Wisdom from Above

We often lack wisdom and understanding in this life. It may come from a lack of training at home, a genetic deficiency, a sheltered life or a poor education.

We are not prepared to face the constant adversity and challenges of daily living. God promises to give us the wisdom we need, if we simply ask (James 1:5).

His wisdom is well beyond our years and also comes from senior Saints who experienced more of God and life's complications than we have. We only need to listen to their advice rather than thinking we know better than they do.

Basically, most humans are self-confident fools and pseudo-intellectuals who lack basic understanding (Isaiah 32:1-6). However, as we rely on God for wisdom, we end up speaking the inspiration provided by His Spirit.

We utter truth and refrain from saying curse words and making foolish remarks from confused thinking. Our thoughts and words are righteous; and there is no guile of lies from the devil mixed up in them.

Those who have a heart after God see the wisdom in our thoughts and words and agree with us. Only those with the eyes of their understanding clouded by sin refuse to see the spiritual insight in what we say and do.

They live in their own world of deception and believe in the lies fed to them by the "guru's" of this world (2 Peter 3:14-18). They judge our wisdom from above as crooked, perverse and contrary to their truth.

Yet, whoever comes to Christ finds true wisdom and priceless treasure beyond their wildest imagination; finds favor with the highly exalted King of all kings; and prospers in all of his/her ways (Psalm 119:1-2, 128:1-2; Luke 11:28).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for teaching us Your Truth and leading us on the paths of spiritual understanding. They are more costly than silver and more precious than gold. They are more beautiful than rubies and pearls and are more desirable than what the world we live in considers as valuable (Job 28:15; Psalm 19:10, 119:127).

You teach us knowledge, prudence and discretion and give us Your power (James 1:5). We abide in our worship of You and we hate evil; we walk away from pride and arrogance with perverted thoughts, desires, words and actions (Romans 13:1; Daniel 2:21). We remain in You and walk in Your ways all the days of our life.

Thought for the Day:

God loves those who love Him, seek His wisdom and dedicate their every waking moment to His service, regardless of our secular training or vocation. 

- 1 Samuel 2:30; John 14:21; James 1:5

An Empty Vessel

God cleanses us at Salvation and creates an empty vessel to fill with Himself. As our flesh decreases, Christ is able to increase in us (John 3:30). He brings with Him all the attributes of the Trinity to abide within us.

We welcome every trial and look for the hand of God in both the negative and positive aspects of life - knowing that it is all part of His pre-arranged will for us and that He works out everything for our ultimate good (Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:28).

We have confidence in the fact that nothing in heaven, on earth or in hell can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39). We trust in His divine will and draw from His power within us to obey His Spirit each moment of the day.

We delight in working according to His good pleasure (Psalm 40:8). He fills us with all peace and makes us pleasing in His sight (Romans 15:13; Hebrews 13:21). We start as an empty vessel at salvation and He fills us to the brim with Himself (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Our weakness makes room for His strength, His will is our sole motivation and His ways are the only desires of our heart. We find glory in our short-comings, idiosyncrasies and infirmities, because through them, He is glorified.

Our peculiarities are God's sign of ownership. Do you have issues with the way you talk, look, the balance of your bank account, the profession in which you work?

God uses these peculiarities to keep us humble and dependent on Christ in us rather than our own special human abilities. As we submit to His will, He can accomplish His will on the earth.

If we are still full of our self, we leave no room for God to fill us with His presence and purpose for our life. The more we empty our self of our self, the more of us He can use.

Prayer:

Father God, we bow before You in humble adoration and praise. We depend on You for the very air we breathe. Your almighty power is at work within us, in nature all around us, and in the lives with which we come into contact every day. We totally surrender to Your perfect will for every moment of our life.

We trust in You to use us as You will and to work out everything in our life - even the negative aspects - for our good (Romans 8:28). You work mightily within us by Your power and we lift up Your majesty on high. We give You Your way in our life and trust You to use us now and to take us home to glory with You when we complete our mission for You here on this earth.

Thought for the Day:

In the solace of surrender and faith, we find the deepest measure of God's love and presence.

Dreaming Dreams

God used dreams throughout the Biblical accounts of His interaction with mankind (Job 33:15-16; Acts 2:17). He spoke through dreams to kings, prophets and saints of old (Genesis 15:12, 17-18; 28:12, 37:5, 46:2; Daniel 7:1-9; 1 Kings 3:5).

He also used dreams with New Testament characters such as to calm Joseph's fears about marrying Mary and to save Jesus from sure death (Matthew 1:20-21; 2:12-13, 19; Acts 2:17, 16:9-10, 18:9-10). Pilate's wife dreamed that he should not condemn Jesus in spite of the insistence of the Jews (Matthew 27:19).

The Word of God makes it clear that God uses dreams in our life (Joel 2:28-31). He gives us wisdom, insight and guidance to bring a resolution of issues in our life.

In our sleeping state, our soul and spirit are still very active. They are less influenced by our issues, fears and insecurities, which plague us during our waking moments. 

Through dreams, God often reveals to us His character, intentions and lessons that He wants us to learn. 

He will use dreams to give us wisdom on puzzling experiences in our life, peace which transcends human reasoning and direction for some activity He calls us to perform.

Satan and our own soul can inspire dreams as well as God (1 John 4:1). They are often brief and unrealistic (Psalm 126:1; Isaiah 29:8). The interpretation of our dreams will never contradict the Word of God (James 1:5).

Sleep and dreaming restores our soul to equilibrium. If dreams badger us during our sleep, we can ask God to give our soul peace and allow us to enjoy uninterrupted sleep (Psalm 127:2).

As we dream about issues that need resolution, and which we ignore during our waking moments (Ecclesiastes 5:3), God heals our soul. Our spirit sings praises to God as we sleep and we often awaken to our soul singing and making melody in our heart to the Lord.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for giving us such a fail proof and complex brain that works like a computer as we sleep. It categorizes, files and works through issues which need resolution. Once we are Born Again, Your Spirit who abides in our spirit, will influence this series of chemical impulses and the outcome of this activity in our brain.

We would probably explode or self-destruct with the intensity of our anxiety and other negative emotions if You did not give us the ability to work out these issues in our dreams. You are our great and mighty God; and we can never thank You enough for Your vigilant care over each and every one of us in every facet of our waking and sleeping life.

Thought for the Day:

Dreams are tangible and helpful; they are made of memories, concerns, direction, hopes, vision and reality all rolled into one plot with several sub-plots and they influence the story of the rest of our life.