HOW TO IDENTIFY THE VOICE OF THE SPIRIT

B.     How To Identify  the Voice of the Spirit.  (continue from Training the Spiritual Ears)

1.      Ascend into the manifested presence of God to hear in the spirit. Worship causes to draw the presence of God into our lives. That will allow us to hear from God and interpret His Voice.

2.      Set your mind on the spirit by meditation of the word. The Word will speak to us. It is sharper than the two edge sword piercing the marrows and bones into your spirit.

3.      Observe the characteristics of the state of your mind.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8

4.      OBEY the voice of the Holy Spirit.

“We ought to obey God rather than men” - Acts 5:29

5.      SPEAK from the Spirit as you minister.

I  Cor. 2:10, 13 - (NIV) ¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

C.      How To Identify the  voice of  the  flesh.

1.      When the flesh is speaking the Holy Spirit is not heard. They are against each other.

2.      The flesh is manifesting actively in you when condition is like Galatians 5: 19 –21 and 

Colossians 3: 5 – 8.  (NIV)

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[a] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

3.      You  can  stop  the thoughts and feelings immediately at the power of  your  will  and turn towards the  spirit. (Romans 8:5)

^“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” 

4.      Flesh carries the nature of sin.

“For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”   NIV.

New Living Translation

The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

5.      When flesh is speaking there is an open door to the influence of darkness. The bible says the flesh is an enmity to God.  They always oppose God and His ways. The flesh kills but the Spirit gives life.

Discernment of Thoughts and Intentions in the Spirit

Hebrews 4:12  - For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

Hebrews 5:14  - But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good  from evil. 

TRAINING THE SPIRITUAL EARS

“Blessed Are Your Ears"...

Revelation 2:7a, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

John closes each letter with this exhortation, and it is a wonderful and great privilege to be able to have an ear to hear what the Spirit saith. It is likely to say too many people do not have a spiritual ear. Because of that we hear many voices – voices of our mind or human spirit but not the Holy Spirit.

We read in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God."  Jesus told His disciples: "blessed are your ears, for they hear or you are able to understand what you hear "For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them" (Matthew 13:16-17).

The repetition in Revelation says, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." As it was then, so it is now. The thing that brought the falling was their refusing to hear what the Spirit said. Instead, they were hearing what the flesh said, what the ministry said, or what the so-called church said.

A.     Operating  the  spiritual  ‘ EAR’.

Four  voices  speak  in  us:

1.      Voice  of  the mind.

2.      Voice  of  the flesh.

3.      Voice  of  the human spirit  ( inner  voice)

4.      Voice  of   the  Holy  Spirit.

 

1. Opening up the  spiritual ‘ ear’  to  hear is very crucial in our Christian life.  In Roman chapter  8: 4 – 5  (NIV)

⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

 

   2.  Closing  the spiritual  ear  against  the  Devil.

Romans  8: 7;    Galatians  5 :17

Satan cannot read our minds, he can influence our thoughts. Thus, the Bible instructs us to “put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Eph.6:11 NIV). Spiritual warfare is waged against invisible beings that personify the extremities of evil; and their weapons are spiritual, not physical. While they cannot bite us physically, violate us sexually, or cause us to levitate, they can tempt us to cheat, steal, and lie.

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor.10:4–5 NIV).

  

3. Sharpen the spiritual ‘ear’. -  Romans  12: 2  New International Version

^2 “ Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  Our mind needs to be renewed daily by the Spirit of God and the Word of God and allow God to think through us and speak His thoughts. The voice of the unrenewed  mind  is a judgmental  voice.

Some common signs of a  mind  that  is not  renewed.

a.      Unbelief

b.      Rationalization.

c.      Diversion

d.      Ignorance.

THE GRACE FOR BARRENNESS

Judges 13 speaks about the birth of Samson. This was about a barren woman who was unable to give birth and whose husband was named Manoah.  Manoah’s wife was barren.  And barrenness in those days was a curse.  There were a lot of things we could learn from this story of barrenness. The one thing we see in this beautiful story is the beautiful word “ownership”.

God owns everything in our life and in this universe. God moved man and woman today and exposing them to what we call our “selfish attitude of ownership”.  Today, we see the power of grace in this story.  Manoah’s  wife  was childless and God just came in through an angel of the Lord spoke to her about giving birth to a son.  And that son was named Samson.  These people in the Old Testament are all vessels of grace God used.  Manoah’s wife cried out daily in her heart saying to God “God if you break the curse of my barrenness, I will give you my child and you can use him and take ownership of him.”

² A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. ³ The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. ⁴ Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean. ⁵ You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite,  to God from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:24 ^-  The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him, v. 25  and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

We learn that in barrenness we allow God blessings, miracles and purposes to flow into us and through us.  A dead person in fact does not own anything.  When Manoah’s wife gave up something that is costly and valuable, God Grace flows into her empty vessel.  Vessel  that emptied themselves.  God the wine maker emptied our vessels into another. And our wine in the end will become pure and rich. We will become useful like Samson.  

