Holy Spirit

Areas of discussion:

1. Who is the Holy Spirit    

2. When do we receive the Holy Spirit?    

3. How do we recognize Him?    

4. Leading and Revealing by the Holy Spirit    

5. Specifics: Let’s look at specifics of “Who” He is    

6.  The Holy Spirit Is the Spirit of God Almighty    

7.  He Counsels Us at Night While We Sleep    

8.   He Is The Spirit of Power and Spirit of Love    

9.  The Holy Spirit Guides Into All of the Truth, and He Speaks    

10.   The Holy Spirit Is Also Called “Water”    

11.   The Holy Spirit is your Comforter, Helper, Teacher    

12.   The Holy Spirit can be grieved:    

13.  Praying in Tongues    

14.  Spiritual Gifts    

15.  Spiritual Fruit:    

16.   Having “Utterance” and “Revelation Knowledge” Go Together    

17. Spend time in reading Romans 8.    

18. Test the spirits    

19. The Holy Spirit is the Anointing    

20.  How to “Hear”    

21.  He Gives You Strength    

Other Scriptures to Note:    

1 Corinthians 2    

Romans 8 - ESV ...and so much more.

 

1. Who is the Holy Spirit 

Teaching on the Holy Spirit is sparse unfortunately and the Church as a whole doesn’t exactly know “Who” He is, how He operates, and how we are to work with the Holy Spirit. And yet there are over 800 scriptures that speak of Him. If we look to see how Jesus operated with Him we get a clear idea: He was always in prayer and obeyed what was given Him. It’s that simple.

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Here are some details that will help answer questions and build your relationship with the Holy Spirit. We need to know Him because as born again believers He now lives in us and He gives us rights and privileges we did not have before.

   

Since there are over 800 verses in the Bible about the Holy Spirit we will only go into small portion of course. God wants us to know about Him, we need to know about Him. He is a Spirit. He is the Spirit of God. He is a “person” - if that is the correct term…maybe not…but you get my point. The Holy Spirit is God and He lives within you, the born again believer. 

Now how do we operate accordingly?

 

He is Wisdom. He is Understanding. He is Might. He is Council. We will get into more of this later in “How do we recognize Him?”. 

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2. When do we receive the Holy Spirit?

Ezekiel 36:26-27 - “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules.”

 

When we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and as the sacrifice for our sins, God put in us a NEW heart and He put His Holy Spirit in our new heart. This is how we are born again. Our mind (soul) needs to be renewed and our flesh is corrupted. It will not change until the Lord resurrects our bodies and changes those who go in the rapture. 

• Don’t we receive the Holy Spirit when hands are laid on us? I know many believe that you have to have hands laid on you and have a second prayer for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I used to think so too, but what I see is this is not clearly stated in scripture consistently. When you look at what happened in Acts you see that Peter took the one time God told him to lay hands on people to receive the Holy Spirit and he interpreted that as “do it every time.” Even Peter was shocked in Acts 11:15-17 - “15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered the Word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” and Acts 10:44-46 - “44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the Word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.” 

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No hands laid on them. And particularly in the Epistles laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit is not mentioned. When there are scriptures that appear to “contradict” that means there is not enough understanding. Missing something. Because all of God’s Word is “yes” and “amen” and there are no contradictions. There are not two or three scriptures that say you have to have hands laid upon you to receive the Holy Spirit. It’s actually a “doctrine” of men that was taught from a misunderstanding. Peter and John, and the other apostles believed hands had to be laid upon people to receive the Holy Spirit as it says in Acts 8. In verses 14-17 - “14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”

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There “seems” to be a contradiction. But it is not. It was the apostles understanding. So many other scriptures talk of believing in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit falls upon them. 

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In the book of Acts it is clearly telling what the early church did. Like a journal. It’s not carried on into the Epistles, there’s not even one scripture there that says that is necessary. It is the book of Acts where doctrines have been built around this. But Acts simply states “what” occurred. Like I’ve said before in another article, all of God’s Word is truth. It is truly stated. Not all that is in the Bible is God’s Truth…meaning, some things are explaining what transpired. Just because something transpired doesn’t mean it was God’s will. Case in point, Adam and Eve. It was not God’s will for them to fall. Another is Samson and Delilah; David and Bathsheba; Peter denying Jesus, and many more. None of those were God’s will. But they are in the Bible. They are lessons for us to learn by. There’s one scripture where Jesus stated to ask for the Holy Spirit, in Luke 11:13 - “13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Yes, we can absolutely do this. Jesus said so. But this should not be a doctrine in the Church because it is the only time in the Gospels where Jesus said this. And out of two or three witnesses let every word be established. (2 Corinthians 13:1; Deuteronomy 18:15; Matthew 18:16.) Meaning, we can’t make it a “doctrine” of the Lord unless it is stated more than 2 or 3 times. 

 

So what does scripture say? 

 

Above Ezekiel 36:26-27 - when we get born again we get the Holy Spirit.

