THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM (3)

Ecclesiastes 10:10

For the last two weeks we have been studying this topic – The Spirit of Wisdom. Today we will look at some critical areas in our lives where we need to apply wisdom and the spirit of wisdom can begin to produce real results in out lives.

Areas Where You Need Wisdom

1. You need wisdom to carry out your life assignment

Victory and success in life is not by struggle but by wisdom. You need the wisdom of God to understand your assignment, how to go about it, how to relate with and handle men that are connected with your assignment. Not every man will seek the success of your assignment in life; you need God’s wisdom to handle men, like Jesus handled Judas.

Handle the information of God over your life in wisdom. The crisis of Joseph started when he shared his vision with his envious brothers (Gen. 37: 5). Samson got himself destroyed when he disclosed the sacred information of God over his life to the enemy. With all thy gettings, get understanding.

2. You need wisdom in marriage and home affairs

Wedding lasts for one day or a maximum of 2days but marriage and home building lasts a lifetime. You remember a wise woman builds her own house, the foolish tears hers down. A wise man will also raise his family in wisdom.

3. You need wisdom in handling crisis and challenges of life

We will come across challenges as we go through life, but with the wisdom of the ancient of days you will know how to navigate through life. Wisdom will tell you what to do in times of crisis or who to run to.

4. You need wisdom in handling God and divine revelations

Saul handled his ordination as a king with wisdom (1Sam. 10:14-16). Paul handled his revelation and encounter with God with wisdom. (Gal. 1:15-19). But Joseph did not. (Gen. 37)

5. You need wisdom to move from one level of success to another. Nobody rewards folly. Every right person who promotes and rewards has rewarded increased contributions of wisdom.

6. You need wisdom when life and people confront you with questions.

You need wisdom to know who to answer, who not to answer, who to delay his answer till another time and who to engage so that they don’t ask you questions again.

Lastly, I want to highlight two critical areas in your life that you must watch in other not to pollute the spirit of wisdom operational in you.

The Spirit in your heritage

God thinks generationally and the devil does the same. From the point that a child is given birth to, God places His eyes upon the child while the enemy does the same. Make sure you don’t do anything that connects you to wrong flows. It will affect the operation of the spirit of wisdom inside you.

Spirits of things/items.

Things carry spirits. The Bible says that handkerchiefs were taken from the body of Paul and taken to sick people. This shows that Paul’s body carries the spirit of healing. Books, messages, TV are attested channels of spirits transfer. Shut your mind, home and life to anything that poisons the anointing of God over your life.

THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM (2)

Ephesians 1:17






Last week, I showed you how a man can contact the spirit of wisdom. Today I want to conclude by showing you some other channels through which this spirit can be contacted.






Respect and admiration


Anybody that you respect and admire, whatever is working in their lives will flow towards you in a measure. You cannot partake of the gift of a man without partaking in the spirit operating in him.






Study of God’s word: 2Tim. 4:15-17


Paul the Apostle wrote to Timothy in the passage above that knowledge of God’s word has a capacity to make a man wise unto salvation. This mean as you sit down to study the scriptures, a measure of God’s wisdom will rest upon you.






Prayer: James 1:5-8, Psalm 72


David the king prayed on behalf of Solomon that the Lord will give him wisdom; you can see the result in Solomon’s life. Paul also prayed for the Ephesian Church that the Lord will give them the sprit of wisdom. If you are born again, you can ask the Lord for it and the Lord will release it to you liberally.






After you have received the spirit of wisdom, it is your responsibility to keep it and make it more and more prevalent in your affairs. Do not let it lie dormant; Paul admonished the Corinthian church not to receive the grace of God in vain. You must exercise it to make it stronger in your life.






Steps to Strengthening the Spirit of Wisdom (Isa. 35:1-10)






The spirit of wisdom in you can be strengthened and can be damaged. The more it is strengthened the more it manifests in your life. The following are some of the ways by which you can strengthen this spirit for effectiveness in your journey and assignment in life.






