What Kind Of Person Gets Wisdom? 1 Kings 3:9

Is there a special type of person who gets to be wise?

"So Give your servant an understanding heart so that I can govern this people and to distinguish between right and wrong for who is able to govern this, your great people?"  1 Kings 3:9.

BACKGROUND
The quote is from the Bible where King Solomon responds to God in a dream in which God says, "Ask of me whatever you want." Solomon asks for understanding and discernment.

SERVANT
Solomon was humble. Though he was king of Israel at its peak of prosperity and power, he referred to himself as a servant. Even though he had riches and power and the allegiance of a nation at his disposal, he approached God humbly.

AWARE
Solomon was aware of his need; he made a case saying that understanding is critical for governing the people of Israel.

SOLOMON DID NOT GRASP
He saw the people and nation as God's, not his. He saw himself as a steward of God's people.

THE TIMES HAVE AND HAVEN'T CHANGED
King Solomon needed wisdom, understanding, and discernment for the enormous task of governing God's people, it was a simpler time, but his need was great. Today we need wisdom as much as he did. Our world is such a complicated place, and the battle between good and evil rages as never before.

WISDOM
Wisdom eludes us. We look for it and try to educate ourselves but still find it missing. Here we see that wisdom comes from God and is granted His gift.

Solomon's wisdom began with an encounter with God and a prayer. Like Solomon, we should seek God and ask for wisdom- He promises to give it (James 1:5).

(c) Adron 1/27/14

How To Win The Esteem Of Others

We all want the esteem of friends, spouses, or parents.

We want them to see us as special, and sometimes, we will do anything for them to see us that way, no matter the cost.

“’ Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ Declares the Lord.‘This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.’” Isaiah 66:2, NIV.

ESTEEM

To esteem is to have high regard, value, and respect for something.

The high esteem of God is better than the esteem of the whole world. God gives a list of what he is looking for in the one he will esteem highly.

HUMBLE

Humble is to be lowly and put others ahead of yourself in thought and action.

CONTRITE IN SPIRIT
Contrite in spirit is to willfully be deeply sorry for wrongs.

TREMBLES AT MY WORD
The person who trembles at God's Word recognizes its truth and power, the Bible, and responds with awe and reverential fear.

WHO
Who is any of these things?
     * We should pray to be.
     * We should decide to put others first.
     * We should resolve to be humble.
     * We should recognize and repent of our sins.
     * We should learn God’s Word.

GOD'S ESTEEM
To earn God's regard would encompass all other ambitions; if you win the esteem of God, you will have it from the one whose esteem is most important. It would be nice to have the esteem of the rich, powerful, and famous people, but God's esteem is better. It would be better to have God’s esteem than to be the head of state, industry, or to have wealth, fame, or fortune.

What God esteems is the opposite of what man esteems. We admire the one who is powerful, good-looking, smart, talented, speaks well, etc. On the other hand, the God of Heaven looks on the "humble and contrite in spirit who trembles at his word." That could be a grandma, a single parent in poverty, a gas station attendant, or a cashier, or just the guy up the street. You would never know by looking.

THE ESTEEM OF OTHERS
If you are the kind of humble, self-sacrificing person that God esteems, you will be the kind of giving, serving, good citizen who is full of kindness and does good works the people around you will esteem.

To learn how you can know God in a personal way, follow this link: Click here.

(c) Adron 7/23/13

Is God Against You?

Could God actually be against us? If he is a God of love, we might assume he is always for us no matter what, but what if a trait or attitude on our part puts God against us?

"But He gives us more grace. That is why scripture says, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." James 4:6. NIV.

PRIDE
Pride may come in many forms, and there is a form of pride that seems to offend God. This is the pride, which is referred to as the sin of angels, for the Old Testament tells of Satin's boast to set himself up above God and usurp the place of God in the universe. Isaiah 14:12-16. This is the boastful pride of one who considers himself better than others.

Is God Against You?

No one in their right mind would say they are superior to God in power, status, worth, or glory as the fallen angel did, but we live that attitude in many ways. We refuse to acknowledge his authority and resist obeying his commands. We want to live our own lives and not submit to his design for us.

OPPOSES
God opposes those who are set on their own course. He is sovereign, and we do not know how he will oppose an individual, but we can be assured he will. It may not be at a time we would think or in a way, we would expect. What we see may not reflect the secret truths of their lives.

