The Genesis of Wisdon
Bryan Kay
I have heard from the Holy Spirit concerning Wisdom. The Wisdom I speak of is the Wisdom that is imparted from God to man. It is the Wisdom first given to Solomon, and sought ever since by countless Christians and Jews alike. This began as a daily study of Proverbs – 1 chapter each day for a month. Giving each chapter a chance to sink into my spirit and working to become a better child of God and a better servant to Christ.
It first hit me when reading Proverbs 8. Verses 22-31 tell us that the following concerning Wisdom- “…The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way - before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting. From the beginning, before there was ever an earth…”, and “…When He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman”. These passages inform us that the Wisdom of God is not just a precious gift, but it is a gift from the very essence of God. Wisdom has been present as long as the Trinity itself. As a lay person, I was taken aback that I could see this from simply reading the chapter, but I had not heard any teaching on it. When I mentioned it to my Pastor, he did not disagree, but he did not elaborate either.
It was reinforced when I reviewed Proverbs Chapter 3. Concerning Wisdom, Verse 18 states that”she is a tree of life to those who take hold of her…” (NKJV). Contemplating these 2 passages in meditation, I was lead to the first book of the Bible. This provided a new insight and revelation in the form of a question. First, let’s look at the passage – Genesis 3 explains that there were 2 trees that Adam and Eve could not eat. The first was the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. The second was the tree of Life. Eating the first would give man the eyes to see Satan as the ruler of the earth realm, cutting off his relationship with God (hence the warning that man would surely die from eating the fruit). Eating of the second would let man live forever (v 23).
The second piece of revelation concerns the actions of the Serpent in Genesis. I am inclined to believe that the serpent chose the tree of knowledge to test and tempt mankind with. The actions of the serpent are the actions of Satan. There were 2 trees – there was a choice that the serpent had to make. Each tree had fruit, each carried the same warning, and each would be accessed with the same words and intentions.
So why did (Satan) the serpent use the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil as the fruit? I submit to you that it was the only way that he could come to rule over man and the earth. Had he given Eve the fruit of the tree of Life he would, according to Proverbs 3, have given Eve the Wisdom of God, and he would have forever lost his chance to have any presence on earth. According to Proverbs, it would have given Adam and Eve (prematurely) the Wisdom of God. In addition to eternal life, they would have had the eternal Wisdom of God. Since Wisdom was later made available to mankind, we can assume that God was protecting Adam and Eve from the things that they were not yet ready for. Bear in mind that even Solomon forgot his own teachings and lost the gift of Wisdom.
We now know that God reveals His plans for us only when we are ready to receive them. It may well be that God may have allowed Adam and Eve (or their descendents) access to the last 2 trees in the Garden when they were ready. Maybe, they would never have had need or desire to touch the trees (see Eve’s conversation to note that she did NOT want the fruit before she was deceived) and that Eden and mankind required nothing more than time to grow together.
But Satan chose the fruit that would give him dominion over the earth (and therefore, mankind as well). Satan chose according to his advantage, and according to his desire to rule over God’s creation. Knowledge of Good and Evil brings with it the opportunity for Satan to enter into the emotions and the thinking of man - Satan sought to defeat God by taking His creation from Him.
The knowledge of Good and Evil was the crack in the wall that sin needed to get into the spirit of man, and sin was the cloud that separated man from God until Jesus came to restore our connection to the Father through Him by His sacrifice for our salvation. However, God found a way to rescue His creation without violating His laws.
Mankind required a 2nd Adam to atone for the actions and the will of the 1st Adam. A crown of thorns in exchange for a single piece of fruit, a set of nails in exchange for 2 bites from an apple, and the life of God’s only begotten Son lost in exchange for eternal life for the spirit of man.
God considers this an even exchange – we are that precious to Him. Jesus loves you enough to die for you. God loves you enough to let his son die so that you can be made whole again. Now it is up to you to love Jesus enough to take the salvation he is offering you, just as the serpent offered falsehoods to Eve, Jesus offers real salvation to you – and just like Adam and Eve, all you have to do is take the offer.
Trusting God
by Tonya Eaddy
Scripture Reference
Proverbs 3: 5-6-Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy path.
Hebrews 11:1-Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Matthew 17:20-And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Trusting God: The Prophecy
Pastor asked who was ready to go to the next level; I am so I go for prayer. Pastor pulls my card. Tells me how I’ve lost my confidence and how I’m no longer sure of myself. He tells me how I am worried about my family.
Before that Sunday I had been on vacation. And before vacation I had done something unknowingly to tremendously help a coworker.
