Love over intellect
“For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1Cor. 1:19,20).
“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.” (1Cor. 1:26-28).
Does God not desire wisdom in His children? Of course!
“My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.…
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?” (Prov. 1:8,9,20-22).
“When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee.” (Prov. 2:10,11).
“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens. By His knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.” (Prov. 3:13-22).
“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.” (Prov. 4:5-9).
Our Father in heaven desires excellence in everything. His discretion and knowledge are the blessing that makes His universe comfortable and happy for His children. His will is to develop all of their abilities and faculties. He presents before them the mysteries of His creation and draws them into the deepest study possible. To be fully like Him physically, intellectually, and spiritually is His ultimate purpose in all of His creatures.
But God weighs the spiritual development higher than intellectual culture, and the intellectual development above physical exercise. Not that any one of these three are unimportant, but that they have their priorities. He sees that the heart must be above the head, and the head above the muscle. This is the structure of His government. He develops all three with His tests weighted the greatest on faith and love, then on intelligence, and lastly on brawn.
“For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.” (1Tim. 4:8,9).
Paul wasn’t advising Timothy to disregard the laws of health, but to see that spirituality also gives life and health, even life and health to a greater degree. The two aspects of total health must cooperate side by side, but trusting that divine power and love provides the greatest well-being of the two. We must keep our temple pure and strong; we must have a proper diet, drink pure water, breathe fresh air, get exercise and rest, abstain from harmful substances and food and get our sunlight. But without trust in divine power, all of these laws of health are limited and even insufficient to fight disease and early death.
Likewise, we might indulge in intellectual development and refinement. Education may be our ongoing delight. And it should. But, it is empty without the culture of spiritual things, the things of the heart. Such it was to Solomon after he drifted from God, and found life to be nothing but vexation and vanity. (Ecc. 2:11). Faith and love are the basis of our total development and restoration to the perfection of Eden. Love for God and communion with Him, human friendship and fellowship, kindness, joy, hope, patience, mercy, justice, righteousness, honesty and conscientiousness—the power and effects of the Spirit of God. All of the aspects of God’s character make up the things of God, the things of spirituality and godliness.
But, fallen humanity has lost the propensity to naturally desire trust in God and communion with Him. So the common result is to focus development on the remaining two aspects of the image of God in man, the intellectual and the physical.
This has led to all kinds of abuses. Without love and mercy, greater education produces educated monsters, without patience with anyone who inherited less I.Q. It has led to the dressing down of those without talents or quickness to answer. Slowness, which is relative, they judge unacceptable and such a person, soul, mind, and body are considered rejects of the human race.
Those who have received a lesser degree of intelligence often inherit a greater degree of physical strength and ability. They focus their development on the physical and grade everyone else on the size of their muscles, their handsome features, their balance and nimbleness. Beauty and strength is the main attraction for this class. They often believe that the strongest should accumulate the most and they take others’ possessions by force.
But, it is clear from the Bible, that spiritual things are the most important, and that out of it both of these, the mental and bodily exercises and development, must spring.
Martha was a natural at home-making and that included the fixing of a vast array of food preparations.
“Now it came to pass, as they went, that [Jesus] entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word.
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luk. 10:38-42).
Martha was smart; she learned quickly. She had mastered everything that pertained to being a woman. Her brain just naturally collected information and her spirit was strong to practice and quickly perfect in her cache of talents all that she observed around her.
But her sister lacked in all of those things. Mary was more gregarious and needy of human companionship. When compared beside each other, Jesus chose Mary to have the preeminent gift. He didn’t mean to discourage Martha’s hospitality or to belittle her energy. But, He saw in Mary a heart that more closely mirrored His Father’s. It could be said of Mary that she was a woman after God’s own heart.
And that faith and love which He saw in her was a seal of approval from the Holy Spirit, sent down from the Father of glory. Mary came up short in behavioral excellence, while Martha shone brightly in that. Yet, Christ defended Mary and reproved Martha. Was Mary lazy? It appeared that way, and Martha certainly made it look like that. But it was Satan working in Martha that led her to manipulate the truth about Mary.
This Jesus saw through and uses a balanced approach to correct the ungodliness in Martha.
“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” (Rom. 1:17-18).
It is the traditions of men that motivate all the Marthas today to think like they do, both females and males. And it’s the tradition of men that causes the Marys, both males and females, to cower under that condemnation of the ungodly male and female Marthas in the world.
The true reality is the heavenly reality, which has been and forever will be the eternal reality. “But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luk. 10:42). For “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.” (1Cor. 1:27,28).
“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” (Psa. 8:2). This is good news for the untalented, the slow, and the unsightly, the young and immature.
Did Mary remain inept at cooking? No, she gradually learned all the lessons of homemaking and hospitality. “For … godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is.” (1Tim. 4:8). And she learned at the pace that she could learn, and as quickly as she could because of her love for Jesus who was a better cook than Martha. Mary learned the hospitality of Jesus, far exceeding Martha’s. Mary received the robe of Christ’s hospitality. (Is. 61:10). And even if she never attained to the rich, complicated foods of Martha, the love and friendship that Mary served made everything taste so good. And if I can wager a guess, her simpler fare made her food healthier and thus better than Martha’s.
