Wisdom for Life #5

Thursday, June 26, 2025

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:5-7 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is true wisdom for life….

According to the Book of Genesis (which is literal and historical), the LORD God wisely ordained four institutions in creation for the perpetuation of human life. The first is volition or free will, the second is marriage, the third is family, and the fourth is nationalism. Man’s problem is that he errs in all four spheres, choosing to lean unto his own understanding—thereby complicating and destroying life for himself and those around him.

The first two Divine institutions in creation were desecrated in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. In Genesis chapter 3, they chose to exercise their free will in a negative or sinful manner (following Satan, not God), and they turned on each other instead of living for the wellbeing of each other. The third Divine institution in creation is family, but that was overthrown when their unbelieving son Cain followed Satan and thus killed his believing brother Abel (Genesis chapter 4). The fourth Divine institution in creation was neglected after the Great Flood of Noah’s life. Whereas God commanded the people to scatter to represent their various nationalities in their respective territories (Genesis chapters 9–10), those nations assembled via internationalism—fellowshipping in satanic religion at the Tower of Babel (Genesis chapter 11).

Satan’s evil world system entices man to see something evil, want it, and assume he deserves it. Yet, the Bible instructs, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15,16). As Moses told Israel, “Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes” (Deuteronomy 12:8).

Yet, those four Divine institutions of creation are attacked even now because man has still not departed from evil….

Litanies of Philosophies #4

Saturday, March 1, 2025

“Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:…” (1 Corinthians 2:6 KJV).

What wisdom really matters—and what wisdom really does not?

“Philosophy” is derived from two Greek terms, “phileo” (“to love”) and “sophia” (“wisdom”). It is an infatuation with man’s wisdom, people reasoning about life apart from the words and will of the Creator God. Man has a problem, and he knows it. Nevertheless, he seeks to deny it or hide it. If there is any admission of guilt, man will endeavor to solve his own dilemmas and establish his innocence. Genesis 3:1-13 was man’s first quest to seek wisdom separate from God’s wisdom, even cleverly trying to “cover up” his sin when he failed and skillfully shifting the blame to others when God questioned him about his evil!

Whereas Adam’s fault was individual and corporate, the primary error of the wisdom of the world is divulged in Romans chapter 1 (a national and international issue): “[19] Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. [20] For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: [21] Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. [22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,….”

Romans chapter 1 looks back to Genesis chapter 11 (the Tower of Babel), when the nations decided to abandon the one true God and pursue idols. He therefore responded by giving them up and over to Romans 1:24-32 (this “present evil world” of Galatians 1:4). The nations still “walk in their own ways,” in “ignorance,” “without God,” “in the vanity of their mind,” with their litanies of philosophies and varieties of idolatries (Acts 14:11-18; Acts 17:16-34; Ephesians 2:11,12; Ephesians 4:17-19). Such is where our world’s educational system is situated! If it not based on the Word of God rightly divided, the worldview is just another futile attempt of man serving as the judge of what thoughts and actions are correct or incorrect….

If Not For the LORD On Our Side #13

Sunday, November 24, 2024

“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:…” (Psalm 124:2,3 KJV).

Where is true victory for Israel?

Concerning Israel’s military loss at Ai: “And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled [lied] also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you (Joshua 7:10-13).

“And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it” (verses 20-22). Achan, his family, and his possessions were all destroyed (verses 23-26).

Like all heathen or Gentile cities, Jericho’s religious heritage went back to the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)—devil worship and sin. Hence, when Achan and his family (and, thus, national Israel) aligned themselves with the accursed thing (treasure from Jericho), Israel had no victory. Interestingly, one of the items Achan stole was a “Babylonish garment.” See the connection to Babel/Babylon! As long as Israel sins with false religion, she will not win….

Brother’s Keeper? #8

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

“And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9 KJV).

Let us learn the import of Cain’s reply….

Dear brethren, we never, ever want to forget that the first homicide in the Bible was in the context of works-religion, an unbeliever (Cain) who was too arrogant to admit his sin problem and ready and willing to do anything and everything (even kill his believing brother, Abel) to make sure he did not have God’s messenger around to bother him with any “inconvenient” or “offensive” words from the LORD!

Only God knows how many millions of His people have lost their lives because of the work of the ministry throughout human history. Abel was the first martyr in that ancient battle, and this bitter religious war is still being waged today between God’s people (saints) and Satan’s people (sinners). Of course, there is still much more of this to come! “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (Revelation 17:6). This is the culmination of the false religious system that started with Adam, Eve, and Cain. It links to Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, gives rise to apostate Judaism during Matthew to Acts, continues even now in world religions and denominations, and will go all the way through Daniel’s 70th Week up until Christ’s Second Coming when the Lord of Glory makes all things right.

Brethren, never, ever should it surprise or discourage us when people—even professing believers and lifelong church members—are uninterested in listening to us share Bible verses with them. Perhaps they will become so belligerent that violence against us will transpire. If we do happen to lose our physical lives along the way, so what, for we are indeed willing “to be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23). Until they do away with us as Cain did Abel, though, let us be our brother’s keeper—looking out for them who lack spiritual sense to know just how dire their situation is.

The Roller-Coaster of Life #4

Friday, June 28, 2024

“God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9 KJV).

In this roller coaster called “life,” who is truly “faithful?”

Addressing the heathen Gentiles in central Turkey, Paul referred to how they worshipped “vanities” (worthless idols) because the God of Israel had “in times past suffered [permitted, allowed] all nations to walk in their own ways” (Acts 14:11-17). In Athens, the intellectual capital of the Roman Empire, Paul pointed out their pagan idolatry was “ignorance” (Acts 17:16,22-31). This was the spiritual darkness and blindness to which God had handed over the nations back at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9.

