Wisdom Matters

All of us have attended a funeral of someone who was a faithful friend, faithful co-worker, or faithful to their system of belief. We have also attended the funerals of Christians who didn’t live their lives by the admonitions of the Bible. John 14:6 is a difficult verse to understand and believe. We want to believe that God rewards faith, even if that faith is placed in a different god. We want t...

Every Easter we grieve the agony Jesus endured to pay for the sins of mankind. If God is all-powerful, couldn’t he have found another way? Every Easter I wonder, “Why God?” and then come to the same conclusion. I will never fully understand, but I know this: if it wasn’t necessary, God wouldn’t have allowed it. God created men and women to be “flesh and blood.” We were created to live in the perfe...

To those in the first century, walking in the darkness meant there was trouble. If they were forced to travel in the dark, they would have felt lost, vulnerable, and afraid. Jesus taught his disciples that he—his presence—gave light to the darkness in the world. Sometimes the darkness seems to have invaded our lives even though we belong to Christ. Those are good times to pause and consider the tr...

The prophet Isaiah wrote about the coming Messiah seven hundred years before Jesus was born. Most of the people of Israel had come to believe their Messiah would free them from Roman tyranny. They expected the Messiah to be an earthly king, who would help them become the leading nation of the world, like King David and his son, King Solomon had done during their reigns.. Isaiah had told them about...

If someone asked you, “What was the greatest gift you have ever received,” how would you answer? If we were sitting at a dinner table we might mention an engagement ring, a spouse, or healthy children. Most of us could name many gifts, but none compares to our gifts eternal. In many ways, our salvation was received as a “gift basket.” It was a one time gift with many things inside. Some items incl...

After God created the world, and everything in it, he rested. God had completed his creation, his plan for the world, and “it was good.” Jesus spoke from the cross saying, “It is finished,” and it was then that he gave up his Spirit to God. There is a beginning and an end to all things on earth, but in heaven, all things are eternal. The author of Hebrews was probably not speaking about heaven whe...

Jesus is still the same one Peter walked toward on the water. Jesus is the same one that Thomas reached out to touch. Jesus is still the one that sat with the woman at the well. Jesus is still the one that strode into the temple and turned over the tables of the money changers. Jesus is still the one who looked Pontius Pilate in the eyes. Jesus is still the one who confronted Saul of Tarsus on the...

Some of the men and women who lived in the first century were able to see Jesus and physically be in his presence. They didn’t know it at the time, but when they looked at Jesus, they were able to glimpse the glory of God. To witness God’s glory means to experience the magnificent, holy character of God. Moses spoke with God in Exodus 33 and asked God to show him his glory. God told Moses that whi...

Realizing that most people don’t believe the clear truth of 1 Corinthians 8:6 is both sobering and most people believe that all the world’s god’s should be tolerated, respected, or even valued. Most people value faith more than the object of that faith. And most people feel like valuing all gods is giving kindness and respect rather than keeping people from knowing the truth.  Tolerance would be a...

John 3:16 is the most quoted verse in all of the New Testament. The entire message of the gospel is found in the words, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 tells us why God sent Jesus into the world. Jesus came so that everyone could have the opportunity to believe and be saved.  It is John 3:17 th...

When the disciples looked at Jesus they were looking at the “whole fullness of deity” in human form. When Jesus put his hand on their shoulders, God was touching them. When Jesus listened to them, it was God hearing their words. When Jesus appeared to them after Pentecost, he was the risen deity reminding them that death had no power over their lives. Paul told the church, “you have been filled in...

There is nothing impure or imperfect in heaven, which is why everyone needs Jesus in order to enter heaven. We will never confess every sin we commit. We will never be fully right with God until we dwell with him in heaven. So the Lord provided a way for us to live on earth with as much freedom from our sins as possible. The Lord gave us the opportunity to bring our sins to him and lay them at his...

