Common and Special Words of Wisdom A natural and supernatural seeing into the future, the things of God for us, His people

Part 1: Common Daily Wisdom: "Remaining Reverent to the Word"

I Corinthians 12:7 says, "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."

We operate in common wisdom daily; God helps us in making practical decisions as simple as what to have for breakfast, how to plan our day, and how to follow Him fully. This common wisdom is for all who accept and seek after the things of God; He knows our hearts and responds to our faith. This faith in God allows His Holy Spirit to lead us by a Word or Words of Wisdom, used to fulfill a common task, with excellence!

In Job 28:12, Job asks a question: "But where can wisdom be found?" This question is answered in Job 28:28: "The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom." Proverbs 4:7 states, "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have get understanding." The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them. A covenant is a mutual agreement between God and man, with conditions and consequences spelled out. Our covenant and promises from God are found in the Bible.

He gave us all power and authority in His Word, to use His Word, to seek His Word, and to fulfill His Word. He expects that of us. He gave us His only Son so that we could accomplish His Word; His Son left us a Helper, the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 14:16–17, "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. He, the Holy Spirit, is in us to help us walk out the daily plans and purposes of God."

We are given common words of wisdom to keep us reverent to the Master, allowing Him to guide our daily lives.

The words of wisdom might be defined as "a supernatural revelation of the mind and purpose of God communicated by the Holy Spirit." We must live aware; staying connected to the Word of God affords us a hearing and a completion of these common and special gifts of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 64:9 has the beginning of this common wisdom: "All people will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what He has done." Amen!

While reading the Bible one day and meditating about the spiritual gifts, I received a revelation to write a book. I had just purchased a book titled Questions and Answers on Spiritual Gifts, written by Howard Carter, and although I had never read it, I knew the gist of the book. My wife was downstairs reading the new book; when she came upstairs I told her of my revelation and all the parts of it. She excitedly said, "That's exactly what that new book you bought is about." I knew the contents without ever reading the book. This revelation was a common gift of knowing as well as a common word of wisdom. I knew what to do now, and I knew of future events, although just enough for me to take the next step, not complete the book. I very quickly knew also that I needed to be prompt to do it, as God had spoken to my heart, "If you fail to do this, I will find someone who will." I knew this to be true from God's Word and Jesus' teaching about the talents found in Matthew 25:14–30.

The Bible tells us that Solomon had great wisdom, more than anyone before or after his time; Solomon shows us the benefits of wisdom in Proverbs 8:17–21 (Wisdom is speaking): "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full."

Paul prays for the Ephesians that God would give them the spirit of wisdom so they would know Him more. The spirit of wisdom is a defining characteristic of those who belong to the family of God. Jesus had this everyday wisdom from the Father once He realized who He was, and all He possessed in Him (Isaiah 11:2–3). It is common wisdom to follow the Lord's leading; He is in us and leads us by the Holy Spirit; that's why we covet earnestly these best gifts.

We also gain understanding as we operate in the will of God. God's will for us is taught, not given, as found in Psalm 143:10, which says, "Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground." What is God's will? It is His Word; it is how He created all things. God willed, and then He spoke; we too will then speak. Amen! Willing is a very strong power; it is the power of choice. As we are open to, and choose to, be led by the Holy Spirit, we purpose in ourselves to be blameless and faithful, thus ministering to God by our thoughts, our love for one another, and our actions. His common wisdom given to us is first of all pure, and then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere (James 3:17). Wisdom sounds and reacts much like love; the wisdom of God comes from Love Himself. So get wisdom.

God commends and cares for us as we follow His way; we have an intuitive look at our now, as well as a seeing into our future. We must see (perceive) and do God's will for us; this affords us wisdom of the first degree. We must seek His way and never turn away from doing all the good we know to do—never complaining, never flattering for gain, never mocking, as these are symptoms of a hardening heart. A hardened heart leads us away from God—our only source of true wisdom! Jude has a great example in Jude 14–19. He discusses the ungodly folks, doing ungodly acts, living in ungodly ways; ungodly seems to be a common theme here. Jude goes on to explain about mockers who walk after their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Holy Spirit. We must refrain from flattery; flattery is a form of a lie, and we must never lie for any reason. A lie cuts us off from the power of God, making the gifts of the Spirit nonexistent in our lives.

We must have the Holy Spirit in manifestation to experience the gifts of the Spirit; let us covet earnestly these best gifts. We need the common and special gifts of the Spirit to sustain ourselves, the church, and those like believers we are commanded to love.

Psalm 111:10 sums up the common or daily words of wisdom: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The rewards of wisdom come to all who obey Him; these rewards are found in Proverbs 3:16: "Long life in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor."

As God enriches our lives with the power of His Word, we grow closer to Him by our faith in His Word; this Word is where our wisdom is found. One word of wisdom can change our lives and all those around us forever; one word of wisdom will allow us to walk in the purposes of God for our life: "Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them." This advice is found in Proverbs 4:5. In the book of Proverbs you will find thirty-one chapters of godly wisdom; the richness of these proverbs, when meditated upon, will give you this wonderful, powerful, common, or daily wisdom.

Let us covet earnestly these best gifts. Let us be doers of these words of wisdom; our Father is. He by wisdom created all things; we are given this wisdom by the Holy Spirit, and this is the year of the Holy Spirit. As we seek godly wisdom, we will receive all that God has planned for us. This receiving is found in 1 Peter 4:10: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." God gives us His wisdom in proportion to our reverence of Him; let us fear and be in awe of our God, who created all things. Wisdom was with God in the beginning (the Architect at His side); this same wisdom is given to us liberally, and we now know where this wisdom starts or is grasped from, the fear of the Lord that is wisdom. Let us covet earnestly these best gifts.

