God's wisdom helps me see

*** NOTES FROM SEP 16th ***

Proverbs 3

John 9

Subject : The mind of Christ

Thought: I need the wisdom of God

* Wisdom : the ability to judge correctly and follow the best course of action.

Challenge : To stand on the wisdom of God

God wants us to see with our hearts first.

We speak by faith things that are not yet seen as though they where!

Paul said to the Corinthians "become a fool so that you may become wise"

Proverbs 3:1 - God is saying to us, "Don't forget what I told you" - For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. (Proverbs 3:2 KJV)

How can we forget the God that has provided and protected us?

There is nothing better than the protection of God!

? Admit my faults.
- we need to check ourselves before we check others.

Acknowledging the things that have affected you is one thing, but know that in Christ you are a new creature.

In everything give thanks.

SEEK TRUTH

I Tim 4:1- Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

From our beginnings, the enemy has sought to discredit the Word of God. Suggesting to us that we should do what we want, and that God is hiding the truth from us (Gen. 3:4-5). His greatest tool against mankind is deception. I define deception as something seemingly good with hidden evil intentions. The equivalent is having a plate of food laced with a poison that is hard too detect. Unfortunately deception is an easy product to market, and even easier to sell! And with over 2500 religions in our world today, it cannot be denied that the forces of darkness have enjoyed the success of their seduction. Thank God for sending the truth, Jesus Christ, to walk among us so that we may counter the lies of satan.

Please read Ps. 1:1-3. Let us take heed to what the Holy Spirit has said. Surely we are in the “latter times.” Many are giving heed to compromising messages and teachings that lead them further from the truth of God’s Word, and closer to “another gospel” (II Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6). Rather than seek the truth, many seek what is intellectually acceptable and comfortable to their lifestyle. This is a gospel void of sacrifice and commitment to the teaching of the Bible, and suggests merely a self-improvement agenda without denial of self (Matt. 16:24). This is, in fact, the doctrines of devils (better translated demons). In all our getting we must get an understanding (Prov. 4:7). Let us seek truth, which is only found in the Word of God, and we will avoid departing from the ways of God.

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MENTORSHIP

Kings 2:12- And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.  13. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;  14.  And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

The relationship between Elijah and Elisha is one of the greatest examples of mentorship in the Bible.  Elisha saw his mentor as his father.  Not because of a biological connection, but a spiritual one.  God told Elijah that he had chose Elisha to continue his work.  Elijah knew that his ministry was coming to a close so he had to train his successor in following the Will of God and the fine points of ministry.  When the time came for Elijah to leave this earth, Elisha would not leave his mentor’s side.  More than teaching him to be a man, Elijah trained Elisha to be a man of God.  This caused Elisha to develop an inseparable attitude towards leaving his trainer.  Nevertheless the student was now ready to lead, and the mentor had completed his mission.  After seeing his father taken from him, Elisha had to stand at the brink of Jordan and reflect on the path set before him.  The mentorship worked!  The Jordan River obeyed by opening for the successor.

The Holy Spirit is the believer’s mentor.  His spiritual relationship with us is invaluable.  He is helping us continue the work started by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We must willingly acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s unmatchable ability to develop the Christ-like character in us.  It is our duty to submit ourselves to the Spirit’s training in righteousness.  Only He can turn a whore into a woman of God and a Pimp into a preacher.  Seeing the importance of His mentorship, let us stay in the Word of God and prayer so the Holy Spirit can train us to be leaders.  And when you or I come to the brinks of our wits end, the Spirit will open a path for us to get through what we are going through.  There is purpose upon your life!  Let the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, the guide, place a fresh anointing upon you.      

UNITY

Read Judges 16

Judges 16:20 And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

I often find myself meditating on the strongest human in the Bible, Samson.  The life of Samson could teach us many lessons.  It shows how lust and untamed desires could bring a person to his/her knees, or how we can be physically fit but spiritually and morally bankrupt.  Yet, the greatest lesson from Samson is obscured from a reader view.  All the successful judges of the book of Judges wanted God’s help in everything, and enlisted the help of their brethren to fight their enemies, but Samson decided to be a one man show.  He never solicited any help, or even mentioned unifying his people to bring about freedom from the oppression of the Philistines.  It was for this reason that when Samson thought his enemy would never enslave him, they did.  Not only did the strongest man of the Bible failed to create unity between his people, most of all, he aborted his unity with God!  “The Lord departed from Him.”

We sometimes make the disastrous mistake of trying to do things on our own, knowing that we could use the Lord’s great incite, or the helping hand of man.  If Samson was in unity with God the Lord would have warned him to steer clear of the whore for hire, Delilah.  Instead, He fell for her charm and he lost his sight as a result of his poor choice.  Moreover, history recorded his fall from grace!  Thank God he was redeemed; yet, it cost him his life.  Let us allow his blunder to teach us to keep our souls in constant communion with our human spirit who is being led by the Holy Spirit.  It is He who keeps us in unity with His Word.             

KEEP SEEKING GOD

Ps. 34:4- I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Fear is can be healthy or harmful.  It is a natural part of us in either way.  The healthy side of fear is the part that reveres God or man.  This side of us seeks to respect and honor God as the source of all life, and to love our fellowman as God has commanded.  The other side of fear everyone has suffered, or will suffer, from this dreadful inner instinct that seeks to destroy and imprison us in the dungeons of our own minds.  Since the day Adam tried to hide the evidence of what he had done from the all-seeing eyes of God, fear has had field days in the hearts and minds of every human who has journeyed on this side of eternity.  The Bible describes this type of fear as punishing (I John 4:18; torment in the KJV).  Psalms 73:19 describes fear as consuming.  Furthermore, God has given us the all we need to conquer dreadful fear (II Tim. 1:7).     

Read the topical verse to see how David conquered his fears.  Moreover, he was one of the mighty warriors of the Old Testament; yet, fear was one of the issues he struggled with.  He overcame fear by “seeking the Lord.”  It entails reading, studying, and meditating on God’s Word, and diligently praying.  His great testimony was that the Lord delivered him from all his fears, and God can do the same for us!  However, as David did, we must confess our fears to God.  Believe it or not this strengthens the better side of fear which is also within us, the fear of the Lord.  So don’t let your dreadful fear rule your life, but let the fear of the Lord dethrone your fear.     

BEWARE OF THE LITTLE FOXES

Song 2:15- Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

In the Bible days agriculture was big business.  They worked hard one season preparing and sowing, to reap in another season.  Long hours, late nights, and many sacrifices were made to support the family.  Yet the husbandman looked forward to the benefits his labor would soon bring about.  Unfortunately, the farmer wasn’t the only one looking forward to the season of reaping.  So were the animals; in particular, the foxes.  Without warning these menace to the fields would come and eat away at the farmers profits as though they were given license to do so.  I am sure these jackals caused many a men to come to tears!  The wise ones, those who suffered enough and did something about it, took measures to protection and guard their fields

Let us beware of the little foxes in our lives.  The foxes that will steal our joy, gnaw away at our profits of peace, and trample on our fields of contentment.  The enemy will send them to ravish our fruit that the blood of Jesus paid for us to have (Gal. 5:22-23).  It is up to us to protect and guard our spiritual investments; lest the little critters from the world come into our fields without warning and leave us wondering why we did not do anything about it:  debt, worrying, rejection, inferiority, low self-esteem, sickness, loses, etc… these are just a few of the foxes.  Guard your and fill your heart with the Word of God.  Having faith in God’s Word, which reveals His promises, will limit what the modern day little foxes can do.