Hosanna Restoration Church

As we look at a life led by the Holy Spirit and hearing his voice, the question inevitably comes up, “How do you know if it is God or not?” Well I am certainly not proclaiming myself an expert on the topic, but I find that God’s Word will usually make things pretty clear. In Galatians 5:6 He says that what is important is faith expressing itself in love. Well, we know that God is love and that those born of God…love. We also know that in James chapter 3 God says that His wisdom is peace loving, gentle at all times, and willingly yields to others. It is full of Mercy, shows no partiality, and is always sincere. This also informs us that if we plant seeds of peace we will reap a harvest of goodness.

Now does this mean that since we have the Spirit in us that we will all always perform perfectly according to this formula for walking according to the spirit? No! But it does mean we can press toward this by following the example that Jesus set. So then is everything always peaceful? Absolutely not! But everything can and will produce peace in our lives as we continue to be led of the Spirit of God. The good thing is that we are responsible only to listen and to obey, not to figure out what Jesus would do. He will tell us by the Holy Spirit if we will just trust what He says. But still we wonder; how can I be sure what is God and what is not.

Well Galatians assures us that we have choices to make and that we are never free from the conflict between the Spirit of God and our sinful nature. But the Spirit does set us free to make the right choices. If something is producing evil results, then we can be sure the dark side has crept in. We have thoughts that tear down rather than build up the presence of God in our lives. It opens us up to just slide down hill. We become subject to outbursts of anger, and selfishness. The enemy is always trying to produce divisions and convinces us that everyone else is wrong unless they agree with us. Now that sounds like it should be pretty easy to recognize. It is when we are looking to see it in others, but it is funny how we can miss it in the mirror. All of this is found in Galatians 5:19 by the way.

Now for the best part of this story. We can know what is of God. When we tune into the Holy Spirit He produces an entirely different kind of fruit. Therefore we have a choice to make concerning everything we hear and do. The Holy Spirit works for Love. He knows that without it, nothing works well, because God is love. Everything may not be loving in our lives all the time, but the Spirit will bring it about if we choose to follow. The Spirit also works for joy. He knows the joy of the Lord is our strength. You probably are well aware of the rest of the list: peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Don’t be discouraged when you miss the voice of the Holy Spirit; rather be quick to get back to it. Test the spirit to see if it is from God and rejoice greatly over each and every time you get it right. Don’t give the other side a chance to gloat. Then you will know you are walking in the Spirit of God. Jesus always did it perfectly. Now, He is busy perfecting us. We can do it!