“That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father and of Christ.” Col 2:2

As Christians we must understand the power of love and the use God has intended for it.  Love is the binding instrument to all knowledge, assurance and mystery of the Gospel that reconciles all things to Christ (Col 1:20). Just as an open wound leaves one exposed to outside infection, a heart that is damaged is susceptible to worldly infection and needs mending to ensure proper healing; love is the suture that seals an open heart that helps the healing and prevents outside infection.  Love is the bond between God and His children; and calls us to extend that love amongst each other; edifying not destroying, building up not tearing down, unifying not untying.  Not by mere outward profession, or by mere speculative faith; it’s meant to be a comfort for the hurting, knitted by affection and compassion, not with an infection and indifference.

Love, like medicine, takes time to work; it’s not a single act, but a daily prescription to be administered on our part.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.” Pro 25:28

Don’t allow spiritual victory go to your head or failures to your heart.  Each generates great swings in your feelings that can ignite pride or unworthiness.  Within life flows with a myriad of emotions that often control or even conquer your life…happiness, sadness; laughter, tears.  Seldom are these established in truth, but rather fuel for reaction. Emotions capture your thoughts often leading everywhere except in the right direction. When life requires a decision don’t allow your emotions a voice, instead align them with God’s word in order to guard your heart, and all that influences it, for everything flows out of it (Pro 4:23).  

“If what you feel and God’s word are two different things, you’re wrong.”

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts…” 1 Cor 4:5

C.S. Lewis states it the best: “forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiving the inexcusable in you.” When you judge, it only defines who you are.  We must understand that everyone has a past and everyone is afforded a future hope through Christ; judgment cast forth condemnation and shame, yet love offers hope and healing, you can’t do both. “It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and our job to love.”

Never look down on another, only God sits that high.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“But, God commandeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:8

It’s not about what you do, but why you do it…if your why is the reason for your what, then what you do really doesn’t matter, because whatever you do the value is in the why and not the what.  What Christ endured is not as valuable as why he did it; He’s why was the source that made what so great...He Loved Us!  He loved us first, that’s why he was willing to die for us; our salvation is because of His “WHY” not His “WHAT.”  God so loved the world, that’s why He gave His what.

“Let all you do be done in love.” 1 Cor 16:14

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” Gal 2:20

Out of suffering comes a prayerful mind; out of salvation a grateful heart; out of trials endurance and out of deliverance faith.  These spiritual characteristics (prayer, gratefulness, endurance and faith) are God’s instruments for the believer’s growth and are foundational to maturity in the Lord and our Christ likeness.  Christian character does not grow when things are easy…”be humble in your confidence yet courageous in your character.”

GOD LOVES YOU!

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” 2 Cor 1:3

Many look to God’s comfort as a means to removing their struggles and trials; if so people would simply turn to God desiring relief from pain and not out of love and dependence.  The promise of God’s comfort can also mean strength, encouragement, and hope to deal with your troubles.   Paul sent Timothy to establish and comfort the church concerning their faith (1 Thess 3:2); to establish means to ‘turn resolutely” in a certain direction, in the midst of their struggles, Timothy redirect them to the starting point of their faith, Christ. Your faith will always be tested at the end of your comfort zone, and it’s that strength that will determine you comfort in the Lord. A ship can find safety in the harbor, but that’s not what it was designed for; likewise our faith is limited in comfort. 

The bible may hurt in truth, but it will never comfort you with a lie.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.”  Heb 10:35

The value man sees in you is often based on past performance; God’s plan is not based on your past, but on His promises for your future.  David had no armor, no experience, he wasn’t battle-tested, nor was he trained.  But, what David did possess, as did Goliath, was confidence, but the difference was David relied on God and not his own strength or the opinions of others.  The answer to joy, strength and hope is to make them dependent on that which can never be taking away.  Such comes in knowing that which is behind you as well as that which is before you is little in comparison to who dwells within you. 

“Dusty bibles often lead to dirty lives.”

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.” Phl 1:9

The more we understand what Christ has done for us, the more we come to realize true love goes beyond an emotional attachment; it embodies the moral principles of the heart, verbalized by the tongue, and exemplified by action.  It’s not administered based on worthiness or Christ could not love you; but rather by judgment in grace knowing “love covers a multitude of sins” 2 Pt. 4:8.  Life’s not about doing great things, it’s about being faithful in the little things with great love (Lk 19:17).  The greatest quality you have to offer others is the ability for them to see the love of Christ in you; faith, hope and love…you know the greatest!

