LindaRiddle.org

Last week I came to the realization that I have been in the middle of an all out war lately, and to be quite honest with you – it kind of fired me up (once I realized what was going on of course). 

My husband and I were talking one evening and we were were just encouraging each other.  We had just slowly walked through the past few weeks and months and did a play by play of everything we’ve been facing and coming up against lately.  It wasn’t a negative pity party or anyting like that, we were just like “man – what’s going on!?”  It’s been a bit exhausting lately to be honest with you - we’ve been up against some pretty negative circumstances.  Some of them pretty big ones, but honestly it was more so all the petty, ridiculous little fiery darts (that nontheless require our attention and energy) that have been the most draining.  As we started talking, we started noticing patterns surfacing, and through noticing those patterns, I felt the Holy Spirit give me one word: “tactics”.  Almost immediately Matthew 10:16 came to mind:  ….be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves and then I Peter 5:8 “Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”  I felt the Holy Spirit reveal to my heart that these tactics were all being used against us in an effort to try and overtake us.  Once we realized that – oh man, it was on! An incredible surge of confidence (not in ourselves but in Jesus) came over me.  I literally felt my posture take it’s form again – my back straigthened up, my shoulders kicked back and the grip of my hands tightened up again.

When God brings light and shines on an area of our lives, darkness has to flee.  And I felt as if that’s what had happened just then.  What the enemy was planning in secret, the Holy Spirit had just revealed to us and now we knew specifically how to be on the alert.  I’ve heard it said for so long “If you’re doing something right for Jesus, expect to be attacked”.  Sometimes those attacks are blatant and obvious, (I’ve had several of those in the past) but this time, it was suttle and he was coming at us from all directions. 

I remembered an illustration given during a message sometime back.  It was about lions and how they were trained for the circus.  Here you have these huge, strong ferocious beasts – but if you’ve ever watched the trainers, they can get the lions to coward back by simply picking up a 4-legged chair and pointing all 4 legs at them.  The lions feel overwhelmed with all these chair legs coming at them at once, and they coward back.  Yet from our perspective – we know well that they could tear that chair into pieces!  Sometimes, that’s the same kind of tactic that the enemy tries to use with us – to come at us from all directions so that we feel overwhelmed, and in hopes that we will “give up” or “back down”.  But if we only knew what was really going on, if we could just step into the spiritual realm for a moment, we’d realize how ridiculous those tactics are in the light of how great a victory Jesus has already given us!

Since the Holy Spirit revealed that to us, and we committed it all to Jesus and claimed His victory over it all, things started shifting almost immediately.  I can honestly say that had I not been keeping my spiritual radar in tune with God, ready to listen to what He was revealing to me – this story would most likely have a very different ending.  We have got to stay alert (Luke 22:31-32) and as we stay connected and in constant communication with Jesus, He will reveal to us things we need to know so that we can see things the way they really are.

The most powerful part of all of this is that Jesus already won the victory for us.  The enemy can try new tactics against us to try and confuse us, sometimes even trying to twist the Word of God in our lives.  But as we continue to do God’s will and stay in close communion with Him – it’s so freeing and empowering to know for a fact that we cannot be overthrown.

Acts 5:38

LGR

By their fruit you shall know them…

God totally called me out on this recently – and rightly so.  It was a simple question that stopped me dead in my tracks.  Here I am, working full time in the ministry – literally, I have the privilege that everything I work on is advancing His kingdom.  It’s such an incredible honor.  But this simple question left me speechless:  ”Can others see that you are My child by looking at the fruit in your life?” And I knew what He meant by fruit.  It was not my performance, or my lists of completed tasks or how much I could accomplish in one day – but what kind of spiritual fruit was my life producing? Whoa – I sat literally stunned for several minutes and all I could say was “Wow God, I’m so sorry.”

If I can be real for a second – I had somehow drifted into confusing fruit; gifts and works.  I had kind of lumped everything into one big bucket and slapped the label “accomplishments” on it.  That had become my focus – get stuff done, and since it was “stuff’ for the kingdom – I felt as if my life had much fruit to show for.  In my personal development – I worked to develop the gifts and God-given talents on my life so that I could accomplish more – while all along confusing the end result with “fruit”.  But what God calls fruit in His word – the fruit by which we are known as His children, I was not cultivating, and it was becoming less and less evident in my life.

The world is full of people who are gifted and smart and can get a lot of stuff done.  The world is full of highly efficient people.  How much I get done isn’t going to speak to a lost soul.  But love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness – this is what speaks to a world in need.  That’s where the authenticity is.  That is what points the world to Jesus.

Spiritual gifts are easy to spot – but gifts are just that – gifts.  They are given freely.  And they are given to each of us so that we can help each other.  (See I Corinthians 12:1-11)  Fruit however is cultivated.

