LEARNING DAILY

 

Isaiah 11:2, The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

 

Monday is usually a day of reflection on something said in the weekend’s sermon. Dr. Ed Newton spoke on the technology of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it is being embraced as a replacement for God. I do not believe I can embrace this topic “intelligently” enough in this page of the blog. Let me just mention one aspect I wrote down on my Listener Guide. AI is “the creation of computer systems that mimic human intelligence. Human intelligence includes the ability to have logic, reasoning, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, planning, creativity, abstract thinking, and problem-solving”, John McCarthy, 1956 (from the Listener Guide). Pastor Newton made it clear that AI could not mimic this definition because it contained no moral compass; AI is void of emotions which means that it has no moral or ethnic ability and reasoning. Since we are made in God’s image, He alone gives us an inborn knowledge of morality by which we are to live.  That brings us to the verse from Isaiah above.

 

Isaiah prophetically spoke that the Messiah, Jesus Christ would be mightily anointed by the Holy Spirit to carry out the will of the Father and to bring salvation to whosoever would believe. In order for the Father’s plan of salvation to be carried out to the nations, the Messiah would have to be anointed with the Holy Spirit through baptism – the power of the Holy Spirit to provide great wisdom, counsel, strength, and knowledge. It was through the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was able to do all He did while on earth and gives to each of His followers today. 

 

Can I tell you there is another baptism of the Holy Spirit that comes after a person is saved by their confession of faith in Jesus Christ!  When one has asked Jesus Christ to save them, the Holy Spirit comes to live within them to change them (regeneration). There is another baptism that compliments the Spirit’s work of regeneration. It is the baptism of the Spirit that the disciples experienced at Pentecost where accompanying outward signs happened as a result of the Holy Spirit coming, giving them personal power and boldness to accomplish the work they were to do in Christ’s name. It is the same Spirit that Isaiah spoke of, “the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord”. That same Spirit that rested on the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is given to Believers who desire to be empowered to do the works of God in the name of Jesus Christ. “The works of those genuinely baptized with the Holy Spirit include prophetic utterances and declarations of praise, enhanced sensitivity to sin that grieves the Holy Spirit, a greater seeking after righteousness and a deeper awareness of God’s judgment against ungodliness, a life that brings glory to Jesus Christ, a deeper desire to pray, a deeper love and understanding of God’s Word and an increasing awareness of God as one’s Father” (Life in the Spirit Study Bible).

 

Do you want this power of the Holy Spirit? Turn from sin and the ways of the world. That means to surrender our will to God by being obedient to Him. We must stop doing the things that God does not want us to be doing and to desire being filled with a deeper hunger and thirst for righteousness, desiring His kingdom before all else. This is the God-given power to those who ask Him into their lives. I am so thankful for the cleansing of our lives that comes with our salvation through Jesus Christ. I am also thankful for the additional power to walk with Him as He has baptized me with the Holy Spirit to enable me to walk the narrow way with His wisdom, strength, counsel, and the fear of the Lord.

 

AI is not the answer, in my opinion. Walking the narrow way in the power of the Holy Spirit is!