The Peace Of Wisdom

By Dr. Charles F. Stanley 
This week's topic: The Wisdom Of God

Godly wisdom can be defined as the capacity to see things the way the Lord sees them and to respond according to His principles. One of the great benefits of this mindset is inner peace and contentment. 

Generally, when life’s running smoothly and all is well with us and our loved ones, we have no trouble experiencing contentment. But so often when situations become difficult, God’s perspective eludes us, and our peace is rapidly replaced with stress, anxiety, and fear.

To view a difficult circumstance from the Lord’s perspective, we need to see it encompassed by the boundaries of His character and attributes. Even when the particulars of life are beyond our control, the One who rules the universe remains sovereign over all things—down to the smallest details. He loves us unconditionally and always works for our best interest. Therefore, if He has allowed a situation, there is a divine plan and reason, and the outcome will be for our good and His glory.

That wise perspective will lead to a godly response—complete confidence and trust in the Lord despite any pain or hardship. Because of the indwelling Spirit, we have the assurance that He is more than adequate for whatever comes our way, which means we are sufficient in Him.

When difficulty hits, don’t let sound wisdom vanish from your sight. Keep your eyes on the Lord. By seeing every situation through His eyes, you can rest in His wisdom and good purposes. Then stress will lift, anxiety will be replaced with peace, and confidence in the Lord will silence your fears.

Scripture Of The Day: "Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold." - Proverbs 3:13-14 (NIV)

Dr. Charles Stanley, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Atlanta and founder of In Touch Ministries, is a New York Times best-selling author who has written more than 35 books. In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley can be heard worldwide via radio and television broadcasts and at http://www.InTouch.org

Trust In The Wisdom Of God

By Dr. Zachery Tims, Jr.

In Genesis 37:18, the brothers of Joseph conspired to kill him and cast him into a pit. In an attempt to hide their evil scheme to get rid of Joseph, they sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who pulled him out of the pit and carried him off into Egypt.

How many times have you found yourself in a deep pit of despair, feeling alone and facing problems too hard for you to resolve? A pit is a form of recession. You have more bills than income, or more bad news than good. The enemy uses the pit in your life to hold back your blessings, and he tries to kill your spirit, steal your joy, and destroy your Christian testimony.

While Joseph’s brothers were plotting to wipe him out, at that same time, by verse 25, God dispatched a team of deliverers, the Ishmaelites to come to his rescue. This is a great illustration of God’s sovereign wisdom and power over your life. He is a Keeper of your soul. He knows just what your pit looks like; the foreclosure, the doctor’s bad report, the loss of a loved one, a lengthy unemployment.

On the flip side, He also knows your purpose and destiny and the plans He has made for your life. In Jeremiah 29:11, God says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

At the same time you are applying for unemployment assistance, a future boss is reviewing your resume.

At the same time the bank pulls your credit report for a loan, a computer erases the bad information.

At the same time you see yourself skidding into on-coming traffic, God has prepared a guard rail in the road to protect you.

All through the bible God shows His sovereignty and wisdom to watch over us in the hard times. He is a Provider who sees far beyond our scope of vision as He prepares a way out of adversity for His children. The Bible says He will never leave you or forsake you and He will not put on you more than you can bear. In His infinite wisdom, while the devil is sending you a problem, at the same time, God is sending you divine sustaining provisions.

You may have to endure a season of struggle, but your pit is not too deep or too hard for God. Trust in His wisdom to foresee the circumstances of every pit and prepare a way to get out of it. At the same time Joseph’s brothers were throwing him into the pit, God sent the Ishmaelites to be the answer to his problem. God is in control, not man.

The bible says in Isaiah 54:17, No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and in Psalm 121:12, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”

Stop looking to the weapon that is formed against you. Look to the hills of heaven for God to make a way for you. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28. It’s not a recession for you, God’s provisions are on the way.

Scripture Of The Day: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” - Psalm 121:1-2


Dr. Zachery Tims, Jr. is the Senior Pastor, CEO and founder of New Destiny Christian Center (NDCC). The focus of the ministry is to exemplify the love of Jesus Christ with a passion for helping people. For more information, visit http://www.ndcc.tv/.

Establishing Priorities

By Bishop E. Earl Jenkins

Growing up, Dr. Tony Campolo says he spent many Saturdays at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia visiting Ed Bailey, the guy who ran it. Campolo writes: "His encyclopedic mind fascinated me. He knew something about everything...I was friends with Ed until he died. After a serious stroke I went to visit him...I told him all the places I'd been to speak and how I'd come right from the airport to see him.

"He heard me out, then said, 'You go all over the world to people who 10 years from now won't remember your name. But you haven't time for those who really care about you."

Campolo continues, "That...hit me hard and changed my life. I decided not to let all my time be used by people for whom I make little difference, while I neglect those for whom I'm irreplaceable."

"One day a friend of mine got a call from The White House asking him to consult with the President. He said no, because it was a day he'd promised to spend with his granddaughter. The nation survived...the President didn't miss him, and his granddaughter had precious time with her Pop-Pop."

