Wisdom and Knowledge Builds Strong Leadership

Proverbs 24:5-6

A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength; for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisors.

In this proverb Solomon talks about strength and power, but he does not equate it to brawn.  What does he say gives a man great power and increased strength?

Wisdom gives a man great power.  Knowledge increases strength.  Once again, we a find a teaching of Scripture that is exactly opposite of what the world teaches.

The world teaches that "might is right"; what makes someone strong is their ability to bully and intimidate people; strength is found in muscles and weapons.  Obviously, once again the world is completely wrong.

The wise man has so much more power because he understands that as soon as someone resorts to violence (in any form) to solve a problem, they have already lost.  In fact, everyone loses when violence becomes the solution to the problem.  The wise man seeks to control and influence the situation so that it doesn't get out of hand.  He understands that this is the only way that everyone can win.  Wisdom is the only way to resolve conflict without destroying relationships and risking physical altercations.  This is why knowledge increases strength.  When one increases knowledge and skill level he becomes more effective at controlling situations before they get out of hand.  This is what builds strong relationships, which then builds strong teams, which in turn builds a larger and larger community.  This gives the wise man great power and increased strength because of the amount of influence he has with an ever growing community of people.  

How does the wise man accomplish all of this?  He does it through love and relationships.  By loving and caring about individuals the wise leader earns the respect and love of more and more people.  Eventually, his influence grows to the point where people he has never even met are willing to die for him.  You can't force people into this level of love and loyalty.  It is only earned through a lifetime of loving service.  The great thing is that each one of us has the ability to choose what type of leader we are going to be.

Solomon points out another attribute the wise leader has:  he humbly seeks out guidance.  A wise leader can only become wise through mentorship.  As this Proverb points out, you need guidance for waging war.  Now you may not ever be involved in a military battle, but you are in a battle every day.  Satan has declared war on mankind, and Solomon has made it perfectly clear that victory requires many advisors.  I would suggest a list of advisors that looks something like this:

• Daily studying the Holy Scriptures.
• Find a mentor.
• An experienced and wise pastor.
• A wise leader that you have access to.
• Wives, your primary mentor should be your husband.
• Find an accountability partner.
• A spiritually mature friend you can talk to weekly.
• A spiritually mature family member (parent, sibling, etc.).
• Surround yourself with spiritually mature friends.

Ultimately it is God who gives wisdom and knowledge- strength and power, but this list is a means by which He gives those blessings.  So do the work faithfully.  Don't sit around waiting for the Lord to grant all of your wishes.

Ephesians 6:10-20 Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the schemes of the Devil. 12 For our[a] struggle is not against flesh and blood,[b] but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to take a stand on the evil day and, after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness fastened in place, 15 and with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace tied to your feet like sandals. 16 At all times hold up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. 17 Also take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Prayer Requests

18 At every opportunity, pray in the Spirit with every kind of prayer and petition. Stay alert for the same reason, always persevering in your intercession for all the saints. 19 Pray for me also, that when I open my mouth a message will be given to me that boldly reveals the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may speak about it boldly, as it is necessary for me to speak.

God bless

Jason Fredrick

Happy Father's Day

Proverbs 17:6

Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

What an appropriate verse for Father's Day.  This really fits well with the "Generational Parenting" theme that I have touched on in earlier articles. Here Solomon is making a strong statement to what a tremendous blessing family is:  parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren.  

Solomon speaks here to the blessing of grandchildren.  I don't have any grandchildren yet, my son is only 6, but I do get to see what a blessing my son and his cousins are to their grandparents.  Grand-parenting is much different than parenting.  Grandparents don't have to be the rule setters and disciplinarians.  They mostly get to just enjoy the blessing and joy of loving their grandchildren.  If you ever talk to Godly grandparents about their grandchildren the sparkle in their eyes will tell you all you need to know about the difference between parenting and grand-parenting.
After God and my wife, I love my son more than anyone or anything; but the way I love my son is different than the way my parents love him.  Now granted, I am blessed to have phenomenal parents, but it is my experience that they are typical of all grandparents who understand what Solomon is saying in this Proverb.  Andrew is a crown to my parents, but they also love him more than he can understand.  That is the mark of awesome, Godly grandparents!

(I was going to expound further, but I think this really covers all of what Solomon is saying in both parts of that one sentence above.)

I hope you had a blessed and joyous Father's Day today!

God bless

Jason Fredrick

Different Rewards for the Righteous and the Wicked

Proverbs 10:6

Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.

Some people will read this and immediately recognize how blessed they are.  Some will read it and complain that they have lived a righteous life, but have not been blessed.  Still others will read it and pretend that it doesn't apply to them.

The reality is that this Proverb applies to everyone.  Everybody falls on one side or the other.  There are only two types of people in the world:  righteous or wicked, saved or damned.  You can't be somewhere in the middle.  You are either one or the other.  With God there is no neutral or "undeclared".  You are either a child of Christ, or you are a child of Satan.  Where do you stand?

If that is true, then how can Solomon say, "Blessings crown the head of the righteous."?  We see righteous people being persecuted everyday because of their faith in Jesus.  We see Christians having to hide their beliefs at work because if they don't they could lose their job.  Christians are being martyred everyday in Muslim and Hindu countries all around the world.  Christians, and Christianity, are being constantly attacked in the mainstream media.  The public school system (elementary, middle/high school, and university) is constantly assaulting our Christian children, working hard to destroy the faith of these children and young adults.

How can Solomon make the audacious assertion that he does to start Proverbs 10:6?  Simple:  JESUS!

Because of Jesus, and everything that He has done for us, we are truly blessed.  We may not have all the material trappings of the world, but we always have everything we need.  Stop reading this for a minute and took a look around you. 