 

AND a second scripture: Ephesians 1:13 - “In Him you also, when you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,” 

 

If you don’t give credence to the Old Testament, then look at John 3! In verses 1-21 shows Jesus speaking with Nicodemus and telling him that we must all be “born again” - and that this happens only by the Holy Spirit coming in and changing the “flesh heart” to a “God-heart”: verses 5-8 - “5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. (Word and Spirit.) 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at My saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

 

1 John 4:15-18 - “15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.

 

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you” and we have Him because we believe. We have accepted Jesus and made Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives. The Holy Spirit IS the Spirit of God Almighty. God is omnipresent - everywhere at the same time. This is far-out trippy stuff to think about because yes, God the Father is in heaven, Jesus is in heaven, and Jesus said He would not leave us alone and would send the Holy Spirit to us once He (Jesus) was resurrected, that the Holy Spirit is our down payment of what is to come: Jesus Christ in the rapture and our new immortal bodies. And He’s everywhere at once. Hard to wrap our minds around but it’s pretty cool.

 

• • 1 John 4:15-18 - “15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.”

 

When we are born again we are Born of the Spirit. Can’t have one without the other. God is the Author of the entire Bible. Not just the New Testament.  It all matters.  Just ask Him. 

 

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3. How do we recognize Him?

Isaiah 11:2-3 - “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him— the Spirit of Wisdom and of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and of Might, the Spirit of the Knowledge and Fear of the LORD—3 and He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, or decide by what He hears with His ears;”

 

• • The Holy Spirit is: Wisdom

  • The Holy Spirit is: Understanding

  • The Holy Spirit is: Counsel

  • The Holy Spirit is: Might

  • The Holy Spirit is: Knowledge

  • The Holy Spirit is: Fear of the Lord

 

WE have this within us because the Holy Spirit is within us!! 

This is “Who” He is. He is in Jesus and He is in us.

He is love. God is love. Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God.

Always check your motivations.

Should always be love.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 - “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”   

 

With Proverbs in mind, always acknowledge the Holy Spirit. Talk with Him. He is in you!! It’s like being an adult and living with your parents. You are in the same house with them. But never talk with them. You ignore them. How does that make them feel? It’s the same thing. You and the Holy Spirit are living in the same place, within you.  Don’t ignore Him. Talk with Him. All throughout your day. Acknowledge Him. Tell Him “thank You” when He leads you throughout the day. Those great ideas you get during the day, that help…that’s Him. Let Him know you appreciate it. As you acknowledge Him, He will lead you more, and more. And of course, let Him know you love Him. For He certainly loves you!

    

God leads

God reveals

God stirs

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He gives light

He gives life

He is love

 

These are part of how we judge what we are “getting.” 

 

As Isaiah said (scripture above)  Jesus did not judge by His body - by what He saw or what He heard. He judged by the Holy Spirit deep within Him. We are to do the same. “Where” are you hearing from? By judging by what you see? By what you hear someone say? None of this is necessarily accurate. What is the Lord saying on the “inside” of you. These things are crucial to know when you want precision in following the Holy Spirit. He gives wisdom. He gives understanding. He gives counsel. He gives might. He gives knowledge. He gives fear of the Lord. All from deep within you. If you’re not seeing one or more of these then spend time in looking up scripture about the subject matter and take them personally. Because they are in you.

 

This is ‘Who” the Holy Spirit is; how He operates; and these are things we can expect from the Holy Spirit within us. When we need God’s knowledge on a matter in our lives, ask the Holy Spirit. He will reveal it to you. When you need Godly counsel - ask Holy Spirit. He will reveal what needs to be done. When you need might, ask Him. He will do it. And if we want to continue hearing from Him we must act on whatever He reveals to us. What He reveals will leave us with light, insight, love, & joy. A good tree produces good fruit…fruit of the Holy Spirit. These things will be the result. This is how you can tell what is happening in your life by what is showing up.  

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If there’s a sudden “thought” and it’s accompanied by “light” and “joy” 

That’s the Holy Spirit.

God is light and in Him there is no darkness - 1 John 1:5.

In God’s presence is fullness of joy - Psalm 16:11.

God’s Words are life - John 6:63.

 

This is how you judge the revelation you are getting. Does it bring light? Does it bring joy? Does it show you something you couldn’t have known any other way? Does it bring life? If it’s yes to all of these questions, it’s from the Holy Spirit. If only one of these questions has a “yes” throw it out. 

                         

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4. Leading and Revealing by the Holy Spirit

• Definition of Reveal: to make known through divine inspiration; to make something secret or hidden known.

• Definition of Lead: to guide on a way especially by going in advance; to direct on a course or in a direction; to go through; to direct the operations, activity, or performance of; to have charge of; to go at the head of.

 

Ask yourself this: “Do I allow the Holy Spirit to reveal and lead me? To direct me? Do I follow what He says?”

 

Being brutally honest with yourself will help you tremendously and lead you to your next step.

 

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 - “However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ — the things God has prepared for those who love Him, 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”

 

Isaiah 11:2-3 (listed above) is how Jesus operated here on earth, by being led by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 4:1 - Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to go into the desert to fast and pray. This particular “leading” by the Holy Spirit involved a test for Jesus. Read Matthew 4 and Luke 4. The devil was allowed to tempt Jesus. It was a test. It was a temptation for Him. Otherwise it wouldn’t be called the “temptation in the wilderness.” Even Jesus got tested by the Father. The trying of your faith produces patience - James 1:3 - written by Jesus’ brother James.  Jesus’ faith was refined by fire. God has to allow this because Jesus had to go through every trial and temptation that man has to go through in order to pay the price completely for us. 