God used Samson and he became the deliverer. Samson came to deliver the Israelites from the Philistine suppression for 40 years. Samson was a miracle boy, his mother a barren woman who hope was in the grace and mercy of God. She emptied herself to allow God’s grace to flow through her and deliver a miracle baby boy.

Samson’s name means in Hebrew “Shimshown” meaning “the strength of the sun” – his strength was tied to the strength and power of God.  Yet he was tempted as we are and yet God used him. As the church cries out today for God’s power, God is going to release His strength and His Exceeding Grace to deliver many broken and empty people.

Barrenness breaks the church into another level of New Grace and Anointing – a New Anointing Power of God – supernaturally.  As God breaks the curse of barrenness in churches today, we will move into another level of fruitfulness and blessings. His Gracious Grace will do it.

God will provide the grace of enlargement, the grace of influence and the grace of success and blessings for the church to reign in life.  But we must keep our hunger focused on the God of power rather than the power of God.  Love the God of Power not the Power of God.  Love the Giver not the gift.  When a church is small nobody bother and question but when it is big and had big money and finance everybody bothers and asks. Many wanted to control and had a say sometimes to their selfish ends. 

The questions we ask today, why are we serving God for?  Most people serve God because of His gifts and power and blessings.  They love the gift and power more than the Giver or Power Giver.  They love His presents more than they love His Presence or Face.  The carnal mind craves comfort and loves money.  The natural man is a fighter and taker.  The mind of Christ is a lover and a giver.  The carnal mind is centered in self-rule.  The spiritual mind is centered in God rule.

Job lost many things in life.  But God restored back Job’s losses which I called “barrenness”. He was barren.  When he started to pray for his friends (that accuse him) the Lord gave twice as much as he had before.  Job took his focus off himself and let go and turn to others instead of his sorrows and pain.  God was able to move on his behalf.  As long as Job was trying to solve his own problems (or justify himself) God could not move towards him. 

Today God’s principles are still the same.  When love doesn’t seek its own, it allows faith to operate powerfully from within our lives.  When our focus is on God and others we become a vessel to His Kingdom.  It is a vessel for faith and love to flow and not a dam for it to become stagnate or barren. Our faith works through love. Our hearts are purified by faith and also by God love.

 Matthew 16:25 says, “whosoever loses his life shall find it back”.  Someone say this, “things that we are so desperate to obtain are only received by giving them selflessly away.”  Yes, we learn that unconditional love is the most costly love.  Jesus love cost Him and his life to us. Likewise, marriage is not a 50-50% partnership love.  It should be 100% and we will never come to lack. If we give only 50% then we come into lack.  Likewise as I say a dead person does not have any life.  He gave all 100% to God.  For you are dead in Christ, as the scripture say.

My prayers: As in Acts 1:8 – “you shall receive power”  -  “I release the Holy Spirit gift and the power to you according to Acts 1:8.  Receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you – you shall be my witnesses of grace.  I release the power to heal, to minister, to give, to witness, to preach, to get wealth, to restore, to plant and destroy all the enemy’s stronghold!  I release power for miracles and breakthrough in your life!  I release the power to break all doubts and spiritual and physical barrenness in your life and your family. May the Good Gracious God bless you! Amen!

THE POWER AND MINISTRY OF HIS BLOOD

Luke 24:25 “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” Luke 24:27 “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

Breaking of Bread Breaks Blindness!

Luke 24:30 “Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
Vs. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.”

Luke 24:32 “And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 25:35 “And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.”

The Power of Bread Breaking

Bread breaking breaks blindness.
We are blinded by doubts, religion and laws.
Bread breaking causes heart to burn.
(Passion for Jesus) We get revived, refreshed and renewed each time we come to the Table of Grace.
Bread breaking turns weak faith into overcoming faith.
 The disciples were discouraged and sad.
Bread breaking causes Jesus to be known by us through revelation of the Scriptures.
 The Word of God was opened to them. They saw something they did not see.

BREAD BREAKING MINISTRY

* Holy Communion ministry breaks curses. Jesus became curse for us on that cross.
* Holy Communion breaks the spirit of poverty. He became poor at the cross for us so that we might         be rich. There was an exchange of status.
*Holy Communion ministry protects us from deadness and resurrects us and gives us life.
*Holy Communion creates miracles and healing in His broken body and blood.

Psalms. 103:1 - “Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name!  
And forget not all His benefits -  What?
 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
 Who redeems your life from destruction (fear)
 Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,
 Who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.”
 

