The Treasure of Wisdom

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

The Bible speaks about wisdom as a treasure to be sought after. But from where? A popular spiritual guru offers her advice:

Our real power comes from knowing who we are . . . and that begins with looking inside ourselves in silence. I've always believed you really need no gurus, no leaders, no guides—just yourself. You have all your own best answers. What you're trying to find is already there. Be still and know it.

If I hear her correctly, the advice is, “Be still and know yourself.” How different that is to the Psalmist’s claim, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Are the answers to life deep within your own heart, as the guru contends, or deep within the heart of God, as the Psalmist proclaims? A prophet long ago said, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can know it" (Jeremiah 17:9). This prophet leaves no doubt in his answer; because of sin and our fallen nature, wisdom does not dwell within us. Rather, it must come from outside of us.

God has not abandoned us to go through life without wisdom and understanding. He has a provision for it. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him" (James 1:5). The Psalmist also tells us where we can find it. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105).

We live in a world of “darkness” and foolishly think we can discover light inside of us. May I suggest that you look to God. One apostle said it like this, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1st John 1:5).

When we seek Him with all our heart, we find Him, and in Him, we discover wisdom.

Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:2-6).

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

Joseph Scriven was a man who knew a great deal about suffering and loss. When a lifeless body was pulled from the dark waters of a lake near Dublin, Ireland, his world fell apart. It was his fiancée, the woman he was supposed to marry the following day.

Later, and still heartbroken, he decided to leave his hometown and family to move to Canada with the hopes of building a new life in a new land. It took some time, but he fell in love again. And as unlikely and unthinkable as it may sound, his new fiancée got pneumonia and died shortly before their wedding.

Sorrow upon sorrow, while carrying out the funeral plans, he received news from Ireland that his Mother was seriously ill. Since he had little money, he wasn’t able to return home to see her. He did the best he could by writing a poem for her, which he titled, Pray Without Ceasing. That poem wasn’t discovered until a friend was visiting Scriven shortly before his death. The neighbor asked him about the origin of the poem and Scriven humbly answered, “The Lord and I did it between us.”

After his death, which, coincidentally was by drowning, attorney and songwriter Charles Crozat Coverse set the poem Scriven had written to music. He renamed the poem, WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS.

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear,

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer.

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer,

In His arms He'll take and shield thee;

Thou wilt find a solace there.

If you are His disciple, you also have a friend in Jesus…in every circumstance of life, and forever!

Delight in the Word

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

One of the things that I appreciate about King David is his love for the word of the Lord. Christ followers would do well to do what he said and “delight in the Law of the Lord,” and to “meditate on it day and night.” Easier said than done, right?

One of our problems is that so many things clamor for our attention. From TV and radio, to computers and iPods, everything around us demands our attention. It’s hard to stop the stimuli and slow down our busy lives to “listen” to the words of our God—to “meditate on it day and night!”

God offers His blessing to those who keep His word close to their hearts, and who make Him the focus of their thoughts. Psalm 1 is a prime example. For those who “delight in the Law of the Lord, and meditate on it day and night,” here is what God has in store for them – They will be like “a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.” Not only that but, “whatever he does will prosper!”

Amazing! Spiritual strength awaits those who tune out other sights and sounds and make the Word a priority in their lives. You will see the blessings of God as you delight in His Word every day.

Follow the Bubbles

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

There are some things that are true whether we believe them or not, regardless of our perception. A friend of mine, a scuba diver, brought this truth home to me. He told me that it is easy to get disoriented, to lose all sense of direction while under water because it’s dark, and there is no sense of gravity “down there.” 

Once disoriented, a diver may convince himself that he is swimming up when he is actually swimming in the wrong direction, until he runs out of air and drowns. So the solution, he said, is to “always follow the bubbles. BUBBLES NEVER LIE!”

I sometimes think that our world is like a disoriented scuba diver. Disregarding the direction of the bubbles, they “swim” to their own perceptions of right and wrong—and all the while their oxygen tanks are nearing empty. 

Take the results of a Barna survey:

• 74% of Americans said it was OK to steal from rich people because they wouldn’t really miss it;
• 64% believe to OK to lie, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone;
• 93% say that they mostly decide moral issues based on their own opinion (follow their heart).

I’m of the opinion that God gave us His Word in order for us to have direction in life. Why? Because left to our own devices, we get disoriented. The Word of God acts like “bubbles” of a sort; it shows us the way up—the right way.

The world desperately needs direction because, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12). We can avoid these consequences if we “follow the bubbles and swim in the right direction.”

I Will Trust In You

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

I’m not saying I’m a tough guy who doesn't have fears, but in all honesty, it’s not easy for me to to admit that I have them. Why is it so difficult for some? Could it be that we think that the presence of fear somehow lessens the power of our faith?

That’s why I so appreciate the Bible. Reading it, I’ve learned that the Lord allows us to be honest about our fears and then helps us to work through them. There are many examples of that in His Word.

King David is one of them. When thinking of him, our thoughts are usually drawn to his great victories. We remember the times when, as a shepherd boy, he slew a lion and bear to protect his father’s flock, or the time he faced and defeated Goliath, or when he fought with his troops to defeat the enemies of his kingdom. He was a champion. But there is another side of David that is also revealed in the text—a fearful man/king. From time to time we get a glimpse of his heart, and like us, he struggled with fears, but they did not seem to hinder his faith. He demonstrated faith in the midst of his fears. But how?    

First, David made a conscious effort in prayer to admit that he was fearful. David understood that the Lord sees and knows all things about us. We can’t hide from the Lord, so why pretend He doesn’t already know how we feel—our fears?

Next, David chose to trust God with those very things. He acknowledged that God was able to help him through them all. He knew exactly whom he needed to turn to when fear seemed to overtake him. He said,

“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Psalm 56:3).