 

The Holy Spirit leads us too if we follow His leadings from deep within our inner man. Not from the outside. And Not from our emotions. (See article on “Spirit, Soul, & Body”) He is wisdom. He is understanding. He is counsel. He is might. He is knowledge. He is the fear of the Lord. And He is in us. 

 

If you’ve read many of my articles the Lord has had me write, you see often I talk about the emotions. This is a big subject matter that causes the most trouble for people. Everywhere and in everything. We think we are our emotions. No, we are not. 

 

Emotions are something we have. Not something we are. We are so easily swayed by our emotions, and if they can sway you, they can stop you. Case in point, if you “feel” depressed, you then think you’re depressed. No. Depression is darkness. You are light. You are in God and He is in you. Cast off that depression in the Name of Jesus, and ask the Holy Spirit what are the “doorways” you opened to let that thing in. Yes, it can be biological, chemical imbalance. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it and to help you with it. It is not who you are. If there is a chemical imbalance, pray over your med’s. Just like you do your food. Expect God’s blessing upon it to help you. (See article on “Healing.”) Pray about how He wants you to handle the situation. Don’t go on automatic pilot. Follow His leading.

 

Same deal with all other negative emotions. Guilt. Bitterness. Lying/Deception. You name it. It’s not you. Ask the Lord what the deal is. Most of the time it is a spirit that has attached itself to you and is making you “feel” a certain way. Because if you are swayed by your feelings, it is likely you won’t fight it because you think it is “who you are” and the spirit can burrow in and make your life miserable. Take your Authority in Jesus Name and loose that thing and cast it off permanently in Jesus Name. (See article on “Taking Authority.”) There is likely a stronghold, an embedded way of thinking that needs to be changed by the Word of God. Ask the Lord how to handle it. Usually there is some unrepented sin, so repent of it, truly. Close the doorway in the Name of Jesus. Cut all cords to the sin in Jesus Name. And praise God for your deliverance. Then ask Him what scriptures to renew your mind with. This means every time an “old” thought shows up, cast it down in the Name of Jesus, and speak the scripture out loud to yourself to replace the old thought with the Word of God. Do this each time the old thought comes up. The first day is the roughest. The second day is easier. The third day it will only happen a couple of times. By day 4 it’s gone. This is how you renew your mind. 

 

When we need wisdom on a situation, ask Him. When He reveals it, I call these moments “ah-ha” moments. That’s because it’s like the “light” was turned on. Perfect phrase we have in our language. God is light. And when you get a “bright” idea…and it makes you smile…it’s revelation…that’s Him. The Holy Spirit. 

 

Haggai 1:14 - “So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God,”

 

I know this is Old Testament but God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8; Malachi 3:6, John 8:58, & Hebrews 1:12) - The Lord stirs our spirit’s within us!! A “stirring” to do something. This comes deep down within our being. Not outside. You have to discern where the “stirring” is coming from: outside of your physical body; or within, deep within your physical body, within something you can’t quite figure it out where because it’s deep within you. This is your spirit. It’s imperative to recognize.  

 

Many fellow brethren I have encountered are “moved” from the outside and they interpret it as the Holy Spirit. It is not. And if you don’t know what the Lord has said in scripture well enough you will be deceived. Deep within your inner man is where the Holy Spirit is. It is where leadings will come from. A hunch. A deep-down knowing. Sometimes they percolate from deep within your inner man to your mind and a thought will come up that way. Pay attention to those. That is the Holy Spirit. Psalm 16:7 says, “I will praise the LORD, Who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.” God counsels us, the Holy Spirit Who is our Counselor, teaches us as night if we allow Him to. Deep within our inner being. Not outside of our body. 

 

When you feel as if you are “forced” or “can’t help” but do a certain thing…that is never the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Gentleman. He never forces. Only the devil forces. Ask the Lord how to handle it. An evil spirit most likely needs to be loosed, sin repented of, cords burned, and ask the Holy Spirit for direction in the matter. (See article on Spiritual Warfare.)

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5. Specifics: Let’s look at specifics of “Who” He is:  The Holy Spirit Is the Spirit of God Almighty

 

• • 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 - “16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”

  • 2 Chronicles 24:20 - “20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’ ”

  • 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 - “12 We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”

  • Genesis 1:2 - “2 Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”

 

 

6. He counsels us at night when we sleep.

Psalms 16:7 - “I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.”

 

 

7.   He Is The Spirit of Power and Spirit of Love 

• • Acts 1:8 - “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.”  

 

• • 2 Timothy 1:7 - He is the Spirit of Love. He is the Spirit of Power, and a Sound Mind: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” As we pursue walking with the Holy Spirit, we pursue Him moving in us in these ways. Because these things are in us. They are Him.

 

• • Romans 5:5 - The Holy Spirit has shed the love of God within our hearts; and God is love - 1 John 4:16.  

 

• • 1 John 4:15-18 - “15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

 

8.  The Holy Spirit Guides Into All of the Truth, and He Speaks 

• • John 16:13 -“When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.”  

 

• • And John 17:17 says “Your Word is Truth.”  - The Holy Spirit will guide you in the Word if you let Him. And John 16:13- God’s Spirit is the Spirit of Truth: “But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the 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.”  

