Joseph Prince - The 5 Amazing Benefits of Getting Wisdom
This is an excerpt from: Healing And Restoration For Your Mind
"Happy is the man who finds wisdom," the Bible says, amen. Happy is the man who finds wisdom. Now, notice that what Jesus said would happen. If you really understand, suniemi, God's Word, and suniemi comes from God, and we're gonna ask God to give it to you this year. If you really understand God's Word, it says "Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them". Look at the way he said it, "So that I should heal them". It's almost like there's a divine necessity. "If you fulfill the conditions, if you see my Word, you hear my Word, it drops into your heart, and you understand it, I should heal you. I cannot but heal you". Hmph. Interesting.
But people, you know, it's not like people want healing like this. "Pastor, pray for me. Here's my head, there's your hand, touch it". It doesn't always work like that, amen. I am not the healer. I have told you before, I just obey God, and God has said, "Lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover". Sometimes God allow that means, but sometimes God wants, the norm is that we receive from his Word, amen, by revelation. So, if they understand, I should heal them.
Now, isn't it interesting in the Old Testament in the book of Proverbs, written by the wisest man, King Solomon, whom God gave him wisdom, he said this about the same procedures. Look at what he says. "My son," God is talking to you, "Give attention" to the football channel. That's very bad, Pastor Prince. Okay, I love football, okay, I love football, I love football. I even watched Singapore play Vietnam just two days ago, amen. Why Singapore don't win, I don't know, okay, all I know is that I do watch football, and I like football, amen. Just let you know, even my son sang the World Cup song last week in the second service, right? You heard, I mean, we love football. We are a family that loves football. Even my wife loves football. She said that when she hear football, she can sleep. The sound of the crowd, the sound of, you know, she grew up listening to football, okay, so don't misunderstand me.
But you don't make it an idol, you don't prioritize it, you don't give attention to it to the point that you neglect God's Word. You cannot come to church because, "Last night, football". You know, give attention to, what? To my words. That's priority. Then it says this. "Incline your ear," now your ear gate, "to my sayings. Do not let them depart," from where? "Your eyes". Then what happens? "Keep them in the midst of your heart".
Notice the same procedure, right? It's through your eye gate, it's through your ear gate. How do you see God's Word? Doesn't mean that you take the Bible, all right, and you go through, Orchid Road like this and bump into everyone and lampposts and all that. Of course not. It means, what? In your mind, you visualize, you imagine when God's Word says that you are a tree planted by the rivers of water, you see yourself like that. Whatever he does prospers, you see yourself like that. When the World is saying that you're getting older, you see yourself green. The Bible says, "They shall bear fruit in old age. They shall be green and full of sap".
You see God's Word, you see God's Word, you believe God's Word until it drops in your heart. You see? Keep that in the midst of your head, it will drop into your heart. "For they," God's Word, "are," what? "They are life unto those who find them," not for everyone, "for those who find them, those who receive," through your eye gate, ear gate, dropping to the heart, "They are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh". God's Word is health. You like tomatoes? God's Word is health from the top of my head to my toes. Oh, so, "Pastor Prince, that's horrible. You're so punny". So, all your flesh means all your flesh, all the way from your brain, your hair, your head, your eyes, your heart, your pancreas. I think It's somewhere here. Ah, your liver, your stomach, your intestines, your prostate. I'll stop pointing.
All right, and all the way down, your knees, amen, your shoulders, your knees, head, shoulders, knees, head, shoulders, knees. All your flesh means all. I didn't say it. God's Word says it. There's no medicine, and there's no medicine that gives you all your flesh. There's many that promises a lot of things. Later on you hear about... how many, you know, in America when I'm in the car and all that, I will hear an advertisement, "On this product, blah, blah, blah," then the caveat, disclaimer, real fast. But at least technically they have said it. You can't hear it, it's your problem. There's a lot of contraindications that happens when you mix certain things and all that. God's Word, you can take as much as you want. They are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh.
