I know a secret that changes everything.  The fact of the matter is that this secret is ever-evolving and, as I apply myself to the principles of the secret, it becomes brighter and more developed every day.  This secret is more than that which I know, but that which I am knowing. 

I have been a pastor of Christ for over 40 years.  In this capacity, I have been called upon to dedicate newborns, teach the congregation the Word of God, bring souls unto salvation, baptize the newly born-again in full water immersion, and minister the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire.  I have been called upon to counsel brides and grooms and to unite them before God in holy matrimony.  It has been my job to counsel those in trouble, visit the sick, laying hands on them and praying the prayer of faith.  It has been my responsibility to bury our dead and to bring comfort to those who are grieving.  This list has many unmentioned nuances.  

The secret?  Jesus Christ alone and His redeeming blood can transform this mortal vapor into marvelous eternal glory.  The secret is a person; the sons and daughters of Adam partake of this person at a place called born-again.  Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, in John 3:3:

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

He reveals unto Nicodemus the greatest mystery and the greatest miracle of all time.  Are you born again—born a literal second time, this time of the Spirit of God?  Will today be your day of salvation?  Will today be the day you become part of the greatest mystery and miracle of all time?  Today, you are in the valley of decision.  Decide for Christ now!  Click onto “Further with Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, I Kings 3:5-28:

5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

6 And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.

14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.

20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.

22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.

23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.

24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

GOD SAID, Psalm 111:10:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

MAN SAID: There is no supernatural God and therefore no supernatural wisdom found in an ancient book written by mere men. 

Now THE RECORD:  On GodSaidManSaid you have often heard this immutable law of God’s commandments: Inherent within each commandment is a blessing or a curse.  Because the commandments of God are the inerrant truth, obeying them yields the blessing—the fruits of doing the right thing.  Because the commandments of God are the inerrant truth, disobeying them yields the curse—the evil fruits of doing the wrong thing.  Galatians 6:7:

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

This is the immutable law of God’s commandments. 

Obeying God’s commandment results in its obvious benefit, but obeying will yield unexpected benefits that we will call unexpected consequences.  Consider God’s commandment against fornication—any sexual relationship outside the marriage bed.  One obvious benefit would be a couple free of sexually transmitted diseases—which plagues 110 million Americans.  But unexpected beneficial consequences would include a healthier, more stable marriage, less children ravaged by divorce, less poverty, less suicides, and more.     

GodSaidManSaid has published information concerning what academia calls “the inner savant.”  Typically, a savant is mentally handicapped but has extraordinary skills in math or art, for example.  But what was shocking to neurologists was that a small group of people who have experienced head traumas—perhaps in a car accident, or struck by a ball—began to demonstrate savant-like skills in math, art, or areas of architecture, yet maintained all normal mental skills.  When the researchers were asked how one could unlock such marvelous hidden skills, the answer was "meditation."  The born-again learn the mastery of meditation. Psalm 1:1-3:

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Imagine: the unexpected consequence of following God’s commandment on meditation is to unlock your inner savant. 

As a result of his obedience to God, King Solomon was given superior wisdom—a wisdom no earthly king before or since has shared.  When the architect of modern Israel’s green revolution was asked where he obtained the wisdom to work such a feat, he replied, “From the writings of Solomon.”  In Solomon’s obedience to God, marvelous unexpected consequences resulted; one of those unexpected consequences had something to do with female grey matter. 

Dr. Fazale Rana is a highly-credentialed scientist.  On January 25, 2017, he published on Reasons.org under the heading, “The Female Brain: Pregnant with Design.”  The following are selected excerpts from that feature:

These investigators discovered that pregnancy alters a woman’s brain.  In fact, pregnancy reduces her grey matter. 

But as it turns out, the loss of grey matter is a good thing.  In fact, it reveals the elegant design of the human brain and adds to the growing evidence for human exceptionalism.  This scientific advance also has implications for the pro-life movement. 