Do you have clothes to protect you from the elements?

Do you have food to eat every day?

Do you have a spouse and children that truly love you?

Do you have shelter that protects you from the weather and provides a safe place for you to live?

Do you have a Bible, God's Holy Word?

Do you have life-giving faith that allows you to believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

If you answered yes to any of these, especially the last two, then blessings crown your head! 

Then what about the other side of this equation?  Why does Solomon talk about the speech of the wicked? 

This is actually pretty obvious when you stop and think about it.  Wicked people are always miserable.  They might put on a good front to disguise their misery, but their mouths betray them constantly.  Do you know people who's speech is violent?

• Every other word is an "F" bomb.
• All of their speech is polluted with cursing and vulgarity.
• They constantly complain- about anything and everything.
• They gossip.
• They start and spread rumors (lies).
• They constantly misuse the name of the Lord.
• They shout and belittle people.

This is just a short list, but I think you get the point.  There is a reason Solomon says, "...but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked."  That word "overwhelms" is a very strong word.  Do you want to be someone who is described as "being overwhelmed with violence"?  That's not a compliment.  That is a strong, and telling, attribute of wicked people.  This is a very dark contrast to how Solomon described the righteous.  

So, if earthly blessings and eternal life in heaven are the rewards for the righteous, what do the wicked get?  What promises do they have?

To answer those questions we will finish with a parable of Jesus that defines the eternal reward for both, the righteous and the wicked.

Matthew 25:31-46 

     "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.

     "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance , the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

     "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?  When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You?  When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?'

     "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.'

    "Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.'

     "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?'

     "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.'

     "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

God bless

Jason Fredrick

Trust In the Lord

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Do you ever have trouble remembering this?  Do you ever remember it and then willfully ignore it because you want to do your own thing, your own way?  

Rejecting this wise advice from King Solomon is idolatry.  When we willfully reject this advice we are saying to God, "I am smart enough to handle this Lord.  Go mind your own business until I need your help!"

Most of us would never actually say these words, but too often this is our attitude.  This is what we are saying when we sacrifice God's will on the altar of personal agendas.  

That is what we are saying when we try to use our worldly logic and reason to justify acting contrary to what God's Word commands.  Some things in the Christian life falls under the realm of adiaphora (Christian Freedom), but much does not.  God's Word has a lot to say about most aspects of our lives and ministries.  If you doubt me on this I would encourage you to actually open your Bible and begin reading.  The Lord God Almighty is living and active, and so is His Word! (2 Timothy 3:14ff; Hebrews 4:12-13)

So now to the point:

We are to "Trust in the LORD with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding."  Notice that Solomon says we are to trust in the Lord, not in ourselves.  This makes perfect sense.  Who knows more:  the omnipotent, omniscient Lord of all creation; or finite man with his sin-damaged brain and very limited knowledge and understanding of anything?  

This is the biggest problem in our society.  Everyone wants to be the god of their own little selfish universe.  This is to be expected from the heathen, but what excuse do Christians have?  Why do so many Christians fight this?

The obvious answer is sin, but this doesn't completely answer the question.  This really comes down to two specific sins:  lack of faith (trust) and ego/arrogance.

First let's look at faith.  Faith is trusting in God and believing that He will honor His promises.  When we put all of our trust in ourselves and rely solely on our own strength, or intelligence, or abilities we are not trusting God.  There is no such thing as degrees of trust, either.  99% trust is 100% unbelief/doubt.  Either you trust in the Lord, or you are trusting in something else.  Whatever that something else is it has just become an idol in your life.   God makes a promise here through Solomon.  He promises that when we trust Him, and submit to Him, He will make our paths straight.  When we put all of our trust in ourselves, or anything that isn't God, we are saying one of two things:  we don't trust that God is capable of helping us in this situation, or we don't believe that He will actually honor this promise.
If you doubt God's power to help His people in their time of need just read through the Historical accounts in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the Book of Acts.  If this doesn't convince you of God's power and His love for His people take an honest look at your own life.  Think back to the times when you experienced significant hardships and challenges.  How did you come through those experiences?  Do you really think that it worked out because of you, or dumb luck?  No.  If you are honest you can clearly see all of the times that God has worked in your life, even if you didn't thank Him for it.  There are numerous times throughout Scripture that God has promised us that He will always be with us, this assurance is trustworthy. (Deuteronomy 31:7-8; Joshua 1:6-9; Matthew 28:18-20; just to name a few)

1 Corinthians 10:12

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful you don't fall!

The second sin is ego and arrogance.  This is worshipping self as God.  The warning signs to watch for on this are comments such as, "I got this."; or anytime the solution to a problem is I, I, I, or me, me, me.  These are telltale signs that there is an idolatrous ego at work.  Sadly, this arrogant self-assuredness is present in the church just as it is in every secular institution and organization.  The result is equally destructive where ever it is found.
Over-inflated egos destroy relationships.  Out-of-control egos use people, and when they are no longer useful those individuals are simply discarded...kicked to the curb.  Usually, the arrogant egocentric "leader" doesn't see the writing on the wall.  He is so sure of himself that his downfall comes as a total surprise to him.  Usually his reign of terror ends ugly:  a crash and burn in a very public way.

Solomon gives us the way to avoid that terrible scenario:  Trust in God, lean not on your own understanding, and in all your ways acknowledge Him.  What a simple success formula God has given us.  If only it was that easy to follow.  This is why we have to constantly be on our guard and fighting the spiritual battle against the world, Satan, and our own sinful flesh.  It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us that we are able to fight this battle.

1 Corinthians 1:20-21,25

Where is the wise man?  Where is the scholar?  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

God bless

Jason Fredrick