1. Increase the intake of God’s word Ps. 119:97-99


Any member of the kingdom that is practicing the word will be a leader anywhere. When you study God’s word, you must look for commandments to obey, instructions to obey – you must have a strong respect for God’s instructions. You must look for the testimonies of God and His judgments. Get anointed messages, different translations of the Bible and anointed books. Your results will be different in life.






2. Train yourself to think, observe, look, listen carefully and closely to words, study things. Don’t just let things be swiped under the carpet; seek to know why? (Is. 41:20).






3. Intentionally associate with the wise


Listen to their messages or words, attend their meetings, and learn to ask practical questions while you are with them.






4. Practice the sayings of Jesus


Get a red-lettered bible and practice the words of Jesus written in red, you will see serious improvement will come upon your life.






5. Write things down


Writing makes an exact man. God is a writing God. (Is. 30:8; Hab. 2:2; Ex. 34:1, 27). It helps you to track your journey with God and update your knowledge.






6. Pursue knowledge passionately.






7. Abstain from unwholesome entertainment; it kills the spirit of wisdom.

THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM

Ephesians 1:15-23

The spirit world is a reality. However, spirits cannot operate until they see a body through which they can give their full expression. More often than not, the manifestation of a man possessed by a spirit will be according to the spirit possessing him.

The spirit of wisdom is one of the spirits upon the Lord Jesus Christ (Is. 11:1-2) and from the scriptures; this spirit is the fundamental expression of wisdom. The spirit of wisdom is so important to our daily life and fulfillment as believers that when Paul the Apostle heard about the conversion of the Ephesian Christians, he began to pray for them that the Lord will possess them with this spirit. Your results and manifestations in life as a child of God will be a direct function of the spirits in your life.

When life and situations are not responding to a man, it is an indication that such a man lacks wisdom. If there is anything you must begin to ask God for as from today, it is the spirit of wisdom. When the spirit of wisdom takes hold of you, it will be too evident in your life. It will cause you to recognize wisdom anywhere you see it.

In Deut. 34:9, the Bible says, “Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom: for Moses had laid his hand upon him: and the children of Israel harkened unto him”. Men will respond to you when you have this spirit operational in you. What is difficult for others will be simple for you. Things that take men years to overcome will take you moments.

You can hardly be stranded in life when you operate by the spirit of wisdom. When the spirit of wisdom comes into your life, creativities that men cannot explain will begin to be birthed forth in you.

How to Contact the Spirit of Wisdom

Spirits generally have the same attribute. However, I need to let you know that the spirit of wisdom is not of the devil, it is of God.

The following are some of the ways by which you can contact the spirit of wisdom.

1.      By impartation

As we see in the case of Moses and Joshua (Deut. 34:9), that spirit came upon Joshua after Moses had laid hands on him. Hence a man can receive the spirit of wisdom, when a man that carries it lays hands on him.

2.      By words

Jesus said to the disciples, “The words I speak unto you they are Spirit and Life (Jn.6:63) In Ezekiel 2:1-2, the Lord told Ezekiel the Prophet to stand up to hear the word of God. Ezekiel said, “It came to pass that the spirit entered into me when He spake unto me.” From those two Bible passages, you can see that spirits are transferred by words. So when you sit down under the sound teaching of a servant of God that carries the spirit of wisdom in him, the spirit of wisdom that is dormant in you will be activated and stirred up into action.

3.      By Association 1Sam. 10:5-6

Saul the son of Kish came into the company of prophets and began to prophesy. Don’t forget also that “he that walk with the wise shall be wise (Prov. 13:20).  From these two passages, you can see that proper association with men who carries the spirit of wisdom will cause the same spirit to come on you.

4.      Anointed Books 2 Tim. 4:13b

Paul the Apostle was a man given to books. He wrote to Timothy his son in the faith saying “bring with thee the books especially the parchments”.

I am not talking about just any book, but anointed books written by men approved of God and upon whom this spirit of wisdom is evident.

