Jump to content

How do I cultivate my spiritual heart?

Surrendering to Christ, the secret of the spiritual heart

Play
Season 4, episode 92
46 min / Published

Episode 92 - What is wisdom? What is righteousness? Who are the primary role-models in wisdom and righteousness in the Old Testament, and how do they point us to Christ?

As we conclude our last episode in our Gospel Spice Proverbs series, Stephanie invites us to take a final look at what righteousness and wisdom truly are, and then we will gaze at the Face of Him who is our righteousness. We ponder perseverance and endurance in the faith in oiur struggle against lust--in whatever form.

On righteousness:

Proverbs talks a lot about the righteous and the wicked, the lazy, the fool. It teaches by example—what is righteous by showing what is wicked. 

The moment you accept Christ, life does not become a stroll in the park. Perseverance in your faith is the hallmark of your faithfulness. Your authenticity is proven by your walk. The walk of faith is a slow transformation with lots of roadblocks and deadends and detours, many coming from the past – past idols trying to trip you up in guilt and shame. But you are a new creation in Christ. You are the Bride of Christ, pure and blameless and spotless and righteous—not on your own strength but HIDDEN IN HIM.

If you think that conversion is a fast-pass to transformation, you are in for a deception. Faith is slow-cooked more often than it is pressure-cooked, though both happen.

Righteousness is valuing God above all else. It means that ethics and morality find their source in respecting God as the ultimate worth. Righteousness is more than doing the “right” thing: righteousness is valuing God as ultimate in all things. Valuing God as ultimate in all things is the ultimate right thing, and that is what makes you righteous in His eyes.

Our righteousness is exhibited when we too value and respect the worth of God without wavering and upholding it in all that we do, to the nest of our strength in Christ. In other words, We as humans are to practice righteousness towards the goal of obtaining it, knowing it is already ours in Christ.

On wisdom:

Solomon was the wisest king who ever lived, yet we have seen that he didn’t end so well. The consequences cannot be overstated.

Proverbs extols wisdom associated with a man who, by everyone’s judgment, was considered wise and is so to the present day. Yet he failed to live by wisdom. The result is further affirmation of the testimony of the Law, that our hope is in One. Even so great a force as wisdom, when it is nurtured and embraced, cannot rescue us from the evil that resides in our hearts. Solomon’s details and bad ending, moral of the story: even the wisest man, apart from Christ, is not wise enough.

The universal Voice of God was by the ancient Hebrews often called wisdom.” (AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God)

This habit of explaining the Voice by appeals to natural law is at the very root of modern science. In the living, breathing cosmos there is a mysterious Something, too wonderful for any mind to understand. The believing man does not claim to understand. He falls to his knees and whispers, “God.” The man of the earth kneels, too, but not to worship. He kneels to examine, to search, to find the cause and the how of things.” AWTozer

Folly is looking for an explanation in the dirt of the earth, under the sun. Wisdom is knowing that God will be found above the sun. And so, wisdom, the voice of God, calls and searches the one who wants to cultivate their spiritual heart.

If you have ever experienced inexplicable loneliness, or otherworldly longing, or a feeling of awe and wonder, a moment of light and lightness – that is the Voice of God guiding your spiritual heart to find your rest in Him.

On wisdom from above, in the Face of Christ Jesus:

Jesus describes the wisdom that is from above in His Sermon on the Mount.

Take the Beatitudes and write them in reverse – you will get the wisdom from the world: accumulate riches. Be selfish. Be on the lookout for Number One. Live for this world alone.

Jesus is not offering an opinion here. Jesus never gives opinions. He gives truth. HE KNOWS. His wisdom is not from under the sun like Solomon’s. His wisdom is not the result of his study of human nature or nature itself. Jesus gives truth because He is fully God. He is speaking from within the intimacy of the Trinity.  His words are not opinions. They are truth. The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ definition of wisdom that is from above.

So, worship God, who is from above the sun. Worship Christ, the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. This is taken from Hebrews 1:1-5, which tells us that God spoke wisdom through the Old Testament, in Proverbs for example, but that He went all out in Christ: "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs."

