Wisdom Matters

How do we learn to love God? 

Jesus answered that question in his Sermon on the Mount saying, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).

At the end of each day we can ask ourselves, “When did I see God today? How did I enjoy, share, and respond to God’s unfathomable love?” 

To fear the Lord is to thoughtfully consider our eternal God with the reverent love and honor we owe him. It's to return the love that he has lavished on us. 

The psalmist taught that loving God in this way is the beginning of wisdom. 

Our goal should be to reverently love God in the ways that will lead us to walk in his presence and be filled with his wisdom. That is how we are most able to lead a pure life—a life that can see God and love him with a pure heart. 

Let’s begin our year with the “beginning of wisdom” as we love and honor our amazing God.

Our attention is easily drawn to an older couple who strolls through the church, holding hands, still obviously in love with one another. Their love illustrates God’s plan for marriage because the “two have become one.” That’s a love most of us aspire to have and is the earthly example of the love relationship God wants to have with each of us. 

People who maintain a strong love relationship with God naturally reveal God’s love to others. When we fill our days with God, he fills our moments with his love because “God is love.” His nature, character, and presence in our lives serve as an expression of his pure and unconditional love.

Maybe someone glimpsed God’s love in you today simply because you allowed his love to be present in your thoughts and choices. When two become one, a unique love is born. That is the relationship God desires to have with us. Our attention is easily drawn to people who live with that love for one another. 

To know God is to understand that He is love, and that is the beginning of wisdom.

We have come to the final day of the year, a year I hope you have filled with the wisdom of God. I hope you will continue to consume and embrace God’s words of wisdom each day. 

New Year’s resolutions are going out of style. Very few resolutions are made with lasting resolve. Jesus would offer us a resolution that will never change, and a resolution he will make possible.

This new year will hold its own joys, its own challenges, and its own opportunities. Jesus was preaching his Sermon on the Mount when he gave some great advice for every December thirty-first of our lives.

Jesus said, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25). The Lord knows every moment of the coming year and all that you will face personally. He knows all our culture will face as a nation. He knows all that our friends and family members will face. Jesus knows and told us, “Do not be anxious about your life.” God has you in the palm of his hand and you are forever fine.

When Jesus had finished commanding his disciples to “not be anxious,” he taught them how to focus on something besides their concerns. He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

There is only one resolution you need to make for the new year. Resolve to make Jesus your king and all your focus to be on his righteousness. Resolve to be right with Jesus this year and everything else “will be added to you.” Jesus taught his disciples how to live in a close, personal relationship with him. Their lessons are our lessons today.

I pray Wisdom Matters has served to fill your life with the wisdom of God and the insight of how his wisdom can change your life.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. God’s wisdom is found in God’s Son, his Spirit, and in the words of Scripture. Continue to gain God’s wisdom. In a culture of abundant information, his wisdom matters.

The angel told the shepherds that they brought “good news of great joy” and their news was for “all the people.” 

The phrase good news is from the Greek word euangelion, meaning good news, good tidings, and the word gospel. When the angels told the shepherds they had come to bring “good news” of great joy, they used the same word Paul used in Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (italics added).

When the shepherds announced the birth of Christ, they announced his purpose. Jesus is the good news, the gospel, and the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

If only we could live our lives with the conviction that we have good news. If only Christians were convinced that they have the ability and the joy to share the gospel with people. The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. Why then do we falter, hesitate, or second-guess our response when someone asks us about our faith? Why then did we ever allow our culture to tell us our message is a personal truth rather than the good news for everyone?

The shepherds rushed from the cave in Bethlehem to tell others what they had seen. Scripture says, “All who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them” (Luke 2:18). The shepherds had “good news” and were anxious to share it with everyone. The shepherds are our example today. 

The shepherds didn’t try to convince people they were right; they simply shared the good news they had experienced. They shared the message the angels had given them. Our witness is to do the same thing with people today. The gospel is the powerful good news about who the baby Jesus grew to become. 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Our gift to Jesus is to share the good news, the gospel, with his wisdom and power. We have a treasure to give others.

Those verses from Paul’s letter to the Philippians should be memorized and understood by every Christian. We should hang them on our doorposts, post them on our cell phones, and quote them to the mirror every morning. It would change our lives and our witness if we lived with the overwhelming truth about Jesus’ sacrifice.

Jesus was there when the world was created. Jesus lived in the glory and perfection of heaven. In heaven, Jesus never felt pain, never was ill, never was tempted, and never existed a moment apart from the loving presence of God the Father. Jesus was praised by the angels in heaven and surrounded by the saints of the Old Testament. Jesus received the glory he was due and lived in the glory he deserved.

