Are You Filled with a Spirit of Wisdom?

Deuteronomy 34:9 – And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, and the children of Israel hearkened to him and did as the Lord commanded.

    Moses was the kind of spiritual leader that the world had not seen before. He was used by God to confront one of the most powerful leaders and greatest military strategists of the earth: Pharaoh, King of Egypt. God instructed Moses on how to approach and deal with Pharaoh, but we can only imagine the kind of faith and courage it took to go face to face in conflict with this ruthless and formidable dictator. God worked through Moses in an unusually amazing way, and the children of Israel were miraculously released from four-hundred years of collective slavery. Moses’ successor had some very large shoes to fill, and Joshua was the one whom God chose to step into them.

    If Joshua was going to be able to succeed Moses as leader of the newly formed, rebellious, and ragtag nation, he was going to need, among many other things, a spirit of wisdom. Wisdom is the supreme need of all leaders. One can be strong and courageous but have a wrong motive. One could be able to influence and direct others, but be headed in the wrong direction. One could have many resources, but use them in the wrong way. Wisdom gives us precisely what we need and more, and it is vital that we acquire it. The principles of wisdom must be instructed, line upon line, but the spirit of wisdom must be imparted, time after time. The laws of wisdom must be learned, but the force of wisdom must be earned. 

       Joshua had served Moses from his youth. He spent many hours with Moses; watching, waiting, listening and obeying. He served Moses daily and helped him in whatever way was needed. He was up in the morning before Moses was up; he got him water and a basin; he brought him food and drink. He climbed the mountain with Moses to meet God. He was always close by, as Moses prayed and talked to God. He could hear Moses reciting the powerful spiritual truths that God had shown him. Joshua watched as Moses endured the pain of misunderstandings and betrayals from people that should have known better. He watched Moses suffer under the weight of responsibility and the sense of loneliness that comes with any leadership burden but, especially one of that magnitude and capacity.

    The laying on of hands is one of the foundational principles of the New Testament and it is a fascinating subject and practice. However, there may be more involved in it than we have experienced. I do not believe that Joshua was full of a spirit of wisdom because of a one-time event of Moses placing his hands on him. No doubt, that would be a very powerful experience for any of us, but, I believe, that it was over a period of years that Moses, by Joshua’s close association and proximity, continually laid his hands on him. Something was happening deep within Joshua as he served the man of God and spent much time in his presence. Something was transpiring within him, something was being transferred to him; and all of it was taking place slowly and silently, incrementally and incessantly, purposely and precisely. This wasn’t something that Moses was intentionally doing, per se, and it wasn’t something that Joshua was especially conscious of. It was something that God was doing, and He was doing it in the way that only He can. Every act, every thought, every prayer, and every circumstance were being woven together by the Master Designer, weaving the fabric of wisdom with which He clothed Joshua.

     Moses had brought the Israelites out of Egypt but, for some reason, he failed to bring them in. God wants us to be brought out, but the job is not complete until we are also brought in. Joshua brought them in. The spirit of wisdom which was within Joshua made it obvious to the children of Israel that God had equipped him to assume leadership. So, they listened and obeyed, and God brought them into the land of promise and inheritance. There is so much more that God desires for us, but we must desire it, as well. We will need that same spirit of wisdom so that we can enter our promised land, drive out the illegal squatters, and reclaim our rightful, God-ordained inheritance.

Rock of Ages

Psalm 18:2 - The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 

    The Book of Psalms is probably the most quoted book of the Bible; it is loved by many people and is a place where people, of all walks of life, frequently come, for comfort, hope, strength and security. One of the reasons that it is so loved is because it is so personal. Every human emotion and experience is recorded within its pages and it is easy to identify with the struggles of the writers. One of those writers, who seemed to always make his relationship with the Lord so very intimate, personal and vulnerable, is David.

    The Lord is my rock. This is either very presumptuous and arrogant of David to say, or, it is the height of faith. Of course, we know it is the latter; it is the highest expression of faith. Can we say along with David, ‘The Lord is my rock?’ Only those who know the Lord can say it, but saying it is also another way of drawing close to God and knowing Him better. The Lord is my rock. Say it out loud. Say it slowly. Say it daily. Say it in the good times and in the hard times. Say it to yourself and to others. Say it because it is real, and say it to make it even more real. The Lord is my rock.

    The Lord is the one and only God; the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the Almighty One against whom none can overpower. He is the Self-Existent One; uncreated and eternal. He always has been and He always will be. He is the highest Being in the universe, truly, there is none higher, and this is He of whom we are speaking and declaring that He is my rock. This almost defies understanding; that the Almighty God would descend to my level and have a very close association with me. He knows everything about each one of us and yet He chooses to come to us and be to us what we need Him to be. He is my rock.

