Proverbs 1:7

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,
And there is good understanding in all who practice it;

Personal Challenge

It is not what I know, but Who I know that gives me wisdom and good understanding. Fearing, trusting, respecting, submitting to, and loving my God, is what sets me on the path of the wisdom.

Luke 11:23

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

Personal Challenge

I must always be checking the state of my heart and the fruit of my labors to make sure that all is for my Lord and none is for me, As we live immersed in the fallen world, it is a constant challenge to resist becoming a part of the world and living for the world. Jesus makes it very clear that if I am not doing my acts of work and service for Him, then I am doing them against Him. A heart check every once in a while is a good thing to do. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 91:14-16 (90:14-16 LXX)

“For he hoped in Me, and I will deliver him;
I will shelter him, because he knew My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will hear him;
I am with him in affliction,
And I will deliver and glorify him.
With length of days I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

Encouraging Words

I am not alone on this journey called life. My God has blessed me with wonderful loved ones to be on this journey as well as many friends and acquaintances. But He has not stopped there. My God is intimately involved in the lives of everyone, especially those who choose to claim Him as Lord. If I put my hope in Him, He will deliver me through whatever storm comes my way. If I strive to know Him, He will shelter me. When I call upon His name, He will hear me. When I am in the midst of affliction because I still live in a fallen world, He will deliver me and even glorify me. For as long as I live He will satisfy me and meet my needs, and most importantly show me His salvation. So, why would I not put my hope in Him? Why would I ever want to turn my back on Him and choose the world to be my satisfaction and salvation when it never will? I choose to love my God, to put my hope in Him, and to follow Him as He leads me on that journey through life. Glory be to God!

Job 42:4

But hear me, O Lord, that I also may speak.
I will ask You, and please teach Me.

Personal Challenge

To truly know God, and to understand Him, we need to come to this place where Job was in our own lives. We need to realize that we are nothing compared to the majesty of God and yet we are everything in His eyes. We need to cry out to God asking Him to be the only voice in our lives, teaching us, leading us, loving us. We can only come to this place in our lives when we realize that there is nothing in this temporal world that can substitute for God, that there is no one in this world that can provide for us other than God, and that we need to be silent in His presence, which is always, and listen for His voice. To be righteous and godly we must abandon all of this world for Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Luke 11:17

But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.”

Personal challenge

Jesus responded to those who were accusing Him of being a demon who was using miracles as a way to pull people from their belief in Yahweh and the practices of the Jewish people. He made it clear that this was not the case because it would have caused more disruption to the demonic kingdom than value. This teaching could apply to many other areas of our lives as well. One of these is how the modern, Western church has become such a divided house. This was such a concern for Jesus that He prayed for us to have unity. Is this possibly the reason that the church today is having such a difficult time drawing in the lost and keeping them there? Jesus also promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against His one true church. So, we can never lose hope that the church will always be alive as the Bride of Christ. What is necessary for all of us to do is to seek that place of worship where God’s presence, power, authority, love, and mercy still reigns. Glory be to God!

Psalms 91:4 (90:4 LXX)

He shall overshadow you with His shoulders,
And under His wings you shall hope;
His truth shall encircle you with a shield.

Encouraging Words

There have been times throughout my life, not that many, but enough, where people have laughed at me for being a Christian. I have been asked how an educated person could believe in a God and all of the archaic superstitions that revolves around Him. These times have always made for some very interesting and sometimes heated discussions. Nothing can take away from me my belief in a loving, caring, merciful God. I have seen His hand at work in my life and the lives of others far too many times. It does not take an education to know or define God and an education does not interfere with knowing Him. It all comes down to faith, believing that He is who He says He is, and then letting your eyes, ears, and all other senses be open to observing His presence in everything. When a person gets to this place in his, or her, life then you can clearly see His shoulders overshadowing you to provide protection. You can find true peace and hope under His wings as a newly hatched eaglet does under his mother’s. You will know the power and freedom of having His truth shield you at all times and in all situations. This is true life. Glory be to God!

Job 28:28

He said to man, ‘behold, the fear of God is wisdom,
And to abstain from evils is understanding.’

Personal Challenge
So often, in our lives as Christians, we get caught up in the pursuit of the knowledge of God and we end up knowing Him even less. There is nothing wrong with learning more, more about our faith, more about the history of our faith, more about those who have gone before us as the pillars of our faith, but here we have God telling us what we must do to gain true wisdom and understanding. God’s wisdom comes from living a life focusing on Him, respecting Him and who He is, fearing Him as the awesome God that He is, but knowing that He loves us so much that we have nothing to be afraid of. This does not come from books, or lectures, or seminars, but from living a life of submission to, and trust in our Living God. The understanding that what we receive from God comes from living our lives in ways where we strive to abstain from evil ways and attempt to live pure and righteous lives. To grow in wisdom and understanding, we need to be active in living our lives Gods’ ways. Glory be to God!

Luke 11:9-10

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. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Personal Challenge

Jesus was not proclaiming to be our vending machine who responds to our every whim like a genie in a bottle, The Greek language has so much more depth to it than our English language. These words, ask, seek, and knock are active verbs in the Greek language. They are telling us to keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking throughout our lives. Jesus was telling His disciples, and us, that our lives are not static, one time events. We must spend our entire lives pursuing Him, and in so doing, our desires, our wills, those things that we ask, seek and knock on doors for will begin to align with that which our Lord would desire for us. If we keep at it long enough, pursuing Him with our whole heart, soul, spirit, and body, then we begin to change and the things of this world are no longer important to us. This verse is not about getting what we want but is about becoming what He wants. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

Psalms 91:1 (90:1 LXX)

He who dwells in the help of the Most High
Shall lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven.

Encouraging Words

This is a very interesting explanation of what we need to do in order to lodge in the shelter of God in heaven, which is basically the desire of every Christian. All we have to do is dwell in the help of the Most High, our heavenly Father. What does this mean? It does not mean that I can do a lot of things, or just the right things, in order to make it to heaven. There is nothing that I can “Do?” in order to earn this right. It has nothing to do with being a part of the right church, or the right denomination. What it means is that I live my life giving it over to my Lord and trusting Him for everything. It means submitting my will and my passions to Him and being obedient to Him. It means taking up my cross daily for Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!