Daily Wisdom

 Psa 119:15 “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.”

There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. The believer would be better served alone, waiting on God, gathering direction and strength in His Word for servitude and life to come. But this is often missed. Sermons are heard, yet spiritual growth is slow to show, because the believer doesn’t meditate on it. They love the fruit which hangs on the branches, but they refuse to pluck it, water flows at their feet, but they won’t stoop to drink it. And yet they long for and do without the very blessings they seek.

One can choose to look in a different direction of the truth, but they can never say they did not know… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

 “… there was silence, and I heard a voice. (Job 4:16; 1 Kgs 19:12)

Here we find Job, like Elijah, in a state of silence where there appears a still small voice. This hit home for me - just last night, late after church, I sat in the empty sanctuary alone in the dark with God. But no great revelation or peace came from it. Yet this morning I read (Job 4) and I realize why I didn’t experience God last night in the way I was longing - “I never shut my mouth.”  Instead, my inner voice was non-stop within me during this intimate time with God. I don’t know if I can speak for you as well,  but I believe/know many times I/we miss God’s voice because He can’t get a word in edgewise. “Be STILL and know that I am God” there’s the inner conflict, “be still” - that means shut up and listen. I was more intent on being sure God heard me, that I never heard Him! Turn life’s volume off and be still in silence, God’s not going to scream above your noise.

No surprise that I was able to hear from God this morning, once I shut up and used my eyes to hear His Words… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.’ Mk 26-28

Jesus describes Heaven like a mustard seed being planted. It’s less than all the other seeds on earth, yet it will grow to greater heights and branches in the hand of the Father. So much so the birds shall lodge in it and under the shadow of it from the heat. Illustrating that the littlest efforts with the right purpose can and will do great things for the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Father promises that His harvest will be magnificent and prolific - the best fruit ever grown. Your witness may appear weak and your efforts may seem to influence so few, but the Word of God is a powerful growth agent. Keep your eyes on the great harvest to come and don't let bad soil or weeds discourage you from faithful service and witness. It’s not how much you’re planting in this world, but what you’re planting that makes the difference for Heaven and your ministry purpose.

Don’t judge your day by what see but rather by what you’re planting, the harvest may not be seen until Heaven, but it will be reaped… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

“… Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord…” Isa 2:3

Though it rests on the mountain, it’s established on God’s Word… “out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord.” (vs 3b). While His kingdom isn’t physically established, His Word in which the Lord will teach by is, and eventually nations will flow unto it (vs 2). Point being, have you already started your climb? The higher we climb, the more we see of God and strengthen our faith. The best view comes after the hardest climb.

But know that one on top of the mountain didn’t fall there! … (HSAY)

Daily Wisdom

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15

We can’t remove the source of truth and hope to find strength for tomorrow.

Within a crumbling nation our Congress is moving to eliminate the reference to God from the oaths administered before one testifies.

Removing the words “so help you God” and replacing it with “under penalty of law”

Interesting, why create a statute when we already have one (God’s) that we’re not following?

Man cannot legislate morality!  It’s the equivalence of legislating love.

Our strength will either be founded on God or on man, only one is trust worthy! (Acts 5:29)

Man cannot be made good by law, nor by eliminating the truth of God from the equation.

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

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

We live in a society that wants to tailor everything to their desires.

We like to define our experience of reality and “have it our way” as Burger King offers.  Trying to customize everything from our meals to our cars.

Unfortunately, even though having life a certain way is by no means wrong, it is easy to fall into a trap of applying this type of philosophy to God’s word.  Becoming susceptible to only choosing to follow the parts that fit our wishes and likes.  What if someone makes us angry and we wanted to remain mad at them or seek our own defined justice?

If we could customize our won version of God’s Word, we could just ignore Eph 4:26.  Not requiring us to be accountable to growth, Christ-likeness, correction or instruction.  And leave inspiration to our own definition and wants.

We live in a world where truth has become relative to our situations rather than absolute. We change the definition by culture trends, opinions and man’s philosophy. Every word in the bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit and is just as valid today as it was when it was written.

Society has put God’s Word on trial, on the witness stand to defend itself, leaving truth itself to be weighed and determined by man’s jury.

It’s easy to discern truth. Just listen closely, God will never contradict His word… man will!

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

1 Sam 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

King Saul entrapped himself in a sin (rebellion and stubbornness towards God’s word) that is just as prevalent today as it was in Saul’s day. It’s called a “lack of faith.”