 

---------------Note to PARENTS---------------

We CARE about your family!! As usual, Stephanie brings in a fictitious character to illustrate our theme. This week's trait is lust. Therefore, the initial illustration, while not explicit, might not be for the youngest ears--unless you are ready to answer spicy questions about intimate relations. Stephanie's mention is brief, but an inquisitive little heart may pick up on questions worth asking! Decide for yourself when to best listen to the first 5 minutes of this episode!

 

DISCOVER THE GOSPEL SPICE MINISTRIES BEHIND THIS EPISODE

If you enjoyed this episode, we invite you to discover more about how God is at work at Gospel Spice Ministries, and even to join in His work! There are 3 easy ways to do that:

PLAY IT FORWARD by SHARING the show with friends and family: https://www.podcastics.com/podcast/38/link/

PAY IT FORWARD by supporting us financially: gospelspice.com/payitforward

PRAY IT FORWARD by praying for us and those you share it with!

Go to gospelspice.com for more info about Gospel Spice Ministries, the umbrella ministry over the podcast. You will discover our partners and the various services we offer, such as in-depth Bible studies with interactive conversation groups, a couple of times a year. 

Go to gospel-spice.com (with a "dash"!) to join the Gospel Spice Podcast community and interact with us!

Contact us on the website or at contact@gospelspice.com to send us your prayer requests (we pray for you as a team every week!) and let us know how we can come alongside you.

--------- NEW SUMMER SERIES STARTING JULY 19 2021 ---------

Stephanie mentioned our new Gospel Spice series, Identity in the battle, starting July 19, 2021. We offer a brand new option to go deeper into our series together. It is completely free, and registration will open on JUNE 1, 2021 at gospelspice.com/identity. It is only available over the Summer 2021, so if you catch this episode after we've closed our Summer 2021 series, stay tuned for MORE options! Check gospelspice.com for the latest updates.

This season of the Gospel Spice Podcast is powered by Biblica! We are grateful for this partnership.

THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO PARTNER WITH GOSPEL SPICE TODAY!

First, PAY Gospel Spice Forward: Give a tax-deductible gift so others can experience our ministry for free, just like you! You can pay it forward with any debit, credit card, or via PayPal. See below for more details about your impact.

Also, PLAY Gospel Spice Forward: SHARE the podcast and the studies with your friends and family. FOLLOW, RATE & REVIEW on your favorite podcast app (leave a comment + a star rating on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Pandora, IHeart, Google Podcast, etc…). It REALLY is the best way to help others find this content-rich podcast. 

And, last but not least, PRAY Gospel Spice Forward: We pray for you weekly. We covet your prayers for our ministry, the thousands we reach, and our team! Contact us to let us know you are praying for us!

NEW!

Another way to partner with us is to purchase our workbooks and online Bible studies. We keep them at the lowest possible cost, but they require a lot of work from us! For example,

- a complete Bible Study requires an average of 500 man-hours.

- a workbook for a series requires almost 100 man-hours.

MORE ABOUT PARTNERING WITH US FINANCIALLY:

Gospel Spice Ministries is a non-profit organization registered under the tax-exempt 501c3 status.

Our goal is to provide in-depth, high-quality, free Bible resources for all. They are free, but expensive to create! We need your financial support to keep producing and distributing them. Please pay Gospel Spice forward today! For example, a podcast episode takes close to 10 hours of work (and we release 2 each week). They come to you completely free, but we would truly love your support.

We want the money to go to those who really need it. Once our operating costs are paid, 100% of your donation is redistributed to our partners who fight human trafficking. Each year, we aim to give as much as we can. For example, Stephanie works more than full time for Gospel Spice, entirely for free. All board members and volunteers are donating time. We limit our operational expenses to the bare minimum.

Your pay-it-forward donations are tax-deductible under IRS Section 170.

We want to be the best possible stewards of your financial support. Thank you!

Go to gospelspice.com for more, and go especially to gospelspice.com/podcast to enjoy our guests! Interested in our blog? Click here: gospelspice.com/blog

Grab our brand new workbook to go much deeper in your own study of one of our most popular podcast series, Identity in the Battle.

