Heart of Wisdom

By Karen Wells

Heart of Wisdom is a book designed to empower the believer to overcome life's many obstacles by the wisdom of God. This book will locate where you are spiritually and reveal to the reader why they may not be progressing in their walk with God. It is intended that wisdom clear the path to a blessed outcome. As you read Heart of Wisdom eventually you will come to your page with your issue and God will speak to you. He will bring in His light and truth. Let wisdom pave the way through your circumstance as you honor, receive and delight in Wisdom's counsel, instruction and perhaps correction. Wisdom has a path you see, and she is calling to you. Do you hear her? She is entreating you right now to draw near. She calls and calls from the rooftops of life saying, "Listen, for I will speak of excellent things." (Prov. 8:6, NKJV)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781641917995

Karen Wells

Karen Wells is an ordained minister and a seasoned teacher of the Word of God. She and her husband, Rev. Stephen Wells, are founders and Pastors of Well of Life Ministries in Houston, Texas. Their ministry includes conducting seminars which provide in depth teaching on subjects of healing, deliverance and life skills for overcoming. They have served together in ministry for over twenty years and reside in Richmond, Texas.

Book preview

Part One

About Wisdom

Chapter One

Wisdom Is Calling

Wisdom is calling you. Do you hear her? She desires to prosper you and to help you. She has been calling people for many generations, but most do not hear. Some of you are on a reckless path. You must stop and hear Wisdom’s call. Some will only get to the end of their lives and realize that they have missed the right way to live. They will think of all the things they wish they had done differently. Yet Wisdom’s voice was calling but was never heard above the ruckus of other voices out there in the world. There is a formal invitation from Wisdom in the Word of God to all of us. She is calling, she is crying out, she has indeed raised her voice loudly, and so she pleads, yearning for us to hear. Can you hear her? She wants to be part of your choices, your decisions, and your plans. She desires to be chosen, so you must choose her. Listen to her words addressed to you and all mankind throughout the ages.

Wisdom shouts in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;

at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings:

How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded?

And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge?

(Prov. 1:20–22, NASB)

Does not wisdom call, and understanding lift up her voice?

On the top of the heights beside the way, where the paths meet,

she takes her stand; beside the gates, at the opening to the city, at the entrance of the doors, she cries out:

To you O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men.

O naive ones, understand prudence; and O fools, understand wisdom.

Listen, for I shall speak noble things; and the opening of my lips will reveal right things.

For my mouth will utter truth…

(Prov. 8:1-7, NASB)

Yet Folly Calls Also

From another pinnacle way up high calls another voice in life. She is the opposite of Wisdom, and her name is folly. Folly will ruin your life. She thinks she has the way and that everyone else does not. She elevates herself by pride and foolishness, not knowing she is the laughingstock of heaven. All who take her path are in for a rude awakening. In the end she will embarrass you and shame you. She is as blind as a bat and doesn’t know it. Many listen to her because she seems to have all the answers. She sure acts like she does, but she is a false voice sent to trip you up. It’s time to recognize her and call her what she is—a big fake, an imposter, a blaring blow horn. Oh, don’t misunderstand me. She talks it up good, and she’s emphatic. But don’t be fooled. She is a mess and so is her pathway. Her way is scattered with broken things and unfulfilled dreams of those who have followed her, thinking they were on the inside track and that they had it made. In the end only futility, devastation, and loss were the reward. We must be aware of folly. It’s time to wake up and get a hold of our lives where folly is concerned. Here is the discourse of folly. See also that her voice calls loudly to us as well.

The woman folly is boisterous, she is naive and knows nothing.

And she sits at the doorway of her house, on a seat by the high places of the city,

calling to those who pass by, who are making their paths straight:

Whoever is naive, let him turn in here, and to him who lacks understanding she says,

Stolen water is sweet; and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

(Prov. 9:13–18, NASB)

A few poor decisions, several difficult circumstances, and throw in some dire consequences; and it should dawn on us that we have been listening to none other than the voice of folly. One day we wake up as the prodigal son did, in the pigpen of our life and say, What am I doing here, and how did I get to this place? I’ll tell you how you got to that place, beloved believer, you got to that place because of folly. She is your problem, your headache, your burning issue, and has been for quite some time now. Your life is not a mess for no reason. Take stock as the prodigal did and begin to ask for the right way. The prodigal had a father and so do you. If your earthly father was not a man of wisdom, you surely have a Heavenly Father who will be delighted to pick you up, dust you off, and set you on the right path. It’s called wisdom’s path. Wisdom’s voice may have seemed soft and boring to you when you were younger, but she was right! If you had sought her out and listened when she presented herself to you, you might have had a better outcome. Let’s face it, any outcome is better than folly’s outcome. And so now we come to the place of the principal thing in life. The principal and most important thing is wisdom. She shall not fail you. She profits all who acquire her. Are you ready for wisdom? Are you tired of a failed life? Then come along and let us take wisdom’s path together.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding.

Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her.

She will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you.

