Preparing Your Heart for the New Year 2016 by Adela Just

“See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being, I announce them to you.” - Isaiah 42:9 (NIV)

I must confess, I love the new year.

The more I learn about process, cycles, and seasons, the more I love things that symbolize fresh starts and new beginnings. Each Monday, when I open my planner to a new week, or each month, as I turn my calendar to a new page, it is like a breath of fresh air. When the natural seasons change, I celebrate, teaching my kids fun little rituals to mark the transition.

But the new year? That’s my favorite fresh start of all. No matter how hard the previous year was or how weary I am, my heart cannot help but experience a surge of hope on January 1.

Our culture seems a little confused about what to do with the new year. On one hand, there’s a tremendous push to “start things off right,” or commit to a “new you.” Surely, it’s the health and fitness industry’s favorite time of year! There is a lot of pressure to make changes and choices, to do a better job this time.

On the other hand, there will be a barrage of articles and statistics about all the reasons resolutions are pointless and why you’ll certainly fail. There might be a few attempts at helpful tips, offering better ways to manage your goals, but in the end, it kind of feels like one colossal gimmick, the next marketing surge on the path to Valentine’s and Easter. (Do you realize that one month the advertisers are trying to make us buy health products and gym memberships, and the next month, they push us to buy chocolate? It’s just not right!)

It can be tempting to get cynical, or to dismiss it as nothing more than the usual passage of time, no big deal. If you’re really feeling discouraged, you might think, I’ve tried so many times and still failed to change. Maybe I shouldn’t try again. Perhaps you simply feel overwhelmed with all the possibilities—where should you even start?

Take a deep breath.

Every spiritual process requires practical action.

God wants to speak to us. The best thing we can do is prepare our hearts to take it all in. Every spiritual process requires practical action. Here are a few suggestions, based on my personal experience:

1. Take your time. I rarely set any goals or form any plans at the very beginning of the year. The entire month of January is set aside for listening, processing, absorbing. Many churches offer special services for worship and prayer; this is a wonderful opportunity to soak and rest in God’s presence. The more you are with Him, the more revelation into His heart (and your own) you will have.
2. Acknowledge the disappointments, failures, struggles, etc. from the previous year, and release them. When we try to bury, ignore, or dismiss these things, we actually end up giving them more power over us; we also don’t learn as much from them. I like to write things out, then go over them one by one and talk to God about them. I’m not talking about lofty, spiritual language here. Get raw and honest with God; He can handle it. Then choose to trust Him with working it all together for your good.
3. Identify what’s important to you as an individual. Sometimes we think all our goals need to be spiritual or profound, but God has wired you with certain interests, passions, and strengths for a reason. I really love to cook, and last year, I decided I wanted to grow in this area. It seemed kind of silly at the time, but I embraced it anyway. It’s amazing to look back at what a difference that one seemingly not-so-spiritual thing made in my life. My family is healthier, I found another creative outlet, and yes, I even gained some deep spiritual insights as God spoke to me through what was happening in my kitchen.
4. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern what is meant to be a priority to you. There will be many great prophetic words and insights coming. There will be causes brought to your attention. There will be all manner of efforts and initiatives. Not all of these things will be your assignment. God has a way of highlighting what He is calling you to. Pay attention to what deeply resonates with you or to what you cannot stop thinking about. Also, consider the season you are in and what responsibilities you have. This can help you identify what needs to be a priority.
5. Be expectant. Our family has a “good things” jar, labelled with the current year. When something happens that we want to remember, big or small, we write it down and put it in the jar. At the end of the year, it is so fun, even surprising, to pull out the squares of paper and remember all the bright moments. But when we started this habit, I did it because I was struggling to have faith for good things. I was carrying deep disappointment in my heart, and I was afraid I was going to be crushed by it. It was a desperate act of faith to set a jar out where I would see it daily, believing it would be filled with good things. But 12 months later, it was full, and I had learned to see God’s goodness in all kinds of places. It changed my heart. It is worth doing whatever it takes to open your heart wide to the possibilities of God’s love showing up in unexpected ways.

I want to encourage you today—God doesn’t give up on you, even when you’re tempted to give up on you. He has things He wants to show you and say to you. He has gifts to give you and divine assignments for you. He wants to bring clarity, not confusion. He is calling out your best, even while loving you fully wherever you are right now.

