FOLLOW: GROW IN WISDOM
Notes
Transcript
Handout
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.
Tootsie Wise Owl. How many licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.
Owl gave 3 and then crunch. So he confidently stated 3.
Well some scientists who either had too much time or funding, maybe both tested it. Hundreds of times. They came up with several thousand licks on average.
I’ve got to wonder if that is a wise use of time.
Also, how many of you have that much time to figure everything out on your own?
You need, I need, a source of truth that you can trust to help you then choose to act wisely.
I. WISDOM COMES FROM GOD.
1a Wisdom = More than LEARNING.
EVEN THE MOST EDUCATED PEOPLE GET IT WRONG!
Example of Baltimore school failure
Project Baltimore Investigation Found
Baltimore spends roughly $1.4 billion annually on education,
$16,000 per student. Baltimore’s spending on education
the fourth highest of in the country.
Despite this massive commitment of resources,
the city reported that zero students in 23 different schools across the city are proficient in math.
The problem is not new.
It has only grown worse.
Why?
The educated in charge said, we just need more money!
Now certainly schools need money.
But a wise person would recognize education is more than money or knowledge.
There needs to be morality.
Family support.
Safety.
A social network
A spiritual element.
We are Body MIND and SOUL
What do you call it when someone keeps doing the same thing and expects a different outcome?
You can be educated beyond your intelligence.
Many times, we must admit we are not omnicompetent. There is only ONE who is OMNISCIENT. ONLY HE KNOWS all the facts, hearts, and solutions.
What you and I know is a drop. What you and I don’t know is an ocean.
Not only that!, You can even know what to do, but you are stubborn.
How many said, I’ll start working out in January. But you have the stubborn habit of NOT DOING IT:)
How many of you started to, but struggle to do it? That’s a problem we all have in different levels.
2a Wisdom = Properly Applying God’s Word to everyday life.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.
Notice that Jesus does not say the law doesn’t matter. Rather there are weightier matters that must direct you. Get these RIGHT FIRST, then the rest follows.
Example, honor your parents and care for them. Then if you have money left over then donate money for an offering.
There are a lot of forgetful people today? How do I know?
The Lord says
Don’t forget to keep Holy the Sabbath. One day a week needs to be for the spiritual. But many people unwisely work and play. They make no time for Godly worship and growth in wisdom. They go about life making earthly decisions,
Than an earthquake of their own making hits their life like the TURKEY quake. They don’t know what to do and so much is lost!
II. WISDOM COMES THROUGH EXPERIENCE AND INSTRUCTION.
2a Wisdom STARTS with appropriate FEAR.
10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Kids do not come downloaded with a moral warehouse.
They have the innate sense from the Holy Spirit of Right and Wrong.
They lack the Understanding of WHY.
They need to learn how to categorize behavior into the abstract:
This is what it means to be a good person...
Picking up your toys is what it means to clean.
Putting dishes away is what it means to be clean.
Doing this is part of being a good team player.
Not playing with matches indoors keeps others safe.
Parents, your main job is to make sure people want to play with your kids, that they are overall likable and able to share the morals the create for healthy social interactions. Teaching them reciprocity, to join in, to include others, to give and take. If you don’t do that between 2 and 4, watch out. There’s tons of literature.
And that is why God gave us laws and wisdom literature to help us be good and in good relationship with others. But that begins with HIM as the best Father.
Wisdom INVESTS with kids at home and early on.
Kids are foolish. they don’t know. Early on, you teach them to fear the road. Your goal is not that they stay hidden in the basement. Though our society has many young men in the basement because they have either been taught that if they can’t win, don’t play or they’ve been made so comfortable at home, they don’t want to grow up, the Peter pan syndrome.
There are two great motivators in naive or unwise people’s lives Fear and Love. So fear is not a bad thing as long as it’s not being used for cruelty.
Remember to celebrate what you want to perpetuate in your kids.
Don’t reward them for what you know will lead to bad outcomes.
Same thing in yourself. You’re stubborn.
3a WISDOM GROWS TO TRUST GOD’S CHARACTER AND WAYS IN TOUGH TIMES.
3ai THE WISE WAIT ON THE LORD.
34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land.
You will watch when the wicked are destroyed.
Girl became trapped in attic of house during a fire. She couldn’t get out any way she knew. She opened a window. That allowed the fire to move faster. She was frightened of the height and the fire. She didn’t have time. But the girl’s father saw her silhouette. told by father to jump. I can’t see you. It’s me. She jumped because she knew her father’s voice and trusted Him. the Lord wisdom trusts that God always has your back.
3aii WISDOM FINDS JOY IN WALKING WITH GOD.
19 Desire fulfilled is sweet to the taste,
but to turn from evil is detestable to fools.
20 The one who walks with the wise will become wise,
but a companion of fools will suffer harm.
21 Disaster pursues sinners,
but good rewards the righteous.
III. WISDOM’S GOAL: To be motivated by LOVE.
17 By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as that one is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear includes punishment, and the one who is afraid has not been perfected in love. 19 We love, because he first loved us.
11 Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart. 13 For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.
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