Choose Love (22 page)

We cannot depend on earthly wisdom. Paul said, “Your faith
should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5).

When we depend on God’s wisdom and not the world’s, we cannot go wrong. Every time we seek God and ask His Spirit of wisdom to guide us, we are on solid ground. We can say, “I will bless the L
ORD
who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the L
ORD
always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved” (Psalm 16:7-8).

The Bible says, “
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psalm 111:10). Having reverence for God is the first step in receiving the wisdom of God, which is imparted to you by His indwelling Holy Spirit. That doesn’t mean you know everything God knows. It means you will have godly wisdom you would not have without Him. It means you will have the wisdom to trust in God’s infinite wisdom in your life.

True wisdom comes from God. The Bible says, “
Length of days
is in her right hand, in her left hand
riches and honor
. Her ways are
ways of pleasantness
,
and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life
to those who take hold of her, and
happy are all who retain her
” (Proverbs 3:16-18). The wisdom God gives us brings long life, abundance, contentment, strength, peace, and happiness.

When we have godly wisdom, we walk safely, sleep soundly, and live unafraid. We have confidence knowing God will keep us from harm if we are wise enough to seek Him for everything, wise enough to hear His voice of wisdom speaking to our soul, wise enough to do the right thing. “Keep sound wisdom and discretion…
then you will walk safely in your way
, and
your foot will not stumble
. When you lie down,
you will not be afraid
; yes, you will lie down and
your sleep will be sweet
” (Proverbs 3:21,23-24).

That same chapter says that when we walk with wisdom, we don’t have to “
be afraid of sudden terror
, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; f
or the L
ORD
will be your confidence, and will keep your
foot from being caught
” (verses 25-26). How often have we seen disaster happen to people who did not seek wisdom from God before they made an important decision? That doesn’t have to happen.

What a comfort that is—not having to be afraid of sudden terror or attacks of evil people—because God will protect us when we lean on His wisdom and we trust the Spirit of wisdom within us. When we live in the fear of the Lord, reverencing Him and fearing what life would be without Him, we dwell safely and securely without having to live in fear of evil (Proverbs 1:33).

God wants you to seek wisdom, understanding, and discernment just as you would search for a great treasure (Proverbs 2:1). He wants you to “
incline your ear to wisdom,
and apply your heart to understanding,” for only “then will you understand the fear of the L
ORD
, and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:2,5).

This means we need to be enthusiastically sold out to the Lord so that there is nothing in us not dedicated to and owned by Him. When we have so much love and reverence for God that we are hesitant to do anything that would cause Him any displeasure, then we are beginning to get it. We are beginning to understand what the fear of the Lord is all about. It’s loving and reverencing Him and leaning on His unfailing wisdom—both
toward
us and
in
us.

When we choose to walk in humility before the Lord, the wisdom of God manifests itself in us.

Prayer of Love

L
ORD
, I love that Your wisdom is eternal, true, and always perfect. Help me to seek out and depend on Your wisdom every day. Holy Spirit of wisdom, fill me afresh with Your wisdom so that I can always hear Your wise counsel spoken to my heart. I depend on Your counsel for all things. Teach me to value all my days on earth so that I may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12).

I know that the counsel of nations comes to nothing, but You bless the nation who proclaims You are Lord and who seeks Your wisdom—the people You have chosen for Your own inheritance (Psalm 33:11-12). Thank You that Your counsel stands forever (Psalm 33:11). I am grieved at how my nation has rejected Your godly wisdom. Bring us back to You, I pray. Only in You can we ever find the wisdom to make right decisions. I know that man, in the arrogance of his own wisdom, comes to destruction, but trust that Your wisdom can enable us to survive.

I praise and worship You. And I thank You that reverencing You is where Your wisdom in me begins. Help me to always love and value You far above all else. I seek Your wisdom above earthly wisdom, for I know that those who do that are blessed. I don’t want to be like those who “hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the L
ORD
” for they could not enjoy Your presence and did not get their prayers answered (Proverbs 1:28-29). As for me, I lean totally, enthusiastically, and unwaveringly on Your wisdom because I love and trust You.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

Words of Love

The fear of the L
ORD
is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

P
ROVERBS
1:7

When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil.

P
ROVERBS
2:10-12

The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

P
SALM
37:30-31

The L
ORD
gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.

P
ROVERBS
2:6-7

Wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

P
ROVERBS
8:11

13

Leave the World of His Enemy Entirely

G
od’s
enemy is
our
enemy. And
our
enemy is
God’s
enemy.

