September 19, 2021
Sunday AM
Deficit: Lacking, not enough of, shortage, insufficient.
There is a deficit of the wisdom of God in people’s lives. There is a big difference between man’s wisdom and God’s wisdom.
Proverbs 1:1-7 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
To perceive the words of understanding,
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom,
Justice, judgment, and equity;
4 To give prudence to the simple,
To the young man knowledge and discretion—
5 A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
6 To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
When you need an answer, what you are saying is that you need the Wisdom of God. Wisdom is not just something that God gives you, it is a Person! Wisdom knows everything! Father God – Jesus – and the Holy Spirit totally agree, yet they are three separate entities.
People are so caught up in the spectacular that they do not do the fundamentals. The fundamentals make you win in life! There are three things that God wants for every believer.
1. Born again
2. Filled with the Holy Spirit
3. Mature
God wants every human to be born again. Until that moment, you are spiritually dead. Its not just about going to Heaven or Hell. It is more than that. When you are not born again, you are limited to human knowledge and your own intellect. If you are not spiritually alive, you cannot understand and grasp spiritual things.
God also wants every human to be filled with the Holy Ghost. A common teaching is that you were filled when you got saved, but that is incorrect. You were born of the Spirit, but you are not filled until you ask for it. Until you are born again, you are not a fit temple for the Holy Spirit to live in. Many churches and religions think that speaking in tongues is not for today. There are many lies surrounding this topic. A few of those lies being, “tongues has been done away with,” “tongues is of the devil,” “there has to be an interpretation.” When you’ve been taught something wrong in church, it is very hard to overcome and un-learn. To un-learn you have to have someone smarter than you. You have to be willing to lay aside things you have heard or been taught that does not line up with the Bible.
After steps one and two, you begin a lifelong journey of maturing and growing. The greatest enemy of growth is being satisfied with where you are. God wants you to be the best you can be! Steps one and two are completed in minutes, but maturing is something you will do the rest of your life.
Acts 19:1-6 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”
So they said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Notice in verse 6, the Holy Spirit didn’t speak in tongues, they did. He gives you utterance, but you have to speak! You have to yield to Him. There is a deficit of the Wisdom of God because there is a deficit of praying in tongues. People today are wrapped up in things that engage their mind. Speaking in tongues leaves your mind out of it! This is one reason it can be so hard for people. Gods wisdom comes from communication between your spirit and God’s spirit.
1 Corinthians 14:2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.
When you hear someone speak in tongues, you cannot understand what they are saying. Why? Because they are not speaking to you! They were talking to God! They are not speaking your language; they are speaking God’s language! What is a mystery? It’s something you don’t know. But if you will pray in the spirit, and speak to God in His language, He will reveal to you those mysteries. This is the answer to every problem you will ever have, but it will require something of you. It’s harder for people who have not been exposed to it. You have to do it daily! And you won’t if you don’t set aside time for it. The Holy Spirit is the Person sent from heaven to live in you and bring the mind, plan, and will of God into your life! Make time for Him! When you pray in the Holy Spirit, you are giving Him what He needs to go ahead of you and move things off of your path that need to be moved and moving things onto your path that need to be moved on! So that when you get there it is ready for you and will work out!
1 Corinthians 12:31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
The Holy Ghost will lay dormant in you until you treat Him as the person He is. He is God! He knows everything! He won’t perform His ministry in your life until you want Him.