Knowledge and Wisdom

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”  (James 1:22).

Taking in the Word is what James calls being a hearer of the Word.  Putting out the Word is being a doer of the Word.  We all want to be a doer of the Word, because it is in the doing that the blessings come, right?  But you can’t be a doer until you are a hearer.  It’s just like breathing.  You breathe in and you breathe out.  You take in the Word, and you put out the Word.

Taking in the word of God is called knowledge.  The correct output or application of that knowledge is called wisdom.  You must have knowledge before you can produce wisdom.

Knowledge is up to you; it takes discipline to obtain it – taking the time to get into the Word and study it.

The Bible says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15).  But once you have taken in the Word and gained knowledge, then the Bible says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,” (James 1:5).

Solomon, full of knowledge, asked God for the ability to produce the Word (wisdom).  That is what we should be doing.  We should be saying, “Lord, give me an opportunity to share.  Help me put the words together.”  The more you study God’s Word, the more the Holy Spirit will give you the right word at the right time.  That is wisdom.

Wisdom and Knowledge Will Give You Stability

Isaiah 33:6 says, “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure.”  If there is anything that Christians need today,  it is a stabilizer,  because the devil is still knocking Christians over left and right.  There are Christians who are mentally ill.  Christians are becoming oppressed and depressed all around us.  Being born again doesn’t make you immune to the attacks of the devil; none of us are immune.  But it is the Word of God that makes you stable in the midst of the attacks.

You can’t stop the thoughts and doubts from coming, but those who have the Word of God in them know how to cast them down and keep their minds on the Word.

There are times I begin to look around and say, “When was the last time the devil attacked me?’  Then I realize that he has been attacking me, I just haven’t noticed it because the Word of God has been a stabilizer on the inside of me.

There are a lot of Christians today who aren’t even sure they are born again.  This is one of the big tools of the devil.  The very fact that a person wants to get right with the Lord, but they think they can’t do it is an indication that they haven’t committed an unpardonable sin and they continue to believe the lies of the devil.

How can a person get strength of salvation?

Through knowing the word of God and applying it – knowledge and wisdom.  When you apply the Word in your life, you have strength of salvation.  There’s no devil; that can convince you that you’re not saved.  You know you are.  Feelings have nothing to do with it.

Taking in the Word

“Blessed are the poor in spirit:  for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 5:3)

The Greek word for “blessed” is makarios which means ‘happy, jubilant.”  The word “poor” here actually means “to be destitute,” or “bankrupt.”  How could someone who is bankrupt be happy in spirit?  It goes on to explain how: “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

This is the Beatitude of the new birth, and it is telling us that Jesus died for the ungodly; salvation is provided for the sinner (1 Timothy 1:15).  Jesus didn’t die just for the elect, or just for the few who would accept Him; He died for the whole world.  (2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 John 2;2)

If you haven’t accepted the kingdom of heaven and the blessings of God, that’s not God’s fault, it’s your fault.  He has already blessed you If you’re sick today, you’re still blessed.  Why?  Because healing already belongs to you.  If you’re broke today, you’re blessed anyway because prosperity belongs to you.  The riches of heaven already belong to you whether you’ve accepted them or not.

Become Teachable

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”  (Matthew 5:5)

“Meek” is a word that has been grossly misused.  People often think to be meek is to be “weak.”  When we picture a meek person, we always think of a scrawny guy who lets everyone run over him.  He’s easy to pick on therefore he’s meek.  No.  The word “meek’ does not mean to be weak, it means “to be teachable.”

If you are meek, you are teachable.  James tells us to “receive with meekness the implanted word,” (James 1:21).  That means “be teachable while the Word is being taught.”  There are a lot of things you can learn if you’ll just be teachable.  I have been to services when someone may preach something that I may not agree with or what sounds like a lot of unbelief.  Instead of closing him off, I remain teachable and start looking for things with which I can agree.  I might find only one or two points, but there have been times when I’ve remembered those points and was able to use them somewhere.  I probably disregarded 98 percent of his message, but the 2 percent I remembered was usable.  I stayed teachable.

One of the first things you need to do in the Christian life, therefore, is become teachable.  Read good books.  Get under a pastor you can trust and start learning the Word of God.