New beginnings are God’s idea, even His specialty. Whether you are overflowing with hope or struggling to muster some up, choose to believe His promise and His character, and get ready to hear His voice for this fresh season of your life.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up;  do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” - Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

When We're Tired of Waiting by Adela Just

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned.” - Isaiah 9:2

When I think of the stories that fill the pages of Scripture, I notice something that many of them have in common—waiting.

Abraham and Sarah waiting for their promised heir. The Israelites waiting for their freedom from slavery. David waiting for his time as king. Jesus waiting to reveal Himself as the Son of God. Paul waiting for his time in ministry. John waiting through his time of exile.

Waiting, waiting, and more waiting—usually after an incredible encounter with God and a life-changing promise made by Him.

The prophetic books of the Old Testament are particularly filled with the ache of longing for the Messiah, the One who would come and make everything right. Those men and women died without seeing the fulfillment of the promise, although that might have been merciful on God’s part, as Jesus’ first arrival on earth launched history into another season of . . . waiting. We’re waiting for Him to return and reconcile everything to Himself once and for all.

Some days, all this waiting seems very frustrating, maybe even discouraging. We live in a world that doesn’t want to wait for anything, yet this is a crucial aspect of how God forms our hearts.

One of the reasons we struggle so much with waiting is because, from our perspective, nothing is happening. We’re simply standing still, and we don’t understand why this could possibly be necessary or useful. But waiting should not be a passive experience; it should be an active one, full of intentionality and purpose.

It is so important to listen to the Holy Spirit and hear what He is saying about the pause you find yourself in.

It is so important to listen to the Holy Spirit and hear what He is saying about the pause you find yourself in. It could be that before He shifts you into the new season, He is asking you to use the in-between time for something specific: rest, family, learning, character building, etc. It is an opportunity to prioritize relationship with Him, not just things you’re doing for Him or answers you’re expecting from Him.

Personally, I have been in what feels like a very long season of waiting. I was venting a little bit about this to God recently, and I said, “What do You even want me to do right now? I know I’m not supposed to be just standing around, doing nothing!”

I felt the Holy Spirit impress these words on my heart: Change the atmosphere. Change the atmosphere that you’re waiting in.

As I pondered this, it began to unfold in my spirit. This particular season I am in was launched by some disappointments, loss, major transition, and even some broken relationships. As I’ve been bringing these things to God in prayer, waiting for answers or next steps or whatever He wants to say, it has been from a place of grieving and frustration. This is not wrong—the cycle of grief and processing emotions is important, but this cannot last forever. I knew that God was asking me to begin deliberately choosing to shift from an atmosphere of grieving to an atmosphere of hopeful expectation.

I do not know what it is your heart is waiting for or what atmosphere you’re waiting in. Perhaps yours is even the opposite of mine, and you actually need to allow yourself space to grieve. Maybe your atmosphere has been distracted, and the Holy Spirit is calling you to a place of quiet focus. You can’t control circumstances or force God’s timing, but you can be intentional about cultivating the atmosphere around your heart and mind.

You can’t control circumstances or force God’s timing, but you can be intentional about cultivating the atmosphere around your heart and mind.

Traditionally, these weeks leading up to Christmas are the Advent season—a time of waiting and reflection, a time to acknowledge the ache of prayers that haven’t been answered yet, a time to focus on the flickering hope God’s promises bring into the darkest night. For many, these days are used to look prayerfully at the chaos and pain in the world, to repent from the ways our own imperfect lives have at times contributed to the brokenness around us, and above all, to focus on the promise of a Savior who will return to make things right.

These beautiful words I read recently capture the essence of this time:

We wait and anticipate the transformation, but neither as relentless do-gooders nor as passive, restless heaven-bounders. We do not work in isolation under our own steam alone or twiddle our thumbs until the end times. The challenge is to trust in God’s involvement with us now . . . Something is about to happen and God sends us instant-by-instant invitations to be in partnership with this world-transforming, kingdom-building happening . . . When we hope for God to finish the work begun in Jesus, we are not just wishing our lives away until the better days come. We are on a day-by-day pilgrimage in partnership with God. Joy mixes with sorrow. Faith and fear hold hands. Light shines in the darkness. Something is about to happen, and we don’t know the time or date. (1)

If you are waiting for prayers to be answered or dreams to be realized, if you are just desperate for something to change, I want to encourage you to not lose heart. We may not know when God will move, but we can trust that He will. Let the atmosphere of your waiting shift from a place of frustration and despair to a place of hope. God is inviting you into daily partnership with Him, and He will not leave you behind. In His perfect time, light will break into the darkness, and clarity will come.

