TODAY'S WORD 28 MARCH 2014: WISDOM IN THE MIDST OF TRIAL III

James 1:5

WISDOM GIVEN

 When you need wisdom, and ask for it from God, James says He will give it to you. He says that God “gives to all generously and without reproach”, so “ASK”!  James had most likely heard Jesus speak those famous words in Matthew 7:7-11: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will opened unto you … If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father give what is good to those who ask?”  Wisdom is “good”; so we can have confidence that God will give us His wisdom if we ASK Him like James commands here.

Some of our difficulties and trials may serve a purpose for a future generation in a way that is unknown to us – and must REMAIN unknown to us.  And God’s answer for us is going to be that we just need to accept that by faith.  But if that is His answer, I believe He will show us that too.  He will give you a peace even to accept what you can’t understand fully.  But your responsibility is to seek His wisdom in your trial.  If you will, God says He will give it to you.  He says, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God … and it will be given to him”!   

INVITATION:

– If you are going through a trial, are you asking God WHY?  Don’t just “endure” what you are going through, like an animal; look for something more.  Seek God’s wisdom for your trial.  Use this time to pray and seek Him.

– Some of you might have asked God for answers, but you are not really “seeking Him as for hidden treasures” like Proverbs talks about.  You aren’t giving hours to Bible study and prayer.  Commit yourself to truly SEEK His wisdom.

– Others of you may be asking for wisdom, but you are asking the wrong people.  You are talking to your friends and others – but not really to people who know God’s word intimately.  You need to bring your situation to some godly counselors. Ask God!!

TODAY'S WORD 27 MARCH 2014: WISDOM IN THE MIDST OF TRIAL II

James 1:5

In many areas of life, realizing your need is the first step towards getting help.  So it is with wisdom.  The first thing you need to do is recognize that you do not have the wisdom you need, which should then drive you to ask God for it – which bring us to our next point today

II. WISDOM ASKED

“Let him ask of God”, James goes on to say.  The One we need to ask for wisdom is GOD.  He says, “Let him ask of God”!. Proverbs 3:5 says: “do not lean on your own understanding” – instead, ask God!   Don’t just go to your friends; don’t just see what everyone is saying on television or on the internet.  They don’t have true wisdom. In Job 28, Job asks, “But where can wisdom be found? … Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.  The deep says, ‘it is not in me’; and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ … Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, nor can silver be weighed as its price … Where does wisdom come from?  And where is the place of understanding?  Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the sky.  Abaddon and Death say, ‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’  GOD understands its way, and HE knows its place.”

 One of the great examples in scripture of someone who asked God for wisdom in her trials was Rebekah in Genesis 25.  Rebekah was pregnant with twins, and :22 says that “the children struggled within her; and she said, ‘If it is so, then why am I this way?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord.”  She could tell that something was going on inside of her – it was a “trial”. – So in her trial she went to the Lord for wisdom.  She asked: “If it is so, then why I am this way?”  What was God’s purpose for what she could feel going on inside of her?  She did JUST the right thing with her question: it says “So she went to inquire of the Lord.”  And when she did, God told her about how the two children inside of her were two nations who would always be struggling together.  But the point for us today is that in her trial, Rebekah took her need for wisdom to the Lord. Rebekah serves as a model for us all in a couple of ways: FIRST in that she was not content to just “go along” with this trial without knowing WHY these things were happening.  She wanted to know what God’s purpose in it was.  That is what all people of faith should do.  We believe there is a God; so we believe that there is a purpose for everything.  This is one of the things that separates us from unbelievers; indeed, it is what separates from the animals!  Think about it: even animals endure what happens to them – but they don’t seek any “reason” or purpose behind it.  But God has made us higher than that; He has made us in His own image.  We are to seek His reason and purpose behind everything that He sends our way.  To fail to seek God’s wisdom in our trials is not only to disbelieve, but also in a sense to fail to be human!  So Rebekah was wise first of all, because she sought wisdom for her situation.

Secondly, Rebekah went to right place with her need for wisdom.  Genesis says: “So she went to inquire of the Lord”.  That is exactly what we need to do too.  Take your need for wisdom to the Lord.  “Let him ask of God”, James says.

