Welcome to my world. Hoping you find courage and inspiration here. We each can be each other's armourbearer. Together we are Strong, Stronger and Strongest. We are all better together. Together we win.
Welcome to our Book Club. So glad to have you join us.
We are reading our Sixth Featured Book, "The Good Life," by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz. Last week with did an introduction to the book. Today we start with Chapter One: "What Makes a Good Life?" This Chapter will take several sessions to get through. We are not in a hurry. We are going to allow ourselves to soak it all in.
So, get yourself a seat, tighten your belt, and let us take flight.
Welcome to The Upper Room. So glad to have you join us.
"Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever."
“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old." [Proverbs 8:22] In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth with wisdom as His master craftsman and director of the work. [Proverbs 8:30] God came upon the dark and wicked state of the earth. And wisdom began to fathom all that could come out of the hopeless situation. Wisdom hoped against hope.
Ever been there? A state of hopelessness and utter darkness, where tomorrow seems impossible. Even though it might not appear so today, but "Been there, done that." Wisdom came and rescued me from the mental sickness. And it will do the same for you today. It will calm down your nerve, declaring, "Peace, be still." That is the environment where wisdom does its best work. Peace. Stillness.
"For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not." (Isaiah 30:15) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of Wisdom. [Proverbs 9:10] Wisdom calms the ragging sea of doubt and brings us to a place of rest in belief.
The last time I fell into depression it was because of an incidence which made me question Hebrews 13:5-6:
"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear. What can man do to me?”"
How could this incident have befallen me and this scripture be true? I asked. Well, it was a asking which I struggled with for two (2) full years. I found no wisdom above The Word of God, no matter how much I tried. I was stuck for as long as I did not submit to the truth of His Word. My joy and happiness were gone. God still blessed others through me, regardless. I just did not keep the soak.
I came to my senses when I finally realized God was waiting on me, not me waiting on Him. He had nothing else to offer me other than His word. He has already done His part. The next move was mine. The next move was mine to be still and rightly appropriate His person and His Word. It was to believe God and render everyone else and thing a liar. That I finally did and the rest is history.
We see this in creation in God's response to "The earth without form, and void; and darkness on the face of the deep." God still, quiet, and confident. He did not allow the situation have the better of Him. Nope. He rose above the circumstance and situation. And, contemplated what to do about it. He responded, not react. When He was done with His plan, He began to execute. That is what wisdom does.
Welcome to The Upper Room. So glad to have you join us.
We continue with our meditations in The Book of Daniel, as we dig into verse 3 of Chapter 12. It reads,
"Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever."
Proverbs 8:22 tells us, “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old." Wisdom is visible in all of creation. It was established from everlasting, before there was ever an earth. Wisdom was with God as a master craftsman. It is seen in the beauty and intricate details of creation. It is God's daily delight. When we work in wisdom we delight God. [Proverbs 8:30]
To delight God is to work in wisdom. Is that what Enoch did? He had a testimony that he pleased God. [Hebrews 11:5] Wisdom is walking with God. When we walk with God, we delight and please Him. Blessed and happy are those who walk in the ways of wisdom. That is, those who hear and heed its instructions. To find wisdom is to find life and obtain favor from the LORD.
That was how Daniel obtained favor and goodwill from God. [Daniel 1:9] He had set his heart apart to walk circumspectly. [Daniel 1:8] And, God rewarded the set of his heart. What is the set of your heart? Is it set to walk in wisdom, or by chance? You will never get to please God by chance. Chance is what makes the water path crooked, just like the hearts of those who live by it.
Wisdom makes preparation. It leaves nothing to chance. It knows life only gives that which you prepare and make space for. God loves those who make preparations for Him. To prepare is to sanctify - separate for a higher use. That is how we draw near to God. [James 4:8] To draw near to Him, we have to draw away from the things that offend and pollute. We sanctify ourselves for a higher purpose.
Enoch and Daniel made room for God. They aligned with wisdom. They delighted themselves in God to delight God. And, God in return delighted Himself in them, for they pleased Him. The sacrifice of their lives were acceptable before God. [Romans 12:1] Are you making room for God? Are you aligning with wisdom? Are you offering your reasonable service?
