People understand life, and thus are able to contribute to the world, in very different ways. I knew a young man that was severely disabled, unable to read or write, who could play a Lizst composition or a pop tune on his keyboard after hearing it just once! I’ve known guys who could not write a complete sentence who had the ability to rebuild an engine, making it like new. There are people who can run a vast company who can’t relate to their own family members. There is a theory of multiple kinds of intelligence that explains this and more. Howard Gardner originally suggested seven kinds of intelligence: Verbal/Linguistic, Musical, Logical/Mathematical, Visual/Spatial, Bodily Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist.
Here’s my challenge to you: Are you spiritually intelligent?
Unlike Gardner’s theory which suggests we are born with wiring in our brains that pre-disposes us to strength in certain areas, all of us can become wise in the ways of God! "We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—… For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God." (Colossians 1:4,9-10, NIV)
Even though we may have widely differing ways of worshipping and perceiving the work of the Spirit, He promised that He will teach us His will and make us wise! Disciple, I beg you- be wise! Everything we do in life will be done better by another sooner or later. The best composition, the most beautiful music, the finest machine – these will all be forgotten with time. But, wisdom in the ways of God creates life and beauty and leads us to a rich reward in Heaven. "The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple." (Psalm 19:7, NLT)
Natural intelligence must be developed with training and practice. Proficiency is not immediate. It grows over time with diligence! Spiritually, the same pattern holds. Wise disciples, who are discerning, grow in the knowledge of the Lord and His ways. Great Christians are not born, they develop. God, the Holy Spirit, works with us, speaks to us, and leads us. We have the freedom to choose to obey and follow, or walk willfully and fail.
Are you living like a fool?
Do you stumble into one sin after another?
Does failure follow you like your shadow?
It’s time to grow wise!
Surrender. That’s the first step. Just stop, look up, and acknowledge God. You may or may not have an emotional moment or some revelation. Make it a faith choice, a turning point of mastery.
Then, find a solid church where you will be mentored in spiritual truth and practice.
And, Pray daily! Not just the long lists of ‘gimme this, God’ that passes for prayer; but the kind of prayer that is quiet, that listens, that provides the Spirit an opportunity to direct you!
Here’s a word from the Word. Ponder it and begin to ask God for wisdom, then grow in grace!
"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. … but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. …
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." (1 Corinthians 2:4-7, 10, 12, NIV)
______________
Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.
Deeper, deeper! Blessed Holy Spirit,
Take me deeper still,
Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus
And His perfect will.
Oh, deeper yet, I pray,
And higher ev'ry day,
And wiser, blessed Lord,
In Thy precious holy Word.
Deeper, deeper! Tho' it cost hard trials,
Deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
Let me fruitful grow.
Deeper, higher, ev'ry day in Jesus,
Till all conflicts past
finds me conqu'ror,
And in His own image
perfected at last.
Deeper Deeper
Jones, Charles P.
© Public Domain
No comments:
Post a Comment