Function in understanding

"When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart…"

Matthew 13:19

You cannot receive what you do not know, and whatever you receive that you do not know you will eventually lose. This means that you cannot sustain anything that you receive without understanding. If you function in an anointing without understanding it, you will not be able to sustain the manifestation of that grace on your life.

Our opening scripture also shows us that satan is after the Word of God. We also see that the Word that you understand is the Word that you keep. It is the Word of God you understand that you will know. Therefore knowledge is your only security against deception. This is why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:1, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant." God does not want you to be ignorant concerning spiritual gifts because if you are ignorant concerning spiritual gifts you will not be able to see their manifestations in your life.

You cannot take advantage of what you do not know. If you are a child of God, it is important you know that the power of God's Spirit has been given to you for the benefit of all. 1 Corinthians 12:7 says, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal."

The Bible says in Acts 10:38, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." Acts 1:8 says concerning us, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." This means that the day you received the Holy Spirit you received all the power of God into you to produce the same works that Jesus did when He walked on earth. Walk with this understanding and you will begin to see more of His power manifested through your life.

Confession

In the Name of Jesus, I declare that I have the Holy Spirit, therefore I have received power. The Spirit of the LORD rests upon me, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

For further study read:

Romans 12:6-8, 1 Peter 4:10-11, 1 Corinthians 12:28-31

Doing the Word

Function in the grace that you have received.

　

Recognize the Holy Spirit

Recognize the Holy Spirit.

"The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you."

John 14:17(AMP)

In August 2002, the Holy Spirit said to me, "If you will recognize me as a person, I will thrust you ahead of those you envy." Do you recognize the Holy Spirit as a person? The Holy Spirit is a person and He wants us to recognize and relate with Him with that understanding. He is not a thing, that is why Jesus never related to the Holy Spirit as 'it.' Jesus always addressed the Holy Spirit using the pronoun 'He' as we see in our opening scripture because He is a person.

The Bible reveals to us that the Holy Spirit is a person because He has a mind. We see this in Romans 8:27(AMP) which says, "And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit …" Also, the Bible shows us that the Holy Spirit is a person because He has emotions. The Bible says concerning the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4:30(AMP) saying, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], …"

Paul and Barnabas recognized the Holy Spirit as a person and they recognized Him as the One who sent them into the ministry. In Acts 13:4 the Bible says, "So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus."

That same Holy Spirit wants to walk with you today. Jesus said in our opening scripture, "… He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you." Just recognize His person and His presence today. Ask Him to fill you with Himself and His presence. Peter speaking in Acts 2:38-39 said, "… Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

Prayer.

Dear Father, I ask that the Holy Spirit fills me with His person and His presence today even as He leads me in the paths of righteousness and peace, in Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read:

Psalm 143:10, Ezekiel 36:27, Romans 5:5

Doing the Word

Never refer to the Holy Spirit as something, or a voice because He is a person.

He guides into all truth.

"But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future]." John 16:13(AMP)

Our opening scripture reveals to us that the Holy Spirit does not speak His own message, but He speaks what He hears from the Father. Therefore, whatever the Holy Spirit is saying to us is what the Father is saying to us.

The Bible says in Acts 13:2, "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." This meant that the Father had called Barnabas and Saul for a work. The Holy Spirit was the One that guided them into that truth concerning their destiny in God.

He is still carrying out that ministry today. He will guide you into all truth concerning any issue. In Acts 10, it was the Holy Spirit that guided Peter into the truth that the plan of salvation included the Gentiles.

The Bible shows us this in Acts 10:19-20(AMP), "And while Peter was earnestly revolving the vision in his mind and meditating on it, the [Holy] Spirit said to him, Behold, three men are looking for you! Get up and go below and accompany them without any doubt [about its legality] or any discrimination or hesitation, for I have sent them."

Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life as a child of God and He will always guide you into all truth concerning every area of your life and He will show you things to come.

Prayer.

Dear Father, I thank you for I am filled with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. I am guided into all truth concerning all that concerns me even as you show me things to come by the power of your Spirit at work in me, in Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read:

1 Corinthians 2:12, 1 John 2:20, 27, Acts 2:17-18

Doing the Word.

Whenever you are confused about anything, always ask the Holy Spirit for guidance.

Be Spirit concious

"And when they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them."

Acts 16:17(AMP)

In our opening scripture, we see that Paul and those with him wanted to go and do something good. They wanted to go and preach the gospel to those in Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit did not permit them. I wonder how many Christian missionaries and ministers have been restrained by the Holy Spirit, but because they were not Spirit conscious, their lives were lost in the line of duty.

You have to be Spirit - conscious and learn to always obey the promptings and nudges of the Spirit because not many of God's children are Spirit conscious today. The more you obey the promptings of the Spirit in your life, the more powerful His influence will be over you.

I want you to realize this if you are born again, that the Holy Spirit lives inside your spirit with all His wisdom. All the power of the Holy Spirit is in your spirit. The anointing is not a feeling, the anointing is a person. That means you are anointed if the Holy Spirit dwells in you because He is the person of the anointing . In Acts 10:38 the Bible says, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."

