Mrs. Adedeji: Welcome everyone to Bible in Focus and we are so excited to have you join us in our very first edition and episode in Bible in focus. And today we are actually excited to have you with us in this very episode. I am Lara Gboyega Adedeji and with me is my husband, Gboyega Adedeji and today, we will be sharing with you from the Bible and God’s word. We will be drawing life lessons together.
Mr. Adedeji: Alright! I am sure we are aware that just like vehicles, many people are actually going through life unguided, uncontrolled. Many lives are out of control, they desire change, they desire to grow, they desire to improve. But they hope somebody will change their lives from outside. They hope that their lives will suddenly come to shape by chance. These sudden expectations actually, don’t always happen. And so, instead of hoping that your life will suddenly come to a good shape, you will have a balanced life, a good marriage, a good finance, a good ministry, a good career or education, whatever you desire, we want to see if there is a way from the word of God a man or a woman could build his or her life, could determine his or her future, you know, many people seems to believe that their future would suddenly happen, but I believe from the word of God that you can also join hands with God to create the future you desire. So, in our focus today in Bible in Focus, we want to learn How You and I can Build Our Lives.
Mrs. Adedeji: And it is so true sir because going to the Scriptures, Jesus said “who wants to build a house that will not first sit down and count the cost ad see whether what he has is enough to build.” So, what we are doing today is to focus on the Scripture and see how we can sit down and count the cost. Many people have started the new year now and their expectations is that they want to appear at the end of the year (2021) and see a glorious life. It does not happen that way. You must sit down first and count the cost, what will you build with? Do you have enough to build with and I think the Scripture we will be studying today will really let into what we need, what are the resources required to build that house, that life? What are the resources that are needed and necessary to make it happen? So, we want to look at the Scripture: Proverbs 24:3-4. The Bible says:
Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
4 By knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.
Did we see that? Sir, please speak to this!
Mr. Adedeji: You know, that verse three is a good place to start. It says: “through wisdom a house is built.” And you know, when you were mentioning how some people wants to get to December and wants a fantastic life, a fantastic house, and you likened life to house; now, I want us to actually consider that because this book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom. It says: “through wisdom a house is built.” The question is: Is the intention of the writer of this Proverbs, the house – the physical building? It is just letting us into a principle that works. The same principle that works in the building and construction of a house can actually work in the building and construction of a life or a future. So, we can liken the future, December 2021 and going forward. So, whatever future that a man or a woman desires, that could represent the house. And the Scripture says through wisdom, that future is built. You know there is a Scripture that says “every house is built by someone but He that builds all things is God.” So, I could also learn from that, that my life, my future has to be built by me under the supervision and guidance of God. And so, the Bible says “through wisdom”, which shows that the tools or the materials that I require for me to build my future is made clear to me… WISDOM!
Mrs. Adedeji: To build is a desire that is innate to every human being. But the how, the principles that makes for our desires to come to pass is what we must accept and key into for us to have that desire future. So, it is not enough to say you have a desired future, you want your life to speak of greatness, you want it to speak of prosperity; can you get the tool and the resources that will help you build?
Mr. Adedeji: As you were saying that, a Scripture actually came into my mind. In the book of Ecclesiastes 10:15. I will like to read it and it says: “the labor of fools… you know the opposite of wisdom is folly! A fool is somebody who is not wise. It says the labor, the efforts of fools, the aspirations of fools, their expectations… wearies them… it makes them tired and frustrated; they keep expecting but they are disappointed every time… for they do not even know how to go to the city.” They don’t know the how.
Mrs. Adedeji: Not that they don’t have the desire, they have the desire, they want to build, but they don’t know how. So, for us to really step into all that we need to step into, we must know how. The how is the major question. It is not so much about the what. You know, many of us have this desire, we want a great future, you want to have a happy home, you want to have good finances, you want to have healthy children, you want to have a healthy career. But how? How do you build and attain this? How do you step into this reality? And that is what this Scripture is saying to us. And you are also saying to us that it is through wisdom. How do you attain these experiences? How do you build successfully? How do you build something that would last?
Mr. Adedeji: How do you become a better person? How do you become your dream? How do you become your desire? You must know the how. You know, one thing that we must explain before we move to the next point is in that Proverbs 24. You see, when you talk about “how”, the how does not jump on you. You cannot suddenly have the how. You have to go for it. For instance, there is a how of everything. There is nothing you want to do that there is no way of doing it. Finding the way to do a thing makes you not to be a fool, but to be wise. For instance, there is a way to talk to people. When you are in the crowd, there is a way to behave. There is a way to manage your finances, there is a way to raise your children. Okay, you want to get married, there is a way to doing it. If you can know the way, and you follow the way, you would be called a wise man or a wise woman.
Mrs. Adedeji: Yes! If you follow the way, you would get to the destination.
Mr. Adedeji: To your future, to your expectation.
