Daily Wisdom

“Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith ye stand.” 2 Cor 1:24

Nothing renders God’s promises more certain, nor does anything have dominion over the gift of Jesus. Paul hesitated in returning to Corinth and reoffering the same answer (Jesus) to a new problem; and wrote instead to encourage them that their need of joy started in Jesus (salvation) and will always remain in Him. What you began in faith and the joys that grow from it cannot be maintained in you, but only through Jesus (Gal 3:1).  Endurance is not a means, but a by-product of your faith through a devoted life. In Mt 10, Jesus foretold His followers they would have to endure persecutions, but their hope is eternal knowing they are heirs to His kingdom. Believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity on them. Nothing great was ever achieved without great enduring.

Faith in Jesus alone gets you to heaven; endurance helps you to find the joy in the journey.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.” 2 Cor 11:30

Catch the perspective Paul testifies to; his glory is in what God has done, not predicated on what He will do. Paul found his strength; testimony and glory in the numerous afflictions God had faithfully brought him through. This fueled his faith and witness for God and kept him encouraged for tomorrow knowing; God has the final say in all trials we face, just as Peter was delivered from the hands of Herod.  Christians are prone to focus on what they fear or want rather than what they have been given and delivered from. This creates a consumer Christianity mindset; as long as we are getting from God we find glory in God. Be cautious in letting your glory in the Lord to be based on what He’s going to do rather than what He has done. Rejoice “of” the things God has done, this is your testimony for others to see God’s goodness (faithfulness) to His children.  

Live (testify) in a way that allows others to see the goodness “OF” God in you!

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”  2 Cor 9:12

To a Christ faithful friend…

We have opportunity to impress people with our strengths.   But illustrating Christ-likeness in your weakness allows you to connect with them.  In your strengths you are prone to depend on the flesh, which is often unappealing; compared to your weaknesses where you are Christ dependant.   This draws you to Christ side, and that dependence is illustrated before man drawing them to you, and allowing you to be a blessing for God rather than being dependent on being blessed by God.  Where you are fallen, flawed and imperfect and your strength is no longer sufficient to carry you, you know you’re drenched by the grace of God through Christ; who is your sufficient strength.  But, obtaining God’s strength requires you to surrender your weakness, not fight through it.  The verse ends in a period stating a promise, don’t live it as a question mark.

El Shaddai: God Almighty, the all sufficient One!

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (Christ), because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings (gospel) unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”  Isa 61:1

This prophecy was fulfilled and recorded in (Lk 4:18); providing Restoration to the (brokenhearted), Liberation to those (captive), Redemption for the spiritually (bound); all through our Salvation (good tidings). Rom 8:5 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Christ overcame everything that would separate you from His love by interceding on your behalf to provide you comfort in Him and not the world (vs 2).  Christ calls for your trust in Him, not to control you, but deliver you from the contempt of this world. Don’t hesitate in taking Christ serious, He took you serious when He chose to die for you. He loves you and loved you when you were unlovable and couldn’t love yourself. Christ goes before you making the crooked places in life straight (Isa 45:2); reassuring His love never fails; His forgiveness never ends, so your hope never has to stop. You’re loved more than you know by someone who died to know you.

The love of Christ, don’t miss it for the world.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

PSALM 40:1-3… REST in the Lord and He will:

Respond,

   vs 1 “I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me and heard my cry.”

Establish, and

   vs 2 “He brought me up out of an horrible pit; set my feet and established my goings”

Supply a

   vs 3 “And hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto out God…”

Testimony…
   vs 3 “…many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.”

Christians fail often in getting their prayers answered because they fail to patiently wait (remain steadfast in Christ) on God’s timing. Your willingness to wait reveals the value you place on that which you’re waiting for. Keep in mind Joseph waited 13 yrs, Abraham 25 yrs, Moses 40 and Jesus waited 30; if God has you waiting you’re in good company. What God does in us while we wait in Him can be more important than what we are waiting for.

God’ timing is perfect; never early and never late. It takes a little patience and a lot of faith, but always worth the wait.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Lord, make me know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.” Psa 39: 4; 7

David clearly expresses life is short no matter how long life is, making what we choose to invest our time/life in of great importance. You can choose to invest your life in any manner you want, but you can only invest it once. David understood the mortality of life; he was not searching God for a date of his end. But, rather a desire to be more understanding and less focused on the external happiness around him and more focused on the eternal promises before him. By focusing on the eternality of God David acknowledges that, the help of man is altogether vanity as well; riches and honour are fading, perishing things.  It’s the promised glory of heaven, and the enjoyment of the Lord himself, both in this life and that which is promised, that causes him to proclaim “what wait I for? my hope is in thee” and making God the object of his hope and his investments of great importance. You can’t go back on life and start over, but you can start now and make a new ending.

You’ll never know who and what you are, until you know who and what Christ is.

HSAY…Todd   

Daily Wisdom

“And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all  hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” Acts 27:20

For the captors of Paul, and the other travelers, the storm they found themselves in shouldn’t have been a surprise, in vs 10 Paul warned them of such.  Man is prone to travel into un-required storms.  Becoming so dogmatic in his desires to get where he longs, he find himself fighting storms he sailed into by his own navigating. It says they saw neither sun nor stars for many days. Melancholy oftentimes is the condition of God’s children as to their spiritual direction, sailing into darkness having no light. Finding themselves desperately casting life overboard (vs 18) in essence, desperately attempting to change their course by fighting the physical with the physical, choosing to make shipwreck of their faith (obedience), rather than of their desires.

