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A Conversation I Had Today
I was having a conversation today with someone on social media about a topic other than this one, but which led into a discussion about the Holy Spirit and if we can hear (not audibly) the Holy Spirit speaking to us in our minds. She was relaying to me how she had listened to a preacher say that God does not whisper to us.
So, then I began to relay to her what I understand of what the Scriptures teach on the subject of the Holy Spirit and how he works in our lives.
I said to her, “Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. He is the living word within us. He speaks to us through the written word of God, but he can speak to us through a child, or a song, or a story, or a picture, etc. Not everyone agrees with this, though.
“Many people are cutting out the Holy Spirit and so they can only take in God's word intellectually. They don't allow for personal application. If I did not listen to the Spirit's voice in 2004, I would not have written over 4,000 devotions that have gone out all over the world.
“There is nothing wrong with saying "God told me" unless what you say God told you is in contrast to his divine character and will and is in conflict with the teachings of Scripture. For the Holy Spirit was given to us to teach us all things, and we have the mind of Christ.
“The Holy Spirit is our comforter, our counselor, our teacher, our guide. If we can't hear him speaking to us inside our minds how can he teach, counsel, comfort and guide us? He speaks to me all throughout the day every day and he leads me in what to say on Twitter, too.
“When I write devotions, I don't write them from my own intellect, and I don't choose what to write. The Holy Spirit speaks to me through the Word and he reveals to me specifically the message he wants me to give for that day because someone needs to hear that message.
“In Romans 1 it says that God revealed his divine character and will through his creation so that men were without excuse. God speaks to us in so many different ways, but we must always test what we are hearing against his revealed will in Scriptures.
“He speaks to us through sermons or through each other when we are sharing what the Lord taught us through his word, and that was what I was sharing in that writing, how he spoke to me through sermons that I heard at a prayer conference.”
Do Not Quench the Spirit
So, then I went on a Tweet storm, for a fire had been lit in my belly. It grieves me so much that so many preachers are telling people that they can’t hear the Spirit’s voice speaking to them and that all they can listen to is the written word, except that would mean they shouldn’t listen to preachers, right? Or can they listen to preachers but not the Spirit?
“If the Holy Spirit does not speak to us, then you can throw out the 4,000+ devotions, the 185 songs, the 100 poems, the hundreds of tweets, and the thousands of replies to people he has given, inspired, and/or led me to write over sixteen years, and all the people's lives touched by them, too.
"Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 – Too many people quenching the Spirit by denying that he speaks to us. So, they rely on the flesh to speak to them, instead.
“If the Holy Spirit does not speak to us except strictly through the written word of God and thus he can't make personal application to our lives or call us to specific areas of ministry or tell us to call someone or pray for them or send them an encouraging word, that is dead faith.
“If the Holy Spirit did not speak to me in my spirit, leading me in what to write and in calling me to this writing ministry, I would not be here. We would never have met. You would never have heard anything the Spirit gave me to say. None of this would ever have happened.
“The Holy Spirit directs me start to finish. This is his ministry, not mine. He says when, what, where and how. I just sit in front of the computer and I let him lead. He wakes me at all hours when he wants me to write. I just listen and obey.
“If the Holy Spirit is not guiding what I write on my blog posts, then I should not write. I depend on him to guide me in what he wants me to say. I say to him, "You write, and I'll type." And I trust he leads me.
“The Scriptures are spiritually discerned, which means the Spirit of God has to speak to us through them in our minds and in our hearts to give us understanding into what they are saying and in how they are to be applied to our lives. I am so glad I have the Holy Spirit to speak to me.”
To The Word
“By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who WALK not according to the flesh but ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT." Rom 8:3-4 ESV
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Rom 8:5-8 ESV
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if BY THE SPIRIT you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are LED BY THE SPIRIT of God are sons of God.” Rom 8:12-14 ESV
"The natural person does not accept the things of THE SPIRIT OF GOD, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED." 1 Co 2:14 ESV
All Through the Night
An Original Work / December 7, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
Blessed are you when you’re persecuted
Because of your faith in Jesus Christ.
Blessed are you when people insult you,
And falsely say what leads folks to doubt.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is
Great in the heavens. You’re not alone.
When you are persecuted in one place,
Flee to another. God will be there.
You will be hated by all the nations
Because you testify of God’s grace.
Many will seize you and persecute you,
And put to death the foll’wers of Christ.
Yet, do not fear what humans may do to you,
For I’m with you all through the night.
I tell you, love your enemies with my love,
And forgive as I forgave you.
Pray for those who do evil against you.
Rest in my love and grace from above.
