Month: February 2024

A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.
–Proverbs 1:5

God could write His will for you in the sky. But there are qualities He desires in your life that you develop in the process of discovering His will. By submitting to authority figures, you develop the quality of obedience. By seeking and evaluating the advice of wise counselors, you develop discernment. And by turning to fellow Christians, you develop dependence.

As you listen to these people, let me give you three things to keep in mind. First of all, don’t use wise counsel as a cop-out. For most people, the real problem is not discovering the will of God but doing the will of God. They keep asking for advice without ever making a decision. But there comes a time when you need to stop seeking advice and just do what you know you need to do.

Second, the counsel you receive may be wrong. That was true of the Israelites in Numbers 13. They sent twelve spies into the promised land to see if they could take possession of it, and the majority said, “The challenge is too great.” Only two spies said, “With God’s help, we can take possession of the land.” Many times, the counsel you receive will be wrong.

Finally, any counsel you receive must be measured against the Word of God. Sometimes people want a new revelation from God about a dilemma they’re facing when He has already addressed that issue. We see this in 1 Kings 13. God had told a prophet, in essence, “Go to Bethel and destroy a pagan altar. Then go directly home. Do not pass go; do not collect $200.”

This prophet was on his way home when an older prophet stopped him and invited him over for a meal. The younger prophet protested, but the older man said, “God has given me a newer revelation than what He told you.” So instead of going directly home, as God had told him, the younger prophet went to the older prophet’s home. Look at what happened next: “The word of the Lord came to the [older prophet]; and he cried to the [younger prophet], saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Because you have disobeyed the command of the Lord, . . . your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers”’ (vv. 20–22). And when the younger prophet left to go home, verse 24 says, “a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road.”

What’s the point of this bizarre story? God was teaching us that we are never to contradict what He has already clearly spoken. If somebody is counseling you to do something that violates the Word of God, don’t follow their advice. All counsel must be measured against the Word of God.

Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.
Romans 12:11

The word diligent means to pursue something with keen attention and effort. It’s a word that often appears in God’s Word. We’re to “diligently” heed Scripture and do what’s right in His sight (Exodus 15:26); we must keep His precepts diligently (Psalm 119:4). Paul wrote, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed” (2 Timothy 2:15). Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”

Peter used this word twice in the first chapter of his second letter. In verse 5, he told us to diligently add virtue to our faith, and knowledge to our virtue. And in verse 10, he said, “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure.” (Jeremiah)

Thoroughness,  constancy, perseverance, persistence, zealousness, dedication, commitment; hard work, effort, concentration, care, and attention all describe the intent of the word “diligence”.  

When you examine your life and how you are living for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ, do these words describe your effort toward that goal? Have the things of this world captured more of your life than living it for Jesus Christ’s honor and glory? We are to be in this world but not consumed by it or allow ourselves to be sucked into the vortex of what it deems as worthwhile and important.

When you lay your head on your pillow tonight give some thought to how you are living for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ. Think about what is influencing what you do and what consumes your thoughts and actions. If you realize that this world has blinded your eyes and deafened you ears to things of God for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ, repent and determine to become diligent in your pursuit of living for Jesus Christ, studying God’s Word, and speaking light into a lost world without hope.

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?
–Jeremiah 17:9

The Bible says our desires have been corrupted by sin. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Perhaps the best diagnosis of the condition of our hearts comes from the apostle Paul. Quoting Psalm 14 and Psalm 53, he wrote, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Romans 3:10–12). Pretty depressing. Paul said there is not one good person who roams the planet.

You might say, “Paul, aren’t you exaggerating just a little bit? What about all the people who volunteer at nursing homes or give to charity? How can you say no one does anything good?” These verses support what we call the doctrine of total depravity, the idea that humans are totally depraved apart from Christ. That doesn’t mean everybody is as bad as we possibly could be; it means sin has contaminated every part of our lives–our thoughts, our motives, and even our desires. Our desires have been corrupted by sin. (Jeffress)

We can easily do good things for the wrong motive or desire. Where is this desire and motivation to be found that is not encompassed with sinfulness? How can we examine our desires and motives? God’s Word! His Word says that everyone will be judged for their thoughts and intentions. We will stand exposed, without excuse, and judged in the light of God’s holiness. Every thought will be exposed. Every single intention will be exposed.  We are infected with sin and it permeates out of our hearts and minds. That’s pretty depressing! If it were not for Jesus Christ we would all be doomed.