Set your direction by the light of Christ, not your desires and you’ll find smoother waters.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“She wearied herself with lies…” Ezekiel 24:12

Jerusalem (she) was destroyed (vss 1-14) by the delusion of their self-sufficiency; avoiding the need and direction of God for their lives. Mark Twain states: it’s easier to fool people, than to convince them they have been fooled. Such is the spiritual battle over man; satan fooling man and God trying to reach him.  A delusional mind is easy to build, but unstable and dangerous to live in (Jm 1:8).  The easiest person to lie to by creating the delusion you can self mange or orchestrate righteousness and goodness, is yourself. The delusion is based on the assumption of time, so far-so good in life; making the unmasking of the lie with the truth, the great challenge. Pro 24:14 “So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.”  The greatest destruction of man is the delusion of self-sufficiency; to know God and not need God, is an unknown God.

Remember, a beggar’s kingdom is greater than a proud man’s delusion.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.” Lk 24:6

When does a promise quit being a promise? It doesn’t, our faltering faith simply causes one to forget.  Mary Magdalene was delivered from seven demons by Jesus; overcame, by following Jesus, cultural challenges that are unprecedented compared to today, witnessed His ministry first hand and participated in it, yet was the first one to be perplexed by an empty tomb (vs 4).  On the promise of vs 7 (“must be crucified, and the third day rise again.”) should not have the disciples and Mary been sitting outside the tomb waiting for Christ to appear! IT’s NOT that Jesus want come through, it’s the fact you falter in your faith.  Faith is not speaking into existence what we want, but trusting in what He has promised and acting in it. Stand on His promises and your faith will stand in the storm. Never hold on to anything tighter than you hold on to the promises of God.

Faith comes alive when the word of God is approached with a right heart; not a knowledgeable head.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“…present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Rom 12:1-2

Life does not get better by chance, but by change. Yet, don’t expect another to change in ways you’re not willing to change yourself. Rare is the ability to change that around you, but you can always change what’s in you; understanding that your prayers for change are often accomplished by God changing your heart.  It’s in prayer, God’s word and living in His wisdom your thinking begins to change from seeing what is wrong about something to seeing what’s good in it; from focusing on what you don’t have to what you’ve been given; to seeing the love of Christ instead of hate in the world. God changes broken pieces into master pieces if you’re willing to allow Him.  

Faith in Christ does not change what you face, just how you face it.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.” Eph 3:13

Amazing, Like Christ prayer while on the cross “Father forgive them they know not what they do”, Paul’s prayer “faint not” was for the church, and not his own during his suffering.  Paul’s suffering of imprisonment was caused by him sharing the gospel, yet without his suffering Ephesus would not have heard the salvation message. Just as a mother endures the pain of childbirth in order to bring new life into the world, Paul endured the pain of persecution in order to bring new believers to Christ.  Never grow weary in facing tribulation to help others see the beauty of Christ.  The stars shine the brightest the darker it gets, grow weary and sleep you’ll miss the beauty.  The moment your ready to quit is often the moment right before the miracles occur, don’t faint!

Do you want to be churched or do want to be the church!

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Tim 3:16

God’s word is written to teach you, not appease you.  One strengthens you, while the other weakens you.  God called you to be sanctified, not satisfied in this world; meaning set apart for His purposes not your pleasures.  Stand in truth even if it requires you to stand alone; in doing so you’ll stand out allowing others to see the truth in you, which is your greatest testimony.

When you feel you’ve falling into a sea of affliction, rely on truth and you’ll find the pearls.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength…” Ecc 9:16

How one approaches God and His word determines ones response to it and by that will their strength be measured.  Strength isn’t measured by what a man can resist or push back against in life, but by the ability to respond to it in God’s truth.  If decisions are hard and requiring of your strength, it’s probably driven by pride; whereas peace comes in wisdom and through His word strength is acquired (Psa 29:11).

True strength will follow when true wisdom takes the lead.

HSAY…Todd  

Daily Wisdom

“And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.” 2 Thess 3:5  

What’s the new year going to bring? Only in patience will it be reveled. It’s said, patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to maintain a life of prayer and purpose while God is working. Even in a storm patience calls for you to focus on the cross and not the storm, knowing one will pass.  When it appears your life is falling apart, it’s actually falling in place when you wait in God’s will; as he works a good work in you (Phl 1:6). Patience requires waiting till the mud settles and the water is clear; remaining faithful and unmoving until God’s will is clearly seen? Goodness arises in faith, strength in perseverance and blessings in patience.

A moment of patience in a moment of fear can save you a hundred moments of regret.

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith…”  Rom 1:17

Faith is the action of doing the difficult for God as Christ did for us…”from faith to faith.” The righteousness of God is imputed to us through Christ willingness to bear the burden of the cross for us; therein we renew the righteousness of God when we do the difficult for God as well. This is the test of faith, when you’re faced with a response without a visible outcome, and knowing true faith rest on the character of God and asks for no proof outside His moral perfections. Faith is a process that calls for you to do the necessary, which accomplishes the possible, that leads to doing the impossible for God.  Remember faith occurs decision by decision, it’s the willingness to do the difficult for God, not a religious achievement award.

To one with faith no explanation is necessary; to one without it, no explanation is possible.

HSAY…Todd