Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. Pro 8:10-11
January 22, 2023
Training God Gives to His Children
There were many days while going through my wilderness journey of training and preparation with the Lord that I had questions I did not ask like: why it seemed that He kept me so long in training and did not allow me to get involved in certain issues. Years later, I understand that it is not enough to have knowledge, but we need to have wisdom to deal with life. Wisdom is greater than knowledge because wisdom ponders the best way to handle the knowledge we have. There are many people today that have raw knowledge but lack wisdom into the situation. The wisdom of Solomon advises us rather to get wisdom instead.
I listened to a news broadcast recently and the newscaster stated a problem, gave visual evidence of the situation; and then asked the guest to comment. It was interesting because the question pertained to our supreme court and how the justices were handling themselves in this very turbulent time. The guest, after hearing the question and seeing the evidence, summarized the historical practices of the court compared to what was going on now and suggested how the justices could do a better job. I was impressed because her answer was spot on. She heard the problem, analyzed it, pulled from her knowledge of history a summation, used sound reasoning, and stated what the solution was. I was impressed because she extracted wisdom from her many years of training and experience in the field of law and the solution seemed so simple and yet profound. That is the type of personality leadership should reveal: soft speaking, confidence, intelligence, non-pretentious, and speak from wisdom.
I gave that example as a preamble to stating why I believe we are dealing with so many problems now in our nation. The reason I can speak on this is because I had Wisdom instructing me as I was made to sit back and observe what was going on rather than participate. I have stated before that God instructs His leaders and that is one of the ways He does it. He first gives us His spirit, but then we are taught principals and given gifting to use while observing life as it evolves.
The problems we are dealing with now have been brewing for quite a while and I feel like I had a front row seat in observing some of them develop even though I had to hold my peace. One of the reasons why it was time to be quiet instead of talk is the same reason you do not try to approach a drowning person until the right time, usually when they are exhausted, or you approach them only with the right equipment. If you approach the swimmer too soon or without the right equipment, they will likely drown themselves and you too by their frantic struggle. It is better to wait for the appropriate time to give some people help.
I told that story about a struggling swimmer because while some people are in the midst of their frantic effort to accomplish something, they are not in the frame of mind to listen to sound advice. Sometimes you have to let people fail before you can help them. God often comes to save us after we have figured out we cannot make it on our own. We fall over and over again trying to make it and when we cry out for help from exhaustion, He is ready to lift us up out of the mess we made. Consider Jonah, only after in the belly of the big fish three days would he listen (Jon 1:17).
Wisdom Needed to Lead
The reason we are in the mess we are in is because there were some people who were not seasoned who thought they knew the way the country should be run and they organized and worked on it until they broke it. The word of God warns us about allowing the immature to take authority. Mind you, one can be old physically and still be immature because of lack of knowledge and experience. Paul told Timothy: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery (1Ti 4:12-14).” Timothy was a young preacher but he had strong teaching, experience, gifting and a relationship with God.
I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 2Ti 1:3,5
There are certain jobs you cannot do without the right training. You cannot serve God’s people without the training of God.
People seem to have forgotten that this nation of America made a covenant with God for the running of this nation. If you put God in charge, you had better know what you are doing. When you invoke God, He takes you at your word and even if you break yours, He is going to abide by His. The biblical people of Israel went whoring on God and God hated it, but dared anyone to touch His whore without His permission
Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. Ez. 16:28
Guiding Spiritual Things Require Spiritual Knowledge
When a nation calls upon God for a covering, God blesses their obedience, but He also disciplines their disobedience because He is a Father. The children and heirs of the forefathers have either forgotten or do not care about the covenant, but God is still obligated to the promises made to the forefathers and carries out His part of the covering. The promise made to Abraham and to Christ was that God would be a loving Father blessing the believers and disciplining them when they went astray.
Those that ran ahead of the church to set up a structure for governing that did not include God or His ways should have expected nothing less than God’s punishment. America is seeing the chastisement for setting up an idolatrous government. Leaders who counted themselves to be spiritual above their peers left off the training and wisdom God gives to those that are called to be His leaders. While God will work with those who want more of God, He disciplines while He schools. Those that refuse to turn back when they have gone to far are sent warnings and people to help them but arrogant disobedience is rebellion that reaps wrath or a departure from God’s presence.
The bible is full of lessons and examples of how God deals with His people and strangers. When the church or believers study the Word of God, they are learning how God operates and it should put the fear of God in them to ward off tempting Him. The white community and government given a certain amount of power over black people for God’s purpose took their authority to a godless level of jealousy that God hates. God says all souls are His and it is God who determines the status of men in life and their placement or rule in nations.
The church as a whole is responsible for what happens in our world. This world is left to Jesus’ followers to pray for and to have righteous dominion over. We pray to God in Jesus’ name for our needs and wants concerning it but lording over mankind is not the spirit of God and brings punishment.
