Category: Wisdom

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The Seven Spirits of God

2     “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3     And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4     but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth…”  (Isaiah 11: 2-4)

God the Father poured out His Spirit in full measure upon His Son.  In turn, Christ passed along these manifestations of God’s Spirit to His followers.  If you were counting, there are seven independent manifestations of God’s Spirit:

  • The Spirit of the Lord
  • The Spirit of Wisdom
  • The Spirit of Understanding
  • The Spirit of Counsel
  • The Spirit of Might
  • The Spirit of Knowledge
  • The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord

 

Jesus received the Spirit in full.  When God fills us with His Spirit, we accept all of His Spirit, and yet few of us can manifest more than a couple of them.  God wants us to have all of them, and they belong to all of us, but sometimes we stand in the way of the Spirit within us.

The reason that Charlie Kirk was such a great man is that he manifested so many of those Spirits in his life.  It is no wonder that we looked up to him—his love for God, his love for his family, and his love for Country.  Charlie manifested the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

So? What are these Spirits?

  • The Spirit of the Lord gives us boldness because it is when we are inspired by the Spirit of the Lord. Some think that the Spirit of the Lord is “a still, small voice.” Because that is how they know Him.  But, He’s the Spirit of boldness. This Spirit brings authority and power.
  • The Spirit of Wisdom gives us knowledge that is beyond ourselves. Wisdom is a force providing divine insight into the plans and purposes of God.  It is understanding spiritual realities. It gives us the ability to see what is missing and helps us make good judgments.
  • The Spirit of Understanding goes hand in hand with Wisdom because Understanding gives us the ability to comprehend what the Spirit of Wisdom has revealed to us. It allows us to see from God’s perspective.  Revelation, or understanding, means to bring light to hidden things.  This understanding brings forth prophets (small “p”).
  • The Spirit of Counsel is simply God’s advice for a plan of action, showing us what to do by providing us with continual guidance, keeping us on the right path.
  • The Spirit of Might gives us boldness to turn the Spirit of Counsel outward. It gives you the courage to do what God calls you to do with overpowering and extraordinary power.
  • The Spirit of Knowledge shares with us information that is beyond our ability to comprehend. It is as if God has given us a library card to His library.  It gives us access to information that makes fools out of the intellectuals of our generation.  It provides the kind of knowledge that you want to act upon.  It is the knowledge that brings awareness.  More importantly, it brings us the will of God.
  • The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord brings us reverence. It keeps us from becoming casual before God.  We are constantly reminded in the Bible that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When the Spirit of reverence enters a place, things change.  Yield yourself to this Spirit so that you can walk in reverence and humility.

 

Understanding the Seven Spirits of God gives you a better understanding of walking in the fullness of God.

Charlie, thank you for being an example for the rest of us.

Logos Bible Study Software

 

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Property Rights

One of the problems that we face in our self-righteous world is making moral decisions that exceed the confines of the law.  Recently, a veterinarian was convicted of theft in Michigan for refusing to return a dog to a homeless man.  The veterinarian felt that the local animal welfare organizations would not do proper justice in investigating the welfare of the dog.  She further went on to exclaim that it was her ethical duty as a veterinarian to take the dog, and besides, the dog wasn’t licensed.  Okay, that was pretty lame.

The veterinarian’s “act of kindness” backfired when a Grand Rapids jury convicted the veterinarian of theft.  Her defense attorney spoke to the Associated Press that, “What is right and what is legal are not always the same thing.”  If she gets any jail time, she will get an opportunity to review her actions and determine if “being right” was worth it.

Animals are considered personal property.  By law, only animal control organizations have the authority to take legal possession of a person’s pet, following a practice of exercising due process.

In a perfect world, the court could order the veterinarian to return the dog.  But, it turns out for whatever reason, this “humane act” resulted in the euthanasia of the dog.  This kind of weakens the resolve that the veterinarian was actually performing an act of kindness.  We are all left wondering if the dog was better off with the involvement of the veterinarian.

The feelings that you have about this should feel oddly familiar; we experience this every day.  We have front row seats to some of the worst pet owners in our communities.  Yet the property status of a pet is no different than a person owning a car.  And yet, if you are doing your job right, you can prove to your community that there is a difference:  you are much less likely to go to jail for mistreating your car.  The veterinarian should have trusted her local animal welfare professionals.

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Police Officer Shoots Dog

I have spent a career working with Police Officers and dogs.  Police Officers tend to overreact to dogs acting aggressively.  Police Officers seem to have some notion of self-preservation.  Unlike Animal Control Officers, Police Officers don’t get a lot of practice in being attacked by dogs.  As such, they perceive a doggy threat much higher than an Animal Control Officer would.

Police Officers work with a continuum of threat assessment, but that assessment protocol doesn’t work well with animals.  In a perfect world, an officer might first consider a nonlethal means of handling dogs.  They have little or no experience in testing pepper spray or a taser on dogs, so it makes sense that their gun might be the first tool they grab.  They know, from experience, that their gun is an effective tool.

