When Jesus overcame the reptilian temptations in the desert, He did so with a precise and powerful unleashing of Scripture. Where Adam failed in every conceivable way in perfect paradise, Jesus rose victorious in the most inhospitable environments imaginable.  Though Jesus had the ability to turn the stones into bread and satisfy the natural hunger of His humanity, He refused the invitation to such a meal.  Adam chose fruit and was spiritually consumed in death. The Second Adam chose bread and was sustained in life. I suppose you really are what you eat after all.

Every hellish blow that was …

Solomon said, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14). In his wisdom and experience, the king understood the importance of receiving good instruction.  Much of what Solomon penned down in the Proverbs was an admonition to look for clear insight, righteous counsel, and godly advice.  However, the kind of people you seek advice from is just as important as the actual pursuit of wisdom itself.  Just because someone is willing to offer you their advice doesn’t mean it is a wise thing to take it. That is why the …

Trials create a deep and profound need for wisdom.  Whatever adverse circumstance you face, there is, more than likely, a desire for answers, a need for direction, a longing for resolution.  Have you ever met someone going through a difficult season only to say things like, “I just don’t know what I am going to do” or “I need some answers?” Such perplexity is not foreign to adversity.  Mel Lawrenz said, “No day should pass without asking God for wisdom.  To look for wisdom only sometimes is to risk foolishness most times.” To “risk foolishness” by not seeking wisdom …

“Fiery trials,” said Spurgeon, “make golden Christians.”  Perhaps this is what Job had in mind when he pronounced, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).  Fire authenticates, it refines, it makes palatable. It produces a better product. The fire of faith is not the most hospitable of circumstances to endure, but I assure you, like the three Hebrew boys, you are always better off for having gone through it.

Consider what James said about this truth in his epistle, “Knowing this, that the trying of …