There are several places in scripture where God makes a contrast between His ways and wisdom compared to man's ways and wisdom...
Isaiah 55:8-9
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.1 Corinthians 1:19-20 & 25-27
For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?...Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
There are also scriptures that contrast the “flesh” and the Spirit. I looked up the definition of the word “flesh” in the original Greek language. The word flesh means: The physical body or the human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin (disobedience) and opposed to God. This Greek word for “flesh” has also been translated “carnally minded”.
In the following scripture verse, the words “flesh”, “carnally minded”, and “carnal mind” are all the same Greek word with the previous definition.
With that said, read these two scriptures that follow, in light of the original Greek word’s definition. (italics added by me)
Romans 8:5-8
For those who live according to the flesh (carnal mind) set their minds on the things of the flesh (earthly nature apart from divine influence), but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh (carnal mind) cannot please God.Galatians 5:17
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Many people believe that these scriptures are only referring to the sinful nature of the flesh verses the holy nature of the Spirit. My teaching isn't about sin, disobedience, but rather about obedience; being led by the Holy Spirit, scripture, and the knowledge of God's ways, which are usually always contrary to man's carnal mind. The carnal mind is ruled by carnal logic, carnal rational, carnal wisdom, carnal intelligence; the “earthly nature of man apart from divine influence” and therefore, subject to sin - disobedience, because it cannot understand the ways of God which seem foolish to the rational mind.
There are many examples throughout the whole Bible of God's ways, which happen to be completely contrary to man’s carnal mind, carnal logic, carnal wisdom, carnal rational. I am just going to point out a few that will help expound on the point of this teaching.
Man's wisdom, logic, rational, would say that if you give something away, you end up with less. It is an act of subtraction. You never subtract something and end up with more as a result. However, God's word says that if you give you will end up with more.
Proverbs 11:24 (italics added by me)
There is one who scatters (gives), yet increases more; and there is one who withholds (keeps) more than is right, but it leads to poverty.Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."
These two scriptures can only be received and acted upon by faith that what the bible says is true. How can you know for sure that there will be an increase as a result of giving, or that you will end up in poverty as a result of saving? It goes against logic! Can you be absolutely sure, that when you give, it will be measured back to you? Only if you have faith that God's word is true. It goes against man's wisdom, but it is the wisdom of God, that seems foolish to man, and can only be obtained by faith.
The way that Jesus healed several people is completely absurd to the carnal mind.
Mark 7:32-37
Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.John 9:1 & 6-7
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth......He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
Who knew that sticking fingers in ears, spit, and clay could heal deafness and blindness!! What if I stuck my fingers in deaf people's ears and spat and touched their tongue? Would they get healed? God is not a cookie-cutter God. He isn't into formulas. It seems that every time He does something, He does it differently than before. It is because He wants us to seek Him for direction, every moment of every day. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing...
John 5:19
Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
This should be our pattern; to seek God. Not formulas, but an intimate relationship with the Lord, every moment of the day, being sensitive to the leading of His Spirit.
If our Father God spelled everything out in a formula, we would never need to seek Him. We would just follow the formula. He wants our time, our trust, our obedience, and especially our love and devotion.
If we could work things out with our own carnal wisdom, rational, logic, we wouldn't need to seek the Lord for direction either. I believe that is one of the reasons why His ways do not make any sense to the carnal mind.
His ways also require complete faith in Him. Why would we need faith if obedience to His word was logical?
There are some bizarre ways the Lord instructed the Israelites to do battle. There are some bizarre ways battles were won. It seems that every battle was won in a different way.
In Judges 7, Gideon's army blew trumpets and broke pitchers and their enemies ran, cried, fled, and turned their swords against each other. That was after the Lord reduced his army by 99%, from 32,000 people to 300!!!! That doesn't seem wise to me... but that was God's way to win that battle.
There was another battle (somewhere in the Bible, but I couldn't find it) where they sent the worshippers out first, in the frontlines, and the battle was won. It doesn't make any sense to position unarmed musicians in front of the warriors when going into battle. But it was God's way to win that battle.
2 Kings 13:14-19
Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, "O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!" And Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and some arrows." So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow." So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. And he said, "Open the east window"; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot"; and he shot. And he said, "The arrow of the Lord's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them." Then he said, "Take the arrows"; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground"; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times."
Doesn't it seem so silly that shooting an arrow through a window and banging arrows on the ground would bring victory against an enemy? I think Joash only struck the ground three times because, in his carnal mind, it all seemed so silly to him. He probably felt incredibly foolish as he banged those arrows on the ground! He probably only followed through a bit just to appease the prophet Elisha. As a result, he didn't get the complete victory. God's way, to completely destroy Syria, was to repeatedly strike the ground five to six times. Does that make sense? What would our nation think if President Bush started striking the ground with a riffle during this time of war? Let's not go there!
In Joshua 6, you probably know what happened to the Wall of Jericho. They marched around the city wall 7 times, priests blew trumpets, they shouted, and the wall fell down flat, giving them access to go into the city and win a great victory. Is marching in a circle around a city 7 times, blowing trumpets, and shouting, the logical, rational, wise way of demolishing a wall to the ground? It was God's way.
Think for a moment about a construction demolition team marching around a building 7 times, blowing trumpets, and screaming to get the building to fall to the ground, instead of using heavy equipment and hard labor. Wouldn't that be the funniest thing to observe? What if they were led by God to do that very thing? What would people, who were standing by, think? They would be laughing them to scorn! They would think they were complete idiots!
It is probably your heart’s desire to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. What if he asked you to walk around a building worshiping and praying out loud, and then give a shout? Would you obey? It is your will to obey. But most would not do what they want to do – obey – because of the carnal mind that is contrary to the Spirit...
Galatians 5:17
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Are you willing to look like a complete idiot to obey God's leading? Most Christians want to obey God but aren't willing to obey Him if He tells them to do something that isn't logical or will appear foolish. I believe this is the number one reason why we are not seeing many miracles today. Not because of our past sins disqualifying us, but because of the present sin of disobedience, when God asks us to do something ridiculous, and we don’t obey because of fear of what man will think, mixed with doubt that’s generated from a carnal mind.
Romans 8:8
So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Remember, the word "flesh" in this scripture, in the original Greek language, can also be translated "carnally minded".
Galatians 1:10
For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
God's way of salvation is also foolishness according to man's wisdom.
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Have you ever shared the gospel with someone who replied by saying they are a good person? It is foolishness to them, if you inform them that without Christ, their goodness will lead them straight to hell. It is especially foolish to them if you inform them that a murderer who has received the Lord will be in heaven, while they who are "good", who have rejected Jesus, will be in hell. It doesn't make sense to the carnal mind. It isn't logical, but it is God's way and plan for salvation to be by grace as a free gift.
How about Jesus, a man – but also God in human form, being raised from the dead, who is still living (over 2000 years), and seated at the right hand of the Father? Is that easily accepted by man’s logic, wisdom, and intelligence? No! It has to be received by revelation from the Holy Spirit and faith because it is contrary and foolish to the carnal mind.
While reading this letter, you might have thought of several other examples in scripture, confirming that God's ways seem foolish when analyzed by carnal wisdom. In my heart of hearts, I desire to be led by the Spirit of God daily, obeying even when it seems foolish, without fear of what people will think.
Let us together, daily take our cross (destiny), denying ourself (our plan), and follow Christ (His plan). It is when we lose our lives, we will find our lives.
Romans 11:33
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
My next letter will build upon this one with a teaching about what it means to be the greatest in the Kingdom of God.
All comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Abundant Blessings,
Tina -- Keep on Running 2 Win!
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