 

    The Holy Spirit will guide you in the Word if you ask Him and let Him.

 

• • The Holy Spirit “leads”: 

Luke 4:1 - ““Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,”

Romans 8:14 - ““For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”   

Galatians 5:14 - ““But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

 

The definition of “lead” or “leading” - to go before or with to show the way; conduct or escort; to conduct by holding and guiding; to influence or induce; cause; to guide in direction, course, action, opinion; to bring; to take; to command or direct; to go at the head of or in advance of.

All of these are ways to expect the Holy Spirit to “lead” you!

 

The Holy Spirit will give leadings that are in line with the Word of God always. That is how you can check the leading or prompting within you. 

Sometimes it comes as a “hunch”. Sometimes it comes as a “thought” from deep within. 

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Always test it by scripture. If you don’t know the scripture then ask the Lord. If you don’t get a scripture than let it go. Recall Paul in Acts 16 with the servant girl who was demonized with a spirit of divination. Paul didn’t do anything about it for weeks. Not until he was so bothered in his spirit by the Holy Spirit that he acted on how the Holy Spirit led him which was to cast the thing out of her.

 

See also Ephesians 1:17-19 & 1 John 2:20,27. The Spirit and the Word, they go together ALWAYS! - John 4:23-24. Never one or the other by itself. And as the Holy Spirit leads you there are results: Peace - 1 Corinthians 14:33, Colossians 3:15;  Light - 1 John 1:5;  Joy - Psalm 16:11.

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When the Holy Spirit is leading you always look at what you are left with? If it’s heaviness, questioning, confusion = FORGET IT! It’s not the Holy Spirit. God is peace, light, love, joy. This is what you are left with when the Holy Spirit is leading you. 

 

 

9.   The Holy Spirit Is Also Called “Water”

 John 7:37-39 - “37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” And John 4:13, - “13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

 

The Holy Spirit and the Word are equated to “water”.  Ephesians 5:26 - “(That He would) make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word.”

 

Need a bath? Get into the Word! The world is dirty. Too much time in it you can tell you need to go for a “swim”.

 

1 Corinthians 12:13 - “For we were all baptized by One Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the One Spirit to drink.”

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Holy Spirit = Word = Water = Truth.  

You can also put “love” in this mix. God is love. His Spirit is love. 

 

Want to knock your socks off sometime with revelation from the Holy Spirit: substitute one of those words for the one of the others in your study time. Like every time you see “Word” - substitute Holy Spirit. Or every time you see Holy Spirit - put in “love.”  And so on. Major revelation!!!!

 

The Word = Spirit. The Spirit is the Word. The Word is Spirit.

 

Like John 4:23-24 that we are to worship God in Spirit and Truth. They always go together. If you try to do one more than the other, things will go off kilter. Too much “spirit” can get one off into “spiritualism” which will be effected by the devil and his angels - you have to balance “spirit” with the Word. Always. And rightly dividing the Word. I say that because I have seen fellow believers who get off track because of wrong doctrine and then when they “hear” a voice, or a so-called “prompting”, this false voice and false “prompting” uses scripture incorrectly the way the person believes it and it throws them way off base. (Think of Jesus when He was tempted. The devil used the 91st Psalm incorrectly. Jesus responded with how to correctly use the Word in that situation. Luke 4.) The Word, rightly seeing through revelation knowledge by the Holy Spirit what God has said, is your guard rail. Out of two or three witnesses - complete witnesses, complete understanding of the scripture (2 Corinthians 13:1) let every Word be established. Meaning, when you have a prompting or leading, or “hear” a voice - Check all of Scripture and what God has said about it on that subject matter and see if it goes with it or against it. Nothing contradicting. Pay attention to the contradictions if they are there. That means something is off. The Holy Spirit will NEVER lead you contrary to the Word. Never. That’s how you judge what you “heard” or “saw”. Not every vision, dream, or word is from God. What does it leave you with?

 

There is also the pendulum going the other way and you can get too heavy in the Word and it will be “dry” and intellectual. No Spirit. Word without the Holy Spirit is simply written intellectualism. The Spirit isn’t in it. Just Rules. No Spirit. Just like the Pharisees. 

 

The two go together - Spirit and Word; Word and Spirit. Always. And where the Spirit is there is wisdom and revelation knowledge so that your eyes are enlightened to what He wants you to do. (Ephesians 1:17-18.) God IS wisdom! He IS revelation! He will enlighten your eyes as to what needs to be done. If there’s no “light” happening for you, ask the Lord what’s the deal. Have Him show you where you missed it. We all miss it. The important thing is to have a willing heart to be corrected. We can’t do life successfully without Him. 

