Knowledge vs. Wisdom

I grew up loving to build and be creative. I remember my first exposure to Lego blocks was in 3rd grade. That was the days when the blocks were simply that, blocks. There weren't a lot of other things that connected together. Mostly what we had were the blocks that numbered 4, 6, or 8. The boys made tons of guns throughout that time, practically every day. As I grew older my younger brother and I would build cars and crash them into one another to see who could build the most indestructible car. (I think I won most of the time)

Then, as I grew older, I can remember watching my father "tinker" with engines, specifically the lawn mower engines. I eventually had my time in having to take a small engine apart and put it back together - that was my freshman year of high school. It seems that throughout my life I've enjoyed doing this kind of thing. Sometimes I've taken things apart to find that I cannot get it back together. One trick I will use the next time that I learned from American Restoration is to take pictures along the way.

As the subject is about taking things apart, that brings us to this week's quote...

Knowledge comes by taking things apart, but wisdom comes by putting things together. ~ John A. Morrison

I am sure you have had opportunities to take things apart. How successful were you at getting them back together? The simple things, probably more successful. The more challenging things, maybe not so successful?

I would guess that with either situation - successful or unsuccessful - of taking things apart and putting them back together, you became a bit more wise. You have the knowledge of something as you take it apart but you gain something more as you put it back together successfully. I have been on this side and the "Eureka" moment is worth every bit of time and challenge that the project brought about.

What about non-mechanical items? What about working with people - individually or collectively? When we "tear down" someone or a team, and then put it back together, is there a greater sense of wisdom, not just knowledge? I hope to not mean that we are hurting someone or a group of people - physically or mentally. However, I simply mean one may break bad habits and help a team or group become more unified in the end, for example.

How about learning in school. Anyone hate story problems like I did? Now I can probably handle them much better than I could then, but they were sure frustrating then! However, once you "got it" you really understood what the problem consisted of.

Maybe it is even us that needs to be taken apart. What in you needs to be taken away or just cleaned up so that even you can understand yourself a bit better?

May we take time to take things apart, but remember to take pictures. You will gain some knowledge, but then when you put it back together you will have some wisdom!

Now it's your turn...What areas has this quote pertained to you in your life?

You Want a Sign, I'll Show You a Sign - a message about appreciating the depth of who Jesus was

"When am I going to use this in real life?" was a question that I posed to a math teacher of mine in college. The question stemmed from frustration and curiosity. I was taking a calculus class and was struggling. Looking back, I probably wasn't putting in the necessary "out-of-class" time I needed to really understand it. It was my freshman year and my adjustment to college was starting to show, academically.

There are simply classes that one must take in their educational career that one really does not understand the depth of the reason for those classes. Your list may vary a bit differently with mine; however, I am confident you have a "list."

Sunday, we discussed Matthew 11:38-45 where the Pharisees are asking for a sign and Jesus responds. Jesus responds in a way that shows his "haters" there may be a sign, but they need to understand there is much more depth than realized to this sign He will give.

The sign is given, but the realization of what the sign is greater than can they can imagine. Here are some applications that you can choose from to use this week...

• Desiring vs. Demanding ~ When the Pharisees demanded a sign, they had a motive that was from an evil heart. When we are asking God with a demanding spirit, we are being representative of their kind of spirit. However, if we are simply confused by life and are wishing that God would show us a sign for clarity sake, our motive is coming from a truer heart. May we not get down on ourselves when we are wanting to see God involved in our life!
• Not Understanding ~ When Jesus tells them the illustrations about Jonah and the Queen of the South and points out that the people of those days would plead with them to cause them to turn around. Who would it be that would come back and tell you to keep the faith? These are the signs that Jesus gives to the Pharisees. Sometimes a sign may not be good enough to turn people around. That is when we really do not understand the depth of our faith. May we positive examples to those around us this week to show who is our Lord!
• Staying Occupied ~ The text describes a situation when demons come out a person, there is an opening that is later taken up by eight other demons. May we keep our minds occupied with Him. If our momentum has wavered we are susceptible to things that are of evil influence, now that we have a space available in our lives. Keep your minds on God, don't let the space be unoccupied and let the evil in!

