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My issues with the Holy Spirit began with me. I need to find COMFORT in the Holy Spirit. By God's grace, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the story of Mary and Martha. Like Martha, I was thinking, "Lord, I have so much to get done before 6!!!" But, through the Holy Spirit, I have been told, "I have a many errands to run, but all that is insignificant. I need to just sit and listen to the Holy Spirit."

Stop staring at the clock while the Holy Spirit is trying to speak!

Nice.
Thanks.

GBU

Real

Hi Itsjanet, If you allow, I will share a little about prophesy and as always, if something does not feel right about what I am saying, PLEASE IGNORE MY WORDS. This is my opinion only, so procede with caution. 1 Cor 14:3 "But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort" I believe there is a differance between prophesy in the Old Testament and the New Testament,in most circumstances . In the NT, Paul is telling them what prophesy is - Strenghthening, to build up - encourage, to lift up and- comfort, to hold up. As each true Christian is indwelt with our friend Holy Spirit ( notice that He is called Teacher, Encourager, and Comforter) and prophesy described by Paul describes the same functions. So I must assume that since His functions and our prophesy are alike, WHEN WE PROPHESY, WE ARE ASSISTING HIM. IT MAY BE DESRCIBED AS USING OUR HUMAN VOICE TO ASSIST HIM AND HELP COMPLETE HIS WORK IN OTHERS, ALSO EVERY WORD WILL BE FROM THE WORD AND PROVED BY THE WORD, BECAUSE HE (HOLY SPIRIT GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF THE WORD). When I feel led to share something outside of 1 Cor 14:3 definition, I proceed with caution. Since I am assisting Him, if I share something, Holy Spirit has already shared it with them before I am led to share with them. I become a second witness. 2 Cor 13:1 "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” . If they haven't already recieved a word from Holy Spirit, I tell them to ignore what I have said. In the Old Testament, Holy Spirit did not dwell in them continously, He came upon them to perform specific task. They would seek Prophets to tell them of God's plan and will. Prophets would warn of judgement and direction for the people. Heb 8:10-12 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.” In the Old covenant, only the " Prophets" could hear and know God. In the New, ALL WILL KNOW HIM (HOLY SPIRIT GOD) from the least to the greatest. As always, if something does not seem right about what I am sharing, IGNORE ALL THAT I HAVE SAID. Jimf

Thank you for the encouragement, Real and Jimf.

Jimf, I have continuously received constructive directions from your guidance; however, I noticed you have an interesting approach. You seem to state each posts with a disclaimer. I suppose you strongly hold 1 John 4:1 "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." or 1 Thesalonians 5:21 "Test everything. Hold on to the good." It sounds biblical, but I've never seen it in practice. -Janet

Hi Janet, God is God, I am not. He is perfect, I am not. I most definitly believe you must " test every word " and as Jesus said in John 16:12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will GUIDE you into ALL the truth. I believe that every word that I write is from Holy Spirit, but as I have proven to myself many times, I can get it wrong. There are many post that I simply delete, rather than send. After I have written, I then look it over. If I have no peace about what I wrote I delete. Your life is to valuable to trust anyones word by itself. Like I wrote earlier, at best I am assisting Holy Spirit. So many write or preach and ask God to bless the words they speak. I do not believe this is biblical. Many trust the diplomas on their walls, the number of books they have written and the crowds that faithfully listen to them. They trust their training and experiences, and often give "one size fits all " answers. Holy Spirit wants to personally lead and guide you in life. He uses human voices or writings to assist Him. I MUST ALWAYS POINT YOU TO HIM AND THE FACT THAT YOU CAN KNOW HIM AS YOUR FRIEND AND ADVISOR. At best, I desire to be His "messenger boy" and as I told you before, I can get it wrong with my limited understanding. The messenger should be no more than a "go between". The author of the message is what matters. Holy Spirit has placed a "fail safe" in this life regarding US SPEAKING HIS WORD. I MUST HAVE PEACE IN SHARING HIS WORD AND THE LISTENER MUST HAVE PEACE IN RECIEVING THE WORD Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your MINDS in Christ Jesus. Grace and Peace and I am praying for a "BLESSED THANKSGIVING", be faithful in whatever situation arises. Be prepared, and no matter what, KNOW THAT HE LOVES YOU. Jimf

Hello, Jimf. Do we always have peace when God instructs us to do something? Didn't Moses struggle with God in Exodus 6:28. " Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.” 30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am [a]unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

I struggled a little with your post, because I thought I was hearing a little doubt. But I think I see that in this world, we are given instructions to test everything using the Scriptures as reference.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!

