Baptism at Singles Retreat - 147 Baptized!!!

*******************Baptism at Singles Retreat 147 Baptized!!! ***********************

* Sharing times in the Word and looking for growth. Let's Commune Together!

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Does God give treasure?

Proverbs 2:6–7 For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.

When you think of God, what comes to your mind? Is He generous? In what way? The dilemma many find themselves in is they want to believe that there is a God, and that He is generous. The reason it becomes a dilemma is that we define generosity in “temporal” terms. God always approaches whatever He does from the eternal perspective. What we fail to understand, even though history attests to the truth of this, that having an abundance of temporal “stuff” alone, will not accomplish anything eternal…for the good that is. More times than not, history has shown that when human beings have only one side of “treasure”…the temporal side…it destroys them!

God is extremely generous and desires to give first and foremost the wisdom on how to handle whatever treasure from this world we gain. This proverb speaks directly to that.

There are two fantastic truths here!! First, “From his mouth come knowledge and understanding” – Knowledge - Data (Information of what it is.) + Understanding (Knowing what it is for and how to use it.) = Wisdom! That’s the formula that allows anyone to receive anything, i.e. temporal treasures or eternal treasures, and use them for eternal benefit! Amazingly God grants both!

Having knowledge without knowing how to use it is like giving a baby the newest MacPro laptop – wasted potential and an expensive lesson! Having the ability to understand yet lacking the discipline to input knowledge is like being a chess master that only plays checkers!

Wisdom is the key to mastering yourself. Self is a great slave, but a lousy master. Wisdom processes emotions, evaluates circumstances and is proactive by nature. Self only reacts and usually it is wrong!

Secondly, “Common sense to BE honest” Human beings easily become “agenda” driven. When that happens it does not matter what “truth” is, I want my way and I will ignore the facts if I have to, as long as I can get my agenda! We do this politically, environmentally, scientifically and with spiritual truth. What happens is that we kill common sense! I know I am in danger of doing that when I want my way. The most ironic thing about this is it really makes no sense to lie to yourself, because in the end we all answer to only One Person, and He is Omniscient! (Knows All)

“The so what?” What is the treasure you are seeking? Do you take “what” you know and meditate on “how” to apply it? Are you ever driven by a personal agenda? What should you do when you find out that is true?