Wisdom from Above

 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. 

It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, 

and willing to yield to others.

It is full of mercy and good deeds. 

It shows no favoritism and is always sincere

 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace

 and reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:17-18 (NLT)

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you?

  Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? 

James 4:1 (NLT)

Our human nature always gets us into trouble.  There is an army of evil desires at war within us, ready to fight and argue, ready to start war. The response of that old nature is usually negative, critical and judgmental.  It is hard and unforgiving, causing heartache and pain.  Our old self is an expert at rationalizing and excusing all kinds of sin like pride and selfishness.  When we give it a voice, what enormous damage it can do.

The wisdom from above, on the other hand, gives rise to good deeds that spring from pure motives.  It creates peace and handles every situation with a gentle spirit that is willing to yield.  It doles out large quantities of mercy and forgiveness.  Instead of causing war and destruction, under the influence of this wisdom, we become peacemakers, planting good seeds wherever we go. What a contrast!

We all make many mistakes and we are sometimes blind to them.  When we ask for God's light to shine on us, we may discover areas where our motives are not pure, where we have been hard and unyielding, where we have justified ourselves, or used words that have hurt another.  When we come to that realization and confess it to God, he promises to forgive us, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and lead us along a better path.

Lord, thank you that our old nature was crucified on the cross when you died.  Help us not to give voice to it, but to yield to your wisdom from above.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

 and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalms 189:23-24 (NIV)

Pity

My Child by David Bowman

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.Psalm 103.13 (NLT)

It is hard for us to conceive the depth of love and compassion God feels for us in our condition of weakness.  He came to set us free from our sins and the consequences of them and yet we continue to suffer from our weakness and failures in so many ways.  God, instead of condemning us, is touched by the feelings of our infirmities, our weaknesses, our frailty and the resulting suffering and has great pity and compassion for us.  I am overwhelmed by the sense of his concern and care.  He actually feels sorry for me and enters into my suffering.  He longs for me to receive his strength that I might begin to grow and overcome those things that hold me bound.  

This brought to mind a phrase from the old hymn At the Cross - "Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!"  The depth of God's pity and his deep concern for us is expressed in the ultimate sacrifice of his death on the cross.  We are in need of his pity, compassion, grace and love. May we receive it today.

Thank you for the great compassion, pity and mercy I feel coming from your heart.  Oh Lord, may I experience your strength in my weakness.  May I overcome by your spirit working in me. 

 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses... So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Heb 4:15-16 (NLT)

Listen to At the Cross:
http://youtu.be/NcqtZyv5flE

Art of David Bowman
http://www.bowman-art.com/indexFineart.htm

Fresh Start

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! 

His mercies never cease. 

Great is his faithfulness; 

his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Lam 3:22-23 (NLT)

His mercies are new every morning. All the mistakes and failures of yesterday are gone, blotted out by the light of the rising sun.  I might tend to hold onto my guilt from the previous days behavior (especially when the same pattern of misbehavior seems to crop up every day), but God doesn't remember.  The generosity of God's love is amazing!  God gives me a fresh start every day - a fresh start with nothing hanging over my head.  This gives me the freedom to go forward in hope.

Then, I remember the verse that says we should not let the sun go down on our anger.  As an imitator of God, I cannot hold onto the grudges and hurts of the previous day.  It's hard when I'm faced with the same offending and irritating behavior every day, but it is my responsibility to release those hurts to God before the sun goes down.  If I don't, it will color my response tomorrow, making me stingy and grudging in my attitude towards others.  If, before the sun goes down, I release and forgive whatever has happened that day, I will be free to love again when the sun comes up allowing the mercy and grace of God's generous love to be exhibited through me as I offer to others that fresh start that God has offered to me. 

How can we release each day, before the sun sets, every negative, hurtful, offending or irritating thing that may have happened to us that day?  I find this hard to do. Do you have any practical or helpful suggestions about how we can accomplish this?

I would love to hear your comments.

And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” 

Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,

for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

Eph 4:26-27 (NLT)

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful,

and endures through every circumstance.

1 Cor 13:7 (NLT)

Then Peter came to him and asked, 

“Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me?

Seven times?” 
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

Matt 18:21-22 (NLT)

Enemies

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.

Ask God to help them;
intercede on their behalf,
and give thanks for them.

1 Tim 2:1 (NLT)

We are urged to pray for everyone.  The "all people" of this verse includes not only family, friends and neighbors, but bosses, political figures and superstars.  And, it includes, most especially, those we may have something against. 

Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies - those who have hurt us in some way.  This is a most remarkable request, one that goes against all of our natural inclinations. It doesn't seem reasonable that we should pray for God to help our enemies, that we should intercede for them or give thanks for them. 

The scripture goes even further suggesting that we not only pray for our enemies, but bless them.  It asks that we do good, lend to them, feed them and give them a drink of water if they are thirsty.  It asks us to replace our desire to retaliate with trust that God will bring his justice in the end. We are asked to replace the urge to talk back with the patient endurance that allows us to hold our tongue, to bless when we are cursed, to appeal gently when we are wronged, returning only good for evil. 

This is the description of an unbelievable and unique new life in God. All of these things are diametrically opposed to what we might naturally feel like doing.  These are hard things to do, but, these are the qualities that God is desiring to build in us.  These are the things that make us like our Father who is kind and does good, supplying the needs of evil and good people alike in the hope that all will respond to his call of love.

Who could you ask God to help today? - A friend, an enemy, a family member, your boss, a politician, a government official, a superstar? 

But to you who are willing to listen, I say, 

love your enemies

Do good to those who hate you.

Bless those who curse you. 

Pray for those who hurt you. 

Luke 6:27,28 (NLT)

Sorrows

Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing,

he is able to help us when we are being tested.
Heb 2:18 (NLT) 

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses,

for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.

There we will receive his mercy, 

and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Heb 4:15,16 (NLT)

Many of our sorrows in life come not from other people or our outward circumstances but from our own weaknesses and failings.  Others may criticize us and we often become critical of ourselves because we just can't seem to change even though some behavior is causing pain and dysfunction in our lives. 

Jesus is touched with compassion when he sees us in such sorrow and frustration.  He experienced similar feelings and so is able to understand what we go through. 

David Seamands in his book Healing for Damaged Emotions, expresses this so beautifully in the chapter The Wounded Healer.

If He merely understood the fact of our infirmities, that would be good enough.  But I've got better news for you.  He even understands the feeling of our infirmities - not just the cripplings, not just the weakness, not just the emotional hangups and the inner conflicts, but the pain that comes with them.  He understands the frustration, the anxiety, the depression, the hurts, the feelings of abandonment and loneliness and isolation and rejection.  He who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities experiences the whole ghastly gamut of emotions which goes along with our weakness and our cripplings.

We are coming to a Heavenly Father who understands our feelings and invites us to share them with Him.  So we can draw near with confidence unto the throne of grace knowing that we will obtain mercy and find grace in our time of need.  We can come when we need forgiveness and when we feel guilty for our sins.  And we can also come when we are being wracked and tormented by the feelings of our infirmities.

It is good to know that when we bring our failures to him we will not be met with criticism, guilt or shame, but with a friend who sees and feels our tears and will comfort and support us. 

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;

it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
Isaiah 53:4 (NLT)

New Every Morning

  Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Lam 3:22-26 (NIV)