Loading

WISDOM AND THE Holy Spirit

In the book of Acts we read that assistants to the preachers of the word were appointed on the basis that they were full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. Two of the deacons appointed, Steven and Phillip were well versed in scripture and their application. Both were powerful towards God. Wisdom is related to intelligence. The accurate application of scripture is linked to the ability to comprehend what one is reading or seeing. Intelligence and wisdom enable us to interpret situations and what people are saying with accuracy. Mental acuity gives us the ability to be aware, to join the dots and see things as they are rather than as they might appear.

Wisdom and revelation need a place to take root.

Reading connects us wth the experience of others.

If we are astute in the natural we will be astute in the spiritual if Christ is our life. If extraneous religious features are our life our wisdom will be dulled. Thus Jesus instructed that the early church leadership be composed of those full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. Stephen who died as a martyr for telling the truth was filled with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Thoughtfulness and learning increase wisdom

'But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke' Acts 6.10 NIV. He was not a light weight, a lame brain or merely opinionated. Stephen knew the truth and stood for it.

The scripture above implies that if we speak because we can it will make it easy for people to ignore us. The Kingdom of God and the anointing are not a stage for the least informed to express long held but erroneous views. If we are wise and filled with the Spirit we will encourage the wise and discerning and uphold those who embody these qualities. If we have the perception of Christ we will discern and nurture apostolic people and avoid the productions of religion.

Wisdom in the eyes of some is long-held views oft-repeated. But not with the wise.

The good news is that one need not be an intellectual giant to possess spiritual discernment. But qualities that are an advantage are humility and teachability. Such discernment is a function of purity of heart - as in an undiluted desire to know the truth. Attempting to please two masters like our own denomination and peers as well as Jesus insulates dulls our spiritual perception. We will not know the truth if we are contained in our own ideas or if we love our spiritual relatives more than Jesus. The anointing does not replace quality thought. It furnishes us with the spirit and life of Christ.

'I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better' Eph 1.17 NIV.

The ability to concentrate and listen without immediately speaking is a sign of intelligence and wisdom.

We do well to take our leading from the informed and wise and not from the ignorant and self-confident. Avoid those actuated by the need to feel important or do things to get noticed. Give a wide birth to those addicted to conspiracy theories or the view that they have equipped themselves with special knowledge not available to others. Steer clear of those who attach like a magnet to the latest Christian flakiness. Don't listen to folly or the ministry of flapping about. People are not theologians because they have a Bible or speak in tongues.

The wise person shares what comes from the Lord. The un-wise say anything that comes into their head. A discerning spirit knows the difference. No matter what kind of church we are part of, leadership resides in the wise and not the ignorant or in those who speak because they can. Solomon wrote, 'Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool and that the earth quakes when a slave becomes king' Prov 26.8, 30.22 NIV.

If people who oppose God cannot resist the Spirit of wisdom and revelation by which His servants speak, Believers who seek God with all their heart will be drawn to those in whom this wisdom and Spirit flourishes.

Wisdom has an attraction of its own. The wise are drawn to wisdom as iron is attracted to a magnet.

The Enemy stifles spirit and life through the strategy of illusion. We might talk of Holy Spirit all our lives - but we do not live in the Spirit if we live from the old covenant and the law. We just imagine we do. We have been robbed. Robbed because we have remained in the separated mindset of Adam when we have been given the mind of Christ which is union with God. Don't bury your talents in the ground.

We live in a season when leaders assume positions of leadership because they have a following - not because they are leaders equipped with wisdom and revelation. Blind people choose blind leaders and blind leaders are happy to oblige them. But all of us not only have Christ as our life - we can possess Him as our light.

Vacuous leaders are chosen by vacuous people who live in confusion.

'But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin' 1 John 1.7 NIV. We walk in the light when we allow Jesus to have all of us - all our identity, all of our beliefs and all that we have ever imagined as our ideas about God, His gospel and ourselves.

The legalistic mindset lives in bits and pieces because it lives in bits and pieces of God. We have no choice but to be bitty and piece-meal if we live in the law and its knowledge of good and evil compartments.

With Christ as our life we are more than ourselves. We are a whole person growing each day into the glory of ourselves in wisdom and joy.

God has given us all of Himself in Jesus so that we can be whole and fully alive.

Jesus says, "I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life. Even if you were able, which you are not, to give me the biggest piece, that is not what I want. I want all of you and all of every part of you and your day." ― William Paul Young, The Shack. There's nothing onerous about this. It's part of the deal when Christ is our life.

With Jesus, rather than ourselves as the centre of the universe we will be persons of significance.

You are increasingly living to your design and becoming fully yourself as intended by God. You are not just a pretty face or a stagnant Christian. You are full of wisdom, joy and the Holy Spirit.

Report Abuse

If you feel that this video content violates the Adobe Terms of Use, you may report this content by filling out this quick form.

To report a Copyright Violation, please follow Section 17 in the Terms of Use.