Travel Lines - 4: The Spirit Airline - God's Wisdom

“First of all pure.”

James 3:17

From my Journal 2005...Best to start this story from the beginning..."Travel Lines - 1: The Self Train Line - Derailed"

When I consider that there is nothing that can separate me from Your love, then I do consider it pure joy to face trials of many kinds.¹  I do want to continue to climb Your Stairway to Heaven—those steps of sanctification that progressively transform my flesh, the old creation, to Your Spirit, the new person I am becoming.

            I look at some men of age, and I can see wisdom in their eyes as they speak.  I can see the reflection of experience with the subject—the lines of their face indicating the roads traveled, their expressions mirroring the journeys faced.  They speak from the heart and mind, a mixture of emotion with reason.  Their compassion is long, and their conviction is deep—with arms open wide to receive and mentor, they stand on a firm foundation.

            What makes these men different, standing out from the norm, distinctively above the blurry mediocrity?  They have been through trials of many kinds, and they sought God for guidance.  These men of which I speak are not ordinary men, for God has set them apart for a purpose of His own, a mission divinely directed, and they chose to follow Him.  These men, God’s elect, are men after God’s own heart—men of God.  They are like an Enoch, a David, Joshua, Moses or Abraham—men of faith—who demonstrated with their lives what life is like to obey God, to let Him reign as Lord of their thoughts, words, and actions. 

       Were these patriarchs of faith perfect at making choices, judging right from wrong, implementing a plan of action and following through to see its completion?  Absolutely not!  This is where they shared what is common to man—sin—responding to temptation, by responding from the flesh rather than the Spirit.  David committed adultery and then murder to cover it up.  Yet, David is described by God as “a man after My own heart, for he will do everything I want him to.”²  The heart is where we harbor love.  It is the portal of our emotions, feelings that generate responses—actions that we may later regret depending on whose heart through which we seek passage.  If we are seeking God’s heart in a matter on which we are deciding, we find the essence of pure responses and true wisdom.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven 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 partiality and is always sincere.³

When you face trials, the challenges of life that stretch your abilities beyond your comfort zone, whose heart do you seek?  Your own heart may harbor remnants of wounds from the past—hurts from people that you have not forgiven, or forgiven but not forgotten—and you may keep a record of wrongs and refer to yourself as a “victim.”  If so, you must seek God’s heart on this unfinished business.  How does God want you to grow in true wisdom from experiencing the trial that caused these wounds and their pain?

First of all, He wants you to seek after His heart.  It is in God’s heart that we find the comfort of forgiveness, but we must first seek it.  Harboring unforgiven sin—acts we have committed—and unforgiveness of sins committed against us separates us from God’s heart.  This is to what David refers in this psalm when he “hid” his secret sin of adultery with Bathsheba:

When I refused to confess my sin,

     I was weak and miserable,

     and I groaned all day long.

Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.

     My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

Finally, I confessed all my sins to you

     and stopped trying to hide them.

I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.”

     And you forgave me!  All my guilt is gone.⁴

David asked God to purify his heart so that he could experience the heart of God.  “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure.”⁵  If God’s purity is mixed with lust, jealousy, pride … it is no longer pure—it is adulterated—just like David’s situation—he combined his love for Bathsheba with the love God intended for his wife.

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;

     wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Oh, give back my joy again;

     you have broken me—

     now let me rejoice.

Don’t keep looking at my sins.

     Remove the stain of my guilt.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

     Renew a right spirit within me.

Do not banish me from your presence,

     and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me again the joy of your salvation,

     and make me willing to obey you.

Then I will teach your ways to sinners,

     and they will return to you.⁶

David then experienced the restoration and joy of forgiveness:

Oh, what joy for those

whose rebellion is forgiven,

     whose sin is put out of sight!

Yes, what joy for those

     whose record the LORD has cleared of sin,

     whose lives are lived in complete honesty!⁷

When we are obedient to God—doing everything He wants us to do—we are seeking His heart, and the blessing of experience is joy, regardless of the trial we encounter:  “Happy are those who obey his decrees and search for him with all their hearts.”⁸

            Harboring unforgiveness of sins committed against us also separates us from the heart of God.  Unforgiveness is like the taste of bitter vinegar, a sharp contrast to the sweetness of grape juice.  Both come from the same fruit—grapes—but the way the fruit is processed affects the outcome of its taste—bitter or sweet.  The same goes for how we handle the circumstances that change our hearts:  forgiveness is sweet; unforgiveness— bitter revenge.  To remove the bitterness, envy, or jealousy planted in the heart, you must pull out the roots of their cause.  The source of these emotions motivated by the Devil results from your desire to hold onto the wound until vengeance is complete.  Seeking revenge is an operand of the Devil—this is the basis for the spiritual war of Good vs. Evil. Satan—Lucifer, the fallen angel—is seeking vengeance against God for expelling him from heaven.⁹  Satan aims to devour the good fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control¹⁰—by pitting one against another.  In the wounds of hurtful experiences, Satan plants hate, bitterness, strife, selfishness, meanness, evil, lust, harshness, and impetuousness. 