The Bible says in John 1:16, "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." In the same way that Jesus was completely filled with the Holy Spirit without measure, we also by His grace for grace have received of His fullness. Now we have access to the same quality of guidance and power that Jesus had when He walked on earth. Do not take it for granted.

Prayer.

Dear Father, I thank you for by your grace I have received of the fullness of your Spirit and access to the quality of guidance and power that Jesus walked in when He walked on earth. I ask that the influence of the Holy Spirit will increase in my life even as I decrease in Jesus Name, Amen.

For further study read:

John3:30, Colossians 1:16-18, Colossians 2:9-10.

Doing the Word

Make your decisions by the Spirit.

Follow the spirit's promptings.

"Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,"

Acts 16:6

I want you to notice in our opening scripture that the Holy Ghost forbade Paul and those with him from preaching the Word in Asia. How did Paul know? He knew because He was attuned to the Holy Spirit. He didn't just do things because he wanted to do them; he did the things he did because he was led by the Holy Spirit to do them.

Do not carry out ministry or service in the house of God from your senses or from human reasoning. These are the things that get those who are unlearned in the things of God confused sometimes, because they are not sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit; their minds are only occupied by fleshly reasoning, so they see things only from human perspective. For instance, we do not just carry out any idea because it is a good idea. We follow the leading of the Spirit in whatever we do, not our heads or the ideas of men. This is because some things can be forbidden by the Holy Spirit at certain times.

About fifteen years ago, I know a Pastor that was to travel to Delta State because of a meeting. The Spirit of God instructed him not to go till the next day, but he felt it will be too late because he was going there with the publicity for the meeting. As he embarked on the journey to Delta state, robbers attacked on the way. Immediately he heard the gun shot, he repented for disobeying that divine instruction not to travel and God rescued him. He was not robbed and nothing was taken from him. I want you to understand that zeal cannot override the leading of God’s Spirit. If he had obeyed the divine instruction, that wouldn't have happened. This teaches us a valuable lesson; that we should always adhere to divine instructions and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Whenever you feel that sensing in your spirit not to go to some place you have scheduled to go, don't go. When the Holy Spirit forbids you from doing something, don't try to reason it out just obey.

Prayer:

Dear Father, I thank you for grace to always obey divine instructions and to submit to the promptings of the Spirit always in Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read:

Acts 16:6-10, Acts 10:9-17, Acts 10:19-20, Acts 10:27-28

Doing the Word

Follow the leading of the Spirit not your mind.

Serve with your heart.

"Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me,"

Matthew 15:7-9

Our opening scripture shows us that worship that is not from the heart is empty. Scripturally, your heart refers to your spirit. This emphasizes to us that whatever you do for God must come from your heart, because if it is not coming from your heart, there will be no reward.

Those Christians who do not understand these things and do not truly worship and serve God from their hearts will get to heaven and discover there that all they did for God will be burnt because they never came from their hearts.

Romans 7:6 (GNB) says, "… No longer do we serve in the old way of a written law, but in the new way of the Spirit." Serve God with your spirit which refers to your heart. Examine yourself, how have you been serving God? Do you do the things you do in the house of God from your spirit? In other words, do you do it with all your heart? If you are not serving God with all your heart, know that there is no reward for such service. Jesus said all such services are in vain.

Everything the Apostle Paul did, he did it from his spirit. He said in Acts 20:20(GNB), "And now, in obedience to the Holy Spirit I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there." In the Amplified it says, "… I am going to Jerusalem, bound by the [Holy] Spirit and obligated and compelled by the [convictions of my own] spirit, not knowing what will befall me there--" Always follow the promptings and guidance of the Spirit in your service to God because if you are going to get divine results, then you must follow divine guidance.

Prayer.

Dear Father, I choose to serve you with all my heart. I repent of all falsehood, insincerity and pretense. Thank you Father for strengthening me by your Spirit in my inner man, in Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read:

Isaiah 29:13, Ezekiel 33:31, Matthew 22:37.

Doing the Word

Do not serve God with eye service nor seek the praise of men. Seek only the honour which comes from God.

Be passionate for the Spirit.

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit."

Romans 8:5

What things are you after as a child of God? Are you driven by fleshly desires or the passions of the spirit? Be driven by the passions of the spirit. Be driven by the things that please God. Daniel was a man that was driven by the passions of the spirit. The Bible says concerning him in Daniel 1:8, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."

Therefore, because Daniel and his friends were after the things of the Spirit, the Bible tells us in Daniel 1:17-20, "As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore

stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm."

God is able to make you ten times better than all your peers, contemporaries and competitors, if only you will be after the things of the Spirit. Excellence and creativity flow from your spirit. So, as you are passionate after God and those things that please Him, the excellence and creativity in your spirit are enhanced more and more until you become a wonder and a standard to your world.

Prayer.

Dear Father, I receive grace for consistency to you and to the disciplines of your Spirit. As I thirst after you and those things that please you, may excellence and creativity be augmented in me, making me ten times better than all my peers, contemporaries and competitors in Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read:

Galatians 5:22-25, Colossians 3:1-3, Psalm 63:1-11.

Doing the Word

Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.