2025-02-28
Good Morning Dear Ones,
To place where we left off last week, let me cite some very fundamental passages of Scripture. 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture is God- breathed and useful in teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be fully equipped for every good work.” EPH 2: 8-10, “For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith –and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God—not by works so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” PHIL 1: 9-11, “This is my [Paul’s] prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” In these citations, we see the reason for studying the Scriptures, God’s grace defined, our need to prepare do serve God doing tasks for Him, and a plea for discernment from Him which helps us do them effectively.
Let me define knowledge, understanding, and wisdom—all needed to prepare to serve God in whatever capacity He calls us. Knowledge is the gathering of data; understanding is learning the relationships between that data, and wisdom is the ability to apply that data and understanding to our lives. There is a term often used, “Bloom where you are planted.” It implies that God does the planting, e.g. some people are missionaries (domestic and foreign); some are evangelists; some are teachers; some are administrators; some are pastors (clergy); and some are ordinary people with extraordinary skills. The latter might be skilled in hospitality, almsgiving; ad hoc group leadership; healing; etc. God gives each of us a skill set to be used for His purposes. Each of us develops a testimony that arises out of his life experiences and his understanding of the Lord’s teaching. As 1 PET 3: 15 tells us, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…” We are urged, in 1 PET 4: 10, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in various forms.” Furthermore, in vs 16, “However if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” Certainly, King David didn’t known Christ by name, but the Lord God gave him extraordinary insight that allowed him to live by these principles and convey an example remarkable faithfulness in the Psalms for those of us who study them. The same can be said of the apostle Paul in the New Testament.
PR 2: 6, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” PR 1: 7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” JAS 3: 7-8 gives us an example of just how difficult it is to never say foolish things because of our inherent sinfulness. “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” When we are going to speak with another person, our emotions must be under control. No one is perfect at that, except Christ Himself. Even He is capable of anger, as He was when he overturned the tables of the moneychangers in front of the temple [MT 21: 12-13]. The difference between Him and us is He was always righteous. We must remember EPH 4: 25-27 in which we are told to speak the truth without allowing our anger to lead us to sin, giving the devil a foothold.
PRAYER: O Lord, we are grateful for the grace You extend to us and for the clear direction You give us. PS 73: 24, “You guide me with Your counsel and afterward You will take me into glory.” If we are willing to listen and have faith in You, our thoughts, words, and actions will allow us to be prepared to please You with the tasks we do, using the skills You give us. You are a gracious and loving God, Who always has our best interests at heart. You have melted our hearts of stone, given us faith in Your Son, and given us hearts of flesh in the Spirit [EZK 36: 26]. For this and so much more, we offer You our love, thanksgiving, and praise. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ; amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit tells me I have more to say from Him about the subject of being prepared to serve God. We’ve been given some warnings understood better with discernment and God’s expectations for us as we mature spiritually. These things will be the subject of next week’s devotion. In the meanwhile, my own experience included working for “In Search of Shalom,” an organization based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, dedicated to putting people with a working knowledge of the Scriptures together with seekers to answer the latter’s questions. I saw so much tragedy and misunderstandings in working for them over the years—and yes, so much hunger for the joy and inner peace understanding the Scriptures has given me. While I have other tasks to do for God now, that experience has shown me why it’s so important for each of us to have an active and dynamic relationship with the Lord –so important for us to learn to think in eternally rather than just earthly terms. We have a loving and gracious Lord! Praise and thanksgiving be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2025. All Rights Reserved.
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