GRACE-FILLED TONGUE - PART 3

FRIDAY 13 JANUARY 2023

Isaiah 28:29 (ESV) says that God is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. And He grants the gift and words of wisdom to those who truly desire it. Let's find out more!

Reference: Isaiah 50:4 New Living Translation (NLT) "The Sovereign LORD has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will."

Apart from Daniel, King Solomon is another old testament principality when it comes to divine wisdom. As the record goes, after offering a thousand burnt offerings on the altar of most important high place, suddenly the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." Solomon asked for wisdom and God said, "I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honour—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings" (1st Kings 3:10-14 NIV).

King Solomon sustained an insatiable appetite for divine wisdom and guidance. In fact, he was endowed with enormous glory and surplus wealth, because of his top-notch "mountaintop" wisdom. The collection of his wise sayings, which signifies the summit of his endless wisdom, found expression in most of the book of Proverbs, as well as Ecclesiastes. The weight and universality of his wisdom contributed to the height of his popularity in his day, such that Queen of Sheba acknowledged him and travelled from afar to witness the wisdom for real.

In a nutshell, the Bible says, "And when the Queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her" (1st King 10:4-5 NKJV). In short, she passed out! Got it? For the sake of clarity, she fainted and became unconscious. Beloved, that was due to the splendours of Solomon's gift from God.

Moreover, Jesus says, "The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now, indeed, a greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42 NKJV). Put simply, with all of Solomon's over-clouded glory and rich varieties of wisdom, Jesus claimed remarkable superiority over him in all.

One thing I like about Jesus Christ is that He doesn't hide His superiority and that is exactly what He has called us to express in this world as God's own people. The same thought our Lord Jesus expressed about King Solomon is the same thought He mentioned about us. In other words, a greater than Solomon is not just here, He dwells in us.

To that effect, 1 John 4:4 (NIV) reads, "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." God made it clear that "Christ in you" is superior to antichrist and the world system put together. What a dignity! Imagine what would happen if you function by this truth on a daily basis; you would definitely walk with a frolic spring in your step, like someone who owns the planet earth, and indeed, your heavenly Father owns the world.

Listen and hear me properly, the Bible says that, "Christ lets us rule as kings and serve God His Father as priests. To him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen" (Revelation 1:6 CEV). Beloved, aside from residing in us, Christ gave us a position which is superior to and higher than Daniel's promotion and position in King Nebuchadnezzar's palace.

Who is this Christ? And to answer this, where do I start? Every manner of wisdom and knowledge is in Christ, including all heterogeneity of divine excellence. He is the personification of divine nature and exemplar of supremacy! What about the splendid largeness of His unending glory? His profound and transcendental sense of righteousness? In his epistle to the Corinthians, apostle Paul noted that Christ Jesus has been made unto us wisdom from God (1 Corinthians 1:30 ERV). In other words, Jesus is wisdom Himself, while the others we discussed, such as Daniel and Solomon were just wise figures. Stay tuned for part 4. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Proverbs 4:7; Proverbs 16:16; Proverbs 19:8; Psalm 37:30; 1 Corinthians 1:25.

Exuberant Declaration: True wisdom comes from God. By paying attention to His Word, divine wisdom finds expression in me and ascends from one level to another, thereby refreshing, enlivening and fulfilling divine purpose in my life. Blessed be God!