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Now let's jump in. You know, we know that God is wise, but you know, his wisdom is not just some ethereal force floating out there for the sake of wisdom. God's wisdom has a gold. And there's a point for you coming up right now on the Clear Beat Today Show. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr.
Abadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. Thanks for joining us for another great episode of the Clearview Today Show, right here in our studio with our host, Dr. Abadan Shah.
Dr. Shah, I'm liking it, man. I'm liking the vibe that we've got going on in here. Yes, I work at a golf shop. You look like you just crushed 18 holes.
Yeah, I wish I could. Hold on, I wish I could. I don't know the last time I've played 18 holes. What's a normal, like just nine-holes? Nine-holes, and usually it's like a Crime Stoppers golf tournament or a chamber golf tournament, you know, when there's nobody left.
And then need one desperately. Please, please, we need a person on the team. You could play a pickup game of basketball. It's over in like maybe 30, 40 minutes tops. You could play like a game of soccer or tennis, whatever.
It takes a couple hours. Golf, that's the day. Golf takes time. That's the whole day. Golf takes time.
And golf is, I like golf, you know, but I was in seminary. I remember there was a guy there who was a semi-pro. And he knew that I didn't know golf. I mean, one time we went, he's like, You want to go to driving range? I said, Yeah.
And I had. Played some golf, but I was nowhere. you know, not not even remotely as good as he was. And I said, Yeah, I can play golf And then I went with him and I realized, oh, that's that was a significant Yeah, I mean, his drives were like 300. You know what I mean?
I was like, good grief. And so he taught me some. But it's the knowledge of the game. The knowledge is very important. And then we golfed.
And then to know. How to plan out your drives and how to look at the par and because. Prior to that, I was just like out there and I'm just going to hit it as hard as I can. Yeah. It's got to get there somewhere.
It's a three-par and I'm going to drive it. And see where it lands. Smack the ball down the green and hope for the best. And you know what's funny is I'm not a bragger. I would never brag, but when it comes to golf, I will crush anybody in Mario Golf.
I promise you. We will crank that up to medium and I will destroy you in Mario Golf. That's a whole different kind of knowledge. Yes, absolutely. It is a knowledge, but it's not knowledge on the golf course.
And you know, we're not talking about getting to know golf today. Right. You know, I actually saw that on the run sheet and I had to scribble it out and write in what we're actually talking about. We're getting to know God. Right.
Absolutely. Yeah. I saw the crayon on there. Yeah. The F was backwards in golf.
So I just kind of was the black crayon. I tried to make it look like we're talking about the knowledge of the game, but really wisdom is knowing that the skill set for Mario golf is different than golf on that. I made a distinction. No, I didn't know that the first time I ever golfed in real life. Oh, no.
I thought the skills were transferable. Turns out they are not. I was like, can I sub in Waluigi? How do I get Waluigi out here? Dr.
Shaw, we've been talking on yesterday's episode about the knowledge and the wisdom. Of God. And one of the things that you say that I love so much is that the knowledge and the wisdom of God really are traits and they're things that we can see in ourselves, but ultimately it's a person. Ultimately, those things are a person, and that's the person of Jesus Christ. That's right.
And we talk about wisdom as well, as far as like our wisdom, our knowledge. And maybe, Dr. Shah, you can talk about this being in the academic world. I'm sure there are people who are just smart. Just for the sake of being smart.
Like, have you ever met someone who's like, you are so smart? But you're not writing any books. You don't seem to be contributing to the field. You're pursuing a degree just. To have?
Or is it more the opposite where it's like, no, everyone's pursuing that degree with an end goal in mind? Hmm, that's a great question. I would say most of the people that I met I would even venture out to say All of the ones that I've met usually have a goal because you don't enter that. That high level of education, unless you are really interested in a subject and you really have an idea or a thesis that you want to expand on, build on.
So I would say, not even most, I would say all of the people that I've met, they have that in mind.
Now The question is. Will their thesis really change the course of history? Will their thesis, for us as believers, really impact the kingdom of God? That's a different question.
So I have been in papers, you know, sat there and heard papers, and I'm like, wow, that's a. That's an incredible amount of research. And that's unique research that hasn't been done before. And it's very well done. How will that now impact, say, the next commentary series?