UNDERSTANDING WISDOM

Psalm 104:1-24

Wisdom is an essential component of man’s destiny and purpose. No man will become anything serous in life if adequate attention is not given to wisdom. From the Bible passage, we see that by wisdom the Lord created the heavens and the earth. In fact, Proverbs 3:13-18 says, “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom … length of days is in her right-hand … and she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her.” Beloved, you will begin to succeed when you begin to prioritize wisdom in your life.

I want you to see the following things about wisdom:

1. If it is true that God made the earth in wisdom, then it is only wisdom that can unlock the secrets of the earth.


2. Only the wise can operate at the advantage in life. Where wisdom is not prioritized slavery is inevitable. Prov.24:5-7.

3. Wisdom, not colour, not race, not ethnicity, not gender, not location is the key to rulership in life.

4. Wisdom is the greatest need of a man and of a Christian on the earth (Prov. 4:5-22). In the school of life the name of the principal is Wisdom. You had better respect him or else you won’t ever make any significant progress in life.


5. It should be the outstanding pursuit of anyone on the earth. You must pursue it more than anything else. If you sit down and analyze the lives of so many people today, you will discover that many do not have problem other than wisdom problem. When you begin to pay adequate attention to wisdom, it will help you simplify your life.






Types of Wisdom (1Cor. 2:6-7)


1. The wisdom of God. (1Cor. 1:18-31; 2:1-8)


This is the wisdom of the Ancient of days, the wisdom with which He creates and administers all things both in heaven and on earth and under the earth. All things are under Him. Jesus Christ is the personification of this wisdom. Every genuine wisdom that you see men display today is a product of that wisdom. The wisdom of God is unsearchable and the enemy does not understand it.


It is foolishness before men and the devil and that is why the enemy and man do not understand it often times. Every instruction that God gives issues out from this wisdom. God has ordained this wisdom to bring glory into our lives only that we must accept it, admire it and live by it.




2. The wisdom of the devil (Gen. 3:1-5)


The devil is wise but his wisdom is a corrupted wisdom. Anyone who follows it will end up in destruction. The wisdom is evil and it’s always against God’s purpose and plan. It usually looks attractive to men but ultimately it will lead them to destruction. By it men devise and work out evil and evil things. Wisdom sought and obtained outside of Jesus Christ and the Bible is of the devil.


3. The wisdom of man


You have the natural wisdom of man that is taught and acquired in schools and other learning processes. After the fall of man, there is still a residual effect of God’s wisdom on man, by it men make and invent things. However, you have another side of man’s wisdom and that is cunning craftiness. It is the wisdom of man consequent upon his fall. Craftiness is a satanic wisdom- a product of man’s fall. It has its root in deception and it is of the devil. This wisdom is also called the wisdom of this world. Don’t forget however, that this world will perish and everything in it.

SEPARATION FOR PEACE AND CLARITY (Gen. 13:1-9)

The Bible tells us in Genesis 13:8-9

“And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we be brethren.

Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

Abraham did not want strife but wanted peace so he had to separate.

Also take a look at Jonah he was running from God and entered into a ship and there was trouble in the ship because Jonah entered into the ship and he was carrying a storm, please always walk with men of peace. Some situations exist that you cannot separate from but you can separate from the cause for example, Jonah case was not the fault of people in the ship but Jonah.

SEPARATION FOR ANOINTING AND ASSIGNMENT (1 Samuel 9 & 10)

Saul’s father (Kish) called him and gave him an instruction to go and look for his asses that were lost. Saul separated himself from his father looking for the asses when the servant that was with him told him that they should go to a man of God after they had searched everywhere but could not find it. He was separated for an assignment because every assignment in life calls for separation. So when Saul got into the city he met the man of God Samuel to whom God had spoken a day before Samuel came to him.

1Sam.9:15-17, so Samuel called him to eat with him and after they had eaten, verse 26, “And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad.” In 1 Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

Anointers never come until you begin to serve.

ATTRIBUTES OF SEPARATION

 What separate us

- God: Example – Jonah

- Death: Elijah and Elisa

- The Voice of God: Abraham and the family.

- The Truth: Bro. Saul who become Paul.

