Sunday Devotion: The Desire for Wisdom Leads to a Kingdom

Bible Readings for Sunday, November 6th, 2011
– The Week of The 21st Sunday After Pentecost

*Click on each bible passage to expand the text.

Wisdom 6:12-20

12. Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her.
13. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
14. One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for she will be found sitting at the gate.
15. To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding, and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
16. because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought.
17. The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction, and concern for instruction is love of her,
18. and love of her is the keeping of her laws, and giving heed to her laws is assurance of immortality,
19. and immortality brings one near to God;
20. so the desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

13. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
14. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.
15. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.
16. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.
18. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Matthew 25:1-13

1. “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;
4. but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
5. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.
6. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
7. Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.
8. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9. But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
10. And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.
11. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
12. But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’
13. Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

• Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her. – Wisdom 6:12
• For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. – 1 Thessalonians 4:14
• Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. – Matthew 13:11-13

God is my beloved

I remember when I first fell in love with God.

No it wasn’t in the midst of some glorious revelation, as an angel appeared before my bed in the middle of the night and the God made sweet love to me. No, it was sitting in a recliner, reading Matthew 6:5-14 – you know, the “don’t pray in public” part where Yeshua then teaches The Lord’s Prayer? This simple prayer has become the bedrock of my faith. A private, passionate faith in which my piety is expressed alone with God, and my courtship with Wisdom is quite public.

No visions, no other-wordly visitations, just the printed word, a cup of tea – and me. What I fell in love with was the naked foresight, the undeniable power and simple Wisdom of the Word of God. That is when I was first seduced by Wisdom, and she is an intoxicating lover. I became obsessed with her every detail, every nuance, every shape, every meaning. It has been one of the most rewarding relationships of my entire life.

Wisdom is a talented lover, always teasing, always giving, and always revealing her rewards beyond my wildest dreams. Wisdom is never spent, always willing for intercourse, and never ever leaves me wanting!

The Wisdom of God is my lover, and God is my beloved.

Wisdom 6

17. The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction, and concern for instruction is love of her,
18. and love of her is the keeping of her laws, and giving heed to her laws is assurance of immortality,
19. and immortality brings one near to God;
20. so the desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.

The Kingdom is near, the Bridegroom approaches

Do you see, my beloved brothers and sisters? Do you hear?

My lover offers all of us a kingdom, not a kingdom wrought in the battlefields of war or the fires of hate, but a Kingdom wrought from the enlightened stones of Wisdom, a Kingdom made not with human hands, but is the handiwork of God. The bridegroom approaches, and we must be ready.

By the way, if anyone is confused or uncomfortable with the changes in gender identity of my lover, get over it. It’s a Great Truth if one can see past the applied gender of God… the feminine Wisdom, and the masculine Bridegroom are all aspects of the same divine character…

Matthew 25

1. “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
3. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;
4. but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
5. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.
6. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
7. Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.
8. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9. But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’

Our lamps of Wisdom which we must bear, that flame which enlightens all the Earth,  must burn brightly of their own accord. While you may light your lamp of Wisdom off of my own, I cannot keep your lamp alight! This oil, the intimate knowledge of our Divine Parent, my lover and friend, cannot be yours by association! The oil which fuels our flames of Wisdom, is our own, and it cannot be borrowed.

Therefore my beloved, do not wait until the end to seek out Wisdom. She is waiting faithfully for those that will rise early, before the rest. She will meet you at the gates. She will adore you, she will teach you, and she will love you.

Wisdom 6

12. Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and she is easily discerned by those who love her, and is found by those who seek her.
13. She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
14. One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for she will be found sitting at the gate.
15. To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding, and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
16. because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought.

Open your arms and heart to Wisdom, lose yourself within her sensual embrace, and then you will be ready when the bridegroom comes.

“… so the desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.”