FAVOR
We often say God's ways are not our ways. The world is full of wonderful, godly people who live saintly lives of sacrifice and service; many live in poverty, struggle in the lower classes of society, and suffer much to follow their conscience. One looks at them and wonders- yet their biographies are full of joy and gratitude, seldom complaining about their situations and often giving praise to God. They experience God's favor: they are given a grace that is foreign to the mind of the prideful and worldly. God has blessed these humble ones, and they would quickly say it.

GOD
God is long-suffering and patient. When we look at the lives of those who deny God's mastery over them, we wonder why God does not bring them to some immediate doom. We must remember that God is patient in giving us every opportunity to turn from selfish ways and accept his will for our lives.

If you want to know more about God's saving grace, follow this link: Click Here.

(c) Adron Dozat 5/19/13

What Does The Bible Teach About Success Matthew 18:1-4.

We want to be successful in life, in career, in love, and in a way that gives peace of heart. There are many teachings on the subject in the world. What did Jesus say about it?

"At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: 'I tell you the truth unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"Matthew 18:1-4.NIV

THE DISCIPLES
The disciples were thinking that some earthly kingdom was about to come, and they would have a position of authority in it. So, they asked who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Their ambition was to live in a palace, have power, servants, and wealth.

These disciples were a worldly bunch; workers, a traitor, a tax-collector, opinionated zealots, sunburnt fisherman, the ones called Sons of Thunder, and Peter called "Rock." Jesus brings a barefoot, thumb sucking, dirty-faced, runny-nosed kid; and says, "Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

CHILDREN:

     * Are disadvantaged in society.
     * Are defenseless.
     * Are dependent on others for food and clothing.
     * Are fearful.
     * Are unlearned in the ways of society.
     * Can contribute little to the economy.
     * Do not speak back and give advice.
     * Cannot get justice on their own.
     * Cannot earn a living.
     * Are needy for shelter.
     * Do not have a voice in the affairs that affect them.

BECOME LIKE ONE OF THESE?!
YES, because they are aware that they are dependent. Dependent on the "Grown Ups," forced to trust them for all things. So, like children we need to be dependent upon God and recognize that we need to trust His mercy, provision, care, and love. We forget how dependent we are, but we need to trust God like kids trust those adults around them.

This verse teaches we need to personally "change" or to use the old word we need to "Repent" and not seek greatness, status, or to be well thought of. The disciples wanted to be greatest, but the ways of God's Kingdom are different than our earthly world; we value pride and self-esteem, but God rewards humility and those who esteem him.

DECIDE
Children do not choose to be humble they just are, but we must choose. We must change and decide to be like a child, and to trust God. We must come to God with empty hands and depend on Him and let Him be all things.

To learn more about coming to God follow this link: Click Here.

(c)Adron Dozat

What Does Thanking God Do For Me?

It is good to thank God for blessings when they arrive but sometimes it is better to thank Him when we are finished with the blessing.

"When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you."/ Deuteronomy 8:10, NIV.

WHEN YOU HAVE EATEN
It is well to ask God's blessing on a meal before we eat but it is also good to thank the Lord when we are satisfied. God has given us many blessings. We have food, shelter, family, shoes, etc. We are wealthy by many standards and this is all from the hand of God. When we use these blessings up and we are satisfied is a good time to thank God.

THE NEED
We are struggling in our lives and then God blesses us with some material good.  At that moment we are grateful and then we give God thanks as we should.  As we use the blessing God provided we begin to have a new focus, it is normal human behavior.  We now have the blessing that may require some actions on our part, so as we go about enjoying the blessing we start to lose sight of the one who gives the blessing.  We are just forgetful.

This is the beginning of a decline in pride.  When we forget the one who has given us such blessings, we begin to attribute the blessing to our own good abilities and our own actions.

THE GOOD LAND
These three words speak of prosperity, wealth, and material good.  The people it was addressed to depended on agriculture and good land was everything.  Many today live in a "Good Land,"  places of opportunities, liberties, and wealth.  It is just like that place that Moses spoke of.  We must remember as we enjoy our blessings to be thankful to God.

