Nuggets of Wisdom

You ever notice how you can be reading through scripture when all of a sudden - Wham!  You read something that stops you in your tracks.  It just speaks to you.  It may be absurdly simple or elegantly profound but it speaks to you right then. 

Is it that way every day?  Nope.  Sometimes it is a slog to get through my readings.  Sometimes I will read the same sentence over several times and have no more clue what it means than before I read it.  In those cases I pray for focus but if it doesn't come I just chalk it up to me not being ready to learn that particular lesson right now.  I have total confidence that God will reveal whatever I need to learn when He thinks I am ready to learn it.

And if we are being totally honest here, there are a couple of things that I find so tedious that I just blow through.  As an example, some of the genealogy listings in the early Old Testament I just don't see the point of reading.  It's just a list of names that is so strange that I am never going to remember them anyway.  I get the point that the lineage is important but I trust that God got all of the people in the correct order, I don't need the details.  Does that make me a bad person?  Tell me you've never done the same! LOL!

Anyway I digress.  What makes the daily walk so exciting is those little nuggets of wisdom we find along the way.  I'd like to share a couple that I ran across from 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy 1:5-7(NKJV)

when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Less than 100 words and yet two great nuggets!

Number one, a spirit of fear is not from God.  If we are living in fear we need to get focused on the Power of God.  It tells us very plainly that God has given us a spirit of power, love, and sound mind.  So pay attention to your spirit (and by extension your demeanor) throughout the day.  Are you exhibiting faith in the Power that God has given you?

Number two it talks about the need to stir up the gift of God.  That indicates that we have to be active in our pursuit of God’s power and guidance.  It’s not a passive thing.  One of the cool things about free will is that God doesn't force Himself on us.  He will reveal as much or as little about Himself as we seem to want. 

One of the things about God's promises are that they are conditional.  If we do this for God, He will do that for us.  He clearly says that "if" we diligently seek him with "all our hearts, minds, and souls" He "will" reveal Himself to us.  Not "maybe", not "might if He feels like it"; He will!

So if you really want to experience the full Power of God then let Him know by being in the Word daily so that He can bless you with Nuggets of Wisdom!