God uses rescued people to rescue people

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“…our flesh had no rest, were troubled on every side; Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” 2 Cor 7:5-6

In spite of Paul’s weariness and struggles, he found and saw Titus as a source of strength and encouragement in God.  God may not always give you the people you want, but He will send the people you need, to comfort you, strengthen you to be the person you’re meant to be in Christ. Simple thought, but do doctors encourage the healthy or do they work with those sick and in need of care? Yet, interesting how we often run from those who are sick or in need, fearful we’ll come down with their illness or maybe burdened ourselves in their struggles.  WE are called to comfort those who are troubled; by and with the same comfort and grace in which God has comforted us (2 Cor 1:3-4). We’re all different sinners in need of the same God; be faithful when others falter; loving when others are lonely; hopeful for those who are hopeless…when it comes to compassion, after all is said and done; make sure more is done than said.  

The power of Grace is the fact it meets you where you are, but want leave you where it found you!

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“…Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…” Mk 12:31

Do we realize this command alone would conquer so much of the hurting, hopeless and destructive nature in our society?  Data shows two thirds of Americans have smart-phones, 1.5 billion active Facebook accounts, 316 million Twitter accounts; 230 million on Tumblr and Pinterest has over 47 million users. We’ve become a narcissistic, selfie culture promoting our own interest and desires in hopes of painting an image of happiness. In actuality we are promoting a happier on-line life than we are truly living; like a 2-minute movie trailer which ends up being the only good part of the movie, it leads to loneliness, lower self-esteem and depression.  We’ve become self-promoters instead of God and neighbor lovers, blinding ourselves with the flash of our own cameras. Greg Laurie states this “selfie” society mindset is better summed up in a simpler word “SELF.”  “Love thy neighbor as THYSELF” is Christ call. If we had as much interest investing in others happiness as we did our own, both would find real worth and value in and through Christ.  We need a selfless society, not a selfie!

Love people not things, use things not people.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Brethern, if a man be overtaken in fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Gal 6:1

Are you a restorer or an accuser? We must be unwilling to look down on another unless we are attempting to lift them up; knowing the littlest of encouragement can be the single difference in one giving up or going on. The law of Christ calls us to bear one another’s burdens (vs 2); Paul shows us that faith expresses itself through our love for others (Gal 5:6).  Each one should use the gifts God’s granted them for the use of encouraging others as faithful stewards of His grace (1 Pt 4:10). We must not judge the lives and actions of others, it’s one thing to feel that you’re on the right path, but another to think yours is the only path to walk.

The greatest blessing in the world is being a blessing.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom 8:1

It matters not where you’ve been, but where you are; not what you’ve done, but what you’re doing; not what you where, but who you are! Would have, could have, should have is the language of condemnation and is quickened with the passivity of regret. This is a debilitating language; you can’t un-sin you can only repent. It’s the love of Christ that leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4), not the judgment of sin. The same finger which wrote the Ten Commandments, and wrote on the wall, also wrote in the dirt “neither do I condemn thee” (Jn 8:11). God’s too good to spend another day at war with yourself; fighting a fight that has already been won.

Satan knows your name and calls you by your sin; Jesus knows your sin and calls you by your name.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice, for I stand in doubt of you.” Gal 4:20

Paul painfully illustrates his patience with Christians as a mother re-birthing her child (vs 19).  Even though they understood and received their salvation from the beginning, they now had to renew (rebirth) their zeal which had fallen away by their own doing (vs 15a).  Paul, standing in doubt; which is rendered in the Latin as “I am confounded by you” is perplexed causing him to reestablish their view of Christ’s goodness.  IT IS perplexing for a new Christian having been delivered from a pagan world, to being placed into an apostate one. Christianity cannot be lived standing on a line between giving up or seeing how much you can stand; if it is truth, which it is, it has to be lived in infinite proportion…it cannot not be of moderation. Stop leaving and Christ will get you where He wants you; Stop searching and you’ll find what He has for you; Stop running and you’ll be found.    

“Before we can see what the cross has done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.”

HSAY…Todd

Wisdom Wealth

“But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” Gal 4:9

Adoption is a conscience act to remove something from surrounding elements they cannot control or overcome. It’s this act of adoption in which Christ removed you from the elements of this world, redeeming you from the bondage that makes you a servant to this world, to becoming a child of the king (vs 5). How sad for a puppy to be adopted from the bondage of a shelter, being nurtured and loved; offered provisions and shelter; healed and restored, to only escape and return to the shelter? By way of God’s adoption, He has freed you from anything bringing you into bondage, unless you return to it! Too many find more comfort in the familiarity of their fears and pain than in the unknown freedom God calls them to. The Israelites murmured, desiring to return to their bondage in Egypt, than to face the unknown freedom God was offering them. Be cautious not to work so hard trying to fit into a world you were adopted out of to be set apart (2 Cor 6:17).

