Wisdom Matters

In Scripture, a “good tree” is one that bears fruit. According to Jeremiah, a “blessed tree” is one planted by water, protected from the challenges of this world, and that does not cease to bear fruit. The prophet Jeremiah points to a spiritual truth worth pondering: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”  It’s so important to read Jeremiah’s words from a first-centu...

I used to love to try a new roller coaster because it was impossible to know all the twists and turns ahead. Roller coasters are a fun diversion but not a place we can stay. They’ve stopped mid-ride, stranding the riders. No doubt, all of them were more than anxious to get off! Our spiritual lives can sometimes land us on a roller coaster. This world hands us situations we couldn’t have anticipate...

The peace of God is one of our most significant spiritual blessings. Lacking God’s peace is one of our most crucial spiritual warnings. Why is that? Paul told the Philippian church that the peace of God “surpasses all understanding.” God’s peace is unique and it is a gift. We don’t work for God’s peace; we ask for it. God’s peace isn’t found; it is received.  God’s peace is given for a reason. Acc...

I’ve often wondered why the Bible doesn’t tell us very much about heaven. We know it is a place where “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain” (Revelation 21:4). We know we will see the Lord “face to face.” We know that people will not be “male or female” and our ethnic differences won’t be an issue. We will never have darkness, sin, or Satan to contend with....

One of our most important spiritual blessings is the understanding that we can do nothing for God, but we can do anything through God. That’s a difficult statement to comprehend because we think from an earthly perspective. Our world is transactional. We pay a certain amount of money and expect to receive what we paid for. We work hard and expect to earn a paycheck. The ways of God are not transac...

Most of us could easily fill a page with the many ways God has poured his love into our earthly lives. Our blessings can be seen in the faces of family and friends and in the “stuff” we have been able to buy. We all get sick, but most of the time our health is a blessing. But we also know that every blessing we enjoy on earth is usually temporary. Our health, our finances, and our “stuff” will hav...

Scripture speaks of the blessings of wisdom, comparing the value of wisdom to the value of gold and silver. Wisdom is of the highest value because it is a pathway to God’s blessings. God’s wisdom enables us to live a life he is able to bless. If you found a buried treasure you were allowed to keep, you would feel both lucky and blessed. We have been given the most valuable treasure in God’s word....

Our culture has said that our Christian message is arrogant, narrow, and intolerant. People have pointed out the harm our faith has caused rather than accepting that a lack of faith is the source of the greatest harm. I’ve often said, “Our message requires us to live as the proof that God’s ways are best.” Proverbs 22:4 says, “The reward for humility and fear of the Lᴏʀᴅ is riches and honor and li...

Jesus taught us how to love God and one another. It was the most important focus of his teaching, which is why it’s the most important thing for us to focus on as well.  God’s priorities have not changed from the beginning of time. Eve was created for Adam so they could love one another. But they sinned when they loved themselves and each other more than they loved God. Every sin known to man is r...

Our evangelism pleases God when our evangelism is led by God’s Spirit. The final lesson Jesus taught his disciples before his ascension was a lesson of evangelism.  He began that lesson with this important point: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” When Jesus used the word all, he was telling his disciples that, apart from him, they have no authority at all. It is crucial...

Popular thought teaches that we are to take care of ourselves and put ourselves first. The truth is, everyone matters, and no one matters more than another unless someone needs to matter more in that moment. We cannot live our lives to please God unless we submit our lives to the God we want to please. We exist because of our heavenly Father, the one true God. We exist because of the work of Jesus...

Jesus was preaching to the crowds gathered at the Sea of Galilee. It has been said that every lesson Jesus taught can be traced back to his Sermon on the Mount. When we want our own lives to please God, we need simply to live the lessons Jesus taught that day. One of those lessons had to do with how we should value our possessions. “You cannot serve God and money” is a familiar and difficult truth...

