds with his truth, and then we can receive the peace that passes all understanding because we trust his love.

I love watching people at the airport as they are looking for that family member who has been serving overseas. Urgency changes to joy when they spot their loved one’s face. So it will be when we meet Jesus face-to-face. The skies will open up and we will see him come, eager to take us home. 

First Chronicles was written to the nation of Israel as a reminder of their history and to encourage them with the knowledge that the Lord had always been faithful to them, ensuring future generations would be able to know and follow God. Why would that always be true? 

There will always be people who look to the Lord and his strength. Faith is a legacy we leave to others when we “look” to him for our wisdom and strength. The verb look describes the action of looking for something in order to possess it for ourselves. Our most valuable possession is the Lord and the strength he provides. 

To look for the Lord, we “seek his face always.” When a mother wants her young child to listen with focus, she takes the child’s face in her hands and says, “Look at me.” That is a picture of what Scripture means when it describes “seeking God’s face.” We are to focus on him, undistracted by anything else. We are to look for him like the groom looks for his bride. We are to seek him with urgency knowing our joy will be seeing his face.

How can we seek God “always?” We allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. The voice of Christ is “present” in his word. When we look to the Lord in Scripture, we find his strength and we learn how to recognize his presence throughout the day.  

And one day, we will meet him face-to-face. That wedding is a day to look forward to now.

How would our lives change if we applied the precepts of Scripture and the “ways” Jesus taught his followers to live to our own lives? In His Steps is about a church that decides to ask themselves, “What would Jesus do?” and how that one choice changed their lives and their town as a result. 

In the Bible, a “precept” means a commandment or an instruction. The psalmist told the Lord, “I will meditate on your precepts.” It's so important to read God’s word as the pure truth it is. It's equally important to think about God’s word until it becomes the truth we live.  

What choice did the word of God cause you to make today? How did God’s laws and Christ’s teaching alter a decision you were making? That is the result of meditating on the word of God. The words become knowledge, the knowledge becomes wisdom, and then wisdom governs our lives.  

The psalmist says to “consider” the ways of God. In the thousands of thoughts we have each day, how many of those thoughts are dedicated to thinking about Sheldon’s important question: “What would Jesus do?”

When we “allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly,” we allow the example of Christ to be formed in our thoughts. If the most important influence we have is the example of Christ, then we will walk “in his steps.” 

Every day is an opportunity to “dwell” with the word of Christ and do those things that Jesus would do. Christians are the hands and feet of Christ in our world. We should meditate on his word so we can walk in his ways.

We have all made snap decisions and some of them have worked out well. Sometimes our quick choices have led us to do something we needed to undo later. We live in a culture that values quick decision making. We also live in a culture that believes the most efficient road to knowledge is the internet. But that's true only some of the time. 

We also live in a culture often driven by opinion rather than truth. “The simple believes everything,” and that has become more and more evident among those whose thinking has been impacted by technology and the media.  

Knowledge is most effective when it has been thoughtfully considered and prayerfully thought through. It takes time to submit what we have come to know to the One who knows all things. That is the difference between having knowledge and having wisdom. 

God provided his word and his Holy Spirit so we could have God’s thoughts in our lives. Most of our choices have both a physical and spiritual perspective. If we know God’s word on the subject, we have the truth. God doesn’t always function in the realm of the practical or logical. In fact, God often leads us in a direction that requires faith. He wants us to know we are better off trusting him than ourselves. 

It takes time to think about what we know in light of what God has said. That is why Scripture tells us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. When we are prudent and “give thought to our steps” the words and will of Christ direct our choices. It takes some time, but mostly it takes our willingness to include our Lord in our thought process. 

Jesus wants us to believe him and not to believe anything which he has said isn’t biblical wisdom. That is the difference between being simple-minded and prudent with our choices. Taking time to think with God will save us from making a lot of unwise choices and help us undo a few mistakes we made along the way. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly so that we may discern God's truth over the world’s.

It's common for us to think of ourselves in human ways. We know we aren’t perfect and make mistakes. How then could we have “the mind of Christ”? Scripture promises that we do, but it's always important to remember that our minds are being perfected but not yet perfect. We can’t be fully like Christ until we live with him in heaven. 

Humility is necessary when we want to truly know the Lord. Jesus humbled himself to be born in a manger. We need to think with the humility of Christ’s humanity. 

Knowing God is our Father is necessary if we want to live as God’s child and consider ourselves the way Jesus sees us. We are “joint heirs” with Christ, his brothers and sisters through faith. 

Scripture is necessary if we want to know the character and capacity of God. Jesus was present with God when the world was created. Jesus left heaven to become our Savior. There is nothing in the Bible more difficult to understand than the need for the death of God’s Son on the cross. Even Jesus struggled in the Garden. Yet Jesus knew God’s perfection and knew he could say, “Not my will, but yours.” Jesus didn’t question God’s perfection, even when he struggled to accept his plan. 

Can we think like Christ? The answer is yes because we have been given the mind of Christ. 

It’s important to allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly so we can then think his thoughts and come to trust the perfection of God, who is our Father.

Verse 5 tells you to “trust in the Lord with all your heart.” The only way to trust God completely is to “not lean on your own understanding.” It's a spiritual discipline to learn to trust God as we are called to do.  

Remember that in ancient days people understood that the heart was the “driver” of a person’s life. In Scripture, the heart is often associated with passion and motive. God wants us to trust him above all other motivations. We are to trust that only God’s motivations are completely pure; therefore, we should trust him more than any other. When we understand God’s motivation is pure, we are more likely to trust his will.  

But trusting God stands in conflict with most of what we are taught and, truthfully, what we teach. We know it's important to “think for ourselves.” It's important to gather the facts and process them into a well-thought decision. Yet, Scripture tells us not to lean on our own understanding. 

God created us, and his word encourages us to be “thoughtful” in our actions. God gives us discernment and good judgment through his Spirit. God will never contradict his word, yet a lot of our decisions and choices aren’t directly addressed in Scripture. A key to Proverbs 3:5 can be found in the word leaning. 

When we lean on someone, we trust them to hold us up. When we lean a ladder against a wall, we trust that the wall won't fall. We don’t lean on something we know is weak or flawed. That is why we are to trust God with our whole heart. God can never be untrustworthy, weak, or flawed. God holds us, his children, in his righteous right hand. The same hand that created the world is able to do all things, all the time. 

Then, as Proverbs 3:6 says, “you will acknowledge,” or know, God. Knowing who God is through his word makes it possible for him to “direct your path.”  

Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and you will likely learn to lean on it more than your own understanding.

God’s peace is beyond human understanding which so often is based on the circumstances of our day. God’s peace includes the hope of our salvation and our faith and trust in the power of God.  

That is the peace of God that can guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. It's comforting to understand that God’s peace “stands guard” over our lives. A guard protects from harm. A guard warns of danger. A guard stands between us and harm. We can picture God’s peace as our shield, protecting our minds and our emotions from the Evil One. 

The peace of God is greater and more powerful than we can understand or explain. It has to be experienced. Only those who have asked Jesus into their hearts can truly understand and experience his peace. We have an eternal hope that transcends the circumstances of this world. 

Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly. May the overwhelming peace of God guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Every night our news can create anxiety in our hearts. Imagine the anxieties that might have weighed on the hearts of those in ancient times. They went to bed hoping for rain or hoping that it might stop. They didn’t have a “radar” to give them hope and understanding. In ancient times, people went to bed wondering what might have happened that kept their loved one from returning home. They didn’t have a cell phone to call and check on them. They didn’t know what another nation was planning or preparing to do. They didn’t know if their crops would succeed, if their livestock would live, or if their illness was an inconvenience or a concern. No matter what era of history, people have always needed “a good word.” 

We should never underestimate the power of God’s word or the power of his word in us. Whom have you shared the joy and certainty of Christ with? Whose spirits have been lifted through the Spirit at work in you? God created us to speak and hear; therefore, he must have known of our need for his word to make us “glad.” 

Churches were often built with beautiful stained glass windows, and their beauty had a higher purpose. So many of the Christians who entered those older churches were unable to read. The sermons each week were the way many learned what the Bible said and meant. In addition, the earliest stained glass window “told a story.” What the people in the church couldn’t read they could see illustrated in the beautiful glass. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly so that your life can share and display the stories that some people might never read. A good word can make people glad!

Spiritual things happen through the Spirit of Christ. Remember, Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30). Jesus, when he submitted himself to a human body, walked and ministered according to the strength and judgment of God. Jesus’ earthly ministry is the perfect example for ours. We cannot accomplish the work of God. We can be available to God so that he can work through us. 

We are called to be disciples, students of Jesus Christ. We need to study his words and his earthly ministry in order to know how to have a ministry ourselves. Jesus taught us to allow God’s voice to call us to his purpose. Jesus taught us to pray for his “kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus taught us to allow God to reign in our lives. 

Now Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, no longer bound by a human body. His Holy Spirit is our strength. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and when we are led by his Spirit we continue the earthly ministry of Jesus in the world. That is why Paul could say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  

That is why we allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. It's the word of Christ the Spirit, who will speak to us so that we will function in the power of Christ to fulfill our calling. Apart from him, we can do nothing. With him, we can do all things.

The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to change us, to help us become more like Christ each day. Scripture often refers to that growth process as our sanctification. God doesn’t want children to simply act kindly toward one another. He wants us to be kind. If we apply that thought to raising our children, we can easily understand the difference. Kindness shouldn’t be measured by our actions; it should become our character. 

Paul then used a word that is rarely used in Scripture and is difficult to translate. But his first-century readers would have understood completely. It's the word tenderhearted or, in some versions, compassionate. It's worth knowing because embedded in that one word is a measure we should each use for our own lives. 

How do we know if we are truly “tenderhearted” toward others?  

To be compassionate means to “feel with.” People in Paul’s culture understood what it meant to walk by a person who was hurt, see their wound, and have their stomach clench. They knew when their hearts ached with the grief another person was feeling. They understood the physical, visceral sensations associated with “compassion,” or feeling with, another person. That sensation had a word in the original language of Scripture, and Paul used that word in his letter to the Ephesians.  

We have become tenderhearted, compassionate Christians when we care enough to feel with other people. A person who cares like that has become a Christian who will know how to love and forgive like Christ. 

Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and become the tenderhearted, forgiving character of Christ to others.

Jesus left us with his Spirit so that we would have his gift of peace. When our minds won’t rest from our troubled thoughts and when we fear the possibilities that exist while living on this side of heaven, it's difficult not to be anxious and afraid. In fact, it's likely that our minds will be troubled at times. 

But Jesus told his disciples to make a choice during those difficult times. He said, “Don’t be troubled.” How is that possible? If we knew we would inherit a fortune next month, this month’s bills wouldn’t trouble us. If we knew we were immune to disease, we wouldn’t worry about what the doctor might say. If we knew we would always be safe, we wouldn’t fear what might happen. The peace the world gives is only temporary. The peace of Christ is anchored in eternity. 

We know we have all the promises of heaven, but we want those promises now too. Jesus promised us his peace. We can live with confidence in our inheritance, our health, and our security. The peace that passes all understanding comes from keeping our hearts and minds fixed on Christ, not by focusing on the things of earth.  

Christ died and rose again and is now seated at the right hand of God. We have proof that the circumstances of this world are all temporary. Christians will rise again, just as Jesus did, and enter into our promised land. That is the peace that is ours in Christ Jesus, the peace only Jesus can give. 

Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and the peace of Christ will follow. Jesus left us with his peace because he left us. He ascended to heaven and promised, one day, he would take us too.

Getting ahead is a great goal unless you are getting ahead of God in the process. Jesus told his disciples to take up their cross and “follow” him. It’s easy to lose sight of Christ in our lives when we are focused on things that, in that moment, we want more than what we have.  

Our goal is to be content with what we have and live a life that is free to follow Christ. We are content with what we have when we are content in the knowledge that Christ's presence dwells with us continually through his Holy Spirit, providing all that we need. Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

When we consider the monumental blessing of our salvation in Christ, the things of this world seem to pale in that light. We will never have everything we want. Even if we did, that would change tomorrow. We do have the ability to be content with what we have. We can’t love God as we should when we love money and possessions more than we should. 

How many emails would we simply delete if we were content with what we have? How many choices would we adjust if we didn’t feel a need for greater success but simply wanted to enjoy the success we have achieved? Do we define “enough” as “just a little more?” If so, place Jesus on the throne of your life and follow him as Lord. 

Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and the contentment of Christ will be your result.

God doesn’t want us to fret and worry. We don’t have to be anxious about anything. Why then are we anxious so much of the time? What are you worried about right now? Paul would say, “Take it to your Dad!”  

Why do we need to make requests “known” to God, who already knows everything? The answer is simple: God wants us to know we have given our requests to him. When we leave our requests, our worries, and our concerns at his throne, we can be grateful that they are now safely and securely in God’s hands. The same hands that created the world are more than able to handle our requests.  

Maybe our most amazing thought is the knowledge that we have been invited to come to God’s throne. Approach him as a child. He is your Abba, your loving dad. He wants you to bring him all of your hurts, bothers, guilt, and worries. You can be joyful knowing God wants to do whatever is perfect. He can forgive, comfort, counsel, and direct. Be thankful that you have an Abba who wants to help. 

Jesus was praying for the strength to face the cross when he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Even Jesus needed to lay his worry at the foot of the throne. 

Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly. Allow Abba the chance to assure you that every prayer is heard and held in his mighty hand.

Martin Luther summed it up this way: “You cannot prevent the birds from flying in the air over your head, but you can prevent them from building a nest in your hair.” In other words, we can’t keep Satan from making suggestions, but we can decide not to dwell on, or follow, those suggestions. 

It's common to focus on our temptations, but Paul had a different focus. He wanted the church in Corinth to be confident in their faith. Paul told them that every time they were tempted to sin, they needed to remember an important truth. God had already given them a way to avoid the temptation or the power to endure it. 

Temptations will always be a part of our daily lives. Temptation existed in the Garden of Eden! Birds flutter and squawk overhead, but they can’t build a nest in your hair unless you allow it. 

That’s why we allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly. God has provided us with a way of escape and the strength to endure. His word will chase away that bird!

Paul described slavery as a “yoke.” The yoke was a heavy burden placed on the neck of an animal so it could then be forced to walk a certain path and work for someone else. Another type of yoke during that day was used to keep prisoners chained. 

When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he was speaking to some who had been unable to lay down the many Jewish laws of the Old Covenant and step into the freedom Christ had provided in the New Covenant. Paul was also speaking to some who had come to the Christian faith from a Gentile background. Before their salvation, they had been “free” to behave in some pagan practices they now knew were wrong. Their desire to keep some of their pagan practices had enslaved them to their wrong choices. The same is true for God’s people today.  

Our sin entangles our lives, and our consequences burden us with a yoke of slavery. If we stand firm in our faith, we can be free of those burdens. 

Paul encouraged all of them to seek the freedom Christ offered. Christians have freely chosen Jesus to be our Savior and Lord. We are truly free when we stand firm in our faith, when we choose to walk through life “in step with God’s Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). 

When you allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly, you are most able to stand firm in your faith and live as the Lord intended. It was for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Peter has taught every generation of Christians how to live until Christ returns. Peter had just written about the second coming of Christ when he said, “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming” (1 Peter 1:13 NIV). 

Peter would tell Christians today, “Beware of the many distractions of this day.” In the first century, it was a day’s work to feed the family and try to get a load of laundry done! They didn’t flip a light switch; they had to press oil for their lamps. They didn’t hop in the car and run to a grocery store; they worked gardens, cared for livestock, and walked to a marketplace—if they were lucky to live close to one. Every generation since that time has needed to work to balance their time with their priorities. People have always had distractions. 

Today, many of our distractions are of our choosing. We “set our minds” on whatever we choose to listen to, read, or use technology to search for. Our distractions aren’t limited to a time of day or a lack of resources. Therefore, if we want to be fully alert and sober, if we want to set our thoughts and hopes on the return of Christ, we must choose to do so. Our world has very little quiet. In fact, our lives don’t have to be quiet unless we choose for them to be.  

We should learn to be sober-minded, measuring the moments we spend each day and giving thought to the inevitable return of Christ. When we consider the grace that will be ours in that moment, we will find that we are distracted by our thoughts of heaven and the chance to see those who have gone before us. We can imagine what it will be like to meet the Lord—face-to-face. 

We have a lot of distractions in our world today. Let’s allow the return of Christ to distract our thoughts as well.  

Allow the word of Christ to dwell in you richly and you will allow thoughts of his return to be your great hope.

Paul described the gift of the Holy Spirit saying, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” When the Spirit of Christ is at work in our lives, we are not governed by our fears. Instead, we have the Lord’s power at work through us. We can think the Lord’s thoughts, speak the Lord’s words, and love a person as the Lord would love them. Scripture often uses the words self-control, but we can usually translate those words biblically as “a Spirit-controlled self.” 

God loves us individually. Our relationship to God is unique and personal. That is why God chose to give each of his children his Holy Spirit. God empowers his children in different ways and for different callings. Christians have much in common, but each of us has a unique fingerprint, physically and spiritually. 

God gave us all we needed when he gave us his Spirit. We underestimate our capacities when we limit ourselves to what we can humanly accomplish. The power, love, and self-control Paul was talking about isn’t human effort; it's spiritual capacity. 

We read about the miracles, sermons, and accomplishments of our biblical heroes. It's important to remember that the same Spirit who enabled them indwells each of God’s children today. When the Lord is at work through his Spirit, we accomplish things because of his power, his love, and his ability to control our thoughts and actions.  

We are to allow the word of Christ to dwell in us richly so that the work of Christ can be accomplished through his Holy Spirit. He is the power source for each of our unique ministries.

That said, we accomplish verse 1 by obeying verse 2. How is it that we set apart our daily lives for service to the Lord? 

For starters, we don’t work for the sake of this world. Our lives right now are temporary, so we should allow the Lord to help us think with an eternal focus. When our minds are “renewed,” we will be able to discern the will of God. We will be able to discern the Lord’s priorities for this life.  

We want our thoughts to be changed, renewed by his Spirit. Why? Because his thoughts are his will for our lives, and God’s will is “good and acceptable and perfect.”  

Inspired thoughts accomplish his will in our lives. When we accomplish the will of God, we are blessed now and eternally with his favor. God doesn’t want us to serve him for his sake. God wants us to accomplish things on earth that he can then reward us for eternally. God will bless our obedience to his will and direction in our life. 

When we sacrifice our lives to serve God, our thoughts are renewed. Our minds are less consumed by the things of this world and more often drawn to the eternal priorities that God can reward forever.  

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly so that your mind can be renewed and directed toward the will of God. His will is “good and acceptable and perfect.”

Paul’s words to the Corinthians taught me to “think about” my thoughts and consider their source. I coined a phrase for my life after studying 2 Corinthians 10:5. I call some of my thoughts “God thoughts.” 

I try to pay careful attention to those thoughts that float across my mind for no particular reason. Those thoughts often lead me to pray, send a text or an email, or make a phone call or visit. Sometimes the God thoughts encourage my spirit, direct my choices, or convict me of a sin I need to confess. The Holy Spirit speaks into our thoughts when we expect him to, and our lives are richer when we listen. 

There are other times when my thoughts are filled with worry, anger, frustration, or self-doubt. Sometimes, those thoughts are arrogant, prideful, or judgmental. It's during those times that Paul’s words have come to mean the most. I have learned to think about those thoughts and ask, “Who would have authored those thoughts?” 

It's easy to know whether a thought or an opinion is a God thought. It's just as easy to know when we need to take a thought “captive” and make it “obey Christ.” When you can determine the author of the thought, you will know what to do with it. 

Would Jesus have said that? What is the result of the thought? Does that thought build up or tear down? Does that thought line up with the truth of Scripture or the partial truth of Satan himself? When we know the thought stands against the knowledge of God, we know that God would never have authored that thought. 

God speaks through his Holy Spirit, but Satan speaks into our thoughts as well. Take captive those thoughts and submit them to God. He will tell you what to think instead!  

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and take captive any thought that disagrees with the perfection of Scripture. Think about your thoughts and determine their source. Obedience to the message of 2 Corinthians 10:5 will change your life!

Paul was closing his letter to the Philippian church when he taught them how to measure their thoughts. He taught the believers to think about what is true, honorable and just. Our thoughts shouldn’t wander into areas we know are wrong and dishonest. When our thoughts go in that direction, we should repent, a word that simply means to turn and go the opposite way.  

Paul said the right thoughts lead us in the direction of what is pure, lovely, and commendable. God knows our thoughts, and we should honor him with the direction of our thinking.  

Paul said that the right thoughts are excellent and worthy of praise. Which thoughts will the Lord commend and praise? Paul would say, “Think on these things.” 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and your thoughts will be excellent and worthy of the Lord’s praise. How good it is to think like Jesus and allow those thoughts to drive our actions!

Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well. He had just told her, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:23). Right now, the Lord is thinking of you and seeking your thoughts of worship. How will you worship God through these words of Christ? 

Jesus was teaching the woman at the well—a woman who had felt shunned by almost everyone in her life—that God was seeking her. He wanted her thoughts to be directed toward him because those thoughts could begin to change her choices on earth. The Lord is “seeking” such people to worship him today, not for his sake, but for their own. 

Jesus told the woman at the well the truth about her life. They weren’t the words she felt good about hearing; they were the words that could help her become good. Our worship of God must be truthful. If something isn’t true, it can’t be of God. He is always and only associated with the Spirit of truth. Jesus is our living example of the priorities of God. 

God doesn’t need our worship, but we need to give it. Like the woman at the well, our honest, spiritual worship changes us. That’s why God is “seeking such people to worship him.”  

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and you will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

When Paul told the Colossians to “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,” he wasn’t instructing them to ignore their culture. Instead, the apostle was teaching the early Christians how to keep their culture in the proper perspective. He was speaking about the goals, or aims, of the Christian life. 

Christians have earthly lives and those lives matter. We should live well according to God’s word. Paul’s point was this: Which life should be the highest priority: our life on earth or our eternal life? We know the right answer to that question, but do we live as if we believe it? 

How many decisions do we make simply because that choice is best for God’s kingdom? How often do we choose to do without on earth so that we can invest in heaven?  

Sometimes our moments require so much attention that we don’t have time to consider the bigger picture. Do we ask ourselves, “Is this urgent, or is it important?” God rarely rushes our choices, which is one of the best indicators the choice might matter eternally.  

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and you will set your mind on things above. You can know when something matters right now and how and if it will matter forever.

Paul often spoke against the philosophies of his day and those who wanted to preach such ideas in the churches. Greek philosophers were considered the eloquent and educated people of the first century. Many of Paul’s letters, as well as John’s, were written to help the early church guard their hearts and minds to remain focused on the truth of the gospel rather than filling their thoughts with popular philosophies. 

Human beings have always wanted to believe what is “captivating” even when it isn't true. Sadly, wrong ideas can make people captives of their consequences. Paul told the Colossians to make certain they didn’t allow their lives to be influenced by the empty deceit the world was offering. Paul would write that same message to the church today. 

There are some complicated passages in Scripture that have always been difficult to interpret. We have different denominations because intelligent, godly people have disagreed. There is a good measure for biblical truth and cultural trends. If the church has upheld a teaching for thousands of years, then we should continue to uphold that teaching as truth. If a subject isn’t “debated” in Scripture, we shouldn't debate that subject today. 

It’s up to us to know God’s word and walk in the truth. Philosophies and empty deceit will always be a battle because they have always been a battle. What is clear is trusting that the word of Christ has always been truth.  

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and the empty words and “human traditions” of the world won't seem as captivating. Believe what the Colossians were taught to believe about Christ and you will live “according to Christ.”

The psalmist provided God’s people with the key to living under the law of the Lord. God gave laws for many of the same reasons we have laws today. God’s laws exist because they are for the good of the people. God made certain we would know how to live joyfully blessed lives. 

When we understand God’s laws are for our greatest good, we will “delight” in them. When we know what God is able to bless, we can make choices that will be blessed. So, why then do we struggle with God’s laws at times? Why does the world want to disagree with God’s word and choose human ideas instead? 

Meditating on God’s word requires a commitment of our time and our tendencies. Does God’s word delight you? Do you hunger for a knowledge of all that God has said? Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Jesus was teaching the same lesson the psalmist taught. A “satisfied” life is full of God’s word.  

When we delight in the word of God we will consume it, meditate on its truth, and then be much more likely to obey God’s laws throughout the day.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and you will delight in his laws and be satisfied by his blessings.

I love to have my sons and their families return home for the weekend. Even in the early morning quiet, while everyone is asleep, I am aware of their presence. I don’t have to see them to think about them. I know I can expect to see them come down the stairs and join me. That is the picture that comes to mind when I think of the word dwell. I enjoy the texts and phone calls, but it isn’t the same as those days when they “live” in my house.  

Paul encouraged the early church to allow the word of Christ to dwell among them as their source of teaching, encouragement, instruction, correction, and joy-filled worship and praise.  