It does us good to examine our desires and motives in the light of God’s Word. In His Word and through the filling of the Holy Spirit our desires will be illuminated and exposed for what they are. We can know and repent and seek to have right thoughts and intentions.

The place to start is to intentionally choose a life that is diligent and full of desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions every moment of every day.

I was thinking recently about what God created and when it was created it was perfect. It was created for His pleasure, purpose, and sovereign plans. This includes Adam and Eve, and their “free will” to worship and obey God. We know how they were created perfect but intentionally chose to disobey. So I was thinking about what in recent history has God allowed to be created and developed by mankind. 

The printing press was not recent. However, it is still something that was allowed by God in 1440. Many Bibles were printed and this, which was intended for good, started out bad as the church saw this as an affront to their authority over Scripture. Another outcome of this was the ability to rapidly relate current news to the masses across cities and countries. You can find hints of how journalism became a source of “truth”, without bias or opinion. If there was to be any room for that it was carried in the editorial section. 

The Word of God spread and there was a great revival. More and more Bibles were printed and more and more people had them. The same is true today but there is no hunger for the Word of God as there was when it was not available. 

Jump forward to recent times. The printing press led people to express lustful stories. These were back room, not talked about, and it was considered that only deviants would seek to buy and read this ungodly material. 

God allowed the camera to be invented. It was good and used for personal and family photos, nature and the wonders of God’s creation, and documenting, by photo, current events. What was used for “good” soon was used for lustful pictures of women. Though this was deemed deviant it was being more widely accepted. I’m just admiring what’s in the window not buying anything, was their justification. They even called it “Art” to diminish any thoughts of it being wrong.

God allowed the radio to be invented. This allowed faster communication of news. Unbiased news was deemed essential and a standard for reporting via the radio. Today not so much.

God allowed the TV to be invented. This allowed News to put a face before the people and show real-time events with photos of actual happenings. There used to be a standard for these “News Stations”. Today not so much.

God allowed phones to be invented. This allowed people to verbally communicate, families to stay in touch, and reach out in times of emergency. Today not so much.

God allowed computers and the internet to be invented. People could communicate via text, search vast amounts of data, and find information much quicker. News could be at your fingertips and for the most part, it could be trusted. Today not so much. 

Everything that was allowed to be invented has been captured by the “Lost” of the world and is generating unbiblical reasons and justifications for deviant behavior. 

Pornography and domestic minor sex trafficking, sexual child abuse within families and trusted friends, homosexuality, transgenderism, and other unholy behaviors have arisen. They have even gone so far as to call this Adult entertainment and an Alternative lifestyle. So many young people are exposed to that which is deviant and unholy. The latest data shows that by the time a child is 8 years old, they will be exposed to pornography through unintended internet exposure or by a classmate at school showing them on their phone.

Abortion, the killing of unborn babies has become something that is deemed by many as a “Woman’s Health Issue” or “Woman’s rights issue.” So many are confused about this. The same people who want to save the whales, trees, and planet, and rescue the kittens and puppies, support abortion. They are so swayed and influenced by what is being reported to them and the narrative supporting it. It is as if they have no ability to think for themselves.

News and Social Media outlets have become nothing more than political narratives for parties across the globe. What used to be honorable and trusted journalism is now used to influence and sway opinion through fear, anger, hate, and confusion. Celebrities’ (TV and Sports) opinions are more and more quoted, trusted, and believed. They have no ability to assess unholiness and deviant behavior. They live in a fantasy world of being rich and popular and think that makes them worthwhile and that their opinions matter to the masses.

The TV was invented just 100 years ago. Can you imagine what those people would think of people today and how much of our time is consumed by it? What did people do without it? Maybe they would have talked, or read, visited others, gone to church, studied the bible, prayed more, journaled, wrote letters, mended clothes, planted gardens, tended chores, educated children, etc…. It is hard to find a home that is not influenced by a TV in their home and how much time it is consuming of their lives.

What God has allowed for good has been good before it was used by those who give no thought about God to justify and praise things that are unholy and bad for your soul. If our eyes could see, our ears could hear, and our minds were sensitive to the unholiness around us and the Word of God was thirsted and hungered for, maybe we would call out to God to intercede in our country. 

