Wisdom Matters

I used to teach second grade, which was the year we introduced story or word problems into the math curriculum. Let’s just say those lessons were not a favorite for my students or their teacher! They had to learn to read a few sentences and pick out the math equation to solve. I taught my second graders to look for the word sum in those questions. When they saw the word sum, they would know they s...

Paul told the church in Ephesus, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10–11a). It’s always been a challenge and a choice for God’s people to live according to his truth rather than our own.  God’s word is the wisdom and discernment we need to make our daily choices. Scripture is our armor, our personal protection against the ideas and...

My dad worked for IBM, and, as a young girl, I would occasionally visit his office. He always let us peek into the enormous room filled with giant machines that generated a lot of noise and heat. Dad said those machines were called “computers.” Today, the cell phone I carry in my purse has far more capacity for information than the entire room my dad showed me as a child.  We live in a culture flo...

Christians are children of the great “I Am.” Sometimes we need to step away from all the other titles, roles, and identities the world uses to define us. We are only those things for a time or a season. When God became your Father, you received your eternal identity. You were adopted into God’s family and you are his child, an heir to his kingdom. The New International Version translation of 1 Joh...

We spend our lives learning, evolving, and aging. Each decade brings change. History is fascinating because it reveals how people have adapted their lives and their thinking throughout centuries of changing times and technologies. God told Moses, “I am who I am.” The completeness of our eternal God is difficult for us to comprehend. We worship the same God Moses knew. God’s words to Moses are stil...

It's normal to assign God human attributes, but people are made in his image; God isn’t made in ours. “God is not man.” We misunderstand or limit God when we think of him with human standards. We don’t own the vocabulary needed to define the fullness of God. Human words and understanding will always fall short. We don’t compare ourselves with God because he is incomparable. God is not human, b...

Is there anything better than the first cup of your favorite coffee in the morning? Unless, of course, you don’t like coffee. Some people enjoy a green smoothie with lots of protein, kale, and fruit. I used to cringe when my parents enjoyed their order of fried liver. And we laugh at the funny faces a baby makes when first tasting real food. I remember trying coffee for the first time, thinking it...

We shield our eyes from the glare of the sun. The windshield protects the people riding in the car. We have redefined the word shield in modern days, but in ancient times a shield was a soldier’s most important defensive weapon. Proverbs 30:5 tells us that God and his word will be our shield, our most important defense in the world today. The key is knowing we must first take refuge in him. If the...

God is the only source of pure and complete forgiveness. Forgiveness is a rare and powerful gift from God. The key to receiving God’s forgiveness is found at the beginning of 1 John 1:9. The small word if can also be translated as when. Either way, the forgiveness of God is our gift that, like the gift of salvation, must be received. God wants to forgive us and wants to rid our lives of everything...

The angel told Mary that she, a virgin, would have a son and he would be the holy Son of God. The angel also told Mary that her elderly and barren relative, Elizabeth, would have a son too. Neither of those babies should have been possible, but both babies were born just as the angel foretold. Luke 1:37 is truth, but that truth can cause mixed feelings for most of us. On the one hand, we are overw...

People have always created gods, but only one God created people. Every generation has fashioned gods they wanted, but only one God should be wanted. There is no one holy like the Lord. There is no other god that compares. And the only God we need is the One who is able to be our rock, our solid and safe place of truth, where we can stand. The gods people create only have the power they are given....

People of every generation have placed their faith in God. Even the least faithful generation in history had a man named Noah. Faith in God extends back to the days when Adam and Eve walked with him in the Garden of Eden. Our God is the God of the ages, and there have always been people who knew him and worshiped him as God. Why then are there still people who don’t believe in God? He has kept his...

It would be hard to trust a financial adviser if you thought that person didn’t really like you. It would be difficult to take advice from someone you believed would do you harm. We expect a few people might make our lives difficult at times, but it’s hard on our faith when God allows us to suffer. One of the tallest hurdles we face with God is learning to trust him when our circumstances don’t fe...

