Wisdom is...

I was thinking back the other day about my life and careers that I worked in during my adult life.  I say “CAREERS” because while my 20 years spent with Hewlett-Packard/Agilent Technologies, many years with Sears, Unruh’s Photography, The Home Depot and the multitude of side jobs I performed from wedding and portrait photography to mowing lawns, would be considered to be my VOCATION… But my true and heartfelt CALLING was to the Ministry… in which Piper and I were involved with since practically day one of our relationship!

What struck me a little funny as I took a stroll down memory lane, was that even though I was many times asked to take a leadership role in almost all of those occupations… I didn’t always employ a lot of WISDOM in the performance of my responsibilities!  I think back in particular to the first areas at Hewlett Packard when I supervised teams in the fabrication area of the division and I cringe at some of the things I said or did to those under my direction…

And then… OMG! I don’t know how any of the youth in the first Youth Group that Piper and I led as Youth Ministers in the late 1970’s, stuck with us and are still strong Christians today!  I guess God’s GRACE really is an extremely powerful agent of His LOVE for us!

On a more positive note, though, I would also have to admit that I believe that I did and continue to learn from my mistakes.  As I grew in my hunger and thirst for the Word of God and spent time learning and listening to Him… I would say that the things that I say and do today, line up a lot more succinctly with the ways that He thinks and desires me to walk and lead others in.

James the pastor of the early church in Jerusalem gave us a specific but yet simple litmus test for when we seek to share WISDOM with others.  In James 3:17 he wrote,

“Real wisdom originates in heaven and is always pure, healing, restorative, kind, compassionate, selfless, merciful, peaceful, transformational, unbiased, and sincere.”  (The Remedy New Testament) 

For me, James’ advice acts as a sort of checklist that I can consider when I talk with others in everyday conversation or when asked for specific counsel from others with a need.  The King James Version tells us,

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” 

As I did a word study on the different descriptive words in the verse, a couple of things especially stood out to me.  The word “PEACEABLE” is defined in the Greek as “peaceful in character and intent” (Strongs) and it helps me to think of the way that I need to approach the individual that I am conversing with.  In other words, I am not speaking in frustration or anger or as a know-it-all, but as someone who truly cares for and wants the best outcome for the other individual(s).

The phrase “easy to be intreated” talks of one who is “devoted to” the best possible outcome for the situation at hand.  This got me to thinking that the one sharing their WISDOM with someone else, should be more devoted to the other person and their need… than to themselves and how the conversation can positively affect them.  I have had some folks in the past share (or simply command) what they thought I should do… and then found myself thinking… “was that “advice” for MY peaceful benefit or for THEIRS!”  In my experience, that kind of “WISDOM” is more confusing than helpful!

And then the clincher for me was found in the definition of the phrase “good fruits.”  Thayer’s Greek Definitions tells us that the WISDOM that we share with others, should be “something that we can present to God as a thank offering.”

That makes me stop and think before I ever open my mouth when I am about to share some “WISDOM” with someone.  I like the way in which The Remedy breaks down the verse from the King James and spells out the specific direction in which our words to others should take…  and then to keep in mind throughout the entire conversation… that in the end… are my words “something that we can present to God as a thank offering?”

That phrase alone helps me to be diligent with the things I say and assure that the WISDOM I share truly is the “Real WISDOM that originates from heaven,” and not just something I THOUGHT would be good and/or appropriate to say!

What do you think about that?

We’ve just gone through a crazy weather week that has thrown at us just about everything that Oklahoma has to offer.  This morning’s weather front is on the way out right now and I am looking forward to the sunshine and temps up into the low sixties forecast for next week… Yee Haw!  I hope you are all doing well wherever you might be… and while you’re at it… consider the WISDOM that you share with others… while keeping in mind how thankful to God your words of WISDOM are… or can be!

I Had a Dream...

I woke up this morning from a dream that I was having at about 2:30 AM, according to the clock on my nightstand.  It’s kind of funny that while I didn’t remember most of the content of the dream… I did recall that I was at my parent’s home and had just walked down their long curving driveway and into the street… which I had done countless times as a kid, having grown up there from the early 1960’s until Piper and I got married in 1975.

Something about the dream though, had unsettled me and as I laid in the dark staring at the ceiling, I tried to make sense of the troubling feelings that clouded my mind.  I finally threw off the covers and walked into the bathroom to get a drink of water.  Once I quenched my thirst, I leaned back against the counter and began to analyze my thoughts.  I realized that my attention to the dream was all focused on the important part that my parent’s house had played in my life. 

I was also made aware that I had never brought any closure to that part of my life since Piper and I moved out of state in 2014.  It wasn’t as if we dropped everything at the time and moved as quickly as we could.  We (okay… I) planned the move for over a year, but with Piper’s rapidly declining health, I had all I could do to care for her changing needs and prepare for the move across the country.

