Week #6 I Am a Wise Friend of Christ Jesus By Allan Wilson Scriptural Thinking
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Foreword I would like to take the time to explain to you some important information about this course: This page will be exactly the same in every lesson so if you have read it already by all means scroll down. 1st The emphasis in all my products is that: You reap what you sow (therefore sow the word of God) And for you to take the scriptures personally (therefore apply them to yourself). So when you read I or me it is not to be read as me the author but as you the reader. 2nd I would hope that it is obvious that the same scriptures apply to all who are in Christ Jesus and it is with great humility that we can take the scriptures personally and apply them to ourselves. 3rd Many of the scriptures used apply to Israel as a nation or to other individuals in the Bible and applying all of them to ourselves may not necessarily be in context however certainly can be used to illustrate the blessings to us personally. 4th I have used the King James Version of the Bible for the scriptures however I also have used the Bible concordance, dictionaries and other translations to expand on the meanings of various words. 5th The whole purpose of this series is to be able to get to the point where we can truly appreciate who we are in Christ. All of the scriptures and affirmations used are designed to help us get to this goal using the principle of we reap what we sow. Page 3
6th All of the scriptures and affirmations mentioned throughout this course are slanted towards highlighting just the positive. This course does not address the issues of wrongdoing and in no way condones or excuses sin but is solely designed to help us understand our full potential in Christ. This is of particular importance to me as I do not want to just tickle your ears because that will not profit you at all. We must get the right balance and that can only come from reading the Bible. There are some serious consequences in just telling you everything is okay when it may not be as the following scripture shows Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:32) It is my great hope that after you see all of the promises of God broken down for you into bite size chunks and understand the awesome benefits of being in Christ Jesus you will be so stirred up that you will only want to serve him and him only. 7th Finally I also hope it is obvious that this course is just the work of a mere mortal man and in no way can replace the Holy Bible in any way. I do hope it serves to help you become a more successful Christian and reap all the benefits that are associated with abiding in Christ. Note: If you complete this entire course you will have a total of 51 lessons jam packed with positive affirmations inspirational Bible verses commentary and a total of more then 200 minutes of affirmations recorded on mp3. Page 4
Scriptures for Sermons, Group Conversation Starters and Bible Study 1 Corinthians 1:30 says that God has made Christ Jesus to be my wisdom. In Matthew 10:16 Jesus encourages me to be as wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. In Matthew 24:45 Jesus asks me to be a faithful and wise servant. Luke 21:15 says that Jesus will give me a mouth of wisdom, which all my adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. Romans 16:9 encourages me to be wise to that which is good, and simple concerning evil. Ephesians 1:17 declares that the Father of glory may give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Ephesians 5:15 urges me to walk as wise. Colossians 3:16 asks me to let the word of God dwell in me richly in all wisdom. 2 Timothy 3:15 says the holy scriptures are able to make me wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. James 1:5 encourages me to ask God for wisdom and he will give it to me. Page 5
James 3:17 reveals to me what it is like to have the wisdom which is from above. Just like Paul in Philippians 3:8 I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:5 says that in everything I am enriched by Jesus Christ, in all utterance and in all knowledge. Jesus tells me in John 15:15 that he no longer calls me a servant; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but Jesus has called me his friend; for all things that Jesus has heard of his Father he has made known to me. Proverbs 17:17 says I have a friend who loves me at all times. Proverbs 18:24 says a man that has friends must show himself to be friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Jesus is my friend who does all those things. Page 6
I will be as wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove I am a faithful and wise servant Jesus has given me a mouth and wisdom, which all the adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist I am wise to that which is good and simple concerning evil The Father of Glory has given me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him I will walk as wise The word of Christ dwells in me richly in all wisdom The scriptures make me wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus I will ask God for wisdom and he shall give it to me I have the wisdom which is from above I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. I am enriched by Jesus Christ in every thing, in all utterance and in all knowledge. Jesus calls me his friend I have a friend who loves me at all times, and Jesus is that friend Jesus is friendly to me I am an associate of Jesus Christ All things Jesus has heard from God he has made known to me Page 7
