The Harvest of Wisdom

Friday, February 3, 2023

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.  But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying.  For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom.  Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.  But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.  It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.  And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.  James 3:13-18

The words of Apostle James flow as if a peaceful, cold stream of welcome water, refreshing a thirsty man trudging through the desert.  He presents a word picture of Godly wisdom (from above) that is healing and strength for anyone who would influence his generation for peace.  A true poet, James holds up the fruit of good deeds as an agricultural image of the holy grail of wisdom, resulting in a harvest of righteousness.  It’s a verbal feast of wholesome nourishment for any soul that longs for Godliness.

Quiet, gentle, and humble are words mostly evaporated in 21st century culture.  Sometimes it seems our Gross National Product is only measured in Loud, Irritating, and Bragging. 

Apostle James is lost on a culture preferring an elephant stampede over a quiet contemplation next to a peaceful stream in the valley.  For all the shrewd intellect creating mind-bending technological toys, released each year with much fanfare by Apple and its imitators, we have unhinged the consequence of our progress from the process.  We dabble with artificial intelligence, not intentionally planting seeds of righteousness in human children, to point the machines in peaceful directions.  We have six-year-olds, enamored by heroes of violence on their screens, bringing a gun to school to shoot their teachers.  They don’t have a clue that momentary act of selfish impulse will extinguish any peace their future could possibly hold.  In foolishness, like Esau, we forfeit the legacy of birthright to satisfy the craving for a pottage of the next half-second’s thrill of power. 

So, what’s to be done?  Is there a possibility of ever reclaiming something of a harvest of righteousness in the present caustic soil of selfishness and anger?  Are we doomed to starve for the lack of goodness?  Is there no peace whatsoever in our future?  I believe the answer to each of those questions is an unqualified YES, unless we are willing to return to planting wise seeds of purity, gentleness, kindness, mercy, hope, and worship of God in Christ Jesus.  If there will ever be a crop of righteousness, preparing the soil comes first.

For You Today  

The best grapes come from cultivated vines.  Those vines were planted long ago, and cared-for.  As the lineage of God’s people, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph recalled the mistakes of their forbears, and culled the weeds from their lives, all the while making new mistakes for the following generations to unravel, we must choose each day to plant new vines for a righteous harvest.  What seed do you hold in your hand right now?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

The Marriage of Belief and Behavior  and  Humility 

This is an updated version of “So Much Anger” published on Rocky Road Devotions January 16, 2014

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Using Power Wisely

[1]

Friday, February 7, 2020

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.  But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying.  For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom.  Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.  But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.  And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. James 3:13-18[2]

No, that guy isn’t John Wayne, or Roy Rogers, or some superhero; that’s Russell a few years ago on vacation in Brevard, riding a horse for the first and only time in my life.  It’s easy to tell the difference between the superheroes and Russell; I’m the one shaking in the saddle. 

And it’s all because of Big John, my ride for that afternoon.  They had a sign that said if you’re over 210 pounds (I was, and I’m not going to tell you how far over), you couldn’t ride unless Big John was available.  Normal humans who can’t leap 28-feet in the air need a stepladder to mount the stable behemoth.  I’m smiling in the picture, but it’s a frozen in time, is this how I’m gonna die kind of smile.

Well, the afternoon turned out to be a favorite memory of mine.  Big John was well named for his size, but better named for his disposition.  This was a beast who was gentle and calm.  There was no doubt who was in charge; when Big John wanted to stop along the mountain trail to munch on some low hanging branches, well…by golly…no matter how much Russell urged us on, we stopped and munched on low hanging branches.  Big John that is; Russell had Reece’s PB cups.

Sometimes it worked the other way around.  There were a few times I wanted to stop and take a picture of the lovely mountain scenery.  Brevard has some breathtaking views of rolling, majestic sights, including lots of waterfalls.  But John had seen them so often he would just keep plodding.  Once I did what our guide had suggested when instructing this greenhorn…if John didn’t stop, to just tighten up my knee pressure on his neck and yank a bit on the reins.  And when I did it, John ignored me like a rhino with a gnat on his back.  We kept plodding...no pictures!

In the end I decided John was smarter than the one riding him.  Big John had done that trail hundreds of times in his 25 years; he knew the right way to enjoy an afternoon.  I learned a little something that day about truly vacationing as opposed to cramming leisure time with too much distraction; life in the 21^st century has enough of that.