THE BENEFIT
Everybody knows thankful people are happier, healthier, more optimistic, and just nicer to be around. Yet the benefit goes beyond these things.  We thank and bless God so He is honored.  We do not manipulate God with thanksgiving to get favors; even though we have promised in the Bible that He rewards those who honor him.

Thankfulness protects us from the danger of pride; that sin which caused Satin's fall.* When we forget to thank God we are making a statement to ourselves that we have nothing to be grateful for, or that we are above gratitude, and what could be more prideful or arrogant?

Thanksgiving should be as common as eating.

*Isaiah 14:12-17

(c)Adron Dozat

Who Does God Delight In? Psalm 149:4

Is there a kind of person that God takes delight in? If there is such a person shouldn't we find out how to be that person?

"For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation." Psalm 149:4 NIV*.

DELIGHT
What the Bible speaks of as delight here has the idea of satisfaction, pleasure, and restful contentment.  To delight in something is a reaction, God considers us and His reaction is positive.  Some people think of God as a bitter cosmic killjoy who wants to take all the fun out of life and burden people with a bunch of dos and don'ts rules.  The verse says the opposite, he doesn't look at us and become angry, instead, he wants to bless and do good for his people.

GOD WHO CROWNS
A crown is a finishing touch, like an exclamation mark.  It is worn on the head as an unmistakable token of rank and status.  To crown someone is to exalt them, give them honor, and status, these are the things God does for us.  God wants to give blessings beyond imagining to His people.  That God crowns His people suggest that He honors them.

HUMBLE
Pride and arrogance have no standing before the Holy Lord of the Universe.  The humble here may not be the humble in society, which would exclude some people through no fault of their own, but the humble here is the humility of the heart.  To be humble of the heart is something that anyone can be.  It is a sense of our sinfulness that brings us to God with a humility that he honors with salvation.

SALVATION
God gives salvation as a gift, it is not earned or merited by our efforts, works, or personal achievements.  Salvation is given freely to those who admit their need and receive it.  Jesus died to pay for our sins, their judgment is paid for and God asks only that we believe in Christ and his death on our behalf.

HIS PEOPLE
All of us are of God's creation and all can call him Father, but He bestows salvation only on those who accept the gift of His son.  This verse connects humility with God's people; one might conclude that if you are not humble you can't be one of God's people.  Those who are humbled by their sin and call on his name in faith are crowned with salvation and become by new birth truly are his people.

If you want to learn about trusting Jesus as Savior and how to become one of God's people follow this link: Click Here.

*To read this verse in other translations click this link: Psalms 149:4

© Adron 12/10/12

How To Start A Personal Revival. Matthew 3:2

We often feel that our spiritual life is drying up and we are in a time of regression. We want revival but are unsure what to do or how to start.

“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven, is near.” Matthew 3:1, 2. NIV.

CONTEXT
The beginning of Jesus' ministry to the lost world began with John the Baptist's simple but hard message: “Repent.” If we want to receive the ministry of God’s Spirit in our lives, we must lay the foundation of repentance.

SIN
No matter who we are, we have sins in our lives. We may be the smartest or most talented but there is some sin to deal with. Even in the empty uncultured place like the desert, the message of repentance was necessary. You are never too high or too low that you do not need to examine your life to see if you need to repent of something.

REPENTANCE
Repentance covers a lot of things and it is sad that today we have reduced it down to some trite truisms like repentance is going the other way. Yes, it is but that is only the beginning. Today, we say repentance is “Changing our mind,” but we think it is only like a decision between two candy bars and we change our mind between the two.

• It means we must see the wrong that we do that offends God and cease to do it.
• It is humble.
• It is a statement that God is right.

Pray For A Personal Revival

• It is to cherish sin no more.
• It is an openness to the correction of The Lord.
• It ends our previous way of thinking.
• It does not happen without God.

SEEK
If we do not repent, we are not prepared for the further work of God in our lives. The big problem
is we live in a time when good is bad and evil is good, so we no longer know what we need to repent of. We need God to tell us what we do that offends him. Ask God to show us our sins so we may take action and not do them anymore.

Pray and ask God to show you your sin, and ask him to give you the will and the power of the Holy Spirit to change.


To learn more about how to come to God, please see my other post. CLICK HERE.

(c) Adron 3/18/11

Finding Acceptance : Romans 15:7

One of mankind’s deepest desires is to be accepted. Christians should champion this, but we often fail. The church should be a place of ultimate acceptance, yet the church struggled with acceptance even in ancient times.