For the mind that is being filled with God’s Word, it is hard to understand how people are so confused, angered, and fearful. It is hard to see churches where the Word of God is preached but there is little to no proclamation of the sinfulness of sin and the Holiness of God. Many, if not most, will preach and teach so that people are comfortable. They feed them baby food Sunday after Sunday rather than calling out sinful behavior and digging deep into God’s Word and things of God. When was the last time your heart was pierced by the preaching of the Word of God that led you to repent and change how you thought, spoke, or acted? When was there solid food of God’s Word preached and you went home to study what was being said?  When did you search out the thoughts preached or taught? Do we even know what pleases God? When was sin called out in the everyday things that are commonplace now, and very close, if not already, adopted by Christians? How do you know if you are lukewarm? How do you know if all of your thoughts, words, and actions honor and glorify Jesus Christ? What does it mean to honor and glorify Jesus Christ? How deep is your understanding of scripture and does it affect the way you think, speak, and act? Does your heart ache for God over what you see and hear? How did our elementary schools become the indoctrination of unholy and sinful material? How did news and social media outlets become nothing more than a place for unholy and non-God-honoring waste? Can we even identify that which is unholy, ungodly, sinful, wrong, bad, false, untrue, self-righteous, etc….? Is it because we have become complacent and neglectful of the Word of God and things of God? Is it because we have become comfortable with sin? Is it because others are doing it so it must be ok? Is it because we have no place for the Holy Spirit in our lives? Is it because we have become confident in our laziness? Is it due to our want to fit into this world? 

Do we not understand we will all stand before God and give an account for all that we have thought, spoken, and done? Do we even give this a thought or are we so shallow in our thinking that we can’t even see how far we have fallen? 

God’s Word should affect us clear down to our bone marrow. It should make us more bold. It should make us dive deeper into God’s Word. It should drive us to our knees. It should make us quit filling our hearts and minds with things of this world and what it has to offer. It should make us aware of sin in our (thoughts, words, and actions). It should make us want to please God and honor and glorify Him more and more. It should give us joy, peace, hope, satisfaction, love, generosity, kindness, purpose, and desire to know and grow more and more in our knowledge and understanding of God.

Our single purpose on this side of eternity is to Honor and Glorify Jesus Christ in all we think, say, and do. This is very hard to do if we are more in tune with this world and what it deems important and worthy. Paul said we are to live in this world but not be part of it, and to guard our hearts and minds. This is hard when every corner of our society is living godless lives when social media and news outlets proclaim that which is unholy and ungodly to be good, true, and right, when church preachers are more concerned with keeping things shallow and comfortable, and when nearly all TV shows and movies taunt unholy and ungodly actions and words as if they are the way of life.   

I would challenge you to try a 30-day “Fast” from TV and all news outlets and fill this time with the Word of God and thinking about the things of God. If you think about it, has any news report changed what you were going to do? Has it made you do something else? It does not and will not. What it will do is make you tolerant of sin, fearful, hateful, anxious, worrisome, confused, and angered, but it will not move you to any action or change what you are doing or going to do.  It may make you more tolerant of sinful actions. It may move you to be fearful of tomorrow. It may move you to hate a person or group of people. It may make you anxious and worry about politics, finances, greenhouse gas, fossil fuels, climate change, rising temperatures, floods, earthquakes, famine, rescue kittens and puppies, etc (but not unborn babies, orphans, and widows). It may make you confused as to what is truly right and wrong or good and bad. It may make you angry and fill your heart with a desire to judge and condemn. I am confident that a 30-day “Fast” from it will completely change how you think and what you talk about. 

I see that the busyness of life and all of the activities of life consume us to the point of exhaustion. Being busy does give us an excuse to be lukewarm, complacent, and neglectful. Being busy seems to give us purpose or reason to think we are doing “Life” right. What is the purpose of all of the activities we allow or push our children into? Why do we do it? This is what society deems important. Don’t get me wrong, sports for school-age children have a place in their development. It teaches them about training, being part of a team, expectations, responsibility, sportsmanship, how to win, and how to deal with losing. These are all good but they certainly do not need to be 12 months out of the year. What are college and professional sports? They are entertainment, a game or match, and yet we follow and talk about these sports and players with more attention than God’s Word or things of God, or the signs of the times.  I am not sure how people are able to balance their lives with all of this busyness. I am not sure what we are teaching our children about life. I am not sure what good comes from all of the activities we allow to occupy our time so much that we have no time to think about God and meditate on His Word.