Part 2: Special Words of Wisdom, "To Give Future Guidance into a Situation, Person, or Place"

As we look into this special word of wisdom, we will see a distinct contrast between the common and the special gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We receive and teach common gifts; we receive and minister the special gifts that are given as the Holy Spirit wills. First Corinthians 12:11 says, "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines"—each being one of two or more distinct individuals. This means we all have opportunity to receive this gift of special wisdom. We become distribution centers as we allow the Holy Spirit complete access into our lives, as we covet earnestly these gifts and seek to minister them to those He reveals to us by our inner witness. This inner witness is the prompting or unction of the Holy Spirit in us.

In the story of Jesus' presentation to God, Simeon had this prompting by the Holy Spirit in Luke 2:26–28: "It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took Him in His arms and praised God, saying ..."

Simeon was in the right place at the right time because of his inner witness, because he was in tune with his spirit as well as the Holy Spirit. Amen!

The Holy Spirit is alive and well. He allows entry into the divine and special gifts of God's power, ministered through us the body, to those He wills. We should never refer to the Holy Spirit as "it"; the Holy Spirit is as real as we are. Remember, we are spirits, we live in a body, and we have a soul.

We learned in part 1 how the reverence of God allows us this first foremost gift, the word of wisdom. The word of wisdom can be defined as a supernatural revelation of the mind and purpose of God communicated by the Holy Spirit. He communicates with us through many channels—by an angel as with Gideon, in a vision as with Daniel, in dreams as with Joseph, by an audible voice as with Moses, and as an inner witness within us. He guides us toward the prize of the high call (a divine summons). So let us press on toward the goal to win the heavenly prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.

A special gift of the word of wisdom was often given to Solomon, as we find in the book of 1 Kings. God gifted and graced Solomon in many areas, including insight and the understanding of principalities and powers, and gave him wisdom in the first degree. Solomon was wiser and greater than all who had lived to this point in time. This grace allowed him to create sayings and songs that numbered in the thousands. In 1 Kings 4:29–34 he describes plant life, animal life, birds, reptiles, and fish—astounding, one should presume. Kings and queens from around the world came to learn of and from his wisdom. Let us look back at the beginning of this passage. Where did Solomon's wisdom come from? God. God gave Solomon special words of wisdom and the insight into plant and animal life, public and political happenings, and brilliance in leadership, by special words of wisdom. Read the entire book of Proverbs, where Solomon by the inspiration of God gave us wisdom upon wisdom, insight upon insight, and on into the book of Ecclesiastes, where Solomon is believed to have shared his life's findings.

The resources within his experience were unequaled wisdom, vast wealth, pleasure in abundance, and extensive building projects. Special words of wisdom would still make one wise, very rich, full of joy, and an increaser of the kingdom of God. Amen!

"The Lord brought me (Wisdom) forth as the first of His works, before His deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. When there were no watery depths, I (Wisdom) was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I (Wisdom) was given birth, before He (God) made the world or its fields or any dust of the earth. I was there when He set the heavens in place, when He marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when He gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep His command, and when He marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I (Wisdom) was constantly at His side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in His presence" (Proverbs 8: 22–30).

God saw and formed all creation; He spoke, and wisdom designed and built all things that are created. All creation is a direct revelation of the mind and purposes of God.

We, His people, are a special treasure; He set us apart from all other creation by breathing on and in us, His Holy Spirit! We are formed and fashioned by a design that cannot fail. He saw and created us before there was one; no devil in hell can overcome His design, and again we are fashioned by a design that cannot fail—the image of God Himself! This image was spoken over us by God in Genesis 1:26–27: "Then God said, `Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" We are in a God class. He created us that way; we as His creation and people have the use of His special word of wisdom, given as the Holy Spirit wills.

When we operate in the Wisdom of God, we can expect a long, full life, prosperity in all we do and in all we work for, and we will be honored for our service to God and to His people. God honors those who honor Him, as found in 1 Samuel 2:30: "For those who honor Me, I will honor, but those who despise Me, will be disdained."

God is faithful to every scripture He breathed; He will most certainly honor those who honor Him. When we honor His Word by keeping it, and doing it, He will honor us by performing His Word in our lives.

Jeremiah 1:12 tells us, "The Lord said to me, you have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that My word is fulfilled." That doing of the Word makes known to God that we are hearing Him. Throughout the entire Bible, God speaks a constant message to His people: "Keep hearing and hearing, do not harden your heart." We must be open to God's direction and realize that His Word contains much correction. This correction comes from many avenues; our openness to receive correction from the Word and godly counsel shows our growth in wisdom. Change should and must accompany our newfound wisdom; a doing of what we know shows God that we understand and that our faith is in Him.

So we first must become hearers, because faith comes by hearing the anointed Word. As we listen, the Word penetrates our natural sense of hearing and enters into our spirit, taking root in our hearts. The word listen actually means to hear something with thoughtful attention, giving consideration to the speaker. Listening is a form of humility (humility is not assertive, not showy, and does not feel superior). If you are always seeking to be heard, the opposite of humility is at work. The spirit of pride would be the opposite pull. Pride is never a receiver and, therefore, repels the common or special words of wisdom.

If we are going to boast, we should boast about Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." Amen! Knowing God is the greatest boast we can have. His wisdom is always pure; His power is absolute.

As we operate in the common gifts of the word of wisdom, and as we receive and minister the special gifts of the word of wisdom, let us remember to "covet earnestly these best gifts."

Yet!