Wisdom and the Senses

Wisdom! This is one of the most vital things a Christian can have. But not just any Wisdom, it has to be the wisdom that comes from above. James talks about two kinds of Wisdom: The wisdom from above and demonic wisdom. Of demonic wisdom he says:

James 3:14-15
"But if you have bitter envy and self seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic."

The word sensual means of the senses. It is wisdom based on what you are seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting. It is based on your deduction of the situation and not on God's view. It is purely humanistic. 1 +1 = 2 and that's just how it is. This is the kind of math that led to Satan's defeat. He thought to himself, "If I can humiliate the son of God, strip him naked in front of God and the world, beat him to within an inch of his life, then hang him on the cross to die, I will have won." And truly, looking at Jesus on the Cross it would seem that the enemy had won. He looked defeated, he was groaning like a defeated man so he sounded defeated, he smelled of blood and sweat, everything said that he was defeated. Earthly, sensual, demonic wisdom.

The wisdom of God on the other hand said that even in death Victory had come. Even in the beating, healing had come. In Christ bearing my sin, righteousness had come. When he died, the devil thought he had won, until the wisdom of God showed up in hell in the form of Jesus, demanding the keys and setting captives free. The wisdom of God goes beyond what you can see. With this wisdom you can read between the lines, you can see behind the scenes. This is the Wisdom that God wants us to have.

"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."

That word 'pure' means 'without mixture'. Without contamination. It is God's own wisdom not mixed in with demonic, humanistic wisdom. It is a pure wisdom. So the question becomes, what do I do with my senses? I can still hear, see, feel, smell and taste things. What do I do now? Heb 5:14 is the answer:

"But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

Begin to practice discerning by the 5 senses in the spiritual sense. Ask God to cleanse your senses from the earthly, sensual, demonic wisdom they are so used to operating in. Submit your senses to him and you will be surprised at how discernment will begin to come. Walk close to God. Submit your will and mind to him and continually and let him have control of you. With time, your senses will become acute in discernment.

All of a sudden everything will look good but something about the deal will "smell" fishy, or a meeting with a client will leave a bad "taste" in your mouth. You will be praying for someone and have a pain or tingling feeling in a part of your body and God will communicate what the real issue is. Sometimes it will just be a gut feeling, but God will be communicating through discernment, using your senses, what to do next.

May God sanctify my senses. I surrender them wholly to him. I ask Lord that you have your way with me. I give myself to you. Teach me your Wisdom. I love you my Lord and my God.