Wisdom vs. Knowledge

We all know them. Those people who seem to almost take pleasure in shoving their gained knowledge into your face and down your throat. It is like you are in some way less because you do not know what they have come to know. They are in the world. And there is a good probability that they are in your family and church. Their knowledge has probably shamed you on occasion. Maybe blatantly intentional. Maybe not. You pair a lack of knowledge with a little (or a lot) of insecurity...and you are the knowledge. lovers. magnet.


Let me just be absolutely clear right now. Knowledge is an amazingly wonderful thing. I am not about to imply that you should stop learning and growing. I am not condoning a life of couch potatoism. <--That is a verb. The act of doing...nothing. Uh, wait. Is 'doing nothing' a verb? Wowza...I need to take an English class! Geesch! >:-/ Hahaha!

The love of knowledge is within you. Maybe not to the same degree as 'those people'. But it IS within you. God created us to want to KNOW. He designed us to not be content with something that causes us to wonder. The subject though...it has to be something that we care about. Something that sparks our passion. Without focused love of knowledge, we would not have professionals. And we need professionals. We need scientists that share what they have learned. We need doctors that have studied what they found fascinating. We need contractors that know the how to and why's of structure. And sometimes we need authors to make things that we have complicated....extremely simple.

My point? Knowledge is not EVER where it was to end in the spiritual realm. To KNOW what is right, is not enough. To KNOW what goes against God's Word, is not enough. To KNOW the answer to save people from eternity, is not enough.

Levi pedaling as fast as
his lil legs will go. It
clearly does not matter that
he is approaching a hill. Can anyone
hear me?!?! SLOW DOWN!
<===================

As a mother of young children, I admit to allowing a certain amount of 'letting my kids figure it out'. (Less of it than my husband...that is for sure!! Haha!) BUT, when it comes to an issue of safety, I am much more willing to scream share my knowledge. They still have the choice as whether to listen. For me to know what they should do would be useless. Them knowing what to do and not doing it would not serve the intended purpose as to why I shared my rant. (Anybody with me?!)

Levi...in a ditch. 

Knowledge. Applied. Now THAT is something! Applied knowledge has a name. Wisdom. If you don't have it...you should pray for it. It is sooooooooooooooo important! Wisdom turns a detail-driven-factual-religious type of person, into a person who has an actual relationship with their Savior. It turns a know-it-all into a spiritual counselor. And wisdom turns a seemingly 'boring stay at home mom'...into a warrior.

1 Corinthians 10: 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Wisdom thinks first. Wisdom listens before assuming. Wisdom does what the Father asks. Wisdom speaks from a place of experience. Wisdom believes what is true and not what seems. Wisdom trusts the heart of God. Wisdom never stops learning no matter how young the teacher. Wisdom always knows...there.is.hope.

Proverbs 1:1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
    for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
    doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,
    knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
    and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
    the sayings and riddles of the wise.

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
    but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Today. Right this moment. I challenge you to pray for more wisdom. You will not be disappointed. I pray that you notice it. I pray that you see how God gives you opportunities to apply your knowledge.  And I pray that you will choose what is always right and true. I pray that it will finally make its way from head to hand/heart. Get going...you have some applying to do! And know that I am praying for you.

Seeds Require Faith and Action

The seed.

We have all probably read and heard 'The Parable of the Sower' many times. I am just not sure that we all know how often this parable applies to our lives. In my 33 years of life, I have come to realize that the seed represents an unending number of things, specific to each of us. To go along with the countless seeds, there are also an unending number of tactics that the enemy will use against us, to try to ensure that the seeds never root themselves to become secure.

Let's read the parable, spoken by Jesus, just to refresh our rememberers for the point that I am going to make. ;-) No matter how rushed you are, take the time to read it because Jesus took the time to speak it for YOU!

 Mark 4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
    and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’[a]”

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

Right now, even if it is just in our minds, let's list some examples of seeds that God has given us. 

The seed of Salvation. God spoke to your heart before you knew Him. He may have used a pastor, a friend, a television, His Word, etc. The seed was planted and you had to choose what you did with it. 

The seed of a dream. God gave you a dream or a vision (not necessarily in sleep/dream form) of something He was calling you to do for His glory. The seed was planted and you had to choose what you did with it. 

The seed of hope. In a seemingly hopeless situation, God gave you a sense of hope that you would be forever changed if you allowed Him to intervene. The seed was planted and you had to choose what you did with it. 

