True Wisdom Comes from God

True Wisdom Comes from God

13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

Why do you do the thing you do?

Luke 15

Jesus tells three parables to demonstrate the quality and quantity of God's love for sinners.

INSIGHT
Many things about God are difficult to understand. But there is one thing about God which is easy to understand. He earnestly longs for the lost to be saved. In the parable of the lost sheep, we see a God who is willing to leave the multitudes to seek just one which is lost. In the parable of the lost coin, we see a God who will move heaven and earth to find a prized possession. In the parable of the prodigal son, we see a God who rejoices with great joy when a lost one comes home. As Christians, we should not let that which we don't know cloud that which we do know. We must focus on the roses rather than the thorns. God loves the sinner, and on that, we can rest.

PRAYER
Offer the Lord your praise for His great love for you:
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods (Psalm 95:1-3).

As you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession to the Lord:
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise (Psalm 51:14-15).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.

Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,
for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly
I will rather boast in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me
(2 Corinthians 12:9).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
a stronger desire to be like Christ,
the ministry of other churches around the nation,
your activities for the day.

Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father,
who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17).

Luke 10

Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.

INSIGHT
The harsh reality of life is that we cannot help everyone in need. From the parable of the Good Samaritan, we can learn several things which help us evaluate when we should help. We are obligated to assist a person in need when he or she comes across our path in the normal course of life; he or she has a legitimate need, not of his or her own making; he or she cannot help himself or herself; and we have the ability to meet the need.

PRAYER
We praise the Lord because He is faithful to bring us to spiritual maturity:
O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory (Psalm 63:1-2).

Pause for personal praise and thanksgiving. As you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession to the Lord:
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones which You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities(Psalm 51:7-9).

As you consider God's mercy, confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.

Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation
or shadow of turning (James 1:17).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
spiritual victory over the temptation you face,
reformation in America and the world at large,
your activities for the day,
whatever else is on your heart.

Offer these closing prayers to the Lord:
Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! (Psalm 90:14).