Our Bibles are so much more than information. God’s word is our inspiration to live with thankfulness in our hearts to God.

Joshua had a key role in the history of Israel. He would lead God’s people into the promised land. Joshua had been by Moses’ side assisting him. After Moses died, the Lord came to Joshua and told him to prepare to lead his people across the Jordan and into the land of their enemies. 

Then the Lord told Joshua how to do the impossible task before him. He said, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” Allowing the words of God to remain in his thoughts would enable Joshua to walk carefully in obedience to God. Filling his life with God’s word would fill his life with God’s voice. 

And Joshua was “prosperous” and experienced “good success.” The Lord’s admonition to Joshua remains our direction today. Just as it was for Joshua, God’s word is our strength, our direction, and our comfort because his word is the Lord’s voice in our lives. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and it will make your way prosperous. Success is walking with his voice and his presence as you meditate on his word.

Paul had a good way of taking the complicated and making it clear. He taught Christians that the most important point is not whether an idea is considered popular or even appropriate. Instead, we should be asking, “Is it true?” 

Paul said if we want to speak the truth with our neighbor, we first need to put away falsehood. We are all members of the fallen human race. There have always been different opinions of God, but those opinions about God have never altered his preeminence. He is above the thoughts and ideas of men. 

We shouldn’t be surprised that evangelism is seen as an imposition by some. Evangelism assumes Christians have biblical truth that our neighbors need to hear. Evangelism assumes that our neighbor who doesn’t believe God’s word needs to believe. That is a confident, even arrogant, position to take in our culture. And the truth is, Jesus told his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19, emphasis added). 

Evangelism can be complicated in our culture today, which is all the more reason to understand that God’s truth is compelling. A lot of “falsehood” is taught as truth. It’s up to the disciples of Christ to “put away falsehood” and speak the truth. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He gives us the truth and love we need and calls us to give his gifts to others. We have neighbors who need the Lord. Let’s love our neighbors as we love ourselves because, truthfully, that’s what Jesus taught us to do.

Sometimes Christians forget that they are “spiritual” beings. We are “born again” when we make Jesus the Lord and Savior of our lives. That is a spiritual truth only a spiritual person can understand. The Apostle Paul told the church in Corinth that his words to them weren’t his best ideas. Rather, they were the perfect ideas the Holy Spirit had taught him. 

Faith isn’t just our belief; it's our experience. We interpret God’s truth through God’s Holy Spirit. Who would we be and how would we think if the Spirit of Christ had not entered our lives? Christians often see things differently than non-Christians. Our opinions and values can be very different at times. We should expect that, according to Paul. How can someone without the Spirit of Christ think his thoughts? 

We know the Bible is truth because we have been given the spiritual insight and experience to know that. We know God because we have experienced his presence in our lives. The Bible isn’t “human wisdom” because it was inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. We know the truth because the Spirit within confirms and agrees with God’s word. 

Paul’s words should provide the grace we need for those who argue with biblical truth. Spiritual truth is for those who are spiritual, those who are led by the Spirit of Christ. We should never judge or blame a lost person for having a “lost” opinion. We might have held the same point of view if Jesus hadn’t changed our hearts and minds with his truth. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and God applies his truth to our lives through his Holy Spirit. Every day, God’s Spirit authors his thoughts in your heart and mind. We need only discern the spiritual thoughts from our own.

In Scripture, judging someone or something from a human perspective is different from discerning with God’s wisdom. Human beings make judgment calls every day. Some of those calls turn out well and others don’t.

Discernment is born from the wisdom of God; it's a gift given to those who ask for it. “Right judgment” is God’s perspective. 

We limit God in our lives when we assume we know what is true. We often judge based on what “appears” to be true or wise. Jonah’s judgment was based on the appearance of truth rather than the perfection of God’s call. Humanly, we all would have booked passage on that ship! Yet, Jonah’s judgment landed him in the belly of the fish until he was able to discern the truth of God in his life. 

No committee of Hebrew people would have crossed the Red Sea with walls of water on each side. Joshua was on the committee to decide whether or not they should enter the promised land, and he and Caleb lost the vote. He and Caleb were also the only members of the committee who ever did enter. Later, Joshua led the people to march around Jericho. By all appearances, that wouldn't have been a great military strategy. John the Baptist pointed to his carpenter cousin as the promised Messiah. 

Just a brief look at biblical history should tell us that we should never judge a situation or person with limited, human judgment. Right judgment is God’s. 

That’s why the Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. We don’t have his discernment, his “right judgment,” until we ask for it and choose to receive it.

Paul described “the uncertainty of riches.” We buy cars that eventually need repairs. We buy homes that eventually need some remodeling. We buy clothes that go out of style, wear out, or no longer fit. The “stuff” we hope to accumulate in this world is often the source of momentary enjoyment. 

God’s word defines the blessings that will bring us the most enjoyment. God “richly provides” us with his joy, his forgiveness, his wisdom, his provision, his healing, and his understanding. There is a tranquility that comes with growing older. Most older people like to enjoy what they have as much or more than they enjoy getting something new. Maybe that is what is meant by the phrase “wisdom comes with age.” 

If we were to point to the things in our lives we know God has “richly provided,” we would probably realize that those things are the most important and enjoyable blessings we can name. We don’t “set our hopes” on things that are temporary or only last a moment. Our hopes are set on things with higher, long-lasting value. 

The Lord gives us wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Those gifts are provided by God so that we will enjoy them and allow them to give his perspective for everything else we might possess.

When the Lord is our shepherd, we know we are safe. He goes ahead of us to “lead us” to a place where he can “restore our souls.” He walks with us so that he can “comfort us” and guide us to stay on, or return to, his right path. He walks behind us so that his “goodness and mercy” will follow us “all the days of our lives.” 

Those who make the Lord their shepherd are never without his care and his love. One day, our shepherd will tell us our journey is finished and we have arrived at the kingdom of God. There, we will “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” 

One of the best moments of every vacation happens when we arrive home and open our front door. As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.” Our earthly lives are “road trips” full of interesting and important things to see and do. Our earthly lives have one central purpose: we are on our way Home. 

Not everything on our journey will be “green pastures.” We sometimes walk through those valleys the psalm describes. Whatever our circumstances might be along the way, we know we are being cared for, guided, and kept safe. One day we will arrive Home, and we will be safely Home forever. God’s house is the promise for every person who chooses to make the Lord their “shepherd.” 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to those who will say, “The Lord is my shepherd. He is everything I want.”

God told Isaiah that his word, the words that come directly from God, don't return to him “empty.” God’s words accomplish his purpose and plan. The success of a sermon or lesson isn’t found in how powerful or eloquent the presenter can be. Instead, success should be measured by whether or not God’s word accomplished the purpose God intended. The only words God has promised to bless and use are his own. 

There is a unique power in using the actual words of a biblical passage. A teacher or preacher will always make a mistake or two. But, when God’s word is sent out, preached, and taught, it does not “return empty.” 

When you shared or read God’s word today, you and others experienced his inspired perfection. When our words are his, our words have power and authority. Every word of Scripture exists for a reason, and God promises that he will use them to accomplish his purpose, in our lives and in the lives of those we are called to teach and influence. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding so that we can speak his word, for his good purpose.

Remember: those who lived during the days of the Old Testament didn’t have our scientific advances. But they knew that when the heart ceased to beat, a life had ended. They understood that in times of intense emotion or effort, the heart would beat more rapidly. And they believed the heart meant the center of life itself, with all of its emotions and motivations. 

When the psalmist wrote “unite my heart to fear your name,” he was praying that his life would be driven and motivated by his faith in our powerful and holy Creator. He wanted to know the ways of the Lord so that he could walk in God’s truth. 

That should be our goal for Bible study as well. It isn’t about simply learning the words of Scripture and their meaning. Bible study should unite our hearts and minds with God. When the truth of Scripture lives at the center of our lives, our hearts are united with God’s because we “fear” his name. To fear God is to live with reverent awe of who he is and all he is. 

When we know the ways of God, we can choose his ways instead of our own. When our hearts “fear” God, we want him to be our King. When our hearts are united with God, we will live with his thoughts, his love, and his motives. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Those blessings live in our hearts and motivate our actions. God is the source of all things, and he has given us everything we need to unite our hearts to his—now and forever.

John wrote his letter to encourage the members to remember why the church was sacred and important and why the church should be protected from people who were trying to alter the original apostolic message for the sake of personal profit. There have always been people who disagreed with God’s truth and therefore tried to exchange his words and ideas for their own. 

The elderly John spoke to his beloved congregation, referring to them as “dear children” because some were young in age and many were “spiritually” young—beginners in the Christian faith. John told them the Christian faith wasn’t simply a philosophy of people’s words or ideas. Christians were empowered by God’s Spirit and called to love one another with actions and the truth. 

Our faith isn’t simply what we think or say is true. Our faith is the power of truth witnessed through our actions. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. His children live differently as a result.

Sometimes God’s truth interferes with what we want to believe and often what others want us to believe.

God’s truth can separate us from the opinions of others. That can be especially tough when those “others” are people we love. 

How then does knowing the truth of God set us free? 

Jesus spoke those words and we know they are true even when they don’t feel like the truth. The truth sets us free. How? 

—We are free to believe God’s word over the world’s opinions.

—We are free to choose faith over fame.

—We are free to define success according to God’s standards.

—We are free to forgive the unforgivable.

—We are free to claim our own forgiveness through Christ.

—We are free to live with confidence in our eternal home.

—We are free to choose Christ and live by his Spirit.

—We are free to choose joy and peace, even amid fear and troubles.

We don’t always choose to walk in the truth we have, but God made certain his truth could always be taught and learned. God wanted us to know how to live free from our sins. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. We have those blessings of truth, and his words will set us free, now and eternally.

But, sometimes a doctor has to tell a person surgery is their only option. When the polio vaccine was developed, people didn’t ask for another choice; they were just grateful they didn’t have to worry about getting the disease. 

Sometimes there is only one choice because only one choice is needed. So it is with our salvation. 

When Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life,” he was saying, “I am the only way, the only truth and the only life.” His next words make his point absolutely clear. 

Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” God didn’t need to send “several” sons into the world so that people could be saved. He only needed to send one because only one was needed. Jesus is the only option God gave because he is the only option that will save people from their sins. 

We all know people who didn’t like the option of a COVID vaccine. We probably know someone who died because they didn’t get a vaccine. We all had the right to choose, but the vaccine didn’t help the person who didn’t take it. The COVID vaccine didn’t seem perfect to some and they wanted other options. 

Thankfully, there are some. That isn’t true about the choice to be saved. 

Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only provision for our eternal life. No one comes to God except through Christ. That means everyone you know is either going to heaven or still lost. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Everyone will choose to believe God’s word of wisdom or something less. We don’t have another choice because Christ is the only option needed. If you have doubts, ask God to help you understand.

A lot of our beliefs are accepted by faith. Faith isn’t making a guess; it’s choosing to trust what we cannot see in light of the evidence we have. 

The Bible is miraculous evidence for the reality of God. The words of Scripture have been changing people’s lives since they were spoken and written. “Faith comes from hearing” if we choose to “hear” the word of Christ. To hear means more than simply experiencing an audible sound. In Scripture, to “hear” God’s word means to experience its truth. 

The book of Romans was written in the first century when “hearing” a sound meant someone or something was close by, making that sound real. Faith comes from hearing the reality of God’s word. 

Sometimes people will want to debate our Christian beliefs and our acceptance of Scripture as the trustworthy message of God. The Apostle Paul would remind us to use God’s word in our debate. People won’t find faith through our ideas or words; they will find faith through the word of Christ. People will see the reality of our faith when they see the reality of Christ in us. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Let’s be careful to share the biblical message of Christ when we share our faith with others. Some will debate our faith, but others will come to know the Author of faith when we speak the word of Christ.

It isn’t as common for people to feel lost these days, and that might not be a good thing. We don’t reach for a map anymore because we have a GPS. We don’t reach for a light unless we realize it's too dark to see. A lot of people don’t reach for Christ because they don’t realize they are lost without him. 

People usually don’t admit to being lost until they realize they aren’t able to find their own way. We would rather wander around for a while, hoping to figure things out for ourselves. We might just give up and decide not to go if it seems too difficult. That describes the spiritual lostness of a lot of people in our culture today. 

But there is one destination that draws a person out of their pride to ask for direction. People are quick to ask for help when they are trying to get home. God’s word is more than a light to our path; it's a light for the path God most wants us to take. A light doesn’t help us very much if we are using it on the wrong road. On the other hand, if we want to stay on the road that leads home, God’s word will guide the way. 

In biblical times, a “lamp” was small and filled with oil. It gave light to a person’s next step or two, but not much more. God’s word gives us the light we need for the present and the promise that we will arrive home. We don’t know what the path looks like later on, but we know where our next steps should be. 

God’s word is our map for this life. God’s Holy Spirit is the voice of our spiritual GPS. We just need to program in the right destination and choose to trust his voice instead of thinking we know a better way. We need to ask for the help we need to arrive home. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. We just need to remember that we are lost without his word, our lamp.

Most laws are written for the good of the many but might come at the expense of a few. One of the first things the Lord provided the Hebrew people after bringing them miraculously through the desert was a list of commandments to follow. Later, a lot more “rules” and practices were provided. 

There was a day when only a few people had access to the scrolls containing God’s word. It was the priest’s job to teach the people God’s word. Now, we have the entire Bible in our homes and on our phones and computers. There are very few people in the world who don’t have access to God’s holy word. 

God has written and preserved his word throughout time. It was to be taught and passed down to every generation. God wanted us to know and choose “the way of faithfulness.” 

The best way to walk with God is to know his word. The way we keep God’s rules is to make sure they are always “before” us. If we want to know whether or not we are speeding, we look for the signs ahead. If we want to know whether we are driving in the wrong direction, we look to see which way the signs are facing. We shouldn’t be reading them in our rearview mirror. 

God’s rules are always in front of us through his Holy Spirit and through Scripture. He wanted us to know how to live a faithful life. The only question is: What position do we give the word of God in our lives? Is it always in front of us? 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. His road signs are always ahead when we choose the right way, the way of faithfulness.

Jesus taught a perspective that should impact every choice, decision, and concern we have in life. He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” The key to seeking God’s kingdom is to ask: 

Which decisions are for God’s greater purpose? 

Which choices honor Jesus as our Lord? 

Will we set aside our worries and trust God’s love and plan for our lives? 

How will seeking God’s kingdom perspective cause us to be righteous, right with God?

Every difficult time in our lives requires us to make one important choice first. Will we seek to make God our King and choose to be righteous? Some choices are good ideas, but will we seek God’s ideas instead of our own? Some choices seem like a good plan for our lives, but are those choices God’s kingdom plan? 

It's easier to “seek him first” when we remember that our greatest needs in this life are the blessings of God. When we have God’s blessings, the other things we need are added in as well. Sometimes God gives us what we want. At other times, God’s wisdom changes what we want. Either way, we are blessed. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding so that we can know what to seek first in this life for the sake of our eternal life. That priority will enable God to add his blessings to this life and store up our treasure in heaven as well.

The more we know God and seek his wisdom, the more we are filled with his perspective and his discernment. Paul was teaching the Phillipian church that to truly love others we need to love them as God loves them. Our love for others and our actions toward them can be “excellent” when we are filled with the love of God. 

If we want to obey the command of Christ to “love one another,” we will need to pray for the knowledge and discernment of God. We cannot love others like God unless we have the wisdom of God to see others, and ourselves, with his discernment. 

Loving others is God’s standard of excellence for his children. When we seek God’s wisdom, we will aim at his high standards. Loving others well is Christian excellence because that choice will help us to be pure and blameless on that day when we meet Christ face-to-face. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding so that we can see others from his perspective. He is the source for the love we need and the love we need to have for others. God’s standards are high and holy because that is the excellent life God wants for us, his children.

Times change and, like the seasons, come and go. The “kings” of this world are allowed power and then their power is removed. Their authority is temporary and God’s is eternal. The God that has been worshipped and praised throughout history is the God we will worship and praise in heaven. 

If we are wise, we will seek to receive God’s wisdom. When we want understanding, we will ask God to give us his thoughts. Wisdom, might, and understanding belong to God, and because of his love and mercy he wants to give those things to his children. 

Blessed is the name of the Lord, forever and ever. Blessed are those who walk in the name of the Lord because they will be blessed forever. Everything in our earthly life is temporary, except the things of God. Maybe that’s why God created the seasons as he did. 

February is the shortest month, and for most of us that’s a good thing. Februarys never last forever. Somewhere under the frozen ground are the flowers we will enjoy in the spring. God controls the seasons, and he always brings the next one. We don’t have to see God’s promises to know they will come, in his timing. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Bless the name of the Lord, trusting his wisdom and power are always enough for each day and every season of our lives.

Isaiah taught God’s people that even though they would experience great distress, God had also provided them hope. Isaiah said that God would be “the stability” of their times. World history speaks to the truth of Isaiah’s words. God is the stability of every generation. His truth and wisdom have remained consistently relevant to every era of human history. 

God is the stability of our times, and that will be truth for all time. 

God has abundantly enabled the salvation of people throughout history. His wisdom was truth for King David and remains truth today. His knowledge is perfect; therefore, he is the perfect source for all we need. In changing or volatile times, God remains the stability of this world. 

That is why Isaiah could say “the fear of the Lᴏʀᴅ is Zion’s treasure.” To fear the Lord is to hold him in reverent esteem. It’s to know his greatness and embrace his authority. That relationship with God is the treasured relationship we each should seek to have with our Creator. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He always has given that treasure to those who fear him.

When we placed our faith in the Son of God, we received our salvation because of God’s great love and provision for us. We are now permanently “in Christ Jesus.” We belong to God’s family. 

Our salvation has changed us. We are in Christ, therefore Jesus has become our wisdom from God. It’s incredible to imagine that we have been given access to the mind of Christ and his wisdom is from God. Through Christ we have been made righteous before God. Jesus is working in our lives to sanctify us, make us holy, and to bring about our redemption. 

Anyone can search for information on their cell phones. Those who are “in Christ” have received God’s Holy Spirit and can search for God’s wisdom within. The Holy Spirit of God provides the wisdom of Jesus. 

Open your heart and mind to the immeasurable love God has for you, his child. He provided for your salvation and then made certain you could gain his wisdom through Christ. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He did all of that for you, when he gave you his Son.

Our best decisions require more than information. We need to know what God wants us to do with what we know. Wisdom and understanding are difficult to google. God’s leadership and discernment come from our thoughts and prayers. Paul told Timothy, “Think over what I say.” Paul’s words are considered Scripture today. The teaching in our Bibles is God’s word for our lives. 

When we take the time to think about God’s word, the Lord gives us understanding and discernment about what to do with what we know. And God’s word applies to “everything,” according to Paul. The Lord wants us to make wise choices throughout the day, and we can if we take the time to think about God’s priorities and teaching all day long. 

We have more than six thousand thoughts each day. Thinking takes time. So, when we make time for the God thoughts, God has the opportunity to guide and direct our lives. 

One of the most amazing and humbling realizations is that the God of the universe wants to be involved in our thoughts and lives. Our thoughts about God are numbered, but his thoughts about us are immeasurable. 

The God of the universe is thinking about you right now. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. We have daily access to his perfect counsel. How many of your six thousand thoughts will include God’s thoughts tomorrow?

This church was loved by John and others who understood the “truth” of God. In John’s greeting to this church, he teaches something about God’s truth that all Christians and all churches need to know: “the truth abides in us and will be with us forever.” 

God’s truth is permanent and should never be changed. Because Scripture is truth, it applies to everyone in every situation. Times change but God’s truth doesn’t change with the times. John said God’s truth “abides in us and will be with us forever.” 

Many aspects of God’s creation reflect his eternal nature. The moon we see each night is the same moon people have viewed throughout history. The olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane today are produced from the same roots that existed when Jesus was there. The ebb and flow of the oceans have continued since the time God separated the land from the seas. God’s truth is eternal as well. 

People will always try to adapt God’s word to their beliefs, but only those who know the truth will abide in the truth. John loved this church and her members because they were aligned with the truth of God’s word. God’s truth for the first-century congregation remains his word for congregations today. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He will always give those blessings to those who abide in his truth, which will be true forever.

King David knew God and understood God’s desire to redeem even the worst, most unforgivable choices. David also knew God required what brought God “delight.” When we approach God with “truth in the inward being,” God is delighted to hear. 

When it's necessary to confess, the first step is to come to a place of complete truth in our own hearts. God knows our thoughts, even our deep and dark thoughts, and that is where confession begins. God teaches his wisdom to our “secret heart,” that place in us that only God is fully aware of. It’s to our “secret heart” that God will teach us his wisdom. 

Back then, the Hebrew people had limited knowledge of science. But, they did know that when a heart stopped beating, life was gone. They understood the most powerful moments in life caused their hearts to beat faster. In Scripture, the heart indicates the center of life, passions, and motivation. King David asked God to teach him wisdom for the very source of his life—his secret heart. 

God accepted David’s honest repentance and granted him a restored life. David lived with the consequences of his sins but did not remain separated from God because of them. God restored David’s heart until he could redeem David’s life eternally. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Only God can apply those blessings to our secrets.

He will blot out our transgressions when we receive his word into our inward being, our “secret heart.” You can draw near to God with your true repentance, knowing you will be received and welcomed into his presence because our Father delights in truth.

If something is only partially true, it’s not fully God. When something compromises our character, it’s not God. When something must be accomplished “in the darkness,” then God’s light is not present. Sometimes a decision is as clear as this: if it isn't pure, complete truth, it isn’t of God. 

God sends out his light and his truth so that he can direct our path. That path, according to the psalmist, leads to his holy hill, his dwelling. Those words are a reference to the highest, holiest place on earth.

The Jerusalem temple was built on the highest point, and the Holy of Holies, the place that held the Ark of the Covenant, God’s holy seat, was there. The psalmist taught that God would send the light and the truth to draw us to his presence. 

When we feel distanced from God, we can pray the psalmist’s prayer. God’s word leads us into his presence. Scripture is the voice of God, and we need to hear the words as we read them. We can ask for God to reveal his light, his direction, through Scripture. We can ask God to lead us with his truth as we make our decisions and plans. 

God provided his word to us so that we could be drawn to his holy hill—his very presence. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Ask him for his light and his truth. The Creator of the universe wants to bring you into his holy dwelling and spend time with you.

The word disciple describes a person who was a student of a specific rabbi or teacher. We have many teachers in our lives who influence our choices and decisions. We show ourselves to be a disciple of Christ when his teaching governs our thoughts, opinions, words, and choices.

We become a child of God when we accept the gift of our salvation by making Jesus our Savior. We become a disciple when we accept the teaching of Jesus and choose him as our Lord. When we abide with Christ’s teaching, we serve him as our King. 

We know and love Scripture when we adapt our lives to its truth. For centuries God’s word has been proven truth. Jesus taught us how to live a life God would be able to bless now and eternally. Jesus taught us how to live in such a way that other people could see the reality of God and want him to be their Father as well. 

We are surrounded by words of influence in our culture today. Jesus told his disciples to abide in his influence, his word. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. His word is the source of our influence when we choose to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s lesson to Timothy can be summed up in this way: “Remember what you have learned from me, from your family, and from others. We have taught you God’s truth.” That’s when Paul reminded Timothy that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable” to every area of our lives. Scripture is how God equips his children to accomplish the good work he has called us to do. 

If a financial investment came with a guaranteed return, we would do our best to be included. Scripture offers our lives a promise. If we invest our lives in God’s word, there will be a profit. If we want to fill our lives with “good work,” then we should fill our lives first with God’s word. 

Paul wanted Timothy to understand that the foundation of his ministry needed to be the word of God. When Paul wrote his letter he had no idea that he would continue to teach countless generations the important truth he taught his first-century protégé. The same Scripture that grounded Timothy’s ministry serves the Lord’s disciples today. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The words of your Bible were “breathed out” by God himself, and he has promised to use them to profit your life and ministry when you invest in his truth.

Chesterton’s words speak to our culture today and to our culture of faith. There is a difference between progress and growth. We shouldn’t assume that because we are advancing in knowledge, we are growing in wisdom. Could it be that our abundance of information has progressed our cumulative knowledge but stunted our spiritual growth? 

Paul helped to establish the Christian church in Ephesus, a leading first-century city famous for its advanced and educated culture. His words to that group of people speak directly to our culture today. 

Paul taught them it was necessary to speak the truth but to speak it with the love of Christ as their motivation. The truth was necessary for people to “grow up in every way” into an accurate and obedient relationship with Christ as their Lord. Without the truth, people cannot know God because God is truth. Without love, they won't choose God because God is love. 

Paul taught the church in Ephesus, and the church today, to teach God’s truth motivated by the love of Christ. G. K. Chesterton taught that progress meant leaving things behind us while growth is marked by what we keep inside. 

When we speak God’s truth with love, we “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” God’s truth is the source of our spiritual growth as we progress through our lives. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Keep growing in the Lord and you will speak his truth with his love.