God delivers us from
our
enemy when we separate ourselves from
His.

When we welcome evil into our lives in any way, we welcome the enemy of God, and we need the power, wisdom, guidance, and help of the Holy Spirit in order to separate ourselves completely from that realm. That doesn’t mean we should isolate ourselves from everyone who doesn’t believe the way
we
do. It means we don’t give the enemy an opening into our mind and life in any way.

We’re never allowed to have one foot in each kingdom.

Jesus said, “The ruler of this world is coming, and
he has nothing in Me
” (John 14:30). This means that because Jesus was sinless, Satan had no authority over Him. If we surrender nothing of our lives to the enemy and everything to Jesus, the enemy has no authority over
us
either.

God wants us to live in the world, but we are not to align our heart with the world’s system. That’s because it is opposed to God’s kingdom and rule and all that God is and does. As much as it is up to us, we must choose to allow only godly and faith-filled people, who live in God’s truth, to be the
influencers
in our lives.

David said, “
My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me
” (Psalm 101:6). We, too, should not spend the majority of our time with those who might influence us to pick up any of the enemy’s ways.

If we
align our heart with evil
in any way, it will come back upon us in some negative consequence. But if we express love for God by
resisting evil
in our lives, God will be our defender.

Ask God to Deliver You from Evil

Jesus taught us to pray, “
Deliver us from the evil one
.”

David prayed, “
Deliver me, O L
ORD
, from evil men
; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their hearts…who have purposed to make my steps stumble” (Psalm 140:1-2,4).

We, too, must often pray, “Deliver us from evil” and “protect us from evil men.” That’s because the
enemy
of
God
will attack each one of us. Jesus knew that, and it’s why He taught us to pray the way He did. I always pray that my children will be delivered from evil as well because the enemy will try to entice them.

Too many people are in denial about whether we have a spiritual enemy who opposes us. And bad things happen in people’s lives who are either ignorant of the enemy and his tactics, or they have chosen to be unaware of his existence. Whatever their belief about that, it’s not working.

Jesus teaches us to pray that the plans of the enemy will not succeed in our life.

We show our love for God by
praying against evil
. David prayed, “
Still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked
” (Psalm 141:5). We can pray
for
things and we can pray
against
things. Make it a habit to pray against the encroachment of evil into your life and the lives of your loved ones.

Jesus destroyed the power of evil by His death and resurrection. But evil is still here. The Bible assures us that evil will not triumph over us as long as we
resist it. We must take authority
over it in Jesus’
name and
refuse to align
ourselves with it. God did
not
say, “Pretend the devil doesn’t exist and he will flee.” He said, “
Resist
the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Do I believe a demon is behind every bush? No, but I believe countless demons are in too many places and too many people.

The enemy is not everywhere, although some days it may seem as though that is true. That’s what the enemy wants us to think. The truth is, only God is omnipresent. However, the enemy will be where he is invited to be. God will be where
He
is invited to be, as well, but in far greater power than the enemy. We must be careful who and what our thoughts, words, and actions invite into our life.

Because Jesus delivered us from evil and its power, that means evil has no power over us—if we choose not to buy into it. We see people in the news who sell their souls to the dark side and are rewarded with worldly enticements, but their eternal future will be with the dark side as well.

We are not allowed to forget that fact.

We must choose to turn away from even any
hint
of the dark side and live in the light with Jesus because our future depends on it.

Love God by Keeping Your Heart Separate from the World

We are all in a spiritual war between God and His enemy, and the sooner we recognize that, the sooner we can become the prayer warriors God wants us to be. In this spiritual war, prayer is the way we battle the enemy. But we must first clearly make the distinction as to what aligns us with the enemy and what does not. David said, “Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god” (Psalm 16:4).
Those who follow after the enemy will not have peace
.

We show love for God by separating ourselves from anything that separates us from Him. When we do that, God delivers us out of the grasp of the enemy’s hands. “
You who love the L
ORD
, hate evil!
He preserves the souls of His saints;
He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked
” (Psalm 97:10).

Evil constantly plots against us, and we must remember at all times to turn to God for help to win the battles we are in with the enemy. God
prepares
us for battle. He
teaches us how
to do battle against the enemy. He
delivers us
from our enemy. And He
gives us victory.

God doesn’t want us to only resist the enemy, to only try to defend ourselves against the plans of evil. He wants us to go on the
offensive
and pray for the destruction of the enemy’s plans before he even attempts to execute them.