Josh Kreger

Ephesians 5:15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. When I examine my days I often look at how much time I spent doing absolutely nothing, or at least nothing that is beneficial. Paul is telling us that this shouldn’t be so. Paul says be wise and don’t waste your time because these days are short. We need to live a life that resinizes that there are people dying without Christ every day. And we need to do something about it, not in our own strength, but rather in the strength that comes through His wisdom. We shouldn’t live conformed to the world and foolish, but rather transformed walking in the wisdom of the Lord so that we can know what the will of the Lord is (Rom 12:10). So often I find myself asking what God’s will for my life is in this instance or that one, but what we as Christians need to do is dig into scripture

James1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Wisdom is something that is easy to lack and difficult to have in abundance. This verse however, makes it seem incredibly easy to receive wisdom: all you have to do is ask, right? Yes, but we are also told in James that if we ask a miss without believing then God will not answer our prayers. So, if we have Faith that God will answer our prayer for wisdom then God tells us that He will give it without reproach or in other words without discrimination. Since this is the case why then don’t all the Christians have wisdom? It’s because the Church today lack a very crucial ingredient and that is Faith… I have spent so much time praying for wisdom, but more often than not I was praying without faith in God answering my prayers. But when I ask in faith for wisdom in certain areas of life God has been so faithful to give it so generously! If the church today would re

Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! The reason that wisdom starts when we begin fearing the LORD is because in Him all things are made perfect. Wisdom is knowledge combined with the Spirit of God which gives love. It is one thing to just have lots of knowledge, but not any love and that is by no means wisdom as defined by James 3:13-17. Why you would need to fear God to have wisdom is what’s interesting. The fear of the Lord begins when we start to grasp the height and breathe of God. Not that we will by any means full grasp God and all of His righteousness, but when we look to His goodness it is automatic for us to respond in a healthy fear of Him. Becoming knowledgeable in something is easy, anyone who has determination and a smartphone can do it in virtually any subject. However, to gain wisdom in something take much more passion as well as the fear of the Lord and can only

James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. Wisdom that comes from above… This is something that everyone desires, but few actually have. I am someone who would like to think that I have godly wisdom, but when I compare myself to this verse I start losing faith that I do. For example, there have been countless times when I use my “Wisdom” for my own selfish ambition such as arguing just to make people agree with me. However, when I am walking in the Spirit and asking God for

Mark 10:47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” “Call him” ... to hear these words from Jesus is the most important thing one could hear. Jesus for sure asks this question to all yet unfortunately to many choose to ignore it. Anyone that hears this call and yet chooses not to go to Jesus begins the process of hardening their heart. For this Bild man he probably wouldn't get another chance to come to Jesus (at least while He was walking on the earth) however, today it is very likely that one might hear Jesus say come multiple times in their life. While many might say that they will just wait until they are old then they will answer Jesus’ call, but every time

Luke 8:22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” Often times we as Christians wonder why God brings us through struggles or hardships, at least why we are in them. In this passage, the disciples are so caught up in what was going on at that moment that they forgot to think about both what had just happened and what was going to happen. First off, what had just happened. Jesus had just told His disciples that they

Matthew 8:11 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “ Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith .” First off, I want to focus on the word Israel. Israel was considered to be home and was supposed to be where the people knew the mots about God or even had the most faith. However, this Centurion somehow had more faith then all of Israel… so often in the church I see those who are raised in the church or even by a Pastor and yet their faith is so little if it is even exists. But if someone if brought out of the world and a life of sin into the Church most the time they have much more faith and trust in God. Which shouldn’t make since, but I think that, is so because when people grow up hearing Bible “stories” they forget that they really did happened

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. This verse really hits home for me because at times in my Christian life I have had an incredibly hard time having faith. In the past, lack of faith has been one of my hardest battles as a Christian. It seems so natural for me to just not have faith which makes since especially when you look at Romans 7:18 (NRSV) For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For me, the thing that I will, is to have faith in God, but my flesh is at constant odds with that. Luckily for me Paul also says “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13” in Christ I now have the power to deny my flesh and to walk in the Spirit and therefore to walk in faith. Only when I am in Ch

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Here we have one of the greatest yet simplest definitions of Faith that there is in scripture. We are told that it is the assurance of things hoped for yet at the same time the conviction of things not seen. To truly understand what the Holy Spirit is saying through the author of Hebrews we must break down what the verse says. First off, “Faith” we are told that it is the assurance of things hoped for and so on. But how can one have assurance that they have faith? Luckily for the reader we are told just a couple of verses earlier in Hebrews 10:22 “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”. See if we know that our hearts and our bodies have been sprinkled clean with the Living Water that only Christ provides, then we will have Faith. Now that we know how we receive faith it s