Steve, my coworker had been complaining about how his wrist was hurting him. I don’t like to see anyone in any kind of pain so I told him “give me your wrist, I’ve been told that I have a soothing touch, let me see if I can make it better.” Now we are sitting in the clinic with the nurse at the time. So he puts his hand in mine and I begin to give him a massage from his fingers to his elbow and back again. He whence at first, then he tells me that it feels good and that his pain has eased up. So I ask him how often he’s on the computer and he tells me. So I tell him he’s probably got capriole tunnel, but he won’t when I get done, and we laugh it off. I stop rubbing his wrist and he says it feels a whole lot better already.
So I go on vacation and I come back to work that Tuesday. When I return to work I’m still filled with what Pastor has told me but I also have a sick feeling. When I get to work my co-worker sought me out. He’d been looking for me for over a week. He told me that, well he asks me if I remembered what I did to his arm. I told him that I did and he informed me that he hadn’t had a problem with it since. He later told me how he’d been in pain for a couple of weeks. He explained to me how, since I had touched him he had no pain at all. He explained how he had been on his way to see a doctor about it but had not bothered because his wrist no longer hurt.
Being a preacher’s kid, I tend to run from or ignore what God is telling and showing me. Not necessarily on purpose, but it is something I’ve figured out as the years have gone by. So of course I had a “moment.” I freaked out for a split second. For a split second I forgot just WHO GOD IS. Then I remembered what Pastor said and how he said that my gift would not necessarily be physical, but that healing would come through my words, my mouth.
I walked away from my coworker initially because I needed to pray. I had to pray on whether or not to share my testimony with him. Not everyone believes in the power of God and the confirmation was evident.
My dad is going through a healing from cancer. I know he’s healed by the grace of God, I have no doubt. As humans, mortals, although we know, we tend to forget. Momentary lapses of memory, otherwise known as short term memory loss. We forget who wakes us up, who gave us life and breath, and the means to live on this earth. We forget exactly who we’ve been trusting all along.
So I prayed and decided to share with him what Pastor told me. As it turns out, Steve doesn’t go to church, but he does believe in God. Steve then said to me, “Your pastor must be right ‘because this is proof”. To this day he hasn’t had a problem with his wrist.
That wasn’t the only thing God showed me that week. He showed me that there was danger around me. It wasn’t me, who was in danger but someone close to me. That sick feeling I had would not let go until I called him and warned him to be careful. Him turned out to be my soon to be ex-boyfriend. Once I did what I was told the weight on my chest lifted. Had I not been obedient and ignored what the Lord was telling me to do, I don’t know what would have happened.
Proverbs 3: 5-6 says to trust in the Lord with ALL of your heart and lean NOT to your own understanding. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will direct you. I can’t imagine what my life would be if I did not trust Him.
Pastor gave us Hebrews 11: 1-Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I have faith in my father’s healing; I had hoped that my coworker would feel better after I rubbed his arm. The evidence came later. I know that God worked through me to heal him but Lord knows I have no physical proof that it had anything to do with me.
I know it wasn’t just my faith. My coworker could have laughed in my face or been negative about the situation, instead he embraced it. If he hadn’t believed or had faith himself, he’d have been skeptical.
Matthew 17:20 says…If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed ye shall say unto this mountain remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
My favorite hymn is “I Trust in God”. Whenever I am asked to sing, that is the song I choose. I love the Lord so much. Sometimes I forget to express it, and I want Him to now that I love Him, and I trust Him and that I choose to be faithful to Him.
So many people don’t know Him. I am sure anyone can relate that the stronger you become in the Lord, the more Satan tries you. Be it at home, through your spouse or your children or at work, sometime even in the church, there is backstabbing and underhanded dealings and gossip, and other things to try and get you caught up in something negative. Not knowing that God sees everything and when you mess with one of His children, He is going to deal with him or her.
This is why we stay in prayer; this is why Satan keeps trying to test us and make us stray from God’s will. That is why because of our faith and our belief in God, Satan is defeated! Shake the devil off, stomp the devil down, remember who your Father is and how powerful He is, and how because of Him you can win in anything, you can face any challenge, and you are blessed beyond measure.
The Great Divide – The Legislation of Holiness
By Rev. Craig A. Brown
Matthew 5:16 (NASB) reads as follows, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
In verses 13-15, Jesus gives us illustrations of this point. Jesus is not presenting to us a morality to which we can give lip service. He is presenting to us a teaching that is the model for our lives. Just as the moon is a reflection of the sun, the stars are a reflection of the moon. Christians are to be a reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
During the 2000 campaign for the presidency, there was a cry for morality to return to the Whitehouse. This cry trumps the purpose of elections, which is who can manage the affairs of the country. George W. Bush was trumpeted as the restorer of moral principals, and very little concern was given to researching his ability to manage the country or moral values.