The Lord prefers the slow learners who receive a thorough education of spirituality. They may be towered over by massive intellects, but they are seen as favorable by a God who towers over the greatest human minds, and He says of them, “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isa. 2:22).
Even as Lucifer, no doubt, outshone Michael in colorful glory streaming from his body (Ezek. 28:12,13), and he probably towered over the Son of God like Goliath did to young David. The rapid rise of Lucifer and his quickly learned ability to organize the armies of angelic hosts stood opposed to the Son’s apparently lesser work in that respect.
“Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee.” (Eze. 28:2,3). And the atomic power of Lucifer seemed to overshadow the slow, quiet growth of Christ who did only what His Father showed Him in the work of creation.
But, in the end, it was the slow learner that excelled in all that God was. Only the Son of God could stand in God’s place and do perfectly as the great Creator, even though it took a long time to do all of that. And shouldn’t it have required a slow development, since the lessons were infinitely deep?
All of God’s elect, have a lot to learn, a course that is heavily loaded with projects that cover an exceedingly broad scope. They may not appear to be advancing quickly enough by the eye of faulty man, but they are quietly, slowly, grasping lessons that the most talented and ingenious will never begin to learn. God’s children usually don’t even know that they are under a higher curriculum; all they know is that the world constantly accosts them for their retarded growth and ineptness according to the normal elementary curriculum of the world.
But the children of God are learning the most difficult lessons of life, especially while under fire and condemnation of the world. At length, the precious ones finally learn of Jesus who they trust in as fully as Mary did, and then their development picks up speed, and they blossom into the world’s most desired treasures. Then, in the sight of everyone, God raises them up in the society of their peers. He chooses them for a place of preeminence above all of their brethren, as He did Joseph and Daniel. Many like Lucifer who became envious and violent toward the exaltation of the Son, do as their father does, but Christ protects His people from them.
They spent many years being trodden under the feet of the world, but now they are glorified in Christ’s righteousness. And, in the end, they are very satisfied with the path Jesus led them through. “He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10). In all respects they have His character perfectly reproduced in theirs.
“But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” (Mat 19:30). “And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.” (Luk. 1:50-53).
“My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in Thy salvation.
There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside Thee: neither is there any Rock like our God.
Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low, and lifteth up.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and He hath set the world upon them.
He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall He thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.” (1Sam. 2:1-10).
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1Cor. 1:19,20).
“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.” (1Cor. 1:26-28).
Does God not desire wisdom in His children? Of course!
“My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.…
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?” (Prov. 1:8,9,20-22).
“When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee.” (Prov. 2:10,11).
“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens. By His knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.” (Prov. 3:13-22).
“Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.” (Prov. 4:5-9).
Our Father in heaven desires excellence in everything. His discretion and knowledge are the blessing that makes His universe comfortable and happy for His children. His will is to develop all of their abilities and faculties. He presents before them the mysteries of His creation and draws them into the deepest study possible. To be fully like Him physically, intellectually, and spiritually is His ultimate purpose in all of His creatures.
But God weighs the spiritual development higher than intellectual culture, and the intellectual development above physical exercise. Not that any one of these three are unimportant, but that they have their priorities. He sees that the heart must be above the head, and the head above the muscle. This is the structure of His government. He develops all three with His tests weighted the greatest on faith and love, then on intelligence, and lastly on brawn.
“For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.” (1Tim. 4:8,9).
Paul wasn’t advising Timothy to disregard the laws of health, but to see that spirituality also gives life and health, even life and health to a greater degree. The two aspects of total health must cooperate side by side, but trusting that divine power and love provides the greatest well-being of the two. We must keep our temple pure and strong; we must have a proper diet, drink pure water, breathe fresh air, get exercise and rest, abstain from harmful substances and food and get our sunlight. But without trust in divine power, all of these laws of health are limited and even insufficient to fight disease and early death.
Likewise, we might indulge in intellectual development and refinement. Education may be our ongoing delight. And it should. But, it is empty without the culture of spiritual things, the things of the heart. Such it was to Solomon after he drifted from God, and found life to be nothing but vexation and vanity. (Ecc. 2:11). Faith and love are the basis of our total development and restoration to the perfection of Eden. Love for God and communion with Him, human friendship and fellowship, kindness, joy, hope, patience, mercy, justice, righteousness, honesty and conscientiousness—the power and effects of the Spirit of God. All of the aspects of God’s character make up the things of God, the things of spirituality and godliness.
But, fallen humanity has lost the propensity to naturally desire trust in God and communion with Him. So the common result is to focus development on the remaining two aspects of the image of God in man, the intellectual and the physical.
This has led to all kinds of abuses. Without love and mercy, greater education produces educated monsters, without patience with anyone who inherited less I.Q. It has led to the dressing down of those without talents or quickness to answer. Slowness, which is relative, they judge unacceptable and such a person, soul, mind, and body are considered rejects of the human race.
