James 3:15

This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

     Wisdom is an important characteristic for God’s servant. In essence God demands wisdom. Wisdom is taking knowledge and applying it through action. God desires for us to take His word and actually use it. For example, it is not enough to know that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We need to know what it means to love someone else. What do we do in our lives that is loving towards others? Wisdom helps us to see that.

     It is a suprise then that James says that wisdom can be earthly, even demonic. Yet like all things that God desires, wisdom can be perverted. Some people take the knowledge that they have and they apply to selfish ambitions. They use it to cheat those around them. They manipulte others. They use wisdom to get out of doing the work that God intended them to do. By using “wisdom” for selfish gain, they profit nothing.

     We need to constantly be evaluating ourselves. As we get older and grow both in life and in our Christian walk, it is expected that we will acquire wisdom. What is it that we are doing with this wisdom? Are we using it to serve God? Or is it used to justify our own ends? Wisdom is a powerful tool that can do great things for the kingdom of God. We must make sure that we are not the ones who are perverting it.

This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

1 Corinthians 12:12

For even as the body is one and {yet} has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

     My body does not function properly. I have a muscular disorder that causes all of my muscles to be tense constantly. This has made all aspect of movement hard. When most people contract a muscles, the opposite muscle relaxes. Mine do not. Instead they fight against each other and the contracting muscle has to stretch the other muscle into submission. You can see how this would be a hinderance in physical activity like construction work or athletics.

     When a body is working against itself, it makes everything more difficult. It is possible for me to accomplish many tasks that most people can accomplish, but I work three times harder at it. We can see then that the church needs to be unified and working together. If you have different parts of the Lord’s body running in different directions and trying to accomplish mutually exclusive goals, you find that even the simplest task becomes difficult. The Lord’s body needs to be all headed in the same direction toward the sames objective.

     In order to do this the body needs to be on the same page. It is important that we study with one another about God’s word so that when we teach, we are teaching as one. However, we also need to have humility in our dealings with one another. The eye should not be trying to shove the mouth down so it can talk. Instead they need to use each others strenghts and support each others weaknesses. Above all, the body must walk in love, treating each other as Christ so desires. What are you doing to help the body accomplish its goals?

For even as the body is one and {yet} has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

     Man is preoccupied with surviving. We have a desire to live as long as possible. Look how sick people strive for treatment. They go through months and even years of therapy to have only an incremental increase in their chances to live longer. Yet that sacrifice is worth it because they are not ready to let go of this life. People in the past would search far and wide for the “fountain of youth”. People today do not expect to find it in a spring somewhere, but they do hope to find in the medical advancements of the day.

     This devoutness points to what God has done to the hearts of man. The Ecclesiastical writer proclaims that God has set eternity within them. They have a sense of everlasting. Man desires to live forever. In fact we see that in the garden, God created for them the Tree of Life. It’s express purpose was to allow man to live forever.That was the expectation in the beginning. Yet Paul tells us that when sin entered the world, so did death (Romans 5).

     The good news is that we have a chance for eternal life. It is not found in a medical journal. It is not a herb found in the Amazon rain forest. It is found in God’s word. He has given us the way to salvation. The fact of the matter is that no matter what we do here on this earth today, we will die. But we can look forward to what awaits us after death. The choice is ours: follow God and have eternal life, or disobey Him and have eternal torment.

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

Matthew 5:15

nor does {anyone} light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

     We can learn a lot from children. One important lesson comes from the interaction of a parent and a child. The first thing we see is that the parent is supposed to be the one in charge, the teacher. They are to raise up a child to know what is right and what is wrong. They teach them through both positive and negative reinforcement how to avoid danger and harm as well as how to do positive life skills like discipline and attitude.

     Yet a parent has to be careful. Sometimes instead of a parent training a child, the child trains the parent. The parent also gets positive and negative reinforcements for their behavior. Children who dislike an action cry and throw a fit to the point of discomfort to all who are around. When a parent behaves as the child wants, they child showers them with cuteness and happiness. If one is not cautious, they wind up moving at the whims of the child instead of the other way around. The order which God intended has been reversed.

     We need to remember this concept as we go out into the world. When we go out we plan on influencing the world for Christ. We want to shine our light, which we should always be eager to do. However, if we are not careful we can wind up being the ones influenced. They can start teaching us to do things that we know we should not be doing. We need to stand strong for God and His glory. We need to make sure that we are the ones doing the influencing. Otherwise our candles are being hidden.

nor does {anyone} light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

     Getting older can be a very humbling experience. We find out that as we gain on in the years that we are constantly changing. We never just stay the same. Instead we find out that after a certain point we start deteriorating. Our metabolism slows down. We are no longer able to do the same things with our bodies that we used to. Our minds might not be as sharp as they onced were. Vision and hearing grow worse. Our bodies are continually breaking down.

     This break down can be very frustrating. It can also be very humbling. Many people  who start to see their bodies deterioriating go through what is today called a “mid-life crisis”. They look back on their life and realize all the dreams and goals that they wanted to accomplish but never did. They see that this deterioration is a one way street and that they will die one day. They start trying to make up for lost time, and use each and every day to accomplish the goals they want.

     Christians can have a different perspective for dealing with the problem that all of mankind faces. They realize that their hope and their accomplishments are not about this life. While they notice that their bodies are growing weaker, it does not discourage them. They take courage in the fact that their inner man, their spiritual man, is growing stronger and stronger each day. When they die, that man will live on and go and be with God. They have a hope that the world just can not offer.

