a message for 2024
So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
Genesis 41.38-39
In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.
Daniel 1.20
“This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means, for none of the wise men in my kingdom can interpret it for me. But you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”
Daniel 4.18
There has been a momentous increase in the amount of information available and the speed at which new knowledge is being generated in almost every field especially medicine, technology, warfare technology, transport, space exploration to name a few.
Since 2013, smartphones have become faster, more powerful and more capable. This allows us to do things we never thought possible just a few years ago. With ongoing development and discussions about artificial intelligence, there is both excitement and fear about the good and definitely the damage that could be done to humanity without proper regulation.
The most amazing thing for me is that with all the technological advancement and explosion of knowledge humanity has experienced (Daniel 12.4), from the foogathering stage of human existence to the agricultural, industrial and technological revolutions, humanity has not been able to achieve peace instead, we have seen more chaos, more wars and more devastations of all kinds.
This shows clearly the difference between the wisdom/knowledge that is of this world, from humans that have and is increasingly removed from God, and the wisdom/knowledge that comes from God.
Human wisdom/knowledge, when removed from God the source of true wisdom and knowledge, can become demonic and the bible describes it as the wisdom of this age that will come to nothing.
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
1 Corinthians 2.6
Worldly wisdom, ‘the wisdom of this age’, comes through learning, discovery, research, experience etc. and it is given to man by God. However, when man decided to take God and the knowledge of God out of the equation, it has become polluted and a knowledge of good and evil and has mostly done evil and harm.
Can you imagine the incredible technologies in science and medicine that have been developed to save lives and improve the quality of life and at the same time the contradiction of pills that have been developed to take lives and kill babies in the womb? How about warfare technologies that destroy in seconds/minutes what has taken so long to build?
Contrast the wisdom of this age with the wisdom that comes from God as our opening scriptures in the books of Genesis and Daniel describe.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
James 3.17-18
This is the wisdom/knowledge that comes through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Such wisdom is foolishness to those without the Spirit of God. However, as Spirit-filled Christians, we have this wisdom and should not be in confusion at all.
The passage in 1 Corinthians 2. 6-16 shows that because we have been given the Spirit of God and not the spirit of the world, we are able to access the deep things of God through the Spirit of God who searches all things, especially the deep things of God. The Holy Spirit longs to reveal these things to us but we need to be yielded to him and live in the place Paul calls ‘the fellowship of the Spirit’ (2 Corinthians 13.14).
God spoke expressly to me about finding and living in this place. It is a place, an attitude, a practice and a lifestyle. It is also referred to as the ‘secret place of the most high God’ (Psalm 91.1 NKJV).
As we come to the end of 2023 and enter into 2024, we should not be running to and fro searching for the latest prophetic word for the new year. Rather, we should make a decision to live in this place called the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and God will show you the deep things of his heart and things that are to come.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
John 14.26
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
John 16.12-13
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,.
1 Corinthians 2.7
‘God’s wisdom’, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. Wow!!! God has hidden things for us to discover and these things are for our glory.
I believe that 2024 is going to be a year of discovery of things that will cause us to walk more in the glory of God – Christ in us the hope of glory (Colossians 1.27). God is raising the Josephs and Daniels of our time that will bring direction to communities, societies and world leaders.
As was said of Joseph and Daniel, it will be said of us – ‘We see that you have the Spirit of the most high God and we need the wisdom you bring’. Prepare for this at your workplaces, in your neighbourhoods etc.
How do we prepare?
1. Acknowledge that the Spirit of God lives in you
We need to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit lives in us and that we already have the mind of Christ.
…for “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2.16
You cannot be searching or asking for what you already have.
2. Be filled with the Spirit of the fear of the Lord
Secondly, we need to ask God to fill us with the Spirit of the fear of the Lord.
The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.
Psalm 25.14-15
God wants to show us those hidden mysteries that are for our glory, however, it is for those who reverence him, those who choose to live their lives in constant recognition of what he loves and what grieves him and choose to put him first in every decision and choice.
3. Put God’s word first
Thirdly, and flowing from (b) above, is living in a way that puts his word first in our lives. We tremble at, obey and reverence his word. We live by every word that proceeds from his mouth and believe and act on it.
4. Pray and fast
Fourthly, in addition to the word, prayer and fasting is a key to finding and living in that secret place, the place of the ‘fellowship of the Spirit’. Pray that indeed, both as individuals and corporately, we will truly be a house of prayer for all nations and that the fire on the altar of lives continues to burn day and night.
The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.
Leviticus 6.12-13
5. Walk in thanksgiving, praise and worship
Fifthly, the body of Christ has not yet fully understood the power of thanksgiving, praise and worship. We still look at these three things as things we do but not yet as a lifestyle. I believe the Holy Spirit is helping and leading us into making that transition from these being things we do to becoming the way we live our lives. It is so important to the extent that the Father seeks those who will worship him in spirit and in truth.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
John 4.24
6. Be a functioning part of the body of Christ
This last point is going to be very important in this season. We cannot truly have fellowship of the Spirit without fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is how God has made it. There are a lot of people that have been offended by ‘church’, church systems, church leaders etc. and have stopped being part of a local church. However, as imperfect as churches and church leaders are, the local church is a vehicle God has chosen to use to express and display the power of the body of Christ in a community. It is important that we ask God to heal our hearts from offences so that we can find our place in the body and be committed to giving and receiving life from all the other parts of the body as this will strengthen ‘the fellowship of the Spirit’ in our lives.
Conclusion
We thank God for all he has done through us in 2023 and I believe more glory awaits us in 2024 and onwards as we, through Holy Spirit’s revelation, dig deeper into the things God has hidden for us to discover for our glory.
As we fellowship more with the Holy Spirit, giving him our lives, our time and all that we are, he is going to take us into adventures of the Spirit as he searches all things, especially the deep things in the heart of God and pours the same into our hearts and minds. This will cause us to be a people sought after and we will become the Josephs and Daniels of our time.
The world is in chaos and confusion, but as God’s people who have the Spirit of God and the mind of Christ, the world which is in darkness and the people that are in gross darkness will come to our light (Isaiah 60.1-3).
Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to quicken and enliven us as ‘It is not by power or by might, but by my Spirit says the Lord’.
The flesh counts for nothing but it is the Spirit that quickens our lives (John 6.63).
Quicken our lives Lord, we pray!
Sam Onyenuforo