Tag Archive: wisdom


Confession of Gratitude

Filed under: Focus, Have You Thought About?, Overcoming, True Story, Uncategorized — 2 Comments
November 24, 2016

DJ Martin (SingleFocus Ministry®)

I love this time of year because it causes all men to take time to reflect on all things we are thankful for. We owe a great deal of gratitude to the Pilgrims and Indians who started the right tradition of gathering together on one accord to give thanks to God. The same things they were grateful for are what we in this country can be thankful for today. It was not easy, but they survived. God brought the rain and increased the fruit of the ground which was often times barren land. Thanks be to God, for now they had food from their garden and meat on their table.

confessbwI am thankful for the farmers all over this land. I am thankful for my Uncle Bud who had a peach orchard and my Aunt Birdie who raised my Mom as if she was her own. I am grateful for my grandpa and grandma who had corn fields and raised chickens on a small farm. I am grateful that God sends the rain in due season. I’m thankful for the fresh smell after the rain and the beauty of the frost on a cold morning.

Because some of their family and friends didn’t make it, the Pilgrims and Indians were grateful to be alive having survived disease, hunger and unpredictable weather. There they were, two ethnic groups on one accord, though they had to endure the hardships that those with wicked intent had brought upon them. For there had been thieves and opportunist there. Yet, God kept them safe and brought them together to show their gratitude to Him.

I’m grateful that I was not home when thieves broke into my house and nothing was taken that could not be replaced. I’m grateful that my brother is alive today having survived retrieving my stolen car which he found parked in front of a crack house. I’m thankful that my sister is alive having survived a shooting episode in our community and the disease of cancer. I am grateful that my brothers survived a fire in our house when they were young.  I am thankful that God healed my mother of cancer and protected my father on the battlefield. I’m truly grateful to God for allowing a crack house in the neighborhood to burn down after I prayed.

I am grateful that God established a nation like this where we can freely worship Him in spirit and in truth. I am grateful that I live in a country where I can pursue life, liberty and happiness. I’m grateful that I can pursue my dreams no matter my status or financial beginnings.

I’m grateful for God consistently providing food on my table when I didn’t have two dimes to my name. I’m thankful that I have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep on, though Christ had “no place to lay His head (Luke 9:58).” I’m grateful for Sears Department Store for giving me a part-time job while I pursued my desired and more permanent vocation. I am grateful for a handsome silver-haired Superintendent of Schools for taking a chance on me, when others had not. I am thankful to God for keeping me through the barrage of bomb threats and clandestine but sometimes overt bigotry. I am grateful for a fourth grade student, named Joe who showed me unconditional love, and for three talented third grade boys who boldly discussed Jesus Christ among themselves. I’m grateful for parents that instilled within us love for others no matter the color of their skin, financial status or position.

God has blessed my going out and my coming in, whether in the country or in the city.  I will praise His name and magnify Him with thanksgiving. I am grateful for family and friends. I praise Him for a pastor that teaches the uncompromising truth, which is Jesus Christ. I thank God for His mercy for I have survived rejection, poverty, car crashes, sickness, three surgeries, and a fall from a ladder.

I am grateful that He loves me enough to correct me and refuses to leave me ignorant without understanding. I’m thankful that He freely gives me wisdom and discernment. I am thankful for open doors He created while I rested in Him. I am grateful for praying parents who taught us to seek His face. I’m grateful that He hears and answers prayers. I am thankful that He forgives my sin and loves and has redeemed me.

I could go on and on, but I won’t this time. I will simply say “I will bless the Lord at all times and daily give Him thanks. I will bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits (PSALM 103:2).

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.  Psalm 100:4

That’s Today’s Single Focus

 

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Know When to Wait and When to Go

Filed under: Creatively Speaking, Focus, Have You Thought About?, Hope for a struggling Marriage, Overcoming, Searching For Purpose?, Staying Together, Uncategorized, Winning — 8 Comments
April 16, 2016

by d.j. Martin (SingleFocus Ministry®)

To Wait... To Go by D.J. Martin

‘Waiting’ by D.J. Martin

They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Wait, I say, on the LORD.

That’s one of my favorite scriptures, but there is a dilemma. How do you know when to wait and when to go?

Take Moses and the children of Israel. Moses heard he was called to deliver his people and he proceeded to go and murder an Egyptian (Exodus 2:12). It was not time to go. So, when was the time to go? When he was eighty years old, at least forty years later…Then when he got them to the entrance of the promise land, they decided to wait instead of go. They died waiting.

How in the world do you know when it’s time to wait or time to go?

