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“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12 NKJV)
All believers have equal rights and access to the inexhaustible riches of grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans. 5:1-2). But while some believers today are exploring, appropriating, experiencing, and enjoying the riches of grace, many are still languishing and sinking in the mire of sin and poverty.
The variation or disparity is certainly not from God, “For there is no partiality with God.” (Romans. 2:11 NKJV). God has given every born-again believer the Spirit of grace, the Holy Spirit, to lead and guide us in exploring or discovering the riches of grace from our “grace-mine” (God’s Word).
1 Corinthians 2:12 – NKJV
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
However, any believer who is lazy in digging deep into the Word of God (the grace mine) will remain destitute of the riches of grace and dependent on diligent believers exploring and appropriating the means of grace (Proverbs. 13:4, 20:4).
It is as you diligently and prayerfully embark on the spiritual discovery of the unlimited riches of grace that are available to you in Christ that the Holy Spirit will open or enlighten your eyes of understanding to see, discover, and appropriate all the things that God has freely given to you in Christ (Matthew. 7:8).
One of the primary missions of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers is to search and take what belongs to Christ and reveal it to the believers. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, you can’t understand and appropriate the things that have been freely given to you by God in Christ (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
Without the active engagement or assistance of the Holy Spirit in your study or digging deep into the Word of God, you may not receive any revelation, knowledge, or spiritual understanding from God’s Word.
Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14-15 NKJV).
By the new birth, every believer has been divinely positioned in the abundant riches of Christ’s grace. However, you may still languish in poverty amidst abundance without hearing, recognizing, and obeying the voice of the Spirit of grace.
The Holy Spirit is your primary guide, teacher, partner, and helper in your walk of faith to discover, appropriate, experience, and enjoy every blessing God has freely given you in and through Christ.
Therefore, you must recognize, understand, and follow the leading of the Spirit of grace. That is the only sure way to live under grace and forestall sliding back under the law where Sin and Satan reign and operate unhindered. Paul writes, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Gal. 5:18 NKJV).
- How does the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of grace) lead and guide the believers into the depths and riches of grace?
- How can a believer recognize or understand the voice or leading of the Spirit of grace?
First, the Holy Spirit primarily speaks, leads, guides, or instructs believers through the Bible, God’s written and inspired Word (2 Tim 3:16-17).
The Holy Spirit will never contradict the written Word of God. The Holy Spirit will only reveal, remind, or confirm the truths of God’s Word to you.
The Bible is the infallible Word of God. The Bible is the supreme sourcebook of our knowledge of God. It is the textbook of divine truth. The Bible pages are the authoritative revelation of God’s nature, will, plans, and purposes in a written form (John 1:1, Heb. 4:12, Isa. 55:10-11).
God’s Word is the grace-mine! While digging deep into God’s Word, the Holy Spirit will open your mind to the inexhaustible riches of grace.
Second, the Holy Spirit speaks, leads, guides, directs, or instructs the believers through an audible voice, inner voice, prompting, and tugging in the believers’ born-again spirits.
The Holy Spirit is not a mere influence, power, or force of God. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit is a living and divine Person with intellect, knowledge, will, and emotions (John 16:13-15).
The Holy Spirit may speak quietly in your heart or audibly to you as though someone is talking to you by your side. The Holy Spirit may also employ other believers to speak with you and give you divine counsel.
While you cannot compel the Holy Spirit to speak to you in a certain way, you can position or make yourself ready to hear and obey His voice in whichever ways or means He chooses to talk to you.
One of the primary ways to position yourself to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit is to still or quieten your mind. Your mind is naturally boisterous or agitated. Therefore, it needs to be quietened for you to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in your spirit.
The Scripture commands you to “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psa. 46:10 NKJV).
David said, “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, Like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.” (Psa. 131:2 NKJV).
You also need to do that if you want to hear, recognize, or know the voice of the Holy Spirit whenever He speaks to you by whatever means He chooses.
Beloved, if you fail to calm your soul or mind while seeking to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, you will only listen to the voice of your carnal or troubled mind.
How do you still or quieten your agitated or noisy mind?
You can calm or still your agitated or noisy mind simply by focusing or fixating on God His love, mercy, goodness, glory, and power. When your mind is set, focused, or fixated on God, the peace of God will flood your mind (Isa. 26:3-4).
Your mind is set, focused, or fixated on God as you spend quality time reading, studying, listening to, and meditating on God’s Word, praying, and worshipping God in the Spirit.
In the process, you may receive or experience a pure, intuitive, or divine spontaneous flow of thoughts, words, impressions, or visions in your heart (Hab. 2:1-3)
It is good always to write down all the spontaneous or intuitive thoughts, words, or impressions you receive in your heart while waiting upon the Lord to check them against God’s written Word.
The Bible is the spiritual standard or index for judging every word, thought, impression, voice, or vision you receive from God. The Holy Spirit will never speak contrary to any written word or teaching of Christ or His early apostles in the Bible.
Therefore, before you act upon any voice, thought, word, or impression, you must diligently search the Scripture to see that it perfectly conforms to the teaching of Christ and His early apostles.
It is also wise to seek godly counsel from your pastor or a mature believer in Christ before you act upon any voice, spontaneous thought, word, or impression that comes to your heart while waiting upon God for divine leading, guidance, or direction on sensitive matters.
Prayer:
My Dear Holy Spirit, teach and help me to quieten my agitated mind daily so that I may hear, know, and recognize Your inner or audible voice, prompting, leading, or guidance, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Our is mandate is to Preserving the Faith of the Apostolic Generation.
Eniyekpemi Fidelis Oyinpreyebi.
AWH, Blogs.
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