Daily Wisdom

 Eph 5:20  "Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Negativity is a social cancer: it's difficult to contain and it rots the spirit of man. However, the real danger is that the flesh is so easily influenced by it. That part causes the contagious infection. It's passed on and on until some brave soul enlightens an infected spirit with the hope and promise in Jesus; that brave soul refuses to bite the apple and let the apple eat him. That spirit who refuses to accept doubt and fear is able to amputate it in another through the strength of God's love.  In other words, their hope in Jesus becomes more valued than the lie of negativity is believed to be true.

There's nothing more contagious than the laughter of a spirit that has hope... HSAY

Daily Wisdom

 Psa 32:7  “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” Selah 

Faith is the acknowledgment and recognition of the cross as the substitute for man’s inability to save self. Faith saves, because the cross affords the complete salvation of another, and not because man contributes anything to that salvation. Today everybody admits that something is wrong with the world, and the critics of Christianity are the very people who feel this most. The most violent attacks against truth come from those who are most anxious to change the world, and yet they attack the very truth, that like generations past has rescued the soul of man from life’s difficulties. The truth of God’s Word is the only hope man has against life’s troubles.

Losing faith is losing strength; we are twice armed when we fight with faith… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

 Psa 73:26 “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Our greatest fear as believers and as a church should not be failure in our efforts of faith; the Father knows our failure thus offers us repentance and His mercy to move forward. Through that process of working out our faith we grow and mature in the Lords’ strength. But our fear should be succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter, it offers a false hope and a measure of worth that can blind us to our need for Jesus. It’s a good thing to meet opposition and struggles in our faith; We should fear when we don’t, because we’re probably not living in our faith.

The moment one realizes this world cannot sustain them, they are left with two conclusions concerning hope; life is simply cruel or Jesus is greatly real… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

1Pe 4:12  “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

We don't have a soul. We are a soul. We happen to have a body. That body is for the edifying of Jesus Christ and His glorious love for us. And yet for this to be displayed through us, we must stand in faith amidst life and its trials for the likeness of Jesus to be seen in us. No trials no faith required, no faith then others can’t see Jesus in us (Jms 1:2-18). Likewise, life trials strengthen us for the battle, allowing us to exercise our faith and be an example for others to walk in Jesus. 

Suffering provides the gym equipment on which our faith can be exercised… HSAY 

Daily Wisdom

 “… is…” 2 Cor 12:9

In one moment, this passage comes to life and rebukes the soul for petitioning such prayers as, “Lord, may thy grace be sufficient.” How dare us ask that which “is?” God cannot make His grace more sufficient than He has made it; get up, believe it, and walk in it and you’ll find it true. The Lord says it in the simplest way “My grace is (not shall be or may be) sufficient for thee.”  That linking verb “is” describes the subject Grace… that it “is” sufficient. The Father defines it more with “My,” “is,” and “thee” which should be indelibly fixed upon our hearts. The truth is, don’t turn facts into hope, or prayers; but rather walk in them as the promises they are, and you’ll find them as powerful as you believe them. That choice “is” up to you!

God’s grace is sufficient for us anywhere His providence places us… HSAY 

Daily Wisdom

Lk 1:45 “… for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord."

Mary only had a prophetic promise from the angel, and now Elizabeth, concerning her caring the Messiah in her womb. What hope, strength, and faith we can all have knowing we can depend on the performance of the promise and not requiring our own; confidently knowing, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2 Cor 2:20) A promise is only as good as the one who made it, including our own.  Thank you, Lord we don’t have to depend on any of them spiritually speaking, we can trust in Your performance!

Find hope and strength in that the power of God’s love for you will never be based on your performance for him, but rather His towards you… HSAY 

Daily Wisdom

 Psa 68:28  “The Lord hath sent strength for thee… “

The Father has manifested and imparted His strength to appear within us, our inner man. He strengthens us “to go” and traverse the Hill of Difficulty or descend the Valley of Sorrow; but don’t grow weary, fearful, or doubtful but with perseverance in His promise and power to provide, hold to your strength. As well the Lord is our strength to sit still in a season as difficult as that is to attain, “if only I could do something.”  When the child is ill, and the mother stands in impotence, how severe is the test! But our strength and sufficiency is of God; if we must climb, descend or be still, His strength is imparted to us to do so!

Don’t let yesterday steal or tomorrow borrow of the strength the Lord’s given you for today… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

 1Ki 2:2 “I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man.”

What a charge from a dying King David to his son Solomon. Knowing his dad was a legend even before becoming the king of Israel  – defeating Goliath, leading the Israelites to victory over the Philistines, conquering Jerusalem, enduring suffering, and threats under King Saul against his life. But now David challenges his son with these final words of wisdom. In essence David’s words can be summed up as: Courage isn’t the absence of fear, but the willingness to do the next right thing in the face of fear. Thankfully, we are not given this directive to live out in our own strength, God promises to strengthen us through HIS power (Isa 12:2; Psa 145:18-19; Psa 62:1-2; Isa 43:1-3).

