WHITEWASH

 

Write From My Heart

June 3, 2021

 

WHITEWASH  concealing faults or defects in an effort to exonerate [i.e., declare guiltless or blameless]

 

Ezekiel 13:10-11, 12, and 15  Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. … When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?” … I will say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it.”

 

Ponder this: Ezekiel was sent to warn Israel and in this section (13:1-16) he specifically addresses false prophets giving messages they claimed to receive from the Lord. The problem was the messages came from the false prophets themselves and not from the Lord. Our God is a God of truth and he hates lies. So whether it was the false prophets of Israel during Ezekiel’s time; or the politicians of our day full of false promises while covering up their own corruption within; or even our own personal attempts to gloss over our sins in an effort to look better than we really are…the message is the same. Whitewashing never works. God demands truth.

UNDERSTANDING

 

Write From My Heart

June 2, 2021

 

UNDERSTANDING  to know fully the character, nature of, etc.; to take as a fact and accept as a condition

 

Job 28:20, 23-24, and 28 (NIV)  Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? … God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. … And he said to man, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.

 

Ponder this: The word understanding carries multiple meanings, and two of those meanings that are often overlooked have been noted above. We think of understanding as a mental comprehension, and it is. However, it is also acknowledgment of the character and nature of something and accepting all the terms and conditions that apply. Stay with me a moment longer and ponder this… when we fear the LORD and rely on his ultimate wisdom, when we consider ourselves to be followers of Christ [a.k.a., Christian], then we fully know the character and nature of what it means to be a Christian and we accept as fact the terms and conditions that apply.  One of those conditions is that we will have nothing to do with evil. Complacency, straddling the fence, and compromise are not options.

WISDOM

 

Write From My Heart

June 1, 2021

 

WISDOM  sagacity [i.e., penetrating intelligence] based on knowledge

 

Job 28:20, 23-24, and 28 (NIV)  Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? … God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. … And he said to man, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.

 

Ponder this: Humans are finite and as such we follow a linear timeline passing from moment to moment and event to event. We can never return to our past moments, and we have no knowledge of what future moments might hold. We can only live in our present moments. From our limited linear perspective, we try to image a God who knows everything because he can hop, skip, and jump between past, present, and future. However, consider this, God is omnipresent; meaning, he is everywhere always. He is the past, he is the present, and he is the future—time and place hold no restrictions on him. Thus, he alone has true wisdom for he alone views all. We place our confidence in him because he has penetrating intelligence based on knowledge we do not have. And what a comfort that is!