One of the takeaways from that few hours with Big John is an understanding of keeping a focus on how to use what power you’re granted.  John could’ve flattened me if he chose.  He could have insisted on riding me, or just depositing me in a ditch.  However, he chose to use his power wisely, treating me to a wonderful afternoon ride, aesthetically pleasing and memorable.  It was a gift!

It’s almost painful to make this leap, but such are the risks of contrast and comparison – I wish some of our political leaders would learn Big John’s lesson.  Access to power doesn’t mean grabbing what you want at any cost.  Rather, like my four-footed beautiful friend taught me, it means offering the best you have to the people you serve.

For You Today

If you’re watching too much news coverage of impeachment trials and disaster, take a Big John ride…breathe! 

And then thank your heavenly Father for the view.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image:  Russell Brownworth (original photo)    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

[2] For another post on this James 3:13-18 see Wisdom From Above

Wisdom from Above

[1]

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.  But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying.  For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom.  Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.  But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.  It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.  And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.  James 3:13-18(NLT)

It’s easy to recognize a porcupine – especially up close!  Wisdom is a little tougher to nail-down.  But James tells us the foremost quality of wisdom is its purity.  Joined to purity is a love-affair with peace, constant gentleness, willingness to give-in, mercy, good deeds, impartiality, and unfailing truth.  Where do you find such people?

Ordinarily, when I think of Godly wisdom, the picture includes someone solemn, spewing out sayings that make you ponder and wonder; it’s usually someone older (although finding those at my age is getting to be more of an issue).

But, sometimes wisdom, especially as James describes it, shows up in unexpected ways, and in the least-expected people.  Elizabeth’s Aunt Frances comes to mind.  I met Aunt Fran the year Elizabeth and I met in high school (1964).  She was in her early 30’s, the youngest sibling to Sofie, Elizabeth’s Mom.  There were 20 years (or so) between Sofie, who was the oldest, and Frances, the youngest of more than a dozen.  Fran was more like a sister to my bride than an aunt. 

Fast forward to this past November.  Frances was still living in New York, so phone calls were the visits we wish we could have had in person.  On the last call before Fran died, Elizabeth was discussing her upcoming cataract surgery.  Her aunt’s comment was in true Yogi Berra style:  I have no problems with my eyes; I just can’t see.

We laughed long and hard over that with Aunt Fran.  And in the days following we asked each other as we passed in the house, rode in the car, or talked about Elizabeth’s upcoming cataract removal:  Do you have any problems with your eyes that seeing wouldn’t fix?  Aunt Frances provided us with many such moments over the years with her innocence and unguarded sharing of whatever was on her mind at the moment.

It’s only now, after she has left us, that some of what she said has begun to sink-in.  If true Godly wisdom is characterized by pure hearts, peaceable lives, and gentle good deeds, Aunt Fran wasn’t far from what Jesus tried to teach us.

In Jesus’ earthly ministry, and later speaking through the apostle, John, to the church at Laodicea, the Lord reminded us that self-satisfaction was opposite of any kind of wisdom.  He reminded the Laodicean church that, though they were well-off financially, and didn’t suffer persecution as others did, their way of serving God was the worst kind of poverty – indifference towards the things of God caused by spiritual blindness.  They had eyes, they just couldn’t see.  Jesus recommended:

…ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.  I correct and discipline everyone I love.  So be diligent and turn from your indifference.  Revelation 3:18b-19(NLT)   

Sometimes Aunt Frances had a little trouble connecting the dots.  But she was fun, positive, unguarded and always gently going about the business of blessing your life with good deeds and a peaceable heart.

I’m going to miss her, but I’m going to think about her often.  I’m praying God will let me have a Frances-kind of pure heart, because, as Jesus told us:

God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.  Matthew 5:8(NLT

For You Today

If you’ve already caved on that sticking-to-the-diet resolution, or exceeded the speed limit on the way to work today, or perhaps let one of those bad words fly out when you got cut-off on the Interstate, perhaps adding a little Godly wisdom of purity and peaceableness to your list is in order.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com

Seeds of Peace

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you?  Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.  ¹⁴But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.  ¹⁵Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.  ¹⁶For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.  ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.  ¹⁸And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.                    James 3:13 - 18 (NRSV)

James’ main thesis is obviously that genuine wisdom always shows up as a Godly life of gentleness and good deeds.  You hardly see much of that in today’s world!  It is truly, the best of times; the worst of times.  We live in an age of unparalleled healthcare advances and technology that keeps making you say, WOW!  We’ve made monumental forward steps in race and gender equality.

