Led by the Spirit
Being led by the Spirit of God deals with a believer hearing God’s voice and obeying what God tells them to do.
John 10:27 (NASB)
27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. This is not referring to natural four-legged sheep that wear wool. This scripture is referring to humans who have become spiritually regenerated and they hear the voice of God and follow Him. The main characteristic that distinguishes a person who is born again is that they learn to hear the voice of God and follow God’s instructions for their lives.
Acts 9:3-4 (NASB)
3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;
4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
In the case of Apostle Paul, he was a religious zealot who was on his way to Damascus to arrest and torture and imprison those who believed in Jesus. He was an unbeliever but the Lord appeared to him in a great light that caused Saul to fall to the ground. He heard an audible voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” It was the point in Saul’s life where he met the Lord and become saved.
I also know a man who told me that when he was an unbeliever he prayed to the Lord and said, “Lord, if you are real then make that ceiling fan rotate!” The Lord answered his prayers and the fan rotated. Then he asked the Lord to make the fan rotate in the opposite direction and the Lord also answered his prayers and the fan then rotated counter-clockwise also. This man experienced salvation and gave his heart to the Lord after God had given him two demonstrations that God was real.
But in fact, this same man has been saved for decades and the Lord never again moved a ceiling fan in order to speak to him. As he matured spiritually, he had to learn how to hear God’s voice without outward manifestations of ceiling fans moving. This outward manifestation was only a one-time thing God did for an unbeliever in response to his prayer to show himself real to that person. God however has a better way of communicating to his people and God’s method of communication is not open to demonic manipulation. The devil can also make ceiling fans move so this is not something that a believer should depend on for guidance because God has a better way of speaking to his children.
Judges 6:36-40 (NASB)
36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken,
37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken.”
38 And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.”
40 God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.
Gideon was very insecure and was not experienced in hearing the voice of God and wanted to have confirmation using natural things. So, he put out a fleece and asked God to have dew be on the fleece only. When God answered this prayer then he did the same thing again and asked that the fleece be dry from dew and God again answered his prayer. This however is similar to the man who was an unbeliever and asked God to move his ceiling fan to show that God was real. But that is not something that people should try to do on a regular basis. Sometimes God will do something like that for an unbeliever or a baby Christian just to show them that He is real but that is not normally how God is going to communicate to the believers.
A believer is going to have to mature spiritually and put away childish things. Some people have actually tried to do something that they call “put out fleeces” by asking God to give them a sign through natural circumstances. This can become really ridiculous if a baby Christian puts out fleeces for direction. Maybe an immature guy says to the Lord, “If it is your will for me to marry a certain girl, then have her sneeze when I look at her!” If that girl happened to sneeze at that time then this immature baby Christian might presume it was God’s will for him to marry her! But a sneeze is a poor confirmation of God’s will for something as important as marriage! The person someone marries is the most important decision of his or her life and if they marry the wrong one it can literally destroy the rest of their lives on earth! Such decisions should not be based on the foolish practice of putting out fleeces!
God spoke to Gideon who was in fact a very insecure man who never heard the voice of God before and was desperately seeking some form of confirmation. But that does not create a biblical precedent for someone to put out fleeces and this type of thing will often put immature believers into a ditch for following such nonsense!
Apostle Paul once heard an audible voice speak to him but that again is not a biblical precedent for believers to follow. Believers should not be expecting to hear audible voices speaking to them from God.
My wife did hear an audible voice one time when she was a single girl when she was praying for her mate. She heard an audible voice say, “According to your faith be it done unto you!” She actually looked around to see who was there because she heard the voice audibly and thought someone had been physically present and spoke those words to her! But she never again heard an audible voice for the rest of her life as a believer because God required her to grow up spiritually and learn to hear God’s communications and directions for her without an audible voice.
Typically, those who have heard an audible voice are those who are unbelievers (like Saul) or an immature believer (like Gideon-types) that shows them that God is speaking to them in order to show himself real. But I personally have never heard an audible voice from God one-time before or after I was saved! All of my communications with God occurred after I was saved and these were all in the form of an inward witness.