How will that impact, say, the preaching of Of an average pastor, preacher out there. When I say average, I'm not disparaging those who are. pastoring small churches or those who are pra pastoring large churches. I'm just saying the the kind of the middle, you know, you know, not low or high, just middle, uh, average. That's what I mean there.
It's like for a common everyday pastor, how would that impact their life?
Some Some of the research is just going to be so Technical that by the time it trickles down to a commentary or a sermon outline or a sermon manuscript, it will be pretty Minuscule, it'll be negligible. Wow. But then there are some you go, wow. That really needs to be studied. Are there any drawbacks to them?
Because that's important. Yeah. Because if the research is great, okay, great research. And let's apply it.
Okay, let's apply it. Oh, wait. There is a con to this. It's not all pro.
Okay, there's a con. But if truth is truth, let's stick to the truth. But then make sure you also deal with the con. Can the con also be made a pro?
So that's that's something else people have to look into and study.
So There are some who do a great job with that. I would say majority don't.
So that's where I would say a lot of people who have a great thesis, a great discovery, a great research. But when it comes down to writing a commentary or preaching a sermon That's where you go, mm, I don't know. Or Yes, I see the impact. But have you considered this? Because that impact actually negates what you're saying here.
So, yeah. Do those scholars often continue to carry that work or that thesis, that idea? Like, if that's their sort of, I don't want to use the term pet project, but if that's their niche, their part of the field, do they continue to carry that? Or is once that work is published, it's like, okay, that's kind of my work. I'm done.
Most of the time, scholars try to get as much kind of squeezed out of their project or the dissertation.
So they will write an article off of that. They will try to get published in a reputable series. You know, they will try to get some lecture opportunities. Out of it.
So they try to do something out of that.
Some even try to write that dissertation for lay people. Or students, because dissertations can be very technical, you know, they're like. 800 pages, 600 pages.
So then they try to write a book that's like, say, 125 or 250. But written in a language that an average person can understand, or an academic person like a student can understand. Talk to us a little bit about God's wisdom, right? Because we think that our knowledge, our wisdom, we're driving towards something, and hopefully we're driving towards the betterment of the kingdom. But God's wisdom is the same way.
We tend to think that God's wisdom just exists. It's just out there, and it's our job to gr what am I grasp it and glean from it. And maybe that's true, but we don't think about the fact that God's wisdom has an end goal in mind as well. Yes. And his goal is to glorify himself.
And a great reference for that is Romans chapter 11, verses 33 through 36. It says oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments. and his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord?
or who has become his counsellor? Or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him. For of him And through him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory for ever. Amen. For of him.
And through him and to him are all things To whom be glory. Forever. Everything that God has done, is doing, will do in His wisdom. is to glorify himself. Why to glorify himself?
Because there is no one greater to please. There's no reason for God to please. That's a good point. Yeah, I mean, there's no reason for God to try to please us. Right.
He doesn't need to.
Some other entity somewhere. I mean, there's nothing greater than God. Yeah, I mean, you think about all of the. Stuff that you aspire to, right? Like in your own life, you're trying to please someone, whether it be your boss, your ministry leader, maybe your spouse, maybe your friends.
You're trying to please, to impress, to do it to someone, maybe even it's to yourself. But with God, there is no one greater. Yeah, it comes right back in Him. Yeah, it makes sense. How does that Yeah.
What does that do for us? If God's wisdom is to glorify himself, I mean, that just seems like a circular loop. Where do we enter into that discussion? Seeing who God is, it puts us in our proper place. And proper place does not mean that you are sort of smacked down, you know, and kind of thrown to the side.
No, proper place means it keeps us from wanting to become God. Our struggle in this world is that we begin to act godlike. And what and I'm not talking about in the sense of holiness or love or wisdom or grace or compassion and all the rest. No, godlike in the sense that we try to control our circumstances. We become the center of the world, of our universe.
Means it's about us. It's about self-promotion. It's about self-glory. It's about self-interest. When we see God's wisdom glorifying God Himself, then it puts us in proper perspective.
just like the sun and the moon.
Okay. The sun has the rays of light. The moon simply reflects the light of the sun. We are simply reflectors.