 

If you’re around “Christians” or a church where there is no revelation and Godly wisdom, get out! Quick. Because He’s not there. And there won’t be any “joy,” “light”  or “peace” - in God’s presence is fullness of joy, Psalm 16:11; God is light - 1 John 1:5; and God is the God of Peace, He keeps us separated unto Him wholly - spirit, soul, and body, and His peace settles our minds - guarding them. (1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 3:16; Philippians 4:7.). Jesus is the God of Peace. These are the markers. These are what you “look” for. These are what you are left with when He is present! Not bondage. Galatians 5:1 - “1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”

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10.   The Holy Spirit is your Comforter, Helper, Teacher

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” One translation says: Helper, Comforter, Advocate, and Standby. He is all of these things for you. He is there, within you, to help you. He is there, within you, to comfort you. He is there, within you, to be your advocate…most often to yourself. Because we always tear ourselves down. Once you are saved, the Blood of Jesus covers you. If you get off into sin, then He will let you know you shouldn’t be doing that particular thing. If you keep on doing it and ignoring Him, He will just stay quiet and let you deal with whatever outcome will come upon you because of your actions. He will never leave you or forsake you even to the end of the world. (Hebrews 13:5) If someone is led to intercede for you, then you will be given grace. The ultimate of it, sin, will be the death of your physical body so that your Spirit may live with the Lord (1 Corinthians 5:1-5). God never turns His back on a prodigal son or daughter. Ever. 

 

11.   The Holy Spirit can be grieved: 

Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” You are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Sealed means sealed. The seal cannot be broken. But you can grieve the Holy Spirit by not obeying Him. That scratchy, uncomfortable feeling you have on the inside of you when you are about to do that “thing” that you want to do. That is grieving the Holy Spirit. Sometimes there can be a “heaviness”. Heaviness can also be demonic oppression. Whatever the situation, get on your knees and repent of it and ask the Holy Spirit how to clean this up. He will lead you. If you have repeatedly disobeyed the Holy Spirit’s leading your heart gets hardened. You won’t be able to “hear” Him. There needs to be repentance if your heart has gotten hard. Talk with the Lord about it and follow His lead.

 

12.  Praying in Tongues: 

Let’s clear up some questions about this subject because there are many.

 

• • All believers can pray in tongues, whether they do or not is up to them. It is part of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we received when we got born again. And for those who do not they will only have a certain depth in their relationship with the Lord because they are relating to the Lord in physical terms and not by means of the Spirit. God is Spirit. Those that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth. (John 4:23-24.)

 

• • Let’s look at a few Scriptures: 

Mark 16:17 - “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;”

We see signs accompany ALL those who believe - speaking in tongues is one of the signs.

 

It’s the Holy Spirit that gives us utterance to speak:

Acts 2:4 -“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

 

You have to enable the Holy Spirit to speak through you, you are using your voice with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It may be done in your known language, or in wordless groans, or most often it is in another language. Sometimes in God’s heavenly language, sometimes in another known language that will minister to someone who hears you, just like Acts 2. But you have to allow it. You have to release it. You are the one speaking, the Holy Spirit is giving you the utterance. He is enabling you.

 

Ephesians 6:19-20 - (Paul asking for the Ephesians church to pray for him) “And for me that utterance may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known (in boldness) the mystery of the Gospel….Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

 

We can pray to access utterance and boldness through the Holy Spirit. But if you want to go a step further…simply expect it. He’s already in you. You have all of the Holy Spirit within and all His giftings. Your expectation creates God’s manifestation in your life!! And we see this in Mark 13:11 - “11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given to you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”

 

The Holy Spirit inspires the words we speak! How can you tell? What is your “joy” level and “peace” level? He will always leave you with joy and peace. And you’ll tend not to know what you are saying until you say it. Always check your joy and peace level. 

 

1 Corinthians 1:5, 7 - “5 For in Him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”

 

You don’t lack any spiritual gift. He’s given you everything. 

 

Now what are you doing with it? 

 

Are you using what He has given you?

 

Isaiah 56:6-7 - “And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minster to Him, to love the Name of the Lord, and to be His servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to My Covenant—7. These I will bring to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer.  Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

 

Romans 8:26-27 - “26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And He Who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

 

Notice the Holy Spirit has a “mind”.  He is a person. Not an enigma. And He is a Spirit. We are physical. We have to learn how He operates and work with Him. 

 

Sometimes we don’t know what to pray regarding a situation. Let’s face it, we don’t know everything. We don’t have all the facts. But God does! That’s the perfect time to pray in tongues!! Talk with Him about the situation in your natural language just like you would with a friend. Then begin speaking in tongues and by faith trusting the Holy Spirit will give you what needs to be prayed in tongues according to God’s will, as He has said in Romans. 

 

Sometimes we wind up praying for something completely different than what we started out. Case in point:  One time I was concerned regarding a personal matter, so I spoke to the Lord about all my concerns - I know He knows my concerns but when I speak them out loud often He gives me revelation about the situation. Sometimes I don’t even need to pray in tongues over it when that occurs. Sometimes He reveals scriptures to stand on for the situation. So that is what I will pray, using those scriptures and by faith receive it. But there are other times I don’t get anything as I’m talking with Him. So I kick it over into tongues. In this situation I was praying along and suddenly the word “Puerto Rico” comes out. (Often the Lord has me pray over nations/geographical regions, so this isn’t unusual for me.) This wasn’t what I was intending to pray over. Never crossed my mind to pray for that island. But I don’t know what is important and what should be prayed as Romans 8:26-27 says. I know the Holy Spirit does. I trust Him and keep praying. The Holy Spirit often reveals something of importance and gives me direction regarding something entirely different than the thing I had started praying. And the entire notion of the original request simply goes away and I know He’s got it handled. The situation resolves as the Lord simply takes care of it without me messing with it. I love that. I simply trust He has “got my back” so to speak. And so, the Lord had me pray for Puerto Rico instead. In this prayer the Holy Spirit showed me a vision. He does that often with me while praying in tongues. The vision comes from deep inside me. I saw the area, looked like rural areas, covered in water. Things floating in it. I saw bodies floating in it. And I saw heavy rain falling. I was led to pray for the island for people’s protection. Within a few months the island had the most sever hurricane it has ever encountered in recorded history. Not blowing smoke up my skirt. It was all the Holy Spirit. He knows what’s what. We just simply follow Him. I shared this as an example of how to trust Him and what He gives you. Just do what He gives you to do. We trust whatever He gives because we know it is according to God’s will that the Holy Spirit leads us to pray. It is what He sees as important, not necessarily what we “think” is important.

