Ex 31:3, And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship… 
	We are in the process of looking at the manner in which we were created by God for His purposes and for His glory in especially the wisdom and skill and abilities of our day-to-day lives as they reflect all that He has done and established. In our reading, we have been told that God gave the skill and the wisdom required for the workmen to accomplish the construction of the Tent of Meeting and the altar and the Ark of the Covenant as well as the priestly attire and all the utensils needed to honor Him in every detail of service.
	The main key that we need to understand is that we are not to fall into the trap that this age has set for its engulfing of the hearts and minds of those who walk in this realm. This world has become so adept at the idea of self-promotion and self-aggrandizement, that generations have succumbed to the lie that we are able to do everything that we set our minds to do. It is as if we are demi-gods with unlimited potential to achieve self-actualization. This is that state wherein we do not need anything other than our own abilities and mental acuity, replacing any reliance on or even recognition of God. This is that same lie of self that has been manifested from the Garden of Eden onward that we can be as gods on our own efforts.
	This self-actualization has reared its ugly head in another avenue in its entrapment of mankind. When the idea of the grandiosity and the self-accomplishment of mankind has not worked, there has been the devious sham of self-flagellation. This is the promotion of the utter debasement of self to the point of the extreme of self-mutilation and torment and torture. People will do all sorts of harm to themselves, even to the point of physical death in order to inflict as much physical pain upon themselves in an utterly human effort to annihilate any aspect of self-promotion. 
The tragic irony is that this is a very grave manner of doing exactly what they were attempting not to do. They are seeking to eliminate the self, but it is through their own self-made means. They are trying to do what only God can do through His loving discipline of His Children. 
In the awful mutilation of their physical bodies, they are denying that God is able to bring about the death to self that is so necessary. They are acting as if they are capable of taking themselves, through physical torment, into the realm that only can be accessed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
	The reality is that we have been created for the glory of God. Every person is an eternal soul. That eternity will be governed by the manner in which we come into relationship with God. In Christ, we have an eternity of promise and love and peace in fellowship with Our Creator. Apart from Christ, will be an eternity of pain and suffering and torment in the recognition that the wretched denial of the Only Begotten Son has brought the utter denial of the glory for which we were created. 
	The full measure of our bringing glory to God is that we are created to create for His glory. As we read in Gen 1:26+27, this was His plan for us before any man ever existed. Gen 1:26+27, Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 
Being created in the image of God, reveals that we are enabled to bring forth the many and varied conceptual objects of art and science and production in full accord with the fact that He has instilled within us the ability to create. This is through the use of the skill and the wisdom and the understanding that He has given to us. He makes known how to create all that we can fashion. 
	This is reinforced for us in the book of Job, chapter 38, verse 36, as we read this very question put forth. Job 38:36, "Who has put wisdom in the innermost being, Or has given understanding to the mind? It is only from God and unto God from Whom we are given and receive the wisdom and the understanding and the skill to bring forth the beauty of the creative forces that He prompts and uses to show His glory in His creation of man.
	The measure of building and creating unto the Lord was encouraged unto Solomon by his father, David, as they discussed the matter of the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. The time of the Tent of Meeting was at an end and the construction of the House of God was before the two of them. David could not build it because he was a man of war. The duty of its construction was firmly placed into the hands of Solomon, as we read in 1 Chron 22:11-16. However, all that was needed had to be supplied by the Lord, just as it had been with the Tent of Meeting. 
	Please open to the detailing of this in 1 Chron 22:11-16. 1 Chron 22:11-16, "Now, my son, the Lord be with you that you may be successful, and build the house of the Lord your God just as He has spoken concerning you. Only the Lord give you discretion and understanding, and give you charge over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. Then you shall prosper, if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous, do not fear nor be dismayed. Now behold, with great pains I have prepared for the house of the Lord 100,000 talents of gold and 1,000,000 talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weight, for they are in great quantity; also timber and stone I have prepared, and you may add to them. Moreover, there are many workmen with you, stonecutters and masons of stone and carpenters, and all men who are skillful in every kind of work. Of the gold, the silver and the bronze and the iron, there is no limit. Arise and work, and may the Lord be with you." 
	Every earthly provision was in place, but it was still required that all the skill and the wisdom and the understanding needed to be from the Lord so that each detail would be fully honoring and abundantly provided for the place in which God would meet with men. This could not be a happenstance construction, done with the even the best of intentions. As with the Tent of Meeting, the construction of the stone building and each room, and the detailing of each room, required the perfection of manufacture that could only come from the skill wrought by God within the workmen’s hands. 