According to Hebrews 11:6, honoring the word of God and giving God the last say is what please God the most. Thus, the opposite of faith is a callous, often stiff-necked, rebellion towards God’s word.

Now the reason Saul had such a “lack of faith” is because he was more interested in what man thought of him than what God thought of him (vs 24).  What Saul lacked, in essence, was basic God-given wisdom, which is based upon God’s Word (Pro 2:1-6 and Psa 111:10).

Creature rebellion against its Creator (the Word – Jn 1:1, 14) is rebellion against the very source of his own existence. It’s like the scent of a flower rebelling to destroy the flower… is it no wonder God rejected Saul!

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

Jdgs 13:18 “And the Angel of the Lord (Christ) said into him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is a secret?”

Manoah, Samson’s father, was focused on the wrong issue. He was focused more on verifying the source of the promise rather than the promise itself. His wife told him the source was “a man of God, countenance of an angel of God,” (vs 6).  We don’t want to miss on the promises of God because we have a pessimist point of view. A source of truth or promise is only as worthy as the one who gives it, in the Lord’s case it’s priceless (Psa 138:2 “… for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.) To question God’s word is to question His very nature, (Heb 6:18 “That by two immutable things, in which it is IMPOSSIBLE for God to lie…”; Titus 1:2) God cannot change His character or His word. You find a God who can keep His word, and you’ve found God! You are what you do, not what you say you'll do; and God does what He says. .

God’s never made a promise that was too good to be true!

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

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

While it comes across harsh there is a great measure of validity in stating, your hunger for God is often determined by how full you are of yourself or the world. The deepest need for man is not what clothes him, feeds him or surrounds him, it’s that which dwells within him. The temporal resources man is prone to consume only temporarily sustain, but he who longs after the “bread of life” will never hunger, and he who believes will never thirst (Jn 6:35). Don’t try t fill a heart created by God with resources created by the world. Understand it’s the soul that’s truly hungry, not the body. “You don’t have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body.” Remember Paul stated, “what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” (Phl 3:7)  In Christ alone our hope is found, and our soul satisfied. Causing one to sing, it is well with my soul!

Don’t be more devoted to the promise of the world, than you are the promise of His word.

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

2 Sam 12:9 “Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife…”

It’s one thing to do wrong and completely different to stay wrong! David had sinned grievously but had not confessed his sin to God. That is until Nathan the prophet called King David to account. Ultimately, David received Nathan’s rebuke and confessed his sin. The question is, would we? Often, we weigh our sins against what we justify as the more serious sins, and in doing so don’t take to heart the serious of sin itself in comparison to God’s word. Sin isn’t judged on a weighted scale, but simply God’s word; sin is sin (Rev 21:8).  If, (or when) God sends someone in your life, and/or circumstances, our first response should not be resistance or take prideful offense to it. Rather, take it to heart in comparison to God’s word, and weight it with a response, “what have I missed Lord, or what are you showing me?”  Point being, our humility should immediately draw our attention to God’s word and our works. Keep in mind that Nathan did not get involved until David no longer allowed God to be involved. If David would’ve weighed his decision against God’s word, Nathan would not have been needed!

“God’s house of correction is His school of instruction”

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

Psa 1:3 “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in the season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Everyone seeks a return on their efforts. But, the phrase “whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” does not guarantee immunity to failure of difficulties. Nor guarantee health, wealth and prosperity. What it does mean is that by applying Godly wisdom, the fruit (results of God’s work through us) we bear will be good for us and those around us. This is determined by what we take in.  “Like a tree planted by the rivers” we absorb/soak up God’s wisdom through His Word that produces actions and attitudes that honor God, and bless others. Plant yourself elsewhere (vs 1) and what is absorb can become an obstacle, not an opportunity for God’s good works.  The eternal good that comes out of our life is directly determined by where, and in what we are planted. Though man is capable of both blessing and cursing, it should not be, such does not occur in works of nature (Jm 3:10-11). Sweet waters heal and bring forth good fruit (Exo 15:25).

Be patient and bloom where you are planted; trees that grow the slowest, bear the best fruit.