That’s an important thing to remember when studying the Bible as well. “The sum” of God’s word equals “truth.” If we subtract anything from God’s word, we get the wrong answer. Like a simple math equation, every word of Scripture “adds up” to an answer that endures forever. One plus one will always equal two. The words of the Bible will always add up to God’s truth. 

Psalm 119 is a unique passage of Scripture. In the original Hebrew language, the various stanzas represented and repeated a particular letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It’s believed that this psalm was used with young children to teach them their alphabet, as well as the importance of knowing and using God’s word to govern their lives. The first verse of the psalm provides the theme: “Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!” 

Our single greatest need in life is the blessing of God. God has taught us how to live a life he is able to bless. His word, from the first word of Genesis to the final word of Revelation, adds up to truth and our direction for living a blessed life. We can learn a lot by applying basic math principles to our faith in Scripture. 

2 + 2 = 4

It always has, and it always will.

God’s rules + our obedience = God’s blessings.

That is eternal truth as well. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The sum total of God’s word is truth that will endure forever.

God’s word is the wisdom and discernment we need to make our daily choices. Scripture is our armor, our personal protection against the ideas and opinions the world imposes that can weaken our faith. We are called to stand firm against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:11). It’s so important to remember that we never stand alone or without God’s protection. 

We can stand firm, confident of our values and our calling, when we trust God’s word as our truth because it's the truth. 

The polls and predictions are interesting and often valuable information. The opinions of others are born from their God-given right to choose. The caution and protection of Scripture is understanding that our right to choose doesn’t guarantee our choices are right. We have to fasten on the belt of truth for it to serve as our protection. 

Do you truly believe something that is contrary to God’s truth? Has the culture become more convincing than Christ? Sometimes our right to choose truth becomes more important to us than choosing what is right. God’s word isn’t always popular, but it's always true. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The Lord gives us the ability to stand firmly each day when we choose to trust his word as our truth.

We live in a culture flooded with information, but in a sea of information, wisdom matters. How do we process all we can learn into what we should believe? How do we discern fact from opinion? Scripture has answered those questions throughout history. “The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6). 

One of the most powerful proofs of the miraculous nature of God’s word is the fact that it has transcended the cultural trends of every generation. Today’s world is filled with information, yet popular movies and television are fascinated with fantasy. 

Is an idea or belief based on fact or fiction? God’s word is the wisdom we need so we can process what we learn into what we should know, trust, and believe. The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. When we search his word, we find the truth, wisdom, and discernment we need.

Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane waiting for the Roman soldiers to arrest him when he prayed that his disciples would be sanctified—made holy—by God’s word. That moment is all we need to understand the importance of God’s truth. 

Trusting the historical, unchanging power and perfection of God’s word is what sets his children apart from the rest of the world. God’s word has the power to sanctify our lives and make us holy. 

Our thoughts, words, opinions, and character are transformed by the truth of God. His word has the power and wisdom we need to purify our lives. When Jesus knew his life was ending, he prayed his disciples would understand what they needed most for their lives and ministry. We need to be made holy by God’s truth. 

The Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He also gave us the power to choose his truth to be our truth and our path of sanctification.

When God became your Father, you received your eternal identity. You were adopted into God’s family and you are his child, an heir to his kingdom. The New International Version translation of 1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God.”

We are profoundly loved by the great “I Am.” Our sins can separate us from that love, but we are never refused that love. God said, “I am who I am,” and God is love. God’s love changes people. When we became God’s children, we were changed. Why is it that we so often try to become who we no longer can be? We don’t belong to this world any longer because we have been born again.

John said, “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” The only way for someone to understand our faith is to become part of our family. If they don’t know Jesus, they won’t fully know and understand us. A color-blind person cannot truly understand the difference between yellow and purple. It isn’t their fault; they simply can’t see the full spectrum of color.

Christians are God’s children. We were “blind, but now we see.” We understand the value and the need for God’s amazing grace. The great “I Am” has lavished his love on us and adopted us as his own. We are called to help others become part of his family. They deserve to live eternally as God’s children too.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. To know God is to know him as our Abba, the dad who loves us with a great and infinite love.

God told Moses, “I am who I am.” The completeness of our eternal God is difficult for us to comprehend. We worship the same God Moses knew. God’s words to Moses are still truth today. We live in an ever-changing world that our unchanging Creator holds in the palm of his hand.

God told Moses to describe him as “I am.” God is Father and Mother. God is love yet hates what is evil. God forgives and brings judgment. God is peace and passion. God is in the calm and the storm. Everything was created by God and exists for his purpose. There is nothing that God is not.

God said, “I am who I am.” God has no past and has no future. God isn’t bound by time because he is eternal. Yet that God cares about our daily moments throughout the entirety of our lives.

God is today who he has always been: the God of the ages. He is everlasting, ever-present, and always powerfully at work bringing about his purpose and plan for time itself.

In this moment, we can speak to the God of Moses and hear him say, “I am who I am.” He is all things, always. He is with you right now.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Know God by the name, the description, he gave himself. He is the high and holy “I am who I am.” He is everything.

God is not human, but we are. God cannot lie, but people lie to God and others. God doesn’t change his mind, but he can change ours. God is who he says he is and does what he says he will do. God doesn’t just give his word; he keeps it. There are no words to describe the pure perfection of God. If we spent days working on our perfect description, our words would fall short.

The infinite abilities of God cannot be understood or described, and they cannot exist in finite human beings. Scripture reveals God, but we cannot fully perceive him—yet. The day is coming when we will fully meet the infinite God of the universe.

Until then, we know enough about God to know that he is God. We know enough of his laws and covenants to know his plan for our salvation. We know God is not a man but that he loves mankind with an everlasting love. We know that if God has spoken a word or promise, it will be fulfilled.

To know God on earth is to know God in part. It's also to know that, one day, we will meet him face-to-face. He told us that, and if he spoke it, it will be fulfilled.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. To know God on earth is to know only a glimpse of all that he is, but that glimpse is enough until we know him fully in heaven.

I remember trying coffee for the first time, thinking it tasted awful. Now, my first cup of coffee is a favorite moment in my day. I don’t just like a cup of coffee in the morning; I need a cup of coffee and will make every effort to get one. 

For me, learning to love God was a lot like learning to love coffee. Each “taste” increased my enjoyment until one morning I realized I was completely dependent on him for my day. I don’t just enjoy God’s presence in my life; I need him. The bad days are the days I don’t make every effort to be with him.

The psalmist wrote “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” God is good. I have had some bad cups of coffee, and I’ve had some bad days with God. Sadly, we don’t always taste the good things in this life. Some things are like that candy that starts out sweet and then quickly sours!

One day we are going to drink coffee on the patio of our mansions in heaven. That will be the best cup of coffee we have ever enjoyed. One day, we will meet the Lord face-to-face. We will walk with him and enjoy his presence. Until then, we only taste of the Lord’s goodness. Right now we consume God’s goodness in small bites. But there will be a banquet in heaven.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. You will learn to know and love God more as you taste and see that he is good.

If there is a flash of light, we instantly raise our hands to cover our eyes. Most of us have been startled at some point by a rock that hits our windshield instead of hitting us. How often has God’s voice, his word, shielded you from making a wrong or harmful decision?

“Every word of God proves true” (Proverbs 30:5). We live in a generation that doesn’t always believe that. If something doesn’t feel true or seem true, then we might question God’s word instead of our feelings. It's crucial to understand that God’s word “proves” true and always has. Feelings and opinions change with the times, with maturity, and often because of sins and failures. God’s word offers proven truth and is the light by which we should examine every era of human history.

We need a shield today from the noisy confusion in our world. Opinions and words have become weapons flying around us. God’s proven word is our shield. Our choice is to take refuge in him.

We search for reviews before we buy. We listen to opinions before we vote. We study the internet before we commit to a surgery. Yet, we have all bought things believing they would be better than they turned out to be. We have all voted for people we believed in only to be disappointed with their actions. But God’s word has been the same proven truth throughout time.

Run to God before you run anywhere else. Trust God’s word before you believe someone else’s. Accept God’s standards before you adapt your own. Trust the Bible before you trust a friend. We have a shield, and we can take refuge in him.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. To find our refuge in God’s word is to be shielded by his proven truth.

God wants to forgive us and wants to rid our lives of everything that hinders our right relationship with him. In many ways, God’s forgiveness is the opposite of our own. We tend to forgive because we know we should. We often forgive with a sense of self-righteousness while God forgives because he wants us to become righteous.

That’s why God paves the road to forgiveness with the act of confession. When we confess our sins, we understand God’s goal in our lives. God doesn’t want us to simply get past our sins; he asks us to be finished with them. Confession comes from a place of deep remorse, or sorrow. Confession is grieving what has separated us from a right relationship with God. That is what Jesus meant when he said “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

When God knows we have truly confessed our sins, he knows we are ready to receive his forgiveness and accept the changes in our lives that he wants to bring about. He wants us to live a life he is able to fill with his blessings. He wants us to live a life that is redeemed and cleansed from anything that harms our souls. 

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is knowing that God wants you to have his forgiveness and redemption in your life so that you can be made right with him and so that you can forgive others as you have been forgiven yourself.

Luke 1:37 is truth, but that truth can cause mixed feelings for most of us. On the one hand, we are overwhelmed with the knowledge of the greatness of our God. Nothing we ask or imagine is impossible for him. We can find great peace and comfort in his holy perfection. Except, sometimes his perfection doesn’t feel perfect or perfectly fair.

If God can do anything, then why doesn’t God do that thing we need him to do? Why do impossibly difficult things happen in our lives and in the lives of those we love? “Why then,” as Job, King David, the prophet Jeremiah, and most of us ask, “do the wicked prosper?” If all things are possible with God, then why do difficult and unfair things happen in the lives of his beloved children?

That question was difficult for our Bible heroes, and we should expect it to be difficult for us as well. One of the best lessons I ever learned was to give up my need to understand the ways of God. We shouldn't expect to understand God’s ways any more than a three-year-old should expect to solve complicated equations on a calculus exam. Nothing is impossible for God, but a lot of things are impossible for us.

I rarely pray to understand God’s will. I pray instead for the faith to trust and accept God’s will. 

Those prayers can be answered and his peace often follows. I know nothing is impossible for God, and he is never limited in any way. His plans can be trusted. His love for us is complete. Our eternal lives will be his design and are guaranteed by his promise. I will never fully understand the greatness of God, but I know him as the God who makes all things possible.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. You can know and experience God’s power even when you can’t fully comprehend it because he is the God who makes all things possible.

The gods people create only have the power they are given. Only the holy God has power to give. We give many things the power to influence our choices, but only God is the rock who can author our choices. The rock is our confidence that whatever choice God directs is for our good and the good of others. Our only strong, perfect influence is the Lord. He has the power to save, and his power is a blessing to those who receive it.

The gods people create are temporary and change from one generation to the next. Sometimes they are given names, but most often they are simply given human interest and affection. The holy God gave himself the name “I Am.” He is the only God, the God of the ages.

It's good to examine our lives and consider our power to create gods. What or who has had greater influence in your life than the holy God? On which “rocks” do you choose to stand? People have always created gods, and that is often true for God’s people too. Thankfully, God is patient with our sin, waiting for us to recognize his authority in our lives.

There have always been many gods in our world. There has only been one holy God who created the world. How firmly do you stand on his truth as your safe place, your rock? People create gods and assign them power and influence. God creates people and gives them the ability to choose his power and influence. The created only have one Creator. He is the great “I Am,” the only God, and the Rock where we can stand.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. To know there is only one God is wisdom.

Why then are there still people who don’t believe in God? He has kept his word, his covenant, with every generation in history, but he isn’t able to keep it with every person. A close look at Deuteronomy 7:9 reveals that God keeps his covenant and steadfast love “with those who love him and keep his commandments.”

The best way to know and love God is to obey his word. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). We learn to love the Lord by walking in obedience to his direction. We experience his thoughts, his voice, and his holy presence in our lives through his Spirit.

We know that the Lord our God is God when we experience his transforming power in our lives. It's the same power Moses experienced when God parted the Red Sea. It's the same power King David knew when he faced his enemies. It's the peace and comfort Paul experienced when he was imprisoned in Rome. It's the same love and presence John experienced on the island of Patmos. We know that the Lord our God is God in the same ways the faithful people of every generation have believed.

God has always kept his covenant, and his love has always been steadfast in the lives of those who keep his commandments. When you adjust your choices to obey God’s word, you experience his favor and presence in your life. That has been true for every generation—and always will be.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. You can know God by living in obedience to his word.

God told the prophet Jeremiah that even when circumstances become difficult, God’s children could continue to trust their future to God. Jeremiah wrote to the captives of Israel, many of whom were faithful followers of God. The faithful Israelites were taken captive alongside the unfaithful. 

Consider the story of Daniel and his friends. The faithful hadn’t led perfect lives, but they didn’t deserve their enslavement. Their feelings of disappointment toward God would have been understandable. God told Jeremiah to teach them to trust God’s plan for the future despite their personal suffering in the present.

God said, “Trust the plans I have for you. My plan is to prosper you with hope for the future.”

The nation of Israel was held captive for seventy years. Many of the captives never saw their hopes fulfilled, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have hope for their future and for their future generations.

We seek advisors whom we trust will have our best interests in mind. We hope their advice will pay off quickly, but sometimes our investment is meant to be a blessing for others. Good advice should prosper other people too, and God’s advice always does. God’s plan encompasses much more than our present circumstances.

We trust God because we are his children. He has promised to give us “hope and a future” with him in heaven. Even the most difficult circumstances of our earthly lives can work for the good of our welfare and our eternal future. When we are God’s children, we always have future hope. That is our promise from God.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Trusting God is the hope and assurance that our future is secured by his perfect plan.

The psalmist wrote that all of God’s work is done in faithfulness. God is always faithfully working in our lives according to his upright, perfect word. We often hear about our need to be faithful to God’s word. How comforting to realize that God is faithful to work according to his word as well!

We can know what God is doing because we can know what God has done. We can know what God wants for our lives because God’s word reveals his will. We can know the high standards God wants for his children because he has made those standards clear. And we can know and trust his grace because story upon story illustrates his character that always leads him to redeem.

When there are decisions that need to be made, we can trust his word is “upright” and true. Even more, we can trust that God is purely and perfectly holy, incapable of ever being anything less. And God has promised to work faithfully in our lives as we yield our free will to his perfect will.

Maybe our greatest gift is that our imperfect decisions can be “remade” by God’s redemption. He makes all things good in his time. The same God who created the world is at work in our lives, creating all we need to live out his plan for our lives. Our will might stand against his for a time, but his redemption will return us to his Plan A or lead us to his redemptive Plan B. Either way, we prosper!

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. You can know God is faithfully working to guide, prosper, and redeem your life according to his perfect plan.

We don’t use the word abide in our daily conversations very often. The word is a verb and means to accept or act in accordance with someone or something. The Apostle John, the beloved disciple, wrote that when we abide in God’s love, we abide with God and he abides with us. John understood what it meant to abide with Jesus, even in the worst of times.

How do we abide with God? We know and believe in the love God has for us. We recognize that the God of the universe adores his children. Christians are loved with a powerful, unending love.

We can draw near to God by knowing and trusting his great love for us. We can know God’s voice by understanding that God desires to speak with us. We can experience God’s love by abiding in his presence. God is love, so everyone who knows God can know his love.

So then, why do we sometimes not sense his love in our lives? The key is in the definition of the word abide. To abide with God is to choose to accept or act in accordance with God. When we don’t act with God’s love, we are choosing not to abide with God. No wonder our prayers can feel like they’re bouncing back at times! We shouldn’t be surprised by our dark thoughts, feelings, and attitudes if we have stopped abiding in the One who is light.

When you feel distant from God, rush to abide in his love and you will rush into God’s presence. Be confident in the belief that you are loved by God and you can be filled with his love for others. 

God is love. John knew that at the foot of the cross and on the island of Patmos. If you want to abide more closely with God, choose to abide in his love whatever your circumstances. God gives his love to you so you can then provide it to others. Abide in God so that he will abide in you. That’s how we come to know and believe in our loving God.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. To know God is to want to abide in his love.

The most convinced atheist has seen God’s eternal power and divine nature. The most educated scientist understands how much is still not understood. The most remote cultures and people groups have perceived the power of God. The created world reveals the Creator. Everyone will stand before God someday, without excuse.

The world around us exists to remind us of God’s creative genius and infinite power. The quiet serenity of an open field blanketed with fresh snow. The soft breathing of a sleeping infant. The brilliant colors of a sunrise or sunset. The thunderous sound of a river or waterfall after a huge storm. The unceasing roll of waves onto a shore. The night sky filled with unreachable stars and planets.

What in nature causes you to pause and think about the infinite greatness of God? Now, consider this: most of God’s attributes are invisible. Creation is just a glimpse of God’s eternal power and divine nature. 

Scripture teaches that everyone has glimpsed God. Even a person who is blind has experienced the winds and the scents found in nature. A person who is deaf has viewed the miraculous colors in creation. We are moved by the powerful combination of sounds and rhythms that form our favorite music. How many senses has God given that enable us to know and experience his greatness?

Everyone has seen the Creator through his creation. No one has an excuse for unbelief.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. You can know that God gives everyone the ability and opportunity to know they have a divine, powerful Creator.

There is a difference between the things people create and the things only God could create. God’s creation is infinite and beyond human ability. God made man in his image, giving him abilities and imagination. However, everything that humans create is finite, having a beginning and an end. 

God wanted us to know his eternal greatness so he created this world to display his power and glory. Humans can only create from what has been created by God’s will. 

We should take great care in our lives to honor and worship the Creator rather than the created. Only God is worthy of our highest praise. He is Lord. His righteous right hand created our world to display his glory. We will love what we extol.

The angels in heaven surround God’s throne saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power” (Revelation 4:11). They know he is holy, Almighty God “who was and is and is to come” (v. 8).

Mankind has created some amazing and impressive things, but nothing that has been made is comparable to the work of the Creator. Only God is worthy of our worship. Worship him as the angels in heaven are worshiping him today. He is your holy, Almighty God, worthy of all praise.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that God is worthy of glory and honor and praise.

God’s way is perfect, but not everyone believes that. God provided his word so that everyone would always know how to live eternally in heaven. Thousands of years later, the word of the Lord has remained true. C. S. Lewis was a brilliant thinker who set out to disprove Scripture and the existence of God. Instead, C. S. Lewis met the Lord in his word and became a brilliant theologian after understanding the Bible was true.

God is a shield of protection to anyone who will trust him with their lives. He cannot be a shield to those who refuse his protection. He created us with free will so we could be made in his image. Our choice is to trust his word and his character or trust something less. But why would we?

God is perfect and so are his ways. God’s word has been proven true in every generation. And God’s promises have been fulfilled and are still being fulfilled today. We all have a choice to make. We can make God’s way our shield and find refuge in him or we can place our trust in something less. 

God is perfectly able, perfectly true, and eternally proven. We can trust him to be our shield and our safe place of refuge. “Choose this day whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Joshua trusted Jehovah God to do great things. So can you. 

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Know God’s ways have always been perfect.

Job’s faith wasn’t perfect, but it was steadfast. He endured loss, illness, grief, and abandonment, yet he remained faithful to his God. Job understood that God’s purpose is always accomplished in our lives. God’s character is compassionate and merciful, even when it doesn’t seem like it.

This life has trials, and so often our faith in God’s character can waver. Job was steadfast, and he was blessed because, regardless of his circumstances, he chose to trust God’s perfect character.

God is love. God is always compassionate and always merciful because his perfection makes him incapable of being less. We can be steadfast in our faith when we know God as Job knew him. God is perfect, even when our understanding of his ways is not. God is loving, even when our circumstances cause us pain. God is compassionate because he feels with us. God is merciful because he consistently loves us, even when we don’t feel love for him.

Consider the perfection of our loving God and your faith can be like Job’s. Remain steadfast regardless of the challenges and distractions of this world and, like Job, you will be blessed. Our faith will never be perfect, but thankfully our God is.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that God is compassionate and merciful.

We know from Scripture that “where two or three are gathered” in the name of Jesus, he has promised to be among them (Matthew 18:20). One of the most important moments of worship is to recognize and acknowledge that the holy presence of Jesus is present, tangible in the room, when believers have gathered in his name.

God told the prophet Zephaniah that his holy presence would be in their midst. Why does the God of heaven, the mighty One who saves, choose to be present with us, his children? 

Zephaniah said:

“He will rejoice over us with gladness.” God enjoys being with his people.“He will quiet us by his love.” God wants us to feel the comfort and peace of his loving presence.“He will exult over us with loud singing.” God’s voice is filled with joy, and he wants us to hear him sing, speak, and exult over his children.

Imagine the Creator of the world loving us in such personal ways. We are beloved, enjoyed by our great God. If we don't understand God’s promise, we will miss the joy and blessings of his presence. We will worship unaware that he is there to hear our praise. We will be distracted and disconnected from worship if we don't realize the Lord of Lords has actually entered the room and wants us to hear his words.

The next time you gather with brothers and sisters in Christ, remember that Jesus is there with you. His presence is tangible, evident in the worship of those who return his love. Take a few moments to sense his pleasure, even now, at being in your midst. You are God’s beloved, and he loves blessing you with his holy presence.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that God is in your midst.

Saul of Tarsus was led by misguided passions that brought harm to God’s children. When he became the Apostle Paul, his redeemed life accomplished more than he could ever have imagined. 

Saul of Tarsus was an educated, devout Pharisee who knew a great deal about God. The Apostle Paul was a humble, redeemed man who actually knew God. He had met him on the road to Damascus. Paul loved God as one who had been saved by Jesus Christ.

He described Jesus, the God he knew, saying:

Jesus is the King of the ages. He rules the world yet has offered to rule our lives. Jesus is immortal. He rose from his grave, proving we can rise from our graves as well. Jesus is invisible. Jesus is love (1 John 4:8). Like love, he is invisible but real, tangible, and powerful. Jesus is the only God. He is God and there is no other name by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12).Paul said that Jesus deserved to be honored and glorified forever and ever, amen. The word amen means “so be it.” When we think of Jesus today, we should think of Paul’s description. The Jesus Paul knew and met on the road to Damascus is the same Jesus we worship today. 

When Jesus saved your soul, you were born again. He has “raised you” to walk in a new life. The key is knowing Jesus as Paul knew him. He is our immortal, invisible King. End this day by offering your King, your Lord and Savior, your highest honor and praise. 

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that Jehovah God is the only God.

Jesus pointed to the birds and reminded his disciples that God valued people more than the rest of his creation. Our priorities get confused when we don’t share God’s values and trust his provision. 

In a culture that defines “enough” as just a little more, it's good to take inventory of our values. Do we want to have more than God wants to provide? Do we spend too much time and money on things that distract us from God’s best gifts?

Jesus taught his disciples that God values people the most. God cares more about our peace, joy, comfort, and contentment than our stuff. Do we spend too much time working for things or accumulating things that don’t have eternal value?

God called his people to work hard but not to overwork. God called his people to plan for the future but defined our future eternally. God taught that the most important successes in life would be rewarded in heaven. Jesus said God values people more than anything.

Consider the birds of the air. They take time to soar above this world, knowing God has provided for their needs. Jesus reminded his disciples that God wanted us to do the same. If we examine our lives with a higher perspective, we will understand what God most wants his children to achieve. He values what blesses and benefits his people because God values his family!

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. God knows and values your life.

God’s peace defies explanation or understanding because it's a gracious gift more than the result of circumstances. We have peace when we remain close to God, trusting him to care for his child. But there is a spiritual discipline that supports our trust.

The peace of God occurs when we keep our hearts and minds on God, our source of all good and perfect things. When we guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our choices become more like his than our own.

Jesus spoke his peace into the storm and the wind and waves calmed. Jesus speaks his peace into our lives and we are calmed, even in the midst of our storms. Sometimes the peace of God is one prayer away, and sometimes it's the result of a spiritual process. Regardless, his peace is a continuous result of practicing his presence and power in our lives. 

God’s peace is beyond understanding and a provision of God for even our most troubled times. Our worries are valid, but they need not control our sense of well-being. We gave Jesus that control when we asked him to be our Lord.

You can focus your heart and mind on Christ Jesus and the answers he wants to provide. His peace is the gift of his favor at work in your life as you walk in his priorities, trusting him to guide your steps. 

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that God’s peace will perfectly sustain.

Jesus existed at the beginning of time and “by him all things were created” (John 1:2–3). Jesus was with God when the world was created. Jesus is God incarnate, and Jesus is the Holy Spirit that came to indwell you when you made him your Lord. 

Countless commentary has been written about the Holy Trinity, yet God’s triune nature remains a mystery to our finite minds. How can God be one, yet three? The answer to that question is as infinite as God.

Understanding God isn’t necessary to accepting him. We don’t expect two-year-olds to solve complicated math equations, and the created shouldn’t expect to understand the Creator. 

God loved us so much that he stepped out of heaven and took the form of an infant. Christmas is our living example of God’s unsearchable grace and love. He humbled himself, choosing a human existence, so he could one day bear our sins. 