The Four Pillars of being W.I.S.E. I like playing around with acronyms and I came up with the following four items for wise. W WORD I IGNORANT S SIMPLE E EARS W.I.S.E. #1 W - WORD There is not enough room in all the books in the world to explain how magnificent the word of God is. Reading the Bible and taking the advice of the one who made us is just the most sensible thing to do. And of course Jesus himself was the word made flesh. If we want to put on the mind of Christ shouldn t we be reading what s on his mind? The Bible is food for us; I don t know how any Christian can get through life without regularly reading the word. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) One of my favorite scriptures is: He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. (Psalm 107:20) I went through a very dark period in my life where I suffered horrible depression and it was God s word that healed me. It s a very long story and in this little space I make it sound so easy. It wasn t it was a tough battle however by sowing the word of God into my life I reaped healing. And if you have suffered from depression dear reader you well know that being delivered from your destruction is so apt a description. Page 8
That s just a tiny testimony of what God s word can do. Now what about you? What are you seeking for right now? Then sow the word of God into your situation and you will reap what you sow. I always say if you are seeking healing then read as many scriptures as you can about healing. Read it, live it and breathe it you will find yourself being uplifted, growing in faith and fully trusting God. Do you have financially problems? Sow the word into your life read everything God has to say about managing money. Same goes for anything else want to be a better witness? Want to find a wife or husband? Want a better job? Want a better marriage? No matter what it is read what the word of God has to say about the matter and do it God s way and watch the blessings unfold. How does faith come? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Roman 10:7) Faith comes from hearing: The word hearing means to hear with understanding and the only way it can happen is by the word of God. As for example the story of Paul on the road to Damascus: The Bible critics have a field day with this story because in the initial account it says And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man (Acts 9:7) Then when Paul is recounting the story later he says And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. (Acts 22:9) Page 9
So on the surface it looks like the Bible is contradictory however when you investigate the word hear more closely you will see it has two meanings: One is to hear a noise and the other is to hear and understand what is being said. For example: If you spoke to me in a foreign language and I couldn t speak the language than it is correct to say I heard a voice but it is also correct to say I didn t hear what was being said. (understand the voice). So it is with the scripture: Faith comes by hearing (and understanding) and the only way we can hear with understanding is by the word. The end result however is simple: Do you want faith? Then how does it come? By hearing (listening to, reading, taking instruction from, obeying, following, and meditating upon) the word of God Allow the word of Christ? Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16) The first point from the above scripture is that it says Let we have to allow the word of Christ to dwell in us. Allow the word of Christ to live in you. And allow it to live in you richly in all wisdom See how the word of Christ makes you wise? Page 10
Teaching (instructing) and Admonishing (warning, exhorting) How? With - psalms (choruses) and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Teaching and admonishing by singing spiritual songs to each other? There is so much joy in singing, so much meaning in spiritual songs and a great way of remembering and being taught is by singing. What a great way to live people picture God as a hard task master yet he would have us to be free as a bird and singing like one as well. Where are you searching for answers? God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Heb 1:1-3) Wow What an incredible introduction to a book. Let s break down the things mentioned in the above scripture into bullet points so we can explore further. Page 11
Jesus Christ: God has spoken to us through him. God has appointed him heir of all things. By whom God made the worlds. Who was the brightness of God s glory. Who was the express image of his person. Who upholds all things by the word of his power. Who had by himself purged our sins. Who now sits at the right hand of God. In Genesis we read how God spoke the word and things happened. He spoke the word; Let there be light and there was light. We read above concerning Jesus (the word made flesh) by whom God made the worlds. My point is where are you searching for your answers? Should it not be in the powerful word of God? Can not your problems be solved by the word of God that has the power to create the universe? Should you not seek the one who made you and knows the very hairs on your head? Come to Jesus for your answers because by him were the worlds made, through him you can experience the brightness of God s glory, in him you can see God, he will uphold you by the power of his word, he has purged your sins and he represents you before God. Living Powerful Sharp Piercing Discerning And it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb 4:12) Page 12