THE INWARD WITNESS
Romans 8:16 (CJB)
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our own spirits that we are children of God;
This scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit bearing witness with the born-again human spirit of a believer. This means that the believer knows that they are saved because they have an inward witness or a “knowing” that they are saved. How do they know they are saved? It is because the Holy Spirit of God bears witness to their human spirit and testifies that they are born again. This inward knowing of something can be described as an impression within them. They know inwardly that they are saved and that is where this term “inward witness” is derived from.
The same inward witness that testifies of a person’s salvation is the same witness that is used for Spirit to spirit communications. This communication takes place as the Holy Spirit of God communicates to the reborn human spirit of a believer (without using natural human language).
The Holy Spirit is a Spirit-being and the born-again human spirit of a person is also a spirit being. When one Spirit being communicates to another spirit being then they communicate by spiritual means rather than natural means.
1 Corinthians 2:13 (NKJV)
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
When the Holy Spirit teaches, or communicates with the believer this will take place using spiritual communications. The scripture above refers to comparing spiritual things with spiritual. This speaks of spiritual communications that go beyond hearing audible words or exchanging natural verbal communications between two individuals.
When the Holy Spirit communicates to the born-again human spirit of a man this transaction can take place without any audible words being exchanged between the two parties. The Holy Spirit can operate on a higher level of communication that can bypass or supersede natural oral communications. The Holy Spirit can impart knowledge, information, wisdom and communications directly to a human spirit without any natural words being spoken.
There are some believers who said that they hear God’s voice in their thoughts. But actually, it is more accurate to say that they receive God’s communications directly within their human spirit. These impressions within them are then translated into the thoughts of their native language within their minds. So that is why it would seem that God is speaking to them in their thoughts. But actually, the communication process began before it reached their minds and formed into the thoughts of their native language because the impressions were translated into thoughts within their minds.
John 7:38-39 (NKJV)
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jesus spoke about those who believe in him and who would receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and compared this to having rivers of living water flowing out of them. He said that this living water would flow from their innermost being. This innermost being speaks of the core of a human being where their heart-issues lie. It also speaks of the real essence of being a human which in fact is a spiritual being. It is this spirit-being that is born again when a person believes in Jesus and accepts him as their Lord and Savior. This born-again human spirit is alive to God and has the potential to communicate with God.
Acts 2:16-17 (NKJV)
16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
When the believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost they spoke with other tongues. Peter explained that this baptism of the Spirit was referred to by the prophet Joel when he said that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh and sons and daughters would prophesy and young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams. In fact, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the doorway to the supernatural and doorway into the operations of the Gifts of the Spirit and this baptism also opens the door to the communications from God.
God can communicate by prophesy and by visions and by dreams but by far the most common method of spiritual communications is the inward witness of God’s Spirit imparting knowledge to the born-again human spirit of a believer.
Spiritual Protocol
There is some spiritual protocol for the believer to learn because God does everything according to Divine order.
1 Corinthians 11:3 (NASB)
3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
God is the head of Christ and Christ is the head of the man and the man is the head of the woman and also the parents are the head of the children. So typically, if God is going to communicate direction for a family then God will speak this direction to the husband (not to the wife) because the man is the head of the home. God is not going to skip over the head of the home and speak to the wife when that direction concerns leadership for the family. The wife may have God speak to her about personal issues or even matters relating to her children but God is not going to give her direction for the family because that is role of the man as the head of the home. It is for this reason that all leadership direction will be given to the man by God rather than the wife. God does not violate His own chain-of-command and that chain of command runs through the man as the head of the household.
It is for this reason that the communications of the Holy Spirit to humans will follow God’s divine protocol. The things which the Holy Spirit imparts will be in line with divine protocol and so all communications for family leadership will be given to the husband who is the head of the household in God’s sight.
