100 Days Of Favor (35 page)

I remember how the key thing that I would pray for every day in the early days of our church was for the wisdom of God to guide us in everything that we did. That was my focus. I did not want to manage the church with my own human wisdom. I wanted to depend on Jesus’ wisdom. In fact, it was during this time of believing for God’s wisdom that the Lord opened my eyes to the gospel of grace!

When my eyes were opened to the gospel of Jesus’ unmerited favor, lives began to be wonderfully changed and transformed, and from just a few hundred people in the mid-nineties, our highest attendance for our Sunday services to date was more than 22,000 precious people. Whenever I am asked to explain how we grew the church, my answer is plain and simple—it was and is entirely by the unmerited favor of Jesus. I know that it is grace and grace alone that caused our church to experience such explosive growth.

Before our church experienced such an explosion in numbers, the Lord asked me if I would do something. As I was spending time in His presence and reading His Word one day, He asked me if I would preach Jesus in every sermon. To be honest, my first thought then was that if I preached only Jesus in every message, many people would stop coming and the size of our church would shrink. Then, the Lord asked me, “If people stop coming, will you still preach Jesus in all your messages?” Like all young pastors, I was ambitious and wanted to grow the church, but I submitted to the Lord and said, “Yes, Lord, even if the church grows smaller, I will keep on preaching Jesus!”

Little did I know that this was actually a test from the Lord, because from the moment I began preaching Jesus, unveiling His loveliness and the perfection of His finished work every Sunday, as a church, we have never looked back. I didn’t realize that throughout all those years of praying for wisdom, the wisdom of God would lead me to the unveiling of the gospel of grace—the gospel of grace that is unadulterated by the law and man’s works, and based entirely on the finished work of Jesus. That is what wisdom does. It will always lead you to the person of Jesus and the cross!

Today, the same gospel of grace that we preach every Sunday in our church is being broadcast into millions of homes across America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region. We started as a little church in Singapore that nobody had heard of, but God’s unmerited favor has blessed us to become an international ministry that is impacting the world with the good news of His unmerited favor. We take no credit for it because this wisdom is from Jesus, and our boast is in Him and Him alone. Beloved, let His wisdom lead you to supernatural success!

Today’s Prayer

Father, I don’t want to be puffed up with knowledge, but I want to walk and talk in Your wisdom. I thank You that Jesus, who lives in me by His Spirit, is already my wisdom. Today, I look to Him for wisdom and understanding. I thank You that His wisdom flows in me, giving me creative ideas, pointing out pitfalls to me and, most importantly, showing me more of His lovely person and finished work at the cross!

Today’s Thought

Wisdom always leads me to the person of Jesus and His finished work at the cross.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 81

The Spirit Of Wisdom

Today’s Scripture

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power. —Ephesians 1:17–19

I
F
G
OD TELLS
us that wisdom is the principal thing, then it behooves us to know and operate in the “spirit of wisdom.” But do you know what the “spirit of wisdom” is? Look at the prayer (above) that the apostle Paul prayed over the church in Ephesus. The spirit of wisdom and revelation is in
the knowledge of Jesus!
The more you know Jesus and have a revelation of His unmerited favor in your life, the more you will have the spirit of wisdom. I challenge you to pray this prayer for wisdom on a regular basis because when you increase in the knowledge of Jesus, He will surely lead you to good success in every aspect of your life.

The more you know Jesus and have a revelation of His unmerited favor in your life, the more you will have the spirit of wisdom.

Note that when Paul was praying this prayer for the believers in Ephesus, they were already filled with the Holy Spirit. But Paul still prayed that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation in their knowledge of Jesus. It is one thing to have the Holy Spirit inside you, but it is another thing to let the Holy Spirit inside you flow as the spirit of wisdom and revelation. And as you pray to be led by the spirit of wisdom today, be confident that you will experience the Holy Spirit leading you in Jesus’ divine and unmatched wisdom. When the Holy Spirit leads you in the wisdom of Jesus, there will be no impossible situation, no insolvable problem and no insurmountable crisis. The wisdom of Jesus in you will help you to successfully navigate all your trials and cause you to prevail over all your challenges!

Today’s Prayer

Father, please give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know Jesus better. Open the eyes of my understanding and enlighten me, so that I may know the hope to which He has called me, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. Father, lead me in the wisdom of Christ in all that I do today.

Today’s Thought

The wisdom of Jesus in me helps me to prevail over all my trials and challenges.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 82

The Secret To Solomon’s Wisdom

Today’s Scripture

Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours? —1 Kings 3:9

L
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S TAKE A
look at the life of Solomon. When Solomon became king, he was only a young man of about 18 years old and had big shoes to fill as David’s successor to the throne. Solomon was not filled with wisdom when he first ascended the throne, but he was clearly very earnest. He went to Mount Gibeon, where the tabernacle of Moses was, to offer a thousand burnt offerings to the Lord. At Mount Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” (2 Chronicles 1:7).

With the wisdom of Jesus, you won’t only be blessed, but you will also be able to hold on to the blessings in your life.

Now, think about this for a moment. What would you have asked for if you were in Solomon’s position? Solomon did not ask for riches. Neither did he ask to be honored by all men. Instead, he told the Lord, “…give me
wisdom and knowledge,
that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?” (2 Chronicles 1:10).

The Bible records that Solomon’s request “pleased the Lord” (1 Kings 3:10) and the Lord replied, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king—wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like” (2 Chronicles 1:11–12).

The Book of 1 Kings tells us that Solomon told the Lord, “Therefore give to Your servant an
understanding heart
to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” So when Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge, he was asking for an understanding heart.

Let’s go deeper. The word “understanding” here is the Hebrew word
shama,
which means “to hear intelligently.”
¹
In other words, Solomon had asked for a
hearing heart
—one that hears from and flows with the leading of the Spirit of God, who leads us into all truth (John 16:13). You need a hearing heart for God’s wisdom to flow through you in every aspect of your life!

I believe that the same request that pleased the Lord then still pleases Him today. God is pleased when we ask Jesus for wisdom. To ask Him for wisdom is to put ourselves in a posture of trusting and depending on His unmerited favor. Only the humble can ask Jesus for wisdom and a hearing heart.

Although Solomon only asked for wisdom, the Lord added “riches and wealth and honor” to him. Too many people are chasing riches, wealth and honor, not realizing that they come through the wisdom of Jesus. Even if someone were to come into sudden wealth, without the wisdom of Jesus to manage it, the money would be squandered away. But with the wisdom of Jesus, you won’t only be blessed, you will also be able to hold on to the blessings in your life. Jesus makes you safe for good success that produces lasting and abiding fruit from generation to generation!