Our plans may or may not please God. Our good ideas might not be God’s ideas. Our daily lives will only be pleasing to God if we walk through the day “obeying the voice of the Lᴏʀᴅ.” God has a voice. We have all seen the passages that begin with the words, “And God said.” How did they know it was God speaking? Should we be worried if we haven’t heard God’s voice ourselves? God has a voice, and he...

The book of Zephaniah is rarely the subject of sermons or even Bible studies. Zephaniah wrote to the Southern Tribes of Judah about the “Day of the Lord” and the judgment that day would bring. The Southern Tribes knew how and why God had judged the Northern Tribes yet had begun to think God would not judge them in those same ways. Zephaniah wrote his letter to tell them that God is fair, just, and...

One of the best indicators of a life or a church that is pleasing to God is the unity we have with our fellow believers. The first-century Christians whom Paul ministered to came from diverse backgrounds and cultures. They had very little in common outside of their faith. Yet, their faith drew them to share similar goals and values for their lives. They had been filled with the same Holy Spirit, a...

My mom used to keep a bowl of artificial fruit on the center of our table. The fruit never lost its color, aged, or spoiled. That fruit required minimal care to keep it looking fresh and real. It looked nice because it wasn’t real. It’s tempting to display our faith like a bowl of artificial fruit. A person can learn how to make their faith look more perfect than it really is. We can feel better a...

Per Oxford Languages, the word zealous means “showing great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.” When do the zealous please God? The answer: when the zealous pursue a right relationship with him as their King. God gave us his Son, Jesus, to “redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession.” The Holy God of the universe wanted us to be f...

Solomon became the king of Israel when he was just a young man, probably around the age of twenty. His father, King David, even with his wrong choices, was considered a great leader of the nation. When Solomon was to become king, he went to Gibeon, the most sacred place at that time. (The temple in Jerusalem had not yet been built). Solomon “loved the Lᴏʀᴅ” (1 Kings 3:3) and went to Gibeon to offe...

There was a time when families lived close to one another, worked together, knew one another, and knew they were to help one another through this life and until eternal life began.  One of the challenges with God’s word is that many of us in this world, especially in American culture, do not live as families lived in the days of Scripture. But Paul’s words to Timothy should still be relied on as s...

This verse needs to be “studied” and not just “read” as it is translated. A God who demands to be “feared” does not seem appealing to most people. When we are able to teach them that to “fear God” means to hold him in our hearts and minds with amazing awe, they can then understand why the psalmist said, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him.” Whenever we feel distanced from God or doubtfu...

One of the most pleasant sounds in this world is the laughter of a baby. It is the sound of “pure” joy. Every eye in the room will turn toward that child, looking to see and experience what has prompted his joy. Paul wrote Christian theology to the church in Rome. The book of Romans is one of the most important books every Christian should study to understand. In Romans 14, Paul wrote about the “k...

Ezekiel was among those in the Northern Tribes of Israel who were taken captive by the Assyrians. During those years of captivity, he was called to bring a prophetic message to those he lived among. It was likely not a message they wanted to hear or believe, but it was God’s message. God told Ezekiel to tell his Jewish kinsmen, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked tu...

We don’t often think of ourselves as children, but God does. In fact, compared to God, we are toddlers at best! The fact that we view ourselves with the knowledge of all we have been through, learned, or studied doesn’t erase the truth that God wants us to always see ourselves as children. Why is that? Children trust that their parents will care for them. Children trust that their parents love the...

Do you see yourself as a soldier in the Lord’s army? The old hymn calls Christian soldiers “onward, marching as to war” and allowing the “cross of Jesus” to be carried “before” us as our banner of identification. That hymn was composed in 1865, and the image of marching into war was keenly understood in that day.  When Paul wrote his final letter to his protégé, Timothy, he was likely writing from...

Our human natures tend to struggle just a bit with submission. Embedded in the word is a sense that someone else is better or more important and can do a better job leading our lives than we can ourselves. Actually, that is exactly what submission is for! We should consider submitting to God’s leadership a joy because we know his perfection can be trusted. Why then do we allow our human natures to...