Monday February 10
“Walking With Wise Men”
Luke 10:41-42
“And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
Luke 11:1
“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."
Proverbs 13:20
“He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.”
Today we are in between the chapters of Luke 10 and Luke 11. I felt very impressed to take the time to tie them together with a personal spiritual discipline that has really helped me to take time to “sit at the feet of Jesus” on a daily basis over the many years of our ministry.
In my very first year as a follower of Jesus, I was privileged to attend Lynchburg Baptist College, a brand-new Christian Bible College in Lynchburg Virginia that was co-founded by Dr. Jerry Falwell and Dr. Elmer Towns. It was there that I was introduced to Christian Devotional Books that would greatly influence my life and ministry and give me a firm foundation to stand on over the years.
As a young believer I committed to reading five Psalms a day and one Proverbs that would take me through both books each month. In Proverbs 13:20, I saw the great truth of “walking with wise men” that would keep me from being destroyed by the devil and his fools. I asked the question, “How can I walk with wise men when they don’t have the time to spend with a college student or young pastor?” Of course, in those early years at Liberty University, because there was only a handful of students, I was privileged to get to know wise men like Dr. Falwell, Dr. Towns, Dr. Hindson, Dr. Wilmington, Dr. Chapman, Dr. Dobson and many other wonderful professors on a personal and first name basis, but that didn’t mean they had time to “walk with me” every day and impart their wisdom into my life.
But it was there that I’ll never forget Dr. Falwell, in those very first days of the college in chapel services, introducing us to Christian leaders and writer from the past. The first one I remember him mentioning was Watchman Nee and his book called “The Normal Christian Life”. He told how much it had influenced his life. The next one was Andrew Murray and his book, “With Christ in the School of Prayer”. Another author and great pastor from the past that He often mentioned was Charles Spurgeon. One of my professors actually started each class session by reading the day’s devotion from “My Utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers.
It was then that I realized that these great Christian leaders and authors from the past left their wisdom and their lives in their writings. So I began the daily discipline, of not only reading the Psalms and Proverbs, memorizing verses that spoke to my heart, and reading systematically through the entire Bible, but also spending time with these “wise men” of past centuries.
So today, I want to list some of the “wise men” and their daily devotional books that you can easily find somewhere on sale on the internet. These are books that I really believe have imparted to me a greater love and knowledge of our great God and Redeemer Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Watchman Nee – Book: “The Normal Christian Life”; Devotionals: “The Joyful Heart” and “Table in the Wilderness”.
Charles Spurgeon – Devotionals: “Morning and Evening” and “Faith’s Check Book”
Andrew Murray – Books: “With Christ in the School of Prayer” and “Absolute Surrender”; “Humility”
Devotionals: “Daily Thoughts on Holiness” and “God’s Best Secrets”
Oswald Chambers – Devotionals: “My Utmost for His Highest” and “Daily Thoughts for Disciples”
Henry Blackaby – Devotional: “Experiencing God Day by Day”
E. M. Bounds – One Minute Devotional: “The Power of Prayer”
Elmer Towns – Devotional: “365 Ways to Know God”
A. W. Tozer – Devotional: “Renewed Day by Day”
Of course, this is not a complete list, but I trust it will encourage you to spend time with some “wise men” too.
If we are not careful with all the television media and social media that we are exposed to everyday, we can end up “becoming a companion of fools” and it is no wonder that so many lives are being destroyed.
God bless!
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