THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM

 

THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM

I’m sure we all know people who are naturally wise. They just seem to have a very solid sense of what will work to the positive and what won’t. They exhibit an uncanny plethora of common sense and seem to be able to make good choices and good decisions that keep them out of trouble. Jesus told a parable about a man like this. The man wasn’t a good and honest person, but he was wise.

 

“Now Jesus was also saying to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager [of his estate], and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that this man was squandering his [master’s] possessions. So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management [of my affairs], for you can no longer be [my] manager.’

 

“The manager [of the estate] said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig [for a living], and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, people [who are my master’s debtors] will welcome me into their homes.’

 

“So he summoned his master’s debtors one by one, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of [olive] oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

 

“And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]” (Luke 16:1-8 AMP).

 

The KJV puts verse 8 this way: “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely.”

 

Some people seem to have this kind of worldly wisdom already, and I have no idea where they got it. But then there are people like me who drew the short end of the stick when it came to worldly wisdom. My guardian angels must have been very busy because, unlike the manager that Jesus talked about, I didn’t make many wise decisions as a young person, and even into adulthood, I made a lot of stupid choices. I’ve done my best to do God’s will, and He’s given me tremendous wisdom in so many situations, but there’s always more to learn.

 

My friend, Kathy, shared some insight on wisdom that changed my life. She posted The Passion Version’s translation of Ephesians 1:17a: “I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom.” Then she went on: “The book of Proverbs came to mind because of the subject of WISDOM throughout the book. I then recalled that King Solomon wrote most of the proverbs. And what is Solomon best known for? He received wisdom and riches above all others, for all time.”

 

Solomon also wrote the book of Ecclesiastes and The Song of Solomon, so how much wisdom can we also learn from these two books?

 

Though we’ve read the Bible many times and prayed to the Lord for wisdom, I can see that it would benefit us to take a closer look at the writings of the wisest king ever. I believe that in doing this, we will definitely be asking and allowing God to impart into our lives—to our daily choices and decisions—even greater wisdom than we’ve ever experienced before.

 

Love, Carolyn

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SEEING BEYOND THE CARNAL AND NOT BEING SO QUICK TO JUDGE

 

SEEING BEYOND THE CARNAL AND NOT BEING SO QUICK TO JUDGE

 I’m reading the chapter about Giotto in Vasari’s book on Renaissance artists. At first glance, I wrote Giotto off as a very primitive artist, especially compared to Michelangelo, Raphael, and some other Renaissance artists whose works I knew better and really liked. But I decided to stop judging Giotto so negatively and take a closer look. I found a great website, wikiart.com, and I was so elated when I saw how he could communicate so many facial expressions and different body positions. This was many years before the discovery of how to use perspective and other techniques of realistic figurative painting.  

 

I spent all afternoon just looking at many of his paintings and blowing them up so I could get a closer look at the wonderful details. I thought about how important it is for us to stop judging things so carnally. When it comes to people, if we always believe our first impressions, we’re probably looking carnally and not seeing the truth.

 

Jesus never did this when he lived as a man on earth, and he doesn’t do it now. He judges if God shows him something. We need to look at people the way Jesus does. Like it says in 1 Samuel 16:7: “But the Lord said unto Samuel, ‘Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.’”

 

We can see in the Old Testament many examples of how God chose many people with physical, mental, and emotional issues to be witnesses for Him. Moses had problems with anger; Jacob had a bad leg and limped. God chose four cast-out lepers to save the whole city of Samaria. God is not concerned about anything we may consider a negative carnal characteristic. He is only concerned about what’s in our hearts. If people want to serve Him, He’ll show them how.

 

In New Testament times, people often criticized Jesus for his interaction with regular people. Zacchaeus was one of those. Zacchaeus was a Hebrew but he was a chief tax collector for the hated Roman government. Not only that, but he was over-charging his own people and getting rich off of the illegal profits. It’s interesting that his name in Hebrew is translated “pure,” and that’s how Jesus saw him. We see the story in Luke 19: 1-7:

 

“And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchæus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. 

 

“And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. 

 

“And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, ‘Zacchæus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.’ 

 

“And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.”

 

Jesus didn’t judge Zacchaeus by the way he looked, how short he was, by the money he had, or by any other standard, but only that the man really wanted to see Jesus. So, Jesus went to spend a little time with the man at his house.

 

Have you ever had Jesus come to your house? He will if you want him to. Just ask. You may think I’m crazy, but Jesus has come several times to our house in the evenings to just hang out and be with us. That’s what he did with Zacchaeus, and he even tells us in Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” We can take that literally as well as spiritually. When he comes to our house, he brings a peace that fills the whole living room. Jane says that everything just always feels sweet when he arrives. And he doesn’t even care that we’re in our pj’s or are having a bad hair day. He doesn’t care about any of that carnal stuff at all.