Jesus is today who Jesus was in the beginning. We bow our heads and usually picture Jesus as the earthly man described in the Gospels. He isn’t that man any longer. He is the Word, who was with God, who was God, and who still is God. Jesus is also the Holy Spirit, the power of God for the salvation of man. He is our counselor, comforter, our Savior, and our Lord. 

We don’t need to understand the Holy Trinity to know the three are one God. They existed in the beginning, and they will exist forever. And those who are saved will meet the Word, face-to-face. He will stand with us on the day of judgment. He will walk with us in heavenly places. His face is what we will see when we take our last breath on earth and our first breath of eternal air.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. All Christians will dwell with him one day. Take a moment and see the Word as he is today—glorified as he was in the beginning. That is the face of the one you will see when you enter heaven.

The Word was God, and he still is. Jesus is your Savior and your Lord. You don’t have to understand his triune greatness to worship him as God.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Knowing Jesus is knowing God.

We are called to be holy because the presence of Jesus in us makes us holy. Jesus taught us to be in the world, but not like the world. Paul said “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). We are going to think about things differently if we think about them like Christ. We are going to believe differently about some cultural issues because we believe God’s word has provided the right answers.

When God made us his children, he called us to be holy. God often told his people, “Be holy because I am holy.” But is it realistically possible to live a holy life in an unholy world? Should we develop a monastic lifestyle, avoiding any exposure to ungodly thinking? Do we just put our heads down and plow through our lives, trying not to see or hear what is being said around us? Do we vote quietly, or should we picket with loud voices? 

There are answers to those questions, but there is not “an” answer.

God called us to be holy and then gave us the Bible and his Spirit so we could be. Galatians 5:25 says, “Keep in step with the Spirit.” The phrase “keep in step” is a picture word that can mean soldiers marching in perfect unison or two dancers moving around the dance floor with coordinated grace. The point is this: We have each been given God’s Holy Spirit, and he will call out our individual marching orders, or lead our dance. Each of us will be led to live a little differently than someone else. 

But it is important to remember that the Spirit will never lead us in a way that contradicts Scripture.

If we want to be holy, we need to move through our lives in step with God’s Spirit and in tune to the marching orders we find in Scripture.

Did you live a holy life today? It depends on who led your dance or whose commands you marched to. We know this: We are called and equipped by God’s Spirit to be holy. Tomorrow the music will play and the army will march. Whom will you follow? 

He called us to be holy, and now it's up to us to follow his lead. The joy is that a holy life is a great dance. It's a march that ends with the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that God is holy and we are too—when we choose to follow his lead.

All Scripture, every word of it from Genesis through the Revelation, was “breathed out,” authored by God himself. The Holy Spirit enabled imperfect people to speak and record a perfect document that has remained profitable for God’s people throughout human history. The Bible doesn’t tell us everything we want to know, but it tells us everything we need to know in order to find favor with God and favor with man.

Scripture is a God-created manual for training people to be righteous, meaning right with God. God wanted us to know exactly what we needed to know in order to ensure our eternity with him in heaven. The more you know and live God’s word, the more righteous your life can become.

Christians should want to live a life God is able to bless. God wanted you to know how to live that life so he “breathed out” his thoughts through his Holy Spirit. We can read the very thoughts of God every time we open his word.

We call the Bible God’s word, but do we listen to him speak the verses? 

The best way to learn to recognize God’s voice is to hear him “breathe out” his thoughts in Scripture. If God said it before, he would say it again. If it was perfect truth for King David, Peter, and Paul, it remains perfect truth for God’s people today. 

Scripture is profitable for those who will accept it as truth, discipline, correction, and encouragement. The Bible contains the right answers for anyone who wants to be right with God.

But there is a warning in the first word of 2 Timothy 3:16. That word is all. God breathed out his perfect words. God never called anyone to be his editor. In fact, the book of Revelation warns against adding to or taking away from God’s word (Revelation 22:18–19). That passage warns of the consequences to those who do. 

The Bible is a holy word provided by our holy God. Let’s be wholly faithful to use it and teach it as it has been taught and preached for centuries. If it was profitable truth for Paul, it's equally profitable for us today. Let’s live as his words teach.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that every word of Scripture is proven, profitable truth.

Maybe we should be focused on Paul’s phrase “God is faithful.” Consider the overwhelming message in those words. The God of the universe, the Creator of all there is, is faithful to us. In 1 Peter 5:7, Peter writes that God “cares for us.” It's that relationship with God that will provide our “escape” from the common temptations of living in this fallen world.

Nothing is perfect here. Options are possible, even if they aren’t for our good. We know that God cares for us and won't allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to overcome. He provides our way of escape. So why then do we succumb to temptations?

Could it be that we have forgotten that God is faithful to us? If we truly understood his eternal love and care for us, we would be less likely to throw it away on a temporary temptation this world offers. We can be faithful to God’s plan because he has been faithful to provide his way as the best option.

Psalm 119:105 teaches us that God’s word is like a lamp to our feet and a light for our path. It's good to study Scripture because it's God’s faithful, loving direction for our lives.

This side of heaven, we will all be tempted to be less than faithful to God. God is never tempted to be less faithful to us. His holiness lifts him above every temptation we might face. 

Whatever decisions you need to make this week, consider which path will allow you to be the most faithful to God. Whatever consequences come with your faithful choices are the consequences the Lord wants for your life now—and your life eternal.

We will be more likely to avoid temptations and make faith-filled choices when we humbly realize, with gratitude, that the God of the universe is always faithful to us.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. You can know that God will always be perfectly faithful to you.

One of God’s most common attributes seems to be his tendency to move at a slower pace than we would choose. We pray, and if the answer is “wait,” we feel as if something is wrong.

It's important to remember that when God hears our prayers, his answers begin. God knows immediately what he plans to do, but his answer is often a process. Often our journey to God’s answer is what matters more than the answer itself.

God’s plans always have an eternal purpose. That perspective causes us to notice his work in our lives. Peter reminded the church of God’s perspective on time, saying that one day was like a thousand years or a thousand years like one day with the Lord. God doesn’t measure time on a calendar; instead, it's more of a checklist. God is slow because God is perfectly completing our answer.

The month of January is a good month to experience the patience needed to wait for spring. So much in nature appears to be frozen and lifeless. But, the promise of spring is fulfilled each year, in God’s timing.

We wait with hope because God’s promises are always guaranteed by his character. The Lord isn’t slow to fulfill his promise. He is perfectly working to bring it about. Your prayers have been answered, but it's the journey to that answer that feels like the “wait.”

Every Christian is waiting for the return of Jesus. Someone will be the last person to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior, and then Jesus will return. What if the last person to be saved is the person you share Christ with tomorrow?

God isn’t slow to fulfill his promise, and he isn’t slow to answer our prayers. He is just perfectly completing his checklist in his flawless timing. It’s our journey to his answer that is often the answer itself.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that God is answering your prayers right now, even as you wait to recognize his work in your life.

The book of Revelation tells us that, in heaven, “night will be no more” (22:5). Imagine never needing to rest or recover. Imagine an existence with no darkness. Then, imagine what those words meant to the first-century audience. Our world is rarely in complete darkness. It takes a power outage for us to experience darkness. Even then, we are usually able to grab a flashlight powerful enough to light the room. 

God is always visible light, and gives us what we need to see our way through the darkness in this world. In the first century, light meant direction and protection, so God described himself as light. Darkness, on the other hand, meant fear and danger to a person who was lost and couldn’t find their path home.

The Apostle John taught that those who are without God in this world are “lost” in a spiritual darkness, unable to find their way to heaven. Those who have God know him as their light. They are safe as they journey through this world, knowing one day they will dwell in heaven, a place where night and darkness no longer exist.

When the darkness increases in our culture, we can trust that God is the light of truth who will lead us. But, we also recognize that those who don't have God walk in spiritual darkness. They are lost, needing his light. God’s truth is the light for their path too. So “let your light shine before others” (Matthew 5:16) so that they can find their way home too.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that God is our light in this world and our lives can provide the light of God to others as well.

The prophet Isaiah had a lot to fear. He saw the direction Israel had chosen and knew God would be true to his word. God’s desire is that all people would know him and understand their need for his love and redemption. The people of Israel, God’s chosen people, were blending their faith with their culture. As a result, the truth of God was getting diluted and weakened. Isaiah knew God wouldn't allow his truth to be lost and feared God’s discipline and judgment were inevitable.

But, Isaiah didn’t need to fear. In fact, God commanded him to “fear not.” Isaiah knew God would bring judgment on Israel and that the nation would be without his blessings. God wanted his prophet to understand that he need not feel “dismayed.” Why was Isaiah protected? Because God was with him and was his God. 

God was going to strengthen him for whatever difficulties lay ahead. God was going to help him journey through this life, upheld by the same “righteous right hand” that had created the world. 

The only way to keep God’s command to “not fear” is to daily turn our thoughts to his words of encouragement. If we know God, we can trust him to strengthen us and help us with every hardship that comes our way. We can hear him say, “I am your God.” Our faith in Christ has placed us to be firmly protected by his righteous right hand.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Christians can know God is our strength and our great help in life.

For most of us, choosing only ten would be difficult. Change marks each day, with one exception. The God we serve is unchanging. His character and his word remain consistent throughout every era of history.

We worship the same God King David worshiped. We pray to the same God the Apostle Paul talked to. We are led by the same God who brought Moses through the wilderness. We are comforted by the same God who comforted our great-grandparents. Everything and everyone changes, but God remains the same.

Times, trends, and cultures change, but not God’s word. Truth doesn’t change, but people’s perception of truth can. One of the most important tenets of theology is that God’s word is our timeless truth, authored by the “Father of lights” who does not change. How wonderful it is to stand with his timeless truth in our ever-changing world!

God’s word is a good and perfect gift that has been remarkably able to guide people throughout world history to know him and receive eternal life. God’s priority for people will never change: he wants them to spend their eternity with him.

King David’s courage was a perfect gift from God. Paul’s miracles were good and perfect gifts to his ministry. John’s vision on the island of Patmos was a good and perfect revelation of God. God has always had a plan to redeem his creation, and that plan will never change.

God will forgive all that is confessed and bless all that he is able. We can’t stop the evolutions in our world, but nothing has ever changed the good and perfect gifts that come from our eternal, unchangeable God.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom and that truth will never change.

People wait in long lines to get on a fun ride at the amusement park. I’ve often taught children that heaven is like their favorite amusement park, filled with the best rides and the best friends. Jesus already bought everyone a ticket. But each person needs to understand what that ticket cost God, then ask him to receive theirs. Our earthly lives are lived gratefully, until it’s our turn to go through the gates of heaven. Everyone in this world either has their ticket, or it's still unclaimed, needing to be picked up.

John 3:16 is the message of salvation. If your ticket is securely in your possession, offer God your praise. Find peace and joy knowing that, once you have claimed your ticket, you are guaranteed admission. Enjoy considering what it will be like to enter the gates.

Picture the wonder of children seeing all the sights and sounds of their favorite place for the first time. Then, multiply their wonder by infinity. That is just the beginning of a believer’s eternity. Christians are blessed with the assurance of our salvation. We will be blessed, and be a blessing, every time we help someone else understand the perfect truth of John 3:16. End your day filled with the joy of your salvation and pray for the opportunity to help someone else receive their ticket to eternal life.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom and our confidence that he has promised to save.

Every sunrise, storm, animal, and person has been uniquely crafted from the “understanding” of our infinite God. The entire world has been established because of his wisdom and creativity. God’s power spoke every detail of this world into reality. 

What in God’s creation did you marvel at today? 

What has caused you to glimpse the creative genius of God? 

God stretched out the heavens and filled the atmosphere with planets and stars. God separated the land from the oceans and filled the world with an abundance of living creatures. Tomorrow the sun will rise and then set because God ordained it.

God “established the world by his wisdom,” and his wisdom holds the world on his predetermined course. If things seem “out of control” in this world, we need only remember the Creator, who holds everything in his mighty hand. God is wise and his plans will always come to pass. God gave us this life and, through Jesus, life eternal for all who put their trust in him.

At the end of each day, we need only trust our Creator for tomorrow. He can take our plans and turn them into our treasure. He can take our mistakes and redeem them for our good. 

Will you take a moment and trust your thoughts and plans to his infinite wisdom, power, and creativity? 

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Knowing God as Creator is to begin to understand his genius.

Our world has been transformed by the Internet in many wonderful ways, but the abundance of information can be a source of confusion. Is the information we find true, important, relevant, helpful? What should we do with the information we acquire?

The Bible, unlike the Internet, doesn’t change with time. God’s word never changes because it is perfect truth and invaluable wisdom. God wanted us to make his word the window through which we view everything else.

I’ve often said, in a sea of information, wisdom matters. Proverbs 4:7 says, “Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.” Wisdom is a gift from God that enables his children to know how to filter and use all we learn for God’s higher purpose.

God’s perspective is wisdom therefore, wisdom matters. Spend some time each day and “get wisdom” and “insight.” You will begin to see the world and the information around us with God’s biblical perspective. I hope you will join me for Wisdom Matters.

Jesus answered that question in his Sermon on the Mount saying, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).

At the end of each day we can ask ourselves, “When did I see God today? How did I enjoy, share, and respond to God’s unfathomable love?” 

To fear the Lord is to thoughtfully consider our eternal God with the reverent love and honor we owe him. It's to return the love that he has lavished on us. 

The psalmist taught that loving God in this way is the beginning of wisdom. 

Our goal should be to reverently love God in the ways that will lead us to walk in his presence and be filled with his wisdom. That is how we are most able to lead a pure life—a life that can see God and love him with a pure heart. 

Let’s begin our year with the “beginning of wisdom” as we love and honor our amazing God.

Our attention is easily drawn to an older couple who strolls through the church, holding hands, still obviously in love with one another. Their love illustrates God’s plan for marriage because the “two have become one.” That’s a love most of us aspire to have and is the earthly example of the love relationship God wants to have with each of us. 

People who maintain a strong love relationship with God naturally reveal God’s love to others. When we fill our days with God, he fills our moments with his love because “God is love.” His nature, character, and presence in our lives serve as an expression of his pure and unconditional love.

Maybe someone glimpsed God’s love in you today simply because you allowed his love to be present in your thoughts and choices. When two become one, a unique love is born. That is the relationship God desires to have with us. Our attention is easily drawn to people who live with that love for one another. 

To know God is to understand that He is love, and that is the beginning of wisdom.

New Year’s resolutions are going out of style. Very few resolutions are made with lasting resolve. Jesus would offer us a resolution that will never change, and a resolution he will make possible.

This new year will hold its own joys, its own challenges, and its own opportunities. Jesus was preaching his Sermon on the Mount when he gave some great advice for every December thirty-first of our lives.

Jesus said, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25). The Lord knows every moment of the coming year and all that you will face personally. He knows all our culture will face as a nation. He knows all that our friends and family members will face. Jesus knows and told us, “Do not be anxious about your life.” God has you in the palm of his hand and you are forever fine.

When Jesus had finished commanding his disciples to “not be anxious,” he taught them how to focus on something besides their concerns. He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

There is only one resolution you need to make for the new year. Resolve to make Jesus your king and all your focus to be on his righteousness. Resolve to be right with Jesus this year and everything else “will be added to you.” Jesus taught his disciples how to live in a close, personal relationship with him. Their lessons are our lessons today.

I pray Wisdom Matters has served to fill your life with the wisdom of God and the insight of how his wisdom can change your life.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. God’s wisdom is found in God’s Son, his Spirit, and in the words of Scripture. Continue to gain God’s wisdom. In a culture of abundant information, his wisdom matters.

The phrase good news is from the Greek word euangelion, meaning good news, good tidings, and the word gospel. When the angels told the shepherds they had come to bring “good news” of great joy, they used the same word Paul used in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (italics added).

When the shepherds announced the birth of Christ, they announced his purpose. Jesus is the good news, the gospel, and the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

If only we could live our lives with the conviction that we have good news. If only Christians were convinced that they have the ability and the joy to share the gospel with people. The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. Why then do we falter, hesitate, or second-guess our response when someone asks us about our faith? Why then did we ever allow our culture to tell us our message is a personal truth rather than the good news for everyone?

The shepherds rushed from the cave in Bethlehem to tell others what they had seen. Scripture says, “All who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them” (Luke 2:18). The shepherds had “good news” and were anxious to share it with everyone. The shepherds are our example today. 

The shepherds didn’t try to convince people they were right; they simply shared the good news they had experienced. They shared the message the angels had given them. Our witness is to do the same thing with people today. The gospel is the powerful good news about who the baby Jesus grew to become. 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Our gift to Jesus is to share the good news, the gospel, with his wisdom and power. We have a treasure to give others.

Jesus was there when the world was created. Jesus lived in the glory and perfection of heaven. In heaven, Jesus never felt pain, never was ill, never was tempted, and never existed a moment apart from the loving presence of God the Father. Jesus was praised by the angels in heaven and surrounded by the saints of the Old Testament. Jesus received the glory he was due and lived in the glory he deserved.

Then Jesus stepped away from all of that to be born “in the likeness of men” and raised by a family. He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.” He worked hard as a carpenter and then left that work to do the ministry of the Messiah. Finally, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus gave up the highest glory of heaven to receive the most shameful, painful death ever devised by man. Jesus did that for you and for everyone.

We are called to be like Jesus, beginning with his humility. Humility is one of the qualities of Jesus most difficult to attain, especially in our culture today. Human nature leads us to claw our way to the top. God’s nature within us is the only way we will humbly claw our way to the bottom.

The power behind humility is the picture of all that Christ gave up to become our Savior. And Paul said, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” The only way we will have “this mind” is to gain that mindset from Jesus and the example he lived and died to give us.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Jesus is also the power to live our lives with his humility.

Most of us have said something wrong to someone. Most of us have forgotten what we should have remembered. Most of us know people who are overly sensitive about the times we are under-attentive. Relationships will always require more work and a lot more sensitivity than what comes naturally.

We expect people to let us down at times, and they should expect that we will do the same. Most of us can forgive others their mistakes, especially when we consider our own. But what about those times when we feel like the Lord has let us down? How do we continue to pray to God when we feel like he hasn’t been listening?

Paul wrote about his personal struggles in several of his letters. In his second letter to the Corinthians, he wrote about his “thorn in the flesh.” Paul had missionary work to accomplish. Paul had letters to write and sermons to preach. Yet, something in his life made it difficult for him to fulfill his calling. He had prayed, asking God to take it away so his life would be easier. But God didn’t do what Paul had asked. By the time Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians, he had discerned God’s answer to his prayer. 

God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” And Paul wrote, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” God essentially told Paul, “You don’t have what you want, but you have what you need so that you will allow my power to be your strength and your sufficiency.” God does answer our prayers, but he answers them for our eternal good. His priority is our eternal reward, which is sometimes at the expense of our earthly comfort.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom is accepting our treasure is sufficient for today, even when some answers to prayer aren’t fully known until heaven.

Sharing our faith with people who blame Jesus for causing them pain is difficult. He is the reason they don’t mix well with their family. He is the reason they are left out of some conversations. Jesus can be the reason their self-esteem is lower and their bitterness is increased.

For those of us who know the love of Jesus, trying to comprehend why others would feel differently is hard. People will usually have a difficult time knowing they are loved by the Lord, unless they are first loved by his children.

People were created with a great need to know God. That need is a good place to begin your prayers for those you know who need Jesus. The philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote a book in 1669 titled Pensées. Pascal explained the empty place in our souls that only God can fill. 

He wrote, “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God himself.”

The God-shaped vacuum in everyone’s life is the best place to take the words of Christ, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” He spoke those words to Mary and Martha, who were grieving the fact that Jesus had allowed their brother Lazurus to die. Jesus told them what every human being needs to know. He has the power to save.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom is knowing that Jesus is the only One able to fill the empty space in people’s hearts, souls, and lives.

I love the simplicity of my “undecorated” home. I love the peaceful quiet that follows the noisy, fun Christmas celebration. I love thinking about Jesus, finally born, in the arms of Mary. She must have been so relieved to hold him, knowing he had safely arrived.

Every Christmas season on earth has a beginning and an end. Nothing about our earthly lives is permanent, except our souls. Those of us who believe can say with conviction, “It is well with my soul.”

I will enjoy my morning coffee and a warm fire when I am able to look at my simplified surroundings. I will haul out the trash, throw away some Christmas candy, and think about losing any extra weight I’ve added. There is something wonderful about moving from one season to the next. There is something wonderful about the simplified joy of a Christmas “well done.”

Jesus came to his beloved disciple John on the island of Patmos. John was worshiping Jesus when the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Your Christmas season might last a little longer than mine, but, at some point, it will come to an end. Everything on earth has a beginning and an end. Everything, except God. God is the Alpha, the beginning of everything. God is also the Omega, the end. Jesus was “with God in the beginning.” Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus will come again as the Almighty Savior of the world. Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem but will come once again as the conquering King. It could be this next year! 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. He is our treasure for every day on earth and for all eternity. 

Every Christian can celebrate on this day:

-“In the city of David a Savior” was born. He was and is “Christ the Lord.”

-Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.

-Jesus was born of a virgin because he was and is “the Son of God.”

-Jesus was born as the final sacrifice for the sins of the world.

-Christmas leads to Easter. Easter leads to eternal hope.

Whatever else this day means to your life, allow yourself time for Christmas to mean what Christmas was intended to mean.

God gave us Christmas because he “so loved the world.” God gave us Jesus so that “whoever would believe in him” could be saved. God gave us Christmas so he could give us Easter. We celebrate Christmas because we have believed and therefore we can live knowing we will never “perish” because we have the hope of eternal life.

Allow the emptiness under the tree to serve as a reminder that each Christmas season on earth is a temporary moment of the eternal celebration that awaits us, God’s children.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. May you treasure the moments of your Christmas celebration with the eternal wisdom and hope of all the celebrations to come. 

I wish you and yours a blessed and holy Christmas.

There are several answers to that question, but the most probable requires us to consider his audience, the Jewish people. The phrase is rooted in the Old Testament as simply referring to “son of Adam.” In other words, Jesus was a “human being” descended from Adam. If we combine that understanding with a prophecy from Daniel, we come to the complete truth. Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would be “one like a son of man” who would be given “dominion and glory and a kingdom” (Daniel 7:13–14). Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would be a human being but with divine power and authority.

Christmas was the moment Daniel’s prophecy was fully revealed. Jesus was born of a virgin because God was his Father. Jesus was a human baby with divine purpose.

Many will attend a Christmas Eve service tonight yet still attempt to explain the birth of Christ in human terms. They think of him as a good teacher, a prophet, or a “religious figure.” People still struggle with the idea of a miraculous conception. But people of faith understand that the Messiah whom Daniel prophesied was revealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus preferred to call himself the Son of Man because that was the full truth of his nature.

Jesus told those listening who he was and why he had come when he said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). When he referred to himself with that phrase, he was saying, “I am your Messiah.” Why didn’t everyone understand? The bigger question is, “Why didn’t the Jewish leaders, the most studied of the Jewish nation, believe?” They should have known, and they should have pointed God’s people to Jesus as their Messiah. John the Baptist did. Jesus was the Son of Man, but he wasn’t the Messiah the Jewish leaders wanted him to be, so they didn’t believe. The same is true for people today. There is plenty of theological and historical proof for our faith, but faith is only for those who want to believe.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom is needed to understand and accept that Jesus was and is the Son of Man.

Matthew 1:19 describes Joseph as a “just man” who had decided to divorce Mary “quietly” when he learned she was pregnant. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20–21). 

The name Jesus is derived from the Hebrew name Yeshua, meaning to deliver or rescue. It is the same name as Joshua, the man who led the Hebrew people into the promised land. Matthew is careful to describe the moment when an angel told Joseph the name of the baby Mary would deliver because, in that name, Joseph would understand the baby’s purpose. His name would be Jesus because the baby was the Messiah. Joseph understood and knew that he was called to care for Mary and her son.

Jesus was God’s gift to the world, but he came first to the chosen people of God. The apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans, and he makes a statement in chapter 1 that is considered to be the theme of Romans. The apostle wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). Jesus came to save “his people” first.

Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph, two people who lived with great faith in God. The first Christmas was for those who were faithful to God the Father. The faithful Jewish people would be the first to understand and accept Jesus as their Messiah. Faithful Jewish men were chosen to be his disciples. Sadly, it would be the Jewish leaders who would hinder Jesus’ ministry the most. 

Jesus was born for one singular purpose. He was born to save “his people.” God’s children would be redefined in the years to come as those who “believed in the name of Jesus.” Jesus still wants to save “his people” today, both Jew and Gentile. Christmas was and still is for “his people.” 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. He is still Yeshua. He wants to rescue and save “his people.”

Rome had spent many years and thousands of man-hours constructing a system of roads through the countries they conquered. The Roman roads were built to carry soldiers, chariots, and weapons of war. Those same roads were also used to carry the word of God throughout the land.