Those who have received a lesser degree of intelligence often inherit a greater degree of physical strength and ability. They focus their development on the physical and grade everyone else on the size of their muscles, their handsome features, their balance and nimbleness. Beauty and strength is the main attraction for this class. They often believe that the strongest should accumulate the most and they take others’ possessions by force.
But, it is clear from the Bible, that spiritual things are the most important, and that out of it both of these, the mental and bodily exercises and development, must spring.
Martha was a natural at home-making and that included the fixing of a vast array of food preparations.
“Now it came to pass, as they went, that [Jesus] entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word.
But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luk. 10:38-42).
Martha was smart; she learned quickly. She had mastered everything that pertained to being a woman. Her brain just naturally collected information and her spirit was strong to practice and quickly perfect in her cache of talents all that she observed around her.
But her sister lacked in all of those things. Mary was more gregarious and needy of human companionship. When compared beside each other, Jesus chose Mary to have the preeminent gift. He didn’t mean to discourage Martha’s hospitality or to belittle her energy. But, He saw in Mary a heart that more closely mirrored His Father’s. It could be said of Mary that she was a woman after God’s own heart.
And that faith and love which He saw in her was a seal of approval from the Holy Spirit, sent down from the Father of glory. Mary came up short in behavioral excellence, while Martha shone brightly in that. Yet, Christ defended Mary and reproved Martha. Was Mary lazy? It appeared that way, and Martha certainly made it look like that. But it was Satan working in Martha that led her to manipulate the truth about Mary.
This Jesus saw through and uses a balanced approach to correct the ungodliness in Martha.
“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” (Rom. 1:17-18).
It is the traditions of men that motivate all the Marthas today to think like they do, both females and males. And it’s the tradition of men that causes the Marys, both males and females, to cower under that condemnation of the ungodly male and female Marthas in the world.
The true reality is the heavenly reality, which has been and forever will be the eternal reality. “But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luk. 10:42). For “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.” (1Cor. 1:27,28).
“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” (Psa. 8:2). This is good news for the untalented, the slow, and the unsightly, the young and immature.
Did Mary remain inept at cooking? No, she gradually learned all the lessons of homemaking and hospitality. “For … godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is.” (1Tim. 4:8). And she learned at the pace that she could learn, and as quickly as she could because of her love for Jesus who was a better cook than Martha. Mary learned the hospitality of Jesus, far exceeding Martha’s. Mary received the robe of Christ’s hospitality. (Is. 61:10). And even if she never attained to the rich, complicated foods of Martha, the love and friendship that Mary served made everything taste so good. And if I can wager a guess, her simpler fare made her food healthier and thus better than Martha’s.
The Lord prefers the slow learners who receive a thorough education of spirituality. They may be towered over by massive intellects, but they are seen as favorable by a God who towers over the greatest human minds, and He says of them, “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isa. 2:22).
Even as Lucifer, no doubt, outshone Michael in colorful glory streaming from his body (Ezek. 28:12,13), and he probably towered over the Son of God like Goliath did to young David. The rapid rise of Lucifer and his quickly learned ability to organize the armies of angelic hosts stood opposed to the Son’s apparently lesser work in that respect.
“Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee.” (Eze. 28:2,3). And the atomic power of Lucifer seemed to overshadow the slow, quiet growth of Christ who did only what His Father showed Him in the work of creation.
But, in the end, it was the slow learner that excelled in all that God was. Only the Son of God could stand in God’s place and do perfectly as the great Creator, even though it took a long time to do all of that. And shouldn’t it have required a slow development, since the lessons were infinitely deep?
All of God’s elect, have a lot to learn, a course that is heavily loaded with projects that cover an exceedingly broad scope. They may not appear to be advancing quickly enough by the eye of faulty man, but they are quietly, slowly, grasping lessons that the most talented and ingenious will never begin to learn. God’s children usually don’t even know that they are under a higher curriculum; all they know is that the world constantly accosts them for their retarded growth and ineptness according to the normal elementary curriculum of the world.
But the children of God are learning the most difficult lessons of life, especially while under fire and condemnation of the world. At length, the precious ones finally learn of Jesus who they trust in as fully as Mary did, and then their development picks up speed, and they blossom into the world’s most desired treasures. Then, in the sight of everyone, God raises them up in the society of their peers. He chooses them for a place of preeminence above all of their brethren, as He did Joseph and Daniel. Many like Lucifer who became envious and violent toward the exaltation of the Son, do as their father does, but Christ protects His people from them.
They spent many years being trodden under the feet of the world, but now they are glorified in Christ’s righteousness. And, in the end, they are very satisfied with the path Jesus led them through. “He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10). In all respects they have His character perfectly reproduced in theirs.
“But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” (Mat 19:30). “And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation.
He hath shewed strength with His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.” (Luk. 1:50-53).
“My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in Thy salvation.
There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside Thee: neither is there any Rock like our God.
Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low, and lifteth up.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and He hath set the world upon them.
He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall He thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.” (1Sam. 2:1-10).
posted by David | 3:34 PM
2 Comments:
Beautiful!
The merciful Lord has a wonderful plan for His own.
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