I know those are very general...so I will give you a personal specific example of a seed of dream in my life. Many of you that know me, or that have been followers of my blog www.pagesofprayer.blogspot.com ....know that I have three children that have already entered the Kingdom of Heaven and (not so anxiously) await my arrival. You also know, or can safely assume, that the loss of those babies was something that took much time and even more Jesus to heal from. 

After having my third miscarriage God told me clearly that I was to write about my experiences. He told me that there were people that would need to see Him in their circumstance of loss...and that I was going to be His hands. The very first person that I told immediately doubted as to how I could actually do it. Without the money to publish such a book, 'the how' seemed too impossible to tackle. 

That seed. That dream...was plucked quickly from my heart. I chose not to write.

Time passed and the seed was again planted. This time by a mother who had just lost a baby. She sought council from me and I answered her heart the best I knew how. With experience and compassion. The seed rooted a bit deeper this time. After a few more broken, grieving mothers crossed my path... I 'kind of' did as I was asked. It wasn't a book...but it was a blog. I blogged about each pregnancy...reminding myself of the pain of my losses and the joy of new life.

The seedling was weak as I wrote. I had listened...but it was still not absolute surrender to my King. He asked for a book and I gave Him a blog. One took faith and the other took only obedience. As soon as I finished my writing on miscarriage...I once again dropped the dream. A book. That was my calling. That IS my calling. 

Now that I again know...I have the choice. What WILL I do?

What was your seed? A seed of hope? A seed of God inspired dreams/goals? It is not too late to obey in faith. Pick up your cross and follow Jesus! His road leads to prayers answered. Lives changed. Dreams fulfilled. The choice is yours. Will you follow His call...or will you let the enemy snatch your seed?

Failure

FAILURE

Ugh, that word. Failure. The word in and of itself causes the level of stress to raise in most people. It causes their hearts to sink and their heads to droop. Sometimes just at the mention of the word failure, people seem unable to continue to maintain appropriate eye contact.


Failure. 
I know much about you. 
I've been haunted by you in my darkest days. 
I've been reminded of you while laboring/climbing to my greatest successes. 

Failure. 
I'm onto you. 
I will defeat the shame of remembering you. 
How? 
Because of the Great I Am. 

I forget some days in the struggle, that He is within me!
I don't always live like I believe that He gave His life to defeat you, Failure.
But you, Failure. 
You will never be able to forget it!


Many of you have probably noticed that it has been over a year since I last posted. Last September I did a 30 day challenge on my blog, in which I woke up at 5am every day to write. During those thirty days (and for many months afterwards), my family experienced a very personal attack from the enemy who was disguised as fellow Christians. I am not questioning their salvation. (I am not the judge they'd need to be concerned with anyway.) What I am saying is that they allowed themselves to be deceived and used by the enemy.

Since the finish of that post on September 30th, 2013 I have not written.

I still had words. What I didn't have was drive. I still had a purpose. What I didn't have was focus. I heard the unchanging, unshakable voice of God. What I listened to was the taunt of the enemy.

Failure. It has been with me all along. It was failure that I felt when God told me to write for my brother and I did not listen. It was failure that I felt when God told me write for my niece and I did not even try once. And it was failure that screamed the other night when I was with a friend who was in a pit that she had dug by her own choices.

Today, I am celebrating. Today is a new day. At this season in my life I am busier than ever and yet I am choosing to be obedient. God is asking me to be His hands. My passion to write never left. I am picking myself up...failure and all...and I am diving in. I am getting stubborn in my days. I am making time by sleeping less and planning more.

Why? Because the heart of God must be heard! If not me...then who?

I ignored His request even though He never does mine!
I pushed His will out of my chosen area of focus, knowing that He would never have forsaken me.
And I failed Him above all the others that He had placed before me.

The broken.
The confused.
The hurting.
The lonely.
Even though I failed them...what hurts most is to know that God was choosing me to help heal. And I let myself fail by never trying.

Failure has endless faces. Failure is clearly visible on the faces of millions across this world we live in. And failure holds people back from making choices they know to be right. Today that can end. You don't have to be a failure. You don't have to choose the path of your past. It will still call...but you are stronger than that. Say it out LOUD!

"Love. Must. Be. Sincere. HATE what is evil; CLING to what is good." Romans 12:9