Then Jesus stepped away from all of that to be born “in the likeness of men” and raised by a family. He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.” He worked hard as a carpenter and then left that work to do the ministry of the Messiah. Finally, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus gave up the highest glory of heaven to receive the most shameful, painful death ever devised by man. Jesus did that for you and for everyone.

We are called to be like Jesus, beginning with his humility. Humility is one of the qualities of Jesus most difficult to attain, especially in our culture today. Human nature leads us to claw our way to the top. God’s nature within us is the only way we will humbly claw our way to the bottom.

The power behind humility is the picture of all that Christ gave up to become our Savior. And Paul said, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” The only way we will have “this mind” is to gain that mindset from Jesus and the example he lived and died to give us.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Jesus is also the power to live our lives with his humility.

Has someone repeatedly come to your mind these past few days? Was there something that happened this past month that you need to forgive or be forgiven for? Did you forget someone or something during the Christmas rush? It isn’t too late.

Most of us have said something wrong to someone. Most of us have forgotten what we should have remembered. Most of us know people who are overly sensitive about the times we are under-attentive. Relationships will always require more work and a lot more sensitivity than what comes naturally.

We expect people to let us down at times, and they should expect that we will do the same. Most of us can forgive others their mistakes, especially when we consider our own. But what about those times when we feel like the Lord has let us down? How do we continue to pray to God when we feel like he hasn’t been listening?

Paul wrote about his personal struggles in several of his letters. In his second letter to the Corinthians, he wrote about his “thorn in the flesh.” Paul had missionary work to accomplish. Paul had letters to write and sermons to preach. Yet, something in his life made it difficult for him to fulfill his calling. He had prayed, asking God to take it away so his life would be easier. But God didn’t do what Paul had asked. By the time Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthians, he had discerned God’s answer to his prayer. 

God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” And Paul wrote, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” God essentially told Paul, “You don’t have what you want, but you have what you need so that you will allow my power to be your strength and your sufficiency.” God does answer our prayers, but he answers them for our eternal good. His priority is our eternal reward, which is sometimes at the expense of our earthly comfort.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom is accepting our treasure is sufficient for today, even when some answers to prayer aren’t fully known until heaven.

A lot of people are relieved to see the season end. Most bars are open on Christmas Day because a lot of people are lonely and hope to find temporary anesthesia for their pain. Many people are stranded in airports and just want to get home. Christmas is not a celebration for some in our culture, and they are glad to end the hubbub of the holiday that only hurts their souls. Who needs to meet Jesus before next Christmas?

Sharing our faith with people who blame Jesus for causing them pain is difficult. He is the reason they don’t mix well with their family. He is the reason they are left out of some conversations. Jesus can be the reason their self-esteem is lower and their bitterness is increased.

For those of us who know the love of Jesus, trying to comprehend why others would feel differently is hard. People will usually have a difficult time knowing they are loved by the Lord, unless they are first loved by his children.

People were created with a great need to know God. That need is a good place to begin your prayers for those you know who need Jesus. The philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote a book in 1669 titled Pensées. Pascal explained the empty place in our souls that only God can fill. 

He wrote, “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God himself.”

The God-shaped vacuum in everyone’s life is the best place to take the words of Christ, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” He spoke those words to Mary and Martha, who were grieving the fact that Jesus had allowed their brother Lazurus to die. Jesus told them what every human being needs to know. He has the power to save.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom is knowing that Jesus is the only One able to fill the empty space in people’s hearts, souls, and lives.

A lot of people enjoy their Christmas decorations all the way into the new year. I’m not one of those people. I’m notorious for being the first to pick up and put away all those Christmas decorations! My friends have commented on that because I’m also the one who enjoys Christmas more than most. But for me, when the people are gone, and the twenty-fifth is gone, so is the holiday.

I love the simplicity of my “undecorated” home. I love the peaceful quiet that follows the noisy, fun Christmas celebration. I love thinking about Jesus, finally born, in the arms of Mary. She must have been so relieved to hold him, knowing he had safely arrived.

Every Christmas season on earth has a beginning and an end. Nothing about our earthly lives is permanent, except our souls. Those of us who believe can say with conviction, “It is well with my soul.”

I will enjoy my morning coffee and a warm fire when I am able to look at my simplified surroundings. I will haul out the trash, throw away some Christmas candy, and think about losing any extra weight I’ve added. There is something wonderful about moving from one season to the next. There is something wonderful about the simplified joy of a Christmas “well done.”

Jesus came to his beloved disciple John on the island of Patmos. John was worshiping Jesus when the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Your Christmas season might last a little longer than mine, but, at some point, it will come to an end. Everything on earth has a beginning and an end. Everything, except God. God is the Alpha, the beginning of everything. God is also the Omega, the end. Jesus was “with God in the beginning.” Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus will come again as the Almighty Savior of the world. Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem but will come once again as the conquering King. It could be this next year! 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. He is our treasure for every day on earth and for all eternity. 

