Gaining Wisdom

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them. If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.” - ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

King David placed enormous value in knowing God’s wisdom over his own knowledge. We are living in an age where we are on information overload. A study in 2011 said:

“When you think that 100 years ago people were lucky to read the equivalent of 50 books in a lifetime but now most children have watched a couple of hundred movies.”

The researchers went on to say that there was now “295 exabytes of data floating around the world – that's 29,500,000,000,000,000,000,000 pieces of information. While this is enormous – 315 times the number of grains of sand on Earth – Dr Hilbert points out it is still less than one per cent of the information that is stored in the DNA of a single human being.”

So all the information in the world equates to an infinitesimally small amount compared with that of the creator! So it’s pretty clear where we should be going for our understanding of life and the universe. God the Holy Spirit has given us access to some of his wisdom through the Bible. Here is how John Piper talks about scripture.

“The Holy Spirit is the divine author of all Scripture. If this doctrine is true — and it is — then the implications are so profound and far-reaching that every part of our lives should be affected. Because Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture: 

It is true (Psalm 119:142) 

It is altogether reliable (Hebrews 6:18)

It is powerful, working its purpose in our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

It is not returning empty to the One who sent it (Isaiah 55:10–11)

It is pure, like silver refined in a furnace seven times (Psalm 12:6)

It is sanctifying (John 17:17)

It gives life (Psalm 119:37, 50, 93, 107; John 6:63; Matthew 4:4)

It makes wise (Psalm 19:7; 119:99–100)

It gives joy (Psalm 19:8; 119:16, 92, 111, 143, 174)

It promises great reward (Psalm 19:11)

It gives strength to the weak (Psalm 119:28)

It comfort to the distraught (Psalm 119:76)

It gives guidance to the perplexed (Psalm 119:105)

It reveals salvation to the lost (Psalm 119:155; 2 Timothy 3:15)

The wisdom of God in Scripture is inexhaustible.”

Don’t just flirt with God’s Word, marry it!

On this day of resolutions and firsts, there can be no better decision to develop our relationship with the Word of God. I love the phrase that John Piper uses in a sermon back in 1982.

Satan devotes himself 168 hours a week trying to deceive you and fill your mind with junk. 

He has seen to it that you are surrounded almost entirely by a Christless culture whose mood, and entertainment, and advertising, and recreation, and politics are shot through with lies about what you should feel and think and do. Do you think that in this atmosphere you can maintain a vigorous, powerful, free, renewed mind with a ten-minute glance at God’s book once a day? 

The reason there are church people who are basically secular like everyone else except with a religious veneer is that they devote 99% of their time to absorbing the trajectories of the world and 1% of their time to absorbing the trajectories of God’s word. 

 If you want to bring forth the will of God in your life like a mother brings forth a child, you must marry the Bible. For some of you, it is a stranger that you greet on the way to work but never have over for a relaxed evening of conversation, and seldom invite along to spend significant time with you on vacation. Do not, then, be surprised if you are ill-equipped to read the trajectories of God’s will for your own life.

John Piper (“He Will Send His Angel Before You”)

If nothing else this year determine to immerse yourselves in The Bible this year. It will solve an identity crisis far more effectively and finally that any diet or workout programme. Here are 5 things you can do to develop your relationship with God's Word.

Read it, Listen to it, Memorise it, Study it and most of all Apply it!

Get the Bible App

Kindness Scales

Today I read this post by Seth Godin named Kindness Scales. 

My guess guess is that kind is not an adjective that would be used to describe me. Passionate, is often used but it’s usually code for Billy opens his mouth to wide and too often. So maybe that’s why this short post took my attention and kept calling me back to muse on it some more. So over to Seth:

It scales better than competitiveness, frustration, pettiness, regret, revenge, merit (whatever that means) or apathy.
Kindness ratchets up. It leads to more kindness. It can create trust and openness and truth and enthusiasm and patience and possibility.
Kindness, in one word, is a business model, an approach to strangers and a platform for growth.
It might take more effort than you were hoping it would, but it's worth it.

And it seems to be one of the items of clothing valued by God:

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,....kindness....,” - ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Work to do....

In the light of His Glory & Grace

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2

This weekend I am on a visit home for a funeral and I joined with a others in a packed out church to pay our respects. The crowd were in amazing voice as we sang "The Old Rugged Cross". (I'm clearly getting old as I'm strangely drawn to the old hymns especially when sang so enthusiastically as today)

But we were also treated by the singing of some amazing young gentlemen. One of the songs was,"Turn your eyes upon Jesus" & they sang it beautifully.

Some of the words have stayed with me all day:

"and the things of the earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace".

Jesus glory and grace are so magnificent, so majestic, so sublime, so opulent, so stunningly beautiful, that one glance towards him, and its like the sun has gone out.

Looking at Jesus not only changes our perspective towards everything in this world, it consumes our whole vision to the extent it is the only thing we can see and want to see.

When we see divine Glory & Grace our eyes can never be satisfied again on this earth no matter how radiant the sunrise of how the superlative the sunset. But God's Word is clear we have an eternity of satisfaction ahead.

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. - Revelation 22:5