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Shalom SOULjourners! This week we're in week four of Lent. Have you tuned in to the podcast series and downloaded the Lenten Devotional?
Lend yourself to lean into this week's Lent theme: wisdom.
We are the halfway point of a meditation series for the 40-days of Lent through the last day of Passover/The Feast of Unleavened Bread. Follow along and align your soul.
This week, there will not be a podcast episode. I’ll be back next week after we have settled into our new home. Speaking of home...
How are you welcoming wisdom into the home of your life?
What is your relationship with her this Lenten season?
Are you pursuing her?
Do you sense her pursuit of you?
Throughout March, I’m not solely leaning into this Lenten season; I also chose to lean into National Women’s History Month.
It's when I make space and pause to consider my womanhood and the women dear to me who have shaped it and who are still giving contour to it.
Last week, due to Purim, I felt it fitting to behold the face of Esther’s (Hadassah) womanhood on the podcast.
It was beautiful how Purim aligned with our ‘we’ theme in the third week of our Lenten meditation. Now let's behold the face of another feminine created expression of the Divine, before National Women’s History Month comes to a close.
Her name is wisdom.
BLESS - Wisdom
Bless the dwelling place of wisdom in your life. She earnestly desires that we make our home with her in Jesus and pursue her. She delights to earnestly attend to us. There are so many noteworthy layers of her being, so many dimensions of her identity. And so it is with our femininity.
Here’s what I know, women (as well as men) are comprehensive image bearers, we reflect the composite of the image of God. We cannot and should not reduce our multi-faceted identities into something one-dimensional.
Listen to Proverbs 8:22-31 and bless wisdom. Imagine her as she describes her joy and child-like wonder. Notice how she draws you into her fascinating autobiography...
"I, wisdom, was with the Lord when He began His work, long before He made anything else. I was created in the very beginning, even before the world began. I was born before there were oceans, or springs overflowing with water, before the hills were there, before the mountains were put in place. God had not made the earth or fields, not even the first dust of the earth.
I was there when God put the skies in place, when He stretched the horizon over the oceans, when He made the clouds above and put the deep underground springs in place.
I was there when He ordered the sea not to go beyond the borders He had set. I was there when He laid the earth's foundation. I was like a child by his side. I was delighted every day, enjoying His presence all the time, enjoying the whole world, and delighted with all its people.”
This blessing invites us to make a dwelling place of our lives for wisdom.
BREATHE - Inhale Activity, Exhale Passivity
Get wisdom, get wisdom from above.
So where do we begin? The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. (Proverbs 4:7)
Getting wisdom is an extremely active pursuit.
Breathe—inhale activity and exhale passivity, SOULjourner.
When you truly pursue someone or something, your whole being is animated and oxygenated with a sense of exhilaration.
Such an exhilarating pursuit will enrapture you and take you on an exploration to find what your heart was created for. We do this singularly and collectively—we’re foremost on this pilgrimage as a community.
Together, let's listen to James call us to his ancient voice. Notice how his voice summons us to look at the many facets of wisdom. Thereafter, I'll guide you on a pilgrimage to look closely at several pathways to pursue wisdom.
Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct let him show his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie against the truth.
This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, not hypocritical. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in shalom by those who make shalom. (James 3:13-18)
Get wisdom by prizing her.
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. (Proverbs 4:8)
Prize her. Esteem her. Desire her. Cherish her. And she will honor you with her presence.
Get wisdom by praying—by asking God for her.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)
Get wisdom by pursuing her.
If you make your ear attentive to wisdom . . . if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:2, 4–5)
Be active. Listen, seek, pursue. She is found by those who prize her, pray for her, and pursue her with all abandonment.
Pursue wisdom.
Where can she be found? All the manifold treasures of wisdom are found in Jesus. He perfectly embodies wisdom in His humanity and divinity.
All things were created through Him and for Him. . . . In Him, all things hold together. . . . And in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom. (Colossians 1:16–17; 2:3)
Pursue wisdom in the word of God.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7)
Jesus has left us with many records of the testimony of His life—His teachings provide us with an exodus from our foolish (simple) inclinations and an entrance into our abode with wisdom.
Pursue wisdom not only in the word of God but also in the world of God.
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. (Proverbs 6:6)
There are numerous dimensions of wisdom to be found in the observation of the world, not only the Bible.
Pursue wisdom by walking with wise teachers.
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise. (Proverbs 13:20)
Who are the wise women in your life? Pause and name them, regardless of their age.
Give thanks and speak a blessing for those who embody and pursue wisdom—this is the power of the collective work of wisdom in your life.
Pursue wisdom in the light of eternity.
Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
When you eagerly and humbly approach each day with eternity in view, you will inevitably remember that you are a citizen of Heaven carrying out many dimensions of your kingdom vocation on the earth.
RELAX - In Delight
SOULjourner, relax in wisdom’s delight in you every day, she enjoys God’s presence with you, she enjoys His world with you, she delights with you when you recline with the people who wear the face of God.
Be attentive to these pathways to wisdom.
Get wisdom from above.
Prize her.
Pray for her.
Pursue her—in relation to Jesus, in the word, in the world, in the company of wise teachers, in the light of eternity.
Go Slow & Savor Our Meditation Focus - Wisdom
Deuteronomy 8:3 & Luke 4:4: "Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."
Mohawkmomma Soul Podcast Episode:
— Did you tune into episode three, yet?
Until next time,
Scribble. Speak. From your soul.
Links for further discovery Subscribe & Listen to my Soul Care Podcasts
Lent week Three
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