Let the Spirit Give You Greater Wisdom, Counsel and Knowledge (Isa 11:2)
Illustration: The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. --Proverbs 2:6
Are there any limits to the knowledge we can acquire? With today’s amazing technology we are able to tap into incredible sources of information. Yet Bill Gates, visionary founder of Microsoft, claims that we are only on the threshold of far greater wonders. In his book The Road Ahead, Gates makes this prediction: "When tomorrow’s powerful information machines are connected on the highway . . . you’ll be able to stay in touch with anyone, anywhere, who wants to stay in touch with you; to browse through any of thousands of libraries day or night."
Surely we are grateful for the technology that makes available such remarkable means of obtaining information. A mere accumulation of facts, though, doesn’t add up to insight and understanding. All the learning of philosophers, the speculations of ethicists, and the achievements of scientists can’t give us the truth about God and His will, His grace, or the good news concerning Jesus Christ and salvation from sin. For that knowledge, we need the Bible--and we always will.
So don’t squander your time merely acquiring facts. It’s far better to study the truth God has given us in His Word. Remember: "The Lord gives wisdom" (Prov. 2:6). --VCG
Holy Bible, Book divine,
Precious treasure, thou art mine;
Mine to tell me whence I came;
Mine to teach me what I am. --Burton
We can get information online, but wisdom comes from on high. (Our Daily Bread)
1. The Holy Spirit is not a second or third rate power in the Trinity. Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed." (Luke 4:18) Remember that the Holy Spirit is an equal partner in the Trinity as He helps you to carry out ALL of the will of God in your personal life and ministry.
2. The Holy Spirit possesses all the judgment and power of every member of the Godhead. Of Othniel it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him." (Judges 3:10) When you speak, teach, and minister, do it with all of the wise judgment and power that you possess in the Holy Spirit.
3. The Holy Spirit does not accept rejection well. Stephen spoke these tough words to the Sanhedrin, "You stiff necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" (Acts 7:51) Learn to help people fear the Lord and to hate evil by revealing the devasting consequences of rejecting the Holy Spirit’s will.
4. The Holy Spirit is spoken of as Divine. Jesus said, "But whoever
blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." (Mark 3:29) Help people to take seriously all of the truths of the Spirit.
5. The Holy Spirit is able to make a success out of a failure or a failure out of success. Paul wrote, "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant." (2 Cor. 3:5,6) Micah wrote, "But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin." (Micah 3:8) Ask the Lord to turn any aspects of your life and ministry that is failing into a success. Be willing to give up any thought, attitude or practice that is causing you to fail the Spirit’s will.
6. The Holy Spirit can bring new life into dead things. Peter wrote, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit." (I Pet. 3:18) Ask the Lord to bring many who are now dead to life with His power.
7. The Holy Spirit is eternal. Jesus said, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever." (John 14:16) Consider the eternal wisdom, power and resources that are yours in the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord to help you to appropriate all of that eternal power for His purposes.
8. The Holy Spirit possesses all wisdom, knowledge and understanding. 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." (Isa. 11:2) Ask the Lord to help you to gain greater insights from the Spirit in all aspects of your personal life, relationships and ministries.
9. The Holy Spirit is sovereign. Isaiah wrote, "Come near me and listen to this: From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there." And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me, with His Spirit." (Isaiah 48:16) Do not underestimate the Spirit’s sovereign abilities.
10. The Holy Spirit searches all things and nothing is hidden from Him. Paul wrote, "But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God." (I Cor. 2:10) Do not think that you can hide anything from the Spirit of God since He knows all.
11. The Holy Spirit does not take lightly those who blow off His instruction. Paul wrote, "Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit." (I Thes. 4:8) Speak with great authority and do not get discouraged when people do not accept the teaching of His scripture. Let God deal with them.
12. The Holy Spirit does not take rebellion kindly. Isaiah wrote, "Woe to the obstinate children, declares the Lord, to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin." (Isa. 30:1) Teach and live in the fear of the Lord since He expects and demands obedience to 100% of His will and word. ...
Conclusion:Him we preach, warning . . . and teaching every man in all wisdom. --Colossians 1:28
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I was an adult when I made my first daisy chain. Seated in a meadow with a friend, we crafted delicate necklaces by joining daisies together. It was so absorbing that we momentarily forgot about life’s pressing needs. Afterward, however, those needs were still there, urgent as ever.
That experience reminded me of a story I read about a woman who dreamed that she saw a meadow next to a precipice that dropped hundreds of feet to the rocks below. Scores of blind people were walking toward the edge. She tried to warn them, but there were too many. Then she noticed others in the meadow who could see. But instead of warning the crowd, they sat on the grass making daisy chains.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with harmless pursuits and times of leisure. But are we so absorbed with our own interests that we forget the countless people who are stumbling blindly into hell?
Paul understood the urgency of such a situation. His constant focus was Christ. "Him we preach," he wrote, "warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Col. 1:28).
What are you absorbed with? Making daisy chains? Or making disciples? --JEY
So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred,
To eyes made blind because they will not see,
To spend--though it be blood--to spend and spare not--
So send I you to taste of Calvary. --Clarkson
© 1966 Singspiration, Inc.
Wanted: Messengers to deliver the good news.
(Our Daily Bread)
