Category: The Wise Life Begins

Isaiah 11:2-3, 9b (NIV)
² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
⁹ for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
    as the waters cover the sea.
 
“This imagery of what is to come is beautiful. There is a filling (overtaking, overflowing, abundance, and utter satisfaction) of the land and its inhabitants that will occur. With what?…the knowing of our God, wisdom and the good life of being in him. Knowing him, being in him and the presence of his glory (Habakkuk 2:14) will cover over everything else, like the waters cover the sea. Such that you can no longer see or even remember what was below. All the old, dry, dusty, unsatisfied, ever-thirsting, empty (foolish, worldly-wise) ways of living will be completely covered over, remembered no more. Until this is realized in full, we, his people experience an ever-increasing foretaste of this kind of knowing of the Lord (wisdom) in the here and now. By the Spirit of the Lord in whom our Lord Jesus walked, we, too, can live delightful lives of wisdom (Isaiah 11:3).” (Brenda)

Prayer: Father, we take you at your word, with thanksgiving and much hope. We receive your promise and say “amen,” as we continue to experience the ever-increasing foretaste of knowing you! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing “Take You At Your Word” by Cody Carnes (click here).

-KW

 

Proverbs 2:1-6, 9-10 (NIV)
¹ My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁹ Then you will understand what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
 
We desire to live life well, to “understand what is right and just and fair – every good path” (v. 9). Proverbs 2 tells us how – it’s about a personal relationship, finding the “knowledge of God,” who gives wisdom (v. 5-6). Knowing God and fearing the Lord is his promise and the result of using all our senses to seek understanding – to call out for it, to search for it, to be tuned to it, to eat and store up God’s commands (cf. Jeremiah 15:16).

Prayer: Father, you tell us that if we ask, seek, and knock, we will receive. So with all our energy, we ask you for the Spirit’s wisdom, to grow in a life lived on every good path. Thank you for wisdom that enters our hearts and knowledge that is pleasant to our souls. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s continue to respond as we sing “One Pure and Holy Passion” by Mark Altrogge (click here).

-KW

Galatians 1:13-16, 22-24  (NLT/NIV)
¹³ You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.
¹⁵…Then it pleased [God] ¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.
²² I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they praised God because of me.

Philippians 3:7 (NLT)
⁷ I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.

Apostle Paul received the revelation of Jesus as Lord and his whole heart and life were transformed, formed new by the Spirit. His own ideas about what was good were thrown out as worthless as he became aligned to God’s good and right purposes, causing God to be praised. All his expressions of living: thinking, speaking, deciding, desiring, now pointed toward Jesus.

Prayer: Father, we ask for the revelation from your Spirit today, so our hearts and minds will be transformed and aligned with you. By your Spirit, may what we once thought valuable be considered worthless compared to knowing Jesus. And may new thoughts, ways, and desires formed by your Spirit be expressed through our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing “Holy Spirit” by Bryan and Katie Torwalt (click here).

-KW

1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-24 (NIV)
¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
²² Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

“From any merely human perspective the central message of the Christian gospel must always appear as folly. But to people from both groups this folly turns out to be the very place where God is powerfully at work, calling out a people for his name…For them the preaching of ‘Christ crucified’ is effectual; it is ‘Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.’…Christ crucified as God’s power, and therefore God’s wisdom, at work in the world is the ultimate contradiction to merely human ways of perceiving reality.” (Fee, 1 Corinthians, NICNT)

Prayer: Father, thank you for the message of the cross that you have so powerfully worked in me, saving me from a foolish and empty, perishing life. As one called by you, help me to walk today in Christ alone, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Help me to preach Christ crucified, no other “wisdom,” in the way I live today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s behold Christ, the power and wisdom of God, as we sing “Come and See” by Matt Redman (click here).

-KW

Let’s receive the truth from our Lord as we proclaim and pray the following aloud together:

Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)
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.

1 Corinthians 2:7, 9-10, 12 (NIV)
⁷ …we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
⁹ …as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
   what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived” –
   the things God has prepared for those who love him –
¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. 
¹² What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

Prayer: God of all wisdom, we thank you for the gift of your Spirit, so that we may know you better and so that we will understand what you have freely given us – salvation, life, glory in Jesus Christ! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s praise God as we sing “Let there Be Wonder” by Matt Redman (click here).

-KW