So Seeing God's knowledge glorify God Himself, or God's wisdom glorify God. Reminds us that we are simply reflectors. I think it's a great analogy. And it's a great because no one would look at the moon and say, well, it's not really beautiful. Like it's not really, it's just a hunk of rock.
No, there's still beauty. There's still a, I don't want to say glory, but there's still a. Hey, look at that. That's the moon. And look how glorious this is.
And so, also, it's because it's reflecting the moon. I think a lot of people get into this thing where it's like, well, God's just in this to glorify himself. That's kind of selfish. And those same exact people will post on TikTok. They'll do everything.
They'll launch their entire careers, build their entire facade around themselves, right? But then we'll turn to God and who actually deserves all this credit because he is God. And we'll say, well, I don't know. That just doesn't sit right with me. That's what I was going to say, because it's not right when we do it because selfishness is praise that we, I mean, we want the praise when we don't deserve it.
That's right. We're not deserving of that praise. We're not deserving of that position of honor, but God is.
So, in our terms, I mean, he's not selfish because he's worthy of it. He's worthy of the praise. We aren't, which makes it selfish when we are covetous of those things. We use this terminology as Christians a lot, Dr. Shaw, that we want to glorify God.
But what exactly does that mean? Is it just making God look good? Is it just singing his praises? Is it just talking good about him? How do I glorify God?
Well, again, go back to the analogy of the sun. And the moon in Isaiah chapter 30, verse 26, it says Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun. And the light of the sun will be sevenfold as the light of seven days in the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of his people and heals the stroke of their wound.
Now, this is where we're talking about again in the end times, the day of the Lord, and all that stuff. But again, the analogy of the moon reflecting the light of the sun, and then the sun beginning to glow even brighter, And and At the same time, the sun is getting brighter, and in the process, God is healing his people. All of that tells us that This is how God expects us to be. The more we look into the face of his Son, Jesus Christ, the more we begin to glow, the more we begin to reflect. His life, his light.
And that's what heals people. That's what draws the lost to Christ.
So these are not just mere words. This is how God intends us to be. The Light of Jesus to reflect. Through us. And so people around us can find the true light.
Maybe there's someone out there listening who feels like their light or their ability to reflect God's light has become pretty dim. Maybe they're a mirror meant to reflect that light, but they've become dirty and smudged and dingy and they're not doing a great job of reflecting that light.
Well, how would you encourage that person to sort of get back to a place where they're reflecting God better? Yeah, I mean, I go back to what John said: you know, John, the baptizer in John chapter one and verse six, it said there was a man sent from God whose name was John. this man came for a witness to bear witness of the light. that all through him might believe. He was not that light.
But was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world. What we're talking about here in the context of knowledge and wisdom. Is in using the planetary systems to explain that is an old analogy. You know, let Jesus shine through you.
Let his light shine through you, and God will draw all peoples to himself. You know, it's speaking of Christian terminology, we typically say things like God's wisdom is hidden in Christ. Like he's hidden it for us to go and discover. Do you think that's an accurate representation of what? That phrase means.
He's actually hidden it for us to go and find in Christ. I mean, it says right here in Colossians chapter 2, it says that their hearts may be encouraged. being knit together in love. And attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ. in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
So Yes, in Christ. All of that is contained. The world cannot see it, but when we connect to Christ we see through the eyes of faith. That yes, I can read A good book on science, or I can attend a class or do an experiment, and man, my knowledge has grown. But what we're talking about here is more than knowledge.
We're talking about wisdom. And connecting to Christ, we find the source of true wisdom. Yeah, absolutely.
So, how do you encourage someone who is saved and maybe they're newly saved and maybe they're thinking, man, I can show you some of that wisdom right now. I'm saved. I believe I have Christ in me. But I feel none of that wisdom. I feel like I'm still making the same foolish mistakes I've always made.
Well You may think you're making foolish mistakes, but you're not. When we talk about mistakes, there are mistakes in the sense of, Oh, I need to do that better, or I need to do this. I need to change my, you know, my process of how I do work or how I. Transcribe a document or how I execute a task and how I delegate and those places you you you can learn and you can f make mistakes and get better. When we're talking about wisdom, we're talking about the big decisions of life.
