August 29 2025

Friday August 29

“Grace for All Wisdom and Prudence”

Ephesians 1:7-8

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,”

Today I'd love to ask for your prayers again. Early this morning Edith and I'll be driving up to Roanoke, Virginia. This afternoon, I'll be having an echo stress test, checking my heart out again for my doctors there to make sure it is still in good working order. And then on Saturday morning, we'll be driving on up to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where we'll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of New Life Baptist Church, now called New Life Church. It was started by my brother-in-law, Ronnie Riggins, my sister Beverly, and they are also going to be retiring. This will be Ronnie’s last Sunday as Sr. Pastor. So, we're up there to celebrate with them and excited about what God's doing up there in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And so it's going to be a busy next few days. I hope to do some pastor chats. We'll see how that works out.

Today, we want to continue in Ephesians chapter 1. And we're kind of camping out here on verses 7 and 8. We've talked about the blessings that we have from God the Father in the first six verses. Now verse 7-10 we see the blessings we have through God the Son. They both work in harmony together, each of them in their own ministry and work giving us special spiritual blessings that we can enjoy even today and have heaven on earth. In verse seven, we have redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins. Then in verse eight, these blessings are made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

We talked a little bit about this yesterday, but I want to go back to that phrase, “in all wisdom and prudence”. What is wisdom? The wise man Solomon in Proverbs 4, said it this way, "Get wisdom and understanding. Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her and she will preserve you. Love her and she will keep you." Wisdom is the principle thing. Therefore, get wisdom, and with all you're getting, get understanding. And then he gives a blessing along with it. Exalt her, and she'll promote you. She'll bring you to honor when you embrace her. She'll place on your head an ornament of grace and a crown of glory. She will deliver to you.

I love that, “an ornament of grace”. You'd wonder if Paul might have had these verses in mind when he wrote this verse that this redemption and forgiveness of sins is according to the riches of His grace that abounds toward us in all wisdom and prudence. So what is the wisdom of God? Jesus is the manifest wisdom of God. What is God's wisdom as far as you and I are concerned as we look at Scripture, as we look at life? I believe wisdom is being able to see life from God's viewpoint, from God's perspective. And the only way we can do that is see it through the eyes of Jesus Christ.

You want to know how He saw it? Study Jesus in the Gospels. Study all the Scripture. The Scripture reveals to us the mind, the heart, the thoughts of God. And when we study the Scripture, we get wisdom. We hear people say, "Don't criticize a person till you walk a mile in their shoes." And you shouldn't be critical of anyone, anyway. But my friend, the best way to understand a person, and understand what's going on in their lives, is look at their life through the perspective that God has in His word.

See them through the eyes of God in His Word. See them through Christ. “Get wisdom. But with all that getting, get understanding”. And that brings us to the word prudence. “Toward us in all wisdom and prudence”. Remember James said, “If you lack wisdom, ask God. He will give it to you liberally." He doesn't hold back. Ask God and He will give it to you. Why? Because He's the God of wisdom. He knows everything. He knows about everything. He knows the past, the present, the future, all at the same time. Unreal.

He says, "Ask Him. He'll give you that wisdom." But you must be in His Word. You must have His Holy Spirit working in your heart. But then with that wisdom, get understanding or get prudence. The Greek word prudence is about practical wisdom. Basically it means understanding, thoughtful. It means to be rightminded, living out God's will. (We'll talk about that in the next verse). This leads to spiritual maturity, discerning, and living a life in harmony with God's purpose.

And so with that wisdom, get understanding. Know how to apply it to the circumstances and the situation that you're in. And my friend, when you do that, you're on the road to living in harmony with God. And you'll wear a ornament of grace on your countenance as crown of glory. You'll be exalting and glorifying Christ in everything you say and do. What a wonderful way to live. And it's available to you because it abounds through Jesus Christ today for you and me.

God bless!