Courage finds its faith not in the assurance of the desired outcome, but the promise of God’s protection and deliverance… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

 Heb 3:6 “But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”

Whose house we are: each of us personally, as we are the temples of the Holy Ghost, and Christ dwells in us by faith. As believers if we maintain a bold and open profession of the truths of the gospel, we can remain courageous and hopeful to the end. While we are not saved by being steadfast and firm in our faith, our courage and hope do reveal that our faith is real. Without this enduring faithfulness, we could easily be blown away by the winds of temptation, false teaching, or persecution (vs 14). It’s not what we hold, but who holds us that we should hold to.

Remember whose you are and who you are, child of the living King and co-heirs w/Christ… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

 Esther 4:14 “…and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

No matter how grievous a task or the abundance of burden in any matter we face, if the Lord allows us to face it, He will give us the strength and spiritual substance to sustain it. Esther and Mordecai believed in God's care, and because they acted at the right time, God used them to save His people. Such challenges require the believer to maintain a proper eternal perspective. Allowing them to see the Lord’s will and purpose for His glory, and our good; or He wouldn’t ordain us to be in that position. Seldom can the believer train for such occurrences. But it doesn’t require our strength just our faith, if the Lord wills it, then we walk in faith through it. Trust the Lord’s goodness, find His purpose (perspective) and find strength in His divine providence.

The issue is not so much what we have to face, but who we face it with. Find the Lord’s presence, and you’ll begin to find His providence, and then your peace… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

 Zech 9:1 “… when the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the LORD.”

The remaining Ch.’s of Zechariah points to the return of Jesus with His promised deliverance. And those whose eyes are stayed on Him find their hope, strength in such promise. Isaiah 17:7 ‘ At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.’ The darker this world gets the greater our focus must be on the light, knowing our only help comes from the Lord (Psa 121:1). Isaiah goes on to encourage us not to look to the work of our hands or our groves/worldly resources (Isa 17:8).

What you see (focus on) is what you get, be it the strength of the Lord or more of the world… HSAY  

Daily Wisdom

 2 Kgs 23:25 ‘And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all is soul, and with all his might…’

It’s not what was done before you or after you, but what is being done within you that matters. Josiah, the son of wicked Manasseh, simply returned to what was right and renewed Israel’s covenant with the Lord. No matter what events occur in your life, you can turn it for good if you turn towards the Lord with all your heart, soul and might. In life’s challenges it matters not which way you turn, if you turn to face the Lord.

How satisfying to turn from our worrisome limitations to the God who has none… HSAY

Daily WIsdom

2 Chron 26:16 ‘But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction…’

After God gave Uzziah great prosperity and power, he became proud and corrupt. Man will always be better served when his strength is fully reliant on God (2 Cor 12:10 ‘…for when I am weak, then am I strong.’), and not in his own hands. In the Father’s favor towards us, we can’t become full of ourselves. The scriptures prove that it’s better to be broken and empty with the Saviour, than it is to be strong and full of one-self; it often leads one to thoughts of selfish entitlement rather than a humble servant.   

Selfishness isn’t living as one wishes, it’s expecting others to live as one wishes… HSAY 

Daily Wisdom

 ‘Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church.’ Col 1:24

Paul’s statement here shows us that suffering is unavoidable in bringing the Gospel about. When we suffer, Christ feels it with us. But this suffering can be endured joyfully because it changes lives and brings people into God's Kingdom (1 Pt 4:1-2; 12-19 & Phl 2:9 ‘For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.')

Our convictions compel our actions and help us complete the course. Allowing us to endure and find encouragement in that which we endorse. But, Paul found himself in non-encouraging moments. But the Lord strengthened him to endure, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12). It was the Lord’s ever-present Grace which provided the power that sustained Paul; being more apparent because of his weakness – not in spite of it. Suffering for the sake of, makes the Gospel more evident when we’re not reliant on our own abilities.

You’ll find that if you focus on the right thing, you won’t be searching for things… HSAY 

Daily Wisdom

 ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.’ Mt 19:26

As Jesus spoke with the rich young man concerning his efforts of salvation being as if a camel passed through the eye of a needle, it caused the disciples to question who then could be saved. Jesus was clarifying that no man can come to Father except through Him. Making what is otherwise impossible, possible. The disciples were sure that a rich man had favor; Jesus illustrates that the Father’s favour is upon all men, rich or poor who seek Him. 

Yet, man often stops fully relying on the Father after their salvation and try to manage their own lives going forward. So much of our life is exposed to failures, hardships, regrets, and pain that we never had to endure if we would’ve continued to rely on Him that saved us.  Those impossible moments we faced with our own strength could’ve been made possible with a continued reliance on the Father. Remember, what got you right is what keeps you right. 