Table of Grace

THE JOURNEY TO SERVANTHOOD – John 13:1-17

“So when he had washed their feet, taken his garments, and sat down again, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you’.” (John 13:12-15)

Just thinking of people who over the years have impressed me by their servant heart and servant spirit.  How do you identify one?  In Church and in our working place. We know it is difficult to say exactly what a servant does, but you know one when you see one. It is hard to get a good definition of what servanthood is all about?

During the Last Supper – the final meal that Jesus ate with his Disciples before he was arrested – Jesus washed their feet. While foot washing is unusual today, it was customary in the days of Jesus. It was known a common way of greeting guests into your home. However, it was not something that the “master” of the house performed. Foot washing was a service usually reserved for the lowest household servant.

What does it mean to be a servant according to Jesus?  I believe being a servant is an attitude, not an action. It is not about foot washing.  It really had nothing to do with foot washing at all. It was all about serving others in humility for Christ.  Jesus said, the greatest in the Kingdom of God is to be a servant. In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"
Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the midst of them, and said, "Most certainly I Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me.  A child like a servant is humble in character and action.

Footwashing was a service usually reserved for the lowest household servant. We had a few years ago a Feet Washing Ceremony.  We wash one another’s feet and after the action we feel different experience all together.  We can learn to forgive and learn to humble ourselves with one another.  We learn that we are nothing but just servants of the Lord.

Anyone can be a servant if they have a servant’s heart. What is it that makes the difference between being a servant and not being a servant? Is it visiting a orphanage home? Is it making a cake for those who are sick? Is it giving some money to those who are in need? No, because you can visit an orphanage home with a servant’s heart or you can do it out of a sheer sense of obligation. When a Millionaire father was dying at the hospital all the sons and daughters and in laws came to visit him.  Some were after his money and some are concerned whether he can live further or not.  You can make cakes because you want to serve somebody, or you can do it because you want to win their favor and have them pad you at the back. You can give money because you really want to serve, or you can give money in order to please somebody. The same action can be the action of a servant or the action of a selfish person. What makes the difference is the motivation inside the heart.

Romans 12:7 says, “If your gift is service, let him serve.” The other part is the part that all believers, whether they have the gift or not, are commanded to serve one another. Galatians 5:13 states, “You therefore, have been set free. But do not use your freedom as an excuse to indulge the flesh, but rather serve one another in love.

Four thoughts about foot washing:

1) Foot washing was considered an ordinary sign of common courtesy.

But what was NOT common was for the host to wash the feet of his guests. Foot washing was the work of slaves. It was the mark of a rich man that he never had to wash anybody’s feet because he had enough servants to handle the feet of anybody who came to see him. But Jesus broke the rules and that’s why they were so shocked—not that somebody would wash their feet, but that Jesus was the one doing it. That broke all the customs of the day.

2) Foot washing by definition is dirty, smelly and humiliating.

I once lived in a city with a big stadium and we had “Feet Washing Service” Different denominations would come and participate in this Christmas programme.  All the Pastors, bishops and Anglican priests were invited. Evangelical pastors and Pentecostal pastors were invited. 

 “Take off your shoes, men.” We don’t like it when somebody says that. We all looked at up. “Go on,” he said, “Take off your shoes.” So we reluctantly took off our shoes. Each one will take a partner.  I took an Anglican priest.  He started to tickle me first.  Everyone was so embarrassing in front of the full stadium.  He could have washed my feet in the water and finished the job quickly. We still had our socks on.  My shoes were dirty and socks.  My socks had a small hole at the bottom.  My shoes had been on my feet, they stunk together with his shoes. With my shoes off, my feet were stinking. I didn’t feel comfortable. That was 10 years ago, but when I came to this passage, that is exactly what came back to my mind, because any time people start messing around with your feet and you don’t expect them to, it’s uncomfortable. It’s dirty; it’s humiliating. It makes you vulnerable. That day was so humiliating to us but spiritually it does us good – it took our pride away and humbled ourselves. Thinking of what Jesus said is true. There are people who will do work that nobody does in church.  They have big PHD degrees and washing toilets blew your mind away.

3) Foot washing meets our real need for continued cleansing.

  Our feet need to be washed every time when we are out in the streets. Peter was shocked to see the Son of God doing it, that was a bother. That just blew all their preconceptions; it destroyed their status quo notions. But Jesus told them they need to be wash daily as “the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness”  It is a continuously cleansing daily.  Every morning I wake up Jesus cleanses me and refreshes me as I worship Him. It just like the water fall washing over the stones until it is white and whiter year after year.

4) Foot washing will never go out of style because you’ll never run out of dirty feet.

Everybody has dirty feet. That’s one good thing about foot washing. Everybody around you has dirty feet. Jesus came to a world of dirty feet. He came to clean the dirty feet, which means he came for you because your feet are dirty too.  I came as a servant, to wash dirty feet. The greatest washing of all took place when he died on the cross and his blood was poured out.  “Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”