- Purpose: The Disciples

 What should not separate us:

- Satan

- Man

- Quarrelling

Note that these three things are the major things that always want to separate you and when these things cause you to separate it is not separation but disconnection which strife and take you away from your destiny. So never allow this to separate you from your relationship in life.

 Things we should separate from:

- Separate from wrong attitudes

- Separate from wrong places

- Separate from evil thoughts

- Separate from evil/bad habits

- Separate from wrong things

- Separate from wrong people

Many times God cannot join you until He has separated you.

SEPARATION FOR DESTINY (2)

When two friends are traveling to a place, one on a journey to Sokoto and the other going to Yobe, the first question they ask is not what is the price but ask where is this vehicle going? After they have found out where each vehicle is going, they must then separate in other to go to their various destinations.


Gen 22:4-5 “Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off… I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.


Abraham saw where he is going so this caused him to separate from the young men. So he separated from these young men because they were not meant to follow him to the place of sacrifice. No matter how far you go with people it will get to a point in time to separate for you to arrive at your destiny in life.


SEPARATION FOR SPEED (Heb. 12:1)


When you enter into a bus you meet many people inside the bus. You may be going to the same town but not the same place even when it’s the same place not for the same assignment, so you determine whether you will get to the place on time when drop or you will follow others and let them disturb you from getting to where you are going on time.


Heb 12:1 “ ... let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” When time is attached to something it is a race not a game; so every assignment in life or every destiny in life is attached to time so you must separate from wrong people because wrong people will always tie you down and keep you on one point. To be on one point means to be doing the same thing at different time. So you must separate from wrong people.


SEPARATION FOR ELEVATION (Matt. 26:36-39)


Elevation can either be physical or spiritual but always know that there is no elevation either physical or spiritual without a separation. There are many people today that want elevation but are not ready to separate. Even in the physical sense you have to separate and place priority in life for you to become promoted in life but if you are unwilling to separate that means you are ready to sacrifice your promotion.


We see Jesus Christ in this text that He had to leave some of the disciple in the first instance but later had to leave them all to commune with the Father. There are some levels of separation you must undergo for your elevation to come. Many great leader think deeply and decide deeply and bring it to the followers for discussion but the issues which they discuss openly with the followers were birthed in secret. So for you to be elevated there must be separation.


SEPARATION FOR HEARING AND COMMUNICATION (Gen. 13:14)


There are many things that God may have to tell you but until you are separated, God may not say it or you may not even hear when God is talking to you. In this passage you will see that it was after Lot had separated from Abraham that Abraham was able to hear God and able to receive the blessing that God had in stock for him. God does not bless in unconditionally but conditionally.


Many people are battling with many issues of life but sometimes the only thing needed is for them to go into their closet and communicate with their Father in heaven.


Learn to separate yourself at anytime in life to be able to communicate with God because something will always engage your time but you have to set priority of how you spend your time. If you waste your time, you are wasting your life. Learn to separate for communication and hearing.

SEPARATION FOR DESTINY Text: Gen. 13:1-8

A lot of times we don’t like separation, but for destiny to happen there must be separation. Many people today have mortgaged their lives because they were unwilling to enter into separation. You cannot avoid separation; it is necessary for you to get to your destination in life. So as you mature in life, you will see that some separations are very necessary if you want to grow and unless you embrace the separation you cannot grow.

The Yoruba speaking people have a proverb that says twenty children cannot play together for twenty years; this is a truth that happens even in the normal system of life. Looking into the book of Gen. 13:5-9, we see that there was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle and the land was unable to bear them together so they separated. Abraham separated for greatness and Lot disconnected into destruction. I want you to understand that there is a difference between separation and disconnection.

Divine Separation and Satanic Disconnection

We see that there was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle and herdsmen of Lot’s cattle so this called for separation, Gen 13:8 – 9

“And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we be brethren.

Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left”.

Here we can see the strife between Abraham’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. We understand the critical nature of relationships from this example. When the two men went their separate ways, to Abraham it was separation but to Lot it was disconnection.

When it is not time and you separate from a divine relationship then you have disconnected yourself from your God ordained portion in life. When strife occurs, it’s always a sign of disconnection. So when strife begins in your life never disconnect but wait for separation.

