Alveen Shultz – Spiritual Understanding – Oak Lodge – 1975

A fellow servant of Paul’s who could speak to him of the faithfulness of the Colossians and could speak to him of their love in the Spirit and when Paul was writing to the Colossians then he said, “For this cause we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spirit­ual understanding that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing!”
When I look out upon God’s people, I just feel that it is a miracle and that this is God’s work, and one of the reasons why God’s people are different to any other people in the earth is because of the understanding that God has given to them. This is something that we cannot glory in, it is not of our­selves that we have attained this understanding but it is by the grace of God. And nor can we ever become complacent, feeling that we have a certain understanding of the truth of God. We have been hearing about Satan and we are not ignorant of his devices and there are times when we perhaps feel that we have become just a little complacent, feeling confident that we have a certain knowledge of the truth of God, but the life of a child of God is a progressive walk.
I have been thinking of this, our beginning, of this walk, and how it came with understanding that God gave to us. It is something that is far deeper than anyone other than a child of God has known, this understanding. During the year when we were visiting for one of our missions we met a Greek man who was a very learned man, and he really took offence when we invited him to come and listen to the gospel. We are, he seemed to think, so unlearned and so, but he talked to us for some time and told us of how he had studied the copies of the original writings of the Bible, that which is supposed to be the nearest to this, and we listened to him for a while and then we just tried to tell him of the faith that hearing the word of God had brought to our hearts; but he did not understand anything of this, and nor did he wish to. But it made us feel thankful for that simple understanding that we received when we listened to the gospel.
I was thinking about it recently and felt, well, what did we understand when we began to serve God? It was very little that I understood, but I understood one thing and that was that God was calling me, and I understood one other thing and that was that which is acceptable to God is to serve the Lord, to love Him with all our understanding. I have been aware that this has been an increasing thing as we have sought to walk with God. We have not known an experience that this would bring us into when God first called us, gave us an understanding that He was calling us. Little did we know where it would lead, but looking back over the way in which God had led we just feel that it has been with an increasing understanding that has given us an increasing ability to love the Lord and it is something that is far deeper than the understanding of the knowledge, it is an understanding from the heart, it is understanding what the love of God is and understanding what the will of God is for us. I thought of that spirit of understanding that rested upon Jesus and which with His love was given, that understanding that made Him quick to sense a need that was around Him; and one feels in their heart that we would desire to know more of that understanding spirit in our heart.
I have been thinking a lot too about our attitude to one another and, if we could just have an under­standing spirit toward one another, I think that there would be more love shown to one another. I think we heard something last night about putting ourselves in the place of another so that we might understand them. This is really what Jesus has done. Jesus put Himself in our position when He took upon Himself our sin and He was willing to bear the cross. And we want to learn more of Him and of that spirit of understanding that we could show to our brethren. And thinking of our position today and what God is wanting to do for us I think He is wanting to increase our understanding in a spiritual way, He is wanting to fill us with all spiritual under­standing; wanting to fill us with all spiritual understanding. And as I have said before, it is not in the mind but it is with the heart, under­standing more of the depths of His love.
And there is a verse in Proverbs that says, “There is counsel in the heart of man and the man of under­standing draweth it out.” And I know that there is both counsel in the heart of God towards us as we have gathered in this place and the man of understanding will draw it out. There is another verse that speaks about the man that beareth reproof that he getteth understanding, and this is how we can increase our spiritual understanding in the Lord, if we are willing to take reproof that God would give to us. Think of our spirit to one another too and now we do want to have an understanding spirit to one another.
There is a verse also in Proverbs that says, “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.” We know that these things are not in us by nature but only by the spirit of Christ, but I feel that I want to allow that spirit of Christ to be my teacher, to give me a better under­standing of what the will of God is or me, And I just feel I want to be in the place here as a little child that God could truly touch me and give me that understanding of what His will is for me. We feel so often that we know not how to go in and how to go out and we are so often aware of the devices of Satan.
Someone passed on this thought to us and had it summed up rather well, I feel, that Satan will entice us and he will get us to do things that are sin and he will convince us that it is quite all right, there is no harm in that, and nor will turn us and accuse us for having done wrong. We feel so thankful for our advocate and for the One who intercedes for us when we are aware of the powers that are against us. But we just want to have that understanding from God of what His will is for us that we might overcome the devices of the evil one, for Jesus’ sake.