 

As it turns out, it seems Zacchaeus was deeply moved by the consideration Jesus showed him: “So then Zacchaeus stood up and solemnly declared to the Lord, ‘See, Lord, the half of my goods I [now] give [by way of restoration] to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I [now] restore four times as much (Luke 19:8AMPC). Four times as much was a greater restitution than the law required (See Num. 5:7: “Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.”

 

When I first looked at Giotto’s paintings, I only briefly looked at a very small photo and quickly dismissed it as primitive, and not that great. But at a closer look, I saw his heart and his tremendous talent. The heart and talent is what Jesus sees, and it’s what God sees. Let’s walk in the image of the Lord and remind ourselves to see people like he does.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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"HEARTILY, AS TO THE LORD"

       

“HEARTILY, AS TO THE LORD”

When I got laid off in September 2021, I started working on a painting expressing my feelings about COVID-19. It was a complex painting and quite a challenge. These photos are just two different sections of the painting. At this point in the process, I still had a long way to go, and although there were many obstacles along the way, I gave it my all. When I was a young girl, my earthly father would tell us kids: “If you’re going to do a job, do it right.” He wouldn’t allow us to cut corners, and if we did, we’d have to go back and do it again. Whether schoolwork, chores, or whatever, we were told to “always do the best you can.” Our Heavenly Father puts it this way:  

 

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Col. 3:23). Living this verse will help us to retain the right attitude about just about anything we do.

 

Many years ago, there was a phrase being passed around in the Christian community. It goes like this: “What would Jesus do?” But we need to change it up a bit. Jesus Christ is alive now, and as Paul writes to the believers in Rome:

 

Jesus Christ is our Lord and our brother in the present time. “Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom 8:34).

 

Because Jesus Christ is alive now, we don’t have to ask what Jesus WOULD do, as if in the past, but we can ask him directly, “What do I do now?” Let’s think more about Jesus being with us. He always does things with his whole heart, serving God in everything. We are already aligned with him spiritually, but we can also be with him mentally. Before I pick up my brushes, I remember to ask Jesus to be with me as I work on my painting, and I know he is present because he inspires me to change things, colors, shapes, etc. It’s really exciting.

 

Let’s have a great week remembering to live Colossians 3:23, doing our “whatsoevers” heartily unto the Lord, and not unto men.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

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PROTECTING YOUR GOD-GIVEN ANOINTINGS

PROTECTING YOUR GOD-GIVEN ANOINTINGS

I sat in the car waiting for Jane. I looked over at the passenger side of the car next to ours and a young man was opening the door for his wife. I thought, “Wow, you don’t see that much anymore!” Opening the car door for a woman used to be a common act of respect, appreciation, and honor—to show that the woman was someone special in the man’s eyes.

 

Many good ideas and practices like this one have been dropped, and many of us Christians have been wrongly taught when it comes to appreciation, honor, and respect, not only for others but even more insidious, as I see it, is the lack of respect for the anointing God’s put within us individually. Are we protecting that anointing, or are we sabotaging ourselves without even knowing it?  

 

In 1 Chronicles 16:22, God says: “Touch not mine anointed.” Verse 21 says: “But the Lord did not let anyone mistreat them. He warned kings not to harm them.” But what if we are the culprits ourselves, not giving honor to the God-given anointing within us?

 

Are we sometimes being like Jeshurun of Deuteronomy 32:15, who “lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation”?

 

When I thought about the man opening the door for his wife, I thought about some of the wisdom Solomon shared about a virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. “She perceiveth that her merchandise is good” (v. 18). And as a wife, “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life” (v. 12). And verse 10: “Her price is far above rubies.” Isn’t the anointing of God in us at least as valuable as this? We need to honor who we are spiritually and take care that we aren’t sabotaging our most precious treasure.

 

So, what are some of the ways we can honor and protect who we are spiritually? We can consciously be more aware of our physical surroundings. Is the environment in our home, at the grocery store we go to, where we choose to go for entertainment—does it encourage us spiritually, or is it a place we merely endure? Or can we possibly choose a different environment that is better for our spirit and our soul? Jesus can lead us there if we are willing.

 

Are we being cognizant of the food, the drink, the medications we take, and how they are affecting our spiritual treasures? And are we practicing healthy boundaries with other people, or are we letting others step all over us? These are choices we make.  Are they encouraging our spiritual anointings, or are they stealing energy from who we really are?

God says we have Christ in us. It’s a mystery and treasure beyond anything the world has to offer: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

 

So, like the man who cared enough to walk around to the passenger side of the car to open the door for his wife, let’s open the door for our anointings, treating them with respect and honor, and protecting them from all enemies.

 

Love, Carolyn 

More TRUTHS from God’s Word

And HOW TO APPLY these truths in everyday living—

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