“And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and He will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures, but He will overwhelm your failures with His generous Grace.” James 1:5
Have you ever seen children get caught up in a wave while standing right next to their parents? The father sees it coming and reaches out his hand to lift them up and over, but they don’t grab ahold? Instead, they get distracted by the wave and get tossed around while their father is right there with his arm stretched out. It certainly has happened plenty of times with my kids when at the beach! We read in James 1:7 that a person shouldn’t expect to receive wisdom from God when they doubt. It’s not saying if we doubt, He will not give us wisdom. It’s saying we’ll be too distracted by our wavering hearts to grab ahold and receive it.
The word receive in Greek is lambano. It means to actively and aggressively lay hold of, and accept, what is available or offered. The word emphasizes the assertiveness of the receiver.
We have a generous God who won’t fault us for doubting. He’s still handing us what we seek while we doubt and wants us to aggressively take it from His Hands!
“And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and He will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures, but He will overwhelm your failures with His generous grace. Just make sure you ask empowered by confident faith without doubting that you will receive. For the ambivalent person believes one minute and doubts the next. Being undecided makes you become like the rough seas driven and tossed by the wind. You’re up one minute and tossed down the next. When you are half-hearted and wavering, it leaves you unstable. Can you really expect to receive anything from the Lord when you’re in that condition?” James 1:5-8
While writing this post, the Lord reminded me of a word He gave me back in 2015. My prayer is that you will actively and aggressively lay hold of the words below and accept what is being offered to you. Receive Jesus today as your Lord and Savior by repenting for your sins, confessing with your mouth, and believing in your heart that Jesus is Lord. You will then be accepted into the family of God and be called His child.
“My child, don’t you know that I created the sun and moon and stars? Don’t you know that I can direct every step that you take? Don’t you know that I can see every imprint of your life choices in the sands of time, and that I can move you, guide you, encourage you, counsel you? Don’t you know that I AM the Giver of Life? The Giver of Joy? The Giver of Peace? Why do you turn from Me? Why do you doubt Me? I AM calling to you. I AM extending My Hand to you. I AM reaching out to you this day. Come to Me now all of you who are burdened the Father has made this day and has set it aside for you and Me. Call to Me. I will answer you. Call to Me. I will come to you. Call to Me. I will make you Mine. How much do I love you? I died for you. I want you with Me for eternity. Forever. This day I say to you, this I give to you, My life. The greatest Gift. Take it. Receive it. Be free. Welcome into My family. Peace be with you.”
Have a joy-filled Christmas season and a peaceful New Year my beloved Poiema friends! The Father loves you so much!
“Long before He laid down Earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure He took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of His lavish gift-giving by the hand of His beloved Son.“ Ephesians 1:4-6 (Message)
Watch and be blessed:
“You are God’s girl and He loves you! You sprinkle His seeds of love wherever you go!” Those words were spoken to me by my husband Joe many years ago. They came at a time when I was questioning my self-worth in God’s Kingdom, purposes, and plans. The Father made sure that in my darkest spiritual hour, I heard His Truth about my identity and self-worth. It has been my passion ever since to deliver that same message to any who may need to hear it. It is not about who we are, but Whose we are, and I am God’s girl!