That which you submit yourself to is that which bounds you, but the word of God is not bound (2 Tim 2:9)

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace…” Heb 12-28

In spite of living in a crumbling world soon to end, God promises an eternal kingdom that cannot be moved. The scriptures call us to an enduring faith to withstand the shaking, sifting and collapse taking place around us, by way of His grace; this is rendered in the original language “we have grace” as the assurance of God’s promise in which we can stand upon (Mt 7:24-27).  Endurance goes beyond the ability to bear struggles, but rather turn them into glory for Christ sake. Know that the hope you long for is derived by way of life trials and your ability to endure them (Rom 5:3-4). There are no shortcuts to endurance; you must find strength and assurance in the long route in God’s grace. Don’t pray for an easy life, it requires no strength, but pray for strength to endure the one you’re living. Endurance is patience concentrating on the promised kingdom.

Life can be like a new pair of shoes, hard and unforgiving, but endure it and they become of great use.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord…the people took of the spoil…” 1 Sam 15:20-21

You cannot boast in doing God’s pleasure when you still the ingredients to bake the cake.  Saul failed in two areas; while successful in killing the Amalekites, in doing so he went against God’s will by taking the spoils; second, he refused accountability and blamed others for his disobedience. Saul felt he did as directed by God, but in doing so he took what was not his in the process.  Saul used that which God had no interest in as a sacrificial worship to justify his own actions. It’s easier to bring a lamb to an altar, than to bring every high thought in subjection to God’s will (1 Cor 9:27). Don’t promote your spiritual immaturity by blaming others for your own actions; in doing so you greatly hinder your ability to exemplify Christ towards others.  The lack of accountability is nothing more than a fleshly mechanism utilized to justify one’s act of disobedience.

The moment you take accountability for everything in your life, is the moment anything can start changing in your life.

HSAY…Todd

“For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” Psa 107:9

This does not mean that God simply makes provision for the longing or desires of a man’s soul. As the Assyrians in Isa 29 “It shall even be” thirst to siege Jerusalem, they awoke as from a dream still faint; often man’s “longing” & “hunger” are in seeking selfish desires.  God himself longs to quench the soul of man with what is “good” not necessarily desirable. You’ve seen better days, but you’ve also seen worse; you don’t have all your wants, but you do have all your needs; you live some days with hurt, but you woke up; life is not perfect, but God has made it good. Its perspective, do you focus on what you want or on what you have in God?

It’s a human flaw to think one can change their perception without changing their perspective.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in the do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” Psa 143:8

 David seeks to hear God’s pleasure in him; overcoming a night of discouragement his hope is to awaken in the assurance of God’s love and enlightened to His will and direction for him. David was not seeking comfort in his walk, but wisdom in the right direction.  The only thing new with each morning is your opportunity to live in the love God which is never new, but everlasting. Declare each morning the praises of God (Psa 59:16), asking Him to enlighten your mind with truth; inflame your heart with His love; inspire your will with courage; enrich your life with faith and servitude; pardon what you’ve been; sanctify what you have. Don’t start your day picking up the broken pieces of yesterday, live in the promises God has for you today; He has a key for every problem, a light for every shadow, relief for every sorrow and a plan for the day!

You must learn to live in your promised hope, not out of your forgiven past

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them…” Mt 9:36

Compassion is what fuels the desire to see someone free from suffering. Instead of self-indulgence, cloth yourself in the garments God has laid out for you: mercy, kindness, humbleness, meekness and long-suffering (Col 3:12). This is Paul’s strategy for you to imitate Christ compassionate, forgiving character. The Lord is gracious and compassionate (Psa 145:8), when the Lord places compassion in your heart, He’s given you an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life, you must react in that love, don’t ignore it, someone desperately needs to see the love and compassion that Christ has already given you. The ugliest image to befall a man is one that lacks compassion for human life.  Never look down on someone unless you’re trying to help them up.

Live in such an abundance of love and compassion that you don’t have to worry about what you say, it will speak volumes!

HSAY…Todd

“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God…” 2 Cor 5:11

Are you a valid source for others to witness an unseen Christ; in this year alone how many encounters have occurred where others parted knowing you were a Christian?  Or, do you find yourself, unlike Paul, dissuading man with an indistinguishable image between you and Christ.  By manifesting ourselves in the image of Christ we are introducing an unseen Christ to a blind world.  Christ likeness is neither easy nor comfortable at times; it does not promise health, wealth or prosperity. Such things may be at risk, but the opportunity to manifest oneself in Christ gives imagery and vision to those who otherwise may never see the beauty of His love for their lives. Does your life reflect so much of you that Christ remains unseen by others around you or do others see Christ so clearly that you’re not a distraction to them?

Live as if you are the only source in which this world will see Christ through.

HSAY…Todd