Get The Wisdom Of God
Proverb 1:7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Pastor’s Blog: Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 2-1-12
Proverbs 1:1-7 read, “The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: 2 for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; 3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; 4 for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young— 5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance— 6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.”
Solomon, son of David and king of Israel, wrote Proverbs with wisdom from God. These proverbs are for the simple (untrained), the young, and even the wise. Those who take these proverbs to heart can gain wisdom, instruction (discipline), understanding, insight, prudence (discernment), knowledge, and discretion (good judgment). Everyone wants these things!
There is a big difference between wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge is knowing the facts. Our culture emphasizes knowing the facts. We get rewarded with how high a score we get on the college entrance exams and how much we can regurgitate the “facts.” We place a low value on wisdom. Why? It is because gaining wisdom takes an effort. It usually comes though some suffering or hardship. Often we need to go out of our way to get it. Wisdom is hard to document. It is hard to get a credential in wisdom and so we can not use it to bolster our resume. It does not seem beneficial to us.
But still we long for wisdom and absorb it through osmosis from the wrong sources. We try through reality TV, through secular music, through movies through friends. Traditional sources of wisdom, like our extended families are running dry, as our relationship with extended family disintegrate. We may not get it from our parents who are too busy seeking and securing their own happiness in this world. Before meeting Jesus I knew that I needed to get wisdom, but I did not know where to get it. I thought that “deep thinking and deep talking” at wild, drunken parties was the practice of wisdom. While in university I would go to the library and get the thick encyclopedia of quotations and famous saying and try to read on page a day. My soul was thirsting for wisdom, but I did know where to obtain it. I need Jesus Christ, the source of true wisdom.
Jesus has shown me true wisdom in the Bible and by his spirit and through giving me the proper perspective that is seeing the world from God’s point of view. But to obtain God’s wisdom requires right choices, constant surrender of our own fixed ideas and worldly desires, and putting into practice what we know is good and right. I am constantly tugged by the world to let go of the source of true wisdom and rely on myself. But when I do this I fail. I become near sighted and blind. I pray that God may help me to hold onto Jesus and his word and keep my heart in tune with the Spirit of God and the word of God. Then I can grow in wisdom and walk in wisdom and have something of value to share with the world.
Why do we want to be wise anyway? Before meeting Jesus I wanted to be wise in order to appear wise to others, so that others may think that I was a “cool guy”. I wanted to throw out a wise saying once and a while and astound people. I wanted wisdom in an attempt to glorify myself. How foolish I was (and still am sometimes.) The point of wisdom is to know and love God and to better love our neighbors. It is to overcome this world and live by faith. It is to be able to help and serve others. It is to help us grow in the image of God. Wisdom is given to us so that we can glorify God (reveal God) and grow the Kingdom of God in the hearts of a world lost in the darkness of false wisdom. That is the reason.
The starting point to receive knowledge and wisdom is to fear the Lord (9:10; 31:30). To fear God is the key to life and wisdom (Ecc 12:13; Isa 8:13; Lk 12:5). To fear God means to know that God is living, sovereign, and holy. To fear God is to respect God, knowing that he punishes the wicked and blesses the righteous who honor, seek, and humbly obey him.
This is the fact. If I am going to grow in wisdom I need to fear God. I need to let God have his rightful place in my heart and life. Then wisdom can grow in my heart. I am tired of relying on my own wisdom that gets me nowhere fast. I must depend on Jesus and having the right relationship with him. Some people say that you need to climb a mountain and talk to wise sage to get wisdom. In Christianity I come to mount Zion and learn from the wisest sage in the universe, Jesus.
The foolish despise wisdom and discipline and live as if there is no God. The 1984 NIV substitutes discipline for instruction. The Bible does not hold any punches towards those who refuse to come to God and gain his wisdom. From the Bible, it is just plain old foolishness. Why do people want to emulate the foolish? Why do we want to go to the foolish to adopt the world’s wisdom? Come to Jesus with humility and gain his wisdom.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Come To Jesus In Our Moments Of Desperation (Luke 8:40-44). Kevin’s Pastors blog 1-27-12
I hope this helps someone out there…..Verses 40-44, “Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,[a] but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped”
Jesus returned to a welcoming crowd that made way for a ruler to come to Jesus. This ruler prayed as a desperate father for his dying daughter. At the very same time, a desperate woman also made her way to Jesus with quiet determination and incognito. No one could help her either, but only Jesus. She believed a mere touch of his clothes would heal her. She believed holiness and God's power surrounded Jesus and would make her body clean.