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

“Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” Amos 8:11

Amos is an ordinary farmer God uses in a great way warning Israel of their fall to Assyria. Amos gives a stirring call for Godliness in our daily living allowing Christ to be displayed. In ch. 8, verse 1: we see a fourth vision “basket of fruit” illustrating Israel being ripe for destruction.  Ever heard the saying “green and growing or ripe and rotten” this is Israel’s situation and Amos’ warning to use in vs 11. Amos warns of a famine beyond the physical, one that is more destructive to our well-being than a lack of food (Mt 4:4 “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”).  Man is prone to avoid the word of God while seeking wisdom for survival elsewhere.  The absence of God’s word and the power it possesses through the Holy Spirit works just like physical, slowly robs you of nutrients needed to keep you healthy.  Causing you to binge on artificial nutrients to sustain you, all the while you’re breaking down Internally and Eternally.  And with it our faith slowly weakens and falters, because faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word (Rom 10:17). The greatest why for you to hear the voice of God is with your eyes, but first you might need to turn down the volume of the world to do so. Don’t blame God for being silent if you haven’t opened your bible.

Cautious: the word listen contains the same letters as silent!   

HSAY … Todd 

Daily WIsdom

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Col 3:2

Caution… Don’t use the church as the spectacle to view God, use God as the spectacle to view the church. Many Christians and the world a like utilize church as the visual edifice/structure in defining their relationship with God, people and their own spiritual health.  The church itself will always have a scratched lens or a needed renewal of its prescription when it comes to its focus on God, because it relies on the eyes of man. The spectacle of God is his word in which we are to use concerning all things that we look at, especially the church/body. It’s too easy for man, be it a pastor, leader or layman to be out of focus, and if you depend or utilize such for your focus it’s going to be flawed because you’re trying to use a temporal resource to view eternal truths. View any and every aspect of life through the lens of God’s word. It will never be out-of-focus, scratched or need cleaning. Like electrical conduit, the church is a source for truth to hopefully pass through to each other and the world. But, the power/truth itself is in the wiring (God’s word) that runs through the conduit. When the conduit gets broken it can disrupt the truth, but only in its flow; it never stops the truth itself.  Don’t be more focused on the conduit than the power that runs through it. Remember the church is only a semblance of the truth, don’t get out of focus and project on above the other or you’ll miss what God wants you to see.

If you try to view God through the church, both the church and God will be out of focus!

HSAY… Todd 

Daily Wisdom

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Eph 6:13

It’s very much in the Devil’s interest that we despair. If he can get us to believe any of these three demoralizing lies he likes to whisper into our thoughts, our power for Jesus is greatly diminished. And each one to us seems quite plausible.

Lie #1.) You’re a hypocrite! Your serving Jesus, but you don’t really mean it.  You’re as much a sinner as anyone else, it’s really about you. You might as well give up!

Answer: “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.” (1 Jn 3:19-20)

“For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.” (1 Cor 4:3-4)

Lie #2.) You’ve ruined your life! You’re damaged, you’ll never amount to anything. You might as well give up!

Answer: “the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek,... brokenhearted,... captives,...that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” (Isa 61:1-4)

Lie #3.) You're too insignificant! You’re buried under the debris of the world today, you’ll never make an impact. You’re making no difference at all.  You might as well give up!

Answer: “And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Cor 1:28-29)

Each lie is believable, in its way. But we don’t defeat the lies by pushing back in our own strength, which is of little benefit. We push back by declaring God’s promises in His Word, which is a decisive final authority in Jesus.

It’s not as much as what you say, as it is who said!

HSAY… Todd

“TGC”

Daily Wisdom

“Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” Exo 4:12

Ever gone and felt pretty sure you left Jesus behind by knowing what came out of your mouth was not being taught in Christian Speech 101!   Here we see Moses struggling in his service for which God had called him, even to a fault; we can no longer impute it to his humility, now it’s grown to cowardice, slothfulness, and unbelief in it.  This single obstacle, fear of not knowing when or how to speak, is likewise a cowardice response for Christians to speak for God, and endeavour to excuse themselves.  Even Paul’s speech was contemptible (2 Cor 10:10). Nor can one blame it on being ignorant and unlearned, Jesus used unlearned and ignorant men to turn the world upside down (Acts 4:13). Jesus told the disciples “take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.” (Mt 10; Mk 13)  The answer is the same giving to Moses and the disciples, I’ll be with you: Acts 4:13b “...they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”  God told Moses, go I’ll be with thy mouth.  It’s interesting Christians claim they don’t know what to say to others, but they have a lot to say about others.  You don’t have to speak a doctrine, just let your words be that “one may edify another.” (Rom 14:19)

The results of our mouth would be a lot better if we spent more time talking to others instead about others!