Mrs. Adedeji: Yes! So, the how is the way. Do you get that? The how to building the life of your dream, the how of attaining the future that you desire is the way. So, you must find the way. No wonder God was saying in that Scripture, in Jeremiah, that find the old path, find the way and walk in it that you may find rest for your soul. I am sure that all of us desire that rest, you want that rest in your health, finances, career, businesses, ministry, marriage. The how to get to the rest is the way to the rest. So, you must find the way. That’s why that Proverbs 24:3 is so important. It says “through wisdom.” Wisdom is the way. You know, when you are passing a way, you pass through it. So, wisdom is the way you must pass through to build a house.
Mr. Adedeji: If you want to get into your future, you need wisdom. And the next thing it says: “by understanding it is established.” You know, if we look at the word “established”, another word for it is that it is rooted, firm, unshakable, it cannot be tossed to and fro, because it is not enough for you to jump into the way. For instance, if you are not sure of the way, you don’t jump into it. How many of us would be willing to follow a path that is unstable? We want even be firm in our heart about where we want to walk through so that we don’t fall. For instance, there is this stability that we find on every way. Before you get into a point in time where you jump into walking on a particular road, you must first have passed through that realm of understanding, being firm, being unshakable and stable. You know for instance; you have two choices to make. What will make you to choose a path and yet being resolute on your choice is the understanding. I have come to know, which is knowledge and I have come to understand that this way is the way that will take me to my destiny and so, I walk in the way. So, if we want to add to the last one, it says by knowledge the rooms are filled. So, we can even see, for those of us that have done some studies around this, that the foundation is knowledge and then you move from that knowledge to understanding, and then from there to wisdom. So, it is upon your understanding that your wisdom is built, and upon your knowledge, your understanding is built. And until you understand, until you are firm on the things you know. You know, it is one thing to have head knowledge, it is another thing for you to be convinced about something beyond reasonable doubt. You just know that these things work, and you know it that if it does not work, it is because you haven’t done certain things and if you do those things, then definitely, they must work. That is understanding, and then you are able and confident to walk through it.
Mrs. Adedeji: What I am getting is this: knowledge is that foundation upon which your understanding is built. Now, your understanding gives you stability, and the stability of your understanding gives you a place upon which you can build your house. So, the reason why you will not move your house from the place it is to another place is because it is founded, it is stable. So, your establishment also gives credence to your building.
Mr. Adedeji: Let me show you something that I just saw there. Have you seen a normal person that chooses to become a medical doctor, and before becoming one, has chosen to become a lawyer? Now after becoming a lawyer, spending several years, then chooses to become something else. Is it normal? So, when you choose a path, you must actually remain there. So, it is by understanding the nitty-gritty, the details, the demands of your choice that makes you to be firmly established in it. So, it is not enough to make a choice, you must gather all the relevant information, you must increase in knowledge so that you now know why certain things work, so that you are firm in your choice and you are not shaking or moving from one decision to another, from one marriage to another marriage, from one job to another job, you make a choice since you are a man or woman of understanding and you stay in your choice.
Mrs. Adedeji: Wow! I hope we are getting this because this is a profound truth that the Lord is sharing with us. Now, by knowledge, the rooms of your life are put into place. For example, if this year you want to have a great marriage, you are not satisfied with where your marriage is right now, and you want to move, the first step is that you fill that room with knowledge and when you get knowledge in that area, you are not jumping, then you proceed to the place of understanding because your understanding is what gives you the stability you need, the foundation upon which that marriage will stand.
Mr. Adedeji: And it gives you an edge because others that are jumping, that hopping from places to places, marriages to marriages, relationships to relationships, you have an edge over them because of your own stability.
Mrs. Adedeji: Your stability, your understanding establishes you. So, you are able to establish that house called great marriage on the foundation of understanding that you have gotten. So, you don’t just start collating knowledge, you translate from knowledge to understanding. You now understand how great marriages work. You now understand the principles that makes for a great marriage. Now you now have wisdom built for a great marriage.
Mr. Adedeji: It is like you are now being bold to walk the path. You see, I have seen marriages fail, I have seen marriages work and now how to make a marriage work, and I am now bold in implementing my knowledge. When you are implementing. When you are implementing what you know, people call you a wise or a foolish person based on the things you know. You see, there is a Scripture that says “wisdom is justified by her children.” What does that mean? You know, you don’t have children at the beginning of your marriage. So, take wisdom as a new marriage. How do people know that this marriage is fruitful? They see the children. Every time we see the children of the marriage, we say this marriage has produced fruits. We know the kind of marriage that you have by the kind of children that you produce. So, until we begin to see your children behave in a certain manner, we do not think or know that your marriage is a good marriage because it takes good to produce good.
Mrs. Adedeji: Okay! So, like the Scripture where Jesus said “a tree is known by its fruits.”
Mr. Adedeji: So, that is why your choices are known by the consequences that they produce. So, when you choose a path, because you have knowledge, and then you have graduated to understanding and you make a choice based on that understanding and you choose to walk based on that choice, the product of that walk is what will tell whether you are a wise man or woman, or you are a foolish person.
Mrs. Adedeji: Okay! So, wisdom is justified by the knowledge and understanding you have gotten.
Mr. Adedeji: Wisdom is justified by the fruit of the knowledge and understanding. The consequences!!!
Mrs. Adedeji: So, you don’t show wisdom if you have not attained knowledge and understanding. So, knowledge and understanding are the foundation of your wisdom.
