I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe (Eph.1:17-19).
We can experience YHVH in many different ways. We canhear His voice in nature, through His Word, through a smile on a stranger’sface, through your child’s embrace, through a touch of gentleness, through ananointed preacher, through real life testimonies, through using the sacramentsof communion, through the laying on of hands and anointing with oil, throughprayers for healing, through praise and worship, through prayer…. In every daythere will be many ways to see God’s fingerprints on your life.
A few years ago there was a TV show called “Touched byan Angel.” In this show God’s nearness was put on display. The moral of thestory was that God is near to all of us. He is interested in the detail of ourlives and He wants to be involved. He is a loving Father that desires intimacywith His children. He wants us to make Him a part of our lives – not just throughtheology, but through an encounter of our hearts. He wants us to worship Him inspirit and in truth.
According to some studies it has been revealed that theright side of our brain stimulates creativity, while the left side stimulatesreasoning. For instance, music and art is a right hemisphere function. In 2Kings 3:15 the prophet Elisha called for a harpist to play music before hestarted prophesying. As the music played the hand of the Lord came upon Him. Elishaused music to help him to tune into what the Spirit of God was saying. Yahwehwants us to walk and live and minister in the Holy Spirit. It is a heart toheart relationship, not a head to head relationship.
I have realized that people are seeking “truth” morethan ever. In John 14:6 Jesus says that He isthe Way, the Truth, and the Life. Truth therefor is embodied in a Person; in aSpirit which indwells that Person, for Yeshua calls the indwelling Holy Spiritthe “Spirit of Truth” (John 14:16-17). Yeshua Himself said that this indwellingSpirit would guide us into all truth and that His anointing would teach us allthings (1 John 2:27).
We see here that truth is something which arises out ofthe voice of the Spirit of Yeshua within us. Truth is not so much a “head thing” as it is a “heart thing.” In Psalm119:160 the psalmist declares: “All Your words are true; all Your righteouslaws are eternal.” When we meditate on the Word of God it becomes an avenue forus to find the revealed truth about the questions we have about life, but onlyif our hearts are pure and humble before God. One can read the Word with a hardenedheart and an arrogant attitude, and that won’t bring us to revealed truth.Knowing the Word in letter only won’t bring freedom, for Satan also knew theWord – he even tempted Yeshua with the Word when He was in the Wilderness.
When the Bible speaks of “knowing” it speaks more of apersonal encounter than of simply knowing aboutsomething. Most of us have been brought up using a Greek or Western approach tothe Scriptures, rather than a Jewish approach that was the culture wherein theBible was written. When looking at any Scripture there are usually two ways tointerpret it: one way is through the knowledgewe receive through the reasoning of our mind, and the other is through the wisdom we receive when something is notonly revealed to our mind, but also to our heart.
When I look at Aldo’s life and I think about wisdom,truth and understanding, I can see that it only comes from the Spirit of Godwithin us. The Bible calls it the Spirit that works within us:
TheSpirit of the Lord will rest on him the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2).
According to this Scripture, truth, wisdom, knowledge ,understanding, counsel and might are all products of the Spirit and not of themind. I have learned this truth by walking side by side to Aldo. Nobody willtell me that the wisdom he has he received from mere book knowledge. I knowthat it can only be the Spirit of truth that revealed those things to him. Andthe Spirit reveals it daily.
You don’t need a degree intheology in order to know God. The Word of God tells us there are two types ofWisdom: “Who is wise andunderstanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deedsdone in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast aboutit or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down fromheaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy andselfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that comes fromheaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate,submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakerswho sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:13-17).
Yes, God created us as intelligent beings with thecapacity to apply our minds to find solutions to problems and to discover manyfascinating things, but the Word also tells us that the wisdom of man isfoolishness to God, and that it only produces strife, envy and confusion. If wedon’t submit our minds and hearts to the Spirit of Truth in order to betransformed, we will merely be operating in the wisdom of man and that willultimately be foolishness.
My prayer for all of us that we will live life from outof the Spirit of Truth. Thank You Father that it is possible for each of yourchildren to worship You in Spirit and in Truth. Thank you that we can livesfrom a place that is called “faith in God”, and that it will always result ingodly character and behaviour, because “faith apart from works is dead.”Righteous behaviour is the very life of faith. Our wisdom and understanding isfrom You alone!
I don’t know if it is a part of the maturing process,but these days I truly don’t feel led to share the stories about the difficultieswe face. I just keep getting quieter while trying to deal with the tribulationson my own, and to go on with my life. When someone asks me how we are doing,all I want to answer is “all is well”, and to leave it at that. This is theroad that we have to walk. Each one of us is walking on our own unique path andwe have our own challenges to overcome. As long as we know that we are one withYeshua we can rejoice in our suffering. He is in control and we can trust himone step at a time.
We are still busy dealing with Aldo’s trauma. That ishis “deep, deep” pain, but the most amazing thing happens when you invite HolySpirit into your pain: He then takes over and brings healing and restoration. Ithink it is because our path has been so intense that I have learned to besensitive to the pain of others. I have learned not to criticize others, and Iwould rather open my arms to love someone than to raise a finger of judgment.It is all just a part of the maturing process.
On Sunday it is Father’s day, and I really just want totake this opportunity to honour all the Dad’s out there. I know that in myhouse I won’t be able to what I do for the Kingdom of God if Tinus didn’t takeup his role as King, Prophet and Priest in our home. When I Father takes up hisrightful place, everything in the home will start to fall in place in thespirit. Families suffer because men aren’t willing to take up the place thatYHWH has destined for them. When we honour someone, we shield them. Come, andlet us lift up the arms of the Dads. Let’s bless them, honour them, love them,and appreciate them.
I am flying to Cape Town soon, but I’ll be back onSunday for a lovely lunch with my family on Father’s Day.
May your coming in and your going out be blessed!
Love,
Retah and family.