	In 1 Chron 28:20+21, we again read of this encouragement to Solomon as detailed by his father, David. 1 Chron 28:20+21, Then David said to his son Solomon, "Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. Now behold, there are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God, and every willing man of any skill will be with you in all the work for all kinds of service. The officials also and all the people will be entirely at your command." 
	There is a key statement in this passage that we need to keep in our hearts and minds with regard to the service unto which we are called to perform before the Lord. Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. Solomon needed to know that the Lord was him in this action of building the Temple. To do so without that knowledge would have led to nothing at all. Anything that we do unto the Lord and for the Lord demands that we do so only as He is with us.
	So often, we think we need or that we want to do something for the Lord. Then, as He may have nothing to do with our plans, they will fall flat. As a result, we think that we were not capable of any further tasks and we refuse to put ourselves out there again for fear of failure. The reality is that we need to know that what we have been called to do is from the Lord. Then, in that certainty, we obey, and we do it unto Him with the prayer in our hearts that He will rule and overrule in all His Sovereignty according to His plan and His purpose. 
We do not argue when He shows us what to do, as did Moses in our last consideration. Neither do we allow fear to freeze our hands and feet from going forward with the task. If we are given a job to complete, God will give us all that is needed to accomplish that commission unto His glory and His praise.
	Solomon learned this as he needed help from another source as would honor the Lord. As we read in 1 Kings 7:13+14, he asked for help of Hiram from Tyre. He received the skilled services of one who was filled with all that was necessary to accomplish the detailing of the bronze working for the Temple. 1 Kings 7:13+14, Now King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. He was a widow's son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze. So he came to King Solomon and performed all his work. The key is that we need to ask the Lord to supply want is needed for the work to be done and then count on Him to do so, even if that is through the services of someone other than ourselves.
	Too often, it is our pride, or our desire for a legacy, or our fear about our reputation, or our anxiety of failure and mockery that governs our course of actions. We may say that we are doing this or that for the Lord when, in fact, we are doing it to further our self-consideration in the eyes of others and even of ourselves. The manner of what we do and how we do it and the skill and the wisdom necessary to complete our work is all centered in our seeking after that which will bring honor and adoration to God Alone, without our gaining any credit for it whatsoever. 
	True wisdom is only from God and unto God, as we read in the Book of Proverbs. Please turn to Proverbs, Chapter 2 as we want to read verses 1-10 together. Prov 2:1-10, My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord, And discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart, And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; … For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;…
	Notice that it is the Lord Who gives wisdom. Just as Solomon prayed for wisdom when he was about to take the crown of Israel, as we considered last week, so do we need to ask the Lord for wisdom in our every course of decision. No matter what the path before us, no matter what the gravity of the situation, whether a large or miniscule choice, we should ask the Lord to be our wisdom!
This is an area in which many, many of us take it upon ourselves to deal with the little things and then only call on God for those things which seem to over whelm us. We are bound by those false maxims such as “God only helps those who help themselves” trying to do the best that we can on this earth. Our wisdom in the every decision needs to come from the Lord. If we can learn to trust Him in even the smallest things, our trust will only grow greater in Him to deal with all the other elements and decisions of our lives, especially the large ones. 
	Listen to the heart of God for us as recounted in Prov 8:10-14. Prov 8:10-14, "Take my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choicest gold. "For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things can not compare with her. "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way, And the perverted mouth, I hate. "Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. 
	All the elements that are promoted by this world, as we discussed this morning, are those things that are anathema to the Lord. He hates them because they lead people away from the very course that He created for them, for us. Rather than our wanting to be dependent and counting on God for His every provision of all the wisdom and understanding and skill as He has instilled them, this age tries to get us to do it on our own. It endorses every other aspect that would deny God His due in the creative process. 
	As recorded in Isa 28:5+6, the Prophet Isaiah saw through this whole smoke screen and made a bold declaration concerning the truth of the Lord God Almighty. Isa 28:5+6, In that day the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people; A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment, A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate. 
Isaiah recognized that the Lord is the One Who is the crown of those who honor and call upon Him. He is the Beautiful crown and the glorious diadem, reflecting the fact that those who know Him and call upon Him are governed and lead by Him into all truth and justice and peace and strength. He is the source and the essence of everything that is needed to function according to the design which God, Himself, instituted in our creation.
	We will give this a greater consideration next week, Lord willing. So be it! 
	And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship… Amen!

This morning’s benediction is Deut 32:2-4. "Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the droplets on the fresh grass And as the showers on the herb. "For I proclaim the name of the Lord; Ascribe greatness to our God! "The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. Amen.