Guidance of the Holy Spirit Christ's will for
us is not some subjective thing to divine or vote on, but simply to do
what He already plainly told us. In day by day
matters, if we truly love God and other people, we can do just about what we
desire, because our desires will be pure. We will want to do only good, wise and just things because our love is born of the Holy
Spirit. Unwise decisions
come by working alone rather than as a cohesive task force as Christ and His
apostles always did. Unwise decisions also come from following culturally
insensitive ideologies, heavy-handed organization policies and spiritually
sounding traditions rather than New Testament commands. To confirm God's
will for strategic church multiplication or even career planning, we do
the following: Study Bible passages related to
the matter. Ask God for wisdom. Consult with godly advisors
(including books or articles written by those who have gone before us). Look at the fields to discern if
they are ripe for harvest. Use common sense. Question: How
do I get the Holy Spirit to help me? Answer: Do what
Jesus’ disciples did to get Jesus to help them. When they had a question,
they asked Him for the answer. Since the Holy Spirit is a person just like
Jesus, you can pray to Him and ask for His help. Sometimes he will give you
help without asking. You will feel Him telling you what to do
and what not to do. In John 16:12-13, Jesus says, “He will guide you
into all truth.” The Holy Spirit will never lead you into error. When we are
walking to a strange place, we sometimes ask a guide to show us the way. The
Holy Spirit is our guide who takes us to where we can understand the truths
that are strange to us. The Holy Spirit walks alongside us and makes sure
that we get to the right place in our thinking and in our living. Question: “There
are many spirits. How can I know that the one that is guiding me is the Holy
Spirit? Answer: You can
be sure, because the Holy Spirit will never say anything bad about Jesus. He
will never tell you to do something that Jesus told you not to do. He is not
here just to cause you to jump up and down and shout
and feel happy--He is a teacher and a guide. False spirits
try to lead us astray. They deny that Jesus is God or that God came to earth
in human flesh. “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is of God. And those spirits who do not confess that Jesus Christ
has come in the Spirit are not of God” (1 John 4:1-3) What a wonderful plan God has provided for us to help us
to grow and to teach! He has decided that the best way is for Jesus to not just be with us, but to be in us. Our job is to let
Him be our ‘supervisor on the job.’ Our supervisor lives inside of us and
tells us what to do and what not to do. All we have
to do is hear him and obey him. |