I was having a conversation today with someone on social media about a topic other than this one, but which led into a discussion about the Holy Spirit and if we can hear (not audibly) the Holy Spirit speaking to us in our minds. She was relaying to me how she had listened to a preacher say that God does not whisper to us.
So, then I began to relay to her what I understand of what the Scriptures teach on the subject of the Holy Spirit and how he works in our lives.
I said to her, “Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. He is the living word within us. He speaks to us through the written word of God, but he can speak to us through a child, or a song, or a story, or a picture, etc. Not everyone agrees with this, though.
“Many people are cutting out the Holy Spirit and so they can only take in God's word intellectually. They don't allow for personal application. If I did not listen to the Spirit's voice in 2004, I would not have written over 4,000 devotions that have gone out all over the world.
“There is nothing wrong with saying "God told me" unless what you say God told you is in contrast to his divine character and will and is in conflict with the teachings of Scripture. For the Holy Spirit was given to us to teach us all things, and we have the mind of Christ.
“The Holy Spirit is our comforter, our counselor, our teacher, our guide. If we can't hear him speaking to us inside our minds how can he teach, counsel, comfort and guide us? He speaks to me all throughout the day every day and he leads me in what to say on Twitter, too.
“When I write devotions, I don't write them from my own intellect, and I don't choose what to write. The Holy Spirit speaks to me through the Word and he reveals to me specifically the message he wants me to give for that day because someone needs to hear that message.
“In Romans 1 it says that God revealed his divine character and will through his creation so that men were without excuse. God speaks to us in so many different ways, but we must always test what we are hearing against his revealed will in Scriptures.
“He speaks to us through sermons or through each other when we are sharing what the Lord taught us through his word, and that was what I was sharing in that writing, how he spoke to me through sermons that I heard at a prayer conference.”
Do Not Quench the Spirit
So, then I went on a Tweet storm, for a fire had been lit in my belly. It grieves me so much that so many preachers are telling people that they can’t hear the Spirit’s voice speaking to them and that all they can listen to is the written word, except that would mean they shouldn’t listen to preachers, right? Or can they listen to preachers but not the Spirit?
“If the Holy Spirit does not speak to us, then you can throw out the 4,000+ devotions, the 185 songs, the 100 poems, the hundreds of tweets, and the thousands of replies to people he has given, inspired, and/or led me to write over sixteen years, and all the people's lives touched by them, too.
"Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 – Too many people quenching the Spirit by denying that he speaks to us. So, they rely on the flesh to speak to them, instead.
“If the Holy Spirit does not speak to us except strictly through the written word of God and thus he can't make personal application to our lives or call us to specific areas of ministry or tell us to call someone or pray for them or send them an encouraging word, that is dead faith.
“If the Holy Spirit did not speak to me in my spirit, leading me in what to write and in calling me to this writing ministry, I would not be here. We would never have met. You would never have heard anything the Spirit gave me to say. None of this would ever have happened.
“The Holy Spirit directs me start to finish. This is his ministry, not mine. He says when, what, where and how. I just sit in front of the computer and I let him lead. He wakes me at all hours when he wants me to write. I just listen and obey.
“If the Holy Spirit is not guiding what I write on my blog posts, then I should not write. I depend on him to guide me in what he wants me to say. I say to him, "You write, and I'll type." And I trust he leads me.
“The Scriptures are spiritually discerned, which means the Spirit of God has to speak to us through them in our minds and in our hearts to give us understanding into what they are saying and in how they are to be applied to our lives. I am so glad I have the Holy Spirit to speak to me.”
To The Word
“By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who WALK not according to the flesh but ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT." Rom 8:3-4 ESV
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Rom 8:5-8 ESV
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if BY THE SPIRIT you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are LED BY THE SPIRIT of God are sons of God.” Rom 8:12-14 ESV
"The natural person does not accept the things of THE SPIRIT OF GOD, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED." 1 Co 2:14 ESV
All Through the Night
An Original Work / December 7, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
Blessed are you when you’re persecuted
Because of your faith in Jesus Christ.
Blessed are you when people insult you,
And falsely say what leads folks to doubt.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is
Great in the heavens. You’re not alone.
When you are persecuted in one place,
Flee to another. God will be there.
You will be hated by all the nations
Because you testify of God’s grace.
Many will seize you and persecute you,
And put to death the foll’wers of Christ.
Yet, do not fear what humans may do to you,
For I’m with you all through the night.
I tell you, love your enemies with my love,
And forgive as I forgave you.
Pray for those who do evil against you.
Rest in my love and grace from above.
