Hi, I’m Howie Campbell, and this is a Wisdom and Truth Minute.
Hello, my friend. How’s it going? Are you having a good day? I sure hope so. What’s that you say? You’ve got bills, you’ve got struggles, you’ve got turmoil in your life? You say it seems like the world is going crazy around you and it’s only getting worse? The apostle Paul lived at a time when it was extremely dangerous to be a Christ-follower. The people of Jesus were being hunted down and imprisoned, or killed. Paul had to be very concerned, but listen to what he wrote to the friends in Thesslonica, [chapter 5] verses 16 -18, “Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Hi, I’m Howie Campbell, and this is a Wisdom and Truth Minute.
Some things in life you just can’t change. You may want to, but you don’t have that ability. No matter how many clouds, the sun still rises in the morning. You can’t change that. You can’t change the number of elements in water; it’s always two hydrogen to one oxygen. You can’t change your past, or your parents, or your birthdate. You can’t change who your siblings are, even though you may want to.
Imagine that: you can allow hatred and hard feelings to make you want to exclude from your life those who should be closest to you. Don’t do it, friend. In Romans 12:18, Paul writes, “If it be possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men.” That includes family, my friend.
Hi, I’m Howie Campbell, and this is a Wisdom and Truth Minute.
“O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come; our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.” Isaac Watts penned these great lyrics in the 1700’s, and they are just as powerful today as they were then. They contain eternal truth.
So does this verse from Isaiah 64 that Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 2:9: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.” Do you love God, my friend? Is living for Jesus your desire and goal? Let me assure you, God has amazing things prepared for you – you can’t even imagine.
Hi, I’m Howie Campbell, and this is a Wisdom and Truth Minute.
“O beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. America, America, God shed his grace on thee!”
We need God to shed his grace on us, don’t we? Grace is defined as “the divine influence upon the heart.” Many things influence our hearts today. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked – who can know it?” That’s why we need a spiritual heart transplant. When we are born from above, God’s grace can influence us for good. As Paul writes in Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present world.”
Hi, I’m Howie Campbell, and this is a Wisdom and Truth Minute.
From my current vantage point, my life is split into two major divisions: half before Christ, half with Christ. Most of what I learned the first half, I processed and responded to with my material mind. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” That’s why Jesus said in John 3, “You must be born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit, is spirit.”
This past half of my life, I process and respond to things with my spiritually-alive mind. How about you, my friend? Have you been born again?
Hi, I’m Howie Campbell, and this is a Wisdom and Truth Minute.
Today, I thought we could use some encouragement from the apostle Paul. This is from his letter to the Philippians, chapter 4:8. I pray this strengthens you. “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Hi, I’m Howie Campbell, and this is a Wisdom and Truth Minute.
I had the opportunity recently to travel to a very special place. It was a wonderfully creative place. While there, I wrote three songs, two of them were about Hawaii, but the very first song I wrote for the Lord. Pondering the trip and the creativity, I realized always and in everything, I like to put God first.
In Colossians 1:18, Paul writes, “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Dear friend, put God first in all you do and see what happens. In all things, let Jesus be first and your life will be amazing.
Hi, I’m Howie Campbell, and this is a Wisdom and Truth Minute.
God answers prayer. Yes, He does! I’m not saying He caters to our every whim, but He does care about us, and wants us to pray to Him. Some have laid out a formula for prayer, in order to get results, but I think it’s more organic than that. We pray fervently, with a sincere heart, according to God’s will, and He chooses when and how to answer. We all have needs. Some of these are beyond our ability to handle. That’s why Paul said, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.”