Pearls of Wisdom

God’s Word is full of Him, Who is Wisdom. Jesus is spoken of as the Wisdom of God. In the Bible the book of Proverbs is a definite book of wisdom, which is to be studied. This page is dedicated to bringing the wisdom of God’s Word to you so that you may find daily wisdom for your own life.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Lord

The Lord put a number of scriptures together today for us to read and speak and meditate. They all form a whole picture.

Psalms 30:5-7; 31:18-21; 32:7,8; 33:1; 34:8

…Your favor, Lord, is for a lifetime or in Your favor is life….
As for me, in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
By Your favor, O Lord, You have established me as a strong mountain….

Let lying lips be silenced which speak insolently against the righteous with pride and contrmpt.]

In the secret place of Your presence You hide us from the plots of men, You keep us safe from those who would conspire against us. You keep us secretly sheltered in Your pavilion (Your presence) (fenced in, covered over, protected, defended, hedged in, shut up) far from accusing tongues, from the strife of tongues, from words that would be used to bind our lives.
Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me His marvelous, loving favor….

You are a hiding place for me; You, Lord, preserve me from trouble.
You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance.

I [the Lord] will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.

O taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man that trusts in Him.

My Thoughts

Proverbs 16:3, Amplified Bible
When I roll my works upon the Lord,
when I commit and trust them wholly to Him,
He will cause my thoughts to become agreeable to His will
and so shall my plans be established and succeed.

I have always looked at the first part of that verse and not really noticed the middle section. Today, it stood out as a great truth for all of us.
When we commit our works upon the Lord, when we roll our care upon Him, when we commit all our cares, anxieties and worries and works over on Him, when we trust Him with everything,

THEN,
HE WILL CAUSE OUR THOUGHTS TO BECOME AGREEABLE TO HIS WILL.

In other words, God is the One Who will cause our thoughts in our mind to line up with His will, which is His Word. Remember that Jesus prayed that His will be done on this earth. Isn’t that a wonderful reassurance! God will cause our thoughts to be in agreement with His. What a comforting realization.

THEN,
your plans will be established and succeed.

Ponder this verse in your heart for a while and there will be such a peace and rest that will surround you and permeate your very being.

He causes His thoughts to become your thoughts when you commit everything wholly to Him.

Monday, June 28, 2010

God, The Word of Grace

Acts 20:32, Amplified Bible
And now [brethren], I commit you to God [I deposit you in His charge, entrusting you to His protection and care]. And I commend you to the Word of His grace [to the commands and counsels and promises of His unmerited favor]. It is able to build you up and to give you [your rightful] inheritance among all God’s set-apart ones (those consecrated, purified, and transformed of soul).

This is one of my favorite scriptures because of the meat in it. I know some of you are thinking that I say this about all scriptures. Well, you are right. I love all of God’s Word. However, this particular one is very special to me.

We are deposited in God’s care. He is in charge of us. That means that we can trust Him to protect us and take care of us at all times. There are no “oops” times with God when He says: Oh my, I didn’t have time to take care of you during that time of difficulty. I was too busy with your neighbor down the street. No, God is always right there for us.

Here in this scripture His Word is called the Word of His grace. Grace is God’s ability released to you through Jesus. It is God’s gift of Himself to you, with all the “perks” of heaven given to you to live life more abundantly, to accomplish what you were designed to do while you are here on this earth. That’s why God told Paul that His grace was sufficient for him. What more do we need. There is nothing else to help us. That’s it-----GRACE!

Look what His Word of grace does for you: it is able to build you up and to give you your rightful inheritance. Wow! The Word of grace, God’s gift to you and me of Himself personified, builds us up. That Word of grace gives us our rightful inheritance. What is that rightful inheritance? Everything that God has and is! We are special to Him. He is our Father. He loves us with a total love, and until we understand that He loves us dearly, how can we trust Him to believe that He does care for us? Yes, He does love us and yes, He does take care of us totally.

Take this scripture this week and put it where you can see it often and remind yourself of how special you are, whether you feel like it or not and whether you think you deserve it or not. It has nothing to do with how you feel or what you think. It just IS!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Holy Spirit's Personality

Today, let’s look at the wonderful ways in which the Holy Spirit totally takes care of us, if we will let Him. He never forces Himself upon us. He waits for our yielding to Him.

