109 Psalm 131 Knowledge Mishandled
JMD Devotional 109 Psalm 131 Knowledge Mishandled
LORD, MY heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in matters too great or in things too wonderful for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me [ceased from fretting]. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever.
Mankind has always tried to improve upon his nature. In our age, plastic surgery is the most radical attempt to make the body more pleasing. There are poor souls with legitimate needs, a clef palate, for instance, that inhibits that individual from functioning well in society. Hollywood Celebrities are at the other end of the spectrum, where after a point a vanity that can never be satisfied controls the person. I do think that God permits us significant latitude in the mechanics of self-improvement; the longest, time-honored focus has been more on our minds and skills through the pursuit of knowledge, training and practice. Anything taken too far or in exclusion to other Godly principles can turn bad. So when is enough enough? How can we tell when we have gone too far? How can we avoid the trap of pride?
1 Corinthians 8:1 (NIV) Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.
Ken Ham, when speaking on Creation Research, put a perspective on our pursuit of knowledge that I'll try to relate. 'No matter how much you know, you don't know what you don't know. So no matter how much you know, you don't know how much there is to be known. So no matter how much you know, you don't know very much of anything.' What he was referring to is the inflation of ignorance; we find that the more we learn the more complex our universe becomes; the greater the questions, the broader the frontiers; in essence, the more we learn the greater potential ignorance we acquire.
The key is that knowledge must be tempered with humility; and should never be used to put another person down or to make them feel small. Being 'right' (as far as one's command of the facts) is far less important than expressing love toward God and others. God distributes knowledge, and we each know in part, but only God knows it all. We loose out if we are unwilling to learn from the retched, poor and uneducated, even children.
Dear God,
Sometimes I am dangerous with 'facts'; I am so anxious to 'make a point' that I have trampled the flower garden of my loved one's self-esteem. Please forgive my impatient demeanor, my failing to see that a whole lot more is going on when I am conversing with another person. Help me to 'shut up' when another is trying to share with me; to not rush to fix their problem, but to listen and validate them, being a true friend. Make me more emotionally aware, more loving and sensitive to the souls I engage, like my Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
My Poetry
http://saintjamespoetry.blog.com/
(Some) of my Devotionals
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
LORD, MY heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in matters too great or in things too wonderful for me. Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me [ceased from fretting]. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forever.
Mankind has always tried to improve upon his nature. In our age, plastic surgery is the most radical attempt to make the body more pleasing. There are poor souls with legitimate needs, a clef palate, for instance, that inhibits that individual from functioning well in society. Hollywood Celebrities are at the other end of the spectrum, where after a point a vanity that can never be satisfied controls the person. I do think that God permits us significant latitude in the mechanics of self-improvement; the longest, time-honored focus has been more on our minds and skills through the pursuit of knowledge, training and practice. Anything taken too far or in exclusion to other Godly principles can turn bad. So when is enough enough? How can we tell when we have gone too far? How can we avoid the trap of pride?
1 Corinthians 8:1 (NIV) Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.
Ken Ham, when speaking on Creation Research, put a perspective on our pursuit of knowledge that I'll try to relate. 'No matter how much you know, you don't know what you don't know. So no matter how much you know, you don't know how much there is to be known. So no matter how much you know, you don't know very much of anything.' What he was referring to is the inflation of ignorance; we find that the more we learn the more complex our universe becomes; the greater the questions, the broader the frontiers; in essence, the more we learn the greater potential ignorance we acquire.
The key is that knowledge must be tempered with humility; and should never be used to put another person down or to make them feel small. Being 'right' (as far as one's command of the facts) is far less important than expressing love toward God and others. God distributes knowledge, and we each know in part, but only God knows it all. We loose out if we are unwilling to learn from the retched, poor and uneducated, even children.
Dear God,
Sometimes I am dangerous with 'facts'; I am so anxious to 'make a point' that I have trampled the flower garden of my loved one's self-esteem. Please forgive my impatient demeanor, my failing to see that a whole lot more is going on when I am conversing with another person. Help me to 'shut up' when another is trying to share with me; to not rush to fix their problem, but to listen and validate them, being a true friend. Make me more emotionally aware, more loving and sensitive to the souls I engage, like my Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
My Poetry
http://saintjamespoetry.blog.com/
(Some) of my Devotionals
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 6:39 PM
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