Dealing with the Hardest Relationships by Adela Just

“Lord, You establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished You have done for us.” - Isaiah 26:12 (NIV)

Family.

That single word can conjure up such a flood of mixed emotions, especially during a time of year that holds increased likelihood of getting together. Even the happiest, healthiest families experience conflict, disappointments, and tensions.

Our families so deeply impact the way we see the world and the way we navigate other relationships. Additionally, unlike other relationships that tend to come and go based on life’s seasons, family is forever—you don’t even have to be on speaking terms to still be connected.

Families matter to God. So what do we do when these relationships and connections are strained or broken? There are complex issues involved that go far beyond the scope of one simple article, but there are a few things we can keep in perspective as we deal with our loved ones.

There are spiritual dynamics at work in your family.

People can be very resistant to this idea, but it’s not that strange if you really think about it. When you go to the doctor, you are asked about medical conditions that run in your family. Or perhaps one of your siblings behaves in a certain way, and someone says, “He’s acting just like Uncle So-and-So!”

We understand that physical conditions, behaviors, personalities, and habits run in families; it is not a stretch to think that spiritual issues do too. Things like anger, bitterness, greed, and depression can become embedded in family lines, passing from one generation to the next. It is important to recognize patterns that emerge because they may indicate a place where the enemy has a foothold in your family.

When you notice these patterns, don’t ignore them! First and foremost, deal with them personally. Repent, and ask God to uproot the issue from your own heart. Even if your family members are not receptive, a generational curse does not have to continue with you and your children. Ask God to write a new chapter, beginning with you.

If it is possible and your family’s hearts are open, you can pray and repent together. If they are not, begin praying that their eyes would be opened and their hearts would be softened. Don’t underestimate the Holy Spirit’s ability to convict and guide them into truth; you don’t have to try and do His job for Him!

Recognizing the spiritual issues at work in your family can keep your heart from anger and bitterness. It’s not that you won’t be hurt or that you make excuses for anyone, but your heart can stay tender when you recognize that your family members are not the real enemy, even if they seem to be acting like it.

One other thought—we tend to give a lot of time and attention to dealing with generational curses, which is good because they need to be dealt with. But God also promised to “show love to a thousand generations of those who love [Him]” (Ex. 20:6). Godly legacy can be passed down from one generation to another as well—things like compassion, generosity, and justice. Whether your family is dealing with curses that need to be broken or not, be intentional about choosing to serve the Lord. It only takes one person to change the story in a family!

Remember that the only person you can control is you.

I am immensely grateful for these words from Paul: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18).

It can be tempting to try and control everyone else, to blame yourself for other people’s actions or failures, but the only person you are ultimately responsible for is you. There are times when we try to make peace, we forgive, we attempt to reconcile or extend grace in a difficult moment, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference.

Each person is at a different place in their spiritual journey and progress toward wholeness. We can only live out of the overflow of our own hearts. The hardest people to accept this with can be our own families, especially if the dynamic is one where everyone tends to be in everyone else’s business, but not every battle going on in your family is yours to fight. Knowing when to let go is important—a matter that only be determined between you and the Holy Spirit.

Look for the best in your family.

Without question, writing those words is infinitely easier than putting them into practice. When you live in close proximity with people, you see the good, the bad, and the ugly, and it is easy for the negatives to overshadow all traces of the positives.

One of my brothers went through a period of time when he walked away from God and made some pretty foolish choices. There were painful circumstances involved that felt like such a betrayal to me personally. I was so angry and hurt. I remember a conversation with someone who mentioned that my brother had always been good at a particular thing, but I couldn’t even bring myself to agree with them because all I could were the things he was doing wrong.

Later on, the Holy Spirit nudged my heart about this. He reminded me that He never stops looking for the good in us, and even further, that the good in us is not dependent on what ministry we’re doing or how spiritual we’re being. He asked me to begin naming good things about my brother—his sense of humor, his ability to make friends with anyone and everyone, his sharp intellect. As I did this over time, my heart softened; I was able to forgive him and believe in him again because I started seeing him with God’s eyes.

I know this is hard, especially if your heart has been hurt. But I encourage you to begin asking God for His perspective on the family member you are at odds with. I can’t promise it will transform the relationship, but it will transform your heart and make space for the possibility of a miracle.

Keep praying.

Don’t give up praying for your family, and don’t give up praying for your own heart. The enemy loves to wreak havoc on our families because he knows they have such a tremendous impact on how we relate to God and what measure of wholeness we live in.

