Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Category: Where the Bush is Burning

The Principal Thing

The Principal Thing

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Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. 

Proverbs 4:7 

… in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

Colossians 2:3  

Knowledge is good, but wisdom is better. Our text identifies wisdom, as ‘the principal thing.’ What does that mean? It means that wisdom is supreme. We prize knowledge and rightly so. Knowledge is vastly superior to ignorance. Ignorance is inherently dangerous. Knowledge is good and more knowledge is better. Above these is wisdom. Wisdom is understanding. Wisdom uses knowledge rightly. If a person has knowledge without wisdom, they become arrogant and thereby foolish. Paul remarks in Corinthians, ‘Knowledge puffs up.’ We want knowledge, but we must have wisdom with it. Where can we go to acquire both? According to the second portion of our text the treasures of knowledge and wisdom reside in Christ. If we gain knowledge it will be through Christ. If we find wisdom, it will be in Christ. This means if we want these things, we will pursue Christ. To know Him and the Father Who sent Him is eternal life. Therefore, we make much of Christ. He gives what we cannot acquire anywhere else. Through Him we gain knowledge and the wisdom to understand.  

Our Holy and Wise God, 
we rejoice that You do not leave us in our ignorance. 
We praise You that You point us to the One 
in Whom resides wisdom and knowledge. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Knowledge And Wisdom

Knowledge And Wisdom

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… in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

Colossians 2: 3 

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,  
But fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

Proverbs 1:7 

If we desire knowledge and wisdom where shall we begin? The second portion of our text addresses this directly. ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.’ The word ‘fear’ as it appears is communicating honor, reverence, and regard. It does not denote abject terror in the way we often think of the use of the word. Thus to honor, reverence and regard God, as God, is the beginning of knowledge and the path to wisdom. To disregard God, to devalue Him in our estimation is utter folly. David remarks ‘The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.’ The remark from the fool’s mouth is not so much a statement of atheism, but rather a refusal to regard God as having any say or authority over the speaker. Thus, if we would begin to acquire knowledge and wisdom, we must begin with God. This leads us to Christ. The first portion of our text tells us all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. Therefore, if we are to begin where God points us, we will begin with Christ. He is that storehouse of wisdom and knowledge. We begin to know God by knowing Christ.  

Our Good and Faithful God, 
we rejoice that Christ is a fountain of knowledge and wisdom. 
We praise You that You teach us, 
to go to Him, that we may deeply drink of that fountain. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Named And Claimed

Named And Claimed

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He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. 

Revelation 3:12 

We have been considering the practical implications of adoption. Our text for today touches upon that in a delightful way. Christ is speaking to the church in Philadelphia. As He concludes His remarks, He states our text for today, ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.’ Certainly, this is one of the benefits of God’s adopting us into His family. When we adopt children into our own family, we, in essence, ‘name them and claim them,’ to use a common phrase in a completely different way. It is not uncommon for a newly adopted child to receive, a new given name, as well as, of course, the family name, which is ‘new’ to them. By doing so, the adopting parents are ‘naming and claiming’ this child as their own. So God does to us. All that God intended when He ‘predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself,’ He has, and will, infallibly perform.  Because He has, ‘chosen us in (Christ) before the foundation of the world,’. He will bring us all the way to make us ‘a pillar in the temple of my God…and…will write upon him the name of my God.’ This is a great encouragement to those of us who often feel as if we are without the ‘family support’ that others seem to have. It is a great encouragement to know that the God of Heaven, and the Christ of God both name us and claim us as their Own. With this in mind, we can face the day. 

Our most Gracious and Loving Heavenly Father, 
we rejoice today, that You both name us and claim us as Your Own. 
Fill our vision today, full of Christ, our Elder Brother, 
that we might grow to be more like Him. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Waiting For The Adoption

Waiting For The Adoption

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Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 

Romans 8:23 

To press a little farther upon the idea of the culmination of our adoption, let us consider these words, ‘even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.’ Simply put, we feel the weight of our current physical state and long for the day when we receive a new body. Being a sufferer of his ‘thorn in the flesh,’ Paul would have felt this keenly. Beyond that, the total effect of all his trials, the beatings, the stoning, the imprisonments and the hardships of the missionary journeys which he endured, would have made his latter years filled with pain. According to sources, adoption during ancient days occurred in two stages. The first stage was a rather private affair, and could be unpublicized. The second stage was a highly public affair when the adopted one received the new robes of sonship which befit his or her new rank. So it is with us. We are already the sons and daughters of the Living God, yet all the world does not recognize our Royal stations, nor is it necessary, for the moment that they do so. There comes a day, however, when with glorified bodies, as befits our rank as the Children of God by adoption, we shall stand before the eyes of all, owned of God as His Own, and ready to reign with Christ. So we wait, but not for long. 

Our most Glorious and Living God, 
we rejoice that You have made us Your Own. 
We praise You, that the day is coming when You shall own us before the eyes of all. 
Continue to show us Christ, until the faith becomes sight. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Heirs…And Joint Heirs

Heirs…And Joint Heirs

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….and if children, then heirs— heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 

Romans 8:17 

It is, perhaps, difficult for us to comprehend that we are, ‘heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.’ For us who were born the sons and daughters of Adams’ fallen race, into a world of corruption, sin, and degradation, this is beyond our ability to grasp. Yet, we find that our text today, declares that it is so. This means that Christ’s Righteousness is my Righteousness; that His Throne is my Throne; that His Heaven is my Heaven; that the Love of the Father to Him is the Love of the Father to me; that I have been, ‘received unto the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.’ Where Christ, the Head, is there must His Body also be. Where the Bridegroom feasts, there must the Bride also dine. Where the Elder Brother Rules, there must the younger siblings also ‘reign with Him.’ There is nothing which is Christ’s by inheritance which is not also ours. We are, ‘Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.’ Here is something to raise our hearts today. We have yet to come into the full measure of our inheritance. We have yet to awaken with glorified bodies and the full sight of Christ, for which we have longed so greatly. The inheritance in all its’ fullness shall yet arrive, and all the children shall enter into the richness of it. 

Our Great and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that You elevated us to the position of heirs. 
We are Your people, bought with a saving blood of Christ, 
with Whom we are joint heirs. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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