Wisdom Matters

We lost some of the potency of Timothy’s verse when we began to consume God’s word from electronic devices. I’m grateful for the ease that technology has provided because the internet helps us find a verse quickly and provides good study helps as well. That said, there is still something powerful about holding a leatherbound Bible, the entire word of God, in our hands. All Scripture, every word of...

It's easier to be a faithful friend to someone who has been that kind of friend to us. We often hear about our need to remain faithful to God, but Paul reminded the church in Corinth that God is faithful to us. Those words often get lost from 1 Corinthians 10:13 because we become more focused on the message about temptation. Maybe we should be focused on Paul’s phrase “God is faithful.” Consid...

January can seem to creep by at a snail’s pace. The days are short, but the weeks seem slow to pass. After the rush of the holiday season, slowing down and taking inventory is a good idea.  One of God’s most common attributes seems to be his tendency to move at a slower pace than we would choose. We pray, and if the answer is “wait,” we feel as if something is wrong. It's important to remember...

In the first century, darkness was feared. To be caught on the road after dark meant danger, especially when the moon and stars were obscured. The Apostle John wanted his readers to know the message God had given him to preach to others. God wanted his children to understand him as their pure light. The book of Revelation tells us that, in heaven, “night will be no more” (22:5). Imagine never need...

It’s impossible to go through life without fear. We are human, limited by our choices and the choices of others. Yet, God commands us to “fear not.” It seems like our nation, and every nation, is making the same mistakes of the past. If we know God’s word, it's normal to feel “dismayed” at times about the future. The prophet Isaiah had a lot to fear. He saw the direction Israel had chosen and...

If you had to list ten significant changes that have occurred in your lifetime, what would you say?  For most of us, choosing only ten would be difficult. Change marks each day, with one exception. The God we serve is unchanging. His character and his word remain consistent throughout every era of history. We worship the same God King David worshiped. We pray to the same God the Apostle Paul talke...

John 3:16 is probably the most quoted verse from the New Testament. It’s been said that the entire plan of God for his creation is summarized in that one verse. God has always wanted to spend eternity with us, so he did everything necessary to make our salvation possible. Everyone can inherit eternal life simply by choosing to receive what God has offered. Heaven is promised to each person who bel...

Many years ago, I designed a bookcase headboard I wanted for our bedroom. My dad used my drawing, made a plan, and built us that bed. My dad has been home in heaven for several years now and that bed is one of my favorite possessions. He took my drawing and created something I treasure from it. Every sunrise, storm, animal, and person has been uniquely crafted from the “understanding” of our infin...

How do we learn to love God?  Jesus answered that question in his Sermon on the Mount saying, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). At the end of each day we can ask ourselves, “When did I see God today? How did I enjoy, share, and respond to God’s unfathomable love?”  To fear the Lord is to thoughtfully consider our eternal God with the reverent love and honor we...

Welcome to Wisdom Matters, the chance to consider a verse or two from the Bible for the purpose of gaining God’s wisdom. Each short devotional will be a message from Scripture that you can apply to your daily life.  The goal of Bible study is to learn to think and live biblically. Our world has been transformed by the Internet in many wonderful ways, but the abundance of information can be a sourc...

We have come to the final day of the year, a year I hope you have filled with the wisdom of God. I hope you will continue to consume and embrace God’s words of wisdom each day.  New Year’s resolutions are going out of style. Very few resolutions are made with lasting resolve. Jesus would offer us a resolution that will never change, and a resolution he will make possible. This new year will hold i...

The angel told the shepherds that they brought “good news of great joy” and their news was for “all the people.”  The phrase good news is from the Greek word euangelion, meaning good news, good tidings, and the word gospel. When the angels told the shepherds they had come to bring “good news” of great joy, they used the same word Paul used in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for i...

Those verses from Paul’s letter to the Philippians should be memorized and understood by every Christian. We should hang them on our doorposts, post them on our cell phones, and quote them to the mirror every morning. It would change our lives and our witness if we lived with the overwhelming truth about Jesus’ sacrifice. Jesus was there when the world was created. Jesus lived in the glory and per...

