The fear of the LORD

GETTING BACK TO OUR STUDY IN THE BOOK OF James(WHICH BY THE WAY WILL BE OUR STUDY BOOK THIS FALL IN THE CHURCH HOUSE, AND THESE BLOGS WILL PROVIDE A BASE FOR THAT STUDY), i WOULD LIKE TO READDRESS THE SUBJECT OF WISDOM AGAIN.

James said "if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God(for it). Make no mistake....God is the source of all wisdom.

The Bible says that Jesus Christ is both the wisdom of God as well as the power of God. Nevertheless God uses people in whom He has put in their hearts the Spirit of wisdom to help others, Here are some scripture verses from the book of Proverbs that point this out. Prov.11:14 " Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. Proverbs 15:22Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.Proverbs 24:6For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety. Here we see how God can use others to help us make the right choice. Also God has filled certain individuals with a Spirit of wisdom. Such was the case in the building of the Tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build in order that the children of Israel might have a place prepared where God would come down and meet them. Such a man was Bezalel. Exodus 31:1-3 (King James Version)
Exodus 31
1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:
3And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship. There is one underlying truth in all this that we need to understand and that truth is found in
Psalm 111:10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.Psalm 111:9-10 (in Context) Psalm 111 (Whole Chapter)
Proverbs 1:7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.Proverbs 1:6-8 (in Context) Proverbs 1 (Whole Chapter)
Proverbs 9:10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. It says "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom(and knowledge); it is talking about a reverential kind of fear that fools have no knowledge of. You must reverence God...everything is not a big joke! it is time to get serious about God. Fools are void of understanding and of wisdom, they are like the waves of the sea that James discusses, tossed and driven, vacillating, up and down, a faith that wavers and that is not faith at all. "Let not that man suppose that he
will receive anything from the Lord."..."he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Where is your priority this morning? Is it in everyday earthly mundane legitimate things or is it in God? "Ask", Jesus said, "and ye shall receive"

Return: Isa. 55:6,7

This morning I'm torn, torn between continuing with the lessons from the epistle of James and on the other side the
prompting of the Holy Spirit to consider another theme, at least for today. So I am choosing the Spirit's prompting and I refer to the verses I have listed in Isaiah chapter 55 above.: Seek the LORD while He may yet be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him, And to our God for He will abundantly pardon All throughout the pages of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is this common thread running from cover to cover "Return to Me" Repent, turn from the direction in which you are going, from the path you have chosen, the path that leads to destruction and choose to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and He will abundantly pardon. You may say ....but I can't understand it this message of salvation, why Jesus had to die in myplace, I don't understand any of it. I will lose friends if I repent and accept Jesus as my savior. What have you got to lose by accepting Christ? By not accepting Him you will lose everything and you will spend eternity in an unspeakable place, a place of unimaginable torment. Return to Him today, don't put it off any longer. Return to the God of your childhood, return to the God of your fathers, return to church where you have the fellowship of others, others just like you ...sinners who have been saved by the grace of Almighty God.If you are having a hard time believing then pray like the man in Mark 9:24 who said, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. That quote from the King James translation. In a more modern language version it reads, "" I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief." Ask Him to reveal Himself to you today and He will; invite Him into your heart today.

Wisdom and faith supernatural go togethers

1 Cor. 5:17 states, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." It is talking about the resurrection which every child of God will experience some day. That is the grander theme. However, I see in this passage a principle that we can use to apply to everyday life situations; situations in which we have come to the end of our proverbial rope and there does not seem to be a light at the end of our particular tunnel, it is then that we have to believe God and trust Him and walk in faith, not what we see. The problem many times is in knowing what to do, how to act in a given situation. And that is when we need wisdom and we need the knowledge about the situation, however, there are times when we mut make choices without any knowledge. That's where we have to depend upon the LORD, by His Holy Spirit to come to our side and give us His wisdom. That is why we need to believe God without doubting.

