God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Hello,

Today I’d like to talk to you about the difference between simply knowing that God exists and knowing His teachings, principles and promises. Let’s start with a verse of Scripture:

“The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God commanded him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit you are sure to die.”(Gen 2:15-17)

This verse is our first introduction as to how God tries to keep us on the path of ease, enjoyment and peace. God  told Adam and Eve what they could eat and what they couldn’t eat. He did this not as a dictator issuing a needless command, but as a good Father, who wanted them protected from the evil in the world. Adam and Eve had the freedom to obey or choose not to obey – this is called free will and we have free will as well.

Although God is not physically present like in Adam and Eve’s day, He didn’t leave us to go it alone! He left us the Bible and that Holy Book is full of wisdom and instruction for us to use in order to manage everything from our business, money, marriages, health, children and our time, among other things. Simply reading the book of Proverbs will give us a heads up on our peers. The author, King Solomon, was really the world’s first self help guru! It just so happens that the book of Proverbs has 31 short chapters- one for every day of the month- no excuses right?

We can know God exists and then fail at everything in our lives!!!  Why would God let this happen? He simply lets us suffer the consequences of our poor choices. He has provided everything we need to live a beautiful life. We simply need to read His Holy instruction manual.  We can either turn our nose up at the Bible and dismiss it without ever taking the time to read it- this by the way is pride and God is not fond of the prideful. Or we can stop for a moment and think- if churches are still teaching out of the Bible and people have written movies, books and built highly successful businesses on the teachings of the Bible- perhaps there is something of worth still within it’s pages.

What will the Bible do for you? Teach you how not to fail at life!

Once you read the Bible and incorporate the teachings, and start to remove all sin from your life, you are on the fast track into the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is full of obedient followers who have the Holy Spirit’s power working in their lives. This power can pull up a verse of Scripture to diminish the temptations of Satan. Take this verse for instance:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self discipline.”(2 Tim 1:7)

Other Scripture can ward off illness, like this one:

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.” (psalm 91:7)

Followers of Jesus have power and it was given to us by Jesus through His death on the cross. When He took His last breath and said “It is finished”(John 19:30b ) that meant that He completed everything we need to live life…EVERYTHING. When we follow Him by walking purely until marriage, forgiving those who have hurt us, tithing, devoting our life to honoring Him- we have tremendous power through the Holy Spirit to help us overcome everything.

This is hard to fathom isn’t it? I have seen it in action and it is pure truth.

If we think we know better than the Lord and disobey the teachings in the Bible- we start our life struggle. We may be given blessings along the way but we can never receive our full allotment of blessings and powerful help, unless we are fully following the Lord- as children of the Most High. Picking and choosing what we will obey from the Lord’s teachings is not God’s way.

We have a choice. We can walk peacefully, securely and joyfully to heaven or claw our way there by disobedience. God created boundaries for a protected, joyful, powerful and abundant life.

What choice will you make?

“But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law- a law that sets you free-and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” (James 1:25 NIV)

Lisa