Mitchell County
Perception is a point of view regarding something, or you could say it is how someone looks at something. The reason I say that is that two people can be talking about the same thing and see things differently.
There was a skit on Hee-Haw many years ago about “That’s Good, No That’s Bad,” with Archie Campbell and Roy Clark.
Archie asked Roy:
“Did you hear about my great misfortune?”
“No!”
“My uncle, who just died.”
“That’s bad.”
“No, that’s good.”
“How come?”
“Well, he left me $50,000.00.”
“That’s good.”
“No, that’s bad.”
“How come?”
“Well, when the IRS got through taking all the taxes out, I only had $25,000.00.”
“That’s bad.”
“No, that’s good.”
“How come?”
“Well, I bought myself an airplane and learned how to fly.”
“That’s good.”
“No, that’s bad.”
“How come?”
“Well, I was flying it, and I found myself flying upside down and fell out of the thing.”
“That’s bad.”
“No, that’s good.”
“How come?”
“I looked down, and there was a great big old haystack.”
“That’s good.”
“No, that’s bad.”
“How come?”
“Well, I got a little closer and saw a pitchfork aimed right at me.”
“That’s bad.”
“No, that’s good.”
“How come?”
“I missed the pitchfork.”
“That’s good.”
“No, that’s bad.”
“How come?”
“I missed the haystack too.”
“That’s bad.”
“No, that’s good.”
“How come?”
“Well, I hit the ground and bounced around, and an ambulance came and picked me up and took me to the hospital.”
“That’s good.”
“No, that’s bad.”
“How come?”
“When I got to the hospital, I took a turn for the nurse.”
“That’s bad.”
“You’re right—my wife about killed me!”
The greatest need of a believer is to have the right perception about God and God’s Word.
In the Bible, perceive means more than just seeing or hearing; it involves a deeper spiritual insight to understand God’s will, discern spiritual truth, and grasp underlying realities beyond the visible form. This spiritual perception is a gift from the Holy Spirit, enabling believers to understand divine purposes.
It requires an open heart, the pursuit of wisdom, and a reliance on God—as opposed to the “natural man,” who lacks this understanding. You can never have the right perception of God by human thinking. Christians need spiritual wisdom.
Now, spiritual wisdom reaches out and wants to grasp the things of God. Spiritual wisdom hungers and thirsts after the wisdom of God. Also, spiritual wisdom seeks after the wisdom of God, which means there is a great desire in the heart to know about God.
Christians also need spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge is a skill acquired by having a personal relationship with God. It’s like this: we all know what a dump truck does—it hauls material and dumps it somewhere. Now that’s wisdom. But knowledge is being able to get into that dump truck, drive it, and know how to dump the material out of the truck.
What I’m saying is that there are a lot of people who have wisdom about God and about God’s Word. The reason I say that is that most lost people can tell you how a Christian is supposed to live. See, they only have wisdom. They fail to have knowledge because they do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
A Christian knows what to do and how to take care of it when problems or tragedies come their way. They know that they are incapable of overcoming them on their own. So they cry out unto the Lord and send Him their requests. They know that God will hear their prayers and answer them in His time and His way.
The Bible says in Isaiah 55:6–9 (KJV):
“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Knowledge is knowing God is in control, whether we perceive it or not.
Pastor Steve Williams
Words of Wisdom:
- We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.
- We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.
- Knowledge without action is useless.
- Without knowledge, action is useless, and knowledge without action is futile. — John Locke
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Steve Williams is the pastor of Berry Chapel Baptist Church in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. You can read more good Christian news from Steve HERE.
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