Lk. 15:16 - 17

“And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”

Disconnection always calls for some kind of suffering so you must recognize the time to separate the passage above tells the story of the prodigal son. He disconnected from the father; disconnection takes place when you leave before your time or when you leave when you ought to stay. When it’s not time for you to separate and you go that means you disconnect. He could have asked for separation but he disconnected and the end of it was much suffering.

Always learn to wait and be sensitive to divine time for you to separate. Sometimes, it takes more faith to wait so always wait enough for God to separate you for your destiny in life. When you disconnect, you don’t disconnect from the person but from everything that the person has. There is a time to separate so, wait well and separate at the appropriate time.

THINGS GOD GIVE TO GET YOU TO GREATER HEIGHT 2Kings3; Phil.2:5-9

God is not a magician; HE is a deliberate God, who takes men through a process until you get to your place of destiny.

He will give you opportunity (ies) in life, so the rest will now depend on you. So for the greater height that God has planned for you, there are ladders to climb to the place which are not negotiable if you want a true greatness in life and destiny. No short cut. The things that God gives are:

1.SACRIFICE: God gives you an opportunity to sacrifice yourself for others and at the place of your sacrifice greatness comes true. Look t Jesus in Phil.2:5-10, after the sacrifice of Himself for the redemption of man, He was highly exalted. The greater you sacrifice, the greater the place you get to. Be ready to sacrifice yourself, time, money and things. No greatness without sacrifice.

Any place you get to without a corresponding sacrifice, things can't be handled well. It will enter your head and at the end you can't sustain it. Because there is no life of sacrifice in you.

Sacrifice is not suffering, it is a price of great heights that you want whether spiritually or secular, be ready to sacrifice, the more you sacrifice, the more you rise in life.

Life is sacrifice, marriage is sacrifice, if you can sacrifice as a man/woman you can get to that platform, so also in ministry, you will have to sacrifice a lot but not in vain. May the Lord give you grace in the name of Jesus.

God is a deliberate God, who takes men through a process before putting them in a place (of course the greater heights.

There will always be an opportunity for men to be great in God's way, so becoming great now depends on how a man can make use of the opportunity.

Another ladder to greatness is

2. SERVICE: God anoints service. It is Major part of the process to greater heights.

Look at 2Kings3:11, here we see the reason for the anointing that Elisha received, he served Elijah. You can't get the authentic anointing by sitting where the anointed seat but through service. Elisha served his way into the anointing. Don't be deceived, service is the key and God will give you opportunity to serve. Jesus served in Luke22;26, greatness and service can't be separated from each other.

True service attracts authentic anointing; God can't mistakenly put the anointing on a man that is not serving. For example, Saul the first king of Israel was anointed at the place of service, where he was looking for his father’s sheep. David was anointed right when he was serving his father, men may not see you in the place of service but God does and the rewards are in place. Don't let people mock service to you. It has nothing to do with who God has chosen you to serve; it is between you and God.

Remember the anointing you don't serve can't mistakenly drop on you.

There is always an opportunity that God gives to every individual in life to move into their destiny. God will not do things without a pre-plan. God is a deliberate God not a magician; He is a God of process. Men get to their place of destiny by taking the process of God and opportuity that comes their way with it serious.

Another opportunity that God has given to man that will put him in his place is:

3. SEED: Your seed towards your destiny is a tool that can't fail. Inasmuch it is sown correctly at the right time on the right ground, it will definitely bring greatness.

The seed principle has never fail and it can't fail, there are seasons for seed which you must not miss. For the future that God has given you, there are seeds you must sow that will give you the harvest that is the exact you are to be. The devil himself can't stop the harvest of a seed that has been properly sown; in fact God can't change HIS mind about the harvest. You can say the seed is the sure means to greatness. Every seed sown will always multiply. Another thing is that the seed should be sown deliberately towards your future and destiny. Don't be careless with your seed; it is the gift of God to man to become very great on the earth. Sow into the anointing, marriage, Children, career and another man, you will just end up great.