Category: God’s wisdom

Bethlehem of Judaea

Friday, December 19, 2025

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2 KJV).

Today’s Scripture, written about 700 B.C., prophesies the exact birthplace of Israel’s Messiah.

Notice the Bible is very specific: “Bethlehem Ephratah” pinpoints the Bethlehem in southern Israel (there was another Bethlehem, in Galilee, northern Israel). Bethlehem of Judaea, as today’s Scripture teaches, is “little among the thousands of Judah” (a little-known village).

The Bible tells us that Bethlehem Ephratah was the birthplace of King David (1 Samuel 16:1-18). John 7:42 reads: “Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” Jesus Christ will inherit His father David’s throne, and David is a type/preview/shadow of Christ (Isaiah 9:6,7; Luke 1:31-33). Thus, they share Bethlehem Ephratah as their birthplace (cf. Luke 2:4).

“Bethlehem” is an interesting term. Jesus Christ likened Himself to the manna of the Old Testament. He claimed, “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world…. I am that bread of life: I am the bread which came down from heaven…. I am that bread of life” (John 6:33,35,41,48). Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1,5,6): “Bethlehem” is Hebrew for “house of bread.” Thus, the “Bread of Life,” Jesus Christ, was born in the “House of Bread,” Bethlehem. Fascinating!

Furthermore, Joseph (Jesus’ legal father) lived in Nazareth. When Roman emperor Caesar Augustus sent out a decree for taxing the people of the empire (conducting a census), Joseph had to leave Nazareth and go to Bethlehem of Judaea, taking pregnant Mary with him (Luke 2:1-5). Christ was born there in Bethlehem. Some 700 years beforehand, the Bible knew Joseph and Mary would not be in Nazareth for Christ’s birth, but in Bethlehem, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of today’s Scripture. Amazing!

These are evidences that the Bible is a supernatural Book—indeed, it is God’s Book.

God’s Perfect Timing

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4,5 KJV).

As today’s Scripture indicates, the birth of Jesus Christ was no accident—God planned its exact moment from eternity past.

When God placed the first man, Adam, on earth, He purposed that man would “subdue [control] it,” to “have dominion” over it and everything on it (Genesis 1:28). Nevertheless, Adam sinned by joining Satan in his rebellion against God. Because of sin, man was now unable to accomplish on earth what God originally created him to do. God left the human race a promise, however, that there would come a Man, who would do what Adam failed to do. Instead of cooperating with God’s adversary like Adam had, this “seed of the woman” would “bruise [Satan’s] head” (Genesis 3:15).

Traveling up through the Scriptures, we see how God lays the groundwork for that seedline. In Genesis 12:1-3, or 2,000 years after Adam’s sin, we read God’s covenant with Abraham, that through Abraham a nation, Israel, will be born, and salvation and blessing will flow to the Gentiles through Israel. The seed of the woman becomes the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16).

In 2 Samuel 7:12-16, and 1,000 years after Abraham, we read of God’s covenant with King David, that “his seed” will inherit his throne and reign forever. The seed of the woman and of Abraham becomes the seed of David.

About 1,000 years after David, Matthew 1:1 speaks of Christ’s birth, and declares, “…Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” This is exactly what God had promised for thousands of years!

Jesus Christ’s birth was not some haphazard event of nature. God the Father had preplanned the exact moment of the incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ (today’s Scripture). Over a period of some 4,000 years, the three members of the Godhead worked to bring about the birth of man’s Redeemer, a plan they had even before man was created! Amazing!

Convenient Season #7

Friday, November 7, 2025

“And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (Acts 24:25 KJV).

According to the Bible, when is the “convenient season?”

Foolish Felix had a “convenient season” to believe the precise moment he heard and understood Paul’s sermon. There was no legitimate reason to seek another “convenient season.” Here was an Apostle of Jesus Christ standing right before him to answer any questions, but the Governor “lingered in Adam” and dismissed that preacher from the meeting until they could rendezvous at some later date. Such is reminiscent of Paul’s visit to “intellectual” Athens years prior.