Somebody said that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing! David put it like this: "Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom" (Ps 90:12 NLT).

Time is an equal-opportunity employer. We all get 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds daily, and we must account for how we use them. So ask yourself how you would spend the next 24 hours if you knew that you'd stand before God tomorrow -- then get busy!

Scripture Of The Day: "Teach us to use wisely all the time we have." Psalm 90:12 (CEV)


Bishop Edward Earl Jenkins is the senior pastor and founder of the True Servant Worship & Praise Church located in Trenton, New Jersey. For over twenty years, Bishop Jenkins’ unique method of preaching and teaching has opened doors to allow him to touch the hearts of many lives near and far. For more information, visit him at http://www.eejministries.org…

Let’s Make A Deal

By Overseer Christopher J. Harris


Have you ever played the game, "Let’s Make A Deal?" I never have, but I must admit to you that it was one of my favorite game shows growing up. I would love to see people get to that point of decision-making, where they had to potentially pick something behind a curtain that may be a knock-off prize. I remember even watching one time when a contestant picked the wrong curtain, and they picked an elephant instead of a brand new car. Wow, what a waste of a choice!

Life is kind of like this game. Every day with our prayers, we can make some major decisions of what to pray for. What would you do if you had only one prayer left? If there was something that happened in life, in which you were only granted just one opportunity to make a request of God, and He would grant that one request, but you needed to really make it a good one, what would you pray for?

Now, before you think too long, I would encourage you not to waste this one opportunity by praying for stuff. Don’t get me wrong, stuff is really good; stuff like, a new house, car, vacation spot... even clothes, electronics, or better yet, money!

I would even discourage you from praying for just social issues. Although it is a great thing to pray for things like AIDS, poverty, homelessness, cancer, drugs, sex trafficking, and the like, I wouldn’t even spend my one opportunity on these things.

Let me really help you. God has given us a great way to cover these things and more, with one prayer, one opportunity, and one chance.

We are in the same position that Solomon was in thousands of years ago. God gave Solomon one opportunity to ask for something that He would grant him for the rest of his life. In 1 Kings 2, God says to Solomon, "What can I give you? Just Ask..." (Verse 5)

Guess what Solomon asked for? Wisdom!

Solomon could have asked for riches, but rather he asked for the ability to fulfill his God given calling, to be a fair and just governor in Israel... to be able to walk in God’s ways, with a discerning heart, in a corrupt world. Solomon wanted the things of God ahead of any riches and honor for himself. As I thought about this passage I wondered, why would Solomon use his one opportunity to ask for this?

Wisdom must be something really serious. Surely wisdom must be deeper than what Webster says. Webster says wisdom is, “the ability to make good decisions.” Wisdom sounds like one of the churchy words that people use to sound really deep.

Wisdom is the opportunity to crawl inside of God’s head and see how he would think about any one situation. This is better than anything! If I can really tap into how God thinks about any given situation, then that could pretty much cover every possible situation!

In an average day, I make thousands of decisions. Some of them are pretty insignificant, but some of them are major! They not only impact my now, but also my future. Some impact thousands of other people. Some affect my children, my financial concerns, my health, and so on.

Based on what God says about wisdom, when I get wisdom, I can learn how to make the best of every decision that I have. It is really interesting, because I started reflecting on how many bad decisions I’ve made, and I’ve made plenty! If I had only had the wisdom of God, the perspective that God offers in real-time, I could have avoided wasting time, effort, money, and grief. Then, I realized something... Maybe God could use those bad decisions and combine them with His wisdom to make me wiser now.

God wants to make a deal with you. If you won’t ask for just stuff, but ask for wisdom instead, he’ll give you wisdom, and then teach you how to get the other stuff to make life worth living. Is that a deal?

I’m challenged right now, to not consume my thoughts and prayers with what I’ve been praying for. I need to shift. I need to start praying for more wisdom and praying for wisdom more often. I pray the same for you.

Scripture Of The Day: "And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore." - 1Kings 4:29


Overseer Christopher J. Harris, a native of Palatka, Florida, currently serves as the Youth & College Pastor at Cedar Grove Tabernacle of Praise in North Carolina. He also serves as the International General Overseer of the Children & Youth Division for Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International. For more information, visit http://www.cedargrovetop.org.…

Do You Lack Wisdom?

By Alan Riley


Of all the things that we might desire, the Bible clearly recommends one thing highly: wisdom.

An attempt to gain wisdom through a "short cut" was part of the reason for the original sin in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:6 says, "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."

The book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon, a man who God blessed with such wisdom that the whole world sought an audience with him to hear the wisdom that God put in his heart. (1 Kings 10:24). Virtually the entire book of Proverbs is a plea for us to embrace, to seek, and to ask God for wisdom.