Ask the Lord to give you a scripture to pray and declare over your family. Some of the chapters I pray over mine are Psalm 16, Psalm 37, and Psalm 112. Psalm 37:28a is a particular favorite because the Lord showed it to me during a really hard season: “For the Lord loves the just [the Justs!] and will not forsake His faithful ones.”

I do want to make an important distinction: praying for your family, dealing with the spiritual warfare, believing the best, etc. does not mean you have to put yourself in harm’s way. Especially in scenarios where any kind of abuse is present, you should be wise about protecting yourself. Some will say that you haven’t truly forgiven if you haven’t reconciled with your abuser; this is inaccurate and dangerous. God does not want you poisoned with bitterness, but He also most certainly does not want you mistreated.

I pray for reconciliation and healing in your family. I pray wholeness for your heart. I pray that the enemy’s plans would be exposed and that God’s destiny for all of you would prevail. Above all, I pray that you would not lose hope as you wait for wrong things to be made right. God loves you, and He loves your family. He will never give up pursuing your hearts!

A Prayer Response to Global Terrorism By Adela Just

“You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.” - Psalm 91:5, 6 (NIV)

It feels like the earth is trembling.

Recent attacks in Paris offered the harsh reminder that terrorism is not restricted to places like the Middle East—a reminder that the western world does not always handle very well.

Many of us live mostly isolated from the atrocities. We’re so used to hearing about unrest and turmoil in places like the Middle East and Africa that we hardly flinch at news of bombings or shootings “over there.” The scope of this horror is hard to wrap our heads around; meanwhile, it is a daily reality faced by thousands.

At the time of this writing, there have been 292 terrorist attacks around the world in 2015. Over 6,500 people have been killed (a conservative number that doesn’t include perpetrators, military personnel killed in the line of duty, or those still unaccounted for), and countless others have been injured or displaced. ISIS is responsible for a majority of the attacks, followed closely by Boko Haram, one of their associate groups.1

Fierce evils are trying to encroach on nations. Places like Iraq, Syria, and Nigeria are facing weekly, sometimes daily, attacks. Other countries like India, the Philippines, and Ukraine have had to deal with multiple incidents over consecutive months. Some of the most vulnerable places and people groups in the world are living with so much uncertainty, instability, and violence.

While weapons may be in the hands of human beings, we know there are rulers, principalities, and spiritual forces of evil driving terrorists (Eph. 6:12).

People have been asking for prayer for their nations, and we want to stand together as believers. It is natural to feel afraid, but it is our response to fear that matters more. We can’t let fear rule us; instead, we acknowledge it, surrender it, and invite God’s perfect love in (see 1 John 4:18). We can be ruled by peace even as turmoil rages around us.

We are calling on you, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Take a step back from politically charged rhetoric. Turn off the news channels that are eager to feed your fear. Don’t listen to voices that say there’s nothing we can do about any of this because things are supposed to get bad before Jesus returns. Jesus Himself told us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).

Well, we are here on earth. And terrorism is not the will of heaven. So we will pray, and we will love because the kingdom of darkness is no match for those two things when they come together.

Around the world, let’s pray:

1. Ask the Lord to help you remember how much He loves you and to give you a sound mind to think and pray clearly about these matters. (2 Timothy 1:7)
2. Always keep in mind that we are fighting a spiritual battle first. (Ephesians 6:12)
3. Pray for those living in areas of the world where terrorism is most common. Declare God’s peace and safety over people living in specific countries and cities. Call them by name. “Lord, you establish peace for us.” (Isaiah 26:12; NIV) “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalms 4:8; NIV)
4. Declare that you and your family dwell in safety for the Lord is your God. “The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.” (Psalm 121:7; NLT) Decree this over your neighborhoods, schools, churches, emergency responders, etc., as the Lord leads you.
5. Pray for those who are choosing to destroy others and sometimes themselves. If they only knew the great love which the Father has for them, they might change their minds and choose God’s plan of salvation, instead of destruction. “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16; NET Bible)
6. Ask the Lord to uncover every planned attack, and proclaim that acts of terror cannot be carried out. Ask God to stop those that persist right in their tracks. Proclaim that their hiding places will be uncovered and that authorities will know where to capture them and how to bring them to justice.

1. “List of terrorist incidents, 2015.” Wikipedia. Web. 18 November 2015.

To Whom Much is Given by Adela Just

http://www.generals.org/articles/single/to-whom-much-is-given/

“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” - Luke 12:48b (NLT)

When I was in college, I spent a month doing missions works in Swaziland, a tiny little country next to South Africa that is being decimated by HIV/AIDS. They have the highest infection rate in the world and a life expectancy of only 50 years.