I do know that busyness allows a person to become complacent and neglectful. It is a foregone conclusion. We might say “Busyness” will not consume me. But it does. When the busyness of life enters not only is God put on the sideline but studying God’s Word, teaching your children, and praying suffer greatly. It seems as though we have this all backward. We allow busyness to have “first right” at our time. Shouldn’t we be the gatekeepers of our time and what we intentionally put first in our lives? It comes down to our choice. We choose. We determine what will occupy our time. We actually search out things to busy our lives or fill it.  Certainly, studying scripture will fall by the wayside and the Holy Spirit’s leading will be forfeited. There will be no conviction of sin, no God-honoring and glorifying thoughts, words, or actions. That which we anchored our hope to for salvation, forgiveness, and redemption, we have pulled up anchor and set sail again on our own with the winds of this world filling our sails.

The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders.
–1 Kings 12:13

If you want to know God’s will for your life, then don’t just surround yourself with yes-men; seek out people who will offer wise counsel. King Rehoboam in the Old Testament didn’t follow that principle. Early in his reign, the people came to him and said, “Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you” (1 Kings 12:4). They were saying, “Rehoboam, your dad was a great king, but we are taxed to the max. Give us a break, and we’ll follow you anywhere.”

Rehoboam asked his father’s advisers what they thought, and they said, in essence, “The people are right. They’re working hard. Give them a break, and they will follow you.” But that’s not what Rehoboam wanted to hear. So he called in a group of younger men, who said, “You have to show the people who’s boss.” Rehoboam took the advice of these yes-men and said to the people, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions” (v. 14). As a result, the people revolted, and the kingdom split in two.

Rehoboam’s sad experience reveals several principles about seeking wise counsel. Number one: seek advice from experts–people who have faced the same problem and found a solution.

Number two: seek advice from many counselors. To his credit, Rehoboam brought in two groups of advisers. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed.” Don’t listen to just one person; listen to many people.

Number three: consider the motivation of your advisers. This is where Rehoboam fell short. Had he thought about it, he might have realized that his father’s advisers didn’t have anything to gain from Rehoboam. They had done their government service. On the other hand, the younger men wanted to ingratiate themselves with the new king, so they told him what he wanted to hear.

Number four: act on the wise counsel you receive. By seeking the counsel of others, you learn the quality of discernment–how to separate good advice from bad advice. And when you receive good advice, act on it. Has your doctor told you that you need to start exercising? Then do it. Has your pastor encouraged you to reconcile a relationship? Then do it. The most tragic words of Rehoboam’s story are these: “The king did not listen” (1 Kings 12:15). To hear good advice and not act on it is not to hear it at all.

I think this is a good word for us today in light of all the hate, anger, fear, and turmoil.

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
Proverbs 16:32

Too many people who lack self-control carve a path of heartache and destruction. Peter told us to add self-control to our knowledge (2 Peter 1:6), and Paul told Titus to bring self-control to the churches and Christians on the island of Crete (Titus 1:8). He said, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled” (Titus 2:11-12, NIV).

Is there an area of your life needing more self-discipline? Ask for God’s help and work diligently on that area. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just speaking hogwash!

Not only is self-control strong, it is also beautiful. Anger is not beautiful. Ungoverned temper is not lovely. Rage is demonic. But a spirit calm, strong, and unflustered amid storms of feeling and all manner of disturbing emotions, is sublime in its beauty.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.
Hebrews 6:19

Have we forgotten Jesus is our anchor? In the early eras, the anchor was a primary symbol of Christianity. You’ll see it in catacombs and as epitaphs on believers’ tombs dating back to the first century. In more recent days, our classic hymnists have written songs like: “We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure when the billows roll,” and “In times like these you need an anchor; be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.”

Let’s get back to the imagery of Hebrews 6:19!

The hope of Jesus is our anchor, and we swing it upward to the throne where our Lord is firmly seated, risen and reigning. Our hope in Him grips the rock and steadies our soul. Having the sure hope of eternity through Jesus Christ allows us to weather the daily storms of life. Fixing our anchor in eternity allows us more stability for life each day. Be very sure your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!  (David Jeremiah)

As I read this I am in awe of God’s awesome power to lead and carry us through our trials while giving us hope and peace in His Power. Throwing the anchor and anchoring fast to Jesus Christ is where we get the strength to face whatever comes our way. It is comforting to our souls.

However, my thoughts immediately ask the question; “What do I do when I am not in a trial or have problems beating at my door?”

Am I anchored or do I set sail again on my own until a storm approaches?  That is a question worth searching our hearts and minds for the answer.