Scripture: Galatians 5:16 NASB “Sensitive To The Spirit“
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ‘” Galatians 5:16 NASB
I’m a big proponent of being “sensitive to the Holy Spirit.” Being sensitive to the Spirit entails what some people call “prompts,” “a check in the spirit,” or we could say words or thoughts that come into our head that are consistent with Scripture . . . you get the idea. It is important to know Scripture. Otherwise, how would you know what comes from the Lord or what comes from the devil? The New Testament says that Jesus’ sheep will know His voice (cf. John 10:27).
I believe this is what Paul meant my “walking in the Spirit.” We learn to walk physically by trial and error, falling down and getting up again. I believe we learn to walk in the Spirit in the same way. The more Scripture we know, the less trouble we will have. The Holy Spirit would never lead us contrary to Scripture.
Unfortunately, a lot of Christians miss out on this aspect of the Christian life. A.W. Tozer knew about it. He said the Christian life was like an airplane with two wings. It needed both to fly. So the Christian needs both the subjective element of the Christian life and the objective Word of God to take off and fly.
Start “listening” the Holy Spirit today and walk in the Spirit.
It will transform your Christian life.
If you do, you will find that you are choosing life (Deut. 30:19)!
Fun Application:
When I was in college it was popular for people to think God to telling them who they were going to marry. Unfortunately, God would not always tell both people! Obviously, someone had gotten their “leadings” wrong. God hadn’t really “led” anyone in those situations!
I think it is good to “listen” to the Lord. But here’s my rule, don’t tell anyone what you think God is leading you to do or at least don’t say, “God is telling me . . . .” Because if you are wrong, it wasn’t God! If you are wrong then YOU are wrong. If you think God is leading you and whatever it is happens, then you can give Him the glory.
The rule is keep an ear open to God all the time but put your knowledge of Scripture before any “leadings.” It is better not to be overly spiritual. As Ecclesiastes says, “Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? ” (Eccles. 7:16).
The purpose of the Choose Life is to pick a positive help out of the One Year Bible (OYB) reading plan for the day. There is always something positive in the Word of God to cheer us and give us strength. For more on today’s reading, check out my One Year Bible blog: Walking The Walk