 

You can trust the Holy Spirit will give you capability to pray in another language and it is always in line with the will of God according to Romans 8:27, Mark 16:17, Acts 2:1-14. He’s got the facts and He knows how to lead you in praying what is needed and bring scriptures to your remembrance to use for praying over them in English, (or whatever is your natural tongue) using your faith that He has given you. It’s nothing you have to muster from within yourself. Simply trust He will do what He has said He will do. He is not a man that He should lie - Numbers 23:19.  This is a “dimensional” thing and Authority thing. Meaning God gave us Authority on this planet. What we say, goes.  In this dimension God gave us this Authority. He will not interfere or intervene in this dimension unless asked by a person. He can’t. Legally. That’s how He set it up, that man has dominion on the earth. That is why God is looking for people who will pray in tongues, to intercede for people, nations, people groups, families because we have Authority to ask Him. God is looking for prayers to intercede, stand in the gap for those who can’t or don’t know how to pray. Ezekiel 22:30-31 - “30 “‘I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall (in prayer) and stand before Me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. 31 So I will pour out My wrath on them and consume them with My fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done’, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

 

Very important: when the Lord gives you something in prayer, whether it comes out in the words you speak (prophecy), or a vision - He gives it to you to pray about! There are one of three possible reasons why: 1. Through prayer you can stop it from happening; 2. Through prayer you can’t stop it but you can decrease how bad the event will be and how many it will effect; 3. Through prayer you cannot stop the event or decrease it but you can prepare people for what’s coming.  

 

As you are praying over the event the Holy Spirit will give you the impression of which one of the three it is. And if you are to prepare for what’s coming, He will tell you. He will give you details of what needs to be done, just like He did with Noah, and Joseph in Egypt with the famine. 

 

One more part. Sometimes you will be so excited as you pray you’ll sense the “excitement” and you want to move. Like jump, run, or dance. DO IT!! Sometimes the Holy Spirit expresses Himself that way through people, through you. You know it’s correct when your joy goes even higher. And you feel like a huge weight got lifted. That is all a result of the Holy Spirit breaking stuff off of you. And yes…even this in scripture: 2 Samuel 6:16-23 - “16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul (David’s wife) watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. 17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the Name of the Lord Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. 20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, ‘How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!’ 21 David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, Who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when He appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” 23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.”

 

                    *

 

So many times I have experienced people going off the rails and getting WAY WEIRD!!! The Holy Spirit is not weird! Inspired - yes! Doing things that are not normal - yes. But you won’t have this weird feeling, like you just feel like you jumped into dirt and need a bath. You can sense something is “off.”  Trust that! That’s Holy Spirit letting you know you got off track. It happens to all of us. But we have to learn how all of this works. Praying in the Spirit is …well, Spiritual. We are not. Not yet. We are physical. We cannot naturally see into the Spirit realm. We do not know how it operates. This is why we have to rely on the Holy Spirit. He will lead and guide us in the way that we should go. Psalm 32:8 - “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My loving eye on you.” 

 

When things start to go off the rails, prayer will get hard. Tough. Like you gotta push through something heavy. Can even seem like there’s “nothing” there. Dry. This shows the Holy Spirit has lifted! If there’s dryness, that’s a sign, a warning.  That’s not being led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit and the Word are water!! You need to “take a bath” in the Word. How you get back on track is get to scripture once again. Use the ones you started your prayer with, or whatever the Holy Spirit is leading you to. Speak it out. Repeat it. Knuckle down into your spirit and pull out words out of your heart by using the Scripture itself. Go as far as you can in your native language, then roll it over again into tongues.

 

 

Order of praying in tongues:

—     Use a scripture to start with, can be any that you will go back to during your prayer time if and/or when you need it. Personally I tend to go to: 

Jude 20-21 (part) - “20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God,”; and

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Isaiah 28:11-12 - “'11 For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people’, 12 To whom He said, ‘This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,’ And, ‘This is the refreshing’;”

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Ephesians 1:17-19 - “17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” 

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As I pray I go into prayer praying one or all of these, and any others the Holy Spirit is reminding me of, and praying them back to God and then I add something like this:

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“Father God, in the Name of Jesus, I thank You for Who You are and Who You are within me. I trust YOU with every ounce of my being. And I thank You that as I pray in tongues in the Holy Spirit, that I am edified. I am built up on my most holy faith on things I am standing for from Your Word in my life, my family, my situations, as I pray in tongues. I thank You Father God that You will reveal answers to me as I pray in tongues and I keep myself focused on Your love. For that is Who You are and Your love strengthens me and gives me insight. I am standing on what these scriptures say that praying in tongues is a “rest” - means I don’t have to work hard at it and you cause me to rest and not to stress; and I have wisdom and revelation from the Holy Spirit regarding stuff that I’m praying and regarding situations in my life, or anything else the Holy Spirit wants to show me, and I thank You for it.”