(Prov. 4:7–9, NKJV)

A Moment of Prayer

Lord Jesus, I desire to take the path of wisdom. Please forgive me for all the mistakes I have made in the past. Set me on a better path and help me to make good choices. Clear the way before me and make level paths for my feet. Teach me the right ways to live and let my ways be marked with knowledge, understanding, and good judgment. I thank You that You have plans to prosper me and not to harm me, to give me a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11). Thank You also that no matter what has happened You can turn my life around for the better as I turn it over to You and follow in Your way. Cause me to love instruction and help me to discipline myself in the areas of my life that need to change. Provide the grace for me to grow and mature and to be the person You have called me to be. I give You all the praise and honor, and I thank You. Amen.

Chapter Two

Turning toward a Better Life

It Starts by Acknowledging Him

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

(Prov. 3:5–6, NIV)

The fact is, there is not a whole lot of acknowledging going on.

If you skipped over the scripture above, read it, and if you did not skip over it, read it again. Note the word acknowledge. It is a key word in that scripture. Why? Because it is what God is looking for from us. He wants us to acknowledge Him. The problem is, we think we know better. We live our lives with God on the sidelines until we need to stick Him in somewhere to do something. We need and can use God over here in this part of our life, but not over there in this other part of our life. We keep God in a box until the crisis comes. Then we take Him out and say, I need a miracle. We use God as a fix it man. He can fix what is broken, mend what is torn, undo what was done, or do whatever else is needed. After all, He said He was the Great i am! This kind of thinking will get us into trouble. Bee-bopping along through life and expecting God to sweep up behind us with a broom to clean up all our messes is not exactly what God had in mind for His saints, and yet this is the way much of the body of Christ lives. The fact of the matter is, there comes a time when God will not play Molly nursemaid anymore. Pretty soon God will start leaving the messes for all to see and for us to clean up. This is the wonderful land of bad consequences due to irresponsible living. If we are in denial or avoiding the issue, we will tend to start with the blame game. This in turn can lead us into having a pity party, which soon culminates into the inevitable sob session and the life is so hard and unfair routine, which includes all the Why me’s.

If the Holy Spirit is at work at all in our life, He will politely bide His time and wait until we are through before providing some sound instruction. This is because He does not speak to our soul man but to our spirit man, and He wisely waits until our soul is played out, defeated, finished, and dead in the sense of the foolish course it was on. Then with our spiritual ears finally open, and our heart inclined to (here’s the word) acknowledge Him, we can begin to receive some sound wisdom. Only when we acknowledge can we receive the blessings of a straight path and get off the crooked one.

The Blessing of the Straight Path

One cannot appreciate the blessing of the straight path until one has lived life on the crooked one. I, for one, have experienced both and can wholeheartedly assure you that the straight path is the only way to go. Let me enlighten you on the concept of a straight path, defined from the Hebrew (3474), Yasher translates as to be level, straight, right, convenient, tranquil, to be made even, and beat out flat. The scripture states that God will make our paths straight. The revelation here is that God Himself, as we choose to acknowledge Him in all our ways, will

level our path,

make our path convenient,

make our path peaceful, and

even go to the trouble of beating down the bumps along the way!

The straight path is a path on which God has removed the obstacles. It is the path where God has gone before us.

I guide in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.

When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.

(Prov. 4:11–12, NIV)

The Rickety Bridge of Our Own Understanding

We are trying to go from point A to point B. It seems quite simple. Common sense logic says it is. Rational thinking says it is. However, we must consider God. We must consider God before we cross bridges and make turns in the road of life because life has a funny way of coming up short so much of the time. The fact of the matter is, God is busy at work in our lives, breaking down the structures of our reliance on ourselves so that we can come to the place of completely relying, trusting, and leaning on Him. In fact, He is already busy at work to intentionally dismantle our finest plans in this regard. Why would God do a thing like this? Well, God is not a tag-along God. God’s job is to lead and not to follow.

Like Sheep We Have Our Nose to the Ground Most of the Time

God clearly is a God of guidance. In scripture He describes us metaphorically as sheep. Forget the endearing thoughts you have about how tender it is of God to think of us as sheep and those fond memories you had of those cute little fluffy sheep often seen on DaySpring cards. A thorough study of sheep brought me to the sober reality that sheep are not among the smartest of animals. Sheep graze along fields with their noses to the ground, allowing their appetites to lead them wherever they go. They become completely absorbed sniffing the ground and wandering off wherever their noses will take them. Pretty soon they look up, look around, and say, Hmm, how did I get here? Where did everybody go? Where’s the shepherd? Isn’t He supposed to be watching over me? Fellow believer, is this not how we are? We lift our heads up when we have finished our fleshly fill and ask, How in the world did I arrive here? Where is everybody? Where is the presence of God? Need I say more? The fact is, sheep are essentially helpless and directionless without a shepherd to keep them out of trouble. Even with a shepherd, they get themselves into a lot of predicaments! Yet we often have to learn this truth the hard way. Let us look up and acknowledge the Lord in our lives. Let us just plain look up. And let us look to God, the Author and Finisher of our faith. From whatever place we have been and no matter how bumpy the ride, one of God’s greatest longings is that we come to know and trust in Him