Rome had established itself as the world power. There was relative peace throughout the civilized nations. Rome had shared their markets, their language, their money, their culture, and their belief in multiple gods with the world as well.

The Jewish people had revolted against the Romans and had reconciled themselves to their rule. Yet, their faith and values still held a stronger influence in their lives than Roman laws and ideals. 

As Paul wrote, “But, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.” The studies of the timing of Christ’s birth are fascinating. Jesus picked the perfect time to come. Most people spoke one language and therefore understood his sermons. Rome protected his freedom to speak even when his Jewish brothers did not. The Roman culture had many gods and therefore was less concerned when Jesus was just “one more.” Jesus was born to be the sacrificial lamb, and Rome was even the reason he would be hung on a cross. 

What Rome did not understand was that Jesus was born in the fullness of time “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5). Jesus didn’t come to usher in new followers of the old covenant law or  new citizens of Rome. Jesus was born to help people understand their “citizenship” was in heaven because they were the adopted children of the Holy God. 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Jesus wisely and carefully chose to be born at that particular time in history. And world history was reborn at that same time.

It is the week of Christmas. Most of us will spend time this week with someone in our circle of friends, or even in our families, who does not believe in Jesus like we do. Most of those people will feel like we “condemn” their way of thinking, and they would be right. How do we condemn their lack of belief without condemning them?

Most of the time, John 3:17 is our answer and our Christian perspective. If Jesus told Nicodemus his purpose was to save rather than condemn, then we know that truth is our purpose as well. 

We can get caught up in the need to be right, which can justify some wrong words if we aren’t careful. We can get caught up condemning their wrong beliefs and never earn the right to offer them the truth about Jesus. He was born to save, not to condemn. If we don’t follow our Lord’s motivations, we follow something or someone less.

God so loved the world he gave his Son to anyone who would believe. God wants people to live their earthly lives with the promise and hope of life eternal. God did not send Jesus to condemn the world. Instead, Jesus was born to save the world.

But there is one point of theology we must stand firmly upon. God will only give his Son and his salvation to those who will believe. God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but salvation is a personal choice, and God won’t force anyone to choose. Jesus was not born to condemn; he was born to save. John 3:17 is the only way to share John 3:16.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Our treasure was given to us so we would carefully share it with others. If unbelievers realized we owned and were willing to share a “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:46), they might be more ready to listen to our message.

We can say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy holidays.” We can wish someone a “blessed day” instead of a “good day.” We can decorate our homes, send our cards, post on social media, and prioritize our time with the goal of celebrating Christ with those we know. Peter taught that we should “honor Christ the Lord as holy.” I think Peter would encourage us to do that by keeping our Christmas celebrations “holy” as well.

Peter also taught that we should always be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks.” If you make it a goal to lift up the name of Christ, you will at some point be asked why you believe. If you are open about your faith, people will expect you to be faithful to Christ. Most people are looking for the hope we have, even if they don’t realize that our hope is in Christ. Are you ready to answer their questions and lead them to meet the baby of Bethlehem who was and is the King of kings?

Some of the world’s ideas about celebrating Christmas can seem pointless, absurd, and even offensive. Peter would encourage us to share the truth about Christmas with words and an attitude of “gentleness and respect.” Even when we aren’t given that same respect from others, we remember our accountability is to the Lord himself. Sharing the good news of Christ isn’t a debate; it is a delivery. We don’t hand them an argument for Christmas; we give them a gift from God.

If Jesus would leave the glory of heaven to be born in a humble stable, we can lay aside our personal “rights” in order to be righteous. Jesus deserves our humble service, and we should be prepared wherever we go to be his Presence, his voice, and his love through the power of his Holy Spirit. 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom is being prepared and ready to share our treasure with gentleness and respect every time we are given the opportunity. 

Except for his visit to the temple at the age of twelve, we know very little about the “ruler of Israel.” He amazed the priests at the age of twelve, but who else noticed Jesus wasn’t just another man?

Jesus impacted a small region of the world after his baptism. Many were healed, many were taught, and many experienced his miraculous power. But Jesus didn’t fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy until the week before his death.

Zechariah had written, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The day Zechariah’s prophecy was fulfilled, the people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9). Only a few days later, the shouts would change to: “Let him be crucified!” (Matthew 27:23).

The story of Christmas is a story of great hope, but so is the story of Easter. Jesus’ glorious birth was followed by a long period of day-to-day, natural growth. The story of Jesus’ earthly ministry was just about three short, busy years. The glory of his entrance into Jerusalem was soon overshadowed by his tragic death. But, just three days later, his glory was established forever. 

The hope of Christmas required a wait. So did the hope of Easter. Peter taught those early believers, and us, how to wait with hope. He wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3).

The hope of Christmas is the hope of Easter today, but it is a living hope that dwells in each of God’s children. If you have the Holy Spirit of Jesus living in your life, you have that living hope because you have the promise of one day spending Christmas with Jesus in your eternal home. 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Treasure the living hope we have as believers today.

It was on a cold Christmas Eve in 1818 that an Austrian pastor, Joseph Franz Mohr, carried a poem he had written years before to his friend Franz Gruber. The Christmas Eve service was only hours away and a flood had destroyed the organ at the church. The pastor hoped his friend could put his poem to music that could be played on a guitar.

That is how “Stille Nacht” began. The hymn has been translated and many of the lyrics were altered from the original, but the spirit of the hymn remained. There is something profound in the quiet beauty of a candlelit sanctuary filled with people singing the timeless carol “Silent Night.” That moment reminds us that Christmas is a holy season.

It’s no wonder that the world has turned the season into a long list of things to do. Jesus warned his disciples, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Satan is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). I like to teach that Satan is also the demon of distraction. There are so many “good” things to do each Christmas that we sometimes get distracted from those things that are godly.

“Silent Night” has been a favorite Christmas carol since it was written. Somehow, even a flooded church couldn’t stop Christmas worship. God blessed one man with an idea and another with a melody and their song has blessed countless people since. Satan would have chosen to kill and destroy a worship service in Austria. Jesus decided to bring abundant blessing instead.

Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus was born to defeat Satan’s claim on God’s people. Christmas was a miraculous, abundant gift from God. We should be careful to measure the abundance of our holiday by his standards. 

Satan would love to distract us by killing plans, stealing our joy, and destroying all that God wants to bless us with. If we allow Jesus to work, he can inspire and lead us to enjoy a blessed Christmas, filled with abundance. 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Consider the lyrics of “Silent Night” and make this night a calm, “holy night.” May your Christmas be abundantly blessed as a result.

Matthew 2:1–12 tells the story. These “wise men” came from the East in search of a newborn king. Their arrival in the city of Jerusalem would have caused a commotion. A group of this size and this importance would have had quite an entourage. Their status is indicated by the fact that they went to Herod expecting him to give them an audience. Their status is also indicated by the fact that Herod was less than candid about his plans for that “newborn king.”

They went to ask Herod their question, knowing him to be of Jewish lineage. Herod had been raised as Jewish, which is why the Romans chose him to be their leader in Jerusalem. The magi asked Herod where they should look for the newborn king, and he consulted with the Jewish leadership. Micah 5:2 is the verse the Jewish leaders quoted and the reason Herod sent the magi to Bethlehem.

Bethlehem was home to King David’s family at one time. It was “little . . . among the clans of Judah.” It was a small place, home to farmers and shepherds. But, just as King David in “ancient days” had come from Bethlehem, so would the Messiah, the One who was to be the “ruler in Israel.” That verse would have led the magi to their king and was also the reason Herod plotted to kill all the young baby boys who had been born there. 

Bethlehem was a small town, so the number of baby boys born there would have been small, probably less than ten. That number wasn’t significant to Roman history, but it was significant to those who were Jewish. That’s why Matthew included this story in his gospel to the Jewish people.

The magi were wise men, likely influenced by the faith that Daniel and others had taught when they were taken captive in the region of Persia hundreds of years earlier. Their faithful teaching during those days had likely inspired these kings to go in search of the new “ruler of Israel” hundreds of years later.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. The timing of Jesus’ birth is a testimony to the wisdom, prophecy, and perfection of God’s plan for the salvation of the world.

We are blessed to have access to biblical theology in the countless volumes written by theologians from around the globe. We have access to the strengths and weaknesses of the Christian church through the historical and biblical records that date back thousands of years. We have been “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” that we can easily find examples and encouragement for our faith from their lives.

This life is a race, and we are called to run it with endurance. Every Christmas has sweet memories of past Christmas seasons and hope for all the celebrations to come. Every Christmas sparks a bit of sadness because of those whom we will miss and sparks joy because of the new lives who have joined our families.

If something is heavy on your heart this Christmas, the author of Hebrews would encourage you to “lay aside” that weight so you can “run” your race. If there are unconfessed sins, he would tell you to repent so you can throw the burden of it to the side and run with endurance. We have been given a perfect example in Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. How would Jesus perfect your Christmas this year?

Jesus endured the cross so that we could run our race with joy and with hope. We can live with gratitude to him by running the race, that is, living our lives with spiritual endurance. If Jesus walked up to you right now and held out his arms, what burden would he ask you to give up by giving it to him?

Jesus, and so many of those biblical heroes, encourage us with their stories. None but Jesus were perfect people, but many allowed God to use their lives for his good and holy purpose. We can too! Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith. How does he want to perfect your Christmas season and your life today?

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. We can run our race with endurance and joy if we run our race led by his perfection. 

Jesus told his disciples, “I am the good shepherd.” Jesus was born to care for God’s people and lead them through life. Jesus described himself as the good shepherd and then said, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus is the good shepherd who will leave the ninety-nine to go after the one. Jesus is the good shepherd who will fight Satan, the wolf who “seeks to kill and destroy” (John 10:10). 

The baby of Bethlehem grew up to be the good shepherd. Bethlehem is located about six miles from the city of Jerusalem. The fields were used by the shepherds, especially during the Passover season, to provide pilgrims with the lambs they needed to bring to the altar for sacrifice.

The first Christmas most likely occurred during the spring when the shepherds were in those fields near Bethlehem, watching their flocks by night. There were a lot of shepherds in the fields that night when the skies were set ablaze with angelic light. Those shepherds were the first to go and see “the good shepherd” lying in that stable.

All of us have people in our circles of influence whom God has called us to “shepherd.” Are we willing to guide them to those still waters where God can restore their souls? Are we willing to chase after the one who has wandered off? Will we do all we can to shepherd them and bring them to the good shepherd, the One who laid his life down for them?

We might need to “lay down” some plans tomorrow to go after one who has wandered away. We might need to put our own lives on hold in order to lead others to a safer place. Shepherds are called to care for the flocks, for the good of the community. How will God put you to work tomorrow?

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom is allowing the good shepherd to lead us and use us to care for his flocks. It’s an honor and privilege to serve the One who laid down his life for his own.

If we want to experience the holiness of this season, we simply need to allow Paul’s words to the Ephesians to be our great advice for these days. We shouldn’t be running around trying to do everything that seems important. If we do, we will likely miss what God has told us is important.

There is an amazing power that has been invested into each Christian’s life. When we received God’s Holy Spirit, we received the person and power of his character. First John 4:8 tells us that “God is love.” When Christians are yielded to God’s Spirit, we are filled with God’s character. And God is love.

Paul told the Ephesians, and each of us, to “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” If we were standing with Christ each day, how would he feel about our patience with others? If we were seeing people with the compassion of Christ, how would our thoughts and actions change? Paul told the church to “walk in love, as Christ loved.” That is the goal we should set for this Christmas season and every day that follows.

We can walk in the love of Christ if we will walk with the Spirit of Christ. Jesus sacrificed his life so that we could live filled with the character of God, the character that is love. Our effort isn’t to love others; it is to rely on the power of God’s love within us and give his love to others. 

Jesus became a “fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Now, through his Spirit, we can carry the fragrance of Christ to those we meet as our sacrificial service to God. We can see others and love them as Jesus would. That can be our Christmas gift to the One who gave everything to us.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. We are greatly blessed. May the love of Jesus be the treasure we share with others.

The angel told her that she, a virgin, would give birth to a son. She had all the questions any young woman would have, then said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Jesus chose Mary because she understood that the highest purpose for her life was to live as a servant of the Lord. 

Mary would have cared about how her family, friends, and community would be impacted by her news. She was surely worried about telling Joseph. She had every reason to say no except one: she was called to serve the Lord. So, she said, “Let it be to me according to your word.”

Later, when Mary saw Elizabeth, she received her first encouragement. Elizabeth, filled with God’s Spirit, confirmed and affirmed Mary’s pregnancy. The Magnificat is Mary’s song of praise and begins with the words, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46–47). Mary was honored to be chosen and used by God.

Jesus chose Mary to be his mother because she knew how to serve. Jesus chose Mary because she knew how to put God’s calling ahead of anything else, even those who were most important to her life. Jesus chose Mary because her soul rejoiced at the chance to serve. Mary is one of the finest examples in Scripture of what it means to trust the Lord with all of our heart, not leaning on human understanding but in every way knowing and accepting God’s calling. It is then we will allow God to direct our path.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. I wish I had known more about Mary before I was asked to fill her role in the Christmas pageant. If I do that again, hopefully it will be with her heart, the heart of a servant.

Did Mary know she was kissing the face of God? Did Mary know that her sleeping child was the Great I Am?

The author of Hebrews fully understood what Mary probably could not. He said Jesus was “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” We look back to Christmas with knowledge Mary could only have “pondered in her heart.” The best way to know God is to know his Son.

When you study the life of Christ, you study the character of God. Jesus chose a cave, a stable, as his birthplace. Jesus chose to wash the feet of his disciples. Jesus chose to allow soldiers to mock and beat him. There is no sin that Jesus won’t forgive. 

Jesus showed compassion to the young, old, sick, and well. Even the lepers could come to him and be made whole again. When you see the compassion of Christ, you can know how you are loved by God. When Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem, you can understand what grieves the heart of God today.

Everything about the Christmas story points us to God the Father. “He upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Yet, God chose to send his Son to a world that would ignore and mistreat him. When we see the way Jesus was treated, we understand the depth of God’s grace.

Now, God the Father and God the Son are side by side in heaven. One day God will tell his Son, “This is the day.” When we see Jesus, the radiance and glory of God, we will see God, “the Majesty on high.” What if that happens this Christmas?

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. And wisdom is understanding that our treasure was and is the exact imprint of God.

We can only imagine what those barrels meant to the missionaries so far from home. Christmas was probably a time when they keenly felt their separation from friends and family. Their families celebrated the holiday with a few empty places at their tables. 

What did the Creator God feel when his Son was being held in the arms of Mary? What did God give up in order to give us his Son? We often think of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, but his Father also made a sacrifice. Both felt the pain of that day.

Under the old covenant, God allowed sin to be covered by a number of different sacrifices. A lamb was the required sacrifice for Passover. It was given to remember and honor the time when God’s people had covered their doorposts with lamb’s blood so the angel of death would pass over their household. The Passover lamb was asking God to offer that same forgiveness again. Jesus became a sacrificial lamb so that anyone “covered” by his blood would never be harmed by the angel of death.

Paul wrote, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Why did God sacrifice his Son for us, and why should we think about that at Christmas?

God wanted us to become the righteousness of God so he gave us Jesus. Later, God would allow his Son to take the blame for our sins. How, then, should we live this day?

We can live a righteous life, a life right with God. What is God’s will for your day? What is God’s will for tomorrow? If you live a righteous life, others will know the reality of Christ as they witness him in you. That is what God wants for our life eternal as well as for our life on earth.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. What sacrifice will you make for the sake of living a righteous life with God? How will you express your gratitude for the treasure God gave you? 

The Christmas season is a joy-filled time, but what are you most grateful for today? Chances are, it is something you are most grateful for almost every day. If Christmas fell off our calendars and there were no special moments, no special parties, and no special decorations, we would still have so much to rejoice and be glad about.

Sometimes we put too much expectation into a holiday that, truthfully, is just another season of another year. The best things about today will probably be the best things about your life one or two months from now.

“This is the day that the Lᴏʀᴅ has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” This is a day to be joyful—and so is the tenth of every month. Why is that? Every day is a day the Lord has ordained. God literally created each day for a reason, including these special days of the Christmas season.

We should make these days special in our hearts and be glad for the chance to celebrate all we love and enjoy. But, for what joys did God create and give you “this day”? Only God has the answer, uniquely designed for each of us.

Why did God make this day for you? How will you rejoice over it when it is done?

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Every day with Jesus is a gift of the Christmas season. Rejoice and be glad. 

Our Christmas season is significantly different from that night when the skies lit up with a host of angels. Shepherds today are scheduled to clock in, clock out, and finish their personal Christmas plans on their personal time. Today’s shepherds may be off on Christmas Day, or they may be scheduled to work a shift on the twenty-fifth.

Even today, shepherds work in the fields while others are home sleeping. God chose the shepherds of the day to be the first to hear the “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). The shepherds were the first to see the newborn king wrapped in swaddling clothes. The shepherds were also the first to announce the birth of Christ to others. 

Shepherds were considered to be the “least” important in first-century culture. Who are the shepherds today? Jesus chose them to be first that night as they were watching their flocks just outside of Bethlehem. From the very beginning, Jesus taught us to think differently about people than the world thinks of them.

If Jesus were born today, a group of cab drivers, night shift workers, or truck drivers parked in a rest stop might have experienced the angelic host. Jesus chose the shepherds for a specific reason. He blessed the humble, who wouldn’t easily assume they deserved a Savior. All of us should be able to list reasons why we are grateful for God’s miraculous gift.

Jesus was born to lay his life down “for his friends.” Everyone can be a friend in return. Jesus told Peter, “Do you love me? . . . Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). Peter betrayed Jesus three times yet Jesus laid down his life for his friend. All Jesus asked in return was that we follow the examples of those early disciples and feed his sheep.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. We are God’s shepherds called to shepherd others. They deserve to know Jesus is their treasure too. 

The Lord, through Isaiah, told his people what to look for in their Messiah. He said they would be given a “sign” that would indicate God had come to be “with them.” That sign would be a miraculous conception. 

Every Christmas we read the verses from Luke that describe the circumstances between the Lord, Mary, and Joseph relating to the conception of Christ. The birth of Christ cannot be understood apart from his miraculous conception. 

People have always struggled to believe what cannot be explained. Christianity requires faith for those who follow. Joseph didn’t believe it either. He received a vision from God so that he would be able to take Mary as his wife, protecting her from unbelief. Elizabeth felt her baby jump in her womb, and her words of encouragement to Mary produced the praise we call her Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55).

Isaiah prophesied that the virgin birth would be a sign from the Lord himself for the coming Messiah, but that truth would be slowly and carefully revealed to the world by the people involved. It would take faith to fully understand and accept the divinity of Christ Jesus. It still does.

Those who need a scientific explanation for the events in Scripture will be disappointed. Those who will only accept the parts of Scripture they can understand will find it difficult  to trust the Christmas story. Those who understand that it is “by grace you have been saved through faith” will be able to accept Jesus as God’s Word in the flesh. Believing the biblical Christmas story requires faith, and the ability to trust God’s ways are higher than our human understanding.

Trusting the virgin birth is simply trusting that God’s ways are higher than our own. Why would we ever think that the holy Son of God would be born in a normal, human way? Jesus was fully God, yet fully man. Nothing about Jesus should be limited to human understanding. Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Immanuel was, is, and always will be the “miraculous, eternal” gift of Christmas. 

Many think that Christians shouldn’t believe we have the only answer. That way of thinking indicates a lack of tolerance. They almost always insist that we believe their tolerance is the only answer, not realizing that they have been intolerant of our beliefs.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told those listening, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Jesus didn’t just teach God’s children to live peacefully. He told them to “make peace” wherever they went. Paul reminded Timothy of the power behind those who “make peace.” Paul wrote, “There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”

Every Christmas the world extols the “peace” of the season, but, in truth, it is one of the least peaceful times of the year. People are rushed, overbooked, and often unable to afford the month of December. Christmas began as a holy day and became a holiday. 

Christians have a unique opportunity to be “peacemakers” in this busy time of the year. We can simplify our season to all that makes it holy. We can walk these busy days with Jesus, the mediator between God and men. We aren’t just called to put on a peaceful face; we are called to “make peace” anywhere we go. 

Jesus is the peace people are looking for and the reason someone’s holiday can become a holy day instead. If a tense situation arises, ask the Mediator to speak through you, and bring the Lord’s peace into the room.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Jesus told his disciples to be “peacemakers.” He then gave his Spirit, the Spirit of the Mediator, so that we could speak his peace with wisdom to a world that needs to understand that Christmas is much more than a holiday. It is a holy day.

There is a Christmas song titled Christmas All Year Long, written by M. McAnally. One lyric talks about giving being an important part of living. McAnally wished the spirit of giving would continue, making Christmas last all year long. The world would likely vote for the Christmas spirit to remain in our hearts, but human hearts don’t produce the character of Christmas consistently. There is “no one else” with the character of Christmas except Christ.

Peter and John had been arrested for preaching the gospel and were standing in front of the same men who, only months earlier, had called for the crucifixion of Christ. Yet these men, filled with the Holy Spirit of God at Pentecost, looked at the Jewish leaders and told them about Jesus saying, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There will never be another Christmas story apart from the story of Bethlehem. There is only one Christmas in our Bibles because there is only one Savior. Jesus is the only “name” given among men by which we must be saved. 

I wonder if that is why the world insists on so many other ways to celebrate this holy season. Satan must cringe each Christmas season and work overtime to quench the “only name” behind Christmas. Christmas is about Christ, and “there is salvation in no one else.”

There is only one way for the Christmas spirit to live all year long. The Holy Spirit is the power of Christ, the Spirit of Christmas. We can share the truth of the Christmas season when we share the truth of the gospel. There is only one Christmas story because there is only one Christ. There is only one Christmas because this world only needs one Savior.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. When we have received our treasure, we can live with the character of Christmas all year long.

Countless pages of commentary and theological study have been written on the subject of the Holy Trinity. The subject is best understood in the light of 1 Corinthians 13:12 which says, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. For now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” There are just some subjects of theology that will never be fully understood until we can stand in heaven and fully know them.

God stepped into the world as the baby of Bethlehem. Jesus was and is God Incarnate. God became “flesh and dwelt among us.” The men and women who met Jesus, those who gathered to hear him preach, teach, and perform miracles, and those who gathered to watch his crucifixion saw God’s glory. They saw “the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus appeared to his disciples after his death and told Thomas, who had doubted the others, to witness his hands and touch his side. In that moment, Thomas knew he was seeing his risen Lord. “Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29).

Jesus said believers today are blessed. We are blessed because we have faith in the truth of Christmas. We are blessed because we have received the grace and forgiveness of Easter. We are blessed because we have been filled with the continued earthly presence of Jesus through his Holy Spirit.

Whatever the circumstances of your life might be, if by faith you have received the great gift of Jesus into your life, you are blessed. Christmas joy is the joy of Jesus, our blessing.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Celebrate your Christmas season knowing you are the blessed child of God.

To believe there are many gods in this world is to deny there is a God. If we want to care about others as we should, we need to believe what Jesus said about himself. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” In the original language, those words do not give hope to people who believe in a god who is not Jesus. 

Our democratic culture rightfully allows personal freedom to believe in different gods. Our Christian culture must “stand firm” in our faith and believe the words of Christ. We should embrace the laws that provide us the freedom to choose because no one comes to the Father unless they freely choose his Son. 

Most people love the Christmas story. Only some realize it is much more than a story. Christmas is about Christ; his birth is always about his death as well. Christmas and Easter are part of the same story.

The beginning of the Christmas season is a good time to revisit the foundation of our faith. As we walk through the crowds at the mall, go to parties, and even attend worship services at church, we can know and trust that the first commandment is still our first commandment. There is no other god except our Creator God. There is no other way for people to be saved except Jesus.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom requires us to stand firm in the knowledge that Jesus is the treasure. Only Jesus is the way to heaven, the truth of God, and our gift for eternal life.

Isaiah’s words are celebrated each Christmas, but this verse also describes why so many in Israel saw Jesus, even witnessed his miracles, yet did not believe him to be their Messiah. Isaiah said, “The government shall be upon his shoulder.” The Jewish people were looking for a man from the lineage of King David, but they were also looking for a leader like King David. They wanted and expected that their Messiah would be an earthly king, a great soldier who would overthrow the Roman oppressors. They believed the Messiah would lead Israel to once again become the most powerful nation in the world.

They wanted a military leader more than they wanted a “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Jesus was born to be the Savior of everyone in this world, not to save Israel alone. Jesus was welcomed by very few who were expecting the Messiah. He wasn’t the Messiah those people wanted. 

We live in a culture that enjoys celebrating Christmas with a Savior and a Santa. Human nature is unchanging. The first-century Jewish culture would have chosen to follow Jesus if he had come the first time like we know he will return one day. They wanted a powerful king that day. Most still do. But Jesus didn’t come to be a Santa, bringing people whatever they asked for. Jesus came to be our Savior.

