Nehemiah 9:20
“Instead, You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst.”
This is a great mentioning of the Holy Spirit’s role in the Old Testament. We know what He does in the New Testament. John 14:26 says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.” This is so amazing.
He’s our teacher. How does He do this? Romans 8:16 gives us insight, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” All believers know this. It’s such a blessing to feel Him in us. It’s this companionship that we feel as we go through life.
He teaches us as the verse from John says. He mainly does this through His Word. This is also amazing. It’s more than a book, it’s His Word. Jesus says in Matthew 5:18, “For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” All of it will be fulfilled.
He’s our Comforter and Helper. Jesus says in John 16:7, “But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” Such a blessing. He helps us, He answers our prayers.
The Holy Spirit guides us. Acts 16:6-9 says, ‘They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; and passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”’ This is a great New Testament example of the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Two examples are negative, meaning that they were prohibitions and the third was a positive, as in go there.
We’re not sure what the no’s were. It could have been as simple as a check in one’s spirit or something much larger. I see these all the time. Most call them closed doors. Some are coincidences which are to be ignored.
The devil would love to mess with us and put all sorts of false signals in there. I Corinthians 14:33 says, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” Confusion and disorder is of the evil one. Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Peace accompanies the Holy Spirit’s direction.
As a young christian, ignorance of God’s love and His ways brought much confusion. I was being jerked around every which way. The message of grace was a safe harbor. I clung to it. As I learned of His love, I learned He didn’t work through compulsion and guilt. In time, scriptures gave me the foundation for all this.
A pastor from Saddleback Church gave another tool. He said, “Lord, I’m going to do this. If it’s not of You, could You show me or close the door?” This only applies to the gray area’s. The forbidden parts of scriptures are a solid “no”.
Some call our christian experience “a walk”. I like that. We are walking with God, as Enoch did. This is what friends do. Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” We learn His pace. It’s all defined in love.
God know us and the pace that is right for us. In Genesis 33:13,14 we see Jacob explaining the importance of pace as it applies to different individuals, ‘But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds that are nursing are a matter of concern to me. And if they are driven hard just one day, all the flocks will die. Please let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, at the pace of the cattle that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”’
Jesus adds to this sensitivity of pace in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” God is gentle and lowly in heart. Amazing.
God, thank You for Your Holy Spirit and how He helps us. He teaches us, helps us, comforts us and guides us. He does so in such a gentle and personal way. I picture a scared creature in the hand of a helper. Such sensitivity and care. Thank You, Lord.