I can see that both of these people had conditions that no human being could solve. They were both in desperate situations. What amazes me is that they came to Jesus for their solution. Too often we sit in our failures and our own desperation, thinking that there is nothing we can do or we feel sorry for ourselves or we simply wait for thing to go from bad to worse and we say, “Oh well, at least I still have my health and I am not in prison and I still have a roof over my heads.” When we think like this we are basically waiting for the end to come. Through this passage, I discover that we can come to Jesus Christ to be saved. We should not come to Jesus as a last resort but if we do, Jesus accepts this. Jesus is the creator God. (John 1:3) He can affect real positive change in our lives under any circumstance.
I have good health. I am not desperate materially. But I am in desperate need in several others ways. I need to have godly wisdom on how to relate to those close to me, my family. I need God’s wisdom and long suffering patience on how to deal with my kids growing independence. I am also helpless in being able to communicate the gospel and raise disciples among the young people of this generation. I also fall into despair and fatalism from time to time. These are areas where I feel helpless. But I don’t have to roll over and die. No…I can come to Jesus with faith. He always gives me a way out. He always shows me the most fruitful path. He gives me strength to do the right thing and the right thing is the route to change. Jesus can work a miracle in anyone’s life.
I hope this helps someone out there…..Verses 40-44, “Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,[a] but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped”
Jesus returned to a welcoming crowd that made way for a ruler to come to Jesus. This ruler prayed as a desperate father for his dying daughter. At the very same time, a desperate woman also made her way to Jesus with quiet determination and incognito. No one could help her either, but only Jesus. She believed a mere touch of his clothes would heal her. She believed holiness and God's power surrounded Jesus and would make her body clean.
I can see that both of these people had conditions that no human being could solve. They were both in desperate situations. What amazes me is that they came to Jesus for their solution. Too often we sit in our failures and our own desperation, thinking that there is nothing we can do or we feel sorry for ourselves or we simply wait for thing to go from bad to worse and we say, “Oh well, at least I still have my health and I am not in prison and I still have a roof over my heads.” When we think like this we are basically waiting for the end to come. Through this passage, I discover that we can come to Jesus Christ to be saved. We should not come to Jesus as a last resort but if we do, Jesus accepts this. Jesus is the creator God. (John 1:3) He can affect real positive change in our lives under any circumstance.
I have good health. I am not desperate materially. But I am in desperate need in several others ways. I need to have godly wisdom on how to relate to those close to me, my family. I need God’s wisdom and long suffering patience on how to deal with my kids growing independence. I am also helpless in being able to communicate the gospel and raise disciples among the young people of this generation. I also fall into despair and fatalism from time to time. These are areas where I feel helpless. But I don’t have to roll over and die. No…I can come to Jesus with faith. He always gives me a way out. He always shows me the most fruitful path. He gives me strength to do the right thing and the right thing is the route to change. Jesus can work a miracle in anyone’s life.
Jesus’ Parables And Having Ears To Hear
Luke 8:4-10 Key verse 8b, “…When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
Pastor’s blog: Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 1-23-12
Verses 8: 4-10 read, “While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’”
I thank God for Jesus’ wisdom in teaching in parables. It is the wisest way to preach the word of God. It is the best way to pack in lots and lots of spiritual truths that can be drawn upon by millions of people throughout their entire life times. Jesus also chooses situations in life that are recognizable to all people of all generations. For example all people of all generations know what it means to plant a seed. Parables also draw people to them. They are like a puzzle or a riddle that people want to solve. They are intriguing.
They are very interesting but the truth is stated by Jesus, “..Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” We need a spiritual ear to hear the word of God. We need an interested ear and an ear that is attuned to hearing and understanding spiritual things. It amazes me how people are eager to think about Buddhist teaching, for example, but they are so ready to dismiss Jesus’ teachings because they are convinced that there is nothing there. And yet Jesus’ teachings are shown to be the wisest and most powerful and profound teachings in history. Maybe Jesus’ teachings are not fashionable enough, or cool enough. Jesus’ teachings are life changing and have changed and are changing human history. They are as meaningful and profound and powerful now as they were 2,000 years ago. Why not be intrigued by them and investigate their meaning? I pray for ears that want to listen and are able to hear the word of God.
Luke 8:4-10 Key verse 8b, “…When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
Pastor’s blog: Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 1-23-12
Verses 8: 4-10 read, “While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” 9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’”
I thank God for Jesus’ wisdom in teaching in parables. It is the wisest way to preach the word of God. It is the best way to pack in lots and lots of spiritual truths that can be drawn upon by millions of people throughout their entire life times. Jesus also chooses situations in life that are recognizable to all people of all generations. For example all people of all generations know what it means to plant a seed. Parables also draw people to them. They are like a puzzle or a riddle that people want to solve. They are intriguing.
