Holy Spirit

Hearing the Voice of the Lord and Acting in Faith

~ Joe ~ 2 Comments

Today I want to examine a very intelligent creature. A creature that is so intelligent that Jesus used them in parables to refer to us. They are, of course, sheep.

Okay, so sheep are not the most intelligent creatures on planet Earth but they do know how to do something very well…they know how to listen to their shepherd’s voice and follow him, and that’s what I want to look at today.

John 10:1-5
1 “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

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Gifted to be Led

~ Joe ~ 1 Comment

It’s said that a good sports game is won by having a strong offense and a strong defense. The same is true in a battle. If you want to win a war, you must have strengths in both offense and defense. It’s not one or the other, but both.

The same is true with our Christian lives. However, I feel that most Christians are focused on just the defensive. After entering into a relationship with Jesus, they spend the majority of their efforts on staying away from temptation and sin by reading the Bible and praying for their own needs. Although these efforts are needed for a healthy spiritual life, they are defensive in nature.

So what does a good offense look like for a Christian? I would say it involves being led by the Holy Spirit in activities that impact the kingdom of darkness for God’s Kingdom of Light!
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We Must Hear Worthily

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A.W. Tozer wrote an insightful piece entitled “We Must Hear Worthily” (part of his book The Root of the Righteous) in which he says:

It is carelessly assumed by most persons that when a preacher pronounces a message of truth and his words fall upon the ears of his listeners there has been a bona fide act of hearing on their part. They are assumed to have been instructed because they have listened to the Word of God. But it does not follow.

This is very true. How many times can each of us say we’ve sat and listened to sermons and yet don’t recall even the last the we heard; much less say that we were truly taught something that changed the way we live our day-to-day lives?

Now that’s not to say that every sermon has had no impact on our lives because some have! But what is the difference? Assuming that both sermons are taken from the Word of God, what makes one sermon a life impacting teaching and another just another forgotten preaching?

Some would say the difference is all on the part of the preacher; the way he delivers the message; the illustrations he uses in the message; the amount of emotion or humor that is involved; and so on. But I believe there is another element we need to consider…that being the hearer.

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The Action Gifts of the Spirit

~ Joe ~ 2 Comments

This is part 4 of a 4 part study on the gifts of the Spirit.

The other sections are…

The three action gifts are grouped together because by them the Holy Spirit produces something through the recipient.

Faith

Greek: pistis (pÄ“’-stÄ“s) – a conviction of the truth of anything especially when relating to God, Christ, and the divine; belief.

Defined: The gift of faith is a supernatural gift by the Spirit of God enabling a recipient to supernaturally, and against all odds, believe and trust in God for anything.

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The Spoken Gifts of the Spirit

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This is part 3 of a 4 part study on the gifts of the Spirit.

The other sections are…

The three speaking gifts are grouped together because by them the Holy Spirit delivers a divine message through the recipient.

Unlike the revealing gifts which deliver a divine message to a passive recipient, the recipient of a spoken gift must be willing to speak the message in order for it to be delivered.

Prophecy

Greek: prophÄ“teia (pro-fā-tā’-ä) – a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the afflicted, or revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events.

Defined: The gift of prophecy is a supernatural utterance in a known language given by the Spirit of God which provides strengthening, encouragement, and comfort to believers and/or foretells future events pertaining especially to the kingdom of God.

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The Revealing Gifts of the Spirit

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This is part 2 of a 4 part study on the gifts of the Spirit.

The other sections are…

The three revealing gifts are grouped together because they make known to the recipient of the gift something they had previously not known, a divine revelation.

Unlike the spoken gifts, the revelation that comes through the revealing gifts is usually not given through the recipient’s own mouth. Revealing gifts also do not require the participation of the recipient as do the spoken gifts; the Holy Spirit simply gives the revelation to the recipient whenever He sees fit.

Unlike the action gifts, the revelation that comes through the revealing gifts does not do anything on its own. The recipient must act on the revelation in order to apply it.

Message of Wisdom

Greek: sophia – wisdom, broad and full of intelligence; used of the knowledge of very diverse matters

Defined: The message of wisdom is a supernatural revelation given by the Spirit of God which provides insight into the mind of God, His purposes, direction, and will.

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Concerning Spiritual Gifts

~ Joe ~ 2 Comments

Paul starts his twelfth chapter in 1 Corinthians by saying he doesn’t want us to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. This can mean two different things: 1) we may simply not know anything about these gifts of the Spirit and are therefore ignorant about them. Or 2) as in the case of the Corinthian church, we may have the gifts of the Spirit operating abundantly in our lives and think we know all there is to know about them, but in reality, we know very little about their true purpose, value, and use.

So let’s not be ignorant but instead let’s take a closer look at these nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.

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Other Ways the Holy Spirit Leads Us

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John 16:13 says…
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all 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.

“Other Ways the Holy Spirit Leads Us” is the fourth of four thoughts on how we can better prepare our hearts to hear from our Lord.

So far we’ve learned about three of the main ways the Holy Spirit communicates to us: through the inner witness, the inner voice, and the authoritative voice of the Lord. But there are several other ways also.

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Learn to be Led by the Holy Spirit

~ Joe ~ 9 Comments

Romans 8:14 says, “those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

Every believer in Jesus can learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit instead of by their physical senses and circumstances.

“Learn to be Led by the Holy Spirit” is the third of four thoughts on how we can better prepare our hearts to hear from our Lord. Portions of the following were adapted from Kenneth E. Hagin’s book Following God’s Plan for Your Life.

Notice that I said learn how to be led by the Spirit. Knowing how to be led by the Holy Spirit does not come naturally right after a person accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior. Just as sheep have to learn to recognize the voice of their shepherd, so we have to learn to recognize the voice of our Lord.

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