The Holy Spirit of God is many-faceted. He is our Comforter. He is our Helper. He is our Counselor. He is our Intercessor. He is our Advocate. He is our Strengthener. He is our Standby. He is our Truth. He is our Peace. He is the One Who brings all things to our remembrance when we need it. We see all of this in scripture, particularly in John 14, 15, 16 and 17. Read those four chapters again and see what Jesus has to say about Himself, about the Father and about the Holy Spirit. These 4 chapters give us the guide for our relationship with God, of knowing Him intimately.

The Holy Spirit is our Comforter. To comfort means to strengthen, to support the person, particularly during distress or danger, to cheer or enliven, to encourage, to strengthen the mind when depressed or enfeebled, to relieve from depression or trouble. A comforter is one who brings consolation to you when you need to be encouraged and lifts you up from the place where you find yourself.

The Holy Spirit is our Helper. This one is pretty self-explanatory. He comes to give assistance to us to accomplish whatever we are doing. He helps us to do what we need to do. He is there for us.

The Holy Spirit is our Counselor. Yes, we do need Him to give us instruction, direction, advice and recommendations. We need His input. He tells us what is the best way, and He is always right. He never makes a mistake.

The Holy Spirit is our Intercessor. Because of the blood of Jesus, He stands in the gap and pleads our case before the Father. He brings reconciliation for us when we mess up. He presents us before the Father as pure and clean because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is our Advocate. An advocate is very similar to an intercessor. He pleads our cause before the Father. He supports us and pleads in our favor. He shows reason why we should be supported and accepted in the Kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit is our Strengthener. We need His strength to grow strong and then to grow stronger and stronger as we continue our walk with the Lord. We cannot do it in our own human strength or effort. It is all about Him. We are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

The Holy Spirit is our Standby. He stands alongside us at all times to take care of us, to let us know that He is there to bring us forward successfully on our path of life toward our final destiny.

The Holy Spirit is our Truth. Nothing false will deceive us as long as we yield to Him and God’s Word. He shows us the true reality of God and His Kingdom as being the only way.

The Holy Spirit is our Peace. Wow, do we need this in the world right now. In God’s Kingdom, peace encompasses everything that makes us whole and free. It is freedom from this world’s trigger points like fear, anxiety, doubts, upsets, etc.

Finally, the Holy Spirit brings everything to our remembrance that we need to live a successful life, carrying out God’s plan that He has given us to accomplish while we are here on this earth.

My prayer for you is that you will come to know the Holy Spirit intimately as your best friend and the One in Whom you can put your confidence. He is God here right now in you to love you and take care of you. Seek His Presence. God is such a loving and giving and good God.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is God set apart for us, sent to us by the Father in the name of Jesus to be in us and with us and for us and through us. Holy means set apart; in this case God setting Himself apart for His children, to be present in them and with them forever. The Holy Spirit is sent. He came to dwell in us.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 Paul tells us that our bodies as Christians are the temples of the Holy Spirit. He lives in us as a Gift we have received from God. We are not on our own. He is there for us in all that we do 24-7. He is ever present in us to help us. We are bought with a price----the precious blood of Jesus. We are paid for and made His own. So then, we honor God and we bring glory to Him in our bodies.

Also, in 2 Corinthians 6:16 Paul once again reminds us that we are the temples of the living God, of the Holy Spirit. God has said that He will dwell in us and walk in us and that He will be our God and we shall be His people.

Temples----we are the abiding place of God. He lives in our bodies. Our bodies are the place where He chooses to live now, not the man-made buildings. We are God's building, and our bodies are where He has chosen to dwell, as we allow Him. That is why satan hates it when we dance before the Lord, raise our hands in praise to Him, adore Him with our voices joining in choruses of worship and joy. Our whole bodies are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. He is the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead, and He is dwelling in our mortal bodies, giving life to our bodies (Romans 8:11). Oh, my dear reader, disease, doubt, unbelief, fear has no place in this indwelt temple of the living God. Let us be in constant awareness of Who lives in us.

Living here on this earth, even in the middle of the Babylonian world system, even surrounded by trouble of all kinds, can be easy and should be a place of rest as we allow the Holy Spirit of God to empower us at all times to live a victorious life. Unfortunately, what we all have tended to do is attempt to solve our problems on our own, out of panic and fear that if we don’t do something immediately, everything will come unraveled and fall apart. That is exactly the devil’s tactics. Hurry up and do something. When you find yourself in that mode, STOP, STAND STILL and say: Holy Spirit, give me the voice and the words to pray in the spirit until I KNOW what to do through you.