We can never fully understand what it was like for Jesus to leave the glory and perfection of heaven to be born as an infant in a small cave in Bethlehem. Had Jesus experienced physical pain before his birth? Were the sounds and smells of earth completely different from those in heaven? How did Jesus step from his throne in heaven to enter into the struggles of earth? Scripture says, “Jesus emptie...

Did you love others today as Jesus would have loved them? If we asked ourselves that question at the end of each day, how would our answer change things tomorrow? Maybe we would:  - Choose to spend more time with someone and less time with another. - Notice someone we might otherwise have walked past. - See a moment as an opportunity instead of an interruption. - Have the chance to share our faith...

No one wants to feel responsible for the suffering of Christ. Even though we know better, we still choose to think it was the fault of Judas, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. The Roman soldiers were the ones who beat him and nailed him to a cross, and they were following the commands of their leader. Real people accused, punished, and killed Jesus. It’s difficult to think about the death of Chris...

Our culture defines and categorizes people in many different ways. Christians are defined by Scripture as: “all one in Christ Jesus.” Heaven is impossible to define because we don’t own the needed vocabulary and we don’t have the ability to comprehend eternity. Yet one eternal distinction clearly made in Scripture applies to every human being today. Everyone you know is either one with Christ Jesu...

Jesus lived a sinless life, the life that God would wish for all of us. Yet, no one but Jesus could model a sinless life completely. Jesus died and was raised from the dead to model for us God’s provision for the redemption of every person. You and I can’t die without sin except through faith in Christ. When “we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord,” we are stating our belief in his sinless,...

Jesus modeled wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, but he also modeled suffering. Jesus told his disciples that we would be persecuted in this world just as he was. It isn’t a popular or comforting thought, but it is the truth of God’s word. Revelation 17 describes the attack on God’s people from the forces of the Evil One. The attacks will take many forms, but all unmistakably b...

“And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” —1 Corinthians 1:30 One of the best descriptions of Jesus is to see him as God, in human form. It is difficult to understand how Jesus could be fully God, yet fully man. Jesus is the only One in human history who will ever carry that distinction. When Jesus spoke, he spo...

Paul probably wrote his letter to the prosperous Roman colony of Philippi while under house arrest in Rome. He had intended to go to Rome, but not as a prisoner of the government. Yet, while under house arrest he wrote several letters that are now part of our Bibles. Paul had no idea that people would be reading his words to Philippi thousands of years later.  Paul had been a successful, acclaimed...

God doesn’t want to be our governor; he wants to be our King. God doesn’t ask his children to work for him from nine to five. He asks us to serve him 24/7. Why do God’s demands require our complete commitment?  The Sermon on the Mount was the foundation of truth for Christ’s entire ministry. It's found in Matthew 5–7. Jesus was preaching what it would mean for a child of God to walk in obedien...

When God spoke to the prophet Isaiah, he was really telling him, “Come, argue it out with me.” God would rather our words be real and our hearts honest when we come before him. He knows our struggles and when we struggle to believe. God is big enough for every doubt, every fear, and every disappointment.  God told the prophet to come to him and we will argue it out. It's easy for God to invite...

God judges our lives much differently than we judge others, even ourselves. In Psalm 139, the psalmist cries out to God because he has been misjudged and slandered by others. He doesn’t defend himself to his enemies. Instead, he goes to God and asks for God to judge his heart and his motives.  The fact the psalmist wants God to judge his heart is his best defense. He wants to know what God thinks...

The Apostle John is the only apostle believed to have lived a long life and died a natural death. By the time John wrote his letter that we know as 1 John, he had watched the Christian church grow, thrive, and weaken. The Christian church offered an audience that some outside the faith wanted to influence or serve for personal gain.  These outside speakers presented a message that appealed to many...

People are created in the image of God; therefore, we were created to “think.” So, it's important to remember that, apart from God’s Spirit, we aren’t able to think like God.   We are human beings, living in a fallen world. Many of our thoughts are formed from our own desires, opinions, and dreams. God’s thoughts are always formed from his perfection.  God is not capable of a wrong or selfish...