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Mat 20:25-28
Discerning the Times
The place where our nation finds itself is in a place of disobedience because of those who tried to take control of the nation with a power that was not from God. Repentance is the way one gets back in good standing with God, and correction and restoration must follow. Their leadership into disobedience has sown seeds and taken roots that has spread throughout our society. Not only would their repenting the insurrection that they started help to bring about resolution of our problems, but the church as a whole needs to address the problems at hand because of urgency rather than just doing teaching as usual. This is a teaching moment and we need to deal with the problems at hand just like the early apostles did. If your church is not dealing with the problems that plague our city and nation today, then your church has little concern about the wellbeing of your soul. Jesus taught life lessons, but He also dealt immediately with their issues of hunger after a long meeting, death, taxation questions, imprisonment of John, and the terrorist attack of Saul upon the saints. Our nation is in trouble and we have been dealing with the issue of possible nuclear attack for the past several years. These are urgent issues that affect the church and should be high on our list for prayer and divine intervention.
There is an issue in our society as well where the church wants to be lackadaisical and do church as usual when there are urgent needs that the church should be resolving. The church was instituted by the Father as a divine source of help in our community. We are God’s hand operating in the earth to help the people that are hungry and crying out for help from God. We are that answer to prayer. The church cannot afford to sit around and do nothing but sing while the world is hurting and yet call themselves God’s children. Jesus showed us what God wants us to do with our hands and power. While Jesus walked in His earthly ministry He was the light of the world, but now that He has gone back to the Father, believers are the light of the world (Joh 9:5; Mt. 5:14). The great commission is for us, believers, to go and make disciples of men:
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mar 16:15-16
The ministry that Jesus walked in while in the earth has now become our ministry to the world. So if the world is a mess, it is because we are not doing the work Jesus gave to us. The fact that the wrong ministry and wrong gospel was ministered to a bunch of people who showed up on the Capitol steps shows that people can be moved with words and hope. That was the wrong kind of words and the wrong kind of hope but if evil words got that much results, how much more the greater movement can happen from the good words of the gospel. Knowing that we all have to answer to Jesus for what we did with our time and commission in the earth, how much should we be doing while we have time? The question and the answer stated at the beginning of this message shows that there are people who know what needs to be done, but the great power of wickedness is sitting on the throne and refusing to let righteousness prevail. That is where the church comes in because we have been given the power to move Satan power off the throne and seat righteousness in the kingdom. Because that sounds so similar to what the insurrectionists tried to do, let’s look at the word of God to clarify:
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Pro 16:25
We actually saw this scripture proven out in the insurrection. A religious body told men to go overthrow a lawful government and men went to do it and caused the death of other men and their own incarceration. The motive was incorrect, and the results was a disaster. Christians uproot evil through prayer, lawful action, and scriptural guidance. Let’s look at examples of reaction to the question of insurrection when the government was evil:
And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. Ezr 4:19-24
Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. Mar 15:6-7
And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. Act 18:12-13
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. Joh 6:15
In the scriptures above regarding accusation of insurrection or a possibility of causing an insurrection to seat Jesus as King, God did not side with insurrection, but chose rather to carry out His will to seat the righteous in a righteous manner. Even when the people wanted to seat the righteous Jesus in a wrong time and wrong way: God did not allow it. The way of Barabbas to overthrow an evil government and seat the Jews seem right as the followers of Jesus’ effort to seat Him, but it was wrong on both accounts. God’s way is always best. Jesus suffered, bled and died; but it turned out to be the best way to seat Jesus as King of the Jews, Savior of the world, eternal Lord. God has given us the Word of God for instruction in righteousness and there were plenty of examples that the way used by the January 6 insurrectionists was wrong, primarily because Jesus refused to use it when He could have been crowned king at Jerusalem.
God Gave Guidance to Choose the Correct Way
There will always be those who want to use the wrong way of doing things, but the children of God have a responsibility to carry out the instructions of the Lord in the right way. We cannot expect evil doers to do the right thing, but it is important that the church stand by the right way and encourage others to follow. The Word of God is also for correction (2Ti 3:16), so we have it as the final word on what is right or wrong. We do not have to wrestle with the world on whether it is right or wrong because Jesus has given us our direction. We must, as Children of God, seek out God’s way to change this world in a way that leaves a witness of the goodness of God even to the wicked. Saul of Tarsus, was the worst enemy to the Christians at Jerusalem but after the Christians had done all they could do, Jesus stepped in, slew Saul to the ground and brought about peace through that very instrument intended for evil to give a powerful witness to the world. Our world is still in distress because we still have not taken the right approach to the difficulties before us. While Jesus is available and willing to help us, we have to. as a nation, decide to do what is right. The nation of America is still trying to do it her own way and the church seems to be following, but Jesus tells us how to please the Father and see the best results. He said:
… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Joh 14:6
Truth and Life Ministries of Christ with Apostle Joyce Reba Payne 