            We have these wrongful feelings for others in part because we judge others’ actions, words, and motives.  There is only One, who knows the thoughts of a person and the desires of their heart, and that is God.¹¹  We cannot see or discern what God sees or knows because of the two-by-four in our own eye and the selfishness and jealousy in our own heart.¹²  Jesus warns us that we will be judged by the cup with which we measure.¹³  If your desire is to harbor unforgiveness to seek vengeance, you are setting up a travesty of discipline for God to met out on you.  “Vengeance is mine,” says the LORD.¹⁴  These words alone should motivate you to pull out by the roots the growth of bitterness, envy, jealousy, strife, selfishness … and give them to God.  He’s all knowing.  He knows what happened to cause these wounds, and He also knows the wounds you have inflicted on others.  This should bring pause to any unresolved unforgiveness in your heart.  Forgive everyone for everything, and you’ll end up with a pure heart capable of receiving God’s pure wisdom without adulterating it.

            Do you have the desire to seek after God’s own heart to become wise, not in your own eyes, but through the eyes of others who want to partner with a person who is an icon of Jesus¹⁵—a model of peace, gentleness, flexibility, compassion, empathy, mercy, good deeds, fairness, and sincerity?  Then take to heart the wisdom of God’s Word:

"If you are wise and understand God’s ways, live a life of steady goodness so that only good deeds will pour forth.  And if you don’t brag about the good you do, then you will be truly wise!  But if you are bitterly jealous, and there is selfish ambition in your hearts, don’t brag about being wise.  That is the worst kind of lie.  For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom.  Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and motivated by the Devil.  For wherever there are jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and every kind of evil.

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven 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 partiality and is always sincere.  And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness."¹⁶

Happy are people of integrity,

     who follow the law of the LORD.

Happy are those who obey his decrees

     and search for him with all their hearts.

They do not compromise with evil,

     and they walk only in his paths.

You have charged us

     to keep your commandments carefully.

Oh, that my actions would consistently

     reflect your principles!

Then I will not be disgraced

     when I compare my life with your commands.

When I learn from your righteous laws,

     I will thank you by living as I should!

I will obey your principles.

     Please don’t give up on me!

How can a young person stay pure?

     By obeying your word and following its rules.

I have tried my best to find you—

     don’t let me wander from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart,

     that I might not sin against you.

Blessed are you, O LORD;

     teach me your principles.

I have recited aloud

     all the laws you have given us.

I have rejoiced in your decrees

     as much as in riches.

I will study your commandments

     and reflect on your ways.

I will delight in your principles

and not forget your word.

LORD, you are mine!

     I promise to obey your words!

With all my heart I want your blessings.

     Be merciful just as you promised.

I pondered the direction of my life,

     and I turned to follow your statutes.

I will hurry, without lingering,

     to obey your commands.

Evil people try to drag me into sin,

but I am firmly anchored to your law.

At midnight I rise to thank you

     for your just laws.

Anyone who fears you is my friend—

     anyone who obeys your commandments.

O LORD, the earth is full of your unfailing love;

     teach me your principles.¹⁷

As my second journey on God’s Spirit Airline continued, the joy of trial was mixed with the love of Christ, adding layers of faith and strengthening my foundation in Him.

Next: The Spirit Airline: Healing in His Wings…”He renews my strength.”

Praise to Our Father for the words He has given me ~ Jeff Cambridge

Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2016 Stellar Rhema Ministry, Jeff Cambridge

  

References

All Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version^®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission of International Bible Society.  “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. 

1.     James 1:1 NIV

2.     1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22

3.     James 3:17 italics added

4.     Psalm 32:3-5

5.     James 3:17 italics added

6.     Psalm 51:7-13

7.     Psalm 32:1-2

8.     Psalm 119:1

9.     Isaiah 14:12-15

10.   Galatians 5:22

11.   Matthew 9:4, 12:25; Psalm 37:4

12.   Matthew 7:3-5

13.   Matthew 7:1-2

14.   Romans 12:19 NKJV

15.   “Icons of Jesus”, Copyright © 2005 Stellar Rhema Ministry

16.   James 3:13-18 italics added

17.   Psalm 119:1-16, 57-64