Wisdom is knowing who is your Source

James 3: 13 " who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom"

Earthly wisdom is demonstrated by being devious, overbearing, domineering and most of all, self seeking..the bible tells us that this type of wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, sensual and demonic. For where envy and self seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But on the other hand, the wisdom that is from heaven is first PURE, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy...

So often, it is almost effortless for us to be filled with envy and become self centred in our lives. When we see others with a wonderful job, great family, pay raise ...basically enjoying better things and seemingly God has given them more at "our expense", the feeling of envy begin to rise. How true it is that true wisdom is first pure. God expects us (me, as I am writing this...i am reminding myself!) to seek for purity. Purity in intent, thoughts and actions. We may smile and rejoice on the outset but deep within our hearts, we can become envious or even bitter sometimes so subconsciously. I believe that is when God tells us repeatedly that we have to guard our heart which is the wellspring of life....out of it flows issues of life. Heavenly wisdom is one where we exercise gentleness, humility and grace through our actions and words as we represent Jesus. Are we too casual in saying that "Thank God for wisdom" when the resulting action of that "wisdom" fails to fulfil the biblical definition of heavenly wisdom as in Jas 13:17? Think about it....The next time we ask God for wisdom, the bible tells us HE will give it to us lavishly, check against these qualities and ask " Is my action which is performed out of the wisdom of Christ, is it done in purity, gentleness, grace and bear fruits that will remain?" Else, more likely it is just fulfilling your self seeking desire...which regretfully is not a result of Godly wisdom.

As you check your hearts, I am checking mine.....

This coming weekend is Arise & Build pledging weekend. Since weeks ago, I have began check my heart. The amount I am pledging is never derived out of my own wisdom (sheer calculation of income minus expenses and cost of living and some savings...). I don't want to give for the purpose of seeking anything else from God. I give because I want to bless the Lord. He knows my greatest and only desire so there is no need to give more $ just to "arm-twist" Him to release from heaven because i cannot manipulate the Lord anyway!

He gives and bless as He will and I just simply trust that He is indeed a God of More than enough. He has blessed me with more than what I could ever think or imagine all these years. There is no means to even compute the accumulated blessings the Lord has given me. It came in the form of a fulfilling marriage, favour, great family, wonderful friendships, success in career, material possessions, peace of mind, tranquility in my spirit and more importantly, the priviledged friendship i have with my Jesus. Much as it is not a bed of roses (there are great disappointments, sense of loss and uncertainty) but surely, God has been showing me that in the midst of being pricked by the thorns of life, I can always focus on the roses. Life is a matter of perspective and I choose to always (it is a conscious and hard effort honestly!) focus on those roses.