King Solomon asked God for wisdom to understand and judge the people. The word understand means to hear intelligently. To hear and obey. Hear O’Israel. Judge means to pronounce sentence to punish or vindicate. Discern means to separate mentally. So what does good mean? In case you have forgotten it means kind, loving, pleasant, precious, valuable, happy, and mentally correct. Evil means wicked, harmful, disagreeable, a negative heavy heart and a terrifying place! Like Dallas this week! Remember in the Book of Genesis God warned Adam and Eve not to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Their rebellion brought death to the human race. In Isaiah 29:14 God says that He gives and conceals understanding! Without God we cannot discern the difference between good and evil. In fact in the last days good will be called evil and evil will be called good! I think we have arrived! There has been an effort by some in our political system to project the idea that police are racist? I want to give you the statistics on Americans killed by police and their race between 2013-2015. These are FBI statistics. White 49% (782), Black 30% 464), Hispanic 19% (302), Asian 2% (26). The facts are needed to debunk the false narratives given out in the 24 hour news cycles. The murder of five white Dallas police officers would be a racist act! President Obama keeps looking back to slavery and Jim Crow? The biggest evidence that people have moved forward from that is that we have elected him over the past two election cycles! Can he not see this? I did not vote for him not because of race but his ideology! Americans want to move forward! Obama’s false narratives are stoking the flames of violence! Are there injustices? We live in a sinful world! We cannot throw the baby out with the bath water! If we or our leaders do not have a relationship with God then we are missing wisdom to govern only God can give! Americans want peace and prosperity and only God living in men can give to us! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: wisdom
Wisdom! Proverbs 9:10
Wisdom is the supernatural art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves in. Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Comment; There are about 100 scriptures on wisdom in your Bible. There are about 12 root words that form these 100 scriptures in the Hebrew and the Greek. I will give you these root words for wisdom. Wisdom includes intelligence, discretion, understanding, knowledge, prudence and skillful ability. Wisdom includes substance, expertise, meaning and the center of anything including the will and the heart. Wisdom is the ability to separate mentally to perceive, discern, and distinguish. Wisdom means to make bare and use judgment. Wisdom is to make things clear with insight. Wisdom means to be of one mind and to set your affections on. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
American Decline
Offendedness is just about the last shared moral currency in our country! And, I’m sorry, but is really annoying. We don’t discuss idea’s or debate arguments, we try to figure out who is the most offended? Pastor Kevin DeYoung Comment: My Bible says the fear of man is a snare but the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. If we spend our time fearful about whether we offend this group or that group then the creativity God has deposited in us is blocked! When the creativity of a culture is reduced the nation declines! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
The Strength of Great Wisdom! 1Cor. 1:20-25
Verse 25– “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” What is Paul talking about here? He is talking about the Cross! This is God’s genius plan! Christ! Born of a virgin? Sinless? Dies on a cruel Cross as a common criminal? Rose from the grave? Conquered death and hell? Seated at the right hand of His Father right now? If you could figure this out it would not be of God! Only the revelation of God through His Holy Spirit can reveal this to you! Spiritual discernment is required not man’s wisdom! Pilot told Jesus I will determine whether you live or die! Jesus told Pilot I lay down my life! Using man’s wisdom you will decide to enslave others! That is what all our wars have been about over history! Using God’s wisdom you will serve others! When you make decisions love people through the Cross! The world’s way is to use power to dominate them! God’s way is to serve men! I traveled down to Central America last week. I know enough Spanish just to get by! The people there encouraged me there to stay there for some time and learn their language! It would probably take me about two years! Why do we hear these messages over and over again every Sunday? Why do we take communion every week? Is it we have nothing else to do? We need to learn the language of God! We need to learn His language! If you are in love with God read His Bible! Study, pray and do the things that please Him! Live righteously! Hate sin! Love God! Love people! Serve others sacrificially! Praise Him! Serve Him! As we come forward for communion this morning let us receive His language of love! Excerpt from message by Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. His entire message may be viewed by going to web site; NewLifeChurch.org
Do You Have a Meaningless Life? Ecclesiastes 1:1-9
