How Did You Know? (Part Two)

Good morning.

We continue with the series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit as per 1 Corinthians 12:7-10.

The Word of Knowledge has more than one function in the Lord’s ministry to us. The Holy Spirit does not only give it as a tool in ministry to one another, but also as protection. How often did you just know a car wasn’t going to stop and could compensate for it? I’ve often known when people were up to something when I was about to be persecuted, and was then able to pray against it and have myself covered with the Lord’s protection.

The Lord loves us dearly and is constantly covering for those who love Him. He does it by passing information on to us, i.e. warning us and giving us advice about what to do. If we hear the knowledge about danger He passes on to us, we’ll be prepared for it. Only when we’re focused on Him, i.e. drawn into loving, continuous fellowship with Him, we’ll hear what He reveals. Psalm 91:14-16 says: “Because he holds fast to Me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows My name. When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

Note there is a condition to His protection in this passage. We need to ‘hold fast to Him in love’. If we’re close to the Lord, He’ll be our first port of call and we’ll hear His solution to the problem. If we have lots of trouble we need to consider our relationship with the Lord. If we expose ourselves to sin we haven’t confessed, it separates us from Him and if we live a religious life, having little or no fellowship with the Lord, we will not hear when He informs us about dangers and solutions to it. We will therefore be unprotected.

I am the adventurous type and get tempted sometimes to venture into areas in life that would not be the wisest of decisions to make, should I proceed with it. My impulsive nature sometimes causes me to start acting before I thought it through. Because I love the Lord and live close to Him, I guess He throws His hands in the air and, shaking His head, says: “What are you doing Henry?” He then gives me knowledge about the potential consequences and also about consequences already activated. Having heard His warning, I then repent and pray the words of Psalm 91:14-16 above for myself and every time He saves me.

Life in Christ is much more than going to church every Sunday, singing worship songs, listening to a message, fellowshipping with the believers and having a task to perform in church. True worship is to please the Lord in an intimate faith relationship where we have inner fellowship with Him, growing in faith and holiness and as a result doing good works on His behalf with the intention to please Him. Words of Knowledge are privileged information made available to those living like this, who will hear it and use it profitably.

Abba (daddy) Father, I’d like to live intimately with you, hearing when you speak to me through the Holy Spirit. Please teach me.

If you benefited from this, why don’t you link it to your Facebook or Twitter to make it available to your friends? You can also use the e-mail link to pass it on. Please also pray for the spreading of it to those who need it. Please feel free to ask questions or discuss thoughts.