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

     The people of Israel faced a trial of faith as they were led out of Egyptian captivity. God had sent the ten plagues upon the Egyptians so that Pharoah would let the Israelites go. After the tenth plague Pharoah relented and let God’s people on their way. The Egyptians gave them many possessions so that they would get out of their quicked. They plundered the Egyptians without raising a sword.

     Yet Pharoah had a change of heart. He decided he would chase them. He finally meets up with them at the Red Sea. The people of Israel are trapped against the Sea with no escape from the the great and powerful Egyptian army. It looks as if there is no escape. However, God then opens up the Red Sea and allows the Israelites a safe retreat. What had once been an impossible situation actually ends as the destruction of the enemies of God’s servants.

     We can take courage from the Israelites story. Many times today we may feel that Satan has trapped us in. We think that we have encountered a temptation from which there is no escape. Yet we must remember that with God no situation is impossible. He has promised us a way of escape. Instead of panicing (as the people of Israel did) we need to remain calm and maintain our faith in God deliver. There is no situation that can overpower our God.

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

Philippians 3:12

Not that I have already obtained {it} or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

     One time I went swimming with a good friend of mine at a local stream. It had been raining a lot that year, so the current was decently strong. It was very enjoyable to just float in the water. However, when I floated in the water, I was not staying still! I was actually floating downstream, and quickly. Even when I swam it was difficult to go upstream. I had to work very hard to make progress.

     This is analagous to our Christian walk. Paul tells the Christians at Phillipi that he presses on toward the goal. He realizes that he has not yet achieved. So Paul continues to move forward. It is so easy for us to start standing still as Christians. Yet standing still as a Christian is like floating in moving water. You feel as though are staying put, but in fact you are moving backwards and sometimes very quickly.

We need to stive for the goal. We cannot allow ourselves to be content or to assume that we have made it as Christians. Of all the Christians throughout time, if one could rest on their laurels and await the day of judgment, you would assume it was Paul. Yet Paul acknowledges that he cannot do that. He must stay strong and push forward. We need to do the same. If not, we will find ourselves further from the prize that we so wish to attain than we would have thought possible.

Galatians 5:23

gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

      In Galatians 5, Paul is listing of the fruit of the spirit. He tells the disciples of Galatia that self control is one of those fruits. For anyone who is a Christian, it is vital that they be able to control themselves. By being a servant of God, we can expect that such control will model our lives. This is in direct contrast to the rest of the world. They allow the world to control them. Not only that, they sometimes take pleasure in it because it gives them someone else to bleam.

      One example of this is a friend of mine was playing in a sporting event. He was having a good time and playing well when all of the sudden his opponents became overly competitive. They were nasty in their attitudes. Immediately this person decided that the game was not fun. They lost the game because they just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. What they did not realize is that the people they were playing with only controlled their own attitudes.

     Like my friend, we think that other people can affect our attitude or mindset. The reality is that we allow them to. We decide if we will be positive or negative. We decide if we stop having fun because the people around us are mean spirited. With this knowledge comes responsibility but also freedom. We have the ability to choose whether we are happy or sad. No one can choose for us. We decide. When we decide to have godly attitudes not matter what is going on around us, we have the self-control that God desires.

gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Psalm 51:13

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.

     Think for a moment about a possession that you wish you could have. You just would love to own one, but right now it is not financially possible to buy it. For me it would be a gaming system. Now imagine that I ran across that gaming system that normally cost hundreds of dollars, but I found it on sale for fifteen dollars. The first thing we would do if we found such a bargain on something we earnestly desired was to buy it for ourselves.

     The second thing that we would do would be to tell our friends. I have a lot of friends that I know enjoy gaming systems as well. Having such an incredible deal, I would feel obligated to tell them. Not just to be nice, but also because I want them to experience the same joy that I have felt. Now imagine that there were millions of your favorite product being sold at the exact same price. You would tell everyone you met, and you would tell them to hurry before the deal ends!

     Something that seems so natural in shopping feels the exact opposite when it comes to the spiritual realm. As Christians we have come across an incredible deal: the forgiveness of sins. We took advantage of it ourselves and continue to do so to this day. Seeing how great of an offer God has made us, and seeing that it is open for everyone means that we should be telling everyone we know about it. They need to take advantage before the sale ends on the day of judgment.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.

Psalm 23:2

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

     The Bible talks often times about sheep and sheperds. What we see is that whenever sheep stray away from their owners, it does not turn out well for them. They wind up lost and alone with no protection. David had to protect sheep from a lion and a bear, so you can see how important the a guardian would be. The sheep really do not know where they are going. They seem to wander aimlessly, and if they do that, they can find themselves in trouble.

     However, if they are with the sheperd, we see that they get a sense of guidance. The sheperd will take them on paths that are meant to avoid predators. They will take them to a place where they can eat food and drink water. Under the leadership of their sheperd, the sheep will not only survive, but if the sheperd is a good one they will thrive and prosper. The sheperd takes personal responsibility for the sheep and leads them to safety and nourishment.

     God, as our shepherd does the same thing. He has commanded us about what we should do and where we should go. Without His guidance from the holy scriptures, we wander around aimlessly. We do not have the protection of our savior. We do not know where to go for spiritual food and water. If we will just follow His word, it will lead us to the spiritual growth we will desire. If we follow where He leads, we will not only survive our spiritual journey, but grow stronger every day.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.