Hi Janet, As far as Moses, I think He was dealing with a lack of confidence and in my own life when I've believe God has asked me to do something hard, I have had the same experience. The peace that I am speaking of deals with hearing Him speak and knowing His will. Hopefully this wont be seen as a contradiction. Christ Himself knew His Fathers will, yet struggled in the garden of Gethsemene. I dont think any martyr has peace during the trial, but they had peace in knowing their Fathers will before the trial. Holy Spirit is our guide, teacher, comforter, and encourager, so unless I hear an audible voice (which I have never) something must be consistant in my relationship with Him, to know that it is Him who is sharing with me. It must be peace. I dont think anything else would be that consistant. YOU WILL SAY, WHAT ABOUT THE WORD !!! The Word has been and will continue to be misused, this is why Paul instructed Timothy in 2 Tim 2:14 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who CORRECTLY handles the word of truth. Many do not handle it correctly and I know, a little bit of Word here and a little bit of Word there and I can almost make the Word say anything I want it to. If I am not handling it correctly, I have no peace. His peace acts as an UMPIRE OR REFEREE IN MY LIFE. The Word is perfect and reliable, yet I am not. So God in His perfect wisdom, has sent the AUTHOR to live in my life. WHO BETTER TO TEACH YOU HOW TO CORRECTLY HANDLE THE WORD THAN THE AUTHOR HIMSELF. Now, back to peace, this is the one thing that happens inside ourselves that we have the greatest difficulty controlling. Kindness, gentleness, happiness and such are more easily controlled by circumstances. YET PEACE OR THE LACK OF IT IS NOT. THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND IN PEACE, YOU EITHER HAVE IT OR NOT, IT HAS MORE "CLARITY" and this is why I think Holy Spirit uses it to confirm. Janet, I dont claim to have "ALL THE TRUTH", but I know what I believe and why I believe it. IT IS WHY I GIVE MY DISCLAIMER. It is up to each person to know the truth, for each of us will give an account of our lives to God. I cant live by anyone elses understanding, nor anyone mine. Hopefully, I haven't bored or confused you, if so simply ignore it. IF ANYONE HAS FOUND ANOTHER WAY OF HEARING AND HIS CONFIRMING, PLEASE SHARE, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR IT. Jimf

Hello ItsJanet

God bless you this day.

I can relate to all you have shared thus far, even your hesitation. (((hugs))) Prior to my own "understood" experiences with The Holy Spirit, I really didn't know what to expect, except what was shared in The Bible -- and, quite honestly, some of what is shared in Bible gave me pause. What I found out later was that The Lord knows us so intimately, that He knows exactly the perfect way in which to approach us, as an individual, and how to let us know that it is Him.

Quite frankly, I couldn't imagine myself standing on the street corner, evangelizing, or even going door-to-door sharing His Word or even walking up to complete strangers and praying for others and laying hands on them, etc. It all seemed so foreign and contrary to who I am, that I just simply could not relate. I didn't have a problem believing God worked in "some" others that way, but me??? no, I couldn't go there. And guess what? I still can't. But, because I have now experienced Him, I am now open to Him doing that very thing, if it be His will.

His calling for you is custom made, and it will fit you like a glove.

I guess I had the good fortune of not knowing what to expect, other than what had been shared in The Bible. I really had not spoken to many other people nor heard what their experience(s) was/were, or how it all happened; therefore, I had no preconceived ideas (except for what I had read in The Bible).

My first experience with The Holy Spirit, where I knew that I knew that what I knew was Him happened while I was in a room by myself and it happened without sound, and without me seeing anything, but it was Him enveloping me with His peace, a peace that I had never, ever, ever experienced before, and it was AWESOME!!! It didn't last very long either. But, I knew it was Him. How did I know? Because somehow He gave me that knowing, too. (double big grin)

I came away from that blessed experience wanting more of Him. Again, something that He does, because I know I am unable to replicate Him or being in His presence.

My first "understood" experience with my best Friend, The Holy Spirit, happened 7 years ago -- more than 2 decades after I had received Christ Jesus as my Saviour. What can I say, I was a late bloomer.

Seek The Lord with your whole being, and He will choose the perfect time, and the perfect way to make His presence known to you, and you will be blessed! In the meantime, gobble up His Word, talk and pray to Him. He knows you, Itsjanet, and He knows, too, that you are seeking to know Him.

Prayers are rising to our Lord in the name of Jesus, on your behalf. May God's blessed will be done.

God bless and keep you, Itsjanet.
Love,
Sister Mack