War of Words

In the Bible, the book of James has always been one of my favorites. I find myself spending even more time in the Word these days and less listening to what is going on in the world. James tells us that blessings and curses cannot come out of the same mouth (3:10) and that it is envy and selfish ambition that causes people to boast and deny the truth (3:14) and bring disorder and every evil practice (3:16). But I think the most important part of this chapter is that wisdom does not come from the lateral plane, it comes from above, the heavenly plane. Where are you looking for wisdom? Across or up?

Verses 17 and 18 tells us that "Wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace." (CSB)

What are you cultivating?

I desire wisdom. Godly, discerning, pure, wisdom is at the top of my wish list and has been my entire life. I have always viewed wisdom as learning from someone else's mistakes so that I do not make them myself. This would make sense why I have spent countless years diving into the wisdom literature in the Bible and why all my favorite books are found in them, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs and arguably, James in the New Testament. I read and study, research is my favorite pastime. I love history and learning from those that have gone before me so that I can avoid the traps they fell into.

Right now, I find myself as a Jospeh, but in the middle of the story, where he sat in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Living a life where someone else pushed me into a pit and sold me out for personal gain. In hindsight, we know God allowed for those things to happen to position Joseph to save the world, but he didn't know the end of the story when he was living in a pit. Joseph did not have the benefit or ability to read the words from James 3 like we do, and yet that is what he did. He began to cultivate peace in prison.

Our words have power.

This is not a new insight, but it is important to remember. Words cannot be taken back or recanted. You can delete it off social media but the impression you made lasts. I want to be a person with wisdom that see's things from a heavenly perspective, one that looks down the road at eternity and knows that this time matters. What I say and do in my life now, I will have to give an account of at the end, when I sit before God on judgement day.

My daughter got a vision last night during our family prayer time. She drew it out and called it The Judgement Room. In this image, she had a throne with a blinding light, and next to the throne was a box on fire, full of grass and jewels. Each person came before the throne and had their life set on fire to see what remained. Friends, don't let your life be burned up in meaninglessness.

My hope and prayer for you is that you set your mind on things above, on pure and godly wisdom and that the words you speak in a hurting world will have an eternal weight, that it will hold up in the flames of tribulation and trials and that you will prove yourself worthy of the calling of Christ in your life. Even if you are in a pit, prison, quaruntine or captivity, today matters. What you say and do can shape eternity in the heart of a fellow man, turning them to God or away from the only One that can actually save them.