And example of Heavenly Wisdom as Mercy

After talking with Dodge, Cody bedded down in the yard next to his horse. On towards dawn his horse nicked. Cody sat up and looked around and saw was a man creeping towards him, carrying a bundle.

The man came directly to his horse, laid the bundle in front of him, and turned to go. In one smooth motion, Cody rose, kicked the bundle away from his horse and leapt upon the unsuspecting man, putting his neck in a head lock and the knife on his throat.

The man struggled, but Cody said quietly.” Relax or you could die.” The man surrendered. Cody got him to his feet and pulled him towards the coals of the fire and tied the man’s hands and feet. He threw more wood on the fire and as the flames blazed up, he saw that his captive was one of Dodge’s hands.

“So, what were you doing there?” Cody asked in a low voice.

“Nothing. It’s none of your business!” the man snarled.

“Really? That was my horse you gave something to. What was it?”

The man was silent. Cody pulled his long knife out and began to cut up some of the larger pieces of firewood. “You know, this knife can cut other things, too,” he said gently. “If you don’t want to talk, we can encourage you. But that’s not what I want. Answer my questions and it will go better for you.”

The man hesitated, then said, “Alright, we cowhands don’t want to see our range taken over by sod busters. We see you as the one who’s protecting the sod busters. So, we thought to get rid of you by killing your horse. Without a horse you couldn’t do much. That’s a bundle of poisoned grass and grain.”

“You are a smart man to share your thoughts. I’m surprised you didn’t try to pin this on Dodge, but instead took the responsibility on yourself and your friends. I will say that this speaks well for you to be so loyal to Dodge and his operation. If you use that loyalty in a more constructive way, it will be good for all of you.”

Cody leaned over with his knife and cut the ropes around the man’s ankles, then on his wrists. “Go back and tell your friends that we need to talk.”

The man rubbed his wrists, got up, looked at Cody again, astonishment in his eyes at this act of mercy, amazed that he was still alive, then turned and left as silently as he’d come.

Picture: Mercy brings much to light.

Application of Heavenly Wisdom

As Cody used purity of motives (seeking to avoid conflict, helping all to win), was peace loving, and sweetly reasonable in his interactions with Dodge the cattleman, he helped Dodge be approachable and submissive to a new idea.
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The next morning Cody met with Dodge, and started by saying, “I did some figuring last night. If you are correct about having a range fifty by fifty miles, that’s two thousand five hundred square miles. In acres that’s one million six hundred thousand acres! That’s a huge spread.

“If you could legally claim one third of that, you would have five hundred thousand acres and a dozen watering places. That is far more than enough for 6,000 cattle. You could expand beyond what you are doing now, and your men would have more time to care for the cattle since they wouldn’t have to cover such a large area.”

“I just don’t want to give any of it up!” declared Dodge.

‘That’s natural,” replied the Cody, “but it is not possible. If you don’t move to legally claim a portion of your land, you will eventually lose all of it. And we don’t want to see that.”

“You don’t? I find that hard to believe!” Dodge spat out.

“We want to see you prosper, Mr. Dodge,” said Cody, “but you must move with the times and thereby protect yourself legally, not with guns to kill others and end up getting hung.”

Dodge lowered his head, then said, “Alright, alright, how do I go about doing this land claiming business?”

Cody explained how he would have to go to the fort and work with the land office there. Cody went on,”Think carefully, set your boundaries, and act soon. Give yourself a good buffer around your ranch buildings, and make sure John’s three hundred acres are outside of what you will claim.”

Dodge nodded; they could see his mind at work checking the possibilities, and coming to a point of agreement.
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Now, if Cody had not used Heavenly Wisdom, a lot of people would have died, Dodge would have lost everything, as well as being hung and his family would have been left destitute. The Heavenly Wisdom of James 3:17 can resolve many potential conflicts if we apply it well.

Picture: Dodge thinking about what part of his land to claim.

Heavenly Wisdom illustration of the importance of having pure motives.

Cody, a believing cowboy, was talking  with John, a farmer, about his conflict with the local cattle men.

“This conflict,” Cody observed, “can’t be avoided as it is two ways of life clashing,  but it can be done well or badly.”

“That’s a new perspective,” said John thoughtfully.

“Now,” Cody went on, “Doing it well has to do with starting with good motives. What good motive could you have to oppose the cattle man Dodge and his threats?”

“Hmmm,” replied John, obviously at a loss to answer at being challenged this way.

“I don’t have a right to tell you what to do, but I can, out of good will, help you to think things through and find a way out of this dangerous situation.”

“Alright, I don’t have much choice. As it is, there’s no way I can fight off Dodge and all his men by  myself.”

“So,” Cody said, “let’s get back to your motives, John. What good motives can you have for taking a stand?”

John thought for a while, setting the butt of his rifle on the ground. “Well, how about establishing a home for my family?”

“Yes, that’s a good one. Do you have a wife, John?”

“Yes. She’s in the house making lunch.”

“What motive of yours would concern her?”

“To protect her,” John replied immediately.

“Good, now you have two positive motives. How about a wider one, encompassing more than your own spread here?”

“What do you mean?” John asked.

“Think about the future of this country, about the other people that will come.”

“Ok, how about this, make it possible for other settlers to come and raise their families?”

“Good, very good! What about Dodge? What motive could you have for him?”

“I’d like to push him off his ranch and out of the area!” John said vehemently.

“Really? Is that a positive motive?”

“Well, I guess not,” replied John. He was quiet for a moment, looking off across the prairie at the mountains in the distance. “I want to have peace with him, allow him his way of life while he lets me have mine.”

“Now, that’s a really fine motive; it could bring about a very different solution than shooting down those who oppose you,” Cody said.

And the story goes on to tell how Cody applies this and other elements of Heavely Wisdom to avoid a range war. Check it out here on Amazon.:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=s.+m.+wibberley+a+cowboy+with+heavenly+wisdom&crid=WMYKIMDJU4SM&sprefix=s.+m.+wibberley+a+cowboy+with+heavenly+wisdom%2Caps%2C87&ref=nb_sb_noss

picture: Cowboy with Heavenly Wisdom

The third quality of Heavenly Wisdom is being gentle.

Life is full of opportunities to either push on or hold off. Do I push to get my building permit, or trust God and wait? Do I put pressure on the guy who owes me rent, or back off and pray about it? Do I confront or let go and move on?

There are very few clear cut answers.  But God is always ready to help us. As it says in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Then in James 3:17 there is a description of this heavenly wisdom. And it is given in a certain order:

1. pure
2. peace loving
3. sweetly reasonable,
4. approachable and submissive,
5. full of mercy
6. and good fruit,
7. impartial,
8. and sincere.

First is purity, and when it comes to  making decisions, this has to start in our motives. For instance, I have a renter who has not paid his rent this month. He promised to pay on the 11th, then on the 19th, but still hasn’t paid. With these failures to follow through what should my motive be in talking with him? Vent my anger? Set him straight? Beg him? Threaten him? None of these are pure motives.

So, after praying about it, I have settled on the motive of helping him be honest, doing what he promised to do. This is a positive  motive, one that will benefit him and may solve the problem, and is in line with what God wants us to do: edify others. And I will begin acting on this  motive by praying for him, asking God to move him, to prepare him for the coming conversation.

So, if you want to be wise, first check your motives, reject the negative motives, act out of positive, God pleasing motives.

More on heavenly wisdom over the next few days.

Picture: praying for heavenly wisdom.