Discovering and Applying Spiritual Wisdom and God's Counsel

UV 3536/10000 Discovering and Applying Spiritual Wisdom and God’s Counsel This also comes from the Lord of hosts, who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great. Isaiah 28 v 29 The Lord administers the heavens and the earth with an army of angels. He is a wonderful counsellor who gives us apt advice how to administer our affairs on earth as He administers in heaven. His wisdom is great and unsearchable except He reveal it. It cannot be found in the books and councils of man. He will guide us till our death. He knows just how much power or strength He has to use and will not do anything in excess. He knows the timing for ploughing, sowing and reaping human hearts. He instructs us what we should do. He gives us the apt word to speak at the apt occasion. He shows us the direction in which we should move each day. The principal way to discover the wise counsel and wisdom of God is to search and study scripture. Studying scripture should be like an exciting treasure hunt for in the Psalms it is written, “Open my eyes that I may perceive the truths hidden in it.” The truths of God, of life, of wisdom are the ultimate spiritual treasures of our lives. Starting in the Old Testament, we will find clues and pointers to the treasures of wisdom. The revelation will get broader as we progress towards the new testament. After the study of the teachings of the apostles in the epistles, we should find the final treasure trove in the teachings of the Teacher of Teachers, Jesus, in the four gospels. The four gospels are like the four rivers described in the book of Genesis that ran through the Garden of Eden under which were veins of gold and precious stones. These valuable precious metals and stones are metaphors for His wise counsel and great wisdom. The Holy Spirit will remind us from time to time of these counsels and nuggets of wisdom of God. The Lord does not teach us all things at one time. But He teaches us day by day, moment by moment, precept by precept, principle by principle, little by little. Like our savings or treasure, we must accumulate these over time. Like Mary, the mother, we should treasure His words in our hearts all the time. The specific word, command or promise, precept or principle, we hold dear in our hearts over a period of time are the living spiritual seed, the key to unlocking His counsel and wisdom, the solution to our problems and challenges. The word being seed, when held in our hearts and minds like the womb nurtures a seed, becomes spiritual pregnancies that result in our hope being fulfilled, our prayers answered.

The Humble Versus the Proud

 

UV 3536/10000 The Humble Versus The Proud

Though the Lord is exalted, He regards the lowly ( and invites them into His fellowship); But the proud and  haughty He knows from a distance.

 

Psalm 138 v 6

 

                     The Lord practices social distancing from the proud and arrogant but He is intimate with the humble.  He examines the hearts of the former from a distance of eternity and laughs at their foolish pride.  But He rushes to the help and protection of the humble who acknowledge Him and depend on Him for mercy and grace.  At no time, will He desert or abandon the faithful.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit to examine our  hearts and minds and discover if there is any trace of pride or arrogance in us which offends the Lord who is most exalted, absolutely holy, immensely powerful and yet, is most humble and gentle with the crown of His creation, the spitting image of His own nature- human beings.

 

                When we acknowledge God in all our ways, we increase in knowledge, wisdom, truth and grace.      He is in control of all our days and all our ways.  He directs our paths and not just our feet.   He guides us in our choices or decision making.   Scripture reiterates in several places that He gives grace to the humble but resists, opposes, defeats the plans of the proud and wicked.   As He is with the humble, they succeed in their endeavours and even should they fail in anything God gives them the grace to bear or endure trials, hardship, disappointment, setbacks so that they emerge better and stronger out of it.  In short, the Lord turns difficulties into blessings and opportunities.

 

               The one thing on Earth  that the Lord prices above all is the heart of the humble and the one thing that He hates  is the heart of the proud and insolent.  The latter think that they are self made or evolved people.  They are obsessed with their  own desires and thoughts.  They ignore their relationship with God, their Creator and Father.  They are not repentant of their moral and spiritual shortcomings since they are self satisfied or complacent about an abundance of material assets that they own or mundane power that they wield.   The Lord always gives even such persons an opportunity to repent and return to Him.   But the humble and faithful remain the apple of His eye to whom He is committed to protect, provide and promote.  He does it in His own way in His own time.  The humble are patient and wait on the Lord to act and lift them up from the pit of oppression or suppression. 

An Encounter with God

UV 3535/10000. An Intimate  Encounter with God

 

Then the Lord passed in front of him, and proclaimed, “ The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth (faithfulness);

 

Exodus 34 v 6  

 

                       People talk of a "God concept" without realizing that God is too mind boggling for us to be able to hold Him or even a single aspect of Him in our minds.  He conceives us and we cannot conceive Him or reduce HIm to a concept.   God is the greatest paradox.  He is both compassionate and just, fierce and gracious, abundant in love, kindness and faithfulness.  The same paradoxical qualities were manifested in the Son, Jesus who is gentle, gracious, compassionate, wise, forgiving, loving and yet is fierce in His zeal towards the Father’s house and in doing His will.  Both the Father and the Son, Jesus are slow in becoming angry.  God is patient but beyond a point His patience with us ends and we need to face His wrath or anger.   It is this character of God that induces the fear or intense reverence for God as for nothing else in the universe.

 

 

                       St Paul writes that love is not jealous. Then, how can God who is defined by His love be jealous.  It is not a contradiction as may seem superficially but the word “jealous” as a description of God implies that He is zealous for His precious possession, His people, the people who acknowledge Him as “Abba, Father” and receive the Son wholeheartedly into their lives.   Unlike the rebellious and unfaithful tenants of God’s vineyard, the earth, we should be faithful in paying our rent to the Son, namely, worship and thanksgiving. 

 

                         If we are children of God, we should share His spiritual DNA and reflect His abundant life, His abounding love, kindness, faithfulness, grace and compassion.  If we are the ambassadors of Christ, we should speak and manifest His spiritual qualities in our lives.  We will not take God for granted but we will be thankful for whatever He has granted for nothing that we are or have, we have without His giving it to us.  Like Moses, we should seek to perceive the glory of God, to witness His passing in front of us.  Like Moses stood in the cleft of  a rock to perceive the passing of God in front of him, we should stand in the cleft of  our Rock, Jesus to witness the presence, the power and the passing of Jesus in front of us.    

  

The First, the Last and the Least

UV 3534/10000 The First, the Last  and the Least

So those who are last (in this world) shall be first ( in the world to come), and those who are first, last.”

 

Matthew 20 v 16

 

 

                           God’s standards of judging, rewarding and recognizing are different from those of this world.   Everyone is given salvation who believes and engages with the kingdom of God to labour for God in this world.  This is what God has agreed to give as part of the new covenant or agreement with man.  He is not going to give less of salvation to someone who joined the kingdom of God in the last hour of His life and hence, could not serve Him for long.   He is not giving more of salvation to those who served Him lifelong. 

 

 

                           Another dimension of this uni-verse is that we should not strive for riches or recognition or rewards of this world.  If we are first in this world, we could end up last in the kingdom of God.  Those who go through life unappreciated, not honoured or recognized may end up being most rewarded in heaven.  The Lord will undo any injustice.    His ways of judging and rewarding are not like the way of the world.    He judges the heart of man not his external acts.    The Lord weighs the motive behind our actions, words and thoughts.

 

                        God can use a ‘last hour’ worker in His vineyard or kingdom more effectively and with greater impact than someone who has been toiling all his life for the Lord.  It is not our efforts but His grace that determines the results or rewards.  Being faithful in whatever is given to us to do is the one thing we should focus on.  We should humble ourselves and not think that by virtue of whatever we have done we are entitled for certain rewards from God.    We should, in fact, that even if we are the last person in heaven, we would rejoice at that prospect and be thankful with our lives.