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Then I open my mouth and utter the strange sounds that come out of my mouth. 

 

—     Slow down your words so you can hear them. Pronounce them. Speak clearly. Write down any that catch your attention. Sometimes a word or phrase will repeat. Write it down as best you can - because it’s in tongues you won’t know exactly how to spell words but the Holy Spirit will reveal it to you. Words in your own language may start coming out. Write them down. Sometimes a scripture comes up. Write it down. You can look it up when the time is right. If a word or phrase “bugs” you, ask the Lord right then and there, out loud, about that phrase or word and then roll it back over into tongues. Sometimes the Lord will reveal it to you right then. Write it down. (Sometimes He reveals it later.) You can look up some of the words with an internet search later. This is showing your faith. Acting on the Words He is giving you. He will then give you more when you pray. Be watchful of pride. It likes to seep in. The only reason you can pray in tongues is the Holy Spirit, it has nothing to do with you. You are simply being obedient to His leading. 

 

—    Keep your focus on your words as you continue to pray. And when you don’t, no worries. Sometimes our minds drift off into random stuff like, what you need to do that day; what you need to pick up at the grocery store…you get my point. This is why we used scripture to start with. Go back to that scripture, speak it out loud again. You will now, on purpose, be focused once again on the Holy Spirit and see what Holy Spirit gives you to say in addition to it. Maybe repeating that scripture. Maybe adding other scriptures that come up out of your heart. There may be other things He gives you directly out of your heart. Phrases. Words. Keep hitting them. Repeating them. You’ll find a flow of the Holy Spirit. This is typically when prophecy comes out. You go as far as you can in English, then kick it over into tongues again. Often this gets “deeper” in Him. Trust the Holy Spirit is speaking into the atmosphere whatever He needs spoken into this reality. It’s that “dimensional” thing I spoke of earlier. 

 

—    Groanings: As Romans 8:26 says. Sometimes groanings come out. Deep. Guttural. Follow it out BUT don’t be moved by your emotions! You may even wind up sobbing, uncontrollably. DON’T GET WRAPPED IN THE EMOTION!!! EVER!!! 

 

I REPEAT - DON’T GET WRAPPED UP IN THE EMOTION!     E V E R!!    

PRESS THROUGH IT UNTIL you wind up laughing!!! THIS is vital! In His presence is fullness of Joy! There’s joy in the house of prayer!!! DON’T stay stuck in sadness, or heaviness, or grief, or sorrow. PUSH THROUGH until you hit the flow of the Holy Spirit in laughter and Joy!! 

 

I say this because I’ve seen so many prayers get off track because they “like” the emotion. The heaviness. The sadness. They “feel” like they are really doing something. No. They are not. They are getting pulled off by their emotions and ultimately getting hoodwinked by the devil. If they continue in this ultimately their life will be in torment. It never has a good outcome. Push through until you hit joy in the Spirit. Tears will turn to smiles. Then chuckles. You will start laughing. As you keep “following” it, you will wind up laughing in hysterics.  No burden. And lightness of heart will come and you will absolutely know the presence of the Lord is with you. 

 

—    Always date your prayer journal each time you pray. Sometimes when we pray we are able to stop things. Sometimes we can’t stop them but we can decrease how bad they will be - like that Puerto Rico prayer. I knew it was going to happen but I also “knew” that I could decrease how bad it would be for some people. That is what is called “standing in the gap.” (Ez. 22:30.) In your prayer journal you can always go back to see what the Lord has given you. Be sure to write down any “impressions” you get from the Holy Spirit. 

 

—    Burdens of prayer. When the Holy Spirit knows He can trust you to pray, there will be times when you get a “burden” to pray. Sometimes it may start where you just “know” something is up, and you gotta pray. Do it! Sometimes it shows by you being “restless.” An uneasiness that you can’t shake off. All of this means something big is about to happen to you or someone you love; perhaps to your town, city, or state. And as you pray about it, you may not be able to get a “release” from the Holy Spirit about it. Means it’s not prayed through until you hit “joy” and you get the release. Keep staying with it until you do get the release. You know that you know in your spirit by the Holy Spirit that it’s done. 

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        For example: At one point in my life I had told the Lord that if He wanted me to get up in the middle of night to pray, that I would. So as I was sleeping one night He woke me up! He said, “Get up and pray. Now.” So I got out of bed. Went to the living room. I was about to sit on the couch but the Lord said, “Get on your face on the floor.” “Yes, Sir.” I replied. I could sense the urgency with this. As I began praying in tongues deep groans came out. I was quiet about it. I didn’t want to wake up my husband. It was like a silent movie. My mouth was moving but no sound. Spiritually it was intense. Deep weeping came out. And at the same time I was thinking, “Wow, this is strange. I wonder what’s up.” I stayed with it. And then the Lord showed me a vision. I knew it was the person I was praying for. I didn’t know who they were. I saw the face. They were engulfed in flames and screaming a blood curdling scream. As I was watching this I too was as if I was screaming her scream. Then it all STOPPED. Suddenly. Nothing after it. The burden was gone. The vision gone. The tears gone. I got up to my knees and asked the Lord “Was that it? Is that all. Am I done now?” He said, “Yes. Go to bed now.” So I did. 

