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Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Proverbs 4: 7NKJV)
And again in Proverbs 13:16 we are told that Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his folly. Great description…but
because we are emotional creatures our emotions are often in conflict
with wisdom and we are not then prudent and we do play the fool.
Therefore, post these two questions in your mind’s eye and let’s see what we can come up with. What exactly is wisdom, and what can we do to get more of it?
This friend to our days the dictionary describes “wisdom” as accumulated knowledge, or common sense.
The Bible is full of moments that lack wisdom.
Take those first two inhabitants of the Garden of Eden. God had warned Adam and Eve not
to eat the forbidden fruit, so it is obvious that when Adam succumbed
to his wife’s suggestion to take a bite, it was not one of his most
intellectual moments.
His common sense must have told him it was wrong, but he ate it anyway. No wisdom there.
We all know the old phrase, Curiosity killed the cat. In the case of Lot’s wife, it turned her into a pillar of salt. No wisdom there.
Nor was Peter utilizing a great deal wisdom, and loyalty, when he denied Christ not once but three times over.
But fear makes us do a lot of things we otherwise would not do. We know what is right yet sometimes we fear what people will say or do…and we go into self-protection mode.
Dumb comes easily to all of us.
I’ve hit my finger with a hammer. I’ve slammed a car door on my hand. I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth by saying what afterwards I knew I should have had the good sense not to say. No wisdom there, either.
We’ve all had stupid moments.
The Bible uses a different, gentler word for it – Foolishness
The foolishness that leads us to sin when we know the sin is just going to get us in trouble. This kind of stupidity is a moral issue and we break the rules quite often and then suffer the consequences.
It’s bad enough to practice a sin – occasionally, but to make a sin a habit… That’s the kind of foolishness that ignores God. And it’s hard to be more stupid than that.
What was it Paul complained about over and over again? “I’m stupid.” Well, he didn’t actually use those words, but he keeps complaining about making the same mistakes again and again and again.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
One thing is for sure. We’re all just a hoot and a holler AWAY from performing some foolish, stupid trick that could ruin our lives. Making some decisions in anger, or in haste, or simply because it’s a wrong thing we simply want to do.
Luckily for us, God gives us second..and third.. and..infinite chances to get it right. And watches with joy when we slowly but surely learn from our mistakes.
Well, I have… sometimes. When I crashed a hang glider at 54 I stopped flying hang gliders… not that I didn’t know before
the crash that flying hang gliders could hardly be called a safe
recreational pursuit, but I stopped because wisdom shouted more loudly
in my ear that at my age I might not survive another crash.
I have diabetes and I have it under control. But, if I put on too much weight or consume too much sugar, I’ll have problems. So
I practice common sense and I watch my diet: Very seldom do I eat
sweets these days, and I don’t let myself put on unwanted pounds. And things are fine.
The list goes on and sometimes I am fairly intelligent in my decisions and sometimes I am still trying to learn from my mistakes.
Does this sound familiar to you? Are you in just about the same predicament? It seems to me we all have pretty good reasons to stay heavy with prayer.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a handbook that tells us how to get more wisdom and act with less stupidity? Well, the Lord provided us with just that. The Book of Proverbs.
So if you are serious about wanting to be better, to live by wisdom not foolishness, read The Book of Proverbs. Memorize large portions. Repeat these wisdom words many, many times.
“Let the wise hear and add to their learning.” And, “Let the insightful acquire guidance.” Both of these more straight thinking out of Proverbs (1st chapter.)
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (7th verse)
You won’t get any better instructions.
But therein lies the rub. Though
we know God is smarter than we are, we sometimes prefer to ignore Him
because His commandments keep getting in the way of our present plans.
We claim we want wisdom…and we do… just as long as it doesn’t conflict with any ingrained way of thinking, or doing, or being.
Be it Prophet or a King Solomon or Jesus, himself…we rewrite and edit and conveniently forget.
Why do we do that? Because we are like children playing marbles with diamonds.
Actually,
I am referring to a true story,,,where missionaries came upon children
in an isolated village daily playing their game of marble with little
round marbles that were actually diamonds. But they had an excuse, they didn’t know their worth.
So
it is when we play the game of life surrounded by the diamond-ideas and
diamond-teachings and diamond-power of Almighty God, and with a lack of
wisdom, keep playing games with these diamond-thoughts as if there were
not much worth there at all.
Treat their faith like a game. And earning their spiritual dunce cap. And missing so much peace and power they otherwise might have.
Not very much wisdom…is it?
Two men were talking, and the first man asked, “Do you know the Commandments of the Lord?”
And the second man answered, “Yes.”
“And what do you do with them?”
“I pick and chose.” he replied. “I pick and chose.”
Ephesians 5:15-17 aims at the problem. "So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days."
Matthew 5:6 reads, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled”.
Now there are wisdom pieces that can rearrange a way of life, “be careful, not careless, how you live.” “Make the most of every opportunity…” hunger and thirst after righteousness.”
Good advice. Good call, but poor follow-through too often by too many of God’s children.
M.D., PhD, DD…we see these titles after a name and we think wisdom…I see these titles and I think knowledge…there is a difference.
Knowledge is the beginning of wisdom, but it is no guarantee. I have known some wise fools and so have you.
Tell me what a man’s knowledge has produced and I will tell whether I think he is wise or not.
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ALREADY STARTED Serialization of another book SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING
This book, SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.” (Susanne K. Langer)
MANY OF THE SUGGESTIONS IN THIS BOOK ARE GOOD FOR IMPROVING ONE’S LIFE AT ANY AGE
“I am come that they (you) may have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
Anyone who lives long enough gets older. There are no other options. How we handle the adventure is filled with options.
Keep both eyes on life, and not on the calendar. Admit your age, but don’t admit to the fallacy that you have to act like it. Saying, “I’m 39 and holding,” is more tragic than humorous because it argues that age has no attributes.
V. Neil Wyrick
Below a quote from it…
“Be like the farmer who, when asked what he was building, replied, “if I can rent it, it’s a rustic cottage. If I can’t, it’s a cow shed.”
It’s called attitude and it can make us prematurely old or longer young. For truly, things aren’t just what they are, but rather how we choose to see them.”
To
access his other book’s; BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR
RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF
PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…go to Amazon.com
(books) and type in Neil Wyrick.
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Below is a quote from Wyrick’s writings blog entitled ANGER VS. PATIENCE“After the old man had departed, God called out to Abraham and asked where the stranger was. Abraham replied, “I sent him on his way because he did not worship you.”
God answered “I have suffered him all his eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure for just one night?”
God suffers us, endures us! And forgives us and loves us and sets such a perfect example for us.”
God answered “I have suffered him all his eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure for just one night?”
God suffers us, endures us! And forgives us and loves us and sets such a perfect example for us.”
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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM THE SERIES “A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM” … (1st in series) (on this Wyrick’s Writing blog)
“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.
BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM THE SERIES “A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM” … (1st in series) (on this Wyrick’s Writing blog)
“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.
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To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL
BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES “Depression…the Alien Within” on this Wyrick’s Writings …each week
”Sometimes the best thing do, if depression descends on you, is for a little while to try to wipe clean the slate of your worried mind. To give such thoughts some muted silence. Seek an emotional whiteout. Just let the soft breeze of nothingness blow for a while. And then, read John 14:27 and hear Jesus saying, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.
Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?
Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?
Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.
Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”
Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”
CLICK ON THE URL BELOW
IT WILL TAKE YOU TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG.
There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.
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TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING
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