Where is this? It's Right Before Your Eyes

Where is this? It's Right Before Your Eyes. 

by David Brenneman 

‭"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish." Psalms 1:1-6

Was reading this, this morning, and the more I read it, the more something else stood out. 

To walk in the counsel of the wicked is, quite frankly, to look to the world for advice on living life. 

We can unknowingly, unwittingly, be ingesting this counsel without realizing it, in just our everyday activities. 

We get drawn into a conversation that we're not necessarily participating in, but the wisdom spoken of isn't going to point us towards Godly wisdom.  

‭"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." James 1:5-8.

We can take in television commercials, take in advertising during videos or games, and not realize we've sat with the scoffers of the world. 

We get used to the "I can handle it" mentally without understanding that we, on our own, cannot live the righteous life that God desires for us. 

We can't shepherd ourselves. We need to be mindful of our Shepherd and Lord Jesus Christ. What He's doing, where He's going, leaving behind the elementary things of this world. 

How would you describe your time that God does get from you? Would you describe it as David wrote it here? Delight in the law of the Lord. I sort of noticed that the word law was not capitalized.  

David thought that meditation on the Word of God should be a continuous thing. Continually done.

Much as Paul writing of setting our minds on the things that are above and not on the things that are of this world. Gee where would Paul get that notion? 

Do you value your time?

Do you fill it with what matters most?  

Does your mind try to dwell on the word of God?

Only you know the answers to these questions. 

Well, you and the Holy Spirit. 

We can say we pray for wisdom from God...but do we show patience in waiting for His response or do we get ahead of Him?

A key attribute that Jesus had to deal with in the Disciples was them getting ahead of Him. Being impetuous. Slowing them down to the moment rather than running ahead.  

A very grievous time in my life was my getting so far ahead of God that it took over a decade to recover from it.  

We can be a people who run ahead much like the child in a store seeing the toys and listening very little with regards to patience in getting there.

We can also forget that others at a very different place in their growth in Christ.  

We can also forget that we're not to leave others behind. Coming alongside a troubled Believer is an attribute of Jesus.  

We can also forget to prefer one another above ourselves. In our driving need to get to a goal, as the world pushes for, we neglect to consider what that looks like to the unbelieving or the stumbling Believer. 

We can take in worldly wisdom by the bowl or glass full without realizing what is truly happening. 

‭"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." James 3:17-18.

For days Paul was rattled by the process the Spirit was using to show him Godly wisdom after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.  

David, it is written, was considered to be a man after God's own heart. 

Look at Psalms 1 again. What does he start out with?

We feed out minds daily with both junk food and the Holy Word of God on the same plate. We rarely show the discretion required to keep our minds set on the Holy.

We easily fall prey to justification of our thoughts and actions in order to not feel as bad as we should about not following through with our commitment to giving Jesus our all.

We read in the Old Testament of "first fruits". That the Lord Jesus would get the very first of a crop, of the herd, of the day, of everything. Firstborn sons even.  

Does Jesus get your best or your leftovers because of how realistically commitment to Him that you are? Not how you say you are but how He really, already, sees you as being?

What precautions are you actively taking in regards to protecting your mind? Consider again the whole armor of God before you begin to answer. What are you doing about your heart? 

Are you keeping pace with Jesus or are you running ahead? Are you giving up and failing behind?

We want answers to questions and are impatient about how long it takes to get them. We have the most "knowledge" available at our fingertips yet are a civilization of the most ignorant people in regards to Spiritual things, Spiritual warfare.  

Do you try each day to give of your best to God?

Do you try each day to filter out the noise of the world?

Do you ask of God for wisdom or do you look first for it yourself from the world?

We find ourselves in so much trouble because we allow ourselves sips of pride in our lives. Take a sip here or there and stand on that as to why we really didn't go ask Him for help.  

It's an interesting notion that we have not because we ask not. We easily ask with wrong motives. Not seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. Just the answer to our problems.

Take stock of where you are looking for wisdom. Take steps to be intentional on going to God first. 

Our lives are not our own. We were bought with a price. The precious blood of Jesus Christ. 

All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.