Near the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus went to his hometown, and the people there were amazed at his miracles, yes, but also by the wisdom that God had given to Him. "Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" (Matthew 13:54, NIV)

It's not that Jesus didn't have this wisdom as He was growing up - we know that even as a young boy, His wisdom and insight confounded the learned scholars in the Temple. I suspect that prior to the beginning of His ministry, Jesus quietly went about His work as a carpenter with His father, waiting for the time when all would know Who He was.

What is it about wisdom that makes it more desirable than silver or gold, more precious than any earthly possession? It is because with wisdom is the key to properly leveraging knowledge and experiences. During our lifetimes, we all have many experiences and we all learn things. Whether or not you apply those academic and life lessons to your present circumstances shows whether or not you possess wisdom.

Ever had someone about whom you said, "He's got a lot of book learning, but no common sense whatsoever"? That person lacked wisdom. They may have boundless amounts of knowledge stored in their brains, but without wisdom, they don't know how to apply that knowledge in a practical way to their daily lives.

A nutritionist who has a degree in knowing what they should eat, but who pigs out on junk food and weighs 400 pounds lacks wisdom. An oncologist who daily sees cancer ravage his patients yet smokes two packs of cigarettes a day lacks wisdom. A counselor who has versed in the principles of relationships, understands the importance of the family, and can give advice to others about their marriage, yet leaves his wife and kids for another woman lacks wisdom.

A person who is aware of their sinful condition, and understands the message of the Gospel, yet fails to give his or her life to Jesus Christ clearly lacks wisdom. Wisdom is that precious gift of insight and understanding from God that leads us to make wise choices in our lives. Samuel Taylor Coleridge said, "Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom."

Has your life been marked by poor choices?

Have you demonstrated time and time again that you do not have wisdom?

I have really good news for you. God is a God of second chances. Not to mention third and fourth and fifth...


If the Bible is true - and it is - and the words contained within it are reliable - and they are - then the beginning of wisdom for you is just a prayer away. James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." It is never too late to begin walking in wisdom.

Scripture Of The Day: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." - James 1:5 (NKJV)


Alan Riley is Vice President for Ministry and Media Development for 316 Networks (http://www.316Networks.com), Streaming Faith’s sister media property. He can be found blogging at http://www.alansblog.com or more often opining in 140 characters or less at http://www.Twitter.com/AlanRiley

Wisdom’s Seven Pillars

By Bishop Jim Swilley

You have within you the Spirit of wisdom (Isaiah 11:2)—wisdom is the ability to use knowledge correctly—Jesus is made unto you wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30) and you are daily growing in it and in revelation (“For I always pray...that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him...” Ephesians 1:17 - AMP).

Wisdom has built her house on seven pillars, and a well-rounded life in Christ comes from embracing each of them.

1. Walk in the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD (2 Peter 1:2; Philippians 3:3-10). It’s not enough to just know about God…you have to make the effort to get to know Him, and that comes from spending time with Him, communicating with Him on a regular basis, and experiencing a continual manifestation of His presence. God wants to be known, and you can know Him!

2. Walk in the KNOWLEDGE OF HIS PLANS AND PURPOSES. He made his ACTS known to the children of Israel, but He made His WAYS known to Moses (Psalm 103:7). Learning the ways of God is far superior to simply being aware of His acts!

3. Walk in the KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCRIPTURES. Study to show yourself approved unto God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed of his ignorance. Learn to rightly divide the logos Word so that you are able to receive the rhema word (2 Timothy 2:15). Wisdom is found in the written Word!

4. Walk in the KNOWLEDGE OF LIFE—the kind that only comes by experience—by learning through trial and error…from your own mistakes…and by graduating maturely and soberly from the school of hard knocks. Jesus LEARNED obedience through the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:8)…Paul LEARNED how to be abased and how to abound (Philippians 4:11). Each new day is a learning opportunity if you know how to look at it correctly!

5. Seek to grasp a KNOWLEDGE OF PEOPLE so that you can deal wisely with them. (“But Jesus [for His part] did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all men...He Himself knew what was in human nature [He could read men’s hearts].” – John 2:24, 25 AMP). Be wise as a serpent/harmless as a dove…be people-smart!

6. Embrace the KNOWLEDGE OF SELF—the truth that God desires in the inward parts (Psalm 51:6). Find your true self in the revelation of Christ…the more you know Him, the more you’ll know you!

7. Love PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE—to be, like Moses, “mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). Remember that knowledge is power!

Scripture Of The Day: "Wisdom has built her house...hewn out and set up her seven [perfect number of] pillars. She has killed her beast...mixed her [spiritual] wine...set her table...sent out her maids to cry...“Whoever is simple...turn in here!”...[God’s] Wisdom says to him, “Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the [spiritual] wine which I have mixed...[forsake the foolish and simple-minded] and live!...Walk in the way of insight and understanding.” - Proverb 9:1-6 (AMP)


Bishop Jim Swilley is the founder and senior pastor of Church In The Now, located in Conyers, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. For more information about Bishop Swilley, visit http://www.churchinthenow.org or his personal blog at http://www.bloginthenow.blogspot.com.…