Christmas is about a child, born to peasants, who was also God’s Son, born to die for the sins of the world. Jesus offers the world what they need the most, but many don’t want to accept what Jesus offers them today. People tend to admire powerful earthly kings, but Jesus still wants to be our Wonderful Counselor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace. He is the mighty King, but his kingdom isn’t here on earth.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Our hope is the same as Isaiah’s. A child was born as our King, now and forever.

John was called the “beloved disciple.” He knew Jesus as his dearest friend on earth. In his gospel, John introduced Jesus saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He went on to say, “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:2–3).

Most people think the life of Jesus “began” in a stable in Bethlehem. That belief can reduce Jesus to just a special kind of human being, when, in fact, there was never a moment of Jesus’ existence where he wasn’t fully God. The Holy Trinity is difficult to comprehend with our human limitations. But we need to know, believe, and teach others that the birth of Christ was the moment God Incarnate stepped out of heaven and into the world.

Jesus was and still is the “Word” who was with God and was God. As Genesis 1 reveals, Jesus was with God in the beginning and humankind was made in the image of the Holy Trinity: the Father, Son, and Spirit.

The author of Hebrews described Christ in this way: “The founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus chose to leave the glory of heaven to become an infant and grow to be a man. He needed to experience everything humans experienced so he could one day be the holy sacrifice for every sin committed by humankind. Jesus “endured” an earthly life so that all people could live eternally.

When asked about the meaning of Christmas, we need only quote John 3:16 with conviction. God loved us and sacrificed himself for us. Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom is treasuring the gift we have received.

The Christmas season is the perfect time to help people understand what Paul was saying to the Colossians. The world will notice the ways our celebrations are different from their own.

As Christians gather, we can be “knit together in love” and live with the “full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery.” Christmas is about Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Christmas is about Christ, and we celebrate the birth of our Savior.

It’s been said that the entire message of the gospel is found in John 3:16. We celebrate Christmas because of God’s love and grace for this world. God gave us his Son, his own Self, so that anyone who believed in him could have eternal life.

The most important gift God’s children give each Christmas season is simply sharing the gift we have been given. Every family member deserves to live with the joy of eternal life. Every friend, coworker, and acquaintance can discover that the true joy of the season is found through personal faith in Christ. As believers we are called to share the gift of Jesus.

We will enjoy this holiday and all the celebrations, but we will enjoy it more if we live this season as a disciple of the Christ child we honor. Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Who might celebrate this Christmas with Christ because you wisely shared the faith you treasure with them?

We have spent the month of November learning the wisdom of leading a life filled with gratitude for God. As we look ahead to December, is there anything or anyone higher on our list than Jesus?

I will always be grateful to God for loving the world so much that he gave us his only Son.

I will always be grateful that Jesus, though despising the cross, accepted its shame so that God could accept ours.

I will always be grateful for the people who invested their knowledge of Jesus into a young, inexperienced pastor’s wife so that I could grow in wisdom and knowledge and in favor with God.

I will always be grateful for God’s calling in my life to share his word and help others know the love and grace of God through Christ Jesus.

I will always be grateful for God’s word that has carried me with the power of truth through some difficult days.

I will always be grateful to God for blessing my life with more than I would ever have asked for or imagined.

I will always be grateful to God for allowing me to finish my life with the assurance of my eternity in heaven.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Will you take some time on this last day of November and make your list? You can wisely lay it at the foot of the throne as your sacrificial offering of praise to the One who deserves all praise. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 

Some people are known for the fragrance they wear. My mom-in-law only wore a perfume called White Shoulders. When I hugged her, she left a hint of that fragrance on me. I had always heard the power of smell is one of our strongest senses. I was standing in the frozen foods aisle a few months after my mom-in-law died when a woman walked by wearing White Shoulders. Tears sprung instantly to my eyes, and I was surprised by the power of the emotions I felt.

I like to consider that when we walk closely with the Lord, his “fragrance” lingers on us and we are able to spread the knowledge of him to those around us. I like to think that the knowledge we spread can cause others to instantly respond to moments from their past as they remember a past experience with Jesus.

We should be grateful and honored to serve Jesus in this way. We can be that fragrance in a room that causes people to be glad we have joined them. We can also use our faith to mask the truth about our lives. People can tell, and people will respond accordingly.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Wisdom is walking so near to Christ that his fragrance lingers on us. We know him and recognize him by his fragrance. Others can know him as well when we wisely and gratefully share our knowledge of him with others.

Our faith should be an effort. Our walk with God should be a continual choice throughout the day. We lull ourselves into believing that our faith comes naturally after all of these years. Our faith will usually be an unnatural choice in our lives. 

Forgiveness rarely comes naturally. Choosing to rejoice, even when life is difficult, is an unnatural decision. Giving gratitude to God when it doesn’t seem like God is responding to our prayers is a choice that is often a fight against our natural feelings.

Jesus was preaching his Sermon on the Mount when he reminded his listeners that what they valued as “treasure” indicated where their heart was. Put another way, when you choose what to value in this life, you choose what will motivate your choices. 

The very important calling for every Christian is to choose God as their King. That means we don’t have a good choice apart from obedience to his will and his word. The Sermon on the Mount is all about choosing God as our King. So often in the Christian culture, we are encouraged to make God a friend instead of our “treasure.”

Is the Creator God your treasure? Is your relationship with him more valuable than any other relationship you have? We don’t mean to elevate our loved ones to a throne, but we often do. You can know who sits on the throne of your heart if you contemplate what motivates your choices.

Be grateful that we are not responsible for our lives. Be cautious that we aren’t responsible for our choices. That is God’s position in our lives.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. How grateful are you for God’s role in your life as your King? Does that knowledge cause you to cringe a bit, or does it cause you to praise him with gratitude? Examine your thoughts and consider why you are truly grateful to God. Wisdom is being grateful for your King.

The Jewish person was familiar with making a certain type of sacrifice for a certain reason or a specific sin. They would place their offering of grain or a small animal on the altar with the understanding that there was a “cost” for sins committed. For the sake of their souls, they were to sacrifice something of value for the sake of being made right with God.

The author of Hebrews told the first-century Jewish Christians that they should continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God. Their continual praise for God would keep them close to God. The sacrifice was not the usual grain or meat offering; instead, it was the “fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” Their testimony about Christ was the sacrifice that God requested. 

Additionally, they were to lead a life that did good for others, sharing what they had with those in need. The author of Hebrews said that “such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

We are called to live with sacrificial praise to God on our lips and good deeds that share our blessings with others. When those words describe our spiritual goals, we can know that our sacrifices have been pleasing to God.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Gaining wisdom so that we can be right with God is a sacrifice of our time and thoughts. Allowing our praise to become a continual, sacrificial offering to God is wisely living with his priorities. We can know that our sincere gratitude has been received and has pleased our Creator God.

Rome was quick to take control of the city because of its beautiful location. Situated on calm gulf waters where residents had a view of Mount Olympus on clear days, the city was one of the most important sites of that day. The warm thermal springs made it a favorite destination for the wealthy and powerful. 

Paul planted churches in key areas like this one for the sake of spreading the gospel to as many as possible. Those early first-century Christians often gave up a great deal in order to follow the Christian faith. Jewish families would disown a child for becoming a Christian. The Roman marketplace was angered by the Christians who refused to purchase the idols and meat sold there. The Roman families often viewed Christians as troublemakers or traitors to Caesar because they wouldn’t worship him as a god.

It was to these Christians Paul said, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.” Paul knew what these Christians faced and wrote these words to them anyway. Paul wasn’t teaching a “Pollyanna” faith. The apostle wanted these early Christians to understand they had an important choice to make in every circumstance of their lives. They could choose God’s will in Christ Jesus, or they could choose to allow the will of others, or the will of the world, to control their joy.

Paul taught that God’s will for our lives is to choose joy regardless of our circumstances. God never wants us to step away from our ongoing walk and prayer conversation with God through his Holy Spirit. And Paul taught these early Christians to thank God for every circumstance, knowing that God can use and redeem anything for his glory.

That level of joy, prayer life, and grateful heart is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Wisdom is choosing to live God’s will rather than conform to the will of others. A life filled with gratitude is God’s will for you right now.

Ephesus was known for many things, including the brothels and temples to all things ungodly. The “saints” in Ephesus would have stood out in the common culture of that day. The church in Ephesus is where the apostle John took Mary, the mother of Jesus, when they fled Jerusalem. The letter indicates that the church had a diverse membership, including some from the pagan practices of the city. The church understood what it meant to offer their love and their Christian faith to all people. Paul was grateful for these Christians and expressed that in the beginning of his letter to them.

Paul prayed for them and gave thanks to God for them. These Christian believers were impacting people’s lives and their culture, one salvation at a time. The letter to the Ephesians is a great encouragement to Christians today who want to do the same.

We, like Paul, can encourage others to share their faith and stand firm in biblical truth, even when that means standing against what the culture teaches. We can live as those early saints lived, sharing the love of Christ with those who will least expect that. Everyone needs to discover their salvation and redemption through the blood of Christ.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. When we are fully grateful for our own salvation, we will want to share it with those who still need to realize they are greatly loved by their Creator. Who will hear of our wisdom and faith and offer gratitude to God for our service?

Paul told the Colossian church, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” How will your holidays change if your purpose is to honor the name of the Lord Jesus by your words and actions? Jesus would love for you to walk closely with him, allowing him to be the author of all you say and do.

Our gratitude to the Lord can be expressed in the way we treat others and through our sincere words of thanksgiving. People will be expressing the many things in their lives for which they are thankful. We can express our gratitude for God the Father, the giver of “all things.”

The most effective witness for the Lord is found in the person who speaks words of gratitude for God and then lives with deeds that reflect their close, personal relationship with God, their King. 

Christians can enter a room with the goal of honoring God, and he will provide the opportunities for us. When we do “everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,” others will know he is our Lord. We will express our thanks in both word and deed.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. How will you wisely and gratefully impact your circles this holiday season? Begin by offering your gratitude to God the Father in the name of Jesus. Your words and deeds will surely follow that praise.

The words of Psalm 100 provide a picture of how we are to approach the Holy of Holies today. Today, the Dome of the Rock is constructed where it is believed the Holy of Holies originally stood. It is the most sacred place in all of Israel, which is why the Muslim people constructed the Dome there. The Muslims believe it to be the rock where Muhammad prayed and where he later ascended to heaven. The Jewish people believe it to be the rock where God stood to create the world and where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac. It is the rock that was at the center of the Holy of Holies when Solomon’s temple was built and, later, King Herod's.

It is likely that Psalm 100 was recited and sung by the Jewish pilgrims as they walked up to Jerusalem. The wall surrounding Jerusalem had several gates, and the psalmist taught the pilgrims to “enter his gates with thanksgiving.” The pilgrims would walk through the temple walls and into the courts that surrounded the Holy of Holies. The psalmist taught the pilgrims to praise God as they entered the temple grounds. 

Notice that there is no instruction in the psalm for entering the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest on the Day of Atonement was allowed to enter the most sacred place on the mountain. That was God’s will until he miraculously tore the veil and invited those who would believe in Christ to enter his Presence. Hebrews 10:19–20 states, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.”

Christians can enter the gates with thanksgiving and the courts with praise. We can also enter into the holy Presence of God as we give thanks and bless the name of Jesus, whose death forever removed the veil from the Holy of Holies. 

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. We have been invited into God’s Presence to wisely offer him our sacrifice of praise. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise, and his Presence with confidence, if Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

Compared to God, we are sheep. Some sheep are smarter than others, but no one talks about the intelligence of sheep. Sheep are born to follow, and if they follow the wrong leader they can walk over a cliff, into deep water, or just get lost and separated from the flock. Jesus left the ninety-nine to look for the one lost sheep because that was the only hope that lost sheep had. Sheep aren’t smart enough to retrace their steps and rejoin the herd.

Sheep are led to “still waters” because they are too afraid to drink from a running stream. A sheep with wet wool weighs so much that it can easily get swept away, even in a light current. Sheep have no guile because they aren’t able to think that way. Sheep have no guilt because they fall into sin instead of choosing it. 

God thinks of us as sheep. God chooses us to be the sheep of “his pasture.” God made us and has always known how badly we need a shepherd. The eternal human flaw is that we think of ourselves “more highly than [we] ought to think” (Romans 12:3). 

The most gifted and capable servants of God are those who think of themselves as “sheep.” Those are the people who will understand that God created us to “follow” and remain in “his pasture.”

Being labeled a sheep isn’t a compliment; it is an encouragement to understand our great need for a shepherd. And we have a Good Shepherd!

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. He created us to be sheep so that we would live this life following him as our Good Shepherd. We can be grateful every day for his loving guidance. 

As a busy pastor’s wife, and now as I continue to work in full-time ministry, I am burdened by the truth of Psalm 100. Before I continue, we should hear the entire psalm.

Psalm 100 has five powerful verses. Hear the Lord speak each word to your heart.

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

     Serve the Lord with gladness!

    Come into his presence with singing!

 Know that the Lord, he is God!

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

 For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.”

As Christians, what is the “noise” we have shared with the world? Have they heard our joy and our gladness to serve, or something else? Do people think of us as “sheep” in God’s pasture, or are we more commonly identified by another title? When people see and hear our witness, are they aware that the Lord is good and that his love is steadfast?

Even as I write my heart is convicted. I confess that I have often served God because it was my job. I have often spoken more about the difficulties of my schedule than about how thankful I am for the privilege of my calling. I have presented God as my boss, my taskmaster, and my supervisor instead of presenting him with the gladness I feel that he is my God. Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. May all of us confess and live more wisely as we consider the truth of Psalm 100.

Christians are going to receive a “kingdom that cannot be shaken.” Every Christian can live each day with the promise of life eternal. We exist here on earth, but we will truly live when we get to heaven. We can enjoy this life, but our happiness here is tempered with the knowledge that all things here are temporary, even momentary. Life on earth does get shaken on a regular basis.

When our lives get difficult, sad, frustrating, or even impossibly hard, we still have a reason to offer our God “acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.” God never wants us to live a day, especially a day that is difficult, without the hope of his promise. 

Heaven is a reality. It is unseen and largely unknown, but we know everything we need to know in order to want that blessing. Heaven is where we will dwell with God and only dwell with his blessings.

“Our God is a consuming fire.” God will destroy all that is temporary in this life so that we can live eternally free from everything that is difficult. God’s fire will purify us so that when we enter heaven, we are free of every sin. Everyone in heaven will live a purified life that is holy and good.

We will offer worship in heaven that is always acceptable because it will be filled with reverence and awe. For now, that kind of worship needs to be a choice, and sometimes it will be an effort. How do we offer acceptable worship now? We remember to worship God today as we will worship him eternally. We are going to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. May our gratitude wisely model now all that it will be in heaven.

The nation of Israel had come to think of themselves as the “chosen people” of God. Eventually, they began to live as people who were entitled to God’s blessings rather than living humbly grateful to God for those blessings. Their sense of entitlement ultimately led to their judgment and discipline as God allowed the Assyrians and Babylonians to take his “chosen people” into captivity.

The Samaritans were a group of people the Israelites spurned. They were people whose ancestors had been left behind while others were taken into captivity. It is hard to know all the reasons why they were left behind. Some were weaker physically, but it’s also likely that some had compromised their faith and possibly their allegiance to their Jewish faith in order not to be enslaved. Those left behind eventually married people who weren’t Jewish and produced children who were not purely Jewish. The Jewish leaders were careful never to associate with the people of Samaria or their land, and the Jewish people followed the example of their leaders.

Jesus did go to Samaria and teach them about God’s grace. Jesus carefully pointed out the kindness of the good Samaritan and the gratitude of the Samaritan leper. The Samaritans in both stories pleased God, while the others did not. Jesus was teaching that it wasn’t the entitled who were faithful; it was the people whose faith prompted their actions.

God will bless all that he can in our lives, but he will also judge and discipline those attitudes and actions that weaken our faith and witness. 

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. The gratitude of the Samaritan leper was obvious. The Samaritan wasn’t grateful because he felt entitled to his blessing; he was humbly and profoundly grateful for his healing because he knew he wasn’t owed anything from the Lord. The Samaritans remain our clear example today.

Gratitude is infectious, and those of us who have walked with God for many years need to remember to praise God for the grace we might have come to take for granted. Grace is our gift of salvation, but it is also our gift of sanctification, the process of being made holy. 

Jesus taught his disciples, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). 

Every tree or shrub in our yards eventually needs to have a few branches cut off or pruned back. That is truth for our spiritual lives as well. 

Sometimes an area of service is no longer our calling. Sometimes there is an old habit or tendency we have allowed to creep back into our characters. There is always going to be the next temptation we need to be careful to ignore or purge from our lives. As long as we live on this earth, we will need to call on God’s grace.

The Lord is constantly at work in our lives, redirecting our calling, convicting us of sins that hinder our sanctification, and pruning the places in our souls that cannot produce the fruit of our faith. When we are aware of his sanctifying grace, we will offer him our gratitude. Others are likely to see the changes in our lives, and we will have the opportunity to share God’s grace with them.

Evangelism isn’t just about leading others to the Lord; it is helping them walk with his grace for their spiritual growth as well. That is how we “increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Wisdom is gratefully living for our salvation and for his continued grace through our sanctification. 

Paul asked the Gentile churches he had founded to provide an offering for their struggling brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. Drought, famine, and persecution had caused extreme hardship to the Christian believers there. It’s important to remember that the greatest divide in the early church was between the Gentile and Jewish believers. Yet, Paul gathered a great deal of money from the Gentile believers to help the Jerusalem church. 

Paul told the Gentile believers, “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” Paul knew that their generosity would honor God and indicate to the Jerusalem Christians that these Gentile believers were filled by the same Holy Spirit they knew. 

Paul taught them that their service was more than supplying help to meet the needs of the saints in Jerusalem; they would also produce thanksgiving to God. 

Generosity, done wisely, honors the giver and their God who leads and blesses their gift.

Paul was warned not to take the large offering from the largely Gentile churches of Asia

Minor to Jerusalem. He was an enemy of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, and people

feared he would be harmed. Paul chose to go anyway, and his desire to be generous led to his arrest, conviction, and eventually a ship headed for Rome. 

Did his generosity produce thanksgiving? It was under house arrest in Rome that Paul wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Those letters have been read and studied by the Christian church since that time. Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Paul would say, “Wisdom is living a generous life that God will enrich in every way.”

The psalmist was writing praise from the deepest part of his life and the very essence of his existence when he said, “Bless the Lᴏʀᴅ, O my soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name!” His highest praise and his deepest gratitude were for the blessings of the Lord. 

The psalmist repeated himself, which was the Hebrew way of expressing that the statement was complete, profound truth. He said again, “Bless the Lᴏʀᴅ, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” The psalmist was stressing the great need to praise God for his very life and all that God had done, or prospered, in his soul.

He was calling people to understand the depth of his praise to God for all that God had done in, for, and through his very life. When last did your praise for God come from your very soul?

Pause and truly experience a deep breath. Breathing is an action we rarely notice, yet it occurs many times each minute of every day. We will praise God from the depth of our souls when we realize that our need for God is as great as our need for that next breath. We will praise God when we realize our life is full of benefits that we often take for granted yet are the very essence of our daily lives.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Wisdom is breathing in all our benefits so that we can breathe out the words and wisdom of our grateful praise. “Bless the Lᴏʀᴅ, O my soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name!”

Today’s leaders don’t hesitate to boast of their accomplishments. David didn’t hesitate to boast in the Lord, grateful for his grace and goodness. Today’s leaders try to disguise and even lie about their failures. David grieved his sin publicly, teaching others to do the same. Today’s leaders try to wait for people to forget their sin. David taught people to repent and trust God’s grace for their sin.

Servant leaders are those who teach us what it means to serve God so that we can serve others well. Good leaders point others to the power of God. Their successes aren’t because of personal abilities; success is their ability to walk with God’s leadership in their lives.

The people “blessed the king” and went home “joyful and glad of heart” because they realized their leader, King David, was led by God and blessed by God with the ability to serve them. 

We can be grateful for those leaders in our lives who cause us to trust God, and we can trust them because of their walk with the Lord. We should pray for our leaders and pray for them to have a life-altering encounter with God just as Paul did on the road to Damascus. Paul is an excellent example of what it means to lead through the power and blessings of the Holy Spirit.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Every news broadcast or business meeting at church is a call to pray for our leaders to be filled with divine wisdom. We should be grateful to God for pouring out his wisdom for their thoughts and his grace for their failures. How grateful we are for those who lead with the goodness that the Lord has shown them, for the goodness that is God shining through them.

When we first read that verse, we think about the powerful testimony to God we see in our world. The complex simplicity of a newborn baby. The powerful displays of color we see in a beautiful sky or mountainside. The uniqueness of God’s creative genius in each animal at the zoo. Accepting that everything created by God is good is easy—until we realize the truth of Genesis 3.

Adam and Eve had sinned. God told Adam, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). God created the beautiful things in nature, but God also created death. There will be a time when we draw our last breath on earth. God created heaven, but he also created hell. It takes wisdom and gratitude to understand and believe that even that truth can be received with thanksgiving.

How do our prayers and God’s word make holy everything created by God? There are truths of Scripture we would reject if we could, but Paul taught Timothy, and us, to receive them with thanksgiving.

Death wasn’t a punishment from God; it was his provision. He didn’t want us to live in a fallen world forever. No one who goes to heaven misses anything they leave behind on earth. God needed to separate the sinful from the saved. He created heaven to be perfect, and sin could never exist with his perfection. His love and holiness would never have created hell for any other reason. 

“God so loved the world, that he gave us his only Son” (John 3:16). God would never have left us in a fallen creation so he created heaven and gave everyone the chance to dwell there. We can be thankful to God, even thankful to him for creating death, when we realize that prayer and his word give us the joy and comfort of his eternal promises.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. God’s joy can result from our wise praise.

Our praise and gratitude usher us to the foot of God’s throne, where he is high and lifted up and listening to the “joy noise” of the praise and thanksgiving we offer to him, “the rock of our salvation.” Next Sunday you might want to arrive at church a little earlier so you can prepare your heart to worship your Creator and King. He will bless your effort!

Whenever the rush or circumstances of life cause you to feel like God is far away, praise him. Your worship and gratitude will usher you straight to his throne. If you have spent a long period of time apart from God’s leadership and love, repent. The word repent literally means to stop walking in one direction and turn to go the opposite way. When you repent you will be able to praise God for the forgiveness he has offered, and your praise will soon guide you into his holy presence where you will find his comfort and peace.

I usually sing very quietly because I don’t know one key from another. Someone asked me one time if I was an alto or a soprano. I told them the truth: it depends on who I am standing next to. But, I learned a while back that I can quietly offer my joyful “noise” to the Lord, and he accepts my offering of praise as worthy. God knows my heart, and he knows when I am singing to him or thinking about something else.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. How will these words impact your next time of worship? You need only remember that we come into his presence with thanksgiving. Your praise and gratitude will usher you to God’s throne. That one truth is all your heart needs to know. That wisdom will change your worship in amazing ways.

Some will have a quiet, small Thanksgiving. Some will find themselves on their own. Some will have an empty chair at their table and wonder how they can feel grateful when their grief or loneliness is controlling their thoughts. 

Paul gives us the key to living with abundant thanksgiving in his letter to the Colossians, and his words can help us transcend our circumstances. He said because you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, “Walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith.” There are difficult times in our lives, and the holiday season can often magnify our pain rather than heal the hurt. But Paul taught us that when we walk in the Lord with an established, mature faith, we can abound in thanksgiving.

We probably all know someone who will have a difficult time this year during the upcoming holidays. How can we help them lean into their faith? And how can we help them lean on us and into the hope our faith offers?

In one of his songs, Ken Medema sings, “Don’t tell me I have a friend in Jesus until you show me I have a friend in you.” Who needs a seat at your Thanksgiving table? Whose holiday can you bless with your compassion or friendship? If you are the lonely one, how can you help others abound in “thanksgiving” because you understand?

Paul wrote the letter of Colossians while under house arrest in Rome. His friends visited him there and cared for him, and Paul used that time to write many of his letters that we study in our Bibles. Paul was “rooted and established” in his faith, and his prison epistles are filled with words of joy and encouragement to others. Paul had learned the key to abundant thanksgiving. His gratitude was born from his walk with the Lord.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Our personal walk with God will produce the faith and wisdom needed to be grateful in any circumstance as we lean into his abundant love.

Paul had met the Lord on the road to Damascus and was blinded, but his eyesight was restored by God. Paul was criticized by his Jewish brothers, feared by his Christian brothers, and had been a traitor to both groups in his past.

Paul had been arrested, beaten, stoned, and left for dead. Paul had walked hundreds of miles, taught thousands of people, and raised up leaders from all walks of life. Paul worked to live and lived to do his ministry. 

And Paul told the church in Rome, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Paul had led an educated and complicated life trying to serve God as his King.

When Paul wrote his letter to the Roman church, he wanted them to understand that his life was because of God’s grace. He wanted them to know that everything he had accomplished had been accomplished through the power of God. And Paul wanted all the glory to be directed to his great God. 