Has someone repeatedly come to your mind these past few days? Was there something that happened this past month that you need to forgive or be forgiven for? Did you forget someone or something during the Christmas rush? It isn’t too late. Most of us have said something wrong to someone. Most of us have forgotten what we should have remembered. Most of us know people who are overly sensitive about...

A lot of people are relieved to see the season end. Most bars are open on Christmas Day because a lot of people are lonely and hope to find temporary anesthesia for their pain. Many people are stranded in airports and just want to get home. Christmas is not a celebration for some in our culture, and they are glad to end the hubbub of the holiday that only hurts their souls. Who needs to meet Jesus...

A lot of people enjoy their Christmas decorations all the way into the new year. I’m not one of those people. I’m notorious for being the first to pick up and put away all those Christmas decorations! My friends have commented on that because I’m also the one who enjoys Christmas more than most. But for me, when the people are gone, and the twenty-fifth is gone, so is the holiday. I love the simpl...

It’s Christmas Day. After weeks of planning and preparation, this is the day of celebration. But, at the end of the day, only one celebration is needed.  Every Christian can celebrate on this day: -“In the city of David a Savior” was born. He was and is “Christ the Lord.” -Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. -Jesus was born of a virgin because he was and is “the Son of God.” -Jesus was born a...

Jesus’ favorite way to refer to himself was as the “Son of Man.” The phrase occurs sixty-six times in the Synoptic Gospels and twelve times in the book of John. Why did Jesus refer to himself with that phrase? There are several answers to that question, but the most probable requires us to consider his audience, the Jewish people. The phrase is rooted in the Old Testament as simply referring to “s...

We look back at the first Christmas in Bethlehem through the lens of history. We see the birth of Jesus as God’s gift to the world (John 3:16). But we should not miss the truth of Matthew 1:21 either. Jesus came to save “his people” first. Matthew 1:19 describes Joseph as a “just man” who had decided to divorce Mary “quietly” when he learned she was pregnant. An angel of the Lord appeared to Josep...

The whole world measures time based on the birth of Christ. In many ways, the world became new again because of Jesus. Rome had spent many years and thousands of man-hours constructing a system of roads through the countries they conquered. The Roman roads were built to carry soldiers, chariots, and weapons of war. Those same roads were also used to carry the word of God throughout the land. Rome...

Most of us can quote John 3:16, but we don’t finish Jesus’ message to Nicodemus without verse 17. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Then Jesus told Nicodemus why he had come to save the world: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be sa...

The Christmas season offers so many opportunities to lift up our faith to a world that doesn’t understand it but at least appreciates our Christmas story. We can say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy holidays.” We can wish someone a “blessed day” instead of a “good day.” We can decorate our homes, send our cards, post on social media, and prioritize our time with the goal of celebrating Christ w...

Micah prophesied that the “ruler of Israel” would come from “Bethlehem Ephrathah.” Jesus, the King, was born quietly in a Bethlehem stable. He grew up in the home of a carpenter and lived his first thirty years in Nazareth as a tradesman.  Except for his visit to the temple at the age of twelve, we know very little about the “ruler of Israel.” He amazed the priests at the age of twelve, but who el...

The story behind the hymn “Silent Night” is a compelling picture for our Christmas season.  It was on a cold Christmas Eve in 1818 that an Austrian pastor, Joseph Franz Mohr, carried a poem he had written years before to his friend Franz Gruber. The Christmas Eve service was only hours away and a flood had destroyed the organ at the church. The pastor hoped his friend could put his poem to music t...

he kings from Persia were probably a very large group of travelers. The magi presented Jesus with three gifts, which is why tradition has whittled their number down to three. The story of the magi is only found in Matthew’s gospel because his audience was Jewish. This story was a link to Jewish history, and only they would have been able to see the connections. Matthew 2:1–12 tells the story. Thes...