You can also download a free 3-page sample to get a taste of what the in-depth workbook will give you.

Go to https://www.gospelspice.com/identity to purchase the workbook for less than a small cup of coffee!

Make sure also to listen to the podcast series, Identity in the Battle, here: https://www.gospelspice.com/series

identity revamped logo.png

  • gospelspice
  • gospelspicepodcast
  • GospelSpice
  • Gospelspice
  • Gospel Spice
  • Gospel spice
  • gospel spice
  • gospelspice podcast
  • gospel spice podcasty
  • Gospel Spice Podcast
  • gospel spice podcast
  • Gospelspice Podcast
  • gospelSpice podcast
  • stephanie rousselle
  • Stephanie Rousselle
  • Stephanie rousselle
  • Rouselle
  • Stephanie Rouselle
  • Rousselle
  • Frenhc podcast
  • French podcast
  • Book of Proverbs
  • stephanierousselle
  • Bible
  • study
  • proverbs
  • Proverbs
  • Christian podcast
  • proverbs podcast
  • proverbs study
  • study on Proverbs
  • What do Proverbs teach?
  • what are proverbs?
  • king Solomon
  • King Solomon
  • Who wrote proverbs?
  • who wrote proverbs?
  • Who wrote Proverbs?
  • Who wrote the Book of Proverbs?
  • who wrote the book of proverbs?
  • author of proverbs
  • king solomon
  • bathsheba
  • Bathsheba
  • King Josiah
  • Josiah Bible
  • king Josaiah
  • king Josiah
  • Josiah old testament
  • Josiah Judah
  • good kings of Judah
  • what is righteousness
  • what is righteousness?
  • what is wisdom?
  • What is wisdom?
  • what is wisdom
  • What is righteousness
  • Jesus our righteousnes
  • Jesus our righteousness
  • Jesus our wisdom
  • Jesus wisdom
  • why is Jesus our wisdom?
  • why is Jesus our righteousness?
  • what does the Bible say
  • what does the bible say
  • righteousness
  • wisdom
  • Wisdom
  • wisdom under the sun
  • Wisdom under the sun
  • wisdom from above
  • Wisdom from Above
  • wisdom from Above
  • Wisdom from above
  • Wisdom of God
  • wisdom of God
  • wisdom from God
  • Wisdom from God
  • faith
  • faith and wisdom
  • wisdom and faith
  • best christian podcast
Show notes

Use the shownotes to take your own notes as you follow along this episode! For a downloadable printable full-color PDF version, go to this episode's page on gospel-spice.com. It is a free resource at your disposal!

 

what is righteousness?

 

1-    Righteousness is like ______________ in ___________________.

 

 

Peter

 

 

 

2-  Righteousness is ___________ __________ above all else.

 

 

 

________________ = __________________ = righteousness

 

 

 

God’s _________________ is “valuing and respecting His worth without wavering, and upholding it in all that He does.”  (John Piper commenting on Jonathan Edwards)

 

 

 

3-  Righteousness is ___________ __________, day by day.

 

 

___________ TO person of __________ TO person of ____________ TO _________           (Beth Moore)

 

 

 

what is wisdom?

 

Solomon.

 

The “Evil” (“ra”)                                                       The “Right” (“yashar”)

 

 

 

 

 

Josiah embodies the walk of ___________________ in the faith.

 

“The universal Voice of God was by the ancient Hebrews often called _________.”

(AW.Tozer, The Pursuit of God)

 

 

Learning to __________ and ____________ the Voice of God

 

 

wisdom from above.

 

 

_________                   God

Let ______                   Self

 

 

 

Answer key: faithfulness – marriage – valuing God – surrender = worship – righteousness – choosing well – harmless – interest – concern – threat – perseverance – wisdom – hear – head – longing – go.

Gospel Spice Proverbs Listening Guide Episode 91.pdf

Episode ratings
Please log in or sign-up to rate this episode.
This episode is part of the Wisdom from Proverbs | Bible Series series
Experience fresh insights into the wisdom of the Book of Proverbs!
Episode comments

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
What do you think about this episode? Leave a comment!

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×

Important Information

By using this website, you accept the use of cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.