Choose Wisdom And Avoid Destructive Waywardness

Choose Wisdom and Avoid Destructive Waywardness

How the Holy Spirit Leads Us With Wisdom - (Isa 11:2)

"The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord."

Illustration: Emptiness - Internal Weakness from the lack of wisdom

When the Statue of Liberty was remodeled, it was discovered that the entire inside support system had to be replaced. The outside copper skin of the

statue was okay; it only had to be cleaned. Rust and corrosion had ruined the inner iron supports. If repairs had not been made, the statue in 20

years would have fallen over. The iron supports were replaced with stainless steel. Now it can withstand 125 mph winds. A nation without inner supports of wisdom and moral integrity is doomed to lose her liberty.

John R. Brokhoff, Preaching the Miracles, CSS Publishing Company, 1991.

Wisdom - Prudence conveys the idea of one who has stripped off of the superficial, insignificant and frivolous.

Solomon wrote about wisdom in Proverbs 1:7:

" The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and discipline."

The Spirit of God teaches us how to gain a healthy fear, awe and worship of the Lord so we gain a spiritual wisdom that gives us the perspective on truth, love and the realities of people, problems and situations.

Illustration:An angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.

"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, "Say something."

The dean looks at them and says, "I should have taken the money."

Point - We all need wisdom from above that comes from God that is gained over time through consistent obedience to His word and Spirit.

Betsy Devine and Joel E. Cohen, Absolute Zero Gravity, Simon & Schuster.

1. The Holy Spirit is the embodiment of Godly wisdom understood by those who are intimate with Him. Isaiah wrote, "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." (Isaiah 11:2)

Ask the Lord to fill you with all of His prudence, sagacity and the power of applying truth to every situation.

Illustration:A colleague of mine at NASA was assigned to prepare a presentation on lessons learned from our bad experiences with the Hubble Space Telescope. On his chart at the briefing, lesson No.1 read: "In naming your mission, never us a word that rhymes with trouble."

Reader’s Digest, March 1993, Page 128

2. The Holy Spirit gives direction to leaders when they ask for it. Dr. Luke wrote, "During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." (Acts 16:9,10) Ask the Lord for the Spirit’s wisdom needed to lead you to the kinds of ministries that will accomplish God’s priorities rather than your own.

Illustration:Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.

J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 80.

3. The Holy Spirit gives wisdom to those who are called to speak in a way that solves complicated problems. When others are not able to come up with the solutions, the Spirit often gives a Godly leader the way when there seems to be no way out of a fix. Paul wrote, "Praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." (Col. 1:9) Ask the Lord to fill you with the spiritual wisdom so that you can unlock the doors of opportunities for the accomplishment of God’s greater will in your personal life and ministries.

4. The Holy Spirit illuminates more of the wisdom that is found in Christ, His words and His ministry examples. Paul wrote, "We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, the power and wisdom of God." (I Cor. 1:23,24) Ask the Lord to help you to find more of your wisdom through the study of the scriptures and in the life, words and ministries of Jesus Christ.