Welcome to our Book Club. So glad to have you join us.
We are starting with our Sixth Featured Book, "The Good Life," by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, today. We finished with the Summary of our Fifth Featured Book last Sunday. The Book as a whole was a true blessing. Look forward to an even greater blessing from our Sixth Book. Why shouldn't we? We are expecting to keep getting better.
So, get yourself a seat, tighten your belt, and let us take flight.
Welcome to The Upper Room. So glad to have you join us.
We continue with our meditations in The Book of Daniel, as we dig into verse 3 of Chapter 12. It reads,
"Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever."
So, who is wisdom? Strange question to you? Not to Scriptures? Proverbs 8 starts by letting us know, "Wisdom is not shy, quiet, nor hides herself. She is an evangelist. She has good news and is undeterred in making it known to whosoever cares to listen." It turns to the simple with a seeming simple message, "Give thought to your way. Things are not as they seem to appear. Shine your eyes and see clearly."
Wisdom is better than all the treasures of this life. Be it gold, silver, rubies, and or any other thing a person might desire. They all fade in the face of wisdom. Seek wisdom and everything else will be added unto you. [ref. Matthew 6:33] That was what Solomon did. [2 Chronicles 1:11-12; 1 Kings 3:11-13] He chose wisdom, and wisdom chose him.
Truly wisdom is the principal thing. [Proverbs 4:7] If you can get wisdom, you can get all things. Jesus is right. And always will be. He is the truth, the way, and the life. Wisdom is the truth, the way, and the life. Wisdom is the choice of life. There is no other way higher. There is no other way better. There is no other way. There is no wisdom above wisdom.
Wisdom prioritizes knowledge, thoughtfulness, and judgement. It is not a slave to feelings, opinions, mere instincts, or thoughtlessness. It bears responsibility and wears the shoes. Wisdom is not cheap, nor does it carry itself as such. It knows its value and only offers itself to those who know and appreciate its worth. It will not give itself to dogs, nor pigs. [Matthew 7:6]
Welcome to The Upper Room. So glad to have you join us.
We continue with our meditations in The Book of Daniel, as we dig into verse 3 of Chapter 12. It reads,
"Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever."
The dictionary defines wisdom as,
"the ability or result of an ability to think and act utilizing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight. accumulated knowledge, erudition, or enlightenment."
Two important words stand out here. They are "thinking" and "doing" (taking action based on thought, erudition). Wisdom is not just the ability to think, but the addition of action to the thinking process. And in the thinking is included a feedback system to examine past doing, with the aim of never-ending improvement.
Yes, not everyone thinks. Most have submitted their right to think to others, who have thus overcome and dominated them. They are lawful captives, and thus less human, but mere Zombies. People who are dead before their actual grave day. Is this not what the world's system tries to do to us all? It seeks to hold us captive to the Herd (Mob) Mentality by criminalizing the freedom of thought.
Isn't it worse when you find this same force in the Church of the Living God? The House of Truth? We have bought into the wrong spirit. In our supposed attempt to help God, we have turned His house into a cult. And what does that do to our glory? It fades it. It might not make sense to us, but free agency was given by God, not the devil. People might abuse it. That does not erase its source, importance, and power.
There is yet a good number who go the distance of thinking but refuse to dare to add action to their thinking. They are thus no better than the first group. They have thus been conquered by fear. I use to belong to this second grouping. As an introvert (which a lot of people refuse to believe that I am. In fact, one of my "aburos" said "I am an E-X-T-R-O-V-E-R-T in CAPS) I am a deep thinker.
I think through and don't forget easily. I can easily link what happened 10 years ago to what is presently happening. My hitherto handicap, like this second grouping, was acting on the conclusions of my thought. That had been a different beast altogether. I was plagued by the weakness of my personality - second guessing.
Thank God for deliverance. I am shedding the feathers of second-guessing. One of the scriptures which have helped in this awakening include Revelations 21:8. It reads,
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