Piper was my first and foremost priority and aside from the move preparations, she received every spare moment of my attention… and with the sale of my parent’s house going on at the same time… it meant that the repairs, updates and improvements that my brother and a cousin who is a contractor were doing on the house, were totally off my radar.  And when the house was sold, I never had (or made) the time to go back and see it and/or say my memory filled goodbyes.

I would also need to add that I was under a lot of pressure from a small contingent of extended family who didn’t agree with some of the decisions I had been making with Piper’s care.  There were many inaccuracies stated that could have easily brought instability, disorder and un-needed commotion amongst Piper and I and our kids… which, thank God, never occurred and in fact worked to intensify our faith and our unity!

I Corinthians 14:33 in the King James Version tells us that,

“God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

The modern Message paraphrase Bible puts it this way saying,

“God doesn't stir us up into confusion; He brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches—no exceptions.” 

So, while there were many things stirring up the pot… so to speak… at that time in my life, I prioritized my energy and attention on caring for my wife’s increasing needs and the upcoming move… which didn’t leave me many opportunities to bring closure to other areas of my life that I may or may not ever get to see again… as we moved far away from our hometown and state.

Now though, as I look back some ten years later, I do not regret any of the decisions that were made… under what I believed to be the Lord’s leadings back then.  But as the dream last night reminded me… I do wish that I could have had the time to bring closure to some special memories that were left behind!

I do think that if I had been more aware of the physical consequences of the outside pressures of confusion and disharmony that were attempting to be put on me… that I would have been able to spend less time dealing with them and more time in completing activities that I now wish I had addressed.

So, what is my point in all of this?  Simply, to be aware of confusion and disharmony in your life.  According to our scripture (and many more like them in yours and my Bibles), confusion, disharmony, disorder and instability are NOT activities given to us by our loving heavenly Father… and are in fact… a part of the enemy of our faith’s arsenal of weapons that he throws against us.  John 8:44 plainly informs us that,

“The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn't know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he's doing what comes naturally to him. He's a liar and the father of lies.” (God’s Word ©)

Therefore, with that Biblical understanding under your belt, be aware of the lies that he attempts to slip into our lives in the forms of confusion, disharmony disorder and instability.  Don’t allow his tactics to stop you from pursuing and enjoying your family, your daily activities, your dreams, your life goals and the plans and purposes that the Lord has for you and your loved ones to pursue in your life!

As for me… well… this early morning’s dream helped me to see and plan for ways that I can and will bring closure to the important areas of my life that were all set aside when Piper’s needs demanded my loving and clearly focused attention.

HOW ABOUT YOU?  What are you going to look out for as YOU pursue the daily events of your life?

Have a great weekend…. Stay alert to the enemy’s tactics and keep EXPECTING God’s Best… and then, pass it on to someone else!  We are back in the teens and minus windchill factors for a few days, but it seems rather comfortable compared to the Artic weather we experienced earlier this week… I guess that it’s all relative!

Stay warm and dry and enjoy your weekend!

Secret Places

Did you ever have a SECRET PLACE that you liked to go to when you were a kid?  To be honest… I don’t recall having any such places to retreat to as a youngster, but I do, as an older teenager and well into my adult years… and it all began when I started dating my wife-to-be during our senior year in high school.  Let me explain…

From the very beginning, we just enjoyed each other’s company!  As time went on and our lives got busier with school, church, jobs, friends and family events, we actively looked for scenic, private places where we could get away from everyone and everything…, and simply be alone to talk and dream together! 

Now don’t get the wrong idea here… while there may or may not have been a little bit of smooching going on, these times, in what we called our SECRET PLACES, were spent getting to know each other and to discuss our future, while we allowed our imaginations to run free and see our united dreams form into a congruent vision and a life plan.  One of the exciting legacies of these activities is that they continued right up to the time Piper left us for her heavenly reward… and I treasure those memories deeply in my heart today!

And speaking of SECRET PLACES, ever since I wrote last weekend’s New Years blog post where I wrote about the importance of us coming to the end of our words and into the beginning of God’s… where we can hear God’s unspeakable words of wisdom, love and direction for our lives... I’ve come to realize that those special times all occur within God’s SECRET PLACES!

Paul described such an event in 2 Corinthians 12:4 where he wrote of a personal experience and explained,

“How that I was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (KJV) 

Some of the more modern Bible versions give a deeper understanding into the precise meaning of what he was trying to relate to his readers. The Passion Translation says,

“I was caught up in an ecstatic experience and brought into paradise, where I overheard many wondrous and inexpressible SECRETS that were so sacred that no mortal is permitted to repeat them.” 

While The Remedy New Testament expresses Paul’s thoughts as,

“I know I was taken to paradise where God is. While there, I heard wonderful truths—truths beyond earthly comprehension; truths human beings are currently unable to explain.” 

