Post by James Blankenship on Apr 8, 2012 8:57:48 GMT -5
This is a question that many atheists/non-believers don't understand, or should I say, are incapable of understanding.
For those of us who have that personal, 1-1 relationship with Christ Jesus, when we came to know Him, the Holy Spirit came into our lives, forgave our sins, & restored us to fellowship with the Father.
Much of knowing God's will, can be found in my thread on the Holy Spirit, which is found here:
solascripturaalone.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=spirit&action=display&thread=22&page=1.
The Holy Spirit reminds us not just of who Christ Jesus is, but reminds us of His sacrifice on the cross, of His death & resurrection, of the importance of the Blood that was shed for us.
He directs us, as seen here:
Matthew 10:18-20 (New International Version)
18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
He convicts of sin, both in our lives, & the lives of others:
Acts 5:3 (New International Version)
3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? "
He gives us fearlessness in preaching God's word-just read the book of Acts, & see how the Apostles, who were cowering in a little room until Christ appeared before them, as seen here:
John 20:19-20 (New International Version)
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
We now process the fruits of the Spirit:
Galatians 5:22-23 (New International Version)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Everything that I have listed above, is not achievable by our own power or ability.
It is not a "feeling", or self-delusion-it is the power of God inside us-giving us the ability to do things that we NEVER could do before-giving us knowledge that we never had before, to use only to glorify Him.
This is something that atheists/non-believers cannot understand, & will never understand, until they come to the same knowledge of Christ, that we have.
But when we come to personally know Christ, we are directed by the leading of the Holy Spirit, as to what God want us to do. Our lives cease to be our own, & we live only for Christ, as seen here:
Galatians 2:19-21 (New International Version)
19 "For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
If I may share a personal experience.
I cannot begin to count all the times, that the Holy Spirit has used me to be a witness for Christ. I have talked to small groups of people about Christ, with the same fearlessness that the Apostles had, I have talked to individual people, with words that are not my own, I was even called to become a minister.
At a job that I had, on an assembly line, I was working with another guy on a 2-man operation, & I was lead to talk to him about my faith in Christ Jesus.
I don't even remember what I said, but after around an hour of talking to him, he said to me-"I have had a lot of people talk to me about their faith, but no one has ever talked to me with such love before."
I came to realize that it wasn't me that had been speaking to this guy, but the Holy Spirit speaking through me, & I have never forgotten that.
This is what it means to know the will of God-by CHOOSING to let the Holy Spirit direct your life, instead of YOU directing your own life!
James
For those of us who have that personal, 1-1 relationship with Christ Jesus, when we came to know Him, the Holy Spirit came into our lives, forgave our sins, & restored us to fellowship with the Father.
Much of knowing God's will, can be found in my thread on the Holy Spirit, which is found here:
solascripturaalone.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=spirit&action=display&thread=22&page=1.
The Holy Spirit reminds us not just of who Christ Jesus is, but reminds us of His sacrifice on the cross, of His death & resurrection, of the importance of the Blood that was shed for us.
He directs us, as seen here:
Matthew 10:18-20 (New International Version)
18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
He convicts of sin, both in our lives, & the lives of others:
Acts 5:3 (New International Version)
3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? "
He gives us fearlessness in preaching God's word-just read the book of Acts, & see how the Apostles, who were cowering in a little room until Christ appeared before them, as seen here:
John 20:19-20 (New International Version)
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
We now process the fruits of the Spirit:
Galatians 5:22-23 (New International Version)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Everything that I have listed above, is not achievable by our own power or ability.
It is not a "feeling", or self-delusion-it is the power of God inside us-giving us the ability to do things that we NEVER could do before-giving us knowledge that we never had before, to use only to glorify Him.
This is something that atheists/non-believers cannot understand, & will never understand, until they come to the same knowledge of Christ, that we have.
But when we come to personally know Christ, we are directed by the leading of the Holy Spirit, as to what God want us to do. Our lives cease to be our own, & we live only for Christ, as seen here:
Galatians 2:19-21 (New International Version)
19 "For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
If I may share a personal experience.
I cannot begin to count all the times, that the Holy Spirit has used me to be a witness for Christ. I have talked to small groups of people about Christ, with the same fearlessness that the Apostles had, I have talked to individual people, with words that are not my own, I was even called to become a minister.
At a job that I had, on an assembly line, I was working with another guy on a 2-man operation, & I was lead to talk to him about my faith in Christ Jesus.
I don't even remember what I said, but after around an hour of talking to him, he said to me-"I have had a lot of people talk to me about their faith, but no one has ever talked to me with such love before."
I came to realize that it wasn't me that had been speaking to this guy, but the Holy Spirit speaking through me, & I have never forgotten that.
This is what it means to know the will of God-by CHOOSING to let the Holy Spirit direct your life, instead of YOU directing your own life!
James
