“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5 KJV).
Many times when people read this verse they take it out of context saying, “If you need wisdom, ask God and He’ll give it to you liberally.” They missed the correct context of this verse, and assume that they don’t have wisdom.
The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:30 that if you are born again, you are in Christ, the Anointed One. And Christ (the Anointed One and His Anointing) is in you. The manifestation of that wisdom was placed in you when you were born again.
You have the wisdom of God. The Greek word for wisdom used in James 1:5 is epignosis – exact insight into the true nature of things. Another definition is the whole, total picture. To have insight into the true nature of a thing is to be able to see the broad scope.
The context of James chapter 1 is temptations, tests and trials. You can have wisdom to know what is really behind this test or trial. You can ask God and He’ll give you the whole, total picture of how this issue is coming against you. And God is saying that He’ll liberally give you wisdom when you ask Him; He’ll not withhold it from you.
How valuable is that information? Highly valuable.
Suppose you were a General in the army. You didn’t know it but the enemy was planning to ambush you. As the ambush begins, the enemy’s battle plan is to set up a diversion and get you to commit all your troops toward that battle. Now how valuable would insight into the true nature of things be to you if you were the General of that army?
If you had inside information about the enemy’s entire game plan, you would pretend you were taken in by the diversionary action, and when they came around to ambush you, you would ambush their ambushment and wipe them out.
Well, God will give you Satan’s game plan against you. And when you have it, you can once again maintain his defeat. You can keep him under you feet where he belongs, because God has given you exact knowledge along with His word, the Name of Jesus, and the power of God that removes your burdens and destroys your yokes.
He has given you the victory.
Scripture References: 1 John 2:27; John 16:13
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Keith Butler has been an ordained minister since 1974. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds diplomas from Canada Christian College and Rhema Bible Training Center.
He serves in ministry with the support of his lovely wife, Pastor Deborah L. Butler, and their children: Pastor Andre Butler (granddaughters Alexis, Angela, and April), Pastor MiChelle Ferguson and husband Pastor Lee (grandson Lucas), and Minister Kristina Jenkins and husband Pastor Joel (grandsons Andrew and Austin, and granddaughter Alyssa).