In John 14:16,26,27 Jesus said that He would ask the Father and He will give us another Comforter (One of the same kind as Jesus; in other words, God in the person of the Holy Spirit) that He may remain with us forever. He is the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive. But we know Him. We recognize Him. We hear His voice. He lives in us constantly. He is with us.

The Holy Spirit is sent by God the Father in the name of Jesus, in Jesus’ place, to represent Jesus, and to act on His behalf. He will teach us all things. He will bring all things to our remembrance. What I find interesting is that in the very next verse Jesus said that He was leaving His Peace with us. The Holy Spirit is our Peace. He is our Shalom. He is our Wholeness. He is our Health. He is our Prosperity. He is our Salvation. He is God Eternal! Jesus says that because of the Peace, the Holy Spirit, Whom God is giving to us, we do not have to let our hearts be troubled or be afraid. We are not to allow ourselves to be agitated or disturbed. We are not to permit ourselves to be fearful or intimidated or cowardly or unsettled. What a wonderful assurance in the days in which we all find ourselves living. Let the Holy Spirit be our everything, the solution to all that faces us.

Tomorrow we will talk about the many roles of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Counsel

Psalm 16:7-9,11
I will bless the Lord Who has given me counsel.
Yes, my heart instructs me in the night season.
I have set the Lord continually before me.
Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory (my inner self) rejoices.
My body, too, shall rest and confidently dwell in safety.
You will show me the path of life.
In Your Presence is fullness of joy.
At Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

It is the Lord Who gives us counsel, even as we sleep. When we seek Him first in our lives, He is there to direct us and guides us in all our affairs of life. Therefore, we do not have to be moved off our stand of faith and trust in Him. He has everything in the palm of His hand. The only thing that stops Him from doing for us the pleasures He loves to do is our lack of trust in Him. We are to rest confidently in Him for He will show us the path of life. We all know that in His Presence is a fullness of joy and contentment that we can get nowhere else. With Him we will enjoy our lives throughout all eternity.

Let us make a quality decision today (one from which we do not turn back) that we will trust the Lord to be in charge of our lives and that we will allow Him to give us all the treasures that He has laid up for us who are His children. There are multitudes of blessings that we have not even begun to receive. Today and every day is your day of receiving. Take it now.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Expectation

Expect: To look, that is, to reach forward, or to fix the eyes

I heard a minister say last night that he expects to receive from God all the time. That sentence has been in the front of my spirit ever since I heard it. God expects us to receive what He gives to us. He has so many gifts for us of health and prosperity and peace and joy and gentleness and faith. I could extend the list but you get the idea. How can we get something which we are not expecting? I think that God has compassion on us and because of His great and awesome love for us, He simply has to do something to spill over on us. That’s commendable, but wouldn’t it be better to receive from Him on a daily basis and give Him great pleasure.

Say this with me:
I expect to receive from God all the time.
I believe I receive. I take it now.

You might want to make a list of the things you see in the Bible and that God tells you to expect and keep them before you and speak out what you are expecting. It is time to expect and receive. Do you know that the best time to get your expector out there is when everything seems to be going the opposite direction of what you need or want! When all looks bleak and dismal and there doesn’t seem to be anything good happening in your life, deliberately, on purpose, stand still wherever you are and expect something good to happen to you.

Have you been released from your job? Expect a better one. Have you lost money in your retirement account? Expect more money than what you lost. Have your children gone out and done things contrary to the way they were raised? Expect them to come into the fullness of what God has for them. Has your spouse told you that he/she wants out of the relationship? Expect God to supply the emotional needs of your soul. I think you get the picture. You might say that I am expecting the impossible! Yes, that is it! We serve a God whose power is greater than the impossible. All things are possible with Him.

Here are a few scriptures to help you on expectation. Think on them. Ponder them. Speak them. Believe them.

Proverbs 23:18, Amplified Bible
For surely there is a latter end [a future and a reward], and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.

Proverbs 24:14, Amplified Bible
So shall you know skillful and godly Wisdom to be thus to your life; if you find it, then shall there be a future and a reward, and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.

Jeremiah 29:11 (In yesterday’s Pearls)
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

What have you got to lose? Expecting something and getting all of it or part of it is better than not expecting anything and not getting anything. I know what you are thinking. If I don’t expect anything, I won’t be disappointed. Really! You are disappointed and discouraged already if that is where you are (and all of us have been there on more than one occasion).

