Good evening everyone!
My name is Yota and today we’ll be discussing the topic Man and Understanding.
First off, I’d like to thank the convener for this opportunity -Thank you sir.
Secondly I’ll like to commend those in charge of this group for the coordination and effort put into this initiative. It is my prayer that it becomes a full expression of The Father’s intentions.

Now to today’s matter, can we please pray individually asking for an open heart to receive from God. He is after all our Teacher…. Amen!

Father, we acknowledge our dependency on you today and always, and we ask that you teach us tonight Your words that are Spirit and Life that we may gain a heart of wisdom. We open our hearts to receive from You and ask that You cause the eyes of our understanding to be enlightened and that You transform in accordance with Your perfect will. In Jesus name we ask this. Amen!

When I first saw the topic for tonight’s discussion, I was a little uncertain. I wasn’t sure what to make of it initially. Man and understanding. But the more I meditated on that topic I began to gain some clarity

First of all, it is necessary to know that man is a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body. You are not what you see in the mirror each morning, if we check Gen 1:26 where the idea to create man originated, you’ll see that man is an intention of God, more like His extension here on earth. It says

“God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.” (AMP)

An image is an optical representation of the real object. Hebrews calls it a shadow of the heavenly things, so it means when God created man, He was in essence creating a miniature version of Himself who would extend His dominion to the earth (…thy will be done on earth as is in heaven). In chapter 2, God breathes His breath into man and man became a living being. Our main texts are Job 32:8 and Dan 5:14.

Let’s quickly consider the first text
Job 32:8 “But there is [a vital force] a spirit [of intelligence] in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives men understanding.” This tells us the source of understanding as well as its location. That breath released by God at the beginning gave man wisdom and understanding both of which were needed to fulfill the purpose for which he was created. Oftentimes in a bid to describe God’s nature we sound as though He is borrowing traits from us by expressing feelings of jealousy, love or anger. But the reverse is the case. We are earthly representatives of The Father, His extension here on earth. And that is why whenever God wants to do something on earth, He finds a yielded man because He has given us all authority to dominate the earth.

But somewhere along the line, things changed. And Jeremiah had to say “… I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or in a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps.” (Jer . 10:23 AMP). Rom. 1:18-32 sheds light on the consequences of the fall, some of which were still seen now. This made man to lose that sense of direction he once had that made Him the ruler of the earth (2 Cor. 4:4).
So the fall destabilized everything cause we became more and more conscious of the flesh and less conscious of the spirit we truly are. Gal 5:16 says that a fleshy walk and a spirit-filled walk are two sides of the same coin. Doing one weakens the other and vice versa. Our consciousness of our “nakedness” blurred our vision of our true self- the spirit. We began to depend on our senses to give us a sense of direction.

But thank God for Jesus Christ; His death and resurrection! That’s all the fix we needed really. He came to put us back on track by first giving us a new spirit (after all, man *is* spirit). He came to reconcile us back to our source and in doing so bridged the gap between Man and Understanding, which is the Spirit. With the Spirit of God in us there is understanding and wisdom; the kind described in Dan 5:14 and Job 32.8. But outside of the recreated spirit we have what Paul described in Rom. 1:21-23. Much of the problems experienced in the world today is a function of the lives controlled by the flesh. But as Christ’s ambassadors we have a mandate to change things.

So as I begin to round up, I say look within. The solution is always within. Man is not a physical being but we’ve conditioned ourselves to believe he is. So start engaging the spirit within through the Holy Spirit’s help and you will find yourself expressing superior wisdom in *every situation*. Unfortunately, this privilege is only for those who are *in Christ* so if you haven’t received the new spirit He offers through His death and resurrection, now would be a great time to do so. Is there anyone in this category?

Okay then, I believe we all have new spirits, which is great. Given the population of this group, I believe if we each start tapping into the resources within to solve external problems, we will fulfill God’s desire to have His will done on earth as it is in heaven. If God could do it with twelve men, I’m certain He can do it with a hundred.

Dear daddy, we thank You for staying presence with us. Thank You for showing us light in your word. Help us henceforth to see ourselves as You have made us; and to be correct representatives of You here on earth. We thank You, Father, because You begin to inspire us to establish your kingdom here on earth *as* it is in heaven. In Jesus name we’ve prayed. Amen!

Miss.Yota