Tag: ask

Do You Want Wisdom?

Do You Want Wisdom?

Who is wise?  Let him understand these things.  Who is prudent?  Let him know them.  For the ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them.  But transgressors stumble in them.  (Hos 14:9)

To be wise, we must seek to understand God’s precepts and ways.  Understand means to perceive the intended meaning of His Words and His ways.  Another definition states that to understand means to apprehend clearly the character, nature, or subtleties of something. 

Therefore, in order to be wise in God’s sight, we will clearly apprehend the character, nature, and subtleties of God’s Words and His ways—and His personality. 

If you don’t feel that you’ve arrived just yet at that place, then study passages from the Bible every single day.  Meditate upon what you’ve read.  Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your understanding and to give you wisdom.  He will answer your prayers.

He will open the eyes of your understanding and give you revelations into the Word of God and into God’s loving nature.  Hallelujah! 

Note:  This is a reprint of our blog article dated 02/23/2017.

Ask, Seek, Knock

Ask, Seek, Knock

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  (Lk 11:9)

  • This verse of the Bible tells us to ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK—with persistence. In the original language the implication is to ask and to keep on asking, to seek and to keep on seeking, and to knock and to keep on knocking!  And when you ask, it will be given to you.  When you seek, you’ll find.   When you knock, it will be opened to you.  This is not only a representation of the goodness and mercy of God, but also a model of persistence in faith as well as tenacity in believing that God is good and generous, and that He will answer prayers.

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  (Mk 11:24)

  • The message to us in this verse is that our faith in God and in the fact that He cannot lie gives us the spiritual, anointed obstinacy to patiently wait—in hope and constant expectation—that our prayers have already been answered.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  (Joh 15:7)

  • As we memorize the Word of God, honor it, and obey it lovingly and joyfully, the Lord tells us in this verse that we may ask for our hearts’ desires and they shall be done for us. What a blessing!

And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.  (1 Joh 3:22)

  • This Scripture reminds us that as we please the Lord with our lives and actions by doing what is beautiful to Him, the Lord gives us whatever we ask from Him.

Here are a couple more faith-building verses from God’s Word upon which to meditate:

No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.  (Ps 84:11b)

And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  (Joh 14:13)

When we read the Bible with a heart full of love and connection to God, the promises that He has given to us shine like the genuine treasures that they are!  So, keep on asking, seeking and knocking, and our loving Father God will look upon our faith and trust in Him with favor.  Have a blessed day.

Secrets: Hidden Things Coming to Light

Secrets: Hidden Things Coming to Light

All human beings—no matter what nationality, race, or creed—have secrets.  Some secrets are fairly harmless and others are very serious, and yet other secrets are actually very dangerous.  Most of us fall into having the “fairly harmless” category of secrets.

One important thing to know is that God promises to uncover secrets and hidden things.  One way or another, all dark and secret things will be exposed by the Lord.  Those of us who follow Jesus Christ need to know this truth and to live in the light of it.

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.  (1 Cor 4:5)  The word counsels means advice, information, or instruction. 

 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.  (Heb 4:13)  The Lord our God sees everything and knows even the thoughts and intents of our hearts.  (Heb 4:12)  Even the content of our hearts will be revealed.  That’s a sobering thought.

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.  (Lk 12:1-3, underscoring added)

We all have challenges, desires, disappointments, and heartaches. Most human beings have areas where they are weak, and they may occasionally fail and sin.   In all of these things, the Lord cares about us, and wants to help us.  As the Bible passage above reminds us, our innermost secrets—which may have been whispered in the dark—will one day be heard by all. 

A daily review, before the Lord, is the best way to deal with everything:  sins, challenges, secrets, disappointments, etc.  Bring it all to the Lord at the end of each day, and ask His forgiveness for sins, and His help and wisdom with problems and heartaches.  Seek His hope and grace to carry you through disappointment and heartache. 

Above all, whatever secrets you have, share them ALL with the Lord now.  Ask Him how to deal with them, and follow His guidance.  If you’re having difficulty in hearing from the Lord, go to a wise, mature, and trustworthy brother or sister in Christ, and request their wise input. 

We must all learn to live honest, holy, and productive lives that will bring glory and honor to the Lord.  Learning how to bring our secrets into the light of the Lord’s love and mercy is an integral part of holy living.  Our loving God supplies us with the grace and the ability to accomplish this goal.  May God richly bless you.