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        The next day on the news I saw a report of someone who had died horribly from something that had burned. (I won’t disclose the detail of it.) I was shocked. I was very upset because I didn’t think I had done enough. (Notice “my thoughts” verses what the Lord had said. This is why you can’t trust in only your thinking.) The Lord said that prayer was enough. I trust Him. I knew by the Holy Spirit that the Lord wanted her to receive Him before she died. I knew that in the prayer. I didn’t have to figure it out. And I knew at the time of praying that the event was going to happen. I didn’t think it was anything I would ever know about. I didn’t need to. I simply trust Him. He got done what He needed. I’m sure He had others besides me praying for her and the others involved. It is only an example of how the Lord will use you, if you allow Him. He will do this with you too. 

 

 

13.     Spiritual Gifts

Yes, they are for today, they did not “die away.” The teaching about spiritual gifts no longer a part of the Church is no where in scripture. Try to find two or three scriptures that say so. Spiritual gifts come from the Holy Spirit. You cannot have the Holy Spirit and not have His giftings. It’s not possible. They are the result of Him within you. The more you spend time with the Holy Spirit and being obedient to His leadings, the more the giftings will manifest. Spiritual gifts are in 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14. And as you read the New Testament you can see the giftings of the Holy Spirit in operation through people. God puts these things in His Word to teach us how they operate so we know when they are operating in us. Giftings are for other people. They are not for yourself. And they should operate by love. All the spiritual gifts when in operation correctly will be operating by love. If you don’t, then the gifting(s) that the Lord has created you with can be used incorrectly out of ego and deception. Ultimately be twisted by the devil. All people have at least one gifting. It’s how the Lord created us. And when someone is not born again and has Word of Wisdom and Word of Knowledge operating in their life and they never turn to the Lord, the devil will use that gifting his way. The person will be deceived by deceptive spirits and be a “clairvoyant” or “fortune teller” and such like. It’s simply the gift the God gave that person being used in the wrong way. How you reflect on what your gifting is, ask the Lord. And reflect on your life. Especially as a child. The things you liked and wanted to do, what you're good at and are usually related to that gifting. Go to 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 and see how that “job” fits into the gifting(s). Every job does. 

 

14.  Spiritual Fruit: 

Comes from spending time with Him. Not simply a “Sunday Christian.” You have to put what you know to work. The result of the fruit is from spending time with Him, giving heed to Him and doing what He says to do. 

        Galatians 5:16-26 - “16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

 

Notice in verse 16 we have a choice. We can walk by the Spirit or not. When someone does not walk by the Spirit they are automatically walking by the flesh. And there are the outcomes listed of each. Again…look what is showing up in your life. When we see something we don’t like we have to ask the Lord where are we off track and make any corrections He gives us. 

 

 

15.   Having “Utterance” and “Revelation Knowledge” Go Together

Acts 4:23-25 - "23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 Who through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,”  then the Holy Spirit gave them a scripture that Peter and spoke….continue on to verse 31 - “31And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the Word of God with boldness.”

 

The Holy Spirit gives you words to speak from the Word of God, whether it be in your known language or in tongues; and He gives you boldness and revelation about what the Holy Spirit is talking about! This is what He does. It is light. He is light. He is the light of the world. This is a result of having Him within your spirit. 

 

Utterance, revelation knowledge, light!  - this is what you look for to see if the Holy Spirit is present. 

 

        1 Timothy 4:1 - “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some             will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things                 taught by demons.”

 

In 1 Timothy we can see that Paul was given utterance and revelation knowledge by the Holy Spirit. I say that because there’s no clear Old Testament scripture that states what Paul says. This was direct revelation from the Holy Spirit. And this most likely happened through prayer. Revelation from the Holy Spirit most often comes through prayer and studying Scripture as He leads. It is not the only way but it is the most frequent. It can come through teaching of the Word, or dreams, or visions, but the biggest way the Holy Spirit gives you revelation knowledge is through prayer and the Word. And as you are praying in tongues, He will at some point give you utterance in a known language. Write down whatever He gives you if you can. He will also give Scriptures along with it. If you didn’t get Scripture with it, ask Him. Sometimes He may want you to look up a subject matter in the Word. 

 

        Another place where we see the Holy Spirit revealed something to someone is Luke 2:26 - “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” The revelation corresponded to action and to speaking.

    

        This was Simeon, the priest in the Temple that year. The Holy Spirit was upon Simeon and revealed this to him. Most likely this was done while Simeon was in prayer. He had “gotten” that he was waiting for the “consolation of Israel.” He knew…by the Holy Spirit. 

 

        There are so many places in the Word about when God revealed things to people, including Jesus. Recall how Jesus would suddenly “know” what people were thinking. Jesus would then respond with speaking. Speaking the revelation from the Holy Spirit sometimes. Everything the Holy Spirit reveals is not necessarily to be shared. Many times it is to pray about for someone else. It’s part of Word of Wisdom and Word of Knowledge (1 Corinthians 12.)