Paula Wiseman, Author at Paula Wiseman

Peter’s Building Blocks: Knowledge

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 2 Peter 1:5

Saving faith forms the solid foundation
The next block is virtue, moral excellence
Then we add knowledge.

The Greek is gnosis.
But it’s not secret, special revelation
It’s not Gnostic.
It’s not only for an initiated, select few.

It is knowledge of divine truth.
It is having a mind filled
With the truth of Scripture.

Paul tells us to study, (2 Timothy 2:15)
To handle the Word of God accurately and confidently.
He also agrees knowledge follows virtue (Romans 15:14).

But Jesus promised we’d have help.
The Holy Spirit teaches us. (John 14:26)
And Paul modeled how we pray for each other to gain knowledge. (Colossians 1:9)
(Do we pray for that?)

Adding knowledge requires study,
Meditation,
Discernment
Application.

In a word, it requires diligence.

If we don’t give it any effort, Peter says,
We’re useless and unfruitful.
Shortsighted, to the point of blindness.
We’ve forgotten we were cleansed from our old sins. (2 Peter 1:8-9)

Paul says we have been given
“The mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
We have the blocks.
What will we build with them?

Guarded: New Fiction Release

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Guarded A Nolan Grant story Encounters Series Companion title graphic

It’s here at last!
Releasing today are the ebook versions of Guarded, a companion story to the Encounters series. I say companion because it does not follow chronologically and runs parallel to the existing stories. But like the others in the series, it tackles a tough subject head-on, namely sexuality.

It’s available for Kindle and all the other e-readers, like Nook, Kobo, Apple books and so many more. The paperback is on its way.

From the back cover:

Identity comes from understanding your place and how you fit in. Son, brother, that kind of thing. Sometimes, though, we take on an identity based on what we do.

My older brother died a war hero. I was the quiet one. The college boy. I thought if I got good grades and kept from getting drafted I was home free.

I was wrong.

But Jesus didn’t save me to make my life easier or to give me what I wanted. He didn’t even save me to help me feel good about myself. He saved me because He loved me. I never understood the depth and wonder of that love until I saw my own incurable brokenness.

Seeing that brokenness was only the beginning. Restoration comes but not without testing. I knew the tests weren’t over. Far from it.

I hope you pick up a copy of Guarded.

More Holiness Give Me

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More holiness give me, more strivings within.
More patience in suffering, more sorrow for sin.
More faith in my Savior, more sense of His care.
More joy in His service, more purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me, more trust in the Lord.
More zeal for His glory, more hope in His Word.
More tears for His sorrows, more pain at His grief.
More meekness in trial, more praise for relief.

More purity give me, more strength to o’ercome,
More freedom from earth-stains, more longings for home.
More fit for the kingdom, more useful I’d be,
More blessèd and holy, more, Savior, like Thee.

Philip Bliss, 1873
Read Ephesians 4:17-24

“More Holiness Give Me” appears in some hymnals as “My Prayer.” It’s a fitting title and an even more fitting desire. Take some time to read carefully through each request. How much different would we be, would our churches be if we prayed for those things? More zeal, more purity, more meekness. Let us strive to make this our prayer.

Peter’s Building Blocks: Virtue

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But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 2 Peter 1:5

In verses 3 and 4, Peter summarizes what Christ has done
What we have gained.

Because of that, he says,
Give all diligence, make every effort
To add to your faith,
To build on its foundation,
(Not as a requirement, but as a response.)

Add Virtue.

The Greek is arete.
It is moral superiority.
But not the sanctimonious kind.

It is excellence in meeting the standards God has set.
It is Christ-likeness in our daily lives,
In every situation that we face.

It is our speech. It is our decisions.
It is our responses to good and bad.
It is our thoughts. It is purity.
It is uncompromising.

It is a high standard, requiring hard work, no doubt.
But it is a Holy Spirit thing.
He enables us to do it.
We yield to Him instead of our own nature.

It is countercultural.
Culture has moral relativism, situation ethics,
Following the heart, looking out for number one.

Peter says, “You have Christ. Act like it!”
The first block is moral excellence.
The first block is Virtue.

Hold Thou My Hand

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Hold thou my hand! so weak I am, and helpless,
I dare not take one step without thy aid;
Hold thou my hand! for then, O loving Saviour,
No dread of ill shall make my soul afraid.

Hold thou my hand! and closer, closer draw me
To thy dear self, my hope, my joy, my all;
Hold thou my hand, lest haply I should wander,
And, missing thee, my trembling feet should fall.

Hold thou my hand! the way is dark before me
Without the sunlight of thy face divine;
But when by faith I catch its radiant glory,
What heights of joy, what rapturous songs are mine.

Hold thou my hand! that when I reach the margin
Of that lone river thou didst cross for me,
A heavenly light may flash across its waters,
And every wave like crystal bright shall be.

Fanny Crosby, 1879
Read Isaiah 42:5-9

Think of the times you have taken another’s hand, whether a child, a spouse, or another loved one. It signals love, guidance, support, comfort, protection, resolve, or solidarity, among other things. Now consider this hymn where the writer calls out for the reassurance of God’s guiding hand. Then in Isaiah, God confirms He is there to take our hand. We have a great God, worthy of our worship!

Exploring Exodus: Proclaiming His Name

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And the LORD passed before [Moses] and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7

This is God’s revelation of Himself.
Who He is.
What He does

The Self-Existent God
Merciful
Gracious
Longsuffering

Abounding in goodness and truth
Keeping mercy for thousands
Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin
By no means clearing the guilty
Letting the consequences of their actions and decisions play out.

This is the glory Moses asked to see.
This is the glory that filled the Temple
This is the glory Christ showed us.
This is the glory we can see for ourselves.

Because of what Jesus did.
Because of who God is.
He invites us to know Him.

God’s name is THE name worth proclaiming.

Peter’s Building Blocks: Knowledge

Guarded: New Fiction Release

More Holiness Give Me

Peter’s Building Blocks: Virtue

Hold Thou My Hand

Exploring Exodus: Proclaiming His Name

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series