Each day during the month of March we will be sharing a devotional from a booklet written by Steve Love. Steve is a member of Canton First and a Traumatic Brain Injury survivor. If you would like a complete PDF of this devotional, it can be downloaded here.
Day 28
James 3:13-15 (New International Version)
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.
James the Less, the half brother of Jesus, the writer of the book of James asks a question, “Who is wise and understanding among you?” What a question to ask. Do you see yourselves as somebody who is wise and understanding? Does this fit the description of someone you know? James knew that wisdom comes from God.
In his own life James was not always wise. The wisdom he processed leads him and his brother to talk about having their older half brother committed. James was not a follow Jesus until sometime after Jesus ascended back to heaven. He alone with his brothers and sisters did not understand, they were confused about their brother Jesus’ teachings and actions.
Wisdom, true wisdom, comes from God. The world thinks the wisdom it has to offer is just as good, if not better than, the wisdom of God. Paul understood this when he wrote, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”
Everyone who the world calls a genius and holds their opinions in such high esteem can not compare to God. God wisdom is a much greater and better wisdom for us to follow.
God’s wisdom is made available to each and every one of us today. As student at Olivet Nazarene University, I attend College Church of the Nazarene. It was because of one reason; Bill Damper was pasturing the church. His sermons, the way he brought depth to each text he chooses was something I marveled at. Bill Damper, unknown to him, became one of my role models. My way of speaking was formed by taking three people’s styles and forming one of my own. Their example made a large impact on me personally. The three men, Bill Damper, Jim Diehl, and Dwayne Ray, by sharing their wisdom and showing me how to do it, helped me to become the speaker and the person I became.
The three of them had a relationship with God and drew on the wisdom they learned from God to make an impact on me and other they had touch personally. I learned by spending time with these 3 men of God. We only learn to understand and come to process God’s wisdom by spending time with God. We can and should educate ourselves about the different items of the world which impact our lives. I spend a lot of time studying and getting a deeper understanding about brain injuries. God want us to be informed to help us and to allow us to help others.
Man is learning more each day about the brain. There is hope that many of the Acquired Brain Injuries will become an event that only happen in the past. Wouldn’t that be great for medical science to find away to stop some of those brain injuries from occurring? There is hope that medical science could lower the effect of a Traumatic Brain Injury. As great as medical science is, there is a limit. They only can find out about how the brain works and how they might someday repair the brain. God created man’s brain.
Pray and thank God for His wisdom He wants to share with us.
Pray and thank God for the role model who were part of our lives pointing us to God the source of their wisdom.
Pray and ask God to help us to rely on His wisdom, because God know what is best for us. Pray to ask God to allow us to become a role model for someone else live that we can point them to God.