Jesus, throughout His earthly stay spoke often of the coming dispensation which would ultimately put an end to the then current one. The parables of Matthew 13 hint the Apostles and all of mankind to what was coming. Not a time where mere moral precept would need constant explanation and exercise, but instead, coming was a battle between light and darkness. Jesus, the Light Himself, and Way, Truth and Life represents the Kingdom of heaven, Satan and His armies, the opposition. Jesus starts with a parable in Matthew 13 –“Behold, a sower went forth to sow; “””some seeds fell by the way side, Some fell upon stony places, some fell among thorns, other fell into good ground.” In explanation Jesus speaks to the Apostles only, “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in…
Tag: <span>wisdom</span>
Fishermen wade smack-dab into the water where fish swim, as a blue heron readies for it’s own breakfast, lunch or dinner. Why do they go in the water as opposed to fishing from the shore? Here are some answers: “…wearing waders permits me to fish down stream and positioning my lures in the spot that is only possible while being in the water.” “…helps me to avoid the many snags such as branches and tree trunks that are commonly found on the banks of many water ways.” “…With waders on I am able to go upstream 100 meters or so from the group and get the big ones all by myself. ” outdoors.stackexchange As Jesus promises to make us “Fishers of men,” in Mark 1:18, maybe lessons from fish anglers apply. The Pulpit commentary remarks, “It is plain that, in the pursuit of his calling, the fisherman has no power to…
South Africa has the deepest hard rock gold mine up to 12800 feet underground. At such depths the heat is unbearable for humans, and air conditioning is required for the safety of the workers. Wikipedia On average it takes 10-20 years before a gold mine is even ready to produce material that can be refined. Long before any gold can be extracted, significant exploration and development needs to take place, both to determine as accurately as possible, the size of the deposit as well as how to extract and process the ore efficiently, safely and responsibly. www.gold.org.n.d. What can we learn? “It may be hard, dark or hot, but we clever humans have ciphered grabbing and stacking gold and gems. Grabbing wisdom tells a different story and we faint while getting it, because wisdom shows itself a “different animal.” We fail wisdom mining even though time money and great sacrifice…
I’ve Dedicated 15 years of my adult life trying to discover “what makes us tick,” So what have I learned? God may remove a beautiful face to fix the ugly “inner” face of a man or woman. A person is wholly who they are on the inside — a person with inward beauty far exceeds one with merely a veneer. The outer face remains important — Largely to break ice with those mesmerized by the shine of cosmetic disguise. The goal of gaining audience (breaking ice), is to eventually get inside them and let God go to work. God knows how to do the surgery, since He knows the end from the beginning– It may take years. Afterward, the outer prettiness means so much less to them. That’s all? No, there’s more: God gives allowance to the loss of a child, to teach us how He felt about the…
Martha received him into her house. Sister, Mary, sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. Martha was dragged about with much serving. Martha said, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.” Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and disturbed about many things (needy). But one thing will supply the need: Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10:37- Sisters fighting? No, pictured are 2 kingdoms at war. A highly motivated agenda vs. A highly relaxed “it is finished” positioning. Anxiety-fueled unsettledness vs. rest-filled right-mindedness. Disturbed resentment vs prioritized excellence. slavish pose vs friendly exchange superficial honoring vs. heart honor Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,…
“Knowledge is flour, but wisdom is bread.” Austin O’Malley. “Like water in the desert is wisdom to the soul. Wisdom is a treasure, the key whereof is never lost.” Edward Counsel. “Necessity teaches wisdom, while prosperity makes fools.” Wellins Calcott. “Ever learning, yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth”; “knowledge puffs up but love builds up.” Knowledge is a subtle friend and foe; as a means to an end, friend — as an end in itself, foe. Knowledge is money for the purchase of wisdom; the principle thing. Wisdom builds a house, wins souls. It is collecting, earning, gaining, and securing. It gathers by attraction; it draws, inspires, encourages, and breathes life into others. It is efficacious; more than alive, it is life giving. Now, which do we want? Wisdom delights in the sons of men, Proverbs 8. It rejoices where people live, it accompanies God Himself as…
Downtown Budapest John the Baptist was a burning and shining light. What qualified him? Perhaps 2 Cor 4:6 helps “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” The light of the knowledge of the glory of God? — Light of knowledge? — Of glory? — Of God? — God’s glory’s knowledge? — “Gnosis”, “doxa” in the face of Jesus? — John reflected Jesus’ face of knowledge of the glory of God. How can a person be a shining light? If he or she leads many to righteousness, they will shine like the stars in the firmament says Daniel 10. Ecc 8:1 points out; “Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to…
If a shower of drops on our yard can represent an infiltration of falsehood into our sphere of God’s Reality, we have a picture. The sometimes flood can be overwhelming, and feelings of compromise project their self. They threaten to do a decisive final slaying of that reality. The thought of evil then seems to outweigh the good, pressing us towards its identity. Eventually, assuage and pressure-release pose themselves in the most attractive way; toward giving in. Well, we have weapons, extra- fleshy, spiritual, and powerful. One of these is the strengthening unto patience and long suffering with joy, in Colossians 1:11. The God-endowed ability to stand still, wait, and delay our impulsing emotions, looms mighty. Moses did it at the Red Sea, Nehemiah on the wall; both saw “joy” as a critical war devise, and too, the authority that comes from meekness; two supernaturals. How do we get these endowments? Well, having done all, we stand, Ephesians 6:13. What…
Storage bins: they hold stuff. They serve best when dry, unbroken. Where many accumulate, markings identify each…maybe they are color-coded or tagged. These bins survive in protected cargo space. I worked a small warehouse once, primarily because I lacked production side skills. My job was to label and categorize things previously “hit and miss.” In my case, this meant putting steel with steel, or copper with copper. Sometimes I put red with reds, and yellow with yellows. I took boxes of arbitrary screws or nails and sorted them, marked them, and placed them in individual jars on shelves. I threw out a lot of useless junk. Indexing and making things readily accessible to the production engineers started saving time on their projects. I so enjoyed the job. An outside business evaluater complimented my work, and encouraged me about how vital it was to the company. Nevertheless, she said, most employers…