The Athenians at first listened to this “itinerant speechmaker” or “amateur philosopher,” but these lovers of man’s wisdom could tolerate God’s wisdom for only so long. Hearing about bodily resurrection—which Greek philosophy denied—some proceeded to “mock” while others told Paul, “We will hear thee again of this matter” (Acts 17:32). In contrast to the ridiculers (“no, thanks!”) as well as the procrastinators (“maybe later!”), praise the Lord there were some immediate believers in verse 34 (“we believe now!”)!

Earthly life is fragile, as there are myriads of ways to end it. It is “wind,” fleeting away (Job 7:7). “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah” (Psalm 39:5). “For my days are consumed like smoke…” (Psalm 102:3). “Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away” (Psalm 144:4). “Go to [James challenges them to ‘come’] now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:13-15).

To have life as the Dispensation of Grace is in effect, is truly our “convenient season” to believe God’s words to and about us….

Wisdom for Life #12

Thursday, July 3, 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….

Read Romans chapter 1: “[18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; [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,… [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…. [28] And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate [worthless, unapproved] mind, to do those things which are not convenient [proper, fit];….”

For the first 2,000 years of human history—Adam to Abraham—the nations of the world had free or unrestricted access to the LORD God, the Creator God (there was no Israel or Judaism then). Those nations willingly scorned that spiritual light to take up man’s “wisdom,” which ultimately resulted in God creating Israel—a special nation through which He would reach the world. Alas, for almost 2,000 years, Israel also overwhelmingly rejected God’s words so as to accept man’s “wisdom,” so He gave them to us the nations (and especially the Church the Body of Christ). Howbeit, for 2,000 years now, the nations and the Body of Christ have also predominantly ignored those words in favor of man’s “wisdom.”

Dear brethren, may we by faith in sound Bible doctrine, break that endless vicious cycle of foolishness, and hold fast true wisdom for life!

Wisdom for Life #11

Wednesday, July 2, 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….

Read these words from Ephesians chapter 3, verses 9-11: “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:….”

Paul aimed to make all men see what is “the fellowship of the mystery”—this “fellowship” being the Church the Body of Christ, a secret God did not reveal until his ministry. If the members of the Body of Christ would simply walk by faith in “the Dispensation of the Grace of God” (Ephesians 3:2), Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon, then they would be God’s “manifold [multifaceted] wisdom” for both people and angels to see. Alas, because of sin or “fleshly wisdom” (2 Corinthians 1:12), there is more manifold foolishness amongst God’s people than manifold wisdom!

“Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily” (Colossians 1:28,29). Paul and his ministry companions preached Christ, teaching every person in all wisdom—spiritual wisdom—because that would make those people “perfect [mature, lacking nothing] in Christ Jesus.” We as believers in Christ should thus heed the exhortation issued in Ephesians 5:16-18: “See then that ye walk circumspectly [looking around, cautiously], not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;….”

Let us now summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….

Wisdom for Life #10

Tuesday, July 1, 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….

Here are the first seven verses of the Book of Proverbs (outlining its purpose): “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Precious few have ever been taught that Proverbs is not a set of principles without a dispensational context. It is a Book of great prophetic significance for Israel. Check chapter 1, verses 8-19, which are a veiled reference to Calvary. Verses 20-33 point to John the Baptist’s preaching, as well as Pentecost (Acts chapter 2) and the horrors of the Antichrist’s diabolical schemes. Yet, whether prophecy or mystery, today’s Scripture is still true and is always true, because these verses are transdispensational. Paul definitely agrees with trusting in the LORD as opposed to trusting in our “wisdom.”

Whether prophecy or mystery, sinful man, filled with Satan’s life, needs God’s power in order to be filled with God’s life. Once the sinner trusts the Lord Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for his or her sins (1 Corinthians 15:3,4); he or she becomes a vessel of the Holy Spirit who can then be filled with Jesus Christ’s life as that saint walks by faith in an intelligent understanding of God’s words to and about the Church the Body of Christ. Passages such as Romans chapters 12–16, Ephesians chapter 4, and Colossians chapter 3, can then serve as replacements for the evil deeds of Romans chapter 1.

This is true wisdom for life….

Wisdom for Life #9

Monday, June 30, 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….

Doubtless, the deadliest—but most innocuous (innocent-looking) form of—human wisdom is that which man uses to corrupt the Holy Bible. Whether the textual critics constantly using Roman Catholic manuscripts to attack the Protestant King James Bible with “re-translations,” or the denominationalists repeatedly failing to rightly divide the word of truth by applying Israel’s verses to us, man has created in his own image various counterfeit “Bibles” and assorted perverted “Christian” sects and factions.