EXPECT! GOD HAS GREAT THINGS FOR YOU!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Declare

Today we are looking at three scriptures---one is what the Lord declares over us and the other two are what we are to do. We are to speak of the Glory of God’s Kingdom and talk about His power. You see, when that is what we speak, we are saturating the atmosphere of the earth and the heavens with the Presence of God, Love Himself, Who is the greatest power in the universe. There is no greater power than He is. Decide to speak it and decree it and establish it forever. God has a future full of hope for all of us.

I challenge each of my readers for the next 30 days to saturate the atmosphere of this nation with continual speaking of the glory of God and the power of God. Release it into the very atmosphere around your home and your neighborhood and your city and your state and your country. I am challenging you to join with me. Then I want to hear from you. What happened? If you meet with resistance, double up on your speaking and don’t bow to the enemy. WATCH GOD MOVE! He is waiting for you.

Jer. 29:11 from KJV, NKJV, Amplified, NLT, NAS, The Message, Jerusalem Bible, The New English Bible, Complete Jewish Bible, James Moffatt Translation, NIV, Holman Christian Standard Bible, English Standard Version

This is the Lord’s declaration; it is Yahweh Who speaks:
For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord; they are thoughts of peace.
I know the plans I have in mind for you----plans for welfare, plans for peace, plans for good, plans for well-being, plans to prosper you, plans for wholeness.
For I keep in mind My purpose for you.
I alone know My purpose for you----prosperity and a long line of children.
I know what I’m doing.
I have it all planned out----thoughts and plans to give you a future and a hope in your final outcome, to give you an expected end, reserving a future full of hope for you.

Psalm 145:11
They shall speak of the Glory of Your Kingdom, and talk of Your Power.

Job 22:28
You shall decide and decree a thing and it shall be established for you and the light of God’s favor shall shine upon your ways.

Monday, June 07, 2010

The Senses of the Spirit

These are the senses of the Spirit man. It is always interesting to me how our bodies parallel our spirits and how we parallel our God in all things. Read and meditate. The Spirit of God gave me these several days ago.

SMELL the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley (Jesus).

TASTE and SEE that the Lord is good.

Everyone who TOUCHES Him is made whole.

The EYES of my understanding are being enlightened.

Having EARS to hear, hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying.

Rejoice!

Jesus went beyond what He had to face for the joy that was set before Him. We must do the same.

It is God's desire and intention that we pass on through with joy the obstacles that are set before us. Whether those obstacles are sickness and disease or job losses or family and friends not saved or debt, we are designed to rejoice in God’s goodness to us and for us and remember His grace which is given as a gift to us. That gift is His ability to do what we can’t do on our own. We don’t have to camp out in trial city or tribulation country. We were designed to go on through that obstacle to victory. There are no defeats in our lives, only challenges to our faith. Those challenges are sent our way by the devil, our enemy, to stop us from enjoying our abundant life with God. The devil hates us because we have what he can never have, an intimate relationship with God, and God’s power and authority over all the earth.

How long we stay in something is determined by our rejoicing! The worse it looks, the more we are to rejoice. Get past caring what people think about you. Cultivate the joy of the Lord in the middle of all things, whether good or bad. Just as Jesus looked beyond what He had to face to the joy of the result on the other side, so we must do the same. We always win because God is on our side. We win when we submit to Him and consider it all joyful. That really “gets the devil’s goat” right where it hurts. He hates joyful winners! That’s what we are. We must see beyond what would look like apparent losses and consider ourselves winners always, regardless of what it looks like in this earthly, temporal world. That is exactly what Jesus did. He looked beyond the cross and its pain and shame to the resurrection and its power and victory.

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say, Rejoice! Rejoicing stills the avenger, the enemy, and puts him on the run. He hates joy and praise and rejoicing. Shout for joy and give him a bad time; give him the worst day of his life every time you get up.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Prepare the Way

Words we speak go forth before us and create the pathway for our future, create what we will be walking in, later in life. In due time, those words which were sent on out ahead of us will do everything they can do to produce what we have said. God created us human beings with our mouth and tongue being the main vehicle for our lives. Don’t you find that very interesting? No other creature produces by their words. We have the ability to form words and those words in turn form the life that we live.

We will walk into the words we have put out in front of us, whether those words are good or bad, positive or negative, God’s word or man’s words about us. These words will produce substance. That substance will eventually become reality in our lives, if we speak those words logn enough.