While it was not my first missions trip, nor my first trip to a third world country, something about my time there deeply affected my heart, and I wrestled with a feeling I had never experienced before in any of my other travels—guilt over being American.

For a month, I listened to children tell me stories about losing their parents and being taken in by a family member on the condition that their bodies had to be available to the head of the house any time he wanted. They told me how they were trading themselves for education, food and shelter because it was their only shot at a better life someday. They shared about power struggles in a culture that stills practices polygamy, where children became pawns in a game between desperate women. I heard about a wife falling out favor with her husband, so he intentionally infected her with AIDS.

I want to tell you these stories were isolated, but they came in droves at school after school, from student after student. We did the best we could, teaching them to take care of their bodies, addressing common myths surrounding HIV/AIDS, and having cultural exchanges with them. It didn’t feel like enough, but we poured ourselves out anyway.

And then we went home.

I headed straight from the airport to Starbucks, and 24 hours later, left for a little vacation with my family, sleeping off my jetlag in a plush resort and never having to worry for a moment that someone might take advantage of my body in order for me to have basic human needs met.

For the next year, I furiously wrestled with God, trying to reconcile His standard of justice with what I had seen, struggling to see how He could allow me to live in relative comfort and ease here in the United States while children were trapped in nightmares all over the world. That season cemented a call on my life to live for more than myself, for more than my own comfort and my own ambition. I did not fully understand what I had experienced, but I walked away knowing with unshakable certainty that the evil in this world is not from Him and that He was inviting me to partner with Him in standing against it.

Facing Reality Head On

There’s a buzzword in our culture that we’ve been hearing a lot lately: privilege. It comes up in a variety of contexts, and I confess, it rubbed me the wrong way at first. But I also felt there was something I was supposed to understand, so I’ve been asking God to teach me.

I’ve realized that the initial resistance I felt toward this word is because typically, a privilege is something we earn. For example, if my children clean up their toys, they earn the privilege of watching TV. If you perform your job well, you earn the privilege of a raise or promotion. You do something worthy; therefore, you are rewarded.

But in a social justice context, privilege generally refers to an advantage we have that we had absolutely no control over gaining, but still it results in a dynamic that tilts in our favor. We don’t choose the economic status we’re born into; we don’t choose our country, our culture, our race, our families, and so on. And yet, in the dialogue over current issues or events, there is sometimes an underlying sense that we should have chosen differently or we should apologize for being born into a better situation than someone else.

I believe that feeling—that strange, unwarranted sense of guilt—is a lie the enemy tries to whisper in order to cause division and to block compassionate revelation and understanding. This stops us from truly listening to each other’s stories and from being effective ambassadors of God’s kingdom. It stirs some to get defensive and others to get offended, and neither of those attitudes are good conduits for establishing God’s justice.

Instead, with humility and gratitude, we need to understand that we are blessed to be a blessing. Whatever situation you were born into, there is likely to be some advantage you had over someone else. Did your parents have a healthy, committed marriage that powerfully demonstrated love to you? That is a privilege. Did you have a hard-working single mother who powerfully demonstrated that you can overcome any obstacle in life? That too is a privilege. I could spell out scenarios all day, but the point is, we all need to ask God for His perspective on our lives. None of us have these things because we deserved them, or we were better than someone else; they are simply where we were placed, and now we have a choice to make about how we will use our position—to serve ourselves or to serve others.

What unique privilege do you have? What unique blessing have you been given? As Mike Jacobs likes to say, what’s in your hand? Whatever it is, we’ve all been entrusted with something we should be actively using, not merely for our own comfort or gain, but to push back against the injustice someone else is facing.

Taking Action

Last month, best-selling Christian author Ann Voskamp wrote a powerful, convicting post about her recent visit to Iraq and the destructive effects of ISIS that she witnessed firsthand. It was a call to action and awareness for the body of Christ that has spread like wildfire across social media and other internet platforms. In the post, she issued this challenge:

Don’t turn away, Church. Blessed are those who mourn and weep with those who weep and in the face of evil, how will we make our hands and feet into Cross-Shaped Love? ...The exact reason you are where you are—is to risk everything for those being oppressed out there. You are where you are—to help others where they are...The world needs people who defy cynical indifference by making a critical difference—and that could be us. Every single one of us can start changing headlines when we start reaching out our hands.

And in her words, I hear the echo of Jesus’ words: To whom much is given, much is required.