Look at King Saul. The prophet Samuel told him that he would meet Saul at a specific time to make sacrifice and bless them before they went into battle. So Saul waited, but when the time came, Samuel had not arrived. The people began to get restless, making King Saul anxious. He now had a dilemma: whether he should wait or whether he should go. He made the wrong choice. He didn’t wait on Samuel, and his position as king of Israel became very shaky. It was time to wait, not time to go (1Samuel 13).

The time King David was to go with the army into battle, he thought it was time to wait. His poor choice resulted in adultery, murder and death of a baby boy (2Samuel 11). For him, it was time to go, not time to wait.

And then there was the prodigal son. He couldn’t wait for his inheritance. Things didn’t turn out so well (Luke 15:16). He should have waited.

Solomon tells us, in the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 3, that there’s a time for everything. But he didn’t tell us when… Just how do you know when it’s time to wait and time to go, especially if you are trying to grow your faith in God? ? ?

Four years ago, I decided that it was time to go, but God made it quite clear that it was not the time. I got pressure on every side to go, but God also surrounded me with people who had a word of wisdom. So I changed my mind and waited. I prayed for wisdom while I waited so that I could discern when it was the right time to go. Graciously, He gave me the wisdom and I chose the right time to go.

I think that the time to go or the time to wait is not based on circumstances or time of day, month or year. We at times make poor choices, because we think it is about circumstances and timing, but it must be more than that. It’s about wisdom and discernment. Since God is omnipresent, He can best reveal the wisest time to go or to wait. Thankfully, even though we can’t seem to figure it out and occasionally make the wrong choice, God forgives and re-routes us.

Patience is truly a difficult thing, especially when you don’t know exactly when it’s time to wait or time to go. But as Solomon concluded, the best way to know is to remember our Creator God who righteously judges whether it be good or bad (Ecclesiastes 12). To know when to wait and when to go, seek wisdom from God (James 1:5). I’m a witness that He gives it freely!

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD!” Psalm 27:14 

 

That’s Today’s Single Focus.

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New Year’s Resolve: Day 3!

Filed under: Focus, Searching For Purpose?, Uncategorized — 4 Comments
January 3, 2013

by DJ Martin (SingleFocus Ministry®)

I believe that this is God’s resolve for us. I’ll let Him speak in His ownHappy New Year! Words…

“For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.” Jeremiah 4:22

 “Forget not My law; but let your heart Keep My commandments:”   Proverbs 3:1

For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. “

  1. “Let not mercy and truth leave you;
  2. Write them deep within your heart”   Proverbs 3:3
  3. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And
  4. Lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 3:5
  5. In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct* your paths.” Proverbs 3:6

  1. “Do not be wise in your own eyes;
  2. Fear the LORD and
  3. Depart from evil.” Proverbs 3:7
  4. Do not envy the oppressor, And choose none of his ways; Proverbs 3:31

Keep sound wisdom and discretion: Proverbs 3:21

“For the perverse person is an abomination to the LORD, but His secret counsel is with the upright.” Proverbs 3:32

“The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools.” Proverbs 3:35foolish

“A fool’s talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them.” Proverbs 14:3

“The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.”       Proverbs 1:7

“He that walks with wise [men] shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”  Proverbs 13:20

“Judgments are prepared for scorners and stripes for the back of fools.”  Proverbs 19:29

“The heart of him that hath understanding seeks knowledge: but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.”  Proverbs 15:14

Therefore:

  1. “incline your ear unto wisdom, [and]
  2. apply your heart to understanding” Proverbs 2:2
  3. “Get wisdom!
  4.  Get understanding!
  5. Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of My mouth.”  Proverbs 4:5

“Wisdom [is] the principal thing; [therefore]

  1. get wisdom: and
  2. With all thy getting get understanding.”  Proverbs 4:7
  3. “Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life.” Proverbs 4:13

And:

  1. “Do not enter the path of the wicked, And
  2. Do not walk in the way of evil.”  Proverbs 4:14
  3. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;
  4. teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
  5. Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16
  6. “Walk in wisdom” Colossians 4:5

“Man shall

  1. not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4

“Who [is] a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?

  1. Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” James 3:13

“That we [from now on]

  1. Be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive”  Ephesians 4:14

It seems as if the 21st century ushered in a heavy cloud of cunning men who so heavily crafted their words that foolishness and perversion of the Word of God is believed and espoused by many, even those called by His name. Evil men so cleverly disguise their words that it is difficult to distinguish sound doctrine from foolishness. Let us resolve to hide the word of God in our hearts so that we can discern wisdom from foolishness. Let us get wisdom and understanding. May this New Year give us the resolve to seek wisdom from God with all diligence and strength like we pursue riches. Let us resolve to pursue wisdom and understanding as if it were more precious than gold or diamonds, because it is (Proverbs 8:11)!