The Spanish research team was motivated to study brain changes in pregnant women because of the effects that sex hormones have on adolescent brains.  During this time, sex hormones cause extensive reorganization of the brain.  This process is a necessary part of the neural maturation process.  The researchers posited that changes to the female brain should take place because of the surge of sex hormones during pregnancy.  While pregnant, women are exposed to 10 to 15 times the “normal” progesterone levels.  During the nine months of pregnancy, women are also subjected to more estrogen than the rest of their lives when not pregnant. 

To characterize the effect of pregnancy on brain structure, the research team employed a prospective study design.  They imaged the brains of women who wanted to become pregnant for the first time.  Then, they imaged the brains of the subjects once the women had given birth.  Finally, they imaged the brains of the subjects two years after birth, if they didn’t become pregnant again.  As controls, they imaged the brains of women who had never been pregnant and the brains of the fathers. 

While the brain’s white matter is unaffected, the researchers found that pregnancy leads to a loss of grey matter that, minimally, lasts up to two years.  They also discovered that the grey matter loss was not random or arbitrary.  Instead, it occurred in highly specific areas of the brain.  In fact, the grey matter loss was so consistent from subject to subject that the researchers could tell if a woman had been pregnant or not from brain images alone. 

As it turns out, the area of the brain that loses grey matter is the region involved in social cognition that harbors the theory-of-mind neural networks.  This network allows human beings to display a quality anthropologists call theory of mind.  Along with symbolism, our theory-of mind capacity makes us unique compared to other animals, providing scientific justification for the idea of human exceptionalism.  As human beings, we recognize that other humans possess a mind like ours.  Because of that recognition, we can anticipate what others are thinking and feeling.  Our theory-of-mind capability makes possible complex social interactions that are characteristic of our species. 

Even though the pregnant women lost grey matter, they showed no loss of memory or cognitive ability.  The researchers believe that the loss of grey matter stems from synaptic pruning.  This process occurs in adolescents and is a vital part of brain development and maturation.  Through the loss of grey matter, neural networks form.  The research team posits that synaptic pruning in pregnant women establishes a neural network that plays a role in the deep attachment mothers have with their children.  This attachment helps mothers anticipate their babies’ needs.  The deep social connection between mother and child is critical for human survival because human infants are so vulnerable at birth and have a prolonged childhood. 

In support of the proposal, the researchers found that when they showed the mothers pictures of their babies, the brain areas that lost grey matter became active.  On the other hand, they saw no corresponding brain activity when the mothers were shown pictures of other babies.

This work highlights the elegant design of human pregnancy and child rearing—features that I take as evidence for a Creator’s handiwork.  It is nothing short of brilliant to have the surge of sex hormones during pregnancy prime the brain to ensure a close attachment between mother and child, at the time of birth and throughout the first few years of childhood.  [End of quotes]

Solomon would not have been aware of science’s latest discovery concerning female grey matter during pregnancy, but the God of Creation was.  Unexpected beneficial consequences of obedience to God’s commandments is demonstrated in I Kings 3:25-27:

25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

Again, Dr. Rana writes:

In support of the proposal, the researchers found that when they showed the mothers pictures of their babies, the brain areas that lost grey matter became active.  On the other hand, they saw no corresponding brain activity when the mothers were shown pictures of other babies. [End of quote]

Solomon watched the reaction of the two women to his judgment of the sword dividing the child in two.  He watched for that instant response—a response quicker than natural analytics could deliver—a response from deep inside.  When the woman instantly cried out to save the child alive and to deliver it to the woman who was not its mother, Solomon knew who the real mother was.  He participated in God’s science and wisdom at work. 

Inherent within every commandment of God is a blessing or a curse—and with many unexpected consequences.  Believers who understand this principle run to the commandment and not from it.  God’s Word is true and righteous altogether.  Embrace it and live forever. 

GOD SAID, I Kings 31:24-27:

  24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

MAN SAID: There is no supernatural God and therefore no supernatural wisdom found in an ancient book written by mere men.

Now you have THE RECORD.

References:

Authorized King James Version

Rana, F., “The Female Brain: Pregnant with Design,” Reasons.org, January 25, 2017