Solomon was a wise man but sometimes not so wise! Starting life off with 1000 wives would not be a good starter? You would have to remember 3 wedding anniversaries everyday! Could he remember all their names? Name tags would help! Solomon seemed to be a cynical old man at times but he did write a book of wisdom! He tries to explain to us not to make the same mistakes! He took an honest look at his life! He was the richest man in the world! He did not spare himself any pleasure! Solomon wished he had asked himself the hard questions! Do you have time to wrestle with your Faith? Take an inventory of your Faith! Why do I believe? Why do I follow Jesus? Do you ask questions about God? Solomon repeated 27 times, “Is there anything new under the sun?” Life can seem burdensome and meaningless at times! I have two teenagers at home. We have on going conversations like when can I get my drivers license? When can I go off to college? I want to go to a college far away from home? Teenager’s want your money and your absence! Do not be in a hurry to grow up! Our daily routines of dishes, laundry, house cleaning repeat everyday with no end in sight! A lot of life is routine! You may hate your job and is just a paycheck? Sometimes we can lose our passion for life! Like Solomon we are looking for the right things in the wrong places! We are looking for something to give life meaning! In 1st Kings we see Solomon was a great builder! He built palaces and Houses of Worship! Today in 2015 people are not sparing themselves any pleasure! We have hundreds of options! We have all the electronic gadgets to amuse ourselves! We have drugs and alcohol to drown our meaningless in! Solomon arrived at emptiness! Is your tank on empty? When we reach the point of our limitations collapse can come! What can we turn too? Our need for completeness comes from outside of ourselves! Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said come unto me! Those that are laboring and overburdened! To those that are carrying a heavy load! Jesus promised to those that receive His invitation He will give rest! Yes! Rest and refresh. You will find completion in Christ! How do you know you are doing well? Solomon had everything but was not doing well? Jesus said, “Come to me.” Solomon did not have the revelation of Christ we have today! True worship is to come to Jesus! Jesus did not come to promote Himself but to promote you! The Old Testament Books point to the Cross! People without Christ come to despair! You may have lost a key relationship? Husband or wife? Son or daughter? You may have lost a job or business failure? A sickness or accident may have taken your ability away to provide for your family? Internal failure requires and external rescue! When we learn we cannot make it own our own then we discover the only one who can give us rest! We discover Christ’s yoke is easy and His burden is light! A yoke is designed for two! Let Jesus come along side you and lift you out of your troubles! Rest in Him! Talk with Him! Walk with Him! Think on Him! Discover in Him! Love in Him! Plan in Him! Win in Him! Stand in Him! Trust in Him! Faith in Him and He will never leave nor forsake you! Source; Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Pride Before The Fall? Abraham Lincoln
We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. Abraham Lincoln
Leadership!
Wisdom! You can never rise higher than Leadership! Source; John Maxwell.
Church In The City
How would the city of Corinth compare today with a modern city? Corinth was the first frontier outpost. It was a prosperous city. Caesar’s Roman army retirement community live there. It was located on a key east-west trade route. The poor got rich in Corinth! You might say all the lotto winners lived there. The displaced Jews lived there because Caesar kicked them out of Rome. Sexual perversion was rampant in Corinth. Somehow money and sex are always linked together? The Temple of Aprodita had 1000 temple prostitutes as part of their worship. The Temple of Apollos had nude statues of male prostitutes. Corinth was much like American culture today with sexual brokenness. When Paul walked into Corinth people were celebrating the Isthmian games which was the ancient Olympics. Corinth had athletic training centers much like Colorado Springs does today. The people of Corinth celebrated strength, independence, intellectualism, materialism and public debate. The Greek orator’s debated constantly. They all figured it out they did not need God! 1 Corinthians 2:3-5. Paul says I was not with you with enticing words of man’s wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. That our Faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God! Can God raise up people in a corrupt culture? America is becoming more secular. Heathenistic cultures trump pleasure over purpose. The message of the Crucified Christ is not popular in America just as it was not in Corinth 2000 years ago! But it is still really good news! Polite people did not talk about the Cross in the 1st. century. The worst criminals were crucified. How do you message people about the Cross? The cross was cruel and ugly punishment. Jesus was tortured, beaten, bloodied and murdered! He died the lowest kind of death. It goes to say the Cross is foolishness to the perishing. Why did God choose death to redeem? The wages of sin is death! To the saved the Cross is the power of God! Are you grateful for the Cross? The Cross is central to belief. The Cross is entry to everything. The