Big decisions of life. The big decisions that require honesty, the big decisions that require integrity, the big decisions that require loyalty and dedication. that big decisions that require self sacrifice. keeping the big goal, the end goal in mind. Those are the big decisions that require wisdom.
So on a daily basis, I may, you know, let's say, Drive a little fast and get a ticket. Man, that was so dumb. Yeah, you shouldn't have done that. He shouldn't have done that. Maybe next time, leave a little early, or don't speed, and don't get.
But big decision is not that. To me, big decision is wisdom. How I treat my wife. When I mess up, do I come with an apology? Do I follow false examples, wrong examples of people in my life regarding my marriage?
How do I treat my children? How do I see them? How do I see lost people? Do I go along with the ways of the world? Those are the big decisions.
And I would say, if you are connected to Christ. Wisdom is there. At times there are certain things you need to grow up about.
So don't don't confuse That And I encourage that person to dig deeper, look deeper. If you're truly connected to Christ, you have wisdom. You're growing in wisdom. Yeah. Maybe day to day you need to do better in certain Certain aspects, but that's not wisdom we're talking about.
I think that's an encouragement to a lot of people because many of us can feel like we just, man, we are never going to make it. We're just, we're never going to arrive. We just keep making the same mistakes or different mistakes of the same flavor over and over and over again. But to know that, you know, if you have Jesus, you are growing in wisdom. If you're pursuing him, if you have a relationship with him, you are growing in wisdom, albeit maybe not on your timetable.
I'll give you an example. when my wife met my father. For the first time. And she asked him this question that she always wanted to ask. I wasn't there.
She asked him the question. How did you know that your son was making the right choice when he chose to marry me. And Because he said that that had to be tough. You know, because he is 5,000 miles away and now he's going to get married to this girl. You've never met her.
Not that she can control my life. Not that my parents could control my life, but at least they could be like, oh, I don't know about that. And my dad told something to Nicole. that she told me and it really made me feel good. He said in the small decisions of life, My son has made some mistakes.
But in the big decisions of life. I've never known him to make mistakes. And I felt really good when she said that. I was like, wow, dad, thank you.
Well what do you mean by that? Small decisions are knowledge decisions. The big decisions are wisdom decisions. Maybe there's someone listening to this who's on the younger side and they're dreaming of the day that maybe their parents would say that about them or their pastor or someone would say that about them. What encouragement would you give them to make sure, like, hey, You follow this way, you do this, and one day someone will be saying that about you.
Oh, yeah. I mean, definitely keep Christ first in your life. Stay in the Word. Pray on a daily basis, seek To confess your sins, nobody's perfect, we're going to make mistakes. But don't don't justify rationalized sin and just hang on to it because You know, that's the way you've always done it.
No, confess that sin. Yeah, you'll make mistakes. I make mistakes. People think I don't make mistakes. I'm like, I do make mistakes.
I make plenty of mistakes. And I kick myself over them. But. in the big decisions of life. where wisdom is required.
I I feel like I have done things God's way. And that's what matters. That's what matters. And so I encourage the people: don't, you know, there are things in life you may have to change and you may have to adjust and you may have to go, yeah, that's I'm still learning, I'm still growing. That's fine.
In the big decisions. Are you a good father? I think so.
Okay. Are you a good husband? I mean, I'm sure you could be better. Sure. But overall, are you providing for your wife?
Yeah. Are you staying put and not jumping from this to this to this to this to this? I mean, always just constantly uneasy. No. I mean, you're doing that.
Now, of course, you want to do things, you want to. you want to create and you want to yeah, that's fine. But overall, you have there's a sense of consistency about you. And isn't that what scripture Calls you to do. It's not what James is talking about.
You know, be like that farmer who waits for the early and the latter rain. That's wisdom. Those are the things that make for wisdom. Prayer. I mean, I love our team because every Tuesday morning you can make excuses and sometimes you're tired or children are up late in the night.
makes it difficult. But overall Six o'clock. Y'all are there praying. You're tired, you're exhausted, especially for me. On Tuesday nights, I'm like I'll wake like Wake up like five times.
I don't know why. Yeah. Yep. I do. Yeah.