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

“For this cause i bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (16) That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.” Eph 3:14; 16

The perfection of the “Inner Man” (Eph 3:16) will only occur when the fire within you burns brighter than the fire around you. Just like a fire that is fanned its heat intensifies, but the question is which flames are you fanning. Remind yourself, God has not called you to do or worry about what everyone else is doing, if you desire to be used by God you can’t spend all your time with others. The perfection  of the “Inner-Man” requires daily strengthening (2 Cor 4:16), empowering yourself in the riches of Christ and his armour, and taking of the word in all faith and prayer. (Eph 3:8-9; 16; 6:10-20).

Focus on the “inner-man” and the outside blessings will manifest.

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

“I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” Psa 16:8

By night as well as by day; be it private meditation and public profession I set myself in the presence of the Lord, he is my right hand causing me not to move. Unfortunately many opt for proximity Christianity, keeping God in spiritual eye shot not necessarily in their presence. Knowing God has benefits they don’t want to eradicate any vestige of religion, even at times offering a positive anecdote to God’s goodness.  But, their presence and position is often void of God, and are prone to move their belief in truth when ever it’s conveniently necessary. Man rejects the presence of God and his word not because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.  But, when man enters God’s presence with praise, God is then able to enter man’s circumstances with power. He doesn’t call us to his presence to keep us from pleasure, it’s a call to allow us to experience the fullness of pleasure in his presence. By walking in the presence of Jesus and you’ll bring his presence to everyone around you.

Peace is not the absence of worry, but the presence of Christ.

HSAY… Todd

Daily Wisdom

“And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this? For he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him?” Lk 8:25

Tell a man there are over 300 billion stars in the universe and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he’ll have to touch it to be sure. God understands our doubts and fears in responding to His truth, but He does require our faith in order to work in us and through us. Never be fearful to trust an unknown future to a knowing Father; He’ll either calm the storm or He’ll calm you. Faith and fear are formable opponents, feed our faith and fear will starve to death. To do so you have to see it as a mountain, focus on the summit and you’ll never get there. Focus on one step of faith in that direction at a time and you’ll be there before you know it. Like the disciples who set forth on the calm of the sea at Christ’s word, must be prepared to face peril the sea brings forth with faith in the same word. Hold your course in Christ; don’t let the fear of the circumstances before you cause you to choose an alternate route.

Fear can keep you up all night, but faith makes a fine pillow.

HSAY …Todd

Daily Wisdom

“That no man should be moved by these afflictions…” 1 Thess 3:3

Paul had sent Timothy to comfort the church by helping them understand that troubles/afflictions are not always caused by sin or lack of faith. Trials may be a part of God's plan and purpose for believers. Experiencing afflictions can build character (Jas 1:2-4), perseverance (Rom 5:3-5), and offer reassurance to others who are afflicted (2Co 1:3-7). While problems are unavoidable, they may be a sign of effective and purposeful living in Christ. David’s pen never wrote more purposeful words than when dipped in affliction.  God desires progression not perfection, thus without problems we can’t achieve promotion. Know your temporal problems have eternal answers; at your lowest God offers hope; your weakest, strength and your saddest, comfort.

The strength of your faith is not how you appear to others, but how you adhere to God!

HSAY…Todd

Daily Wisdom

“And he (Saul) went thither to Naioth, and the Spirit of God was upon him also and he prophesied (praised)…before Samuel in like manner.” 1 Sam 19:23 & 22

Saul was more apt to hold onto his emotions than he was the truth.  Twice he was caught up in praising God, the first time was (ch. 10) right after he was anointed king and didn’t want to accept the responsibility. This time he was consumed with jealousy to kill over David's favor with the people, when God consumes his heart in order to hinder his actions. If what you feel, and what God’s word/will says are two different things, change your thinking!  Praise without God’s purpose is like singing to the music but missing the lyrics. Know that the power and purpose in praising God is for what He has done for you, not how you feel about it; what you emotionally fall into, you’ll emotionally fall out of.  Your life in Christ is to be purposefully powerful, not emotionally easy.

Emotions are like waves; you can’t keep them from coming but you can decide which ones to surf.

HSAY…Todd