But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. John 16:13 NIV
For the Christian, Jesus gave us the most powerful help anyone could ever imagine. He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us into all truth. Paul stated that those who Walk in the Spirit will not carry out the desires of the flesh. WOW! If we learn to listen and discern the Holy Spirit’s voice as He is speaking to us, He will guide us into making right decisions that keep us free from wrong decisions and the traps of the enemy. All of those decisions will be consistent with Biblical truth.
Yes we can make a mistake in hearing the Holy Spirit. But Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. You and I have been given the ability to know, discern, understand and distinguish the voice of Jesus (through the power of the Holy Spirit). We should be teaching new converts how the Holy Spirit speaks, what does his voice sound like, how to obey what He is asking us to do.
Let me give an illustration of how the Holy Spirit interacts in our life. It is not dictatorial in the sense that you have to ask Him “what’s for breakfast, or can you go to the bathroom?” It is more about journeying together. As you travel you will make decisions along the way…but the joy is in the journey.
Imagine that you and a friend have planned an adventure. You flew into the city in which your friend lived, and you rented a car in which you get to be the driver. The two of you have a full day of activities planned. But only your friend knows where each of the destinations are for your day. As he gets in the car, the two of you begin chatting. He tells you to just drive straight. You are thoroughly enjoying getting caught up. All the while, you are changing lanes, stopping at red lights, and obeying the traffic signs. Then your friend says…”get in the right lane, we are going to turn on the next street.” So you follow his advice, because he knows where you are going.
Later, after you become familiar with the city, you begin to feel better about making your own decisions in determining your route. Your friend says that you need to turn left and then you remember a short cut (bad decision), so you start making your own way. Your friend doesn’t argue, because you are the driver, but you can tell immediately from his countenance that he doesn’t agree with your choice in not following his advice. In fact, the talking and fellowship that was so free flowing a minute ago…seems to have grown cold. Your friend is still there, he just became quiet.
Meanwhile, your short cut has proven to be filled with delays, bumps and costly in time. Eventually, you recognize that you …went your own way….ignored your friends advice….and have ended up where you didn’t want to be. So you look over at your friend and tell him that you are sorry. You ask him to forgive you. You tell him that you now recognize that he knows this city and the streets better than you. So you sheepishly ask for help.
Your friend agrees with your evaluation of your mistake, forgives you and then begins talking again with you about life. He also tells you that there is a little alley on the right that will help get you both back on track to lead to your next destination for some food…You both are famished. The whole time you are thinking….”why didn’t I listen to him and follow his directions to begin with?”
The Holy Spirit doesn’t make sure that we just follow the rules….He helps us LIVE the ADVENTURE.
Ask God today to give you a greater sensitivity to the speaking of the Holy Spirit. Enjoy the journey, it’s gonna be a life full and overflowing.
Blessings Love y’all