Wisdom to Spare

Posted on by
Reply

Intelligence has a dark side.  The mad scientist, the evil tyrant, the devious-but-brainy bad guys that our favorite super heroes destroy – these illustrate the fact that intellectual abilty can be used for wicked purposes. 

The ability to put whatever knowledge we have to good use is known in the Bible as wisdom.  It’s an acquired skill – the capacity to live life well.  Wisdom helps people stay happily married and to do OK financially.  It helps us raise our children in such a way that they appreciate us more and more as they get older.  Wisdom finds the solution to unexpected problems and makes us a blessing to our friends – and even our enemies when needed. 

Wisdom begins with the fear of God:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
                                               – Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV)

That’s where it starts, but it can’t end there.  Life is just complicated enough that we often need more wisdom than we ever figured.  So how do we get all we need?  We pray for it, ask God for it, and feel free to keep asking.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”   – James 1:5 (NKJV)

And we can know God’s wisdom as we get it, because it tends to look like this:

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”  – James 3:17 (NKJV)

To Die For

Posted on by
2

There is no doubt that Absalom deserved to die.  He gained the allegiance of the people through his good looks and smooth talk.  Once he had an adequate following, he orchestrated a violent takeover of the throne, sending the king and his closest followers running for their lives.  In a creative combination of insult and injury, he then systematically raped each concubine in the harem, doing so in a tent pitched atop the house so that all Israel could see what he was up to.  No government would willingly tolerate such shenanigans.

Still, King David was Absalom’s father.  A clear view of character or justice was lacking in this case.  Love had something to do with it.  So, when David heard that his son had been killed in battle, caring nothing for the fact that his own army and he himself were the ones under attack, the king responded with the sorrow of a parent rather than the sobriety of a king:

Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went, he said thus: ‘O my son Absalom-my son, my son Absalom-if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!'”  – 2 Samuel 18:33 (NKJV)

“If only I had died in your place.”  Absalom, despite his glaring guilt, was precious enough in David’s eyes to die for.  And such is the love of God for you and me.  Forget getting what you deserve.  The Father and the Son both look upon you with a love that says you’re to die for.

David’s love couldn’t help Absalom –

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  – Romans 5:8-9 (NKJV)

Palmer St. Podcast: Luke 24

Posted on by
Reply

This week we’ll finish the Gospel of Luke, reading his last chapter, and getting his take on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

We’ll see the women visiting the empty tomb, finding angels instead of a dead body.  Jesus will appear again in Jerusalem and commission His followers to take a message of repentance and forgiveness to all nations.  Finally, He will lead them out to the Mt. of Olives and be carried up into heaven.  “See You later, Jesus!”

Listen: Luke24.mp3

Read: Luke 24.pdf

One Good Bible Study

Posted on by
Reply

These guys were discouraged.  Life had suddenly become gloomier than it had ever been.  The man they took for the Messiah had just died a gruesome death.  Now what?

They were confused.  Some women they knew said the body of Jesus was gone and claimed to see angels who said He was alive.  Alive.  What?  This was all going to take some time to process.

What they didn’t realise was that they were walking and talking with the risen Jesus at that very moment. 

Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”  – Luke 24:25-27 (NKJV)

Too often the Lord gets my attention the same way: “O foolish one!” (literally, “without mind, without sense”) In this case, He kept their attention for a long time – and the students took it all in.  Later, they recalled it:

And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?'”- Luke 24:32 (NKJV)

No question, that was the best Bible study we all ever missed.  Still, there’s one more thing Jesus said that we should all probably take more seriously. 

These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” – John 14:25-26 (NKJV)

May our hearts and minds be open to everything the Spirit desires to teach us.