Wisdom – December 15, 2008

Wisdom

James 1:5

Jim Stephens

12-15-08

 

Scripture:

 

If you need wisdom – if you want to know what God wants you to do – ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not rebuke you for asking. (James 1:5 NLT)

 

Observation and Application:

 

This weekend I was scheduled to travel to Boise, Idaho to do a Church Assessment.  I was to go through LaGrande, Oregon where I would pick up Pastor Ted Davis who would help me with the assessment.  The drive would be about eight hours.

 

On Friday, the weather forecast was for heavy snow and cold weather along our route and it looked as if travel would be risky.  We prayed, I talked with Ted, and Friday evening we made the decision to call it off.  That was hard as it means we won’t reschedule until after the first of the new year.

 

Saturday afternoon I checked the travel conditions and I84 was closed east of Pendleton and east of LaGrande due to the severe snowy weather and multiple wrecks on the road.

 

If I had started out Saturday morning as planned, we would not have made it to Boise in time and I would have at best been stuck in Pendleton or LaGrande and at worst involved in one of the messes on the road.

 

That may seem like a small and not very spiritual thing, but to me it’s God’s wisdom made available for the asking.  Just like he promised!

 

Prayer:

 

Father, thanks for being generous with the gift of your wisdom.  There’s so much I don’t know and so many times I don’t know what to do.  Help me to keep on asking and not to rely on my own best guess-work about life’s choices.  Amen.

 

Vision, Teaching, Counsel – August 29, 2008

Vision, Teaching, Counsel

Ezekiel 7:26

Jim Stephens

08-29-08

 

Scripture:

 

Calamity will follow calamity; rumor will follow rumor. They will look in vain for a vision from the prophets. They will receive no teaching from the priests and no counsel from the leaders. (Ezekiel 7:26 NLT)

 

Observation:

 

Ezekiel lived in Babylon and prophesied to the Jews who had been exiled during the earlier conquest of Judah at the time of the first deportation.  Ezekiel had been deported to Babylon along with Daniel and his friends.  Ezekiel also prophesied to the remaining Jews in Jerusalem who had refused to turn from their sin and turn to God.  Jeremiah was living in Jerusalem and prophesying the same message – a call to repentance.

 

Ezekiel spoke to the Jews still in Jerusalem, 600 miles away, and warned them they were entering a time when there would be rumors of impending invasion by the Babylonian armies, there would be local drought and crop failures, and the people would forsake their villages and farms and huddle inside Jerusalem’s walls in fear.

 

Then he said that their spiritual leaders would fail them; the prophets would have no revelation, the priests would have no relevant teaching, and the elders or leaders would have no wise counsel or advice.

 

Application:

 

We are in a season of local financial hardship and global financial uncertainty.  The US dollar is weak and weakening, our foreign policies are uncertain, and our national economy is slowing.  Locally, the slump in the housing market is having a major negative impact.

 

Do we have prophets who can bring us vision for the future and revelation for the present?  Do we have teachers who can teach us how to live well and wisely in a changing situation?  Do we have wise and mature leaders who can give solid counsel and bring stability?

 

Prayer:

 

Father, I pray for the prophetic voice of vision and direction, the inspired teachers of your word for life, and the stability of wise and mature elders and influencers who will keep things steady.  Amen.