So, keep on receiving God's Word. You can watch Netflix. But remember the word net is there. Don't be caught by it, that's all, amen. It's okay, I understand that. Don't allow the values of the world become your values. If you are depressed and you think this is normal, don't accept people who say it's okay not to be okay. If you are depressed, all right, it's okay for them to say that, huh? They are not depressed. But I'm telling you, God wants you free from depression. There's a place where you can have peace in your mind and tranquility in your heart.
God loves you, he wants you to have that. So, easy to go, some would say, "It's okay, accept your condition. Don't look for relief, don't look for", no, no, no. I understand, people in depression, you must never condemn them, never. It's not wrong to be depressed, but to think that it's a normal state and forever you're in that state and for people saying it's okay, no, no. Easy for you to say. God wants the best for that person. God wants that person set free. Can I have a good amen?
So, in God's house you hear God's Word, you see God's Word. Yes, at home you can also, but there's so many distractions. So, make sure at least you have that Sunday. Start the year right, my friends, amen. So, here it says, "They are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh". Now, wisdom is what God wants you to have right from the beginning of the year. Maybe this can also be one of your three requests that we'll pray for at the end of the service, okay? You all came with your three requests? All right, so the Bible says wisdom is the principal thing.
Now, you're thinking that "Well, Pastor Prince, I would have, you know, I got quite... how to say this? Quite high IQ, lah, you know. I don't wanna brag, I just, very high, lah. Super-high, you know"? Well, wisdom has got nothing to do with IQ, nothing to do with IQ, amen. I have seen doctors smoking. Now, he's got intelligence, he's got knowledge, he's got the education, has no wisdom. All right, there are people who messed up their marriage, and they're professors, all right? They are scientists, all right, who have no good relationship with their children. They just mess it up every time their kids are with them, they say the wrong, and there's no wisdom. Wisdom comes from the Lord. And what happened when man finds wisdom of God? Here's what happens. "Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, her gain than fine gold," all the things you look for today.
You know, I promise you this, the stock market, the crypto market, this market, that market, whatever it is, the Bible promises more when you receive wisdom, and this is the Word of God. And she's more precious than rubies. Now you see, wisdom is personified as a woman. "And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days," the first thing she gives you, "Length of days is in her right hand". How many agree, right hand is the hand of priority? Would you say that? Your right hand, hand of priority, right?
So, priority number one to God is not riches, it's not fame, it's not honor. It is, what? Health, amen. What's the point if you are the richest man in the world, but you are dying, right? So, health is number one. In our right hand. Notice that, length of days, longevity, is in a right hand, all right? Then in her left hand are riches and honor.
So, blessing number two is riches.
Number three, honor in her left hand. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness," there's a pleasantness. Doesn't mean that things are not, you know, there'll be a lot of things going wrong, there'll be a lot of, adversities and challenges that we'll be faced with this year, but somehow it's like it's very hard to be too sorrowful, because like a buoy in the water, there is a joy and there's a peace, a pleasantness that lifts you up. That's what Jesus gives you in the midst of the adversity in the year 2023, amen. You will be buoyed up, amen. You'll be raised up above your sorrows, the joy of the Lord. Happiness depends on happening that happened to happen the way you wanted it to happen. Then you are happy.
There's the Old English word for H-A-P, hap. But joy doesn't depend on happiness, on happenings. Paul was in the prison being bound with chains, and he was singing, amen. There's the joy of the Lord, praise the Lord. And all the people said, amen. So, watch this, all right, length of days, that's health. Riches, two. Three is honor. Four is pleasantness. "And all her paths are shalom," in Hebrew, peace. All her paths are peace. And peace is also well-being, wholeness, amen. It's like completeness, amen. Once again, what does wisdom give you? Length of days, health, length of days, riches, honor, pleasantness, peace. So, she's personified as a woman. You embrace her, both her hands support you. Go for wisdom.