By Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

The guidance of the Holy Spirit is central to how we live our Christian life. Embracing the spirit life and fulfilling God’s plan for your life requires being led by the Holy Spirit. This guidance is unique to the current dispensation of grace. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit wasn’t available, and the Israelites relied on angels and the laws of Moses. They had God with them but not dwelling within them, unlike present-day believers who are temples of the Holy Spirit. This dispensation of grace is the dispensation of the ministry of the Holy Spirit which our Lord Jesus Christ spoke so much about. Jesus told us that He needed to go so a change of Guard so to say would take place. He also told us about the mission of the Holy Spirit in very clear terms (John 16: 7-15). 

HOW DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDE US?

• • The Holy Spirit guides us in the affairs of life along the lines of the will of God. We make so many choices daily. He will always guide us along the line of the truth which is the word of God. The Holy Spirit will never guide us outside of the word of God.

John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”                                                          Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

• • The Holy guides us by the inward witness of our spirit. This comes in the form of an inside peace to proceed with a certain decision or lack of peace not to proceed. Peace is a tranquil state of mind. It is an inner comfort with something. It has no physical or known reason except that it comes from the Holy Spirit through your own spirit. It passes all human understanding. You just know that inside you are very comfortable with this decision and that it aligns with Scripture.
    Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

Philippians 4:7 “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

• • The Holy Spirit also guides us by a perception of our spirit. Sometimes this inner witness manifests by an inner “knowing” with no rational reason. Things look great but you are perceiving danger from within. You just know it in you but can’t put your finger on why. Here is a great example:
    Acts 27:10-14 “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.” 11 Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there. 13 When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. 14 But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon.”

Paul perceived that danger was ahead. There was no reason for that at that moment. But, not long after, they ran into major trouble just like Paul perceived it.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. • Understanding the language of faith: If you train yourself to walk by faith and live a life of faith, then the Holy Spirit can communicate with you easily because you can understand His language. He never speaks doubt and unbelief.
     Hebrews 3:12 “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”

When you train yourself with the word of God then you can easily discern good and evil. You grow spiritually and you are able to understand the language of God.

Hebrews 5:14 “Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”

Spiritual babies only take milk. They can only digest spiritual milk that doesn’t need any chewing, they depend on others to pray for them. They have not grown to chew spiritual food of the word. Learn to meditate on the word day and night and chew on it until you are able to digest it. Samuel is a good example (1 Samuel 3: 1-7). He did not recognize the voice of God. He was only familiar with the voice of man; he answered a man instead of God. Today, some Christians go to man instead of God.

• • Responding to what He wants us to do:  If we pick and choose when we obey the Holy Spirit, He will stop speaking to us. Some Christians insist on a public ministration from God and miss out on the private instructions He gives them.

Luke 8:18 “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”

KEY POINTS

Being guided by the Holy Spirit is one of the ways you get your healing and your needs met. It saves you from the trap of the devil. Ps 91:2-3 (NLT). The guidance of the Holy Spirit also helps you overcome the deceit of the enemy. There is therefore a dire need for you to allow Him to lead you into all truth. The Holy Spirit will always point you to Jesus Christ and His gospel.

To be led by the Holy Spirit, your root must grow deep in Jesus Christ, Col 2:2-9 (NLT). This is achieved by being a student of the word; don’t just read the bible, study it. The scripture is given by the Holy Spirit as the basis of all teachings. This simply means that the only source of doctrine for the church is the word of God. Christ is the only basis for your faith. The Bible is a book though written by men who were inspired and led by the Holy Spirit.

This guidance is not by a prophet because no scripture point guidance to men. As a child of God, you should be able to hear God’s voice and follow His lead.

God has no favorite, He does not lead only pastors. Every man has access to the Father (God) by the same Spirit of God. There is no superiority in the presence of God because Christ died for every man equally. The fact that God uses a certain person doesn’t make he/she superior to other children of God. You cannot exalt a human above the word of God because that is equivalent to creating a god or idol for yourself. You must develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit so as to know how He guides you. Not everything that comes to your mind comes from God. Not all supernatural manifestations, visions, and dreams are from God. Therefore, it is important that you judge everything from the scripture. See Acts 10:34 (KJV)

Making mistakes does not mean you are not a Christian but acknowledging your mistakes makes you a better Christian. Without mistakes, there is no growth and knowing how the spirit leads gets better as you mature spiritually. God leads you by your spirit, not your senses, emotions or feelings. It is only your spirit that God created to be like Him. God therefore does not fellowship with your flesh because He only associates with spiritual things. In the things of the Spirit, your flesh is irrelevant. Rom 8:16-17 (KJV).

You are the temple of the Holy Spirit and God resides in you. Your body is an earthly tent for your spirit while your spirit is the spiritual tent for the Spirit of God. Your spirit is the real you. The Holy Spirit communicates with you because He is resident in you and you communicate with the Father through this consciousness. Living in the consciousness of your spirit in relation to God will help you in the area of discernment 1 Cor 14:14 (AMPC), 2 Cor 5:2 (NLT).  Lastly, the guidance of the Holy Spirit will not be effective in your life if you are carnally minded.

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor of Fountain Of The Living Word Church, New Jersey.