Wisdom wrote in Proverbs chapter 3:
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
8 It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.
Wisdom tells us to lean not to our own understanding but rather trust in FATHER wholly and completely. If we can only grasp this Truth, the pressure derived from “performance-based” thinking will subside and peace will take its place.
Those who believe that you must achieve a certain level of spirituality will never truly be at peace for they will always seek a higher level of knowledge and understanding. They have replaced the simplicity of the Gospel with the complexity of religion. They have in essence become professional students of the written Word without understanding the Divine Intent contained therein.
In Acts chapter 3, Peter healed a certain man lame from his mother’s womb and because of this healing, the people were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Had Peter and John completed any courses in Theology? Had they followed a crash course in The Law? If not, how is it that Peter was able to command the lame man to rise up and be healed? Peter had been baptized in The Holy Spirit and was being led by THE SPIRIT. What about the experts in The Law? They had passed by this lame man for years and had no solution to his dilemma.
It is written by THE SPIRIT in Acts chapter 4:
5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes,
6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:
9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,
10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.”
18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
This passage provides us a great example of the simplicity found in The Gospel. Peter did not have a doctorate in religion for he was uneducated and untrained in The Law. He simply had faith in what he had seen and heard. He saw the works of Jesus and heard the Word through Jesus. His faith was energized when he received the baptism of The Holy Spirit. This did not require years of study but Peter simply trusted in Our Lord Jesus Christ and submitted to The Holy Spirit.
We do not need to complicate our lives by following a “performance-based” religion. Let us follow Peter and John’s example and walk in the same power through the simplicity of being led by THE SPIRIT. As FATHER speaks to us, our faith will grow and HIS power will flow through us so that we can fulfill our purpose IN HIM.