It’s Christmas Day. After weeks of planning and preparation, this is the day of celebration. But, at the end of the day, only one celebration is needed. 

Every Christian can celebrate on this day:

-“In the city of David a Savior” was born. He was and is “Christ the Lord.”

-Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.

-Jesus was born of a virgin because he was and is “the Son of God.”

-Jesus was born as the final sacrifice for the sins of the world.

-Christmas leads to Easter. Easter leads to eternal hope.

Whatever else this day means to your life, allow yourself time for Christmas to mean what Christmas was intended to mean.

God gave us Christmas because he “so loved the world.” God gave us Jesus so that “whoever would believe in him” could be saved. God gave us Christmas so he could give us Easter. We celebrate Christmas because we have believed and therefore we can live knowing we will never “perish” because we have the hope of eternal life.

Allow the emptiness under the tree to serve as a reminder that each Christmas season on earth is a temporary moment of the eternal celebration that awaits us, God’s children.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. May you treasure the moments of your Christmas celebration with the eternal wisdom and hope of all the celebrations to come. 

I wish you and yours a blessed and holy Christmas.

Jesus’ favorite way to refer to himself was as the “Son of Man.” The phrase occurs sixty-six times in the Synoptic Gospels and twelve times in the book of John. Why did Jesus refer to himself with that phrase?

There are several answers to that question, but the most probable requires us to consider his audience, the Jewish people. The phrase is rooted in the Old Testament as simply referring to “son of Adam.” In other words, Jesus was a “human being” descended from Adam. If we combine that understanding with a prophecy from Daniel, we come to the complete truth. Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would be “one like a son of man” who would be given “dominion and glory and a kingdom” (Daniel 7:13–14). Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would be a human being but with divine power and authority.

Christmas was the moment Daniel’s prophecy was fully revealed. Jesus was born of a virgin because God was his Father. Jesus was a human baby with divine purpose.

Many will attend a Christmas Eve service tonight yet still attempt to explain the birth of Christ in human terms. They think of him as a good teacher, a prophet, or a “religious figure.” People still struggle with the idea of a miraculous conception. But people of faith understand that the Messiah whom Daniel prophesied was revealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus preferred to call himself the Son of Man because that was the full truth of his nature.

Jesus told those listening who he was and why he had come when he said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). When he referred to himself with that phrase, he was saying, “I am your Messiah.” Why didn’t everyone understand? The bigger question is, “Why didn’t the Jewish leaders, the most studied of the Jewish nation, believe?” They should have known, and they should have pointed God’s people to Jesus as their Messiah. John the Baptist did. Jesus was the Son of Man, but he wasn’t the Messiah the Jewish leaders wanted him to be, so they didn’t believe. The same is true for people today. There is plenty of theological and historical proof for our faith, but faith is only for those who want to believe.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Wisdom is needed to understand and accept that Jesus was and is the Son of Man.

We look back at the first Christmas in Bethlehem through the lens of history. We see the birth of Jesus as God’s gift to the world (John 3:16). But we should not miss the truth of Matthew 1:21 either. Jesus came to save “his people” first.

Matthew 1:19 describes Joseph as a “just man” who had decided to divorce Mary “quietly” when he learned she was pregnant. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20–21). 

The name Jesus is derived from the Hebrew name Yeshua, meaning to deliver or rescue. It is the same name as Joshua, the man who led the Hebrew people into the promised land. Matthew is careful to describe the moment when an angel told Joseph the name of the baby Mary would deliver because, in that name, Joseph would understand the baby’s purpose. His name would be Jesus because the baby was the Messiah. Joseph understood and knew that he was called to care for Mary and her son.

Jesus was God’s gift to the world, but he came first to the chosen people of God. The apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans, and he makes a statement in chapter 1 that is considered to be the theme of Romans. The apostle wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). Jesus came to save “his people” first.

Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph, two people who lived with great faith in God. The first Christmas was for those who were faithful to God the Father. The faithful Jewish people would be the first to understand and accept Jesus as their Messiah. Faithful Jewish men were chosen to be his disciples. Sadly, it would be the Jewish leaders who would hinder Jesus’ ministry the most. 

Jesus was born for one singular purpose. He was born to save “his people.” God’s children would be redefined in the years to come as those who “believed in the name of Jesus.” Jesus still wants to save “his people” today, both Jew and Gentile. Christmas was and still is for “his people.” 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. He is still Yeshua. He wants to rescue and save “his people.”