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James 3

You’ve probably heard the Tale of the two wolves. A man is telling his grandson about the two wolves that live inside of him.  One is good, and lives in harmony, but the other is angry.

Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, because both of the wolves try to dominate my spirit. says the grandfather.

Truth is, one of them is trying to dominate you too.  Do you know which one is winning?  Look no further than the words that come from your mouth.  Jesus said it best “for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:37 (ESV)

So, which is it?  Are your words clearing your name, or do they declare you guilty?

Rather than accept the condemnation headed our way, we look for solutions.  The easiest is to be more intentional.  “I’ll try harder,”  “I’ll do better,” we say.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.  No amount of self-discipline can control your tounge.  Only one thing can – your heart.

Psalms 51:10 (ESV) says The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 

Before you begin asking how to fix it, think instead about who can fix it.  That’s what David did.  Let’s pray his prayer:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalms 51:10 (ESV)

Seems like a good way to start the day.

1 Corinthians Chapter 2

Paul starts off by saying that he didn’t come to everyone to try and WOW them with intelligence and eloquence.  He was relying on slick messaging, persuasive sales tactics, or trying to sound like the smartest guy in the room.  He was simply keeping the focus on Jesus, and what He did on the cross.  Faith should not be built on how convincing someone is rather, how God’s power actually works in one’s life.  In other words, if someone chooses me as a realtor only because of my flashy marketing and not trust or substance, then that relational foundation is already off to a shaky start.

Then Paul shifts a little.  Reading this chapter I was introduced to the term ‘Mature Christian’.  Also, ‘mature saints are easily edified’.  Essentially, just because something isn’t spoken or presented in an intelligent or eloquent manner, us ‘Mature Christians’ use our spiritual maturity to find nourishment in the simplest truths of the scripture rather than requiring exceptional preaching or production.

There are deep truths and insight in Christianity but not the kind you arrive at through status, education, or worldly success.  It is something God reveals, not something you figure out on your own.  “No eye has seen, no ear has heard….what God has prepared….”.  None of us can fully grasp God’s plans using just human perception.

Toward the end of the chapter Paul gets right down to it.  I think what he is trying to drive home is that pure human perspective like logic, experience, and culture can’t be relied on to get Christians across the finishing line. Instead, we need to be spiritually tuned in to be able to distinguish the deeper meaning.  We must have the mind of Christ.  Believers begin to think, see, and evaluate life the way Jesus does.

The Takeaways:

• Don’t rely on hype, intellect, or image
• God’s wisdom is real, but is not discovered the same way as worldly knowledge
• The Holy Spirit is what makes spiritual truth make sense
• WITHOUT it, it sounds foolish. WITH it, your entire perspective shifts.

How to Apply it:

• Authenticy > Performance
• Clarity > Complexity
• Truth that lands > Words that impress

Remember, you don’t have to ‘over-sell’ truth, whether that’s your faith or your value as a person.

Luke 12 speaks directly to the quiet places of the heart where fear, control, worry, and self-reliance often hide. Jesus lovingly confronts the assumptions that so easily shape my thinking: that security comes from what I can accumulate, that peace comes from managing every outcome, and that approval from others can protect me. But God’s wisdom cuts through those false foundations. It reminds me that life is more than possessions, appearances, or plans. My Father already knows what I need, sees what I carry, and values me far more than I often realize.

The parable of the rich fool is a sober warning that I can spend my energy building bigger barns while neglecting the condition of my soul. Jesus is not condemning diligence or planning; He is confronting the illusion that earthly gain can ever substitute for dependence on God. Worry may disguise itself as responsibility, but often it reveals a heart struggling to trust. God’s wisdom calls me back to a better way: seek first His kingdom, live with readiness, and become rich toward Him.

So how will I yield today? I will open my hands. I will release the need to control what belongs to God. I will confess where fear has driven me and where comfort has dulled my spiritual alertness. I will choose trust over striving, generosity over hoarding, and obedience over delay. Today, yielding means allowing God to reorder my priorities so that my life reflects faith, peace, and readiness for His purposes.

Ecclesiastes 3

Soloman starts this chapter of scripture off with the idea that there is a time or a season for everything. What he is trying to say is that life is so monotonous. We go from one thing to the next and then back around again in this monotonous circle. There is real wisdom in trying to understand what season you are in so you aren’t “kicking against the goads” if you will. Sometimes God directs us into something difficult and it’s our time of weeping, mourning, or tearing down. Use discernment as you are in the different times of life seeking to understand what God is trying to teach you, instead of always asking for the next season of life.