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you to bring praise to God." Romans 15:7. NIV

AN HONEST NEED
We know acceptance is essential, and we all want approval. We grow up longing for it, and our adult lives still need it. To be accepted is to be free of criticism and judgment, to be embraced as you are without any requirement.

JESUS' EXAMPLE
We think of acceptance as tolerance glorified. Biblical acceptance not just tolerating someone without criticism, but it is to be the same way Christ ultimately accepted us. God takes us even with all the trashy stuff we bring along. We don’t need to become saints to be accepted by God; instead, we assume that we are saints and sons. We don’t need to give up eating meat, pray for an hour a day, do penance, change our hair, or perform miracles, but when we come to God through Jesus, we are accepted based on Jesus' righteousness, not our own. Biblical acceptance is an adoption where we are welcomed with all rights and privileges to a family.

GOD'S VIEW
When God sees those who have received Jesus, He does not know the garbage of our lives; when God sees us, He sees the credited righteousness of Jesus put over us. So our reaction to another who is different should not be to see them as problems or lowlifes, but ones for whom Jesus died. God accepts us only based on receiving the gospel; as debtors to Him, we should look with the same attitude of grace to others.

OUR PRACTICE
When we see someone different in our community, we should not make that mental inventory of the differences between them and us; we should only see one thing- Jesus in that person. Forget accent, custom, tradition or clothing, taste, or lifestyle- if God accepts that person the way they are, how can we not? Are we better than God? Is it possible our standards are higher than His? If God sees that person as beautiful and worthy of the death of his Son, so should we. And if God accepts that person as His child, I insult His choice when I fail to treat that person as my own brother.

God accepts you only because of Jesus, and you can give this liberty to others who call on the Name of the same Lord. It is one of the most Christ-like things you can do.

To learn more about how to be accepted by God, follow THIS LINK.

(c) Adron 8/29/10

How to Have Powerful Prayer That Hits The Mark, Nehemiah 2: 2- 4

God Loves You

This short post looks at the example of a man who had consistent victory through prayer.  Hopefully, we can get some insights from him.

If you want to have great confidence in prayer, consider the examples in Scripture of people who pray powerfully; the funny thing is that many of those prayers are not what you would think.

“So the king asked me, ‘Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill?  This can be nothing but sadness of heart.’  I was very much afraid, but I said to the king.”  May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?’  The king said to me, ‘What is it you want?’  Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king….” Nehemiah 2:2-4. NIV.

ARROW SHOT
During an interview with the king of the western world Nehemiah, prays to "the God of heaven."  It must have been a short prayer, not said out loud, and during a moment of stress because he says, "I was very much afraid."  (There were consequences for speaking to the king without observing the etiquette of court).  His prayer may have been something like, "Please help me, God."  His little "arrow prayer" shot to heaven and hit its mark because the king gave him the request and in a very generous way.

CONFIDENCE WITH GOD
Nehemiah's confidence with God enabled access to the Almighty at a moment's notice.  He just moved in and out of the Almighty's presence like we would walk through our living room.

LIFESTYLE
Nehemiah had a lifestyle of prayer.  His book is punctuated with quick short prayers.  This was not a casual thing but a discipline of prayer, seen by the preparation of days of prayer before he spoke to the king (Nehemiah 1:4).

PRACTICE
To be effective in the little prayers, we must be diligent in the trenches of prayer; having regular structured times of daily prayer makes you confident when the opportunity for spontaneous prayer arrives.

You can practice the same quickie arrow prayers as the outflow of a prayerful lifestyle.  What a difference it will make as we go through our day to continually pop open the treasure chest of prayer!

HUMILITY
When Nehemiah admits he prayed before the king, he brings glory to God.  He could have left out the little detail about the quickie prayer and look great and brave, but to acknowledge prayer is humility.  Let's always encourage others in their prayer practices, and to hear how God answered your prayer is a favor to them and is praise to God.

God is the last thing we consider these days, but not with Nehemiah; we should be like Nehemiah, who made prayer the first course of action and a constant discipline.

Thank you for visiting my blog; I hope it is an encouragement and a blessing to you.  To find more posts see the list of most popular posts in the sidebar. 

© Adron 9/29/09