 Well, what does it mean to “ask of God”?  How do you seek God’s wisdom?  There are several ways:    first, seek His wisdom in prayer. Seek God in prayer, and ask Him for the wisdom you need. Secondly, seek His wisdom in His word.  God’s Spirit makes gives us wisdom in His word!  Search His word.  Look specifically for what the Bible says about the thing that you are going through. Third, you can also seek God’s wisdom through godly counselors.  Someone asked me this week: “Is it wrong to seek counsel for an issue in my life, or should I just try to handle this on my own?”  The answer is NO!  It is not wrong to seek wise counsel.  God made us to need each other.  Seeking godly, Christian counsel is one way of seeking God, through the agency of the people He has gifted with His wisdom and insight.  But make sure that it IS godly, wise, Biblical counsel that you are getting, and not just a well-meaning friend who is not walking with God, and who does not have an intimate knowledge of His word.  I see some of the biggest mistakes made by people whose friends tell them what they want to hear instead of what God says in His word.  Go to someone who will tell you the truth!  If you will, then that godly counsel can be an important element in seeking God’s wisdom.

Seek God in prayer, in His word, through circumstances, and through godly counsel.  We need wisdom; let’s ASK for it from the right place – “Let him ask of God.”

TODAY'S WORD 26 MARCH 2014: WISDOM IN THE MIDST OF TRIAL

James 1:5

Many of us are right in the midst of trials, and we need the wisdom that God has to give us.  The good news of scripture is, He promised that He will!  Let’s read the James1:5 and see what the Bible tells us about finding God’s wisdom in our trials. The principle are divided into three, wisdom need, wisdom asked and wisdom given.

WISDOM NEEDED

     “But if any of you lacks wisdom”.  Now, one of the first things we need to understand here is the context of this verse.  Someone may want to claim this as a promise for wisdom in general, and that might not be totally unjustified, but its specific context here is the trials that verses 1-4 just referred to.  It specifically refers to the need for wisdom in times of trial and testing. That’s not hard for us to picture.  In the midst of our trials, we wonder, “Why is this happening?  What am I supposed to do?”  If we can see a purpose in what we are going through, it can be encouraging to us, so we need God’s wisdom in our trials.

 That brings us to this word, “wisdom.”  The Greek word for wisdom is “sophia.”  It doesn’t mean just “knowledge” but knowledge that is applied in practical, godly ways.  Biblical wisdom is the ability to see things from God’s perspective, and to apply knowledge in practical ways.  These are practical questions – and that is what wisdom is; it is the ability to see things from God’s perspective and apply it in practical ways.  This is what we need in our trials.    

Too many people have “knowledge” – but they don’t apply it to their lives.  In fact, this is what James criticizes later in this chapter: “be DOERS of the word, and not hearers only, who delude themselves.”  There is way too much “knowledge” in the churches today, and way too little “wisdom”!  We go to Bible study after Bible study after Bible study, and “learn” all these truths that we never apply to our lives.  We don’t need more “knowledge” in the church; we NEED wisdom.  We need to be able to see things from God’s perspective, and apply His truths to our real-life situations.

 We especially need wisdom when we are in times of trial and testing.  WHY is this happening to us?  Our response is going to depend somewhat on what the purpose for the trial is!   I got a note from one of my friends this week, who is going through a particular trial at work.  He is seeking what God’s purpose for this trial might be.  He asked: “How will this trial be resolved?  Do I just wait until it runs its course?  Or if God has put me in this, is there no way that I can end it, and I just have to wait until HE ends it?  Or is He driving me to go in a certain direction that I am not seeing, or to learn something that I am not learning?”

 These are excellent questions, and the very questions that many of us should be asking in our trials, because there are different things God may be doing:

In many areas of life, realizing your need is the first step towards getting help.  So it is with wisdom.  The first thing you need to do is recognize that you do not have the wisdom you need, which should then drive you to ask God for it – which bring us to our next point tomorrow.

TODAY'S WORD 25 MARCH 2014: DEAL WITH ANGER II

Ephesian 4:26-27

We would continue from yesterday meditation but focus on four steps for us to take when we have tension in a relationship: “Leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” These steps can by summarized by four words from this verse – Leave, Go, Be, and Come.

A. Leave abruptly. “…leave your gift there in front of the altar…” We need to pause in our praise until we’re at peace. David figured this out in Psalm 51:16-17: “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” God would rather have a broken life than a beautiful lamb. He would rather have a surrendered man or a woman than scads of money. He would rather have us leave and make peace than lift our hands in praise when we’re in conflict with someone. Check this out. God is more into correct relationships than He is with correct ritual.

B. Go quickly. “…First go…” We’re to leave the place of reverence and go find the place of reconciliation with the one we’ve wronged. The verb tense here suggests an intense effort. It’s so easy to think that the other person should take the first step. Notice the word “first” before the word “go.” This means first in order of importance. The priority in peacemaking is to resolve everything right away. Matthew 18:15 So we need to remember: the pursuit of reconciliation is always my responsibility.

