Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
The Holy Spirit is described by Jesus as the Spirit of Truth, and The Comforter.
Jesus told His disciples what the role of the Holy Spirit would be.
Jesus said: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Jn. 14:26
... Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, 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 shew you things to come. Jn. 16:13
This
was the new way God had chosen to speak to His people. God was going
to speak directly to His people by His Spirit, by the Holy Spirit.
In
the Old Testament God spoke directly to the prophets by HIS Spirit.
But the Holy Spirit was not given to all people. They went to a prophet
to find out what God wanted them to do.
The New
Testament was going to be a different way. God was going to speak
directly to each of His people by His Spirit, by the Holy Spirit which
is the Spirit of Jesus.
Heb. 1:1 ... God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds;
After Jesus arose, God gave His Spirit to the individuals who were the church, HIS chosen.
Eph. 1 ... salvation:in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
The Holy Spirit, according to Jesus (Mt. 15:26 & 16:13), does the following:
- HE teaches us all things
- HE reminds us of all Jesus has said to us in scripture and dreams
- HE guides us into all truth
- HE shows us things to come
Thus we have the wisdom of God in form of the HOLY Spirit given to dwell in us as HE brings thoughts to our minds.
And
by the Spirit of God we can know the will of God in all things
pertaining to this present life for the Spirit of God searches the heart
of God and reveals to us the will of God.
I Cor. 2 ...
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man
which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but
the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are
freely given to us of God.
Here is an example
of the way the Holy Spirit showed me the will of God as I was dealing
with a problem with a neighbor. She had misunderstood what was
happening and blamed me for something and I was considering whether to
write her a note and explain what had happened. She has been angry with
me for about 8 years and when I tried before to speak with her she said
she was not interested and slammed the receiver of the phone down. I
have been unable to do anything about her anger. But again she
misunderstands something and I was willing to try again to communicate
with her. I prayed, asking God how HE wanted me to deal with her. Immediately
the Holy Spirit reminded me of the following scripture which showed me
exactly what God wanted me to do in this current matter.
Mt. 15 ...
Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the
Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he
answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not
planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone:they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
When I read this scripture, I knew exactly what God wanted me to do concerning this neighbor who was unwilling to forgive: Let her alone. So I did not try to explain to her again.
This
is one way the Holy Spirit shows us the will of God in current
matters. HE reminds us of everything Jesus has said to us. He may
remind us of a scripture as in this case. Or HE might remind us of a
dream given by God.
Example of God giving me a dream to show me what to do in an issue pertaining to this life:
After my mother died, my cousin wanted me to move to the city where she
lives. God gave me a dream showing me this cousin's house and how I
could not go out through her house. I would have to go out another
way. I knew not to move to the city where my cousin lives. I ended up
moving to another city 350 miles away from her.
When I
was born again in 1975, I had no idea of how the Holy Spirit is used by
God to lead us. Through the coming months and years, God taught me
about the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the believer. It
is very helpful to understand how God uses the Holy Spirit in our lives
so we can make decisions in assurance that we are going in the way God
wants us to go.
To be continued tomorrow ...
(These writings are not available in printed paper form. Internet only. You can copy these from Internet and distribute to your church group.)