Knowledge - The Foundation (Daily Devotional)

Greetings and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to come your way, minister God's word and spend a few moments in prayer. This week, we will be talking about knowledge and looking at what it really means to have worldly knowledge and what does the Bible say about spiritual knowledge. Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7, ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.’ This month as we explore how to relate to others, it's important to understand that Bible knowledge is not a series of self-help techniques. In today's world, where knowledge is highly valued, people pursue degrees, information, skills, and expertise. Yet, the Bible teaches us that true knowledge begins in one specific place, that is the word of God. The Bible shows that all our relationships depend on the foundation of knowing and trusting in God, that's what fear of the Lord refers to. It simply means living in awe of God's power, holiness, His amazing love, and wanting to show honor and love for God, and living a life in integrity. This means that without reverence for God, knowledge remains incomplete. A person may know many facts, yet still miss the important truth, which is knowing God Himself. This way of life begins with realizing we are not as nice as people that we think we are. All our broken relationships, our anger, our sin and everything that result in sin in which we live in break our relationship with God. This brokenness again is because we have disobeyed God and brought curse upon ourselves. Yet, God is a loving God. God solved this problem by sending His Son into this world to take up our curse, our sin and our shame. Now, our relationship with God has been restored because we can ask for forgiveness through His son Jesus Christ and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. This is not the knowledge based on facts or information. It comes from an understanding and wisdom for daily living that we learn from growing every day with God by knowing Him intimately. The knowledge that we are talking about is the foundation of our faith and God is evident in every aspect. Prudent behavior is doing what is right, just and fair. It helps us in life and guides us in relating to others. Knowledge starts with God. Understanding grows through a relationship with God, and truth is rooted in God's wisdom. Solomon became the wisest king because he recognized that his need for God was more important than anything else in this world. Instead of asking for riches or power, Solomon simply asked for wisdom to lead well. His humility opened the door to divine knowledge. Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7 sets the tone to the entire book of Proverbs, it says, "Fear of the Lord." Now, this fear of the Lord is not terror but reverent awe and respect, submission to God's authority. It's combined with love, wonder, amazement, obedience, and worship to God. Then he says, "It's the beginning of knowledge, the starting point, the foundation, the chief priority to all understanding." Without God, knowledge becomes distorted or misused. So, how do you and I practically imply these in our lives? Knowledge with humility, recognizing God is a source of truth. Two, wisdom in daily living, let reverence for God shape our decisions, shape our lives, shape our families, our relationships, shape our speech. Three, guard against folly. Fools despise correction, but wise people welcome instruction. Christ as wisdom. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ Himself embodies wisdom. To know Him is to walk in the knowledge and the truth of God. Let's pray, Father, we thank you for your word, we thank you that your word says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. We pray that even as we pursue more of you, that we will walk in this knowledge, oh God, a greater knowledge, not the knowledge of this world, but the knowledge and understanding that comes from you, from the word of God and empower us, teach us to walk in these principles, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
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