Understanding-(n)1.mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation: 2. intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind:
After reading the definition of understanding, right away, I knew where this post was going. We are a planet filled with anxiety. Anxiety is a mind issue; a mental process, right? Understanding is a thing of the mind. Oh, but wait, what does the bible tell us about it? Per the bible, wisdom and understanding go heart in heart and mind in heart. The Spirit of God is telling me that it is spiritual. Other informational items will tell us that understanding is purely psychological.
Wiki Moment Understanding (also called intellection) is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object. Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object of understanding. Understanding implies abilities and dispositions with respect to an object of knowledge sufficient to support intelligent behavior.[1] An understanding is the limit of a conceptualization. To understand something is to have conceptualized it to a given measure. Ex.- 2.A psychiatrist understands another person’s anxieties if he/she knows that person’s anxieties, their causes, and can give useful advice on how to cope with the anxiety.
Note to self… A psychiatrist “can give useful advice on how to cope…” not heal.
One reason that people are reacting to one another out of fear is due to psychological misunderstandings. It is sound to believe that ANXIETY is running this world amuck, we are coping, i.e. getting by. Even a few patients do not discuss their deepest angst with their psychiatrist/physician because some patients believe no one understands exactly what they are feeling, nor knows what the patient really thinks. But then, there is God who knows and understands all. For he said “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, (Jer. 17:10) “…and for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts…” (1 Chr. 28:9) Therefore, it is the Spirit of the Lord that gives us complete understanding to do, not just useful advice on how to cope.
The human race is a very anxious race. We think we understand, but we really don’t because of mind issues. What we need to grasp here is that our personal interpretation means nothing to God. The Holy Spirit is our Interpreter, our Translator, our Linguist – do you get it? Whose interpretation of our mind and heart is important for us to receive the gift of understanding?
I don’t believe that the bible ever teaches us to just cope without understanding. There is only ONE Psychiatrist/Physician that can give us the gift of understanding period. Paul said “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:6-7) I am guilty of not heeding this advice during many situations and have been broken down. Have you been guilty and broken down? Even as Christians we can be stubborn as all get-out. It has a lot to do with what and why we think the way we do…it’s a symptom of an anxious mind and an absence of the Holy Spirit working within us.
An anxious mind with the wrong mindset can cause us to experience independence from the Spirit of the Lord. Guilty as charged. Before the Spirit of the Lord appeared, Paul had the wrong mindset at one time in his life. God had to break him down and take away his physical and psychological sight and give him spiritual sight into understanding the mindset of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (TYHS)
A Key– It occurred to me that animals possess an understanding of survival. I was reading my Animal Encyclopedia to learn about various habits. Let me tell you about the dik-dik animal. It is a small species of the antelope living in many parts of Africa. Their name comes from the sound the female(wisdom…ha ha) makes when alarmed. Needless to say, hunters dislike them because of their ability to alert other animals of a hunter’s presence. They live to see another day.
A Key Point– Using the gift of understanding is a survival skill. When the gift is resting upon us from the Spirit of the Lord, we would be able to alert others of the presence of hunters that want to prey on us; hunters that want to separate us from the love and understanding of God. It is biblically clear that when one receives the gift of understanding, it is then that one is drawn closer to God. One can become clear of self and understand what God’s will is to live eternally in His kingdom.(TYHS)
Now, let me quiet self and share with you a few verses with thoughts about the gift of understanding. The 1 Corinthians verse below is used to focus on understanding period, not understanding the gift of speaking in tongues. 🙂
- Proverbs 8:1 – Understanding raises wisdom’s voice. Understanding is her helper.
- Job 28:28 – Knowing how to shun evil is a gift of understanding from the Lord’s Spirit.
- Ephesians 4:17-19 – When we live with the futility of our thinking, we are darkened in our understanding. Misunderstanding occurs due to the hardness of our hearts.
- 1 Corinthians 14:11-17 – The gift of understanding is not just for your benefit. It is to be used to build up the body of believers.
- 1 Samuel 8:10 – We need to experience what Hannah experienced until our heart and mind is just opened to God only. We must become broken to receive the gift of understanding.
Thank you for stopping in and allowing me to share my thoughts with you.
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Love Covers A Multitude of Sins
https://talkativeangel.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/gifts-from-the-spirit-of-the-lord/
https://talkativeangel.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/the-gift-of-wisdom-from-the-spirit-of-the-lord/
Biblical Thoughts 