Gems of Wisdom

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: 

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

This is the first and greatest commandment.

And the second is like it:

‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

——

Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise;
    apply your heart to what I teach,
for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart
    and have all of them ready on your lips.
So that your trust may be in the Lord,
    I teach you today, even you. (Prov 22:17-19)

——

If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. (Prov. 9:12)

——

The Lord detests men of perverse heart but

He delights in those whose ways are blameless. (Prov 11:20)

——

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:

to look after orphans and widows in their distress and

to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

——

This is love for God: to keep His commands. (1 John 5:3)

——

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Whoever has the Son has life;

whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12)

——

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,

and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. (1 John 5:1)

——

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will

worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind the Father seeks.

God is spirit and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23).

——

“I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges Me before others,

the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.

But whoever disowns Me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8-9)

——

How would you live today if you knew you would die tomorrow?

——

As long as you desire anything in the world more than God,

you cannot attain true understanding of God.

——

Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (John 2:15-17)

——

In the absence of spiritual practice and spiritual living, it is clear than one’s desire is not for the Beloved Heavenly Father, but rather that one’s desire is for the world and the things of the world. Surely this is ignorance, for everyone knows that this world and everything in it will pass away.  Knowing this, one must inquire what is most valuable.

——

Learn to appreciate life because life is precious, whether in a person, animal or anything in creation.

Everything in creation is alive to the one who is spiritually sensitive and awake.

——

All who are merciful to their fellow creatures are accorded mercy by Heaven.

——

Be merciful to the poor and the needy and let the poor be as members of your household.

——

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered. (Prov 21:13)

——

Do whatever you can to help others in their distress and

you will not think so much about your own misery.

——

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.

For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,

cannot love God, whom they have not seen. (1 John 4:20)

——

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and

whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as

the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and

to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mat 20:26-28)

——

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life,

by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. (Jas 3:13)

——

All calamities come to the world because of transgression.

——

Because of perversion of judgment, abuse of judgment and abolishing of Bible learning, war, plague, drought and great plunder come.  In truth, those who cause these calamities are cruel to themselves, to their children, and to the people of their generation; but the righteous are merciful to themselves, to their children and to their generation.

——

Take responsibility for your own actions and you will not be quick to judge another.

——

One must not be slack in conquering the evil inclination every day.

——

The battle of Armageddon is ongoing as this internal conflict is within you.

If there is to be victory for Christ,

you must act as a spiritual warrior and master the great beast within yourself.

——

Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity. (Prov 21:23)

——

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.

They are in conflict with each other. (Gal 5:17)

——

Then He (Jesus) said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;

life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

——

My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
If they say, “Come with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the pit;
We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives. (Prov 1:10-18)

——

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov 1:7)

——

There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord. (Prov 21:30)

——

“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him Who, after your body has been killed,

has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him.” (Luke 12:4-5)

——

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord. (Prov 21:31)

——

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands.

Seek righteousness, seek humility;

perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zep 2:3)

——

The one who keeps himself from anger acquires the trait of humility and of mercy.

——

Humility is the key to the Kingdom of Heaven.

——

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. (Prov 11:2)

——

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with

compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Col 3:12)

——

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5)

——

Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. (Prov 21:21)

——

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. (Phl 2:3)

——

Admit your mistakes to others and yourself. Be honest with yourself and others.

——

Time is priceless because you cannot get it back and you do not know

if you will have it again tomorrow. Do not waste time on worthless things.

——

Don’t spend major time on minor things.

——

Strive for excellence in everything you do!  By doing this you will reach your highest potential.

——

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.

Discipline is the foundation upon which all success is built.

——

Success is a few simple disciplines practiced every day.

——

Like a train track, your habits will take you to your destination, whether good or bad.

Such is the power of habit.  Create good habits so you can have good results.

——

To succeed you have to intentionally create good habits that

align with the goal that you are trying to achieve.

——

For every disciplined effort there is a multiple reward.

——

You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around?  What are they doing to me?

What do they have me reading? What do they have me saying? Where do they have me going?

What do they have me thinking?… and most importantly, Who do they have me becoming?

Then ask yourself: Is that okay?  Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.

——

In order for your life to produce good fruit, it must be planted in the right atmosphere.

——

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Therefore by their fruits you will know them. (Mat 7:16-20)

——

Your tomorrow is made out of today.  What are you doing today?

——

There is no such thing as success without hard work.  Determine never to be idle.

——

In order to repair your character, remember this:

Your thoughts determine your feelings,

your feelings determine your actions and

your actions determine your character.

——

Your Beliefs become your Thoughts

Your Thoughts become your Words

Your Words become your Actions

Your Actions become your Habits

Your Habits become your Values

Your Values become your Destiny

——

How you think, so you become.

——

You must be wise and careful with what you think about because everything starts with thought.

——

You decide what goes into your mental factory.  Don’t let anyone else put things there that you don’t want because you have to live with the results.  To cultivate peace you need to shut out the negativity and violence of the world.  Refuse to listen to negativity.  Refuse to watch violence.  Refuse the refuse of the world and cultivate the kingdom of purity, loveliness and peace within your being.

——

Every day STAND GUARD AT THE DOOR OF YOUR MIND!

——

Brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Phil 4:8)

——

What we think determines who we are.  Who we are determines what we do.

——

Your thoughts are the seed. If you don’t like the crop you are reaping,

you need to change the seed you are sowing!

——

In order to achieve that which is good you need to sow the ‘seed‘ of good thinking.

——

A man is what he makes of himself.  This is why self-development is so important.

You are exactly what you have spent developing into.

——

For things to change in your life, you must change.

——

If you want to change the world, change yourself!

——

Asking is the beginning of receiving.  Make sure you don’t go to the ocean with a teaspoon.

——

Show that you are serious student of life by building your own library so that by learning,

you can nourish your mind and not just your body.

——

Be eager to learn at all times.

Learn from people.  Learn from books.  Learn from life.  The wise watch and learn each day.

——

Happiness is not contained in what you get;

Happiness is contained in what you become.

——

Helen Keller became deaf, dumb and blind shortly after birth.  Despite her great misfortune, her name is written indelibly in the pages of the history of the great. Her entire life served as evidence that no one is defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.

——

Beethoven was deaf, Milton was blind, but their names will last as long as time endures because they dreamed and translated their dreams into organized thought and action.

——

Our only limitations are those we set up in our own minds.

——

Desire backed by faith knows no such word as impossible.

——

Read the Bible every day.

It is the word of the Living God and rich in the wisdom that one needs for every area of one’s life.

——

Pray every day.

By praying sincerely from your heart you sow the seed of peace and harmony in your life.

Pray for yourself. Pray for your family. Pray for your friends. Pray for your nation and pray for the world.

You can change the world for the better one day at a time by your faithfulness to prayer.

——

God is high and exalted, great and revered.

He brings low the arrogant and raises up the lowly.

He frees the captives and delivers the afflicted.

He helps the poor and answers His people whenever they cry to Him.

——