Many times, we get caught up in the hype of decision making. From little decisions like what should I wear for this event and then serious life decisions like what career to pursue, who to marry etc. There are many times we take little happenings for granted. I’ve often asked some questions like “when people say the Holy Spirit spoke to them what does it really mean? Is it for real? Does the Holy Spirit actually have a voice? How do we know the Leading spirit? How do we even know when it’s the Holy Spirit telling you to do this or that?” So I will like to answer a few of these questions based on what I’ve learned from the word and His leading spirit.
1.) Our Spirits:
The first thing is to determine the kind of spirit we have. Till we know the spirit within us, we can’t know which spirit is actually leading.
From the creation story, “…God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life…” (Gen 2:7). From this scripture, we get the evidence that God placed His spirit in us by breathing into man’s nostrils and life came up.
Because of one man, sin came into the world through the influence of Satan. This therefore implanted a bad seed in man thereby making two conflicting spirits in one man. Because of these conflicting spirits, we have to choose the leading spirit.
2.) The Leading Spirit:
The Leading Spirit clearly is the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was upon the surface of the earth before man ever came into existence, meaning it is the spirit that prevails above every other spirit. Our responsibility therefore is to relate with the leading spirit.
How do I relate with the Leading Spirit?
a.) By Choice: The Holy Spirit which is the leading spirit is in us, but until we make the choice to identify with it, we can’t experience its leading.
“ Choose ye this day whom ye shall serve…”Joshua 24:15
“ For as many as have received Him, He gave them the power to be the sons of God.”John1:12
Therefore the choice is ours to make and we better make that choice right.
b.) By Obedience: In order to relate with the Leading Spirit, we must submit ourselves to the Spirit’s leadership. Most of us are too proud to let the Holy Spirit lead us. We are busy leading ourselves and even advising God on how we want him to answer our prayers. Until we learn the mystery of obedience, we can’t relate with the Holy Spirit.
1 John 2:3-6 paraphrased says- if we know God, then we will keep His commandments. If we abide in Him as we say, we must walk like him.
1 John 3:24 “Now he who keeps his commandments abides in him and He (the Holy Spirit) abides in him and by this we know that He abides in us, by the spirit he has given us.”
3.) HOW DO I KNOW THE SPIRIT IS LEADING ME?
This is very common but until we are sensitive, we can’t know that it’s the Spirit’s leading. Many times we say things like “I wanted to do this thing but something told me not to do it”. Most times, we realize that when we heed to that “SOMETHING” which said we should not do it, the result is always positive and that’s the Leading Spirit. But if we want to see its complete manifestation, we have to be intentional about it. By being intentional means, we should activate our spirits to know the Holy Spirit’s Leading.
HOW?
- The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth and it will never lead us to do something contrary to the word of God and it will never lead us to do evil. “…But when he the Spirit of Truth comes, He shall lead you to all truths…”John 16:13.
- The Conscience: This refers to the deep personal feeling which judges us. When we are about doing something bad or have done something bad, our conscience judges us. Even thieves have a conscience judging them of evil because as already established, the Spirit of God was placed in us from creation. But they just choose to ignore the conscience judge.
1 John 3:19-21 “And by this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Beloved if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence towards God.”
The Leading Spirit has a lot of things to show us and teach us concerning all areas of our lives if only we will recognize Him and allow Him to lead us.
Remain Forever Blessed.