If we were to write our accomplishments down, would we feel proud of our actions or overwhelmed with all that God had accomplished through our lives? We won’t be grateful to God until we realize all we can be grateful for because of God.

Paul endured some difficult circumstances, but he could even be grateful for those times because God had used them or redeemed them for his greater good. In Romans 8:28 Paul wrote, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

One day we will stand before God and he can explain how he redeemed even the worst moments of our lives for a higher purpose. Eternity is different because “through him and to him are all things.” We can say what people have said through the ages, “To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Wisdom is strengthened when we grow to understand that we can be grateful in all circumstances because we have a God who can do all things and redeem all things for our greater good. We just need to live wisely and “called according to his purpose.”

That’s why the author of 1 Chronicles encouraged the Israelites to give thanks to the Lord and to call upon his name. He encouraged them to live a life of gratitude for all they had been given and to trust, or call upon, their God for all the needs of their lives.

Their personal testimonies would come from their close relationship with God. They were to make God’s deeds known “among all the peoples.” Our gratitude for God’s blessings should be shared with those around us.

People need to know God, and we can make his character and his deeds known to others when we are careful to give God the credit and the glory for the things he has done.

When people see us handle the difficult times with an honest faith, we can tell them our peace is a supernatural gift from God, and, therefore, can’t be understood or explained by the standards of this world. We can turn our praise and their attention to the One whose peace “passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).

We can be grateful for the kindnesses of others, but we can extend that gratitude to God for providing us with friends who bless our lives. We can be grateful for our work and the chance to earn what we own, but we can acknowledge that our strengths and abilities come from God. 

Sharing our gratitude for God in our witness to others is the way we can “make his deeds known.” We can give others the chance to understand God’s love and power when we credit our blessings to the glory of God.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. It is good to live gratefully, and it is wise to show the world that “his deeds” are the blessings of our lives.

God made us to need one another. Paul was grateful for his brothers in the faith as he watched their growth in their knowledge of God and in their love for one another. Imagine knowing the apostle Paul was thankful for your life!

Some of the most significant people in any church are the people who quietly invest their wisdom in the lives of others. They live their faith as an example and encouragement to their fellow Christians because their faith is living and active. Faith is contagious when lived with fervor and the character of Christ.

Some people have been Christians for a long time while others are new believers. All Christians should have a growing faith and a great capacity to love their brothers and sisters in the Lord. That kind of love marked the individuals for whom Paul offered gratitude to God. 

Spiritual growth and an increasing love for God and others are goals we should all aim at. Those are the qualities we should look for in others, offering thanks for the power of God, who makes growth possible.

If all of us made that list and shared it with one another, we would all be encouraged by the faithful witness of those who were named. We would also be more inclined to follow their wise examples and devotion to the Lord.

As Paul taught, “We ought always to give thanks to God” for our brothers and sisters in the Lord. God knew we needed one another.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. God has given us examples to follow, and God has called us to be an example for others. Begin by gratefully praising God for those on your list, and then pray for the wisdom to live in such a way that others would list your name as someone for whom they praised God.

God doesn’t change, but our thoughts about God do. Our thanksgiving doesn’t make God greater because he is already all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. Our words of praise cause us and others to see his greatness more clearly. Our thanksgiving helps the world see God's greatness in new and larger ways. We have magnified his reality through our praise.

If we thought of our words of praise as a way to show God to our world, wouldn’t our praise become more public? More frequent? And more effective? There are moments throughout the day when we can point others to our magnificent God. We can “magnify him with thanksgiving.”

I often see a beautiful sunrise or sunset and say, “Way to go God!” My kids grew up hearing that and learned to see God in his creation. Our world needs us to magnify the Creator. We live in a culture that offers praise to so many who are undeserving yet condemns praise to the One who is all-deserving. We can use our right to freedom of speech to magnify God. We live in a culture that debates opinions, but we can offer gratitude for the word of God that is eternal truth. 

We can praise God each day and magnify his reality. Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Wisdom will praise God and exalt him to others. How will your praise and gratitude magnify God tomorrow? As Psalm 145:3 says, “Great is the Lᴏʀᴅ, and greatly to be praised.”

In Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin wrote, “There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.” God created the world for us to enjoy and to give us reasons to know him and be grateful for him. There is beauty in every day that can evoke our thoughts of praise:

-When a mother smiles down at her baby and the baby smiles in return

-When a squirrel runs past, ready to stash another meal in an abandoned planter

-When a storm cloud moves in with much-needed rain

-When a rainbow fills the sky with its color

-When a loved one comes home safely from school or work

-When a dog bounds across the room to greet his family

-When an elderly couple shares a glance together that needs no words

-When the sun sets in its glory and the night sky is scattered with stars

God displays his character and his love for his children every day. We can say with the psalmist, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Tomorrow can be just another day, or it can be the next glimpse of God’s love and character. Tomorrow will come and go. How sad to allow even one day to pass without saying thank you to the One who provided it.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. When we live wisely, we will see each day as a gift from our Creator, a gift he wants us to enjoy. Our gratitude is our gift to God. 

“This is the day that the Lord has made.” Have you rejoiced and are you glad in it? 

There is still time.

You have probably learned an acronym for prayer at some point. 

-ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication

-PRAY: Praise, Repentance, Ask, and Yield

-The HEART method: Honor God, Examine your life, Ask for help, Request for others, and Thank God

Prayer acronyms are helpful to guide and direct our prayers. Notice that each acronym contains the need to express gratitude at some point during a prayer. So often we run to God with our needs, our concerns for others, or because we simply know we should pray about something. How does our thanksgiving help us to pray?

When we include a time of gratitude, we remember who God is and all that God has done in the past. We cannot offer thanks to God unless we pause to be humbly grateful for his work in our lives. When our thoughts of praise and thanksgiving begin our prayers, we will often pray with a holy perspective.

We might pray with confidence because we have realized all that God has already done in our lives. We may be more able to trust a loved one to our God who loves them perfectly. 

Our gratitude will cause us to remember how God has worked in the past and help us to see God at work in the present. We can miss our answers from God if we don’t stop to offer our thanks for the prayers he has already answered in our lives.

Paul urged Timothy to pray for others, reminding him to pray with thanksgiving. Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. That prayer can begin with the words we often sing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” Or, “To God be the glory, great things he has done!”

If we want to care for our souls, we need to make gratitude for God a daily vitamin. We can’t praise God without taking time to think about who he is and all he has done. Those thoughts remind us that we serve a great and mighty God. 

The Jewish people were to begin and end their day with a prayer called the Shema. Taken from Deuteronomy 6:4–5, it says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” 

The psalmist wrote, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.” 

If we all began and ended our day with thoughts of praise and gratitude to our Most High God, our souls would remain tethered to his steadfast love and faithfulness throughout the day.

The wisdom of the Shema wasn’t the result of repeating the words. Gratitude must come from genuine hearts so that our praise will strengthen our souls. We should declare our gratitude for God’s steadfast love and his faithfulness every day. 

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Let’s begin and end each day with those words as a daily spiritual requirement. But let’s remember that unless our hearts are truly filled with sincere gratitude, we have only spoken words, not our thanksgiving. God desires us to truly praise him and remember all he has done for our souls.

If a young child watched your worship, would they be drawn to your praise and want to know your God? Do you share your gratitude to God in a public way?

Paul told the church in Colossae to “let the word of Christ dwell” in their lives “richly” or abundantly. Does God’s voice of Scripture abound in your thoughts, filling your heart with knowledge and joy? Does your worship teach and encourage those around you? Do you exude God’s wisdom with a thankful heart?

I’ve sometimes encouraged people to be aware of their face. Are your eyes engaged, seeing the presence of God in his sanctuary? Do you sing with joy and thanksgiving? 

Does your attitude reflect your love for the Lord, your love for his people, and your thanksgiving for the blessing of worship?

Would your face engage a child’s thoughts and attention? If so, then your worship has brought God the glory he deserves. Your gratitude for his love will be contagious, and others will experience your joy. 

How can you wisely worship God with gratitude? Allow his word, and his Word, Jesus, to dwell in you richly. If someone gave you a precious gift, you would want to display it so others could see it as well. The gifts of our faith and our salvation are more precious than gold. 

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Will you worship with God’s wisdom so others can experience your joyful gratitude and want to know your God?

There are days when gratitude for God is a natural emotion. There are other days when gratitude might be more of an effort. The psalmist encourages us to order our way “rightly” and we will see the salvation of God.

Sometimes God blesses our sorrow or grief with that same joy. To order our way rightly requires us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). That is God’s will for each of us in Christ Jesus.

Our sacrifice of praise is to glorify God in all circumstances by living with him as our “strength and our shield” (Psalm 28:7). Everything on earth can be going wrong and we can still offer God a sacrifice of praise. Christians understand that our peace and our gratitude transcend the things of earth.

Jesus made himself a sacrifice for us, and we can make our lives a sacrifice of thanksgiving to him every day, regardless of our trials. We know, and will one day experience, the salvation of God.

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. To praise God in the rain takes wisdom. Wisdom is also necessary to see beyond a difficult circumstance with the knowledge that God will redeem it for our good if we are called to his higher purpose. Wisdom will prompt our sacrificial praise that will bring God glory. What praise will you offer to God today?

When the psalmist says “my heart trusts,” he is giving an example of what it means to set aside personal motivations and trust God’s leadership completely. He knows that is how he is helped.

The psalmist also says “my heart exults.” The word in Hebrew means to be openly joyful and filled with praise. People will notice a heart that exults when they see our reactions and our joy. The psalmist’s praise motivates his actions and causes him to openly sing a song of gratitude to God.

Our goal as believers is to abide in God’s holy Presence, trusting him to be our strength for the journey and our shield of protection. God is our help, and we should live gratefully aware that he walks with us as a protective, loving Father walks with his child.

When last was your gratitude for God’s help and blessing so overwhelming that those around you could see that your heart was exulting, rejoicing with songs of thanks? Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Wisdom will fill our hearts with thanksgiving because we understand that God himself is our strength and shield. Our hearts will exult with an attitude of praise so that others will know we are children of the one true and holy God.

This month we will talk about how wisdom leads us to be grateful for God in all circumstances, even those circumstances we wouldn’t choose. Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. We will live a life of grateful praise when we walk in God’s wisdom. A life of obedience to God causes us to be grateful because we can know that we are living the will of God through the power of Christ Jesus.

Legions of angels are at work in this world. God’s Holy Spirit is actively guiding every life yielded to his voice of direction. Christians have been saved by grace, and we continue to live each day by God’s grace.

If we could wave a wand and become the people we could have been had we lived apart from God’s grace, we would each drop to our knees, overwhelmed with gratitude to God. He has spared us from things we cannot know, and he has blessed us with things we have not fully appreciated. God loves his children, and his grace to us is “not in vain.” 

No one’s life is perfect or perfectly easy. Paul knew that better than most. But each of us has a unique life filled with the guidance and blessings personally given to us by our perfect God. Just as he gave each of us a fingerprint, so has God given each of us a unique blueprint for our life. 

We can be grateful for all we know and understand about God’s plan for our lives, but we can also be grateful for the grace we have been given for the moments we lived contrary to his plan. 

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. God’s grace is uniquely at work, building and directing each of our lives through our hard work. His grace is our strength and our blessing of grace.

People dabble in the occult for fun. Most walk away with little damage to their soul. Some, however, continue to engage in the process that costs them their soul. We live in a culture that doesn’t often consider the reality of Satan and his love for all things dark and evil. Halloween is a good chance to live as a separate witness from the world and speak of things that are holy.

Jesus said, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me.” We will be given the chance to share our faith wisely and joyfully with others if we follow Jesus around today. What we do or don’t do can speak a loud testimony to those we know. When they ask us why we believe like we do, Jesus can answer their question through our opportunity.

Today, and all days, we can wisely and joyfully share our faith if we will “keep in step” with the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:25). If we want to serve Christ today, we must follow his leadership and serve him as our King.

Jesus said, “If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” We will have a good night’s sleep tonight, and every night, if we know we spent our day with the One who created it. Satan didn’t create October 31; he just refocused the day on his priorities. He can do that on any given day if we choose not to follow and serve Jesus.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Halloween is a great day to walk in the wise footsteps of Jesus. If we serve Jesus, the Father will honor his servant.

Paul told the church in Rome, “I make it my ambition to preach the gospel.” It is safe to say that the overwhelming success he experienced changed the history of the church and the world.

But Paul made one other statement about his ambition to preach the gospel. Paul said that he wanted to preach “not where Christ has already been named.” Paul was a missionary as well as a theologian. Paul planted churches that changed the world.

I hope all of us have been inspired to share our faith with others. I hope even more that we share Paul’s ambition to share our faith with those who might not hear a testimony about Jesus from someone else. Are you willing to stretch every relationship in your life to include your testimony of faith in Jesus Christ?

Is the person who cuts your hair saved?

Is the person who cuts your grass saved?

Is the person who lives next door saved?

Is your dentist, doctor, accountant, or handyman saved?

Is your coworker, your supervisor, or your CEO saved?

There are people in your life who are yours to witness to. Quite possibly, you are the best person to serve as an effective witness in their lives.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Do you wisely share Paul’s ambition to joyfully share Christ with people who have never heard the plan of salvation before? Zig Ziglar would say, “If you will share Paul’s goal, you are halfway there.”

Measure the success of your witness by whether or not God spoke through you to someone else. Your success is measured by your obedience to God, not the other person’s response. Paul encouraged the witness of the church in Corinth telling them, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

We aren’t responsible for a person’s spiritual growth. Truthfully, we can’t be responsible because we can’t judge what only God can know. That is between the person and God. We can judge whether or not we are faithfully telling others the gospel message. Our success, our accountability to God, is measured by how we step up to join the Holy Spirit in his work.

Christians have always been shot down and always will be. We shouldn’t be surprised, or even disappointed, because Jesus told us to expect that. Remember in Matthew 17 when his disciples returned from their mission disappointed? Remember when the apostle Paul preached to the men of Athens and very few came to faith? Most there mocked his words. If the apostle Paul, the great theologian of the New Testament, was mocked, we should expect to be treated the same. Paul learned not to measure his message by who didn’t believe. He measured success by those who did come to faith and by those willing to share their faith with others. 

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Wisdom is knowing that we will often only be there to scatter a few more seeds. God’s job is to “give the growth.” Heaven will be full of people we thought we had failed to convince. God knew better. We aren’t accountable to people who shoot us down. We are accountable to God if we allow those people to shut us down.

When conviction comes, pray Paul’s words to the church in Rome. You can pray, “God of hope, fill me with all joy and peace as I believe in your name. Fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit so that my words may abound with the hope of your salvation.” God will answer that prayer as you yield your thoughts and your words to him. The Holy Spirit is an excellent witness; in fact, he is perfect. If you pray for your witness, God will create and author your witness.

The only reason a Christian would be unable to witness is because that Christian has forgotten to pray and forgotten that it isn’t about the words we speak. It’s about the words God wants to speak through us.

If you allow your nerves to be a hindrance, you will miss the conviction and the abundant blessing of having your thoughts and ideas filled with the “joy and peace” of believing. Nerves can hinder you from knowing the abundance the Holy Spirit can bring to your life.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Wisdom is sharing Christ through the power and abundance of God’s Holy Spirit. Wisdom is also learning that a fluttering heart is God’s encouragement to pray so he can fill you with all you need to be his witness and share your belief with someone who needs to know and receive their salvation in Christ.

If we want to preach the gospel, we can use the message of John 3:16. If we want to speak about the need for God, we can point to the stories in the evening news. If we want to prove the existence of God, we can point to the glimpses of God in his creation.

We already have a witness to his “greatness and holiness” because God has made himself “known in the eyes of many.”

People may believe in the Big Bang Theory, but we can ask them where they think the big bang came from. Science can point to evolutionary changes, but we can point to the consistency of each rotation of the earth, each star in the sky, and every season that continues to come and go every year. People can proudly consider themselves non-believers and we can be just as proud to say why we believe. In fact, we have a legacy of faith that has existed from the beginning of time.

Centuries of Christians have known God because he has revealed his holiness and his greatness to the world. We are simply part of an immeasurable group of people who have recognized the revelation of God in his creation.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. If you are wondering how you can begin to develop a powerful witness to the world, start at the beginning: “God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). When you want to share Christ, God’s greatness and his holiness are easy to point to. Then follow that practical and powerful view of God with the truth of John 3:16. When you are done, you will have served and glorified our great and holy God.

Lifestyle evangelism means walking in the Spirit, led by the Spirit, wherever we go. It’s getting to know the people who serve at restaurants, stores, the dry cleaners, or the doctors’ offices. It’s being a good neighbor, a good coworker, and a good friend to others. It’s opening doors, giving up parking spaces or seats, and just living a sacrificial life of kindness toward others.

Lifestyle evangelism is essential to our witness, but the heart of our witness needs to be our words. People can look at our kindness and glorify us if we don’t let them know that our actions are born from the Holy Spirit of Christ. We have to tell people about Jesus. “How can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” Christians have to tell the world who Jesus is and why everyone needs to receive him as God’s gift of grace, for the salvation of the world.

Too many of us have relegated the idea of preaching to those who stand at a pulpit. In fact, if we are accused of preaching to someone, that accusation is often a slander of our words rather than a compliment. Paul asked the church in Rome, “How are they to hear, without someone preaching?”

Have you allowed the culture to hinder your sermon about Christ? Every Christian is called to preach. Only a few do that from a pulpit.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Wisdom is preaching the gospel through your life and through your words.

We are “grafted into” the family of God through our faith in Christ. However, Jesus wanted to make one more lesson clear.

If a believer is truly attached to the “true vine,” he or she will bear much fruit. The fruit of our lives proves to the world that we are disciples of Christ. Our “fruit” glorifies our heavenly Father.

Just as a strong vine produces many grapes, a strong disciple will produce other disciples. When our faith leads others to faith, we prove we are God’s children. Jesus said, “By this my Father is glorified.”

If a Christian is yielded to the power of the Holy Spirit and walking with the purpose of Jesus, they will do the work of an evangelist. The overflow, the fruit of that intentional and dedicated walk with God, is a witness that draws others to glorify the Father. It isn’t difficult to spot a disciple in our world today.

When speaking to groups, I have often told them to consider a “five-minute measure” of their walk with God. When a disciple of Christ walks into a room filled with people having conversations, it shouldn’t take more than five minutes for someone to be aware that you are a Christian. Put that to the test, set that as your goal, and you will bring glory to your Father in heaven.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. It is wise to consider what it means to be a disciple of Christ and measure the fruit of your life by the numbers of people who have noticed you glorify your heavenly Father—wherever you go.

God causes the sun to rise and set every day. Only the Creator God’s name is great for every nation. Every nation should have a way to worship and honor the one true God. He deserves our pure and holy offerings because only the Lord of hosts is the great God for every nation of people.

The created need to worship their Creator. We don’t share “our faith.” We share “the faith” the world needs. There is only one God, and that message is essential to our evangelism.

It seems arrogant to think our religion is better than another. It seems intolerant to insist there is only one God and only one way to heaven. It is natural to be impressed with a person of great faith, even if their faith is misplaced in a false god.

God knew that this world would always be influenced by gods that were created by people. Satan seeks to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10) by rewriting the truth of God. If we don’t stand firm in biblical truth, our respect for a person’s devotion to their god might keep us from sharing God and the faith with them.

The way is narrow, and that truth is difficult to hear. The first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” None of the other commandments matter if the first is not obeyed.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. We can share the gospel of Christ as “our faith,” or we can wisely share the gospel of Christ as “the faith.” Belief in the one true God is essential to our evangelism.

That is true of most vaccines we have taken. If we can avoid a serious illness, especially an illness that could cause death, we accept the vaccine.

My grandson was diagnosed with leukemia and the months that followed were filled with long hospitalizations so he could receive chemo treatments. No parent would ever wish for those moments, but when medicine can save a life the treatments are still seen as a blessing. Even the side effects are a reminder that the medicine is at work to kill a disease.

We don’t like to think about the possibility of someone we love needing a lifesaving treatment. We also don’t like to think about the fact that every person, regardless of the medicines of this world, will one day come to the end of life.

If we had a vaccine or treatment that would save the life of someone, wouldn’t we encourage them to take it?

John wrote that “all who did receive” Jesus, those who “believed in his name,” were given the “right to become children of God.” How can we keep our faith to ourselves? How can we not do and say everything we can to share the gospel with others? Our words can help someone become a child of God and live eternally in heaven.

Remaining quiet could keep someone from entering heaven.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. We aren’t responsible for the free-will choice a person will make about their salvation—that’s between them and God. We are responsible for sharing our faith with the wisdom and leadership of God’s Spirit. We have the cure for so much of what is not right in this world. Imagine if we valued evangelism as we value a life-saving treatment. How would that perspective change our world?

Many yokes were for one animal, but the most efficient way to prepare a field for farming was to use two oxen with a double yoke, which is likely the yoke Jesus was referring to in Matthew 11:29–30. Double yokes were usually placed over an older, experienced animal on one side and a stronger, younger ox on the other. The experienced animal knew where to go; the younger animal went along and helped accomplish the work.

Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Our personal evangelism is easy when Jesus walks beside us, guiding our words. Some think of evangelism as “hard work,” but if we do that work with Christ then the work is made easy and the burden is light.

If sharing your faith feels like a burden, will you pray for the wisdom to accept the yoke of Christ for the task? Ministry can be time-consuming and a challenge, but it doesn’t have to feel like a burden. Jesus said, “Come to me . . . and I will give you rest.”

Personal evangelism doesn’t have to be hard unless we approach the task without first putting on the yoke of Christ. He effectively said, “Attach your life to mine. I know what to do and will help carry the load.”

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Wisdom is taking the time to pray and receive Christ’s yoke before sharing your faith with others. Jesus knows what a person needs to hear and when and how they need to hear it. Do personal evangelism while beneath the yoke of Christ. You will find rest for your soul when Jesus is walking beside you.

Our witness is who we have become through the Spirit of Christ Jesus. That’s why Paul could write, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Christians are born again through the Spirit of God, created for the good works that God has prepared for us to accomplish.

If you have the Holy Spirit at work in your life, you can share your faith with others. In fact, if the Holy Spirit is at work in your life, you will share your faith with others. That is who you have become in Christ Jesus.

But we always have a choice. We can live directed and motivated by our human natures or by the nature of God’s Holy Spirit, his “workmanship” in our lives. God’s plan for us will result in eternal reward and treasure. When we accomplish his good works, we have been obedient to the calling he has planned for our lives. God’s plan is for you to spend this life storing up the treasure in heaven he so much wants to reward you with eternally.

If God has called you to a task, he will also equip you, through his Spirit, with the ability to fulfill his calling. When God gave you his Spirit, you became a witness for Christ Jesus. You are able to share the gospel because you have been called to that purpose for the sake of Christ.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Wisdom is fulfilling God’s calling in your life to be the witness you were re-created to be. If you are called, you are equipped.

What was the truth Jesus insisted his disciples believe? Jesus told them, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.” Jesus wanted everyone to understand that he had been sent by God and the message was the message of eternal salvation for everyone who would believe. Then, Jesus reemphasized his words, saying that the person who believed “does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

Three of the most troubling words in the English language are, “Well, I believe . . . .” So many in our world today favor their own opinions or ideas about Scripture more highly than the words of Christ. Many will say, “Well, I believe . . . ” and proceed to express their understanding or their position on a verse regardless of the historical and theological understandings held by centuries of believers.

Jesus insisted that his disciples understand and believe that his words were truth and that eternal life depended on a person’s acceptance of that truth. Jesus also insisted his disciples understand there would be a time of judgment that would either allow a person to step from death to life or from death to a second death, an eternity apart from God.

Evangelism has waned in American culture, and the culture reflects the fact that people are lacking the truth of the gospel message. Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. We know that “whoever hears” the salvation message of Christ, the gospel, and believes Jesus is their Messiah sent by God will be saved. We need to joyfully share the truth with those in our culture who have chosen to believe their own opinions rather than God’s truth. Jesus insisted we understand there is an eternal purpose for our evangelism.

Paul wrote his letter to Philemon praying that he would be effective in the sharing of his faith. His next words should be the only motivation we need to join the centuries of Christians who knew evangelism was key to their own faith journey.  Paul wrote we share our faith, “for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.”

Jesus made certain to tell his disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to them after his death. He told them, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). Jesus also said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

Every Christian has been equipped to share their faith because we have been given an effective testimony through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. We should never underestimate what the Holy Spirit can do in our lives if we are willing to share the gospel as the Holy Spirit prompts us.

Paul prayed that Philemon would share his faith, and Paul would pray that same prayer for us today. The most profound words we speak are those that cause others to know Jesus. We should use “every good thing” in us for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. All Christians have effective words to speak through the power of God’s Spirit. Whom will you effectively share your faith with for the sake of Jesus Christ?

