I hope to park in Isaiah 11 for awhile. There is so much to be learned here. Our mind is the primary battlefield. Partial or surface understanding leads very easily to misunderstanding and disappointment. Understanding is a treasure map that points us to the grace of God. It proceeds from, and always returns, to the Son of God. Wisdom brings us home.
Knowledge can impart the structure of something to a person. Understanding can show the function of something but it takes wisdom to see the value of a thing or a dynamic.
Recently at a question and answer time after a men's meeting P Butch Veader gave a great practical example of this principle. He talked a learning how to use a tool from an old craftsman. The experienced man makes it look easy but it is not until you have the tool in your hand try to use it that you see the nuances of it's use. If you are just handed a tool you have never used before you analyse the structure. There is a certain way you hold it... maybe you turn it over in your hands and try to process the structure of the tool. Understanding is putting it to use correctly. Knowledge moves into understanding. The skilled craftsman shows you and corrects your technique. If you are wise you listen to the man with years of experience. The arrogant but zealous young man who will not listen will make many mistakes. The passive man may not make as many mistakes but will also not have a great volume of results. The wise person with both knowledge and understanding can have great success in applying that knowledge.
"And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear" - Isaiah 11:2-3 ESV
A spiritual person has a different value system. Structure, understanding and value have a divine aspect to them. The Spirit reveals a creator behind everything in nature... a natural man looks at a beautiful woman and may see an object to be possessed, lusted after or appreciated but a spiritual man see a Heavenly Father standing behind that woman and focuses his eyes of the divine which places the natural in perspective. Wisdom does not change the structure or something or someone but it can change the use and assessment of value radically.
Smart people look and hear and process information in practical insightful ways. Wise people process value.
Grace amplifies and reveals the value of each human being. Jesus' love manifested on the cross shows a value system that must be grace oriented... the Father's love to send Him... the Spirit's love to reveal it to us... to pay so much for so many who will never respond must be grace.
The Spirit of Grace is the Spirit of truth.
God fill us with your Spirit today. Make us wise people who discern structure and function in wisdom. People who see grace and learn it from the master craftsman... not independent and not passive... strangers and pilgrims moving through life following Jesus and hearing His words each step of the way.
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