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:20-23). Here was the origin of Greek philosophy—systems of thought founded on Satan worship.

Doubtless, the Corinthians were not faithful, reliable, dependable, trustworthy. God could not—and did not—expect them to live the Christian life. He knows the flesh is weak, though it certainly exerts great effort to try to manage or overcome sin. The secular pressure from nearby Athens was so tempting. Supposedly, every “wise” man in Corinth boasted he had the solutions to the world’s problems. Of course, this was human wisdom, not the wisdom of the God of the Bible. Yet, the Corinthian Christians had even adopted these faulty ideas, discarding the Holy Scriptures in favor of something “more rational” (appealing to the intellect). As long as it was the resources they had in and of themselves, they were totally void of God’s power and life—and, hence, their Christian life was not functioning properly.

The Corinthians were building their Christian life on a foundation of shifting sand….

Spiritual Calligraphy #4

Thursday, May 9, 2024

“And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isaiah 60:3 KJV).

What can today’s Scripture teach us about spiritual calligraphy?

Read Isaiah 60:1-3 (today’s Scripture in context), God’s words to Israel: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” Also, Isaiah 61:6: “But ye [Israel] shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.”

Zechariah parallels this: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you” (Zechariah 8:20-23).

These are the Gentiles of the kingdom commission of Matthew chapter 28: “[18] And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. [19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Although God handed the nations (Gentiles) over to Satan worship in Genesis 11:1-9 (cf. Romans 1:18-32), He did not forget about them….

Spiritual Calligraphy #3

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

“And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isaiah 60:3 KJV).

What can today’s Scripture teach us about spiritual calligraphy?

Shortly after the Great Flood, the nations gathered around the Tower of Babel in heathen/pagan-idol worship. Genesis chapter 11 continues: “[5] And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. [6] And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. [7] Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. [8] So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. [9] Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

With Abraham’s justification (salvation) and call in Genesis chapter 12, a drastic change in the LORD God’s dealings with mankind transpires: “[1] Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: [2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: [3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

By isolating Abraham from the rest of the world’s people, the LORD God was in no way uncaring toward them. JEHOVAH God had the nations, the “families of the earth,” in mind here with this Abrahamic Covenant (note verse 3). Abraham would be the progenitor of one nation, then God would give His words to (and bless) that one nation, and finally that one nation would be His channel of salvation and blessing to the world’s nations (Gentiles). This nation of Abraham is Israel, the Jewish people….

A Family Enterprise #4

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger (Jeremiah 7:18 KJV).

What is their family enterprise?

Mother-goddess worship can be traced back to the Tower of Babel 4,000 years ago. Her original name was Semiramis. When the LORD God scattered the nations from Babel (Babylon) because of their pagan idolatry (Genesis 11:1-9), they took with them worldwide that concept of a mother goddess.

Consequently, all peoples paid her homage, though under various names because of language differences: Nana (Sumerians), Indrani/Isi (Indians), Disa (Scandinavians), Venus/Fortuna (Romans), Nutria (Etruscans), Aphrodite/Ceres (Greeks), Shingmoo (Chinese), Hertha (Germans), Venus/Fortuna (Romans), Isis (Egyptians), Cybele (Asians in Turkey), Virgo/Patitura (Druids), Astarte/Ashtaroth (Phoenicians—see Judges 2:13, Judges 10:6, and 1 Samuel 7:3), and Diana/Artemis (Ephesians—see Acts 19:24,27-28,34-35). In fact, she is the Virgin Mary of Roman Catholicism, and Mother Earth or Mother Nature (also known as Gaia)!

The Jews during Jeremiah’s ministry (today’s Scripture) knew God’s attitude about pagan idolatry, especially mother-goddess worship, but they engaged in anyway. This resulted in their deportation to Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar. Even after the Babylonian exile was underway, they kept worshipping her. Jeremiah chapter 44: “[17] But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. [18] But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. [19] And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?”

How sad it was that (in today’s Scripture) they even brought their children into this heathen darkness….

I Am Comfortable! #7

Monday, January 22, 2024

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3,4 KJV).

Why are they comfortable? Why are we comfortable about their choice?

Once the LORD God “gave up… gave up… gave over” (Romans 1:18-32) the Gentiles or nations to “walk in their own ways” (Acts 14:14-17) and undergo spiritual “ignorance” (Acts 17:22-30) at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), He isolated the nation Israel unto His purposes beginning in Genesis chapter 12. One of the rights or privileges of Israel in “time past” was their exclusive receipt of God’s direct revelation in the form of the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy 4:1-8; Psalm 147:19,20; Romans 2:17-20; Romans 3:1,2; Romans 9:4,5). In stark contrast, the Gentiles or nations were worshipping and serving the Devil (Ephesians 2:1-3,11,12; Ephesians 4:17-19)!

Confronting Israel’s religious “authorities” a year after Calvary in Acts chapter 7, the Holy Spirit preached through Stephen to review their national history of unbelief. Read verses 39-43: “To whom [Moses] our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven [celestial bodies, such as stars and planets]; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.”

To wit, with Israel preferring life without the LORD, like He dealt with the willful Gentiles, the LORD handed Israel over to those same worthless idols….

I Am Comfortable! #6

Sunday, January 21, 2024

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:3,4 KJV).

Why are they comfortable? Why are we comfortable about their choice?

Romans chapter 1 depicts the pagan nations assembled at Babel (Genesis 11:1-9): “[19] Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. [20] For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: [21] Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

“[22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, [23] And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. [24] Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: [25] Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. [26] For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: [27] And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

“[28] And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, [29] Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, [30] Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, [31] Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: [32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

Here is today’s world….