May this New Year bring: wisdom and understanding so that we will not be the blunt of the devil’s cruel comedy routine and be counted among the wicked and foolish by God.

In this New Year, let us resolve to experience ever-increasing victory because we lean not to our own understanding; in all our ways we acknowledge God; and fervently read His word aggressively seeking “To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding (Proverbs 1:2).”

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all [men] liberally, and scolded not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5

That’s Todays’ Single Focus…

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New Year’s Resolve: Day 2!

Filed under: Focus, Hope for a struggling Marriage, Searching For Purpose?, Staying Together, Uncategorized — 2 Comments
January 2, 2013

by DJ Martin (SingleFocus Ministry®)

Happy New Year!I believe that this is God’s resolve for us. I’ll let  Him speak in His own Words…

“Why boasts thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God [endures] continually.

Your tongue devises destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, and lying rather than speaking righteousness. You love all-devouring words, you deceitful tongue!

God shall likewise destroy thee forever, He shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of [thy] dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. The righteous also shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, “Look what happens to mighty warriors who do not trust in God. They trust their wealth instead and grow more and more bolder in their wickedness. But I [am] like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise You forever, O God, for what You have done. I will trust in Your good name in the presence of Your faithful people.”  Psalm 52:1-9

  1. Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
  2. And put perverse lips far from you. Proverbs 4:24Liar

The fear of the LORD is to

A. Hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way; And the perverse mouth I hate.Proverbs 8:13

B. Whoever guards his mouth and tongue, Keeps his soul from troubles.Proverbs 21:23

  1. Do not be quick with your mouth,
  2. Do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so
  3. Let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2

“For the leaders of this people cause [them] to err; and [they that are] led of them [are] destroyed.” Isaiah 9:16

“Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks with deceit. With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a snare for him.” Jeremiah 9:8

“Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one [is] a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand [is] stretched out still.” Isaiah 9:17

“Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. ” James 3:10

But He answered and said, “It is written,

  1. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4

“Who [is] a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?

  1. Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. ” James 3:13

“That we [from now on]

  1. Be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Ephesians 4:14
  2. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ: Ephesians 4:15
  3. Put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; Ephesians  4:22
  4. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind; Ephesians  4:23
  5. Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.                        Ephesians 4:24
  6. Wherefore putting away lying,
  7. Speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Ephesians  4:25
  8. Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians  4:27
  9. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: Ephesians  4:31
  10. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. ” Ephesians  4:29

” My mouth shall:

  1. Speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.                  Psalm 145:21
  2. In God we boast all the day long, and praise Thy name for ever. Psalm 44:8
  3. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. Psalm 47:6
  4. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm* of praise. Psalm 47:7
  5. Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of His holiness. Psalm 48:1
  6. For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end. Psalm 48:14
  7. That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  2 Thessalonians 1:11

“I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be
able to contradict or resist.” Luke 21:15

Indeed we have exited an old year and entered a New Year full of lying tongues from ungodly leadership and their followers to godly leadership and members of their churches. As you see in His word, God is not only concerned with deceitful tongues of leaders, but He is concerned about each person, individually. Christ is concerned about what proceeds out of the mouth of the person. This mighty God is a personal God, concerned about what proceeds out of the mouth of the individual and our personal singular growth. Taking His correction is good for our body and soul. May we resolve to take seriously God’s warning about guarding our tongues. We should pray for discernment, because the wicked is cunning and deceiving. Remember the conversation in the Garden of Eden?  The whole earth was served notice that this is the plan of attack: cunning and deceitful words from the devil.  Because of his cleaver words they were deceived and believed a lie.

May we resolve to be careful who we hang out with and whose words we hear or we may not only believe a lie, but we will become disciples of liars and repeat their lies, even to our children.  Test the words of your acquaintances, your leaders and your lips to see how their words measure up to the word of God. May we resolve to: guard our tongues; to not deceive or slander men; and to not diminish their spirit with our words, but rather use our lips to praise God, speak truth, extend grace and encourage others.

Let our conversation be in love and careful not to grieve the spirit, but speak words of truth, which is His word, glorifying and praising God daily!  May this New Year bring to our lives: evidence of Praises to God; ever-increasing appetite for His word; and lordship of Jesus Christ over our tongues.

As we plant seeds of blessings; grace; righteousness and truth with our mouths, may we reap bountifully the same in return (Luke 6:38).

“Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips” Psalm 141:3

That’s Todays’ Single Focus

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