It would seem that Paul’s experience, as like others that are recorded in our Bibles (and other men and women’s in more modern times that I have read about) all talk about things that were personally seen and/or heard… while in deep prayer, praise and worship or even in dedicated times of study within the Word of God… in which they were later unable to accurately describe or explain in human languages.

In my personal life, I can remember many different times when I have heard leadings, words of wisdom or clear directions given to me from the Lord through that “still small voice”* on the inside of me, when spending personal and private time in the Lord’s presence…of which I could not explain the rhyme or reason to others concerning the validity and/or the full reasoning of what I heard**...   And since the Bible makes it clear, as the Apostle Peter found out when he witnessed the Holy Spirit falling on the Gentiles and declared,

 “I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34 - KJV)

…that if God will speak to me as I set time apart in my daily life to spend time alone with Him in His Word or while singing hymns of praise to Him… then He can and will do the same for YOU!

When Piper got to the point in her battle with Alzheimer’s where she could no longer verbally communicate, I wasn’t moved because I knew that all our time spent alone in the SECRET PLACES that we had sought out together over the years, would pay off…

Because even if she couldn’t speak… I could still “hear” or “read” what she was wanting to communicate… because I KNEW HER!  I knew exactly how she thought, the things she enjoyed and the things she definitely would NOT like!  I could read her expressions, her movements, and even the crinkles around her eyes.  All the time that we spent alone together was not for naught, but highly tuned us to be able to respond to each other’s basic and deepest needs and desires!

And you know… the same exact closeness of our relationship can also be experienced between you and God.  All you have to do is to make the commitment to each other and then (as the saying goes: “Come hell or high water”) be and stay consistent in order to make it happen on a regular basis!

Have a great weekend… and if is anything like it is here in northeastern Oklahoma… bundle up and stay warm, while you expect to hear from God… and then share His best with those around you!

 

*See: Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9

** Many times, the only one who I could tell who would understand and/or trust me enough to proceed with the direction was Piper… because of all the time we had spent together getting to know each other in the SECRET PLACES we had enjoyed over the years!

From the End to the Beginning!

I always tend to get a little excited around this time of the year as we pack up the old year and then unleash a fresh, new and optimistic bundle of our uninhibited goals, plans and dreams for the New Year ahead!  It is kind of like packing up the very last box of Christmas decorations, placing it back in storage and then walking into the house with a whole new chance for life, unincumbered by last year’s junk!

Does that feeling sound familiar to any of you?  For as long as I can remember, I have been as planner… or maybe more accurately stated: “A DREAMER” and proud of it!  And then, low and behold, who should I meet as I neared the end of my high school years but another DREAMER… packaged up in a sweet, petite, freckled and joyful personality that I fell for… Hook, Line and Sinker!  It was like the direction of my life was all preplanned and I had all that I could do but to jump on the band wagon and Hold on Tight!

So, with all that in mind, the beginning of the year has always been a special time for me to cast a vision for the coming 12 months.  Piper and I liked to take some time away from the hustle and bustle of life and refresh as we set our hearts together to DREAM and then set the course for the New Year.

One of the things that we learned as we DREAMED and planned and then set out to physically accomplish our goals, was to know when to Come to the End of our Words, and Enter into the Beginning of God’s Words!   Let me explain.  The Apostle Peter put it best, when talking about our believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and then expressing our love for Him saying,

“Whom having not seen, ye love; in Whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (I Peter 1:8 – KJV)

Peter is telling us here, that in order to really enter into the JOY of the Lord in our worship and honor of Him… that we have to come to the place where we let go of ourselves, STOP TALKING and enter into the realm of His GLORY… where we can no longer express our LOVE and JOY for Him in our own human words!

So, what does this have to do with pursuing our PLANS, VISIONS and DREAMS for the New Year… EVERYTHING!

I, like many of you, am NOT one to give up on my PLANS, VISIONS AND DREAMS.  It is one of the many characteristics that my wife and I shared throughout the 48 years that we enjoyed together.  Therefore, like Peter shared, whenever we hit a wall in the pursuit of what we believed to be a God-given DREAM… we would take some time individually or together (as time and circumstances allowed) and come before the Father God in prayer in order to seek His direction and/or clarification.

We also learned through time, experience, practice and with some mistakes mixed in… to spend more time in prayer LISTENING than we did in SPEAKING!  Being musicians (not that I would put myself anywhere near the level of talent of my wife…), we would praise and worship the Lord in song, confess scripture, pray in tongues and speak out our verbal needs and requests before Him… but then there came the all-important time when we would quiet ourselves and be still and listen with our hearts to that small still voice speaking on the inside of us.