Since he assumed the office of President, crime has increased and members of the GOP committed moral failures. We are engaged in a war without just cause. We awarded no bid contracts to Halliburton, performed water-boarding, seen the collapse of financial institutions, were financial raped by Enron, experienced record bailouts and record foreclosures, saw an increase in poverty, used executive privilege to prevent the citizens of America from knowing the truth about the war and fired political pundits to keep them from speaking. We witnessed the Bush Administration mishandling 9/11 and the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, and we gasped as we heard news commentators refer to the evacuees as refugees.
The religious right is surprisingly silent on these issues and other matters that plague our country. They want Supreme Court Justices on the bench who support their biblical agenda, however their concerns aren’t the primary issues we’re facing as a nation.
They have chosen to focus their attention on whether gays should have rights and on a woman’s right to choose. The bible is clear about God’s position on gay rights (see Romans 1:18-35) and abortion. Yes, taking a life (abortion) is a sin, but you can’t force someone that hasn’t been born again, according to Romans 10:9-10, to live by the principals of the bible.
The question that demands an honest response is should holiness be legislated? Does the church have a right to require people who haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to live according to biblical principals?
If the church wants to affect change in the political structure, then she must become a part of it. Don’t stand on the outside and vote for people who supposedly espouse your biblical values, but have no skill-set to manage the country. Any true value will find itself in some expression of behavior.
Ye are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13 [KJV]). Salt is aseptic. It prevents the spread of corruption. If you want to change the corruption in politics, become a part of the structure. Holiness can’t be legislated. Congress can’t vote it in. No demand can be made upon the people of this land to yield to Jesus through some edict. You can’t colonize a person who isn’t a member of the colony.
The lifestyle of a person who is in relationship with Jesus will be the witness that holiness isn’t some law to be followed, but a lifestyle that influences decisions and reflects the glory of Jesus Christ.
Have a purpose driven day.
P.S. Always remember … worship is a lifestyle, not a momentary experience
Broken For a Blessing
Greatness in God comes with a price. There is a breaking process. There is an emptying out of self so that God can pour Himself into you. You must be broken so that He can fix you for His purpose. God matures you in the breaking. He teaches you to lean on Him. During this time, He is able to fix character flaws. You must decrease so that He might increase. The world has a saying; “Anything worth having is fighting for.” God is no different. Human nature will cause you to not want to go through the breaking. God has given you a work to do for Him. God has planted you as a flower in His garden. How do you get the most beautiful fragrance from a flower? Crush it. When a flower is crushed, it gives the sweetest aroma. The anointing He has placed in you has to be pressed out. The gift He has given you has to be pressed out. When God enlarges or stretches you, it is uncomfortable.
Let’s explore what it means to enlarge. To enlarge means to make larger; increase in extent, bulk, or quantity; add to. It means to increase the capacity or scope of; expand. Expansion involves stretching. Have you ever stretched a rubber band? What happened? How do you think it felt? The rubber band is pulled as far as it can go. If you stretch it beyond its limit, it will pop. God knows your limits and will not allow you to pop.
God’s love is so great that He will remove the parts He cannot use. He will use high-pressure situation to do it. We usually don’t see it coming. We are going along fine and then, everything seems to go wrong. Without warning God will allow a situation to come suddenly or violently. Here is good news; those things that the enemy uses to destroy you are actually golden opportunities. God wastes nothing. He uses those things to change you into someone else. Sometimes we give the enemy too much credit. Job said, “He knows the way that I take and after He has tried me, I shall come forth as pure gold”. He also said, “ Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”. At the end of Job’s breaking, he got double for his trouble.
Breaking causes a radical change. Your walk, talk, the way you relate to people, everything about you is different. This time has been strategically destined to usher you into your purpose. Obedient is critical. You may not understand what God is telling you to do. Do it! The blessing is coming. You are on the cutting edge of God’s plans and purposes. He is leading you into higher realms of manifest glory. God is cleaning house. You cannot pick and chose what to keep and what to let go. Your answer must be yes, completely yes. Listen for direction, then move. Look at Abraham; God told him to sacrifice Isaac, the promised child. He moved without hesitation. Being broken may cause you to lose some things, friends, and even family members. Your refinement process may cause others to think you did something wrong. People may think God is punishing you for some sin. Hold your head up high. God is breaking you to bless you.