Mr. Adedeji: Knowledge and understanding brings you to the place and opportunity for you to demonstrate, to act, to manifest. Now, wisdom is therefore justified in the nature, in the substance of your manifestation and action. Come to think of it, you can never be known whether you are wise or foolish if you have refused to act. It is your action that demonstrates your wisdom or your foolishness. And so, a man or woman who does not act is such that cannot be known whether is wise or foolish. Now, what you are able to produce, the consequences of your actions must then be build on the robust foundation of your knowledge and understanding if you must be called a wise man or woman at the end. You see, if you act without knowledge and understanding, you can never be called a wise man or woman.
Mrs. Adedeji: Yes! And that speaks to the parable of the ten virgins. Five were foolish, five were wise, not because of the way they look, but because of their actions. Five did not take additional oil, and they were called foolish virgins. But five took additional oil with them on the journey, they had the knowledge and understanding to take additional oil.
Mr. Adedeji: Do you know all of them had knowledge, that is what I perceived because their lamps were all burning. That means there was a starting knowledge. Don’t forget, they were all virgins, it was knowledge that produced that. They had expectations, they came for the same goal, it was also knowledge that produced that. But a group of people had understanding that this oil that we had will not be enough. Should the bridegroom delay, we will not have enough oil in our lamps. Let us go with additional because we want to be established.
Mrs. Adedeji: So, understanding distinguished between the foolish and the wise virgins.
Mr. Adedeji: It was understanding that separated them because you have to jump from knowledge to wisdom through understanding. Since those were called foolish, they lacked understanding and it was lack of understanding that made their experience to be cut short, they were not established. They couldn’t sustain the glory, the glamour because so many people will start the year very well, by March, April, they are booming, they are doing some things well. By the middle of the year, they are getting discouraged. Understanding is separating them. So, by August or October, you can’t find them anywhere again, they have stopped whatever they started. What is the difference? They did not lack knowledge completely, but they lack understanding of how to sustain the momentum they have started. So, it is not enough to start with knowledge, you must use understanding to continue, to sustain. Again, let your wisdom be visible, don’t cover up your wisdom, you must carry out great works with your wisdom. You must take steps, you must act, make decisions, let your decisions expose you to who you really are and to your maturity. You see, if you refuse to act, you wouldn’t even know if you have grown enough.
Mrs. Adedeji: Yeah!
Mr. Adedeji: So, your actions show you your state of maturity, how you have transited from knowledge through understanding to wisdom. So, if there is a need for you to add more knowledge, more understanding so that you can demonstrate more wisdom, remember the Bible says in Proverbs that the wise, they learn and they increase in learning. So, it says the rooms are filled, different segments of their lives are satisfied, they are taking care of. Why? Because they increase in knowledge. And based on their knowledge, they get established in understanding because when you know something, that is the first step. Don’t just know things, master the things you know. Don’t have a shallow knowledge of an area you want to go into, you want your finances to be fantastic, there are some people who are experts in that area, when want to follow God more in the new phase of your life, there are people that know God more, seek for help. Their experiences and secrets will expose you to understanding because you had knowledge. There is nobody who does not know that God is good, there nobody who does not know that peaceful marriage produces more productivity. How to have peaceful marriage is the issue. But they can share their secrets which then become the basis for your own establishment and if you can act on the things they share with you, you will be called a wise man or woman.
Mrs. Adedeji: You will produce wisdom. You know the Bible says “wisdom is the principal thing, in all your getting, get understanding.” This is the word for us, it is such a profound sharing and the Lord has exposed us to the truth of His word in Proverbs 24:3-4 that wisdom is the principal thing. Through wisdom, the house is built. The house you desire to build this year will be built for you through wisdom and by understanding it would be established and by knowledge, all the rooms, the rooms in your life will be filled with pleasant and precious riches. I believe that you have been blessed, it is such a great time studying the word of God. There is so much light, so much truth that the Lord has shared with us. Please, take these words, it is not the hearer alone that get blessed, but the doer. Act on the word and show the wisdom that you have gained.
Mr. Adedeji: There is a word that came to my heart: “show the stuff that you are made up of.” Show the wisdom that is building you or that you are building with.
Mrs. Adedeji: Show the understanding that is establishing you or that has established you.
Mr. Adedeji: Or that is given you an edge among your peers. Show the knowledge that can set you free.
Mrs. Adedeji: Yes! And it is filling your life.
Mr. Adedeji: Thank you, I am so excited to be here to share this moment with us. What I want you to do is that like this video if you have learnt something, drop your comments with us, it is a conversation.
Mrs. Adedeji: And you can ask questions!
Mr. Adedeji: You can ask questions; you can send us messages or even get in touch with us. In case you don’t want to do that, you can just drop your comments with us and share this video with your friends. I am sure it would bless somebody that you love and that you know. In case you are new to our channel, we want you to subscribe and click the notification bell so that each time we drop a new video, you would be the first to know. Thank you for the gift of tour time, it has been a great company with my wife, Lara Gboyega Adedeji, till the next time we have another edition for you on this same channel, stay blessed!