God is good at giving us what we want...even when it is not what we need. When Jesus responds to us in this manner we should be careful what we are receiving! Need a sign? Watch out what you get!

Now it's your turn...When have you wanted a sign from God? What were the circumstances?

Math Alternative

Learning arithmetic has a natural progression. Start off with addition, then its counterpart, subtraction. Then, you learn multiplication, then its counterpart, division. Within each of those are learning to handle fractions and decimals. After that, algebra creeps up on us. If you're "lucky" you get into calculus. There are many areas that I didn't even mention which are incorporated in mathematics.

How did you do with math in school? Did it not take very long to arrive at your ultimate frustration point? Was it the "tables", the proofs of geometry, or the unknowns of calculus? As much as we use math in every day life, there is a math alternative which is mentioned in this week's quote...

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. ~ Eric Hoffer

Blessings are the areas of math we take for granted. They are the "knowns" of the equation. We "know" they are supposed to be there. We "know" we should be receiving them. However, we often overlook them; treating them like the "unknown" variable(s).

You know the blessings are there, in the equation of life, but just can seem to locate them...why is that? May I encourage you to look harder. Asking the question, "What is good in your life" can be like asking a child "What did you learn today in school?" They often say, "I don't know" or "Nothing."

Write down or make a mental list of all the positives in your life. You have life, that is one. You fill in the rest.

As a math alternative, add up the blessings...they're often the hardest, but the most worth it!

Adding them up...

Monday Mentionings: Addition by Subtraction - Proverbs 25:4-5

Don’t you just enjoy it when life delivers good days? The kind where you look forward to the next. Sunday was one of those days. I continue to revel in the fact that Aubrey and I have a child, a son! Sunday was the first day that we were able to show him off to the church family, on a Sunday, which means it was the first day he was able to hear his daddy preach! This, along with our fellowship, started out my day on a good note. Then, hosting the 5th Sunday Rally was a great uplift. It was great to be “fed” by hearing a lesson from Carroll. He encouraged and challenged us to “play hurt”. It is easy for Christians to want to give up, but we must continue to go back out there and “keep playing”.

Adding by subtracting initially can look like it doesn’t go together, but when it comes to our faith it makes sense. Yesterday, we looked at this principle and applied this principle to our faith. Silver must be melted, and remain at that temperature, to bring the impurities to the surface. After the impurities are brought to the surface, they are then skimmed off until no more impurities are left. Our faith must also go through constant heat in order to have our impurities come to the surface, and then have the impurities skimmed off until there are no more left. Here are some additional applications from the lesson to choose from to use…

1. Have you had the heat turned up in your life lately? Problems at work, with family, with finances, with self-esteem? How did you respond in those moments? Did it cause you to turn to God or did it cause you to be independent of His help? May you look to Him the next time life hands you something “hot” and use it to be refined by having your figurative impurities come to the surface so that they can be skimmed off to make you more pure and Christlike. A scripture of encouragement, Acts 14:22 – you will go through many hardships to enter into the kingdom of heaven (paraphrased).
2. It is no fun to carry something heavy without a reason. During one season of a weight loss reality show, the contestants had to carry the amount of weight they had lost as far as they could carry it. Some had lost around 100 lbs. They never thought about carrying that weight when it was attached to their bodies, but when they had lost it, and now had to carry it outside of their bodies, it really weighed them down. The Hebrew writer challenges us to get rid of anything that “entangles” us or “clings to” us. Like an athlete who is trying to get to the finish line as quickly, and, in a way, as easily as possible, he doesn’t need any more weight or resistance to hinder him. If you’ve got extra “weight” then get rid of it, give it to God. This will help us in our pursuit of becoming “refined and purified silver” and to have a fresh faith.
3. There is only one way the silversmith knows that the silver is free of impurities – he can see his own reflection. As you understand that any flecks of slag left in our faith causes us to be “impure”, may we appreciate the need to be “in the heat” in order to have the impurities come to the surface and skim them off so that the reflection of God may be seen in us – that the world may see Jesus, the “refiner and purifier” of our faith (Malachi 3:3), in us! Our faith is added to by subtracting impurities.

May God bless you with an awesome week, filled with many opportunities to reflect Jesus to others!

Being Refined ~