W.I.S.E. #2 I - IGNORANT Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13) It might seem strange that I have ignorant as one of the words within the acronym for wise. In the above scripture the word ignorant simply means uneducated and maybe even illiterate. So what better way to highlight the wisdom that is in Christ Jesus; by seeing the humble uneducated followers of Christ preaching with boldness (and obviously showing a knowledge of the word of God). The educated and learned wise ones of this world marveled and took knowledge of them that they had been with Christ. They knew the disciple s knowledge didn t come from the same place as theirs and they knew it could have only come from Jesus Christ. I had the exact same experience in my life. To say my cousin wasn t exactly the brightest person I have ever met would be a massive understatement. Before I came to Christ we would quite often chat about things from the Bible and honestly the stuff he came out with beggars belief. However some months later I heard he had joined a Church group and he came around to my house to tell me about his experience. And I marveled at his conversation when he was talking about the Bible. Hang on this guy who only a few months ago was totally clueless is now explaining the scriptures in amazing fashion. I remember thinking the only thing that separated his former ignorance and his present wisdom was that Church he was going to. Imagine my shock when I read the above scripture for the first time after seeing that. We get our wisdom directly from Christ when you are in Christ things happen and you change. Page 13
W.I.S.E. #3 S - SIMPLICITY But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Cor 11:3) Once again simplicity doesn t seem to be a word one would include when talking about being wise. Yet Paul seems to be almost pleading with us when he says he is worried that our minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Sadly today when reading studies over various things God has stated in the Bible (baptism is just one of many examples) mankind has become very good at quibbling with God. We have become like lawyers pouring over every word that is written and seem to strive to come up with every reason possible not to do something God has said. Who cares where something fits into your scheme of things if God says to do something just do it. It must be good for us if he asks us to do it. I hate the phrase optional extra again it is like listening to a bunch of lawyers. Such and such is not necessary for salvation they say so it is an optional extra arghhh! Nothing is an optional extra in the word of God he wants to bless us with all the fullness of God. How silly to say to God: Oh I read in sub section paragraph 4 - that what you want me to do in paragraph 7 has no bearing on my salvation and therefore I m going to totally disobey what you said in paragraph 7 because according to my lawyer brain you will have to save me anyway. Why would you argue with God? If he says it just do it. Don t be robbed from the simplicity that is in Christ. Page 14
W.I.S.E. #4 E - EARS He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15) Earlier we read how faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We need ears that hear! But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. (Matthew 13:16-17) Many prophets have not been able to hear the things we hear. True wisdom comes from Jesus Christ who opens our eyes and ears so that we can hear. Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice we are his sheep and we can hear. Sometimes we stand amazed that others can t understand what we have experienced however unless they are sheep they have no hearing ears to listen with. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Rev 3:20) Hear his voice and open the door Jesus will come in and sup with you and you with him. For homework study the who has an ear to hear statements in the book of Revelation. Chapters 2 and 3 speak about the rewards for the overcomer wouldn t you say that the person who ends up with those things is wise? Page 15
We are friends of Jesus? You are now a friend of Jesus - Now that s what I call a wise move. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. (John 15:13-15) Your friend died for you: Can you even remotely comprehend just what enormous love your friend has for you? And HE has called you his friend and he has passed onto us all things he has heard from the Father. Finally: I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:4-9) There is so much in this scripture to look at so let s break it down into bullet points to clear it up a bit: Page 16
Thank God for the grace He has given you by Jesus Christ In every thing you are enriched by him You are enriched in all utterance You are enriched in all knowledge The testimony of Christ was confirmed in you You come behind in no gift Jesus will confirm you until the end You will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ God is faithful (therefore he can be relied upon to do it) We have been called by God into the fellowship of Jesus Christ The benefits of being in Christ are endless and I am sure you are delighted to have Jesus as your friend. Page 17
Why am I as wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove? Why am I a faithful and wise servant? Why has Jesus given me a mouth and wisdom, which all the adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist? Why am I wise to that which is good and simple concerning evil? Why has the Father of Glory given me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him? Why do I walk as wise? Why does the word of Christ dwell in me richly in all wisdom? Why do the scriptures make me wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus? Why will I ask God for wisdom and he give it to me? Why do I have the wisdom which is from above? Why do I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord? Why am I enriched by Jesus Christ in every thing, in all utterance and in all knowledge? Why does Jesus call me his friend? Why do I have a friend named Jesus who loves me at all times? Why is Jesus friendly to me? Why am I an associate of Jesus Christ? Why does make known to me all the things he has heard from God? Page 18