I’ve said it so often and I suspect I say it so much because I have to hear it regularly myself. The day you and I accepted Jesus as our Saviour we received the Holy Spirit. 

I suspect God knew that we would struggle to understand how to remove the old clothes and put on the new ones that fit Jesus’ fashion. That’s why He sent us a Helper. 

20… The Holy One anointed you, and you all know it.  

We often overlook how fortunate we are to have God’s Spirit within us. He guides us, keeping us on the right path and preventing us from straying into harmful territory. 

Because the Holy Spirit is in us, we now have a good indication of which choices to make at the crossroads of life. He shows us the right direction, just a shame that sometimes we choose to go in the opposite direction, leading to unpleasant consequences. 

When Paul wrote a letter to Timothy to help him with his ministry, he said that the Holy Spirit was speaking to him via his conscience. It’s as if the Holy Spirit takes over our conscience and now manages it with a new set of rules. 

We no longer enjoy doing the things that were acceptable and right for us to do before we met Jesus. We still long for it, but if we sometimes give in to temptation, we now get a bad taste in our mouths. 

Wimpie recounts the day he disregarded the Holy Spirit’s guidance: 

My wife and I visited a friend who was terminally ill with cancer. In his hospital room, I got this absolute sense of urgency that I should pray for him, but I wasn’t sure. Should I? Can I? Who am I to do this? 

Without praying, I turned and walked away, immediately regretting my decision. Despite my remorse, I continued walking to my car and drove home. 

He passed away a few days later without me praying for him. I still feel guilty about that. I’m 100% sure that God spoke to me through the Holy Spirit. I’ll never know what message God had for him, because I wasn’t obedient. 

My lesson from this is that we must learn to differentiate and recognise God’s voice, and to act by His divine will. If you’re afraid you don’t know what to pray, God will even put the words in your mouth. Just be obedient. 

I believe God would’ve sent someone else to speak to Wimpie’s friend. Nevertheless, let’s learn from Wimpie’s experience to obey the Holy Spirit’s guidance. 

The Holy Spirit has taken over our conscience. Let us heed the inner voice that dissuades us from certain actions or inspires us to undertake specific tasks. In this way, we will help others and ourselves. 

Scripture
1 John 2:18-23 

Reflection
Do you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit?
Do you realise that the Holy Spirit is talking to you through your conscience?
How can you be more sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit? 

Prayer
Spirit of God living in me, help me be more sensitive to Your guidance. Help me to listen when You speak and do exactly what You say. Amen.