In that same perfect world, dog owners would be smart enough to reel their dog in (or even place it on a leash) when an officer approaches.  Dogs die because officers don’t want to be bitten.  Dogs die due to stupid owners.

If I were to make the world a better place, I would let the officer take a small bite and then sue the owner for a million dollars.  The dog would live, and the officer could take a nice fishing trip.  And, who knows, maybe the owner learns something in the process.  I know, that’s a long shot.

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DEI in Animal Shelters

Animal Shelters were practicing DEI far longer than it being accepted in business. If you look at the position statements of most national animal welfare organizations, you’ll find a statement of breeds. These statements began to materialize when communities were banning breeds that posed a risk to public safety.

We began to see statements claiming that “There are no bad dogs.” Or, “All breeds are the same.” I cannot help but feel that the people who wrote these position statements never worked in the business of animal control. Not all dogs are bad, but the ones that are can inflict varying amounts of injury. Some breeds, although aggressive by nature, can only inflict minimal injury. Some breeds have the propensity to inflict larger amounts of injury or even death. It is this last group of animals that communities wanted to ban.

Breed bans began with pitbulls because that is the breed that has always attracted the worst owners. It is tragic that you have to ban a breed based on who owns the breed but “it is what it is.” The early pitbull owners were attempting to breed their dogs for aggression and many of those deleterious genes remain in the pitbull’s gene pool.

Due to reputation, pitbulls began to accumulate in animal shelters and quickly overwhelmed the shelters. It was not uncommon to see pitbulls making up over 70% of the dogs in shelters. It became difficult to place pitbulls and shelters felt that the only way to get a pitbull adopted is to lie about the dog. It problem became so great in Virginia that laws had to be created to insure that animal shelters were not misrepresenting their dogs. No longer could an animal shelter lie about the aggressive behaviors that previous owners experienced with the dogs that they had surrendered.

The battle over adoptions and public safety became a war zone. While working in Virginia, I ended my career by deciding public safety was more important than adoption numbers. When dogs (pitbulls) became aggressive towards staff, the best (only) solution was to end the dog’s life. Keeping the public safe was more important that keeping your adoption numbers up. If you are going to lose your job, do it protecting your own species.

Before the laws were created in Virginia, a prospective dog owner would be safer getting a dog from a newspaper ad that getting the dog from an animal shelter. The ad would allow the prospective owner to have a sit down with the previous owner to get a first-hand account of the dog’s behavior.

I’d like to report that animal shelters are honest when dealing with prospective pet owners. The problem is that pitbulls still make up the greatest percentage of dogs in our shelters and philosophies have changed to eliminate euthanasia. The longer that a pet remains in an animal shelter the greater the chances that a dog will become aggressive. If euthanasia isn’t an option, then lying to prospective pet owners may be the only option that animal shelter staff have in moving the dog out of their shelter.  Keep in mind that their statistics are often more important than your safety.

I have preached over and over about integrity, but lying about a dog’s previous behavior is where animal shelters first begin to strip away their integrity. Once the first layer of integrity is removed, the remaining ones are easier to strip away. As such, if someone is thinking of adopting an animal from an animal shelter, it might be a good idea to take along an animal control officer before committing to a particular animal.  If one isn’t available, ask to see the intake paperwork (anything that might have been offered by the previous owner).

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Woke Rebellion

If the Sydney Sweeney affair taught us anything, it is that she has great jeans and that the Woke have bad genes.  It is unclear if American Eagle was preaching anti-wokeism, but if “go woke, go broke” has any say, their stock shot up.

In response to the Wokes’ outrage, “normal people” are rushing to American Eagle to buy jeans.  If it isn’t clear to the Woke, our message is that we are done with your crap.  We have stopped listening to those who pull the race or natzi cards because we don’t recognize you in our gene pool.  Wokeness is a genetic disorder, and that is how we see you.

So why is Ms. Sweeney such a big deal?  For the past several years, we have had advertisers using people whose gender we can’t discern.  All of a sudden we witness a real woman, in all of her glory, selling jeans.  We are holding onto hope that the world might, in some way, return to normal.  It doesn’t hurt the conservatives when everyone realizes that conservative women don’t look like freaks. They are just as God created them.

It just comes down to realizing that there is no superior race; just a bunch of inferior people that make the rest of us look superior.  We are all equal at birth, and then we begin cultivating our good and bad genes.  Woke riots exhibit our worst genes.  Those who want to burn down their cities are, quite honestly, inferior people.  Those people come in all colors.

We have all expressed inferior behaviors in our lives.  God calls that sin.  He has provided a way out: confess your sins, believe in Christ, and walk anew.  You can have a new life.  Call on Him.

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To the Rescue.

I read a post this morning that people wake up in the mornings, gender confused, not knowing if they are male or female. I have to admit that I, too, have awakened and found myself feeling off. After years of being inside my body, I have recognized this feeling as a need for coffee. It has always worked for me.

