Welcome again dear friend. From our last post I shared a few prerequisites on how to have an encounter with the Holy Spirit. Today, let’s continue by looking at the diverse manifestations of the Holy Spirit especially during your quiet time.
Like I said last time, you cannot have an encounter with the Holy Spirit or see His manifestations if you don’t know Him personally and believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. From many previous posts, we have tried to break down the steps to having a relationship with the Holy Spirit. In order to see the manifestations, we have to understand that the Holy Spirit manifests himself differently in different individuals. Let’s look at some of the ways by which the Holy Spirit manifests in people.
1.) The gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Most times when we hear about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are tempted to think it refers only to speaking in tongues and interpretation. But Paul makes us to understand in 1 Corinthians 12 that there are diverse manifestations of the Holy Spirit but it is the same spirit that gives the ability. So when we talk about gifts of the Holy Spirit, we refer to all those gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. This includes tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, healing, discernment, word of knowledge, amongst others.
A question many people ask is whether one person can have all these gifts. It is very possible for one person to operate in many of these gifts where the need arises. This was the case with Paul. He taught the word of God but as he taught, there were times when his teaching was accompanied with healing, discernment of spirits, prophecy, tongues, amongst others. The Bible says these gifts are given by the same Spirit for the good of all. What we just need to do is to allow the Holy Spirit to meet the needs of the people in an assembly and He can use anyone for it.
Here is one serious precaution we should take regarding some of the Spiritual gifts especially speaking in tongues. Most people in the body of Christ see speaking in tongues as the gateway to heaven and speaking in tongues makes them holier than other Christians. While it is good to have all these gifts manifesting in you, scriptures emphasize more on Christian Character than the gifts. That’s why Paul said he may speak the language of angels but if he has no love all that will be a clanging cymbal. Therefore as we desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit, let’s desire more to operate in the fruits of the spirit which depicts our character (love , joy, peace, goodwill, meekness, gentleness , kindness, humility, etc).
2.) Boldness and Power.
Another predominant way the Holy Spirit manifests in us is by Boldness to speak about God and uphold Godly virtues. In the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible, we see that the apostles were persecuted many times but each time persecution came, they spoke the word of God boldly. There are times when because of societal pressures, we don’t even acknowledge to people that we are going to church. Other times we find Christians hiding their bibles while walking on the road. When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit there is some level of boldness to talk about Christ and do the things of God. It is evident in speech and actions.
3.) Signs and wonders
Yes, signs, miracles, etc are another clear evidence of the Holy Spirit at work. Every time the word of God is preached, received and believed, God (by the power of the Holy Spirit) proves that His word is true with signs and wonders (miracles). Unfortunately, many Christians want signs and wonders without even believing the word . Meaning we go after the things that God gives and not God himself. This is a bad practice. Let’s believe God for who he is then every other thing we desire of him will fall in place.
The inward witness and the still small voice.
Most times, when making decisions on what direction to take, we often hear people say “something told me that I should do this or that”. From scriptures we understand that the Holy Spirit lives in us. Therefore He guides us to make the right decision when we have believed God and allowed ourselves to be led by His Spirit. “ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:15). However, we must be careful because the devil equally knows how to manipulate the still small voice. We should be able to distinguish between the voice of God and the voice of the devil. The way to know this is through the word of God. The Spirit of God will never say anything or lead you to do anything contrary to the word of God. That’s why it is very important to know the word of God so you can distinguish the voices.
On the part of the inward witness, it often comes like an inward conviction or intrusion and other times through your conscience. Sometimes when you failed to do something which you ought to have done or you did something which ought not to have been done. You feel that conscience pricking you saying it was wrong. Or when you are faced with a decision and you have a strong conviction about it so much so that it gives you much peace when you follow that conviction. That right there is a manifestation of the Holy spirit through the inward witness. Again, to be sure, we know that the Holy Spirit lives only in the heart of someone who has believed and received salvation.
These are just a few ways for us to know how the Holy Spirit manifests itself especially during your quiet time. There are many other ways but each way is peculiar to each person, by virtue of our personal relationship with God. Therefore, I urge you to make a commitment to have a personal relationship with God so that you can experience Him for yourself and better understand this mystery called the Holy Spirit. To help you better understand these manifestations of the Holy Spirit and how you can be led by Him, Please I encourage you to read the book “HOW TO BE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD BY KENNETH E. HAGIN”. In case you can’t find a copy, please let us know via email or in the comment section, or through any of our social media pages (DM) so that we can reach out to you with a copy.
Remain Blessed.