Unwavering faith produces wisdom

. James, that old prayer warrior pastor of the first church of Jerusalem so tradition or church history or both tell us, was asking God for wisdom one day and God said something like, "James, if you want wisdom, you will find it on your knees." (It was said of James that his knees were like camels knees, he spent so much time on them) James said it like this, " If any of you lack wisdom , let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." So wisdom comes by asking God, whether you are on your knees or sitting down or standing, it doesn't matter but what does matter is faith, faith is the key. The write of Hebrews said "without faith it is impossible to please God," in fact he says that he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." James carries it a step further and says. "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts, is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind for let not that man think that he will reeive anything from the Lord.. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. God has promised us wisdom....in the time of trouble, and as we shall see a little later, in the time of temptation also. There is no reason to be fretfting and worrying and wondering if God will answer. He will, if we ask in unwavering faith. Peter writes concerning the trial of your faitt.h..that it is much more precious than gold that perishes.

Speaking of trouble

This may end this series of posts, we shall see, but speaking of trouble, the world is heading for the greatest time of trouble mankind has ever known. It is a time that is marked by many signs. You can read about it in all the gospel writings with the exception of John's gospel. However John later on recorded the entire event for us to read about in the book of Revrelation,; it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ The briefest of th gospel account is probably the account found in Mark's Gospel the 13th. chapter. The inspiration for today's blog comes out of Wednesday's "in the gap" meeting that our Pastor led...he was reading and expounding from this chapter. Verse 20 of this chapter gives you some idea of what will take place, "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days." It is the time referred to as the "Great Tribulation" and the world has never seen the like of it to date. So Jesus said, "Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. " vs.33 It is notable that nobody knows the day or the hour, and He is speaking here of His return


(backing up to verse 32) " "but OF THAT DAY AND HOUR NO ONE KNOWS, NOT EVEN THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN, NOR THE SON, BUT ONLY THE FATHER.



Which leads me to another point...if Jesus and the Father are one, as He told Phillip He was then how come the Father knows something that Jesus didn't? Jesus only used what He had learned as a man even though He was still GOD and one day He is going to come to this earth in a cloud and every eye IS GOING TO SEE HIM. That does not mean that every one will be ready,
this is speaking of the Second Coming of Christ which is a two part event. He will come back for His saints and then with His saints and that is when every eye will see Him. It is during this period that the world will experience the greatest trouble it has ever known. I suspect that there won't be much joy in those days. Jesus advice or perhaps I should say His instructions , are to "
" be on the watch...watch,watch, watch and pray." Do not allow anything to interfere with that...watch! Do not take your salvation for granted and do not forsake your first love...don't let it grow cold! Rejoice this morning and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near.

Having joy in trouble

Impossible, y ou might say and I would agree with you if it weren't for this verse in James 1 verse 2, "my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials." To have joy in trials and that means any trial...all kinds, requires great faith, more than just a mental assent, it requires faith like the grain of mustard seed, faith that will grow, unwavering faith like James talks about, faith that comes by hearing the Word of God and that includes reading it every day. It requires faith in a God Who is able to give joy in sorrow or whatever test may come your way. Just like the wisdom that Jeames talks about in verse 6, joy must be appropriated in the same way; "let him ask of God." Just as God will give you wisdom if you ask Him, God will also give joy and real joy does not depend on circumstance, it depends on God who never changes. Earthly, sensual, carnal joy(if there is such a thing ) depends on the circumstances at present It is transient, fleeting, a kind of happy feeling that only lasts while circumstance is in your favour. It is not real joy. That real joy only comes from God and it comes as we spend time in His presence. If you lack joy, perhaps you have never excperienced Jesus in your heart and life. You need to turn your life over to Him and He will give you joy and peace and happiness. A Spirit filled life should be a model of a joy filled life. Material blessings may bring a certain amount of contentment, if circumstances are just right, but they do not produce joy. Only Jesus can satisfy your soul. He will give you joy and peace like you have never known. Let Him come into your heart today, just ask Him and He will.

logic or faith?...