I am so glad that God is so patient, kind and gentle.  What He pointed out to me was HUGE, yet He showed it to me in love and there was no condemnation or anxiety in it.  That’s our God!

Lastly, He seals it all in my heart by taking me to Philippians 1:9, where I see clearly that the heart and the mind were intended to grow together.  ”I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding….11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God.”

LGR

More than anything right now, I desire to grow in wisdom.  I want to make the most of every moment and day God blesses me with.  I know that I will make mistakes along the way, and I’m okay with that (as long as I learn from them) but I know that as I function in His wisdom, I can execute with more precise focus, determination and confidence in knowing that God is orchestrating my every move.  I crave it desperately.

I’m not a hyper, or overly energetic person.  Even when I feel my best it seems I honestly don’t have a bunch of “extra” energy to spare.  I need God’s wisdom to guide me and instruct me on how to properly utilize what I do have.  I’ve gotten good at knowing what my limits are, and I know how to pace myself.  I know what God has entrusted me with, and what I am to steward.  And I know what gear I need to function on throughout the day so I can make it strong all the way to the end.  I am not at all talking about coasting throughout the day, every night I still go to bed exhausted, but also knowing I have spread (not only spent) my time, talents and treasure well.  There are times when the adrenaline can kick in and I can totally shift gears when I need to, but I’ve learned well that I cannot sustain that kind of gear for long or expect to function in that zone for the rest of my life.  That is the exception – not the norm.  I want to be ultra-effective at everything I have been entrusted with, yet not use up all the time, talent and treasure  I have on only one stream of my life while neglecting another or leaving only left-overs for some.  I also want to make sure I’m leaving sufficient margin throughout the day so that I can listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and stop and talk to someone in need, or quiet myself long enough to hear Him speaking if He’s showing me something - not just be so busy that I totally walk on by.  I want my life to count and leave my print, yet I want to enjoy it too. 

Several years ago, before going into the ministry I worked in corporate America for many years.  People knew where I stood with my faith in God.  I didn’t hide it, but I had to be wise in how I shared my beliefs.  I made sure I was always was respectful of those in authority over me, as well as to those that worked for me – but I never conducted myself or made decisions in any way contrary to my beliefs and convictions.  At times, I wondered if by being there, my life was making any kind of impact for God at all.  It wasn’t until after I left, that God allowed me to have a glimpse into what kind of fruit had been producing in my life all those years that I wasn’t even aware of.  Upon finding out I was leaving to work in the ministry, a number of the people I worked with shared with me what an impact my life had made to them.  They literally said how they could see that the faith I had was in an authentic God – the real thing.  It was this transparency that allowed them to see into all areas of my life…see what drove my decisions and watch how my relationships worked, not only with my coworkers, but with my husband and friends.  They were watching the entire time – everything…not only how I worked, but how I cared for others, for my home, and for myself.  This taught me one of the greatest lessons I have ever learned.  How I live out my life, how I steward what I have been entrusted with, speaks louder to the world than anything I could ever desire to speak vocally into their lives.

Time has gone by and I have much more to steward now.  Many more responsibilities and much more to take into consideration.  Many more areas where I must “spread myself” if you will.  This is why I so desperately need God’s wisdom.  I heard it said that many times, God can bring us into something new, but we can sabotage it by trying to use old methods on a new thing. I need new methods, I need wisdom to guide me.  I don’t want to panic, freak out, or start neglecting key areas in my life, I want to grow and learn how to make things work at another level.  Wisdom paints a picture in the theatre of my mind of a life of maximum effectiveness in all areas, through peaceful, precise and calm execution, while enjoying every second of it.  That’s what I want.  So I turn to the author and finisher of our faith:

James 1:5 AMP
⁵If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.

This is what God is showing me initially about wisdom as I search it out in the Word: 

• Wisdom is displayed through a posture of humility and its fruit is very evident through our words.  
  Just to name a few (and Proverbs of course is full of references): “wise people think before they act; words of the wise bring healing; a wise person stays calm when insulted; a truly wise person uses few words; with humility comes wisdom; fear of the Lord teaches wisdom, humility preceds honor”. 
• Godly wisdom works in harmony with knowledge – but they are by no means one in the same. 
• It can be obtained – it’s not just for some…it’s for all.  (Proverbs 9:12 NLT If you become wise…)
• Wisdom can be pictured like a house, built of many things – but the very foundation is the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10)
  “A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense.  Through knowledge (knowledge is learned) it’s rooms are filled with all sorts of riches and valuables.”  If you execute knowledge through wisdom – what a beautiful house you build.
• Abiding in God’s Word brings wisdom.  (II Timothy 3:15) 

Here are some interesting quotes I found on wisdom:

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.  Plato

We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility of our future. George Bernard Shaw

Whatever is at the center of our life will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom, and power.  Stephen Covey

LGR