The Seven Spirits of God
Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
As Christians, we have received the Holy Spirit of God whose mission it is to bring forth the nature of Him who has tabernacled Himself within us. He leads us, guides us, and enables us to become The sevenfold Spirit of God are sometimes referred to in the Word as "the eyes of the Lord", "the Lamps of fire", and "the candle of the Lord." Seven is God's number which represents perfection and reflects to us several things.
1. The very essence, being, and ministry of the Holy Spirit is that of perfection. One who will lead and guide us into all truth, show us all things, and cause truth to spring forth within our hearts thereby bringing into action the completion of all things concerning us through the power of the cross.
2. To create within us Godly thoughts which will produce Godly actions.
3. To develop His nature in us for we have been born of His nature through the power of the cross.
The person of the Holy Spirit is all that God is and He has been given to us not just to facilitate change, but to enabler and bring to perfection and manifestation the expression and image of His Son Jesus in us.
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD is the energizing source of life and the power of God. He is one with the children of God, working in us and through us. He is both the anointing and the source of the anointing. It is through this power source that God's life begins working is us but actually creates the very life of God Himself within us. Through this life giving force, our will becomes crucified as we take upon His will for our lives. He gives to us His power to become all that He desires for us to be and to do the work of the ministry.
THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM is the supernatural intelligence of God which consists of true and right discernment between good and evil and releases direction and a course of action dictated by that discernment (1Kings 3:9,28). The Spirit of Wisdom is the essence of all of God's thoughts. It has been given us to know the wisdom of God (1Cor. 2:7-9) but it remains hidden from the world. James told us in James 1:5-6 that if we would ask, God's wisdom would be given us. A child of God who leans upon the Holy Spirit in their walk, will not have to question if something is good or evil for He will impart wisdom to us in all situations if we simply ask.
THE SPIRIT OF UNDERSTANDING is a perception, comprehension, and knowing released through revelation. He is God's illuminations and insights released through the revelation of His word. Wisdom and understanding brings life to our soul (Proverbs 3:21-22) and helps to keep us from falling (Proverbs 2:1-5 & Jeremiah 25:10-11). It is when we do not have understanding, that we begin to question the truth of God's Word and its application in our lives. We cannot relate to the ways of the Lord, nor the ways of others without understanding. It is in understanding that compassion is flow forth out of us. It works hand in hand with wisdom.
THE SPIRIT OF COUNSEL is God's advocacy, direction, and instruction concerning life and daily living. He is our advocate that. He points the way in which we are to go and instructs us in how to arrive there. "My ways are not your ways, and your thoughts are not my thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). We can freely seek His counsel with the confidence that He will not withhold from us. It is only when we seek our own way or make decisions concerning our lives without consulting Him, that we find situations in our lives goes wrong way. We are assured of His answering us (Hebrews 10:35-36 & Matt. 7:7-8). Our choice to follow His direction is the deciding power in our lives concerning the results that we will receive. Our choice is the determining factors as to whose life shall be lived within our soul. Gods or Ours! (Ephesians 1:16-19; Deut. 30:19-20; & Psalm 119:109).
As a child of God, we have been given the power of choice in our lives to either yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit or not to yield (Rom. 6:16-18 & 1Cor. 7:37) Non-believers do not have the power of free choice (Eph. 2:2-3 & 4:17-19) because they are still enemies in their own minds (Col. 1:21) and locked into following their own thoughts, desires and emotions. They are totally led by the passions of their flesh.
THE SPIRIT OF MIGHT is God's supernatural ability and power to achieve the thoughts and intents of His will. This ability has been given the church to enable them to OVERCOME. Overcoming is the freedom from self (John 8:31-32,34-36). It is this power and ability in us that enables us to 'put off' the habits of our flesh and crucify it with its passions and to put on Christ (1Cor. 7:37 & Gal. 5:13,16). God's might is the activation process which gives us the power to carry out His will (Isa. 46:10-11 & Psalm 18:32). We have been made more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37) through Him that loved us and victory by which we overcome is our faith (1John 5:4). It is through faith that we choose to have the performance of His will in our lives and the confidence that He will perform it.
THE SPIRIT OF KNOWLEDGE is God's intuitive, cognitive power which possesses everything that God knows. The Spirit of Knowledge brings us His ability to perceive and know truth. Israel knew the acts of God, but Moses knew His ways. Worldly knowledge causes us to know something by what we have learned, experienced, seen or come to know through our own efforts (John 17:3), but this is only beginning knowledge. But Godly knowledge comes through revelation and gives us the ability to know without effort. This is fullness of knowledge (John 5:20) that the Father gave to Jesus. And we too are His sons and He will show us all things also. It is important that we remain not in the beginnings that God has brought us to, but rather we are to go on into 'intimate' knowledge of Him. He doesn't want us to just know about Him, He wants us to KNOW Him. (2Peter 1:10-11). We have been called to be 'conformed to His image'. (Phil. 1:21) With this knowledge, we can see from God's perspective and truly know that "all things work together for the good for those who love God and called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28)
To KNOW is to SEE (John 12:21; Matt. 13:14; & 1John 2:11)
Ways to knowing the LORD
Because we love Him, we make faith choices (1John 5:3)
Because we make faith choices, we will 'see' Him in everything (Rom 8:28; John 8:56)
Because we see Him in everything, we will come to 'know' His character (Heb. 13:5)
Because we know His character, we can entrust ourselves to Him (Phil. 3:8)
Because we can entrust ourselves to Him totally, we are going to 'know' His life through us (2Cor. 4:10)
Because we have His life as our own others will see Jesus in us (3John 3)
THE SPIRIT OF THE FEAR OF THE LORD is the Spirit of holy reverence and respect to the awesomeness and majesty of God. The fear of the Lord will cause us to hate sin but love the sinner and to understand that it is by the grace of God that we have entered the kingdom. It will cause us to walk in love and truth (2Cor. 10:11; 3John 3). We are to glorify God in our living. Oftentimes we look for anointing, but God is looking for anointed lives. It is through the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the drawing upon Him, that our lives will become anointed and we will glorify God. When we are walking in the Spirit, and leaning upon Him, we will manifest His fruit. (Gal. 5:24-25)
