
“The Holy Spirit is necessary to make sure that our knowledge about God is transformed into an experience with God.” Tony Evans in The Promise: Experiencing God’s Greatest Gift – the Holy Spirit
Have you ever noticed when you’re going through the toughest time is the very moment people say the dumbest stuff to you? And I do mean dumb …
And insensitive.
And unnecessary.
And not helpful at all.
Part of noticing this has to do with our sensitivity, I’m sure. However, if I gave a few examples, you’d say, “Yeah, that was dumb.”
But I won’t since I’ve done the same thing myself and I know they meant to helpful, and their advice had its benefits.
If not for bad advice, I may not have learned to pay attention to God’s voice. He’s the only one who consistently tells us what we need to hear and then helps us follow it.
The more time I spend with Him, the easier His voice is to recognize. The more often I hear from Him, the easier it is to understand what He’s saying and why. It takes practice and, for me, it’s taken guidance that I’ve gotten from my pastor’s sermons and from a prophet who I met through my church.
Prophet Jim said, “Following someone like me wasn’t on your radar … at all.”
He sure wasn’t, but I’m grateful I went that evening. He said things to me that only God knew, so I knew He was hearing from Him.
Don’t scroll away now that I’ve mentioned the Holy Spirit (in the quote) and a prophet. Sometimes we get really weird about both of these and turn off people, but I want to clear up the Holy Spirit in a way that He’s gotten clearer for me.
This post’s image of the Bible and light bulb together symbolizes what the Holy Spirit does for us. After I chose that picture and then looked back over the past week’s blog posts, I noticed I had shared both of those images separately. Billy Graham said, “The Holy Spirit illuminates the minds of people, makes us yearn for God, and takes spiritual truth and makes it understandable to us.”
My pastor said, “Just to be clear, Jesus doesn’t live in our hearts. It’s okay if you tell your children that, but it’s not correct. Jesus sits at the right hand of His Father in Heaven. The Holy Spirit lives inside us.”
He said the Bible gives general instructions about how we should live. The Holy Spirit (inside us) gets personal and helps us with specific decisions.
Here are a few examples he gave of what the Holy Spirit does for those of us who believe in Him …
The Bible tells us to go to church. The Holy Spirit leads us to the right one.
The Bible tells how to be married well. The Holy Spirit helps us find the right person.
The Bible says we each have gifts and a purpose. The Holy Spirit lets us know what our gifts and purposes are.
Tony Evans said the Holy Spirit is a real person who desires to guide our thoughts and actions toward the holiness of God.
I want that help even if I get a little weirded out by it sometimes.
How about you?
Here’s a sermon if you want to hear more: Holy Spirit Whispers, part 1 in the series Hear God The Creator.
In This Together,
Kim
Thank you Kim. I love the way you express yourself and the way God , and The Holy Spirit work . I’ve been confused in the past and you really help me to have a clear understanding of how it all works. I’ve gotten much better at studying and praying and understanding.
I’m eternally grateful. Don’t stop doing His work .I believe you found your calling. God love you always .
I love you
Connie
Connie, I was so confused too until I started attending Solid Rock. Pastor JP preaches in a way I understand, which then helps when I study the Bible and read other books on the topic.
I said this in our texts too, but you’ll never know how grateful I am for your support! It’s been a great 90 days. Thank you! I love you lots. ❤️