REVELATION, UNDERSTANDING, AND INSPIRED ACTION

REVELATION, UNDERSTANDING, AND INSPIRED ACTION

Truth has three parts: REVELATION, UNDERSTANDING, AND INSPIRED ACTION. Revelation is something revealed. God has revealed Himself and His ways in the Bible. But the Bible is only words in a book until those words are illuminated, or we could say, Understood. Illumination is when the proverbial light bulb goes on, and we all-of-sudden understand what we’ve read or heard. It’s that “ah-ha” moment. It’s when things flow together, and understanding takes place. This can only happen when God’s light turns on in a person’s heart, and only God or His son Jesus Christ, can give true understanding.  

 

This morning, I looked up the word “understanding” in an online Concordance and there were so many great scriptures. The following are only a few of them: “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Proverbs 2:6 says: “For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”

 

Solomon specifically asked God for understanding and this was God’s answer: “Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart “ (1 Kings 3:12). 1 Chronicles 22:12 tells us: “Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding.” And David said: “Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to thy word” (Psalm 119:169).

 

The Lord wants to illuminate us with His light, and like Matthew 15:10 tells us: “Jesus called the multitude, and said unto them, ‘Hear, and understand.’”

 

But without the light of God illuminating what we hear or read, this is what happens: “Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Acts 28:26-27).

 

In the New Testament, the Greek word for “illuminate” is ‘sunesis’ or ‘suniemi,’ and it means “to understand, put together, and mentally comprehend.”

 

Sunesis is what brings everything together and makes the Bible alive and real, and not just words on a page.

 

So, first we have the revelation, then the illumination, or the understanding, and the final part is inspired action.

 

The word ‘inspire’ comes from the Latin combination of two words: ‘in’ or into, and ‘spirare’, to breathe. According to the dictionary, the word was originally used of a divine or supernatural being, taking the action to impart a truth or idea to someone. So God takes the action to breathe into us an understanding of His will and His ways, and then we are to take the inspired action to share it with others. In this way, God’s truths, His will, and His ways spread out to bless all the earth. 1. REVELATION 2. UNDERSTANDING 3. INSPIRED ACTION

 

Love, Carolyn