They are very interesting but the truth is stated by Jesus, “..Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” We need a spiritual ear to hear the word of God. We need an interested ear and an ear that is attuned to hearing and understanding spiritual things. It amazes me how people are eager to think about Buddhist teaching, for example, but they are so ready to dismiss Jesus’ teachings because they are convinced that there is nothing there. And yet Jesus’ teachings are shown to be the wisest and most powerful and profound teachings in history. Maybe Jesus’ teachings are not fashionable enough, or cool enough. Jesus’ teachings are life changing and have changed and are changing human history. They are as meaningful and profound and powerful now as they were 2,000 years ago. Why not be intrigued by them and investigate their meaning? I pray for ears that want to listen and are able to hear the word of God.
Supporting The Good News
Luke 8:2-3 Pastor’s Blog: Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 1-22-12
Verses 2-3 read, “and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”
The Twelve travelled with Jesus, as well as many women. It was unusual. It shows how much grace these women experienced through Jesus and how much they wanted to be with him and support his work. Mary Magdalene was one woman who was freed from the grip of Satan's power. Joanna took her stand despite the probable pressure from Herod's evil influence. Once forgiven and covered with Jesus' grace, these women gave their hearts and lives so that grace could come to many.
I can see that when we are touched by the grace of God, then we want to serve and participate in Jesus’ gospel ministry. It is a natural response to grace. I don’t understand when people who have received the grace of Jesus and don’t want to serve or get involved Jesus’ gospel ministry. It is unbiblical. We must give and serve, not just building up our own lives and futures. We must live for the glory of God and expand the territory of the kingdom of God. We must live to lift the name of Jesus, high and exalted. We must love serving others in Jesus’ name. I pray that all of our members may relish the idea of being included in the family of God and serving Jesus within the church.
As Christians we are in the family of God. Being in family is more than just receiving love and benefits and privileges. It also means responsibilities. In our family there is cleaning to do. There is laundry. There are dishes. There is taking care of the animals. There are a lot of responsibilities. We need to embrace these responsibilities, joyfully and willingly if we are to be part of Jesus’ team.
These women served. What does that mean? It means that they provided money to support the gospel ministry. They must have provided needed supplies, like food and doing even laundry. They might have even set up some of Jesus’ speaking engagements. To support gospel workers out of our own means, means sacrifice and service. It is not always glorious. Many times it is hard to do. But it is meaningful and joyful work when we do it for the Lord, while living in Christ. I pray that I may give my life to serve Jesus’ Gospel ministry out of my own means.
Luke 8:2-3 Pastor’s Blog: Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 1-22-12
Verses 2-3 read, “and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”
The Twelve travelled with Jesus, as well as many women. It was unusual. It shows how much grace these women experienced through Jesus and how much they wanted to be with him and support his work. Mary Magdalene was one woman who was freed from the grip of Satan's power. Joanna took her stand despite the probable pressure from Herod's evil influence. Once forgiven and covered with Jesus' grace, these women gave their hearts and lives so that grace could come to many.
I can see that when we are touched by the grace of God, then we want to serve and participate in Jesus’ gospel ministry. It is a natural response to grace. I don’t understand when people who have received the grace of Jesus and don’t want to serve or get involved Jesus’ gospel ministry. It is unbiblical. We must give and serve, not just building up our own lives and futures. We must live for the glory of God and expand the territory of the kingdom of God. We must live to lift the name of Jesus, high and exalted. We must love serving others in Jesus’ name. I pray that all of our members may relish the idea of being included in the family of God and serving Jesus within the church.
As Christians we are in the family of God. Being in family is more than just receiving love and benefits and privileges. It also means responsibilities. In our family there is cleaning to do. There is laundry. There are dishes. There is taking care of the animals. There are a lot of responsibilities. We need to embrace these responsibilities, joyfully and willingly if we are to be part of Jesus’ team.
These women served. What does that mean? It means that they provided money to support the gospel ministry. They must have provided needed supplies, like food and doing even laundry. They might have even set up some of Jesus’ speaking engagements. To support gospel workers out of our own means, means sacrifice and service. It is not always glorious. Many times it is hard to do. But it is meaningful and joyful work when we do it for the Lord, while living in Christ. I pray that I may give my life to serve Jesus’ Gospel ministry out of my own means.
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