In verse 11, Soloman writes, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”

God has put eternity in the hearts of men. There is something more than just the monotonous seasons of life that we experience under the sun. There is more than just laboring and enjoying the here and now. We should live in the present; honoring, glorifying, and thanking God for everything; without forgetting about the eternity that He has put in our hearts.

I am thankful for the second part of verse 11. I’m glad that I don’t always understand what God is doing. That shows me He is a big God. If I could pinpoint everything God was doing all the time and could “read” His moves like I do a silly rom com with my wife, is He really a God deserving of my worship? I’m glad I can’t find out the work God is doing from beginning to end. This makes us reliant on Him through His miraculous and providential hand. It makes my faith grow because I know the foundation of His throne is righteousness and justice (Ps. 97).

Sometimes life just feels like a constant cycle of seasons that ends in 80 years when we return to dust. There is far more than just toiling and enjoying the fruit of your labor. God has put eternity in the hearts of men. God’s work endures forever. He doesn’t leave something unfinished. He is the captain of your salvation and the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 2 & 12). Would you place your trust in Christ and rest in the fact that there is nothing more you need to add to His work, but to simply receive the grace He is offering to you? After you do this, live for eternity and keep looking up. He is coming back soon.

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 9 

One question:  Ask what shall I give you?

When you review the life and the beginning relationship of Solomon and God it is a beautiful relationship. At the beginning of his reign,  Solomon had to focus and a plan for serving God.  Some of the  first things that Solomon carried out was to clear up the bad blood that had been done to his father David and done because of his father David. Solomon did have a discerning power with some of them, but when the statute of his decree was not performed, he was just.

Some of the theologians believe  that the Proverbs were created at the beginning of Solomon‘s reign.  Solomon became king when he was young, he was approximately in his early 20s. At that time and in our current time, individuals who are in their early 20s have not had a lot of experience and are considered not wise. 

One of the most redeeming character traits of Solomon is … his understanding of what he did not know. 

In the beginning of this blog, this is the question that God asked Solomon “what I shall give you?” – I Kings 3:5-6  I had always believed that Solomon asked God for something, but  instead God is asking Solomon for something. This is mind blowing.   God asked what Solomon wanted.  Is God gently asking us what we desire or want? 

Solomon replied that he wanted God to give him understanding to govern his people. Wisdom was given to Solomon as a way of instructing that people to learn the skill of how to love and to serve God.  Wisdom is not a law or commandment , but it is a gentle guidance to show us how to live.

God has given Solomon this information and wisdom to share in loving manner.  God is gentle with Solomon and Solomon is gentle with how he gives this guidance to us.

In today’s passage of Proverbs 9, wisdom is personified as a majestic lady. She speaks softly as she opens up her house and her life to others who are in need of shelter and rest and refreshment. She is open to everyone and does not discriminate.

In this particular passage, she gives some amazing advice that we can use daily.

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
    whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.

8 

Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
    rebuke the wise and they will love you.

9 

Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
    teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.

12 

If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
    if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

Proverbs 9:8-9;12

Many times we want to help others, but sometimes those individuals do not want to help. 

We sometimes want to persuade someone to do something different and at the same time that person does not want to be changed. 

In this passage Wisdom is telling us to be cautious in our pursuits to help everyone.

As a pharmacist, I am trying to help my patients. I go beyond the call of duty to assist the patients. But sometimes the patients do not want the assistance or they will be upset that it’s not completed at the time or to their satisfaction.  

We can see this in our daily life with our family and friends. Sometimes we attempt to help our people, but the person that we are trying to help, does not want that help. 

We have to understand that it is hard for us to do it alone, and we have to seek the guidance of God to intercede and to help our people. 

Sometimes God does not want us to intercede to help our people. Other times, God is gently guiding us to help our people in the things that they need. 

But it takes our relationship with God to understand how to obtain this wisdom to help others or to be available when they want our help.

The understanding of wisdom is hard to grasp. Sometimes we do not feel that we have the ability to move in the direction that God wants us, but we have to be available for the insight and instructions. 

May we ask for grace to be able to assist and to wait until God allows us to use the wisdom he’s given us. 

Be blessed 

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 9 

One question:  Ask what shall I give you?

When you review the life and the beginning relationship of Solomon and God it is a beautiful relationship. At the beginning of his reign,  Solomon had to focus and a plan for serving God.  Some of the  first things that Solomon carried out was to clear up the bad blood that had been done to his father David and done because of his father David. Solomon did have a discerning power with some of them, but when the statute of his decree was not performed, he was just.

Some of the theologians believe  that the Proverbs were created at the beginning of Solomon‘s reign.  Solomon became king when he was young, he was approximately in his early 20s. At that time and in our current time, individuals who are in their early 20s have not had a lot of experience and are considered not wise. 