If you’re anything like me… I’m not always a fan of too much quiet… and while I enjoy our quiet neighborhood, the soft rustling of the trees blowing in the wind on our camping/hiking adventures… I do play music throughout the day when I am home.  I also do not care for prolonged periods of silence when I am in conversation with someone else… but like I said, I am learning to be quiet and at peace when I go into prayer with God… and remind myself that prayer is a TWO-WAY conversation!  There is a time to talk… and an even more important time to LISTEN!

That’s the time when we Come to the END of OUR WORDS and enter into the BEGINNING of HIS!

Isaish 46:10 talks about God knowing the END from the BEGINNING.  The Message Bible puts it this way declaring’

“From the very BEGINNING telling you what the ENDING will be, All along letting you in on what is going to happen, Assuring you, 'I'm in this for the long haul, I'll do exactly what I set out to do,” 

So, it only makes sense… that if God knows the END of what’s happening in our lives, from the very BEGINNING… then I want to spend as little time as possible in trying to figure things out for myself… STOP TALKING and begin to quiet down so that I can hear what HE has to say about the situation in which I have come to Him for guidance in… RIGHT?

When I am in conversation with the Lord in prayer… I want to quickly come to the END of MY words and enter into the BEGINNING of HIS words.

Wouldn’t you agree!  Sounds like a plan for 2024… doesn’t it!

Have a great weekend.  EXPECT God’s BEST and as you do… watch over your words while you remember to LISTEN for HIS!

Goodbye to 2023 and Hello to 2024

I was listening to a recent newscast where the panel of commentators were discussing the results of a new poll, where it was reported that 63% of the participants felt that 2023 had been a bad year for them.  And while I wasn’t really surprised with the findings of the poll, I had to stop and think for awhile of how I would personally characterize this past year.

Sure, I am spending a lot more on my monthly expenses… in almost every category, but yet my Christian faith and trust in God’s Word doesn’t really allow for complaining as I have repeatedly seen the positive results of Philippians 4:19 where the Apostle Paul wrote,

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (KJV)

This scripture is specifically written in the context of financial supply and I joyfully report that while my expenses have increased… so has, what I consider to be, the supernatural provision of the increased demand upon my checkbook… and I usually end up with a nice balance leftover in my monthly budget!

So, with that settled, I took a few moments this morning to look back at 2023 to see what lessons I may of… or possibly should of learned in the course the last 365 days.  As I considered and prayed about it, I suddenly heard the phrase inside of me saying:

“Go back to the beginnings…”

And I knew in an instant what it meant and flashed back to all the notes that I have been taking during my morning Bible study over the last few weeks!  It would seem that since mid-November of this year, that the Lord has been constantly “Bringing me back to the beginnings” of Piper’s and my marriage when He marked us with a revelation of scriptures that directed our Christian walk and our belief system, so that it played a major part in just about every decision we ever made!

For us it was similar to the young teenage virgin Mary to whom the angel appeared in order to announce the birth of Jesus and God the Father’s salvation plan for mankind.  As with Mary, Piper and I made the decision at the beginning of our marriage to believe in and to apply the miraculous power of the Word of God in our lives, and declared in agreement to the Lord, "may it be with us in accordance with your words!"*

For us though, the specific scripture that lit the fire of faith in us for our entire marriage and continues on with me today, is found in Mark 11:24 where Jesus taught His disciples the message of the God kind of faith** by instructing them saying,

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. “ (KJV)

As I look back over 2023… and every past decade beginning in the 1970’s… I can see multiple situations and experiences where the Lord brought us “Back to the beginnings” of our faith in order to enable us to gain renewed strength and momentum to successfully accomplish the task before us and/or face and see victory in the midst of trying times.

As you look back on 2023 and ahead to the fresh New Year… can you see times when you went “Back to the beginnings” of your faith that strengthened you and carried you through to victory in life?  Are there positive lessons in your past that you might need to regain familiarity with in order to empower you to better times in 2024?  Are there any life lessons from your beginnings that you may need to dust off to help you through your todays and tomorrows?

Granted there may be some experiences from your past that you would rather like to forget… and I’ve had plenty of those!  But then there are also those, like Piper’s and my faith beginnings surrounding the Word of God… and in particular Mark 11:22-24… that have been the bedrock for our Christian walk, guided just about every major and most minor decisions we ever made… and still is the rock that I depend on as I navigate life anew with the memory of Piper strongly speaking to my heart.

How about you?  What are the beginnings that you would like to re-establish in your life for 2024?  I believe that God wants the best for you in this new year… so why not re-connect with Him in His Word… and let His truth revolutionize your faith and bring you into new and exciting depths of His Faith, His Grace, His Joy and His Peace throughout 2024… and beyond!

Have a great New Year… keep EXPECTING His Best… and then pass it on to others!

 

*Luke 1:38 (KJV)

** Mark 11:22