James 3:15
This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
Read all of James Chapter 3 here
The wisdom of the world is, “earthly, sensual, devilish.” Another Bible translation says the wisdom of the world is, “Earthly, natural, demonic.” Let’s expand on these three some in today’s devotional.
Anything other than God’s wisdom is earthly. That is, it is restricted to the limits of this world. It is limited in time, in the sense that earthly wisdom is restricted to the present world only and has no bearing on our eternal world. It is limited in that earthly wisdom is man’s wisdom. It is restricted to what we can do, learn and create under our own power and ability. There are some fruits, really negative fruits, of earthly wisdom we will talk about in another devotion.
Anything other than God’s wisdom is natural. That is, it is interested only in things of the flesh. If we look back, we can clearly see that it was natural wisdom which resulted in the Fall of Man in the first place. It was the seeking to know what God knew that lead Eve to take and eat the forbidden fruit. Instead of accepting the wisdom God had provided, Adam and Eve sought worldly wisdom. Remember what John said in 1 John 2:16?
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Finally, anything other than God’s wisdom is demonic. Now, that doesn’t mean if we study the Encyclopaedia we will become demon possessed. (For those readers who remember what those are!). That means the root of any wisdom other than God’s wisdom is Satan. Once again, a trip back to the Garden of Eden is in order. Adam and Eve had all the wisdom they needed. Adam, at least, had marching orders straight from the mouth of God. One rule and one rule only. That was simple wisdom and Godly wisdom. Let’s see what happened in Genesis 3:5:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Satan first introduced worldly wisdom to mankind, and he still does it today. Just like Adam and Eve, we have a choice what we listen to. Do we listen to the wisdom from above as provided in God’s Word, or do we listen to the wisdom of the world as provided by The Devil?
December 9, 2016 at 10:13
Thanks, Wally. Yes, Christians are constantly tempted to see their circumstances from the worldly viewpoint while the Lord desires that we see things from a spiritual perspective. After we accept Christ we must re-train our minds through the Word, prayer, and the leading of the Holy Spirit to align our thoughts with His thoughts and will.
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December 9, 2016 at 14:18
So true Tom. You know, through prayer, study, and meditation…God will give us whatever we want. Before you come beat me….LOL…through those things we can come to want what God want for us…as you said, align our thoughts with His
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December 9, 2016 at 14:47
Phew, glad you added that last part because I thought you were tuning into Kenneth Copeland again!
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December 9, 2016 at 15:02
LOL. I actually heard John MacArthur say that on a podcast once and heard heard somebody in his congregation gasp, until he explained. He said God would change our “wanter.” Or, something like that. Stuck with me and I live to use it myself, Tom
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December 9, 2016 at 23:05
As I was reading this my thoughts led me to observed how interesting it is the world brags about their worldly wisdom and mocks genuine biblical wisdom as being “square.”
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December 10, 2016 at 07:36
To add to that…seems to becoming more common even in the church, to look down on traditional things as not relevant anymore.
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December 10, 2016 at 12:02
That’s true. I see that in the younger generation which goes back to some of the things we talked about a few weeks ago concerning the church loving those who are older, etc.
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December 10, 2016 at 12:55
I was thinking exactly the same thing
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