Wisdom

When you look at the book of Job and all he went through, you can start feeling sorry for him and his trials. All that he lost and then the attack on his health. Earthly wisdom came from Job's wife which said "curse God and die." Maybe she was a little bitter towards God. But right in the middle of things there is a jewel of a verse. It is Job 28:28

Job 28:28

New King James Version (NKJV)

28 And to man He said,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

To fear the Lord is wisdom. What it means to have a fear of the Lord is that we care more about what He thinks then we think or those around us think of us. God becomes the main thing. Wisdom is when we take the knowledge of the Word of God and apply it to our lives. It is application of the Word of God based on the knowledge of what will happen to us if we don't listen to God. It is so simple. 

Our battle comes in the form of our flesh. When we let our flesh dictate our walk we miss the mark by a mile. Being ruled by our flesh is not godly wisdom. One of the facets of the Holy Spirit shown to us in Isaiah 11:2 is wisdom. So if we have the Holy Spirit we have wisdom which enables us to fear the Lord which enables us to live a life of following His word. 

We can do this. Not out of our strength but out of the Lord's strength which is in my by the Holy Spirit. 

Let the Spirit of God fill you today and walk in wisdom from above and not beneath.

Be blessed.

REST

As we make a commitment to walk with Jesus and be led by His Spirit the enemy of our soul gets riled up against us. The Israelite's found this out when they went to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. The enemy spoke against them and made plans to destroy them. We know the enemy can make a lot of noise and sometimes even bite us but don't let the threats of the enemy bring you to a place of fatigue where you loose your position of rest. When we get fatigued we tend to get frustrated easily when we are making decisions from a position of fatigue and not rest, we tend to be more irrational. It can lead us to failure which freezes us and fear to do anything sets in.
Fatigue
Frustration
Failure
Fear
This is not a healthy way for us to be living. It destroys our testimony with the Lord. So what do we do?
1. Get some rest. You will make better decisions from a position of rest than you do when fatigued. Go to bed earlier and get some sleep. One facet of the Holy Spirit is rest, let Him fill you.

2. Reorganize your life. Some of what we do we can do without.  We have to get into position for rest. Maybe even just less TV. Make sure you allow time for God. Don't cut Him out of the picture. Allow time for fellowship with people that will encourage you. Allow for people to help you rise above the storm.
3. Remember the Lord. I am always reminded of how the Lord has healed my mom. She has been tole twice that she has a spot on her lung and we prayed for her. When she went to get the biopsy the spot was gone both times. One time she was going to have a mole removed and we prayed and it just fell off. I remember how He has touched her and how He has healed me and many others. How He has brought provision to me through the years. Remember the Lord and and don't live in discouragement. Rise above it.
4. Resist discouragement. Don't let it settle in on you. Put on a garment of praise and the enemy will go. The heaviness will leave. You don't have to take it from the enemy. As they reorganized in Numbers 4 they went forward in power and might to accomplish the building of the wall. They took their eyes off the focus of the enemy and looked to the Lord. Submit to God, resist the enemy and he will flee James tell's us.

Be blessed and rest in the Lord.

Pastor Ron