Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
As leaders in the body of Christ we must set an example, inspire, and lead those in our sphere of influence to a lifestyle of being obedient to the faith. This is not obedience to a belief system; it is an obedient response to the personal voice of God within our hearts. Faith towards God as the Being who loves us and has our best interests in mind will be evident with actions on our part that create a path to the future in all things. Faith is a testimony of true wisdom. That wisdom is the wisdom of God and not the wisdom of men. It is not a wisdom based upon experiences in our lives, but wisdom inspired by God’s voice in our lives. If experience plays into it, it is an experience of relationship. It is an experience of growing love. It is a wisdom of changing character, nature, way, power, and authority. It is a wisdom that has many unknown realities in its reception and thus it requires a constant trust and intimate connection with God in our hearts. Because of this, it is a wisdom that is constantly willing to yield. It is a wisdom that inspires a continual teachability within. It is a wisdom that empowers us to change, grow, and mature in our relationship with God. It empowers our love for God and that love is demonstrated with continued acts of faith. It is a wisdom of the tree of life and not a wisdom of the knowledge of good and evil.
James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
The wisdom of God in our lives inspires faith towards God that expresses a meekness in our ability to demonstrate our faith. It is not a confidence in ourselves nor is a confidence in our ability to hear God. It is a confidence in God and a confidence in His ability to speak to us. It is a knowing that He will direct and even adjust our responses to Him in the path of our obedience to the faith. Human wisdom is based upon natural experience. It is based upon what has happened to us more than what could happen because of God. It is earthly. It is natural. Because it is natural it can easily inspire our own personal opinions. God’s wisdom inspires our trust in God’s opinion, but human wisdom passionately defends our own opinions as we seek to move forward in our path of life. That response can become very sensual. It is based upon our own thoughts, reasonings, emotions, desires, and imaginations. God’s wisdom is a growing trust in the person God and thus it is a wisdom that embraces a path of change in our own thoughts, reasonings, emotions, desires, and imaginations. When we choose a path of earthly wisdom, we create a foundation for our own sensuality to grow. When we do this, we become vulnerable to demonic influences. Demonic influences inhabit dry places. Dry places are dead places in our hearts. When we seek a wisdom based upon our own personal needs, we choose a wisdom that is rooted in the dry places within. Any need-based path in life is a path that eventually embraces substitutes for who God is. This is idolatry and the result is confusion and evil things. God’s wisdom in our lives is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy, full of good fruits and it is without partiality and without hypocrisy. The wisdom of God inspires a faith of right relationship with God and others. It empowers us to be blessings and not to merely live to be blessed in life. It is a faith empowered by the Spirit of Wisdom, an attribute of the Holy Spirit that demonstrates our peace with God and others. The wisdom of God is filled with a spirit and sound of willingness to be, give, and live for God and others. The wisdom of self is filled with defensiveness, personal agendas, and living for one’s own will in some way.
It is by the power of God’s grace that we are granted a right relationship with God in faith. We hear Him and we respond to His voice of love with the actions of our lives. The life that we live we live by faith towards Him in all things. It is a testimony of grace and the power of God at work in our lives. It is not a discipline of the flesh or a mere obedience to a ‘what to do’ code.
Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
God is at work in our hearts through His internal, eternal kingdom of life and peace in Christ. We are born to be loved by Him and when we receive a revelation of His love for us, we cannot help but love Him and all that He loves. We are being transformed from the kingdoms of self to the kingdom of our Lord and Christ by His anointing within our hearts.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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