The Lord will return, or return for us, at a moment when we do not expect him. Most of the first-century believers were certain Jesus would return in their lifetime. Some of those early Christian believers began to die, and their deaths raised some questions in the early church that Peter addressed in his letter.

Peter assured them that their faith should remain strong. He also reminded them that Jesus wasn’t slow to fulfill his promise to return but was patient to return because he wanted all people to reach repentance. Jesus told his disciples the week before his death, “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

Many have speculated about the second coming of Christ, but no one, not even Christ, knows when that time will occur. Jesus’ words to his disciples on the Mount of Olives are interesting in light of today’s technology. Jesus said that when his gospel had been preached to the whole world, the end would come. There has never been a time in human history when that was possible—until now.

The internet has opened up God’s word to anyone who owns a cell phone. The Bible has been translated into almost every language. The entire world might be a constant hot spot in ten or fifteen years because of satellites. Quite possibly, Jesus' words on the Mount of Olives could be fulfilled in our lifetime.

But Jesus didn’t promise that “as soon as” everyone heard he would return. He did say that everyone would hear. Sharing the gospel has always been important, but our urgency has never been greater. Jesus could return soon! Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Is there any reason to wait?

The apostle Paul wrote a similar message to Timothy, saying that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

We aren’t wrong to share the knowledge of Christ as “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The way Jesus spoke those words about himself does not allow any other possibility. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only way for someone to have eternal life.

Many in our world consider that message unkind. Sharing God’s truth with a wise and compassionate delivery has become increasingly important. The gospel message can seem unkind so the messenger needs to be above reproach.

We don’t share the truth to argue that we are right and another person is wrong. We share the truth because God is always right and the rest of us are wrong whenever we think or act apart from his truth.

God has an “elect,” those who have been chosen as his children. But the fact we have been elected, or adopted into God’s family, doesn’t change the fact that he still wants others to know him as well.

It is difficult to rejoice over those in our family who walk with God without grieving for those who don’t. God’s will is that “all people be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.”

Anyone can turn to the Lord and be saved. There is only one God, and there is no other. God has never “rewritten” his first commandment, and the world has never ceased trying to make personal edits to God’s perfect truth. Every temptation is similar to the first. Satan began his temptation with Eve saying, “Did God really say . . . ?” When we doubt God’s word, we open a door to Satan’s suggestions.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Satan will try to steal our joy and our testimony unless we firmly believe what Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). We aren’t “imposing our faith” on anyone by sharing the gospel. There is only one way for people to live eternally in heaven, and people deserve to know that truth.

Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Jesus was telling his disciples that we need to be aligned with his purpose and his priorities or we can do harm in this world.

Many have stopped attending a church because someone failed to show them the acceptance and love of Christ. Many have refused to hear our message because they have seen us fail to practice all we preach. They are wrong to judge the perfection of Jesus because of the imperfection of his saints. Nevertheless, whenever we do not “gather” others to Christ, we run the risk of “scattering” them to the influence of this world.

Many in our culture have labeled our evangelism both socially and politically incorrect. Our words about Christ need to be filled with truth, delivered with wisdom, and filled with a true love and compassion for the person we are speaking to. Our attitude should be one of humble certainty. We need to live with Christ and walk with his purpose if we want to gather others to the family of God.

But, if we don’t “gather,” we will scatter. If we don’t speak up, how will people know? God told Hosea, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). The work of evangelism has been hindered by our desire not to offend or to cause someone to think of us as arrogant. We cannot be arrogant, but we ought to be confident. We shouldn’t be boastful, but we should be proud of our Lord and our salvation. We shouldn’t be pushy, but we need to stand firm in the truth.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Wisdom is knowing that sharing the salvation of Christ with others is sharing the same purpose Jesus had for his own life. We either gather or scatter. Don’t allow the influence of this world to rob you of the influence of Christ. People are still “destroyed for lack of knowledge.” People are still saved by hearing and receiving the gospel message of their eternal life in Christ.

Jesus was teaching his disciples that they would need to share the message of the new covenant, the message of salvation in Christ, with others. He spoke some amazing words to his disciples that still apply to his disciples today. Jesus said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God.” Jesus will stand with us on the Day of Judgment and tell God, and all those angels, “This one knows me, and this one has helped others know me as well.”

That moment in heaven is beyond our ability to comprehend, but it is one we will experience. We see through the glass “dimly” now, but, at that time, we will see our God face-to-face. We will stand with Jesus, so grateful for every time we acknowledged our faith in Christ and spoke of his redeeming work in our lives. We will meet those people who were impacted by our words and actions, seeds of faith that eventually took root. We will hear Jesus say, “We know you, and you belong with us.”

There are rewards on earth for sharing our faith with others. Joy is helping people pray to receive Jesus as their Lord. It is the greatest joy we can have to help people understand they have received the promise of eternal life in heaven and can live with that assurance all of their days on earth.

But nothing on earth will compare with the joy we will feel when we stand before God as the brother or sister of Christ and hear our Lord acknowledge us to the Father saying, “This one acknowledged me to others and did the work of a disciple.” Imagine hearing the God of the universe say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Evangelism is our high calling now and one day will be our great reward.

Feeling uncertain when we want to talk to someone about their faith in Christ is good. Everyone is different and will have a unique path to their salvation. Just because some words worked well with one person doesn’t mean those words will be what everyone needs to hear. The reason we should feel uncertain is because that is how the Lord wants us to feel. Our uncertainty reminds us to pray. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to control and author our thoughts and words.

God told Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lᴏʀᴅ. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways” (Isaiah 55:8–9). Uncertainty is how we should feel if we haven’t yet prayed and yielded our thoughts to the higher thoughts of God.

However, feeling uncertain about our words can’t be an excuse to avoid speaking God’s truth. We are God’s “workmanship,” and we have been reborn as a disciple of Christ. Our ability isn’t our own; it is the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. Peter and John didn’t heal the lame man at the gate called Beautiful; that was the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The disciples’ words didn’t save thousands after Pentecost; those were the words preached in different languages through the Holy Spirit, who had filled those disciples.

When we need to share the words of Christ with a person, we need to submit our thoughts to Christ and ask him to author our words through his Holy Spirit. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). People aren’t led to Christ because of our words; they are led to Christ because of his words—the words of Scripture that we have learned and are now called and gifted to speak.

Anyone willing to learn God’s word and learn to yield their thoughts to the Lord’s can share the message of Christ. We just need to allow the uncertainties we feel to remind us to lean on God for our message.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Evangelism is simply speaking the wisdom of Christ with others as Christ leads us. The Holy Spirit’s power and ability are just a prayer away.

Jesus spoke about our lives as a light to the world. The light we shine is the light of Christ, who is the light of the world. When people see our good works, or our “God- works,” they can see his reality through our lives and actions. They can see our joy and understand God is the source. When our lives shine with the light of Christ, we acknowledge through our testimony that our works are for and through the Lord. Our goal is to make certain that people understand the good they see in us is the good God has poured into us through his Holy Spirit.

People need to love God and know that the power of his salvation will transform the lives of those who serve him. They need to “give glory to [our] Father who is in heaven.” Our evangelism is often just taking their words and their attention to a more truthful level.

If someone says, “I wish I could be as patient as you are,” we can turn their thoughts higher by saying, “My patience comes from the Lord.”

If someone says, “You always have a smile,” we can say, “My faith gives me a lot to feel joyful about.”

If someone says, “I wish I could have your faith,” we need to assure them that they can.

We can light the path for others to know God and his transforming power. When we glorify the Lord, they will know where our help comes from. When they glorify the Lord and know him for all that he is, they can trust his love, his word, and his plan for their salvation.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Are you prepared to turn the attention and praise you might receive from others in the direction of God? God deserves the glory.

We are the light of the world because we have within us the light of Christ. Evangelism is to let our light shine so others can know and love their heavenly Father and give him the glory he so much deserves. Will you let your light shine in a culture that increasingly enjoys the darkness?

A person whose life causes others to know God is an evangelist. We share Jesus each time we share his love with another. We share Jesus when we give a testimony about the way our lives have been impacted and changed by his presence and power. We share Jesus when we share the truth of God’s words with others. The fruit of a wise relationship with Christ will feed others and “capture souls.”

Wisdom is from God. Wisdom is more valuable than silver and gold. Wisdom will produce fruit in our lives and lead others to know God and receive the salvation of God through Christ.

You might have been studying Wisdom Matters from the beginning. Have the words of wisdom from Scripture changed your walk with the Lord? Do you share the truth of Christ more often now than you did before?

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. The wisdom of the Lord will help you to capture souls if you will maintain your close, personal relationship with Jesus and allow his character to flow through your life. Evangelism is not so much an effort as it is the overflow of your faith to others, the fruit produced as you continually fill your life with the power, purpose, and Presence of Christ.

When we do the work of the evangelist, we are actually speaking for God. Paul wrote that this is “God making his appeal through us.” Evangelism is allowing God to use us to share his truth with the world.

According to Paul, the way to be used by God is to be “reconciled to God.” In other words, God will speak through the person who has a right relationship with him. There is no greater thrill in the Christian life than realizing that Jesus just continued his earthly ministry through our words or our work. We are “ambassadors” of Christ, speaking for him and for his good purpose.

We have been “elected by God” to a high position in this world. If we will honor God by allowing his words and character to flow through us, we will be able to teach his truth, preach his message, and love others with the love of Christ. Evangelism is walking through this world as “an ambassador” of Christ.

When was the last time you heard the sound of your voice yet realized the words were not your own? When last did you deeply care and realize the love you felt for a person wasn’t your love? When last did someone hear your words and tell you, “God just spoke through you”? That is evangelism, “God making his appeal” through you.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Are you an ambassador for Christ?

A man stretched a tightrope over a huge waterfall that cascaded to the river in the canyon below. A crowd gathered to watch as he easily carried heavy objects from one side of the canyon to the other. He amazed and impressed those who watched because he was sure-footed and never faltered or wobbled as he crossed.

The man shouted to the crowd, “Who thinks I could carry a person across this tightrope?” 

Everyone in the crowd raised their hands, sure he would be able.

Then the man shouted, “Who will be my first volunteer?”

That is the difference between belief and trust.

God created the world. Every generation of history has had people who have worshiped our God and have continued to believe the words of truth revealed in Scripture. Most believe in an eternal life with God in heaven because of the miraculous gift of Jesus. A lot of people believe in their Savior, but it isn’t until we submit our lives to his authority and perfect abilities that we have stepped into the trust relationship that makes Jesus our Lord, our King.

We say we believe, but do we raise our hand to volunteer? The psalmist wrote about how good it was to be near God, to have a close personal relationship to him as his King. The psalmist made God his refuge. It’s been said that the safest place to be in this world is the center of God’s will. But the psalmist had a reason to rejoice over the trust relationship he had with God. That relationship made him able to “tell,” or testify, of all God’s “works.”

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. When we daily choose to walk with God in a full and trusting relationship, we will learn to testify to all of God’s works in our lives as well. When someone needs to know about our God, we will raise our hands, like Isaiah, saying, “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

God’s word is used today in a variety of ways. Sometimes it’s intended to teach but other times it will threaten or warn. God’s word should always make people think. I am not called to sit in judgment on anyone’s evangelism, but I would want to encourage them to be careful with God’s word. 

Paul had some perfect advice about evangelism for his protégé, Timothy, when he said, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

For all of us who want to share God’s truth with others, we should be careful to consider Paul’s counsel.

-We must present ourselves to God as one approved. We aren’t preaching or teaching a crowd, or even speaking to one person. God is our audience, and his approval should be the only approval we seek.

-We need to be a worker who is honest, compassionate, and humble about our own imperfections so that we can be unashamed of our testimony about God’s redemption in our lives. We are beggars helping other beggars find bread.

-Finally, we need to speak words of biblical truth, even if that truth isn’t what others want to hear or believe for themselves. Our job is to present Christ as Savior and Lord. Christ came to be a King, and his words must be obeyed and revered as truth. He loves us too much to want less for our lives.

We should want to be trained and ready to speak the truth of God’s word. We should want to live a life God can bless and use for his kingdom purposes. We should want to be evangelists who rightly handle the word of truth with the love of Christ. We should want our audience of One to approve of our evangelism.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Wisdom is to present ourselves to God as Paul taught Timothy. We want God to approve of us and view us as a worker who has no need to be ashamed because we are rightly handling the word of truth.

Paul told the Colossian church to pray “steadfastly” and to be “watchful” with a heart that would be grateful to God for his answers. Then Paul asked the church to pray that God would “open a door” so that he and the other disciples could “declare the mystery of Christ.” We could think that prayer was just for Paul except for verses like Acts 1:8, which declares that all Christians are empowered by the Holy Spirit and have become disciples.

Theologically, we are called to pray like Paul for the opportunities to “open doors so we can declare the mystery of Christ.” Honestly, as I often tell my friends, it’s easier to write about God’s wisdom than it is to faithfully obey it.

We pray for the people we know who need to be saved, but are we also praying to share God’s word with people we don’t know?

We pray steadfastly each day and want to live with thanksgiving for the many blessings in our lives. I don’t always feel grateful when God leads me into a conversation where I know I will need to do my best to “speak the truth in love.” Some of those conversations end with hurt feelings, a broken relationship, or simply scornful or disdainful looks. It’s hard to pray for those possibilities with gratitude.

Paul prayed for the opportunity to share “the mystery of Christ,” and God is still answering that prayer and opening doors for Paul’s words today. Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Sometimes joy is our substitute for happiness. We can wisely share God’s truth and have joy in our obedience, even if it brings moments of temporary sadness to our lives. As the Greek proverb says, “Great people plant trees they will never sit under.” We need to pray for the opportunities to share seeds of truth about Christ. We may never see the results, but God will.

There were so many aspects to the ministry of Christ, yet his purpose was the same for each story. Jesus told a wealthy tax collector named Zacchaeus why he was sharing his faith with someone like him. Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

If we want to share the ministry of Christ, we will need to share his purpose. We, as his disciples, are called to find people, whoever or wherever they are, and help them understand how they can be saved.

Like Zacchaeus, many will feel unworthy of God’s love. They need to know that we were too, but God saved us anyway. Like the angry Pharisees, we will need to accept that Jesus loves the “tax collectors” of our culture too. The tax collectors often overcharged God’s people in order to send their money to Rome and keep some for themselves. God loves the people who don’t play fair, the ones who don’t follow the rules, too. 

Jesus went into Zacchaeus’ home and ate with other tax collectors, infuriating the Pharisees and Sadducees. If we want to share in Jesus’ ministry, we will need to love some people whom others in the church might avoid. Jesus didn’t just come for the sinners; he came to “seek” them out so they could be saved.

Which “sinner” (besides yourself) do you pray for on a regular basis? Who has turned from the Lord that needs to be brought back? Who has refused to consider Christ as their King and avoids what they call the “God-talk”?

Sometimes wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with tax collectors, Pharisees, Sadducees, and other people we might not naturally enjoy. We can’t share the ministry of Christ unless we share his methods. Is there someone you know who is spiritually up a sycamore tree like Zacchaeus and probably looking down on your faith? Will you take a few minutes and pray that Christ will use your life to bring them home to the truth?

Wisdom is joyfully sharing Christ with others. Wisdom will sometimes be joyfully sharing Christ with the tax collector or a Pharisee in your life. Are you willing to serve Jesus as Jesus served us? 

Every Christian has received power from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That gifting re-created us as witnesses. We have become witnesses to the power of God in our lives and therefore can proclaim the power of God to others. Just consider the growth of the Christian church immediately after Pentecost. That is the power Jesus was speaking about.

The strength of our testimony is the voice of experience. We have been “born again” as the children of God and the disciples of Christ. We know this because we have received the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We don’t talk enough about the work of the Holy Spirit. He is everything to our work and witness. He is the message and the messenger, in and through our lives.

The strength of our testimony isn’t in the telling of our lives as much as it is in the telling of Christ’s life empowering us, using us, and guiding us. The power of the Holy Spirit is our message. When we yield to his Spirit, we speak the words of Christ, we offer the love of Christ, and we walk in the ways of Christ.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing God with others. If we are wise, we will realize we are called to assume the role or practice of a witness. We are called to become God’s witness. When we joyfully share God with others, it is his wisdom people will see. 

If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit is the strength of your testimony. Say a prayer so that you can step back from your own thoughts and ideas in order to share his instead.

Isaiah heard God speak when he went into the temple to pray. King Uzziah had died, and Isaiah was grieving and troubled. The Jewish kings were supposed to lead the people to live rightly with God, but not all did. King Uzziah was a good king, and the prophet Isaiah wondered what would happen after the king’s death.

God told Isaiah that someone would be needed to share the truth about God with the people. God asked him, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” God sends people, but they have to choose to go. This verse contains another reference to the Holy Trinity. Notice God said, “Who will go for us?”

Isaiah told God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, “Here I am! Send me.” God still asks his people Isaiah’s question today, and every day people make the same choice as the prophet.

I never want to teach Isaiah 6:8 without pointing out some important words that remain important for God’s people today. The verse begins, “I heard the voice of the Lord saying . . . .” Did Isaiah hear God speak in an audible voice? Did Isaiah hear God speak in his heart? Those are interesting questions to ponder, but the true point is that God speaks.

God’s people can know his voice and understand his commands.

You can live ready to share your faith if you will live with the same Spirit that led Isaiah. However God spoke, Isaiah knew the voice was for his direction. We all have a copy of God’s word. The pages are his voice. We have all prayed prayers of asking. Those who pray to listen hear his voice. 

God still speaks, and his servants still hear his voice. Wisdom is joyfully sharing God with others. That wisdom begins with Isaiah’s response to God’s voice: “Here I am! Send me.”

But, I also think the seminary speaker was correct. Many Scriptures point to the importance of God’s children being educated in God’s word, remaining faithful to God’s voice, and staying obedient to all we know God commands.

Peter taught the first-century Christians to “honor Christ the Lord as holy” and to “be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks” about the faith we have, the hope that is in us because of Christ.

I’ve often taught that when the Holy Spirit is calling us to speak, it often feels like a silent pounding in our hearts. We know God is calling us to speak up; we need only to yield our thoughts and our voice to his. If we provide the answers the Holy Spirit authors, we will speak words someone needs to hear.

But, we don’t just speak those words; we must speak them with “gentleness and respect.” The words will fall on deaf ears if our words are used as weapons instead of as the grace-filled truth of our Lord.

We can defend the faith if we don’t make it a war of words and instead make our words a road of welcome.

Wisdom is joyfully sharing God with others. Speaking the truth in love when the Holy Spirit inspires our words is wise. It isn’t that we are right and non-believers are wrong. Rather, we have been taught the truth and we are now paying it forward. You know what to say and how to say it. Whom will you share the gospel message with tomorrow?

There has always been one God, one Creator of all there is. There has always been more than one religion because original sin impacted everyone. People will always “want to be like God,” which is considered to be the root of every sin.

Paul’s letter to the Roman church is considered the most important letter of theology in our New Testament. He told them, and all Christians, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

Again, the verbs in Scripture are often crucial to understanding the words. The phrase calls on inspires a picture of a man sinking in quicksand or drowning on a rough sea. The man “calls out” to a nearby person or boat knowing that without their help he will surely perish. Again, Paul said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The universal truth of Christian evangelism is seen in God’s promise through Paul. Everyone is drowning in more sin than we can measure. Everyone will perish unless they call out to the One who is ready and able to save them. It is a simple truth unless we complicate it with the world’s suggestions.

Our words and our witness can bring another person to that moment when they understand they are lost without Jesus. We can teach them to call on the name of Jesus, the only name by which anyone can be saved.

Our message is narrow because truth only needs one lane. It is the universal truth of our one God. It is the same lane of truth Abraham and Moses walked. It is the lane of truth that God made clear in the new covenant through Christ. 

As Jesus said, “The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:14). Who helped you find the narrow lane of truth? Who would list your name if asked that question? Wisdom is joyfully sharing God with others. Will you joyfully share the name of Jesus and God’s plan of salvation with someone today?

You were likely impressed by some of the Christians you knew. You probably heard a sermon or a lesson or read something that caused you to understand that you needed to receive the gift of salvation through believing in Christ. Someone probably helped you make that choice by praying with you. Your baptism was that moment you made your faith in Christ your public testimony by saying, “Jesus is my Lord.” 

We are baptized “in the name of,” meaning in the character and person of the triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But, a person becomes a disciple when they learn to observe and obey all that God has commanded for our lives as his children. When we were saved, we received the character, the Name, of the Holy Trinity. We are adopted into the family of God.

Jesus also told his disciples why we would be able to live with his character and share the gospel with his power. Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Underestimating our ability to share our faith is easy if we don’t understand the source of our ability.

Jesus is with us. The Holy Spirit is the power of Christ, indwelling God’s children. You have been chosen, gifted, and called to live in such a way that others see the truth of the gospel in your choices and hear the message of the gospel in your words.

Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples and promised he would be with us when we step out in obedience to his command. But there is an honest and valid question that every one of God’s children must ask. 

Who is going to heaven today because of your obedience to the work of Christ in you? 

Wisdom is joyfully sharing God with others. We will never know everyone we have influenced, but we will know the names of many of them. Are you content with the knowledge that you are living as an evangelist to our culture today?

These days, it’s more common to hear a sermon about “living” our faith instead of one that teaches us to speak the truth of the gospel message. What is that gospel truth? John 3:16 gives a concise answer:

—“For God so loved the world”: There is one God, who is the Creator and sustainer of the world, and he is perfectly loving (1 John 4:7–8).

—“he gave his only Son”: The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was God’s gift of grace so that everyone could find pardon for their sins.

—“that whoever believes in him”: Salvation requires our belief and acceptance of our need for Christ and his gift of salvation. 

—“should not perish but have eternal life”: Every person in this world has an eternal destiny in either heaven or hell.

This month, people will spend a lot of time and money on Halloween. The holiday has become a much bigger celebration in the past decade. Most retail stores will also begin stocking their shelves and advertising for Christmas. The contrast between those two holidays will provide multiple opportunities for us to share our faith. Are you ready?

We will look at the wisdom of evangelism this month and hopefully be inspired to speak about our faith. Wisdom is joyfully sharing God with others. May this month lead us to consider the importance of our gospel message and the impact it can have in our world.

The verbs in Scripture mean so much to our understanding of a verse. Jesus told his disciples to “proclaim” the gospel to the whole creation. Our world considers it politically incorrect to say that one person’s faith is more important than another’s. 

All Christians find it difficult to share our faith without emphasizing that we worship the Christ who is the only Son of the only God. Yet, that is the gospel truth we are to “proclaim” to the whole world.

Jesus said, “Go.” He didn’t say it as an encouragement or a suggestion. He commanded his disciples to proclaim the gospel, and he still does. 

Wisdom is joyfully sharing God with others. Our message is wisdom, our motivation is joy, and our obedience is required. Will you pray for God to inspire your testimony of faith this month? It’s time to “go” and time to “proclaim” the wise truth of our great God.

The road of blessing is not without ups and downs, detours, and even the occasional pothole. Sometimes it feels like we are making this journey of life with at least one flat tire. Even when we sincerely feel that way, it isn’t the truth of God.

God told Isaiah, “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed.” Satan undoubtedly hurls his darts, but his darts can’t remove you from your road of blessing. Satan can’t remove a Christian from the roles of heaven. 

God also told the prophet, “You shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.” No slander can change the truth of who we are. We are the adopted children of God, and we are blessed with the promise of forgiveness and the assurance of our eternal life with God.

The promises of God are guaranteed by the power of God. We have the same heritage that God promised Isaiah. Our vindication is from God. Whose words can stand against his?

We have been speaking about the blessings of God this month. We have been reminded that our sovereign God stands ready to bless and prosper the lives of his children. Our job is to faithfully obey and follow the wisdom of his word. 

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. I hope this month has helped you know that our path is certain and our destination is assured. That hope will keep us firmly walking on that high road of faith, secure and rewarded by the blessings of God.

Psalm 81:10 was a reminder to the nation of Israel that God, the great I AM, had brought them up out of the land of Egypt. The Red Sea was not a problem; it was an opportunity to show them the omnipotence of God. The manna and quail provided a reminder that God is all-loving and wanted to meet their needs. The psalmist also reminded the people that they must open their mouths wide for the Lord to fill them. 

How many blessings might we have missed because we were faced the wrong way? 

I love the hymn that says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.” When we look full in his wonderful face, he blesses us with a perspective on the dim things of this world compared to “the light of his glory and grace.”

Our greatest blessings are likely the things we take most for granted. We will rest our heads on our pillows tonight and know God’s peace. We will enjoy that first cup of coffee or tea in the morning knowing God is for us and has a plan for our day. 

What “land” has the Lord your God brought you out of? What are the things you miss the most while away from home and out of the country? What makes you feel secure today and hopeful about tomorrow?

We are blessed because we know the Lord our God stands ready to provide for our needs. We need to open our hearts, our minds, our hands, and our mouths so we can receive what he most wants to give.

Living with wisdom is a path to God’s blessings. His path is our blessed provision for this life and the road to eternal blessings ahead.