Monday nights are the worst sleep. Yeah. Monday nights, yeah, Tuesday morning, Monday nights, Tuesday morning. I have the worst sleep. Yeah.
But getting up here, at five forty five or five fifty and you guys get here even before I do. You're doing the right things. Praying like that? Does that mean everything is going to line up just right? No, there will be things.
That will happen. Curved balls? But overall, You're going to hit a home run when it comes to life. You're hitting a home run already. For the people who are listening and they are maybe alone, or they feel like they're alone on this journey, this walk with God.
Maybe they're a new Christian, or maybe they just maybe they've moved and they haven't surrounded themselves with a church family or a community of believers. What what is the process of Acquiring or pursuing godly wisdom. What does that look like in our lives? Like, can I just listen to a podcast? Can I just find a young man?
Give me the magic. Like, do you like? I mean, I get like, yeah, church can be helpful, but I feel like I could substitute that with just like a YouTube video. Can I have three steps? I mean, maybe, maybe two or three.
Well, I would say this: God's wisdom is available to His people. And James chapter 1 tells us: you know, when you fall into various trials, know that the testing of your faith produces patience. Let patience have its perfect work, on and on. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.
So, you want wisdom? Start asking God for it. Start saying God I need your wisdom in my life. I pray that. I prayed that over the years.
And what does godly wisdom look like? James tells us again. Who is wise in understanding among you, let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy, I mean, that's the question to ask. Right?
Do ye have bitter envy? I didn't ask you, did you fail at getting that task done. Yeah, those things happen. You got to fix that. Make sure you prioritize things.
Make sure you are diligent in what you're trying to do. But do you have bitter envy? That's a whole different problem. Yeah. Self-seeking in your hearts.
Well, in some ways we're all self seeking, but overall If you're only living for self, Mm. You're one miserable person, and you're going to make everybody else miserable around you. Do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but it's earthly, sensual, demonic, for where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. Do we have days that there is some confusion?
There's some frustration, there's a little bit of chaos. Yeah, we can have that. But overall, I wouldn't say that this is just a chaotic Confusing place. But what about the people who are listening who feel like, man? My life does feel chaotic.
My life does feel and and maybe I'm having to come to this realization that yeah, I do got some bitter envy. I don't want to say that. I probably wouldn't admit that to anyone, but in my heart, I know. Maybe driving down the road right now or sitting in this gym or wherever you're listening to this. Maybe there is a little bit of that, and I want to get rid of it.
Yeah, come to God and ask Him to. help you. That's what is needed. God, please help me. Please root out this evil in my heart.
Give me your grace, give me your peace. And by the way, James tells us that, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure. God help me to have integrity in my life. Then peaceable Lord help me to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Than gentle.
Lord, give me a gentle spirit towards my loved ones. Yes, there may be times that I will be a little, you know, snarky or just kind of bi you know, bite someone's head off, but Lord help me to come to repentance quickly. James 3:17, willing to yield means have a teachable spirit. Lord, help me to learn. J James 3.17, full of mercy and good fruits.
means Lord help me to put away all bitterness. And then Without partiality and without hypocrisy means, Lord, don't. don't let me be pretend to be perfect. Because none of us are perfect.
So, God help me. And if you pray that prayer, the James chapter 3 prayer in your life. you will begin to see those changes. and you will have wisdom that is from above, And not from below. I think that's something that's so beautiful that maybe as we're wrapping up, we can just kind of.
Just give thanks for that. That We actually are able to see things from God's perspective. And that's what wisdom is. We don't like to think that we like to think that there is this huge separation, but in his mercy, he's given us wisdom to see things the way he sees them. That's a huge encouragement to people who are looking at their life, and maybe their life isn't where they want it to be, or has things haven't panned out the way they want it to.
Hey, you know, God's wisdom is available to you. That's right. I think that's a huge deal to remind ourselves that it's not, you're not a lost cause, you're not hopeless, the ship hasn't sailed. You know, God's wisdom is available to you. And it's probably sitting there for free right now on your coffee table, untouched.
You know, you don't have to pay for a 30-day course. You don't have to have some monthly subscription to keep getting God's wisdom. It's right there for free, and it's something we don't even look at. That's right. That's the heart behind the Clear Read Today Show.
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