Faith versus logic; when you first look at what James is saying here in ch. 1 verse 2, it doesn't make sense, or so it would seem. After all what person in their right mind would actively seek out trouble. Any kind of trouble. After all you can have joy without trouble, in fact you can have your greatest joy when there isn't any trouble in your life...can't you? A trouble free life is a joyous life, isn't it? Andre Couch, a well known Gospel song writer (hope I spelled that name right) wrote a song a few years ago that says a lot about troubles and how we can learn from it. It goes something like this, "I've had many tears and sorrows, I've had questions for tomorrow, There's been times I've felt so all alone, But if I never had a problem, I'd never know that God could solve them, I'd never know what faith in God could do. THE CHORUS GOES ON TO SAY "THROUGH IT ALL ..I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God..." James, that man whom tradition says spent most of his waking hours on his knees in prayer knew what patience in times of testing and trials(trouble) was all about. After all he was the pastor of a church full of converts that were there because of persecution, many had fled Jerusalem because of it, in fact this letter that bears his name was written to those twelve tribes which had been scattered abroad. You can read it in his salutation in verse 1.
Read verses 3 & 4, "knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4/But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect(mature) and complete, lacking nothing." I don't like trouble, I do not look for troubke but there are times when it looks for me and I suspect it is the same for you. However there is a principle involved here and it is an exercise in faith that was commented on in the previous entry by one of my readers that pointed out that joy comes because we choose it. In other words we have to appropriate joy through faith...not logical you may think? But Biblical it is ..."count it all joy.

What to do when trouble comes

What do most of us do when trouble comes? Complain, right? We do not like our own little world to be disrupted. Both James and Paul went to the school of Jesus Whom according to Hebrews 12:2 looked forward to the greatest trouble a man, any man could ever face, and that would be crucifixion on a cross, and He looked forward to it anticipating the joy that awaited Him. I'm sure that's what prompted Paul to say in his writing to the church in Thessolinica to "rejoice evermore and "in everything give thanks".....everything, he says. Read it for yourself in 1 Thessalonians 5:16,18. Also ch.1 verses 2&3 from James. "Count it all joy" In other words...worship God when trouble comes. Paul says "rejoice, and again I say rejoice" and in another place he encourages us to rejoice evermore...There is never a reason why we cannot rejoice. Easy to say but not so easy to do...we don't rejoice because we have trouble but we do so in spite of the trouble. A Christian should have the joy of the Lord; Romans 14:17 says "For the kingdom of Heaven is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (NRSV) IT IS NOT EASY BUT WE NEED TO PRACTICE JOY AND APPROPRIATE IT THROUGH FAITH,

TROUBLE COMES TO EVERYONE

Godspattern


As sparks fly upward: JOB’s comforter, Eliphaz the Temanite said “ human beings are born to trouble as sparks fly upward. Have you ever watched a campfire?
If you have then you know that old Eliphaz was right…the sparks do fly upward, and there is a principle of physics for the reason that they do, but I shall not go there at this time. Suffice it to say that it is one of those God given laws of physics. What he is saying, Eliphaz that is, is that just as sure and just as certain as sparks flying upward, trouble comes to all of mankind. I think he is right in his statement but Eliphaz was wrong in attitude. Everything that Job’s comforters said was not always right just because it is in the Bible doesn’t mean that it was Gods Words. All to many times we say God said such and such, but it was Eliphaz in this case, not God. That is why it is so important to read the entire context. Especially the surrounding verses.
The problem with Eliphaz was firstly he had no compassion for Job’s plight, it was an I told you so attitude and the last thing that old Job needed at that particular juncture in his life was for some self righteous character who was supposed to be one of his best friends to tell him how wicked he had been and that he needed to repent because he deserved everything that he was getting. Maybe we are all born to have trouble but the good thing about it is that trouble comes to pass, it doesn’t come to stay and especially if you are a child of God you can claim the promises of God which includes this verse found in 1 Peter 5:7 which states“ Cast all your care on Him, that’s the King James Version , in the NRSV “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because H e cares for you.” Trouble may come…..but we have a God who cares and He will carry the burden if you will put all of your confidence in Him. The old hymn writer put it thusly “O,yes He cares, I know He cares, His heart is touched by my grief, When the days are weary, the long night’s dreary I know my Savior cares. I am glad that we have a Savior who cares.