Article #11 (www.fatherspiritson.com)

Equipped for Action: Pursuing Wisdom & Discernment

        According to www.dictionary.com wisdom as a noun means: the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment action; sagacity, discernment, or insight. I think quite a few of us may be knowledgeable to some degree, but we do not take it a step further and act wisely with our knowledge. What good is it for us to know everything, if we still act contradictory to what we really know. I truly believe that many of us are more than capable of doing great things according to God's plan, but we lack that little extra push to follow through with our ideas and sometimes even our values.

        Lets first examine briefly what the majority of us are knowledgeable about and go from there. The majority of us know how to differentiate between right and wrong (form of discernment), we know that we should obey God's commandments and study His teachings, we know that we should make an extra effort to attend church for a multitude of reasons, and we know that we should strive to further our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The question is why do many of us put all this perfectly good and vital knowledge aside and seek instead our own selfish desires and interests? Why do we constantly fail to look at the big picture and instead of submitting to God's will, continually fall into sinful traps and find ourselves asking for forgiveness over and over again?

        Certainly I am not telling you that by submitting to God's will we become immune to sin, but there is quite a big difference between habitual sin and an isolated sinful action. I believe we need to take hold of the gifts and talents God has blessed each of us with and put them into good use. It is a shame to have tons of knowledge and for some reason or another fail to apply that knowledge in a practical manner. We need to work on converting this knowledge that many of us possess into wisdom. We need to take the time to take action steps towards everyday improvement in the various areas of our lives that we struggle with.

        It is my prayer that God will equip me with His supernatural and unmerited favor, full armor, and wisdom/discernment to follow His lead. I know that this is all asking for a lot from God, but I trust that He blesses me with all of these things and more because He knows that I want nothing more than to submit to His greater plan. How can I ever assume that my ideas, my goals, and my interests are superior to God's will? I simply cannot. We need to remember that He is perfect and sees the big picture better than any of us ever will. He also happens to have our best interests at heart and wants us all to prosper and grow in maturity and faith.

        I know what some of you are thinking. "Victor, you have no idea what kind of obstacles I am facing in life right now, how much I have done wrong in the eyes of God, and how foolish I have been in the past." The truth is God doesn't focus in on all of our faults. He knows that we are all works in progress and that we all have room to improve. The questions that remain are these:
- Will you continue to submit to your own selfish/sinful desires and interests or do you prefer to obey God?
- Are you putting in your best effort each day to improve according to God's plan?
- Do you ask God for the wisdom and discernment necessary to execute His will on a daily basis?

        Hopefully if you haven't answered "Yes" to these questions yet you will prayerfully consider doing so and living a life worthy of praise. Maybe this is the wake up call that you needed. Do not ignore it when God tugs on your heart and urges you to make a decision for Him.

        Surely God is merciful and loves us unconditionally. We need to remember that God loves justice and that He can see beyond our apparent sin and into our hearts. We do not need to worry about being treated unfairly or being wronged here on this Earth. God takes into account all of these injustices and compensates us accordingly. Whether it be in this life or in heaven, I guarantee you God will make up for the times that you've been wronged.

        My prayer is that God blesses you all with the wisdom, discernment, and supernatural blessings necessary to follow His will. I am certain that if you sincerely ask Him for these blessings, not for selfish reasons, but for furthering His kingdom. Also remember that it will not always be easy and we need to be resilient through Jesus Christ to resist temptation and fight the good fight of faith overall!

Thank you for reading my article, as always.

Sincerely,

Victor Nunez