GETTING TO KNOW HOW THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS IN US
Note: This comes from a chapter in one of my books. Getting
to know how the Holy Spirit works in us is an exciting and vital part of our
spiritual lives in Christ.
My best friend and I had been planning a birthday lunch
for about two weeks. We were going to a nice restaurant at one of the best
casinos on the Strip. But on the morning of the event, she told me she didn’t
feel right about going to the place we’d picked out. She described the
sensation as a continuous niggling that no logic could get rid of. She
suggested that maybe we go to another place instead. As soon as she said it, we
both had peace. We felt relaxed about our new decision, and all anxiety of mind
and body left immediately.
At the same lunch, it was time to order, and I wasn’t
very hungry. I usually ordered the ahi tuna burger, which is always delicious.
I thought: “I’m not too hungry, so maybe I should get ahi tuna salad instead.”
Immediately, the Holy Spirit gave me a picture in my mind of an ahi tuna salad,
and I saw myself thinking that it wasn’t so good. What did I do?
I didn’t pay attention to the picture and I ordered the
salad instead of the burger, and sure enough, the salad wasn’t nearly as good
as the burger always is. I was mad at myself for not obeying the Lord’s message.
I would have enjoyed my lunch and probably had a half a sandwich for the next
day too!
Another time when I was going out, I felt pressed and
urged by the Holy Spirit to wear certain clothing and wear my hair a certain
way. I later found out that it was because of my casual appearance that a woman
came up to me while I was studying, and I was able to minister to her
concerning her son.
These are just a couple of examples of how the Lord is
interested in blessing us in everything
we do, even down to the choices we make off a menu, or the clothing we wear.
You may have felt this nagging feeling. It’s usually the Holy
Spirit trying to protect us from something. We’re so much better off if we just
listen and obey. The Lord Jesus desires to be a part of our daily lives to
bless us in everything. He is not only concerned about the big things, but also
the small things.
In Old Testament times God communicated to mankind from
the outside, but when Jesus was about to leave the earth, he told his disciples
they would be able to hear God’s messages from within themselves. He said:
“Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22b). “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye
know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). “But the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he
shall teach you all things” (John 14:26). “He will guide you into all truth:
for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak: and he will show you things to come” (John 16:13).
The Christ in us will guide us and let us know the will
of God in every situation. How does this work? Through the new, spiritual five
senses we receive when we get born again and filled with the Holy Ghost.
Speaking in tongues builds up the spirit on the inside and helps to sharpen our
new spiritual receptors. “But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up
in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20-21).
But even if a person doesn’t speak in tongues, I believe
they can get better at recognizing the messages the Lord sends to them through
the spiritual five senses. Hebrews 5:14 tells us we need to exercise our
spiritual five senses. To exercise takes time, effort, and focusing.
When I was young and just beginning to pay attention to
the Spirit of Christ within me, I was working as a nurse’s assistant in a
hospital, and I could smell a killing cancer. At first, I thought it was just a
smell that came with the cancer, but when I asked, I found out that others
couldn’t smell it. God was using my spiritual sense of smell to point out
certain patients that needed special prayer.
What about hearing? People can hear from their spiritual ears,
the voice of the Lord. It can sound several different ways. Sometimes people
hear the Lord’s voice as if someone is standing right next to them. It seems so
real that they may even look around expecting to see someone there. Messages
can also come in a “still small voice” from within. The words can seem like
they are in our own voice or the voice of someone we know.
I used to do a lot of side work, faux finishing people’s
walls, switch plates, etc. but it started to take up all my time, and Jesus had
other things in mind for me to do now. I was in my truck, driving home from a
side job on a Saturday, and I heard these words in my spirit: “No faux, no
mo’.” It was loud and in the voice and dialect of a preacher I’d heard on the
internet. There was no mistaking that the Lord was giving me a direct message.
After that, I think I did one side job for a close friend, and then I began to put
together my books for the Lord on the weekends, rather than do the faux jobs.
What about the sense of seeing? As I was focusing on exercising
my spiritual five senses, one day I realized the Holy Spirit had been using
pictures for years to communicate certain things to me. I was used to Him
showing me a picture when I ministered healing to someone, and I would picture
their whole body empty, then look with my spiritual eyes for the origin of
their ailments, and the Lord would show me, and I would minister to them. But I
hadn’t really looked for or expected pictures in other categories.
Then one day I wanted to buy some new furniture. I prayed
about it, and I remember getting a mental picture of three pieces of furniture:
two nice dark cherry chairs and a recliner in the same dark cherry with a
leather seat. I kept seeing that picture every time I prayed for my furniture.
It was the Lord’s way of assuring me that I could have that nice furniture, and
in a couple of months and a little bit of shopping, I found it and was able to
buy all three pieces without going into debt. Since then, I’ve been much more
aware of the pictures, and when I get one, I catch it with my mind and focus,
so I don’t let it go by the wayside like I used to.
These visions are Jesus’ seeds to me. If I plant them
into the good ground of my spirit, I will get the harvest in the material
realm. I don’t want any of those seeds to go the way of the seed in Luke 8:5.
“A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side;
and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.” How many seeds
have been trodden down and devoured, because I didn’t catch hold of them?
A spiritual sense of taste? There are times when I've
taken a taste of something, and though it didn't annoy my taste buds, I knew I
wasn't supposed to eat it. One time I got the message, but I took a couple
extra bites anyway and felt sick to my stomach all afternoon.
As for the spiritual sense of touch, there have been
times when I've nearly jumped away from someone who wanted to touch me and pass
on something bad. On the other hand, the spiritual sense of touch comes into
play often when I minister healing to someone or pray with them.
God can work through any of the five senses, or a
combination of them. Some people have described communication from the Holy
Spirit as a knowing—they just know that they know.
The Almighty finds the perfect ways to communicate with
us, depending on what He knows we will be able to receive. I believe that when
we pray and ask the Lord to help us grow in this, He will. And in exchange, if
we are willing to put some time, effort, and focus on one or more of these
spiritual five senses, then we will not only become more acutely aware of His
presence and counsel, but live on a higher spiritual level and be of more real
help to those around us.
One very important thing to be aware of in our
communicating adventure with our Lord is that all messages from the Lord will
have to agree with THE WRITTEN
WORD of God. Jesus Christ is THE LIVING WORD in every
detail. The written word in the Law of Moses gave instructions on all aspects
of life, including where to use the restroom, what to wear, what to do when a
woman was menstruating, and every detail of their lives. That’s the part of the
Bible that people like to skip over, but it’s important in that it is a
prototype of what was coming:
THE LIVING WORD, JESUS CHRIST, who wants to
be in the same kind of nitty-gritty details of our lives today. He is with us, and in us all the time. As Paul
points out in Colossians 1:27: “To whom God would make known what is the riches
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the
hope of glory.” Let’s get to know Him in the way He wants to be with us. Let’s
learn more about who we are in our created spiritual selves by exercising those
spiritual five senses He gave to us.
Love, Carolyn
QUESTIONS FOR PONDERING OR DISCUSSION
Has the Lord communicated with you via your spiritual 5
senses? Which ones? What were the results?
Are there things you can do to remind yourself to be
sharper in catching those messages?
What small, daily things can you ask the Lord about, so
that you can get more practice for when the bigger things come up?
Which of the senses would you most like to look at in the
scriptures?
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