Need for wisdom
In my own life, I find constantly the need to ask for the wisdom of God. For example, as I was invited to consider becoming the pastor of the church I am now serving, I found that I was greatly in need of the wisdom of God. In short, I wanted to do the will of God, but I desperately needed His wisdom in order to recognize His will. I joined with my wife and children in seeking God's wisdom. The church that had invited me to be a pastoral candidate was within thirty minutes of the church I was then serving with a great deal of joy and fulfillment. For several weeks, I sensed the Lord leading me to drive over to the other church in my car and to drive around it while praying for His wisdom and His guidance. I wanted to be single-minded. I wanted to do His will alone.
As you may guess, God answered those prayers in a very marvelous manner. He clearly led us to the new church ministry while releasing us from the former. He supplied wonderfully for someone to replace me and then blessed marvelously in the beginning of our new ministry. In the most practical way, we sought the wisdom of God. And, in His love and generosity, He liberally gave His wisdom to us. And as a result, His blessings have flowed upon all who have been involved. I am convinced that when we ask God for wisdom and commit our way to Him, we have the strength to do the right things. He will direct our paths. He will protect us from the wrong, and guide us to the right (Prov. 3:5–6). He is to be trusted! One of the major areas in which we need the wisdom of God is in relationship to riches. The love of God and the love of money are mutually exclusive. Jesus said that we cannot serve God and money (Matt. 6:24). He also said that it was "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matt. 19:24). However, we must recognize that the inherent evil is not with money, but rather with the "love of money." Paul wrote to Timothy, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Tim. 6:10).
As we might suspect, James meets this potential problem head-on by sharing practical advice both to those who are rich and those who are poor. He recognizes that riches may be a snare not only to the rich but also to the poor who might believe that their human needs could be met if they only had more money. Such a philosophy is in direct contradiction to the teaching of Jesus regarding riches in Matthew 6:19–34. The teaching of Jesus was simply that life's deepest needs can be met only by Him—and that He desires to provide even the practical needs of food, clothing, and shelter. He longs to care for us and to provide for us if we will "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you"
http://vremeadeva.blogspot.com
As you may guess, God answered those prayers in a very marvelous manner. He clearly led us to the new church ministry while releasing us from the former. He supplied wonderfully for someone to replace me and then blessed marvelously in the beginning of our new ministry. In the most practical way, we sought the wisdom of God. And, in His love and generosity, He liberally gave His wisdom to us. And as a result, His blessings have flowed upon all who have been involved. I am convinced that when we ask God for wisdom and commit our way to Him, we have the strength to do the right things. He will direct our paths. He will protect us from the wrong, and guide us to the right (Prov. 3:5–6). He is to be trusted! One of the major areas in which we need the wisdom of God is in relationship to riches. The love of God and the love of money are mutually exclusive. Jesus said that we cannot serve God and money (Matt. 6:24). He also said that it was "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matt. 19:24). However, we must recognize that the inherent evil is not with money, but rather with the "love of money." Paul wrote to Timothy, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Tim. 6:10).
As we might suspect, James meets this potential problem head-on by sharing practical advice both to those who are rich and those who are poor. He recognizes that riches may be a snare not only to the rich but also to the poor who might believe that their human needs could be met if they only had more money. Such a philosophy is in direct contradiction to the teaching of Jesus regarding riches in Matthew 6:19–34. The teaching of Jesus was simply that life's deepest needs can be met only by Him—and that He desires to provide even the practical needs of food, clothing, and shelter. He longs to care for us and to provide for us if we will "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you"
http://vremeadeva.blogspot.com
Source...