We are told in God’s Word that He has set before us life and death, blessing and cursing; choose life! (Deuteronomy 30:19) His Word is life. (Proverbs 4:22) That is to be our choice ---- the life of His Word. His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path ---- pathway, future, life. (Psalm 119:105) God gave us His Word so that we would have the good life, the abundant life that He promised. (John 10:10) He sent His Word to deliver us from destruction. (Psalm 107:20)

In the way of righteousness is life and in its pathway there is no death. (Proverbs 12:28)

God and His Word are life to us, and that is what we want going before us to make our pathway one of the good life of God.

Ephesians 2:10, Amplified Bible
For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned before hand) for us, [taking paths which he prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

My Father's Pleasure

Let’s talk some more today about what pleases the Father. When we look into the Word of God, there are some very definite scriptures on what pleases the Lord. We will explore two of them today.

In Luke 12:22-32 Jesus was teaching on being free from anxiety, worries and concerns. He gave the reason that we do not have to be anxious about anything----God takes total care of us. Prior to verse 32 He said that we do not have to take any thought for our life, what we shall eat, or for our body, what we shall put on. Jesus assured us that God feeds the birds; He causes the lilies to grow; He clothes the grass, so why are we to worry about His taking care of us. We cannot even add one inch to our stature by worrying about it.

Then Jesus makes a very definite statement: Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you. Do not have any fear or doubt or seek after what you shall eat or what you shall drink. Why? It is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

What did Jesus mean by this statement? God takes pleasure in giving to you His kingdom, all that He has. A kingdom belongs to a king. Everything in that kingdom is his. Therefore, Jesus said: It gives God pleasure to give you all that is in His kingdom. To find out what is in His kingdom all we have to do is read this book called the Bible which He has given to us.

The other scripture I want to note here is Psalm 35:27.
Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause: yes, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

In Strong’s Concordance, the word prosperity in this verse is shalom, which means safe, well, happy, health, welfare, prosperity, peace, whole, rest, favor. It comes from the word shalam which means safe in mind, body or estate, completed, full, peace perfect, restore, make restitution, recompense, make prosperous, make good. We can see from these words that they are a description of God, of His kingdom. It is everything He is and has. Altogether, these words mean to make complete, to restore. Sounds to me like a restoration of everything we as mankind lost in the Garden of Eden. Jesus brought it back with His blood. Hallelujah!

As we said yesterday, God has great pleasure in your faith because of what it brings to you of the joys of His kingdom. He also has pleasure in your prosperity. Prosperity is what faith brings. Prosperity is not all about money. It includes money, but it is so much more. Prosperity is being successful in every area of your life, going to the highest level of excellence in each area----in your spirit, in your soul (which includes your mind, will and emotions), in your body, in your finances and in your relationships.

God takes pleasure in seeing you excel and succeed. It gives Him great pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Faith Pleases God

Today is the first day of June, and it is a beautiful day for all of us to be alive and to love the Lord. He showed me something today about a very familiar scripture. I am standing in awe at the reality of it.

We have all heard the scripture that says that without faith it is impossible to please God. In fact, let’s look at it.

Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We all have looked at this scripture through fleshly, earthly eyes. Do you know why it is impossible to please God without faith? That word please does not mean to satisfy him or perform for Him mighty acts to prove our faith. No, a thousand times no! It means that it brings our dear heavenly Father, our God, great pleasure when He sees us enjoying the fullness of the life that He has provided for us. It gives Him great joy when He sees us basking in the benefits that He has provided for us as His children. Those benefits, the good life, come as a result of believing that God has provided all of them for us. That is faith, and that gives God great joy and pleasure to watch us. He loves to give, and we in turn must love to receive from Him. That pleasure of receiving turns us into joyful givers who take pleasure in the joy that others get from our giving. It’s all about the circle of giving and receiving, receiving and giving. Isn’t that good news!

Your faith pleases your Father! It is a good thing!

I Will Praise Him

Isaiah 25:1, Amplified Bible
O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, even purposes planned of old [and fulfilled] in faithfulness and truth.

Have you ever wanted to tell the Lord how wonderful He is and just didn’t have the words in your vocabulary to tell Him? Do you want to know one of the best ways to praise Him and tell Him what a wonderful God He is and how much you love Him? Tell Him with His Word. Look at the verse we just quoted.

Lord, You are my God.
I will exalt You.
I will praise Your name,
You have done wonderful things for my.
You have purposes for me that you planned long ago.
You have fulfilled those purposes in faithfulness and truth.

Take some time today to thank the Lord for His goodness. Sing and speak His Word to Him. It is music to His ears.