Wisdom Wednesday: A Last Look at Mike Murdock's 101 Wisdom Keys

Hey gang!

It’s the last of our Wisdom Wednesdays looking at Mike Murdock’s 101 Wisdom Keys. Hope you’ve enjoyed it up to here and I hope these 21 bless you.

81.You will never reach the palace talking like a peasant.
The was a movie called My Fair Lady and also one of Shakespeare’s plays called Pygmalion that brought the peasant girl to the king’s mansion. This isn’t necessarily gutter language and bad hair, it’s about attitude. The Israelites grumbled and moaned all the way to the Promised Land and everyone over 20 never got to see it.

82. Struggle is the proof you have not been conquered.
Paul tells that we fight the spirit not flesh and bone in Ephesians and it’s true. Overcoming sin is one step at a time. Why do you think that many alcoholics do well with the 12 step program. It’s one day at a time as Christy Lane to sing, not instantly getting the keys to the kingdom.

83. Never discuss your problem with someone incapable of solving it.
I’m not sure I totally agree with this one, but I do on one principal. I’d rather talk to someone who can help me with my problems than to talk to someone who can commiserate on my problems.

84. Greatness is not the pursuit of perfection but the pursuit of completion.
In sports, not many teams go on a perfect run and finish their seasons undefeated. Why? Because the real prize is winning the Super Bowl. Only one Super Bowl team has ever gone undefeated, 1972 Miami Dolphins. The New England Patriots almost did it a couple seasons ago, but fell short against the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.

85. Never rewrite your theology to accommodate a tragedy.
Have you ever had a bad day and come home to the kids screaming about not getting their way, so you give in just to have a happy voice. This does two things. The first is to make your spouse unhappy. Secondly, it sets up a new double standard for behavior. The priest Aaron did this to accommodate the Israelites in Exodus by building them a golden calf to worship after Moses had been on Mount Sinai talking to God. God was displeased and almost brought fire on them. Moses begged God for mercy for them. However, when he came to the tribe and saw what they had done, he broke the tablets of The Ten Commandments.

86. The greatest quality on earth is the willingness to become.
Have you ever met a kid that wasn’t the brightest and yet 10, 20 years out of high school and they are the millionaire with the sportscar, beautiful wife and perfect kids. Why was this kid able to turn it around? Because of working harder to compensate a supposed lack of intelligence. Willpower and hard work will get you a long way.

87. Warfare always surrounds the birth of a miracle.
Moses was bringing the Israelites out of Egypt and the Egyptians were chasing them down. The Israelites backs were to The Red Sea. God opened up the sea and the Israelites walked across. The water then came slamming down on the Egyptians ending their pursuit.

88. Failure is not an event, but an opinion.
I love Wendy’s hamburgers, but I like the story of how Dave Thomas had brought this business along after failing. It’s the ability to get back up that makes a person not be a failure.

89. You are never as far from a miracle as it first appears.
Peter and the other disciples were in a boat as Jesus came walking toward them. Yes, Jesus was walking on water. He asked them to join him. The other disciples said that they would once they got to dry land. But Peter went out and he walked on the water too.

90. What you see determines what you desire.
Put a steak in front of a starving man and he’ll get pretty hungry. Put a wall up in front of someone and they’ll turn the other way looking for something else.

91. The atmosphere you permit determines the product you produce.
I used to have a relative that was a horrible house cleaner. The mess was often higher than her youngest child. I asked him why he never cleaned his room. He said because mama said he was lazy. He never did clean that house. Even after she died. He moved in with his girlfriend and the girl taught him how to clean house.

92. Prosperity is simply having enough of God’s provision to complete his instructions for your life.
A quote from “The Interview With God” says, a rich man is not determined by he who has the most, it is determined by he who can live with the least.

93. God will never advance you instructions beyond your last act of disobedience.
Solomon was the wisest king of the Bible, but Chapter 12 of 2 Samuel tells us that he could have been so much more. God was displeased that he married women outside of the Israelites. That’s why you see the back end of Solomon’s life end in turmoil and confusion that led him to write Ecclesiastes.

94. Anger is the birthplace for solution.
Have you ever been upset that someone didn’t do what you wanted them to do and while you are angry about it, you think of a better way to get the problem solved. One day, my wife took my tools in her car and I didn’t know and didn’t care why when my daughter came to me to tell me one of her toys needed batteries. It was one of those toys that had the screws down in the toy. I thought the toy would have to wait, but I went to the kitchen and found a carving knife that was thin enough to put in there. I was able to get the screw out and fix the batteries.

95. Those who do not respect your time will not respect your wisdom either.
One of the things that my church stresses is not letting members get overly involved. They want you to be involved, just not to a point that it sacrifices the rest of your life ( I.e., your marriage, time with kids, etc.). They want you to have the time for everything else, so that you come to be involved with more energy and commitment because your plate isn’t as full.

96. Discontent is the catalyst for change.
The Civil War began because the north and south of the United States could not agree on slavery. So they fought a four-year war to determine that slavery would be abolished.

97. Crisis is merely concentrated information.
Hurricane Charlie uprooted a tree in my father-in-law’s back yard. This tree had roots in the ground that went under the foundation of the house and when the roots came out, so did the corner of the house. Hurricane Ivan was coming and the focus had to be on fixing the corner of the house so the rest would stand the storm.

98. Silence cannot be misquoted.
Husbands will understand this pretty well. Have you ever made your wife mad and she gives you “the evil eye?” When you get that look, you know you messed up and will now be buying flowers to make up for it.

99. Those who created the pain of yesterday do not control the pleasure of tomorrow.
In this economy, many people are losing their jobs. It is a hard time. However, I love overly optimistic people. They say, “Don’t worry about me. I was looking for a job when I found this one.” Even though the boss fired them or laid them off, they realize that boss does not hold their future at the next one.

100. When you change your focus, you will change your feelings.
Ever get mad and later realize what you got mad over was pretty stupid? One day, I was looking for my sunglasses. I thought someone had stolen them. My wife says, “Hey, feel your head!” There they were. You go from mad to happy because you had someone help you through your big hair.

101. What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you.
When I started the idea of wanting to teach The Bible in 90 Days, a lot of people told me they didn’t have the time. The great part was that 30 are taking part. However, the person who is learning the most is me. To keep the information interesting, I look up other websites and add extra nuggets of information that answer the questions I want answered. Everybody gets wiser and is learning more Bible.

So that is 101 Wisdom Keys. I hadn’t read the book in several years, but it was good for me to review to remember things I forgot. That’s why I always recommend reading your Bible more than once. You can learn something new every day. Reading books that contain wisdom are not one-and-done resources. They are not to be checked off a list. OK, done that. When we reach for wisdom, sometimes it’s not the first time through that we read what we need. It’s like watching a mystery movie the second time, you see something that you didn’t witness the first time and it becomes an “Oh yeah, that’s how it’s done” moment. Reading has become a lost art. There is wisdom in reading. Sometimes you have to open the book and read the instructions in order to make life go right.

I love you guys!
Frank