Wisdom of this World

Wisdom of this World

Is there any true wisdom in this world?  Here’s what the Bible has to say about worldly wisdom: 

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.  For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness;” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”  (1 Cor 3:19-20)

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?  (1 Cor 1:20)

According to the Word, there is no true wisdom that exists in this world, apart from Godly wisdom.  How do we, as believers and disciples of Jesus, obtain God’s wisdom?

  1. Ask the Lord for it. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  (Jas 1:5)
  2. Grow up into Christ—speak the truth in love. So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ . . . (Eph 4:14-15)
  3. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  (Rom 12:2)
  4. Study the wisdom from above. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  (Jas 3:17)
  5. Understand and come to know the Lord—then boast in Him! Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”  (Jer 9:23-24)
  6. Set your minds on things that are above. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  (Col 3:2)  That means we need to think about heavenly, godly things.  Meditate upon the Scriptures and the goodness of God.
  7. Do not love the world or the things of the world. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.  (1 Joh 2:15-17)
  8. Fear the Lord. By “fear,” I mean to respect and reverence the Lord.  When we fear the Lord, we put His opinion about everything and His instruction to us in first place in our lives. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is  (Pro 9:10)  This fear of the Lord will establish us securely on the path to learning of and receiving the wisdom of God.

Blank Checks

Blank Checks

Most people know what is meant by the term “blank check.”  It implies an invitation to use however many funds or resources we may need.  And these resources are supplied by the person or persons who own the checking account against which the blank check is written.

Our God has given us His Word which is full of testimonies and also promises of blessings.  Quite some years ago, while teaching a class, I realized that many Scriptural promises were exactly like a blank check!  I began referring to them as the “Blank Check Bible Verses.”  To encourage you to search out some of these precious promises on your own, I’m going to share a handful of them here with you!

But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.  (Ps 34:10b)  There’s no boundary on what good thing, but rather the opposite with this verse!

Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God our salvation.  (Ps 68:19)  The word “benefits” can mean blessings, payments, grants, allowances, profits, etc., etc.  Notice that we’re “loaded” [filled; packed; heaped; stuffed; and even overwhelmed] with these benefits DAILY!  This is quite a blank check!

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  (Mt 7:7)  Do you understand the blank check nature of this verse?

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  (Mt 19:26)  There is no limit to the word ‘ALL’ is there?

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will [His Word], He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.  (1 John 5:14-15)  The words “anything” and “whatever” are two more words that do not imply limits of any kind.

To date, I have discovered 25 such verses in the Bible, and I urge you to continue hunting for more of these wonderful promises from the heart of our loving God.  Happy hunting!

Getting Out of the Slump

Getting Out of the Slump

What is a slump?  It can be defined as:  sluggishness; lethargy; boredom; or stagnation.  Do you ever feel like you’ve gotten into a spiritual slump and have just been treading water?  We’re going to consider how to extricate ourselves from just such a slump.

Let’s look at the Bible:

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  (Eph 3:14-21)

I was taught that this passage makes an excellent basis for prayer for ourselves and loved ones.  It’s also a great basis for prayer for spiritual disciples and spiritual children.

To get out of a slump, we need to pray this passage over ourselves.  So what is it that we’re asking for?  We’re asking God to give us:

  • Strength in our inner man through the Holy Spirit, (Ps 18:32)
  • Christ’s indwelling presence by faith, (1 Joh 4:13)
  • A foundation in His love, (1 Joh 4:8)
  • A deep comprehension of and experience of God’s perfect love, and
  • The fullness of God alive within us. (Eph 4:13; Col 2:9)

We receive everything from God by grace through faith.  Grace is God’s part and faith is our part of the process.  When we are born again (saved), Christ makes His home in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

As we grow in our Christian walk, we study God’s word and obey it with joy and gladness.  This kind of obedient life causes us to gradually come to know the love of God more fully and completely; and we become filled with the fullness of God.  Love is the atmosphere in which God dwells, because GOD IS LOVE.  (1 John 4:8)

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.  (Joh 14:21)

As the verse above says, our obedience to God’s word demonstrates our love for God.  And Jesus says that to such a person, He will manifest (reveal) Himself.  This is what being filled with the fullness of God is all about.  It will elevate you out of any slump anytime, and places you back in your seat in the heavenlies.  (Eph 2:6)  Blessings upon you!