C. Be reconciled. “…and be reconciled to your brother…” First, leave abruptly. Second, go quickly. Third, be reconciled. The verb tense changes here, suggesting an intense effort. Remember, the goal is reconciliation, not revenge. I’ve also found great help from these “Four Promises of Forgiveness” from Matthew 6:12; 1 Corinthians 13:5 and Ephesians 4:32.

* I will not dwell on this incident.

* I will not bring this incident up and use it against you.

* I will not talk to others about this incident.

* I will not allow this incident to stand between us or hinder our personal relationship.

D. Come worship. “…then come and offer your gift.” Leave. Go. Be. Come. Reconciliation is important enough to interrupt our worship of God because unresolved conflict has already interrupted our worship because your focus tends to be on what you are angry about rather than on the worship of God. A right relationship with God depends on our willingness to maintain a right relationship with one another. It is this anger which actually separates us from the love of God in worship. How long will it last? In some families it can last for years.

We listen to such a story and we think how ridiculous it sounds, but this is why anger has such serious effects that Jesus tells us to deal with it before we come to worship Him. I hope that today if you are harboring hatred or anger toward another brother so sister in Christ, or if you know a brother or sister has something against you, that you will take the high road and make reconciliation efforts.

Harboring anger has devastating effects on your life, your relationship with God and the lives of others. DO not let anger tear you apart, let it go, give it to Jesus. Neither let anger rule your life, only God should be doing that.

TODAY'S WORD 24 MARCH 2014: DEAL WITH ANGER

Ephesian 4:26-27

Anger: is a strong feeling of intense displeasure, hostility, or indignation as a result of a real or imagined threat, insult, frustration, or injustice toward yourself or others important to you.

We can do some crazy things when we allow our anger to take hold of us. Have you done things while you were angry that you wish you could take back? Anger can be one of the most destructive things in our life, especially if it is anger that is held inwardly against another person. Sometimes this anger can show in how we treat others as well.

Today we are going to look at the devastating effects that anger can have on ourselves, on our worship of God and on other people. I have a theory. It goes something like this. Most of us know what we’re supposed to do, but we don’t always do it correctly. This is especially the case when it comes to conflict and anger. Most of us also have probably heard at least one sermon on this topic in their church life as well, but few put it into practice.

Before we get into the effects of anger that we want to look at, we need to look at what Jesus is trying to tell us in verse 21.

In verse 21 Jesus points to the sixth commandment that is found in Exodus 20:13. He says that the ancients were told thus and such. This means that Jesus is speaking of the commandment itself, not the interpretation of the commandment. It is also important that we know that there is a difference between “kill” and “murder” in the Biblical sense. To murder means to take a life with anger and premeditated thought, to kill would be to take a life in self defense or in a time of war.
Also Jesus in no way was changing the law of the Old Testament, He is just adding to its spiritual meaning. This is why you can never ever throw out the Old Testament, because Jesus in no way changed the law but merely fulfilled and further added to its meaning. Jesus’ own words was that He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.

Going further into this passage, In Matthew 5: 23-24 we read some words that are simple to understand and yet so sharp that they’re bound to cut us: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” What Jesus is saying is this: Being reconciled is more important than being religious.

Let’s notice a few things here.
* Anger can wipe out our worship. The context of this passage has to do with anger: “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” We must be watchful of our words or else wrath will destroy us and destroy others. When we bring anger to the altar we can’t adore God. Isaiah 58:4 says: “Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.”
* Friction in the family of God must be dealt with. The word “brother” is used four times in verses 22-24. As sons and daughters of the Father He desires holy harmony in His family. But there are some steps to dealing with this anger and strife in your life and the life of the church.
* Make it right when God reminds you. It’s no accident that you are probably thinking about someone you are out of sorts with right now. Don’t dismiss the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit at work in your memory. Remembering is the first step to reconciliation. It’s God’s way of prompting you to be a peacemaker.
* Initiate reconciliation whether it’s your fault or not. It could be a legitimate gripe, or maybe it’s unfounded. It doesn’t really matter. If someone has a grudge against you, follow God’s nudge and do what you can to make it right.

Peacemaking is messy business, isn’t it? I know of someone who has worked hard at reconciling relationships and has done the exact same thing with two different people. One individual responded and reconciliation has happened and the other one rejected the peacemaking efforts. Even when it doesn’t work, it’s always worthwhile to do what God says. Romans 12:18 says: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”