God's Secret Wisdom

Do you know God's secret wisdom? The Bible says you can't know it unless the Spirit of God reveals it to you (1 Corinthians 2). It doesn't matter how intelligent you are or how religious you are, you just can't work it out unless God's Spirit gives you understanding. The Apostle Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 2:14: The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

What is this secret wisdom? Paul tells us a few verses earlier in v2: "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." Jesus crucifixion is the secret wisdom of God which is at the core of the Christian message.

OK you've heard of the crucifixion of Christ .... but do you really know what it means? What its significance is for you personally? The first thing you'll need to do if you really want to find out is to pray to God and to ask Him for Spiritual understanding. You won't 'crack the code' of meaning unless God's Spirit allows you to.

And for Christians who want to tell God's gospel to others you will need to make sure that the message of the Cross is at the core of what you tell people. You should also be praying that God's Spirit makes the message of the Cross clear to the hearer.

Keeping out the weeds

This weekend I must mow the Kikuyu grass on my nature strip. With all the rain over the past few weeks it's knee high and threatens to invade my property, through the fence and into my garden.

One of life's challenges is keeping out the weeds (or wild grass). I found a section in the Old Testament book of Proverbs which speaks about this.

I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (Proverbs 24:30-34)

Lesson: If you're too lazy to keep out the weeds you will be ruined. It might be physical weeds, like the wild grass on my nature strip. It might be metaphorical weeds; in your relationship with your spouse or children, or even with God Himself. It might be some sort of evil in your life which threatens to take over: gambling, pornography, drinking, drugs, greed, workaholism.

Message: Keep working hard on keeping those weeds out. Don't ignore them. Take action today. (It would have been much easier if I'd have mowed my nature strip last week!)

I am nothing without my mobile phone

People love their mobile phones. Looking down the carriage of my train I see people everywhere staring down at their tiny screens, texting, playing games, reading the news. Its a world within a world. Its my connection to the world. I am nothing without my mobile phone.