    The rock, to the ancient Hebrew, was the steady, weighty, unchanging and immovable One. He is our steadiness because, like the rock, he holds us solidly to the earth and keeps our feet planted firmly on the ground. He creates within us stability and constancy, which enables us to build an orderly life. He is my rock. Sometimes when we speak of someone who has a lot of power and influence we might say that they are heavy, or, that they are a heavy hitter. That means that they carry a lot of weight and authority. There is no heavier hitter than our God, and by virtue of our relationship with Him, He communicates a measure of that weight and authority to us. He is my rock. The rock does not change. It persists through the centuries, remaining the same through every season. It endures intense heat and bitter cold and yet remains unchanged. The Lord is my rock and He will always be the same. It matters not what I have done or haven’t done; I change, but His Word never changes, His heart never changes, His will never changes, and because of that, I can rely upon Him fully. He is my rock.

Occasionally we may hear people speak of those who are faithful friends, or loyal spouses and they might say, ‘She is my rock’, or, ‘He is my rock’. However, no matter how faithful and reliable another person is, and, of course, we are thankful for it; they are not in the same rock-like category of God’s eternally unchanging nature. God said elsewhere, ‘I am the Lord and I change not’, and because of that, we can have a measure of predictability in our lives. We know what God wants because we have read what God wrote; His Word is His will. When the winds of adversity begin to blow with great intensity, remember that you are tethered to the heaviest and most secure One in the universe. Do not fear. Do not panic. He has you, he has you covered, and He has you held in His hands. All of God’s children can say with great confidence, ‘He is my rock.’

The Seed Meets the Need

Luke 8:11 – The seed is the word of God.

    Only God, with His infinite mind, and limitless intellect, could come up with the idea of a seed. Man could never have conceived of such an amazing concept and remarkable system. Man cannot, now, or ever, create seed; only God can create it. Man can cultivate and cross-pollinate seed; he can even modify it, but he does not have the ability to create it. Seed bears the stamp of God’s supremacy and the seal of His private ownership. He does not need to patent it because, no matter how smart and innovative man is, he will always be dependant on God’s higher ability to supply seed.

    Seed is impartial; it does not discriminate. If a rich person, or a poor person sows the seed, it cares not who sowed it. If an educated person, or an uneducated person sows the seed, it does not differentiate. Also, when the seed enters the ground, it does not discern the type of soil it lands in. If it is sown into hard clay, or loose soil, it will put forth the same effort to germinate. Regardless if it is introduced into deep, rich soil, or shallow gravel, its latent power will spring into action. The seed has innate and instinctive powers of growth and reproduction. Expansion and multiplication is built in to its DNA. It desires to grow; it longs to reproduce. It is always the will of the seed to germinate, increase and reproduce itself within the fruit.

    It is an amazing thought that every seed can be traced all the way back, through the centuries, to the original tree from which it owes its existence. There is no original seed being made now; the seed came from the tree that God created in the beginning. From that time forth, He gave mankind stewardship and entrusted him with the cultivation, conservation and preservation of the seed.

    Jesus informs us that, in this parable, the seed is the Word of God, which means, that just like seed needs to be sown and nurtured, God’s Word must be planted and cared for in the soil of our hearts. We have a vital and necessary role to play in the growth of God’s Word in our lives. The seed is dependant on the one who has been entrusted with it; it cannot grow and reproduce without our cooperation. This is the system that God has established. He set this unchangeable law into motion; the law of reproduction. This is where our thinking must be correct; God is not going to bulldoze into our lives and overpower our ability to choose; He honours His system. Even though certain things may be His will, He waits to see what we will do with the seed. He is looking for us to assume some responsibility for our lives and future. Make no mistake about it; for results to occur, the seed of the Word must be sown.

    As we have said before, there is no new seed being created, or produced, that did not come from the original tree. In the same way, there are no new words from God that do not spring from the original and established Word of God. Don’t look for originality; take what has been given to you. Use what is available. Be proactive and begin to plant the seed of the Word that you possess. Give time regularly to the reading and meditation of the Scriptures. Read slowly and think deeply. Do your best to apply what you know to your daily life. Seeds always produce according to their own species, and the Word-seeds from God will do the same. The Word of God contains life and that very life will be reproduced in you. The Word of God includes wisdom and that same wisdom will be replicated in you. The Word of God carries inspiration and that creative inspiration will be duplicated in you. The Word of God is powerful and that similar power will be repeated in you. Take heart, friends, by taking the Word of God and planting it within. Whether it be in our own lives, our families, our organizations, or our churches, we are not helpless and, no matter what we face, it is not hopeless. We can sow our way, and grow our way out of weakness, into strength; out of despair, into hope; out of sorrow, into joy and out of death, into life!