There is a large segment of society that finds that coffee doesn’t help and may worsen their gender fluidity. For the first time in our profession, those of us in animal welfare can put down our ketch-poles and help society in a new way. The world needs us, and our years of experience in sexing animals will be critical in helping society.

People say that gender identity is complicated. It isn’t; just look under the hood. If you wake up in the morning feeling confused, just look under the hood. If you were born with a penis, you are a male. It is just that simple.  Even if you wish it away, you just end up being a man without a penis… I guess that’s where the problem lies.  If you have body parts added or removed at some point, morning confusion may occur.

One day, people will look back upon this time in our history and wonder if solar flares were adversely affecting the electric impulses in our brains that made us think that a person with a penis could ever be a woman. If you cannot define what a woman is, my advice to you is to stay out of the sun.

Besides being backed by the Bible, I think of young girls forced to shower with foux girls is a crime.  Women should be able to pick the time they experience penises and not have them forced upon them.  But, for some odd reason, the Woke seem to think the desire to dangle your penis in a woman’s shower exceeds the rights of the women to be free from such sexual harassment.

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What’s With Israel?

If you ever bothered to read your Bible, you’d see that the Jews are God’s people. It shows you how much love God can have for such a rebellious lot. They don’t even believe in His Son, Jesus! If His love is so great for these people, we can be secure in His love for the rest of us. So it comes down to this: you are either on God’s side, or you are on the wrong side. You will not like being on the wrong side of God on Judgment Day.

So, if you are a part of the world that wants to destroy Israel, you are going to Hell. Yes, literally! If you don’t believe in Hell, you’ll get a chance to change your mind when you get off the bus. God is not going to allow His people to be destroyed. The sooner that these world groups understand that, the better their survival will be.

The reason that the United States side with Israel is that, for the most part, we are a Christian Nation. We’ve read our Bibles. Although we are not mentioned in the Bible, we know that it clearly says that those who help the Jews will be rewarded. Those who oppose the Jews will find a bus ticket waiting for them. Look, I don’t make up the rules, and far be it from me to argue with God. He has always watched over me, and I understand Him watching over the rest of His people.

Israel has been fighting a land grab by their neighbors. God goes back a long way… from the beginning of time. Early on, God promised the Jews land. Lots and lots of land. Israel has not demanded that those nations get off their “God Given Land.” They just want to be left alone. Of course, that isn’t going to happen, and those folks are going to continue attacking Israel. Eventually, they will bring on Armageddon. You’ve seen the movies; it isn’t pretty. For years, we have tried to figure out Bible prophecy; each year it becomes clearer.

There is only one hope, one way, one truth, and damn it isn’t difficult. Get on the right team!

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How Our Intelligence Affects Who We Are

We are experiencing a time in our history in which our great intelligence is making us stupid. God has witnessed this many times with His creation, and the Bible repeatedly reminds us that the wisdom of man is foolishness to God. We see this playing out every day in our society.

A large segment of our society has gotten so intelligent that their politicians are too smart for their constituents, too smart for the Constitution, and too smart for God. This is causing a constitutional crisis.

These “smart people” are demanding that judicial immunity be extended to allow judges to break the law and obstruct the Office of our President. They have become so smart that they prefer to protect criminal migrants over their constituents.

These are the same intelligent ones who claim there are an unlimited number of genders. When even lower lifeforms seem to know better.  Let’s put it bluntly: if you think that it is fair for men to play in women’s sports, you must have a brain aneurysm larger than your brain.

Recently, one of them told me that voting for Trump would cause a Christian to lose his salvation. This guy says he’s a devout atheist, so he isn’t someone I would take spiritual advice from. So? How do we explain this neural malfunction? Over-vaccination for COVID? Solar flares? Satan? Or, have they lost their fear of God?

Do not allow your great intelligence to make you stupid.

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Speak your Truth

A new trend has emerged, advising people to “speak their truth.” It seems that the truth is all about perspective and not about actual truth. Silly me, I always thought that truth was up there next to wisdom; but, wisdom is based on fearing God. Truth now seems based on how someone sees something, whether it is true or not.

You can say that someone who has a penis is a woman. For many, they think that is the truth. To the rest of us who understand physiology, see that as lacking wisdom. So, if your truth lacks wisdom, then it is false. We live in a time in which we are seeing so much false truth. Because we lack wisdom, we cannot discern whether “our truth” is actually truth.

Worse yet, we are introducing this false truth into our schools. It is no wonder that college students are graduating dumber than when they started. Unless the curriculum is grounded in wisdom, it stands a good chance of being false. Truth has to pass the litmus test of being wise. God has to be the basis of our truth. When we turn over our truth to idiot professors, we are likely to be wrong.

So much of our truth arises from our sin. The more that we can drag others into our sin, our sin becomes their truth. Many want to teach their sin to school children and display their sin in parades. The rest of us show our lack of wisdom for looking the other way. I have committed plenty of acts of sinning against God, I am not proud of that sin, and I don’t parade it around, and I certainly don’t suggest that children be taught to accept my sin. Why? Because I have enough wisdom to realize that doing that would just be stupid.