Walking in the Fullness of the Holy Spirit
Part Four: Constant Access to “Uncommon Sense”
In this essay, I will elaborate on the two previous ones and also, on an earlier one that was titled, “Uncommon Sense.” In the essay immediately preceding this one, my subject was “Constant Access to Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding.” I want to take you deeper into this idea of constant access to the things of God. Constant access is the key. In an earlier essay, concerning “uncommon sense,” you may recall I told the story of the need we had for additional funds for our church in Fiji. Here again is part of the story.
“It was a Thursday night and we met for our weekly elder’s meeting at my home on Bureta Street in Suva. There were some things we desired to do, and talked about how to raise the money to do them… None of us in the elders’ meeting could think of how we might get the financial resources we needed. So, one of us suggested we do not try to come up with an answer that evening, but that we pray about it during the coming week… I had not personally heard from the Lord in my prayers during the week, concerning how we might raise the money for the additional needs we discussed in our last meeting. I asked the elders if any of them had heard from God about this… After some additional time in prayer, one of the elders spoke up. It was Bentley Wan Chan. He said, “I have it!” The Holy Spirit put an incredible piece of His wisdom into Bentley’s heart, which he then shared with us. As he did, it was like a lightning bolt of grace and revelation that struck each of us… Here is what Bentley said. “Let the church support an additional missionary!” Now, to our natural minds, spending more money defied common sense. This seemed to the natural ear to be nonsense. Fortunately, we were not listening with our natural ears. We had our spiritual ears tuned in to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, what we heard made “uncommon sense.”
Bentley’s solution to our challenge resulted from applying Holy Spirit given “uncommon sense” to the situation. Our willingness to accept God’s input and do it His way resulted in additional funds coming to the church. The offerings increased every week and never returned to what they had been. There was more than enough to meet our needs. The principle is that having the “uncommon sense” to obey God, when our natural thinking does not understand what He says, always results in God-given “increase.”
Imagine how things would be in the Body of Christ, if we all deferred to “uncommon sense” (supernaturally sourced wisdom from the Holy Spirit) in our daily decision-making? There would be far less lack and far more victories, prosperity, peace and joy in our lives. This would happen because we acted in faith in the value of our surrender to the presence and voice of the Holy Spirit. When we fail to understand this, we miss His favor and bypass His blessings.
Constant access to ‘uncommon sense’ requires three things. If you can master all three, you will find yourself in a deeply satisfying relationship with the Holy Spirit. As a result, you will walk in the wisdom of ways that have eluded you until now. Below, we will focus on these three things: (1) having a genuine hunger for the wise truths you get from Scripture; (2) being diligent to harvest Scriptural principles of wisdom as a pattern of daily life. This means that you will need to understand the priority of spending time in God’s Word, above being distracted from it by the daily pressures of life. You will be building a library of fruitful wisdom in your spirit and mind; (3) learning to love wisdom from God and appreciate its value (Notice the idea of having “love” for wisdom.) Now, let us look into these three elements of constant access to “uncommon sense.”
1. A Genuine Hunger for Wise Truths from Scripture
There is a difference between the hunger that is temporarily satisfied by eating because it is time to do so, and intensely hungering for a particularly delightful food. I am sure you can relate to both. A powerful hunger for the wise truths from Scripture is like a hunger for a delightful food. It will motivate a person to seek these truths. This desire becomes an open gate to constant access to “uncommon sense.” How do you acquire such a desire for these wise truths? It cannot be from starving yourself long enough to gain it. If you find yourself in this position, the hunger will go away when you are filled. Then, you will see no need to place a priority on seeking more of the same. You will also be content with whatever you have already consumed. This is a common and natural response of the flesh. A hunger for the wisdom found in Scripture demands a response of your spirit. The prophet Jeremiah had this hunger. Here is what he said to God, concerning the Scriptures. (I have provided two translations of Jeremiah 15:16 for you.)
New King James Version
“Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.”
New International Version
“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.”
Jeremiah’s words teach us that constant access to “uncommon sense” (the extraordinary wisdom of the Holy Spirit) requires that you find “joy and rejoicing” in searching it out. It must become your “heart’s delight.” This only happens when you understand the greatness of its value to you. You find this through honoring and obeying the Holy Spirit’s voice; and then seeing it produce excellent results. Someone once said that you can argue with someone about many things, but never about those things he or she has personally experienced.
2. Being Diligent to Harvest Scriptural Principles of Wisdom as a Pattern of Daily Life
For a number of years, either in my teaching or mentoring, I have taught my “Ten Principles of a Champion for Jesus.” Principle #5 says, “God’s champions know they don’t decide their futures. They decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.” It goes on to say, “God’s champions are habit forming people. They are habitual in the Christ-like testimony of their lives.” We can readily substitute the word “principles” for “habits.” Then we can paraphrase this saying as follows: “God’s champions know that they don’t decide their futures. They decide what principles from Scripture will define and guide their lives, and therefore, determine their futures.”
I encourage you to establish the habitual pattern of listening for and obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit. This will provide you with constant access to His “uncommon sense” and His wisdom will guide your path through life, step-by-step every day.
3. Learning to Love Wisdom from God and Appreciate Its Value
Earlier, in my previous article on “Constant Access to Spiritual Wisdom and Understanding,” I quoted James 3:17. Here it is again. Take a few moments and meditate on it. Then, take time with my paraphrase, which appears below it.
James 3:17 (NKJV)
“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
My Paraphrase of James 3:17
“Uncommon wisdom only comes when you respond to Heaven’s desire to speak to you through the Holy Spirit. What you hear will be peaceable, gentle and fruitful in your life, regardless of how you need to apply it. This will require uncommon commitment on your part to constantly include the Holy Spirit in daily decisions, as you hear and obey His voice.”
There is immeasurable value in doing your part to increase your relationship with the Holy Spirit. This will be your key to gaining the spiritual wisdom and understanding that He wants to give you. The result is that your constant access will bring with it a fullness of your relationship with Him that will bless you and cause you to be a blessing to others. I trust you have gained significant insight into the potential you have in God, from this four-part on “The Fullness of the Holy Spirit.” Now, go and share it with someone, for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.