One of the most redeeming character traits of Solomon is … his understanding of what he did not know. 

In the beginning of this blog, this is the question that God asked Solomon “what I shall give you?” – I Kings 3:5-6  I had always believed that Solomon asked God for something, but  instead God is asking Solomon for something. This is mind blowing.   God asked what Solomon wanted.  Is God gently asking us what we desire or want? 

Solomon replied that he wanted God to give him understanding to govern his people. Wisdom was given to Solomon as a way of instructing that people to learn the skill of how to love and to serve God.  Wisdom is not a law or commandment , but it is a gentle guidance to show us how to live.

God has given Solomon this information and wisdom to share in loving manner.  God is gentle with Solomon and Solomon is gentle with how he gives this guidance to us.

In today’s passage of Proverbs 9, wisdom is personified as a majestic lady. She speaks softly as she opens up her house and her life to others who are in need of shelter and rest and refreshment. She is open to everyone and does not discriminate.

In this particular passage, she gives some amazing advice that we can use daily.

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
    whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.

8 

Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
    rebuke the wise and they will love you.

9 

Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
    teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.

12 

If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
    if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

Proverbs 9:8-9;12

Many times we want to help others, but sometimes those individuals do not want to help. 

We sometimes want to persuade someone to do something different and at the same time that person does not want to be changed. 

In this passage Wisdom is telling us to be cautious in our pursuits to help everyone.

As a pharmacist, I am trying to help my patients. I go beyond the call of duty to assist the patients. But sometimes the patients do not want the assistance or they will be upset that it’s not completed at the time or to their satisfaction.  

We can see this in our daily life with our family and friends. Sometimes we attempt to help our people, but the person that we are trying to help, does not want that help. 

We have to understand that it is hard for us to do it alone, and we have to seek the guidance of God to intercede and to help our people. 

Sometimes God does not want us to intercede to help our people. Other times, God is gently guiding us to help our people in the things that they need. 

But it takes our relationship with God to understand how to obtain this wisdom to help others or to be available when they want our help.

The understanding of wisdom is hard to grasp. Sometimes we do not feel that we have the ability to move in the direction that God wants us, but we have to be available for the insight and instructions. 

May we ask for grace to be able to assist and to wait until God allows us to use the wisdom he’s given us. 

Be blessed 

Proverbs 6

My coach used to tell me, “You play with poop, you get it on your hands.”

Duh! Why would anyone want to do that?

Yet we do it all the time.
We convince ourselves we can get close to sin without getting dirty.

That’s a great question. So why do we do it? Have we forgotten what is right and wrong? No. If you’re a regular reader of BibleJournal, it’s probably written upon your heart and hung around your neck just as the Scriptures suggest.

Proverbs 6:16–19 (ESV)
There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.

It’s easy to sit back with relief and say, “Phew, I’m clear. I’m not any of those.”

But when you look closer, you’ll see that you might not be doing those things—but you are often standing right next to them.

It’s all around you.

We easily ditch our beliefs and engage with it, declaring it “innocent entertainment.”

It’s not.

You cannot play around with it without it shaping you. It’s true that when you play with it, you get it on your hands.

Proverbs 6:4–5

Don’t put it off; do it now!
Don’t rest until you do.
Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter,
like a bird fleeing from a net.

So how do you do that?

Think about Truth.
Delete that app.
Block that website.
Walk away from that conversation.
Remove yourself from the text thread.
Walk the other hallway.

Proverbs 2

Proverbs 2 draws a sharp line between two kinds of “wisdom”—the kind you can pick up from the world, and the kind you must receive from God.

Earthly wisdom often sounds practical: protect yourself, win the room, keep your options open, do what works. But Proverbs 2 exposes where that path quietly bends. It describes people who “speak perverse things,” who “leave the paths of uprightness,” and who “rejoice in doing evil” (2:12–15). That’s worldly wisdom at full strength—clever words, strategic shortcuts, and a moral drift that treats darkness like a bargain.

God’s wisdom is different in both source and effect. “The LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (2:6). His wisdom doesn’t just help you succeed; it helps you stay whole. It guards your steps (2:7–11), rescues you from corrupt influences (2:12), and warns you away from temptation that promises pleasure but delivers regret (2:16–19). God’s wisdom isn’t merely information—it’s protection that shapes character.

So what choice lies before you? Proverbs 2 asks whether you will seek God’s wisdom like treasure (2:4) or settle for whatever seems effective in the moment. Today that choice may look like: telling the truth instead of spinning it, honoring your vows instead of entertaining compromise, choosing humility over image, or walking away from a deal that pays but stains.

One path is “straight.” The other is “crooked.” Your next decision is a doorway—choose the path that keeps you near God and grounded in integrity.