Weekend Words

 From Our Daily Bread...

Wisdom to Live Beautifully

We all experience days when we wish we were wiser.  How do I handle that tricky email at work?  What should I do when my son keeps misbehaving?  Whether it's making decisions at work or dealing with personal trials, time and time again, we experience the pressing need for wisdom.

So we read books, consult others, or take classes, hoping to gain some useful advice on how to manage our lives and relationships better.  But while the acquired knowledge is helpful, often we still find something lacking.  We need more than the wisdom the world offers; we need the wisdom only God provides.

Where can we find this wisdom?  Scripture tells us it begins with the "fear of the Lord" (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7).  To fear God is to revere and honor Him for His majesty and holiness.  We can understand why acquiring wisdom begins here when we discover what true wisdom looks like.

James 3:17 lists seven marks of the wisdom God provides: it's pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.  The wisdom that all believers in Jesus should seek is connected to Christlike character.  It's the fruit of someone who walks with God, choosing to live in an upright, obedient way.  In short, it's the result of someone who fears God.  

Do you want to navigate through life making decisions that will bring glory to God and benefit others?  James says, "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking" (James 1:5 NLT).  Our generous God will help you fear Him so you may gain wisdom to live life beautifully for Him.

- Poh Fang Chia (Our Daily Bread author)

From Beside the Still Waters...

Heart Matters - Read Matthew 12:33-45

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins." - Jeremiah 17:9-10

 There is a popular saying that if the heart is right, nothing else matters.  This statement is true in a sense.  If our heart is right with God, it will produce a chain reaction that affects our whole life: what we do, what we say, and how we look.  If our heart is right, our focus will shift away from our selfish pursuits to following and obeying the Lord.  Those with whom we live and work will easily be able to discern this.  Our responses to trials and frustrations as well as to blessings and successes all bear testimony to the condition of our heart.

However, some people live in selfishness and disobedience to God, and they still claim that their heart is right.  In verse 33 of today's Bible reading, Jesus uses trees to illustrate some important truths.  Either a tree and its fruit are both good, or they are both bad.  You can tell what kind of tree it is by the fruit it yields, and the same is true of the heart.

Verse 35 compares a man's heart to a treasure chest, which he can fill with good or evil things.  What he puts in is what will come out!  So producing good fruit (virtues) will not happen automatically.  It takes a heart purified by Jesus, the source of all that is good.  

Verses 43-45 give a further picture of the heart.  We see a heart that is clean and "garnished" which happens after a sinner repents and receives forgiveness for sins.  But there is one problem: the heart is "empty", and Satan is always ready to enter such a heart.  This underscores the vital importance of not leaving our heart empty, but allowing Jesus to fill it with Himself and His godly virtues.

Stephen Leinbach - Elkton, KY

 

Cling to the Bible! This jewel and treasure

Brings life eternal, and saves fallen man;

Surely its value no mortal can measure;

Seek for its blessing, O soul, while you can!