Knowledge is not Wisdom

Proverbs 4:4-6
"…4 he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live. 5 Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them. 6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will guard you."

Proverbs 4:7
"Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding."

Proverbs 16:16
"How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver"

Proverbs 1:22,23
"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? …"

It is impossible to follow Christ without wisdom. Those who have Christ will follow HIm because He imparts wisdom. Knowledge alone does not bring wisdom.

 
1 Corinthians 8:1-2 "1 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know."

A man can have much knowledge and still be without good sense.
Proverbs 11:23 "23 The desire of the righteous leads only to good, but the hope of the wicked brings wrath.…"

Proverbs 2:6
"For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;"

Six Things the Lord Hates

Proverbs 6:16-19
"16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
Seven that are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness who declares lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers."

God hates even just a proud look!!!! Haughty eyes, wow, things that are not actions but show up on our faces as reflections of our hearts.

He hates wicked plans, these are ideas in the head that have not yet been carried out, yes, even just desires to ruin others.
He hates those who lie even without actions, their words work ruin on the lives of others.

He hates gossip that causes problems between friends that would not otherwise be hurtful. Spinning a story to make someone seem like a bad person when they have done nothing worthy of discipline is the worst kind of covert hatred.

And, finally, the feet that rush to do evil things to cause discord and trouble out of jealousy or contempt.

God hates all these things!!!!

Proverbs 6:20 "My son, comply with the commandment of your father, And do not ignore the [c]teaching of your mother;"

The mother's teachings are as important as the father's and each one should support the other. I know it because God said it!

Another Tradition Exposed

Another untrue tradition we were raised with was that God changed Saul's name to Paul.

"But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him."

Acts 13:9

Saul was the Greek name and Paul was His Latin name. His name was not changed it was just transliterated into a different language.

It may not seem like an important matter but if we care about truth and the significance of it we will want to know the smallest matters. Many misconceptions arise when we do not know the truth.

Keep seeking truth it is very interesting when we realize how many things we were taught that had no basis in fact. Learning the truth is a wonderful thing.

Think About It Einstein

"The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance." Albert Einstein

"We can't solve today's problems with the mentality that created them." Albert Einstein

The Most Ignored Passage in the Bible Today

Hebrews 3:12-14 "12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.…"

This is one of the passages that is being ignored in the church culture today.

We are encouraged to correct one another as often as needed and sadly in our day, there is much need often.

And, God told us that in our last days we would find most people highly resistant to correction from His Word. I have been far more rejected and shown contempt by those who say they are Christians who misuse the Bible and are angry with anyone who chastises them for it.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

When they cannot come up with a good answer to justify their disrespect for God's Word they will accuse you of many things to discredit you in their own minds.

They will accuse you of being a woman, of not knowing the scriptures when you just quoted it to them, of the WAY you said it and many other manipulations to make themselves feel justified in rejecting God's Word.

Personal attacks on our character is the favored tool of those in rebellion. Rather than addressing directly the subject they will begin personal attacks to divert attention in an attempt to make their target feel ashamed. Do not buy into this tactic. The devil often shames those for doing what is right, that is on him and the one he uses, ignore it, and stay to the subject.

It shouldn't matter which gender we are, or even the way we said something, it only matters whether or not it was true. Those who want to disobey the Word of God and who claim to be Christians will always distract us from the subject at hand to avoid having to admit they were wrong or that they didn't know what they were talking about. These are those who do not learn, but will even regress because of their stubbornness. Any wisdom they had will be taken away because of their angry spirit and resistance to the truth.

Matthew 13:11-13 "…11 He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

13 This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’…"

If we want to grow in holiness and great wisdom we must be willing to accept correction from other wise believers while checking with the Bible and the Holy Spirit to see if it is true.

As we grow in wisdom we do not see challenges as a bad thing, it doesn't even hurt our feelings because we have no pride within us to cause hurt feelings about being wrong.

The only reason we have hurt feelings is that we are self-absorved and self-exalted. When we know we are nothing and Christ is everything challenges do not frighten us. We see them as an opportunity to grow and change or if we are falsely accused we see them as an opportunity to develop a stronger character to be able to properly answer with God's Word.

In other words:

Deuteronomy 31:6

"6 Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or in dread of them, for the Lord your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.”

Growing in Wisdom Through Self-Reflection

Those who resist correction do not become wiser.

"Proverbs 27:5-7 "…5 Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed. 6 The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. 7 The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet."

They preserve their pride and lose their soul.

Proverbs 16:18

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

Romans 12:3

"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned."

Proverbs 29:23

"One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor."

Proverbs 16:5

"Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished."

Proverbs 12:2

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom."

1 Corinthians 11:30-32 "…30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 Now if we judged ourselves properly, we would not come under judgment. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.…"

When we self-reflect regularly as the Holy Spirit teaches us we will make important changes and growth in our hearts. Those who do not grow and change over the years have not been evaluating themselves according to the Bible. They remain baby Christians all their lives or they were never born again to begin with.

2 Corinthians 13:5-6 " 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you— unless you actually fail the test? 6 And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test.…"

How do we examine ourselves? We will not be able to examine ourselves if we compare ourselves with others or how bad we used to be, we can only examine ourselves according to the Bible. In order to do this we must know the Bible intimately.

2 Corinthians 10:12 "For we do not presume to rank or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they have no understanding."

We will always elevate ourselves when we compare ourselves with others. Often those who do this believe things about themselves that are not true, they watch what they perceive to be the worst in others affording themselves the luxury of feeling superior to those around them.

When we compare ourselves with Jesus Christ we have reason to feel ashamed and seek Him for cleansing. No one measures up to Him and no one is superior to anyone else.

May we all self-reflect often according to God's standard so that we can grow in holiness.

Hebrews 12:14-15 "14 Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.…"

Two Prodigals not only One

Remember that the father had two prodigal sons, one left home rebelliously and the other stayed home rebelliously and did not honor his father's request to come to the celebration.

The son who stayed home was there to gain his father's confidence not because he honored him. Both sons did not honor the father they just did it in different ways. I call this story the story of two prodigals.

Luke 15 speaks of it and it seems clear to me but we have been taught all our lives that there was only one prodigal son, when really there were two.

Luke 15:28-30 "28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’"