The Holy Spirit and Faith

"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (I Pet. 4:11). One of the main things that we as the children of God need to get away from is 'trying.' The kind of trying that I'm talking about is trying to say or do the things that we believe to be what is needed in a situation of need. Instead of trying we need to be in the position where 'being' is what we do. In other words we need to "be led by the Spirit of God" instead of basically trying to lead the Spirit of God into something (Rom. 8:14). I'm not saying that we have to be 'moved' by God's Spirit before we can address a need or pray for someone's need. That is always a real benefit but that is not always available at the moment. What we do need is to simply know what we are doing and have the confidence toward God to do it with relative ease of effort. Sometimes ease of effort can be really robust, so I'm not saying that we don't get caught up in a whirlwind of the holy Ghost sometimes when we're operating in faith. But I've seen more times than I could ever count, someone 'trying' to say the right thing or the wise thing in a circumstance, when in fact it was just what they thought, and not what God was leading in. I'm sure I've done these kinds of things along the way as well, as we all learn by our mistakes often times. I've also countless times seen someone tell about something that was going on with them physically or otherwise, and someone else just had to rush in and more or less forcibly pray for them before it was time to do so. As much as we want to help, when our 'help' is not led by God's Spirit, or is not according to right knowledge, it cannot and will not edify anything or anyone. The scripture says, "A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!" (Prov. 15:23)

There are things that can be said which can seem to fit a particular situation or need, that may just be our own mind getting in the way of God doing something for the person. A true "word spoken in due season" is not just something that seems right, it is something that IS right because it is given by God. A good rule to employ is what Jesus said about speaking before rulers and such: "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost" (Mk. 13:11). Also it is not always time to pray for someone the moment that we learn they have a physical ailment. It might be, but it might not be as well. There simply is no substitute for knowing God's Spirit and knowing what time it is in the Spirit for any given circumstance. The heart that seeks only to edify knows how to filter all the other stuff out and wait on what the Spirit is willing to do, or act according to the established will of God in a situation. But even in acting according to the established will of God, there is a 'feeling out' of the time and way to go about it that will edify the most. Healing is always God's will for instance, but rushing to personally pray for someone's infirmity when they haven't asked for it or shown that they want it, can be an unedifying mistake sometimes. God just is, and what his will is in a given circumstance is just what is. His will is not effected by any amount of our 'trying' or effort, any more than a fruit tree has to 'try' to bear fruit. If a fruit tree even could try to bear fruit it would only be getting in the way of what comes naturally from God through nature. We are the trees of the Lord if we have received his Spirit, and the scripture says simply, "The trees of the Lord are full of sap" (Psm. 104:16). That sap is the holy Ghost and it is our duty to remain filled with the Spirit, and thereby led by the same Spirit. If we do this then we will do things the way God would be doing them if he were here, or the way Jesus would be doing if he were here.

The holy Ghost is both the divine life and nature that indwells God and his Son, which Jesus died and rose so that it could indwell us too (Jn. 5:26; Jn. 10:10; Rom. 8:2). The reason Jesus did things the way his Father would have done them if he had been on earth is because he was filled and led by his Father's Spirit. The Spirit is what makes the Father and the Son 'one,' and it is the Spirit that makes us as believers 'one' with the Father and the Son, as well as with each other (Jn. 17:21-23). If we are keeping sin out of our lives then we are one with God, and if we are we can act and speak as his children, doing things the way he does them (Eph. 5:1,2). That is the Gospel way, and that is the only way that we can do the works of Christ; meaning if it is literally him in us doing the works through us: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philip. 2:13). And again, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20). Let me say that God is not so displeased with the efforts of his children to do his works, even when they are not right on target with what they are doing. No more so than a parent is sorely displeased with their child for trying to do things that they are not altogether able to do just right yet. It can become a problem however if trying and effort replaces the actual learning of how to submit fully to the Spirit of God in order to get things done right. I've seen many cases in fact where people have gone way beyond their capacities in God trying to do his works, and have done so to the hurt of others. That we want to avoid. We also need to be able to admit if we've done that and even maybe let an injured party know that we've done it. There's nothing quite like redemption and righting a wrong. Also this understanding is not to discourage anyone from acting in faith, and certainly not to give anyone the excuse to be squeamish about stepping out in faith to implement the Lord's will. We learn by our mistakes, and we don't make mistakes without doing something. At the same time we don't want mistakes to become a way of life for us, especially at the expense of others. God bless.