All of us have made decisions we are proud of and others we regret. Sometimes even our best efforts fall short. One of the best lessons I ever learned about the nature of God was a study of his perfection. God’s perfection renders him incapable of error. He can’t make a mistake (although sloths, spiders, and slithery things might cause a few doubts). The psalmist wrote that all of God’s work is do...

The Apostle John is referred to as the “beloved” disciple. In many ways, he was the follower of Christ who most understood what it meant to love the Lord. One of the best pictures of John’s love for the Lord is seen at the foot of the cross. John was the only disciple with Christ that day. John is also the disciple Jesus chose to visit with the prophetic words of Revelation. John loved Jesus even...

Every human being experiences God through his creation. Paul said that no one has an excuse to walk through life ignoring the fact that there is a higher power at work in our world. Nature reveals the infinite greatness of God. Human nature is a consistent revelation that all people have limits. Everything created has a Creator. The most convinced atheist has seen God’s eternal power and divine na...

Every generation has marveled at a sunrise and sunset. Everyone has been startled by a loud clap of thunder. We pause to look at the beauty and wonder in nature because God created all of us with the desire to know him and his unfathomable greatness. There is a difference between the things people create and the things only God could create. God’s creation is infinite and beyond human ability. God...

From the beginning of time, people have worshiped Jehovah God, but there will never be a time when all people will choose to walk in his ways. Adam and Eve’s unbelieving son killed his brother, who had been faithful. Some of King David’s sons worshiped God and others did not. Judas betrayed Jesus, God’s one and only Son. God is perfect and his word proves true. Those who don’t understand or disagr...

The guards at Buckingham Palace stand watch regardless of weather, crowds, or other distractions. They are a picture of the word steadfast. James said that God’s children are blessed when they remain steadfast in their faith. Job’s faith wasn’t perfect, but it was steadfast. He endured loss, illness, grief, and abandonment, yet he remained faithful to his God. Job understood that God’s purpose is...

Have you ever been in a worship service when someone unexpected or important enters the room? It doesn’t take long for the buzz of the crowd to make everyone aware that a notable person is in their presence. We know from Scripture that “where two or three are gathered” in the name of Jesus, he has promised to be among them (Matthew 18:20). One of the most important moments of worship is to recogni...

The Apostle Paul lived his life and ministry knowing he had been miraculously saved by Christ. Paul had daily memories of living as the Pharisee people called “Saul of Tarsus.” He had done terrible things in God’s name. Later, God did amazing things through a man who understood the transformational power of complete forgiveness.  Saul of Tarsus was led by misguided passions that brought harm to Go...

Jesus wanted us to know how much we were loved by the God we worship. God cares about his children. Jesus was probably pointing to the many birds that, even today, fly above the Sea of Galilee. They didn’t have to work all day to have enough; they simply needed to focus on what God had already provided. Jesus pointed to the birds and reminded his disciples that God valued people more than the rest...

When making a tough decision, it’s important to find the choice that provides the peace of God. God’s peace is a strong indicator that his presence and favor are at work in your life. Most choices have more than one good answer so the key is knowing which answer is God’s. God’s peace defies explanation or understanding because it's a gracious gift more than the result of circumstances. We have...

The Apostle John knew Jesus well and knew he was God incarnate. Jesus wasn’t born in a stable. A body of flesh was born that Jesus chose to inhabit. There is a reason John’s gospel names Jesus “the Word.” Anytime there is a capital “W,” it means Jesus. Jesus existed at the beginning of time and “by him all things were created” (John 1:2–3). Jesus was with God when the world was created. Jesus is G...

The word holy means “set apart.” Christians are supposed to stand out and be different from others because we have been given the presence of Christ in our lives through his Holy Spirit. We have been changed or “born again.” We are called to be holy because the presence of Jesus in us makes us holy. Jesus taught us to be in the world, but not like the world. Paul said “we have the mind of Christ”...