Tag: wisdom

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Hope is More than Wishy-Washy

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Hope can be built on a lot of things, and we can have hope in a LOT of things. Hope in the car to get us home. Hope in the Wildcats to not lose another football game. Hope in a bridge we cross everyday to not collapse. Hope in this month’s income to satisfy our bills. Hope in a family, friend, or neighbor to not give up on us in our darkest moment.

Hope is built on what you believe to be true.

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As a result, belief is an integral part of our day-to-day lives. It’s the WHAT. Faith in the car, the Wildcats, the microwave, this month’s income, and those closest to you.

What you believe matters.

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What you believe will directly shape your life (and ultimately your future):

  • your claims
  • how you treat others
  • how you respond to various life circumstances

**(Please remember I’m placing myself in these statements as well.)

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It’s up to you to inform your beliefs.

Demosthenes once said, “Nothing is easier than self-deceit, for what each man wishes that he also believes to be true.”

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And it goes without saying, but I’ll write it anyway that you cannot inform your beliefs without taking time to study.

Opening a book, reading a favorite novel, studying the Bible, analyzing Proverbs, or, all of the above. These can be tactics to help solidify those beliefs. (You know what you know, because you know. You know?)

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When you don’t inform your beliefs, you become stuck.

Have you felt this? It’s that almost tangible feeling like there’s a lid on the box of your life. You not only wonder where your place is in the world-at-large, but also wrestle with the question of who you are as a person.

  1. you miss the promotion at work
  2. the truck stops working
  3. your favorite pet dies
  4. God doesn’t seem to be answering a specific prayer of yours

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The Bible says to rejoice even in the difficulties.

I know this might not be the answer you’re looking for, but it’s meant to signify the larger scope from day-to-day meanderings. Our instinctual hope, if fixed on an eternal God, will be to rejoice as a result of the overflow of our hearts. I know this might not be where you are today, and admittedly I’m not there 24/7 either, but, it’s something to strive for.

Bottom Line.
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Set your beliefs on solid truths that will have eternal rewards.

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Advice versus Good Advice

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Where does our information come from?

Our news?

Is it solid, sound advice?

Good advice at best?

I love the image above. You can glean so much from just the increase in the (assumed homeless) man’s pricing scale. For “advice” he charges .50 cents. For “good advice,” his pricing jumps to a whopping $2.00!

But, it does “speak for itself” doesn’t it. We place a higher value on “good advice” every time. It just makes sense.

Why would we want the cheaper advice, if there’s a truer, more knowledgeable route ahead – provided by a wise guide who’s tested the path?

Rhetorical questions run amuck today (my apologies).

But, it begs of us to wisely choose the guides within our lives. For me personally, it’s an old book that is still true today, as it was before our U.S. forefathers and the formation of the Western world.

Solomon was a wise guy noted for having more inside his head than anyone before him or since. (He is the ultimate “wise guy.” Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

But, even he wrestled his entire life with knowing how to handle all of the good, bad, and ugly advice that he received during the course of his existence. (It made him MISERABLE at times.)

And we live in an ongoing “information age” in 2015. I mean just look around at what we place our importance in. I have to consult “Google” and “Wikipedia” more than any person should. But, it’s what our society relies upon. Knowledge. We crave it.

We ask the Geek Squad at Best Buy – “What gigabyte level is best for my laptop?”

We ask the Disney World guide in Orlando – “Which package will bring us closest to Mickey & Minnie?”

We ask the airline stewardess – “Where should I stow the 25.6 pound overnight bag?”

And on and on.

We have a hard time, because we have learned to grow up in an advice-polluted culture, instead of looking beyond ourselves. The “me” has been driven against the “us” to the point where it’s only me-against-me-against-me.

If you look closely at the gentleman’s picture above, you’ll see something else that his finger is obscuring.

As a direct intention towards humor, his hand is blocking the sentence, “Bad jokes for free.”

Again, it’s a good reminder.

The wisest guy in the world left advice that sums up all other attempts we make in trying to rectify an imperfect world. It gets me every time and stops me dead in my tracks.

Solomon writes,

“Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.”

Essentially, we can’t do anything apart from or beyond what is already ahead of us.

So, let’s steer ahead and not veer onto “whatifs” and hypotheticals. We will have a whole lot less to worry about as well. We’ll be taking a third option of “best advice” from a divine God, and the other 2 will fade into the background oblivion of our lives.

 

 

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Insert Foot into Mouth.

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My church’s most recent series covered the topic of–

“When we place words in God’s mouth…”

Pretty scary concept, huh?

 

Our pastor, Mark Love, went on to point out that we are “all in danger of letting our ability to reason overshadow God’s wisdom.”

Unnerved yet?

 

The topic of true wisdom is just getting started.
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1 Corinthians 1:25 (ESV) states, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Then, Mark asked a question I’ve wondered a million times and tried to force myself into an answer that is contrary to scripture: “Does God want us to be happy?” He states it better than I can, in our church’s blog.
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I mean, our forefathers wrote this (below) into our country’s beginning so it has to be true right? Our end goal = our happiness?

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

 

But truthfully…what if it looked more like this?
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–> God doesn’t just want you to be happy, he wants much more for you.

 

Mayo Clinic’s Study on Happiness (It took a Mayo Clinic to tell us this?)
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1. To be focused on the right things, the right thoughts. 2. To be resilient to life’s curve balls – creating healthy boundaries. 3. Biggest hindrance to happiness – Thinking too much about yourself. (NO WAY!! Not in our country, right? How could that be possible? The land of Instagram.) 4. Happiness is a decision.

Bigger question: Why does the pursuit of happiness fail every time? (#3 in study above)
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[We believe that if it makes us happy, it must be good. If it makes us unhappy, it must be bad. If something doesn’t make us feel good, it must not be what God wants.]

What if? (Bear with the notes here…)

 

What if the enemy is at work in the world (our day-to-day lives) tarnishing our ideas of what happiness is?

(BINGO! At no point in history has the notion of happiness-as-a-right dictated the citizen like it does in 2015.)

But truthfully, God doesn’t want us happy when…1.) it is due to something that is unhealthy, unwise, or wrong in His eyes, 2.) it is only based on what the world has to offer instead of what He created us for.

In essence, we are worshiping the creature instead of Creator.
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Romans 1:22-25 (ESV) sums up this predicament from erroneous human behavior prior to our 2015 pitfalls.
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“Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
Don’t love the things of this world. (This one is tough for me.)
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1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)
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“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Synopsis: The Godly are Happy.
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Psalms 97:12 (NLT)
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May all who are godly rejoice in the lord and praise his holy name!
God wants you to be blessed.
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blessed: makarios (mak-ar’-ee-os); supremely blessed, more than happy.

 

Blessed… (9 examples from Jesus himself)
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Matthew 5:2-12 (ESV)
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And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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And quite possibly the most difficult to adhere to but the most all-encompassing…

James 1:2-4 (ESV)
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Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

Max Lucado said…
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You weren’t made for earth. Moments of happiness and joy cannot compare to what’s ahead. Lower your expectations of earth. Not heaven. No new car, new wife, new baby, new boat will give you the joy your heart craves.

 

Put simply, again, The Godly are Happy. They don’t need to be manipulated or goaded by Instagram (sorry for the app-bashing). 🙂
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Psalm 97:12 (ESV)
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Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!

 

Enjoy Wednesday and Thank God for the wisdom and peace this offers!