Cross destroys the wisdom of the wise! Intelligent people say that if God cannot answer all my questions then I will not follow him! My adopted son Abram is a very intelligent little boy. His grandfather was a nuclear physics engineer! Sometimes Abram will ask me questions that are deep and thoughtful. Sometimes I do not know the answer to his question. God came to save us and not answer all our questions. Corinth had some of the best minds of that era. They were intellectuals, philosophers, Romans, Greeks and Jews. Preaching Christ was foolish to the gentiles. The Jews expected a military Messiah. What do you want to hear? I want to be skinny and rich! American and Corinth cultures say “Blessed are the smart and the strong, Blessed are the ambitious, God helps those who help themselves!” Superman has arrived! It is me! Jesus said,”Blessed are the poor in spirit,meek,merciful and kind.” The Roman government of Corinth ruled by fear and intimidation like many governments do today. Why did Jesus submit to the tyranny of the Roman government and the Jews and go to the Cross? To show the world a new way to use power! The world uses power to rule over people. Watch an NFL game. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent to try to dominate one another! Competition is to fight for power! Dominate others! Get power to defend yourself! Buy armies and men and women to rule over others. When Pilate had Jesus on trial he told Jesus he had power to condemn Him to death or release Him. Jesus told Pilate I lay my life down and unless my Father gives you power you cannot touch me. Christ goes to the Cross to use power in a new way. Christ gave His life for people and not to rule over people! God has given us power for people in service to people and care for them. Jesus became a nobody to save everybody. Jesus is calling the marginalized and the down and out. Not to manipulate them but release them from the bondages of sin. The nobodies are being invited in. Discover a new way of being powerful. Everyone can belong! No disenfranchised! The Cross is where you start and finish. No substitute for the Cross! All must come to the Cross and believe! Source; Sermon notes taken from message given by Pastor Brady Boyd at New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given on Sunday January 5, 2014.
The Respectful Are Respected! 1 Timothy 5:1-4
Instructions from God for a good outcome in your life! Respect elders. Encourage elders. Treat the younger as your brothers and sisters. Care for widows. What happens inside our homes counts! Important! The Christian home is the alternative community that is opposite to the dark, broken dysfunctional world that we live in. Politicians just reflect our broken culture. Church should be different. Debt free and living for others! Live more responsible with more to give away! Problem is the world does not see us any different from them. Just reminds them of themselves and what they hate. We must reinvent a new way of living. When the Church lives most unlike the world it has it’s greatest impact of reaching the world for Christ. Honor those in front of us. The older are farther along and have met things we have not. Wisdom comes from God and through time! Remember the word time means “to honor.” Old is gold. American culture spends between 90-100 Billion dollars each year for anti-aging gimmicks. Hopeless and expensive ways to try to stay young. The Bible teaches that grey hair is a gift from God. The elderly have great opportunities to help the younger. Many of the young today do not know how to ask questions. Be responsible to help widows. Seek out widows in need. John 19:25-27. Take care of your mother. With all the suffering and pain of the Cross and near death Jesus thought about his mother. A disciple took her from the execution place to care for her in his home. Why did not James take care of her? Mary was also his mother. If you read Acts Chapter 12 you will see James was killed a short time later. Joseph her husband had already passed away. Mary was vulnerable and Jesus saw it. John was the older disciple. Take care of a widow not related to you. James 1:27. Pure religion is to take care of widows and orphans and to keep your heart pure. Be family for them. Do 3 things. Find a widow. Look for them. Find, love and serve them. If you do you will come back here one year later and be a changed person. Joy and peace will enter into you. Honor your parents. Repay your parents. Practice your religion. Look not at them as a burden. Ask them how you can help them. Problem is not all parents are honorable. You could have had dysfunctional and abusive parents. Romans 12:17-18. Repay evil for evil? No! Do not become who you hate! Live at peace with everyone. Forgive. Break the cycle of family violence. Honor parents who are not honorable. Ephesians 6:2. Honor your Father and Mother and life will go well with you. The peace of God will accompany obedience. As a parent myself I do not always get it right. Neither will you. You get one shot in life at parenting. Parents work hard and then kids are gone. When we forgive we give away what we get back. Parents do the best they can at the time. Would we do differently if we could do over again? Yes. God gives us His Grace! Source; Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given on Sunday, October 13, 2013. Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com