But these are troubling times, despite all the good news.  Among the more troubling, disturbing realities is the escalating violence in our culture, particularly in our children.  This week’s shootings at Chardon High School near Cleveland turned the conversation back to the Columbine tragedy of ten years ago. 

Families are under an enormous load of stress due to the economic crisis; the divorce rate, physical and sexual abuse (particularly of children) continues to soar off the charts.

It is difficult to overstate the need for personal and community peace in a world like ours.  But it sometimes seems as if peace in this lifetime is only a mirage.

There are those who would suggest different ways of dealing with the lack of personal peace;

·        Drop out – find an island somewhere so people can’t hurt you.  A childhood friend of Elizabeth’s did that; he came up to retirement age and moved to South America.  No bills, family, neighbors!

·        Drug up – drink, snort, or pill-pop until you can’t see the disturbances (or are just too incapacitated to care).

·        Do first – is the flip side of the “Golden Rule” (Do unto others before they can do you any harm – get those suckers!)

But these are reactionary – “knee-jerks” against the pain of personal emptiness and fear of what might be coming.  James says that kind of thinking is devilish, animal-like thinking.  It is unwise at best, conniving at worst.  To seek any kind of peace, absent of the wise and right choices guided from above, is only going to achieve an illusion.

Isaiah, an Old Testament counterpart of James suggests the way to real peace:

³You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,

whose thoughts are fixed on you!

⁴Trust in the LORD always,

for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.[1]

     Well, Old Testament Isaiah, and New Testament James agree on the two principal ingredients of genuine, lasting, personal peace – Let Go; Let God!

Let Go  

James warns against holding on to the arch-enemy of peace – bitterness.  Bitterness is the one thing that is less held-onto, than holds-on-to-you, when you allow it to hang around.  One minister put it this way:  Bitterness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.[2]

A rabid dog bit a man.  He went to the doctor and the doctor told him it was too late; he needed to prepare to meet his Maker.  The doc went out of the room for a few moments, and then returned to see the man writing on a long legal pad. 

I can help you find a lawyer if you need to make a will, said the doctor.  Will? replied the man, I’m making a list of the people I’m gonna bite!

Bitterness grows out of envy, personal ambition, or hurt.  Any of those will fester and kill personal relationships.  That’s the thinking James said was devilish, or worldly.  There’s a lot of that today.

Most believers would agree that letting go of bitterness is good.  The question really is, HOW?  How in the world do we let go of something that holds onto us like the plague?  Listen to the promises in these two verses, and see if it makes sense…

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met…. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace.  I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.     Matthew 6:33John 14:25 (TMNT

You let go by letting God – IN!  You surrender.  And look what happens when you…

Let God

According to James (1.5) when you let go of the world’s ways, and ask God for His way, the wisdom to make good choices in your life begins to come your way.    The seed which God plants within us when we Let Go changes us. 

Now, remember, these things are like seeds, placed within you by God, when you let go of trying to control your own life, and let God have His way.  You don’t do these things to become a peaceful person…you let God create these things in you.

There are a lot of things we could say about James’ statement, and would benefit to study each of the words he used.  However, to summarize those words, let’s just say that when God plants seeds of His peace in you, because you open up the ground of your life to Him, that which develops in your deep-down character, is a person who has taken his stand publicly for Christ. 

God teaches you to be a person of mercy and convictions; God teaches you to be a person of integrity, convinced in the faith, living a life of loving the Lord…both publicly and privately.

That sounds like quite a crop, doesn’t it?  Yet, that is only the showy tassel above the corn.  The real kernel – the real fruit of what grows from God’s seeds placed in your life, is the peace of God underneath everything visible.

¹⁸And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.        James 3:18  (NRSV)

Peace comes when there is an atmosphere of the Kingdom life, filled with wisdom.  If you chase it, demand it or try to imitate it, it will slip through your fingers like a greased pig.

When you go about seeking the kingdom of God, He plants seeds of peace in your life.  The crop that follows is that condition of peace in you, around you, and in others about you which is a blessing to God, your family and your community.  And it passes all understanding in you!  That’s worth letting-go, so you can let-God.

---

[1] Isaiah 26:3-4

[2] Ron McManus, minister, PreachingToday.com