As difficult as it is, a camel kneels before his master to remove its burden, so must we… HSAY 

Daily Wisdom

 ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful…’ Mt 26:38

Know this, the more devoted you become to spreading the message of Christ to a lost and dying world… for the day you make that decision till the day you leave this earth you’re going to face untold persecution from without (Mt 10:16a) and from within (Mt 10:34-36).

Because of this, Jesus stated ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful’ (vs 38). Jesus knew that He was going to die (Mt 26: 2). According to (Heb 12:2), He even looked forward to it. The reason Jesus began to be sorrowful and deeply depressed ‘…even unto death” is because He feared that He was about to face an untimely death by the hand of Satan (Jn 13:26-27). Jesus prayed to keep the influence of satan’s attacks from His ministry and life… (Heb 5:7) says He was heard.

Jesus, even amongst His disciples and a beautiful/powerful ministry, struggled in loneliness, persecution, and an indifferent people towards His love for them (Heb 5:8). Through His three-year ministry, into Palm Sunday and the eventual arrival at the cross, Jesus and His disciples were persecuted and yet protected and delivered by the hand of the Father.

The world will do enough damage to the gospel and love of Jesus, be sure we don’t contribute to such damage as well by succumbing to our flesh and the influence of satan’s attacks… HSAY

 ‘… why make you this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleeps.’ Mk 5:39

Returning to Jairus’ story (Mk 5), Jesus was and is never too busy. Sometimes I declare I don't have time. All the tasks on my to-do list are incredibly important.  I must prepare for this sermon, do this Bible study, do this, do that. Then there's Jesus! When His cousin/friend John the Baptist had just been beheaded, Jesus tried to go to a lonely place to mourn, but the crowds beat Him there. He healed their sick and fed them dinner. Only that evening, did He get a chance to be alone, and that was interrupted (Mat 14). Even Peter (Mk 1:35-39), sought and interrupted Jesus when He was alone with the Father, and yet Jesus didn’t respond irritably.  

Even when his life was on the line, Jesus had time for other people's problems. When someone threatens to kill you, escaping will jump to the top of your to-do list! It did for Jesus, but he still let Himself be bothered: ‘The Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how they might destroy him. Jesus knew it, withdrew himself, and great multitudes followed, and he healed them all.’ (Mat 12:14-15).  It would be like your pastor being willing to stay up front after a service and pray for you, knowing there was someone in the building waiting around to shoot him.

Everything Jesus does is infinitely more important than what I/we do, but every time I interrupt Him, He pays attention. Nothing prevents Him from loving us. During immense sadness at His own loss, He made sure others needs were met. When facing the end of His own life, he saved others' lives.

Jesus in never too busy to listen, don’t allow yourself to get too busy to talk… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

Rom 15:1 “We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”

Two precepts Paul charges the Christian with, 1.) Bear the infirmities of the weak. Christ bore with the weakness of the disciples. We all have our infirmities; but the weak are more subject to them than others. Doing so calls for sympathizing with the weaker, concerning oneself for them and ministering strength to them. 2.) In doing so we must not please ourselves, but our neighbors (vs 2), and deny personal wants or needs in consideration of another’s weakness (Mt 16:24). The stronger is not called to entertain the selfish needs of others but to educate the weaker in the knowledge of grace and in the edification of Christ and His goodness.

We all have something to give, but is it worth taking is the question? … HSAY

Daily Wisdom

Rth 1:21 “I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty…”

Naomi had experienced severe hardships. She had left Israel married and secure; she returned widowed and poor. Naomi was not rejecting God by expressing her pain. However, it seems she lost sight of the blessings she had in her relationship with Ruth and with God. When you face bitter times, God welcomes your honest prayers, but be careful not to overlook the love, strength and hope that He provides in the storms through your relationships. Don't allow disappointment to blind you to your opportunities, there is a divine fullness which we can never be emptied of in which our hope lies (Psa 25:5).

Hold to hope, it’s never shameful (Rom 5:5). If you have God, you have hope… HSAY

Daily Wisdom

Acts 28:11-16… (vs 14 “… we found brethren; (vs 15) “… thanked God and took courage.”)  

Though Paul’s travels to Rome were treacherous and troublesome, there was and can be strength amidst the storm. Paul, like Christ, often found himself standing alone (2 Ti 4:16 “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me…”). Yet, just prior to his arrival in Rome Paul found fellow believers who brought him encouragement. Like Abraham in (Gen 18) you never know when strangers (Heb 13:2) will stroll into your path to strengthen you in a storm. In the seasons of life when storms don’t rage are you a spiritual greeter of encouragement? These strangers contributed to the gospel by strengthening Paul to continue in the Lord’s work.

Mat 25:35-36 “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Mt 25:40 “… Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Christ didn’t die because man was worth dying for, He died to make them worth it. Make sure your heart beats for what Jesus heart beats for – people… HSAY