Members of the unsuspecting “Christian” public have been preyed upon in this manner for centuries—yea, millennia. They have incorporated into their minds, hearts, and lives, that which does not profit… what Scripture calls “wood, hay, stubble” (1 Corinthians 3:12). Rather than building on the foundation of the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery (1 Corinthians 3:11; cf. Romans 16:25,26), Paul’s preaching of Christ in Romans to Philemon, they disobey 2 Corinthians 5:16 and know Christ after the flesh (relying on the prophetic view of Him as seen in Matthew to John).

In his “wisdom,” man pompously declares, “I can do something good for God. I am smart enough to manage sin.” This is self-deception. Paul’s Gospel, the Gospel of the Grace of God (Acts 20:24), is, “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15). Here is God’s wisdom for victorious Christian (grace) living. It is not what we do for Him (law, performance-based acceptance system), but rather what He can do for us through Calvary’s crosswork (grace-based acceptance system).

Again, true wisdom for life is trusting in the LORD, not in ourselves….

Wisdom for Life #8

Sunday, June 29, 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….

In contradistinction to the love of man’s wisdom—the philosophy the Corinthians so treasured—Paul reminded those saints of the capital city of southern Greece: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Here is how their Christian life began… and this is how it would work!

Now, chapter 3: “[9] For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. [10] According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. [11] For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; [13] Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. [14] If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. [15] If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

God gave Paul, the “wise masterbuilder,”  the “blueprints” for His current dealings with man—namely, wisdom for life in this the Dispensation of the Grace of God….

Wisdom for Life #7

Saturday, June 28, 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….

Judges contains the record of some of Israel’s darkest years. Two particular verses that encapsulate the deplorable spiritual conditions that time are as follows. “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Such is not “dead history.” Relative righteousness—“what is good to you may not be good to me,” “what is right for me does not govern what is right for you”—is nothing new.

“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: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:6-8). Man’s wisdom is that which he reasons apart from God’s wisdom. In short, man’s wisdom is but satanic wisdom. God kept a secret from “wise” Satan, but He revealed this hidden wisdom to the Apostle Paul (2 Peter 3:15,16). Not only would Father God use Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary to redeem Israel from her sins, He would also redeem us from our sins as members of the Church the Body of Christ. Man in his wisdom cannot figure this out.

Human effort is not enough and will never be enough; human wisdom is not enough and will never be enough. Wisdom for life starts with faith in the Lord God’s words to and about us, and this is Paul’s epistles of Romans to Philemon. We study Genesis to Revelation, because it is all inspired of God and all for our learning, but Paul’s ministry focuses on what God is doing today as He forms a heavenly people for His name….

The Greatest War Hero

Monday, May 26, 2025

“For God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 KJV).

In the United States, today is Memorial Day, when we remember those who sacrificed their time and lives to provide our physical freedom. Likewise, as Christians, we have spiritual freedom, which was more costly. Someone had to die to give us the eternal life we now enjoy….

Scripture describes a spiritual warfare between good and evil, God’s truth program versus Satan’s lie program: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles [schemes] of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:11,12; see also verses 13-20).

Satan distracts mankind from God’s pure Word, the Bible, keeping unbelievers lost (dead in their sins), and preventing unbelievers and Christians from knowing God’s will. The devil draws them away (seduces them) from God’s Word by using religious tradition and human “wisdom” (1 Timothy 4:1-3; cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Galatians 3:1-3).

God loves us, so at Calvary’s cross, Christ fought for us sinners, died in battle (today’s Scripture), shed His divine sinless blood, and eternally rescued us from Satan and sin: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:14,15).

Hebrews 9:12 says Jesus Christ has “obtained eternal redemption for us.”

If we have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). Now, God can use us for His glory for all eternity.

Beloved, let us rejoice in our victory over sin, death, and hell that Jesus Christ secured for us by going to Calvary’s rugged cross! Jesus Christ is now alive forevermore—He is our Hero, the Greatest Hero!

*Adapted from a larger Bible study “The Greatest Hero,” which can be read here or watched here.