What can you do today, right where you are, to push back against injustice, to “defy cynical indifference by making a critical difference?” Who needs you to reach out your hands and throw them a lifeline? Who can you encourage or fight for?

We all have a privilege that has been entrusted to us, not because we deserved it, but because God wanted to give us a tool that would help someone else. He is inviting us to partner with Him in establishing His justice, righteousness, and mercy. Will you invite Him to give you His perspective? Will you let Him call you out of your own comfort?

What will you do with what you’ve been given?

Above All, Get Wisdom by Adela Just

http://www.generals.org/articles/single/above-all-get-wisdom/

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” - James 3:17

One morning, a few months ago, I was talking to God about an important decision my husband and I needed to make. There didn’t seem to be a clear path, even as we weighed our options and continued to pray about it. I was getting frustrated and feeling suffocated by the pressure to make the “right” choice.

I was reading in the book of James, when a verse I’ve read and heard probably hundreds of time caught my attention. I’d recently purchased a new translation, and hearing a familiar truth put into different words really made it come alive in my heart again:

If you don’t have all the wisdom needed for this journey, then all you have to do is ask God for it; and God will grant all that you need. He gives lavishly and never scolds you for asking. (James 1:5, The Voice)

I felt the Holy Spirit quietly nudge me: Adela, you’ve been asking the wrong question.

Of course, we can ask God anything, but I understood that He meant there was something deeper He wanted to show me and something more important He wanted me to ask for—wisdom.

It was an “a-ha!” moment for me. How many times in Scripture are we urged to get wisdom? Especially throughout the book of Proverbs, we are told that it is worth more than any wealth or jewels, that we should desire it even if it costs everything we have. It even says that it was through wisdom that God created the earth! (See Prov. 3:19.)

Furthermore, think of how God’s heart was moved when He offered Solomon absolutely anything, and Solomon asked for wisdom. God lavishly blessed him because of that one request.

Clearly, wisdom matters, but I wonder if we tend to forget just how much it matters.

One of the notes in my Bible for the book of James says, “Wisdom, as James understands it, is the ability to live life well and make good decisions.” As I was pondering this, I felt like the Holy Spirit brought further understanding to me. There are times in life when things are not absolutely clear. There are even times when there is not necessarily a wrong or right choice. And of course, there are other times when we are faced with extremely difficult choices. But if we are walking in wisdom, we will have the ability to make good decisions. We will have the ability to choose well on a daily basis.

An Added Dimension

The gift of wisdom, or word of wisdom, is listed with other manifestations of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. These describe some of the different ways God works through people for the common good of building each other up.

In this specific context, the gift of wisdom is understood to mean the ability “to speak to the life of an individual or to a specific situation with great understanding and a righteous perspective.”1 This is the kind of insight that does not merely come from age or life experience, but it is a supernatural knowing that only comes from the Holy Spirit.

Has there ever been a better time for this gift to be awakened in the body of Christ? There are so many desperate issues facing our world, but there are solutions in the mind of Christ. Jesus, the embodiment of wisdom, wants to release the answers and strategies through His people.

There’s even better news! If you do not feel like you have this gift, all you have to do is ask, and as we already saw from the book of James, God will lavishly give you all the wisdom you need and never scold you for asking for more. While some people may seem to walk in this gift more naturally than others, it is available to every believer who will pursue it and treasure it.

Some Insight from Cindy

In our weekly staff meetings, Cindy often shares a word of encouragement and insights from what the Lord’s been saying to her. Here are some words from her on this very subject. I hope they encourage you.

As I begin to pray for wisdom, it's almost like I begin to see my way form before me. It's like, if God puts a concept for a book in my heart, I may not know where to go with getting it published or where to go with writing the whole thing. There are pieces that I need. I may not know sources I need or who to interview. But as I seek God’s wisdom on it—which is really the supernatural word of wisdom—all of a sudden that book will come into my hand, that interview will open up.

You see, when we pray for wisdom, wisdom manifests. People don't understand there's a manifestation of wisdom, and it's as supernatural as any gift of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom gives us knowledge that we need, and then we get understanding. But wisdom is the door opener, it is the way maker, it is the direction that you need, and then you get knowledge behind that wisdom for how to make it happen.

So I pray for you today. Lord, we ask for wisdom. And we ask for supernatural wisdom that will give us those keys to open the door that will be the way maker for our future, for our provision, for our success, for us to know what to do.

And the Lord says, "You will not attain this by spiritual laziness; you have to seek My face, and when you seek Me, you will find what you need," says the Lord. Amen.