First, my humblest apologies to my blog site followers. I indicated in my last blog (published August 17th) that the insights from the second part of James chapter 3 would be shared the following week. Well, obviously that didn’t happen………ooops!! No excuses. Yes, life happens but I need to do a better job of carving out the time required to keep the momentum going. I thank God that as a good fellow Christian you will extend grace and mercy to me………smile.
Without further ado, let us get into the second part of James chapter 3, which I have entitled “Discerning True Wisdom”.
(2) Discerning True Wisdom (James 3:13-18)
In these verses, James takes another opportunity to equip us to discern truth from evil. You may have already become aware that Satan is the great deceiver. He is so experienced that many times even believers are deceived by his subtle deceptions. Remember, he has mastered the art of imitation. He comes as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) and we have to be alert (1 Pet. 5:8) to the one little chink in his armour that will be the indicator of the demonic inspiration that is at work (Gal. 5:9).
Father God wants us to hone our ability to be discerners of good and evil. Therefore, He provides us with clues to guide us in discerning between godly wisdom and “wisdom” that is seeking to mimic godly wisdom. Why is this so important? If we deem someone to be wise we become willing to seek and take instruction from such a person and can be easily led into error and evil if not discerning. Please see the importance of not falling prey to a spirit of error in my blog “The Spirit of Error” published August 26th, 2018 (link provided below).
James clearly outlines for us the main tenets of godly (divine, true) wisdom – HUMILITY (verse 13b) and PURITY (verse 17a). When something is pure, it is coming directly from the source without contamination or dilution or additives of any kind. It comes direct from Father God through Holy Spirit with nothing of self in it. It always, always lines up with the pure Word of God, no addition or subtraction (Deut. 12:32). The motive is always to bring glory to God and not to self (humility). The outward manifestation or character traits of one who is operating under the influence of heavenly wisdom, that is, the signs you must look out for when choosing one to instruct and mentor you are that such a person is peaceable; courteous; considerate; gentle (even in correction) (2 Tim. 2:24-25); willing to listen (to hear other viewpoints thereby willing to learn from others); reasonable; full of compassion, good works and good words; authentic (the same person in all areas of life); encouraging peace in relationships; not doing wrong and trying to cover it up (hypocrisy); showing evidence of spiritual maturity. Anything or anyone operating outside of these is not to be trusted or accepted as having true wisdom that comes from God.
What people say they are is less important than what they do (Mt. 7:16:20). Watch for a while for consistency, see the person operating in different situations over time before you complete your assessment and determine the source of wisdom that is at work.
Join me next time (which I will make every effort not to be too far in the distant future) as we journey into chapter 4 of James. Till then be strong in the Lord!!
Shalom.
Transformation Today 