Wisdom is the Principal Thing

Wisdom is the Principal Thing
by Pete Berardi

One night after King Solomon, son of David, made an offering to the Lord, God spoke to him. God said to him, “Solomon, ask what I shall give thee" (2 Chronicles 1:7). Solomon had just become King of Israel. His Father David was a great king before him and Solomon had rather large shoes to fill. He felt the burden of his responsibilities to the people of his kingdom. Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge that he might judge the people fairly. God rewarded Solomon by granting him wisdom and knowledge but also riches, wealth and honour such as “none of the kings that have been before him”. Solomon could have asked for anything at all, but because he chose wisdom and knowledge, God gave him that and more.

This is a great lesson to learn and indicates how highly God values wisdom. The word wisdom occurs 234 times in the whole Bible. The first three occurrences of the word wisdom shows what wisdom truly is. Many verses after these three support this definition of wisdom. Exodus 28:3, Exodus 31:3 and Exodus 31:6 all make mention of people being filled with the spirit of wisdom which enables them to do something for God. This “spirit of wisdom” is symbolic of and points to salvation in Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:24 states: But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and wisdom of God. This clarifies and makes glaringly obvious that wisdom is indeed salvation. Salvation can come only through knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Many successful men of this world are wise. They contain many degrees and hold certificates and have invented and innovated. This is not truly wisdom. This is the wisdom of the world. All things of the world are only temporary. If a man is truly wise then he has knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ who is able to save his soul. Jeremiah 9:24 states: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Wisdom is the principal thing (Proverbs 4:7). The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth (Proverbs 3:19). Wisdom is better than rubies (Proverbs 8:11). How much better is it to get wisdom than gold (Proverbs 16:16). Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established (Proverbs 24:3).

Unto Death

Unto Death
by Pete Berardi

Philippians 2:8
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

People have hardships, trials and tribulations. The life that people lead and attempt to lead is not an easy road. Jobs are lost, investments decline, accidents occur. Sometimes the troubles that people have seem so much to bear that people need counseling or become severely depressed. Much of this stress occurs because of the intensity that people strive for betterment of life and acquisition of material possessions. People seem to never have enough; it’s as if they always want more out of life no matter how much they already have.

The Bible states that the love of the world is enmity with God. The lust of the eyes and the pride of life is what cause people to strive for status, money, material possessions, power and more. People don’t seem to realize that what they are really striving for is inner peace which can only be attained by having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus lived a simple life. In fact, he lived a life of poverty. He was born in a manger and worked as a carpenter. For most of his adult life he had no certain dwelling place and ate when he could. This kind of life certainly is not what most people strive for, however true obedience to Jesus leads exactly to this kind of life. Most people would balk at even missing one meal let alone not having a place to live. Jesus on the other hand was obedient to his Father to the extent that it got him killed.

How many people would stand up for their beliefs past the point of being executed? I say not many. I dare to say that many of us would forsake our beliefs because of some ridicule let alone torture and death. Would it really be so bad if we were forced to miss a meal every now and so that someone else could have one? Is it too much to ask to sacrifice a tenth of our income so that churches that preach the gospel and provide for the sick and needy can survive? Would it kill us to do without so that we can help others?

Jesus was obedient to his Father unto death. I doubt that there are many things, especially here in America, which would get us killed for Christ’s sake. I pledge that the next time we have an opportunity to sacrifice on account of obedience to the Bible, we remember the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us.

Lovingkindness

Lovingkindness
by Pete Berardi

Psalm 63: 3
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I love that better than life itself”? I have. I wonder sometimes what could be better than life itself. For if a person loves something than life itself, what he is saying is that he would rather die than lose or not experience that particular thing. The writer of Psalm 63:3 says that he loves the lovingkindness of God better than life itself. He proclaims that he would rather die than give up the Lord’s lovingkindness. Death is a pretty serious matter, what is this so called lovingkindness?

The best way to “define” lovingkindness, since it is not in Webster’s, is to examine its context. Lovingkindness appears twenty-six times in the Bible. Most of the occurrences are in the Book of the Psalms. There are a few in Jeremiah and one in Hosea. The best definition of lovingkindness comes from three verses: Jeremiah 16:15, Jeremiah 31:3 and Hosea 2:19.

Jeremiah 16:15 states: For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament or bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, [even] lovingkindness and mercies.

Here, God states quite plainly that his lovingkindness is his peace.

Jeremiah 31: 3 states: The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [saying], Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

This verse compares lovingkindness with an “everlasting” love. This is the kind of love that only God can provide. This is the kind of love that one is willing to die for. Everlasting never ends, it lasts forever.

Finally,
Hosea 2:19 states: And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yeah, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

God is speaking to his people here as if we were his bride. God wants to spend the rest of eternity with us in lovingkindness. Betroth, as you know, refers to marriage. This lovingkindness again will last forever and is the kind of closeness that a husband and wife have with each other.

The Psalmist David, who is described as a man after God’s own heart (see Acts 13:22), is willing to die for the lovingkindness of God just as God himself was willing to die for our lovingkindness. God did in fact die for us by sending his one and only son Jesus to suffer the cross. By dying on the cross he guaranteed a life forever with him for whoever believes on him. This is the kind of love that I want. And this is the kind of love that I also consider to be better than life and willing to die for.

The Power of Belief

The Power of Belief
by Pete Berardi

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:

All of our actions are dependent upon our belief system. We live in a place that we believe we belong. We earn the exact amount of money that we believe we deserve. We have relationships with people that we believe to be worthy of our time. All of our success, failure, happiness and sadness is based on our belief system.

To that statement one might say, “But what about the things that happen to me that are outside of my control? For instance, when someone attacks me or if I get in a car accident, this changes my life. I have no control over these occurrences.” I agree. However what a person does have control over is how he or she reacts to these occurrences.

For example, if a loved one passes away, I can either feel sadness or joy. My feelings depend upon only what I believe. If I believe that this person is in a better place, that God has a plan, and that someday I will see him again, then I will undoubtedly experience joy. On the other hand however if I focus only on the loss of this person and how it affects my life, I will feel sadness and grief.

By changing one’s belief system a person can dramatically change all facets of his or her life. By believing that one can be successful, he or she takes leaps toward actually being successful. Anything that a man can believe, he can achieve. And yet, no one can achieve anything that he or she does not believe that he or she can achieve it.