Parents who give true love to their children often talk with them and help them succeed in their lives. God is love. He bought His children with the price of the Lord's blood and He also desires to communicate and to guide them in the best way possible. A person who communicates with God the Almighty and obeys Him can accomplish God's kingdom greatly and enjoy prosperity, peace, and blessings at home and in workplace.
Then, what is the most usual way to communicating with God? It is to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, to receive His urging, and to receive His guidance. When people accept Jesus Christ, God gives them the Holy Spirit in their hearts as a gift. The voice of the Holy Spirit is heard from within each one's heart, not from outside, because He dwells in us who are a temple of God.
Let's look into how the Holy Spirit's voice is heard, and how He gives us urging and guidance. While doing this, check how much you communicate with God.
1. The Holy Spirit reminding us of the Word of God
In John 14:26 Jesus said to the disciples, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." John 16:13 says, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."
For example, suppose somebody makes an unreasonable demand of us for his own benefit. At this moment, we are reminded of the Word of God telling us to give when asked to give and to love even our enemies, and that the one who serves is great. We are also reminded of the contents of the sermon. This is the voice of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the more we are armed with the Word and the more we meditate on it, the easier it is for us to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.
2. The Holy Spirit telling us something specific in our heart
Jesus said in Mark 13:11, "When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit." Jesus taught His disciples that the Holy Spirit speaks to us as a guide and that they had to rely on Him.
But in this case, those who have the truth in their heart and those who have cast away sins and become sanctified can hear it clearly. Only when we are armed with the truth can we discern and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. But remembering some receive works of evil spirits and mistakenly think it is the Holy Spirit's voice, we have to discern the voices with the truth.
3. The case of the Holy Spirit moving our heart to take a specific action.
Sometimes we feel the urge to pray or fast. Or we feel a strong urge to help a certain person or preach the gospel to a certain person. If we follow these urges of the Holy Spirit, we can bear the spiritual fruits by receiving the answers to our prayers or by saving souls.
Philippians 2:13 says, "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." If we follow the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we will fulfill God's good pleasure.
God's children must not ignore the urging of the Spirit, no matter it is strong or not, and they should obey it. When they obey one by one, God will be pleased and help them receive much clearer urging of the Holy Spirit.
4. To be led by the Holy Spirit, we have to obey what we hear Him tell us and what He urges us to do
While we are listening to the message or in our ardent prayers or praises, we might receive the urging to do a certain thing. Or, when we have to choose between one of two options, we pray about it to know the will of God. Then, we feel a strong urge towards one side. To obey when we hear the voice or receive the urging of the Holy Spirit is to be led by Him.
Even though the Holy Spirit speaks to us and tells us what to do, we cannot say we are guided by Him if we do not obey. Or, even though we obey, we cannot be guided by the Holy Spirit if we change our attitude mid-way.
For example, suppose one feels the urging of the Holy Spirit that he can receive the answer if he offers up a vowed prayer in Daniel Prayer Meeting. So, he attends the meeting diligently. But though the vowed period is almost up, he doesn't see any sign of the answer. He comes to have many thoughts and stops offering up the prayer. In some cases, although one person doesn't really change her mind along the way, she may fall away from the guidance of the Holy Spirit because she does not have enough truth in her heart. For example, by the urging of the Spirit she vowed to give to God a certain amount of church construction offering. She received a blessing, but soon another way opened for a greater blessing. She spends the money she got at first for his new business and gives the greater amount of money later. In this case, it's not that she doesn't want to fulfill her vow, but she changed her mind.
In Leviticus chapter 27, we find how to present a vowed offering. God says that even though we may later receive something better, we must not exchange one offering for another before God. If we really want to give, we have to give both of them.
The important thing in being led by the Holy Spirit is obedience. It is to obey until the end without any change of mind. Such people can be called true children of God as said in Romans 8:14, "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." This is because we will definitely bear spiritual fruits if we are really guided by the Holy Spirit.
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