Also, before a person enters into communications with the Holy Spirit they must be born again because if they are not born again their human spirits are spiritually dead.
Ephesians 2:5 (NASB)
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
The unbeliever is spiritually dead because they are not yet made alive until they accept Jesus as their Savior. When they believe in Jesus, they are made alive in Christ and the part that is made alive is their human spirit.
1 Peter 1:23 (NASB)
23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
This scripture speaks of a believer being “born-again” and the part of them that is reborn is their human spirit. The human spirit is eternal and this part of humans will live forever in either heaven or hell depending on whether that person is born-again or not. If they are not born-again, they will live eternally in hell but if they are born-again (and finish their race on earth) the believer will live eternally in heaven.
John 3:3 (NASB)
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus said that the requirement for entering the kingdom of God is that one believes in Jesus and becomes born-again. Those who are born-again have their human spirits reborn or regenerated to become new just like a new born baby.
See the link “New Creation Born of God” for more details.
THREE PARTS OF MAN
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV)
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This verse of scripture speaks of the three parts of man. Humans are made of a body, which is the physical part of man. Humans have a soul, which is made up of their minds, their will, and their emotions. Humans also have a spirit. This is the part of man that becomes transformed or born again when the miracle of regeneration takes place. The spirit of man will live forever because it is the eternal part of humans. If the person dies without being born again in spirit then they will live eternally in hell. If the person has been reborn spiritually then when they die, they will live eternally in heaven.
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
This verse of scripture speaks of the word of God that can divide the soul from the spirit. The soul and spirit are closely related and only God’s word can divide them. But they are distinguished as two separated parts according to God’s word.
Jesus explained a true story of a man who went to hell and this illustrates the three-part nature of humans and what will happen to a person after their natural body dies on earth.
Luke 16:19-31 (NIV)
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores
21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house,
28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'”
This is a true account of two men that both died and one went to a place of comfort with the other went to a place of torment. Before Jesus died and was resurrected those who were godly went to a place of comfort located in the center of the earth. They remained there until after the death and resurrection of Jesus at which time he preached to them and led them as the first to enter into heaven with Him. Now this place of comfort is empty, as its residents have been transferred to heaven together with Jesus.
See “Abraham’s Bosom” for more details.
Across from this place of comfort is a place of torment where the fire burns eternally. All those who are not born again will end up in this place of torment after they die on earth.
Jesus gave this true account and he explained something that had actually taken place in the center of the earth. This true account also illustrates the difference between the body, the soul, and the spirit of man.
The body, soul, and spirit of man can be compared to an egg. The egg has three-parts. It has an egg shell, and egg yolk, and an egg white. The eggshell is like the physical body of man. When the physical body dies, it will typically be buried on earth. This is like the eggshell which can be cracked open and discarded. But there are still two more parts remaining (both the egg yolk and egg white) and in the same way when the natural body of a human dies there are still two more parts remaining.
When the rich man died, they buried his body on earth but he found that he was still very much alive in the fires of hell! He still had two more parts remaining which were his spirit and his soul. The spirit of man looks just like his physical body. His spirit-man had eyes because he could look over to the place of comfort across from hell and see Abraham and Lazarus. The spirit man has a tongue. He wanted to have some water to cool his tongue in the flames of hell. Lazarus was a spirit being as well but he had a finger because the rich man wanted him to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue. The spirit of man has all the same parts of as the natural physical body. It has eyes, and ears and feet and hands. It looks like the physical body but it is an eternal being that will live forever either in hell or in heaven after the physical body dies on earth.
The rich man had a soul. The soul and the spirit are like the egg yolk and the egg white that go together. In the same way, the spirit and soul go together when a man dies and leaves his body. The soul is made of the mind, the will, and the emotions. The rich man had a mind. He could remember his brothers who were still alive on earth. The rich man had a will. He did not will that his brothers would also come to hell. The rich man had emotions. He felt sorry for his brothers that were on their way to hell and he wanted to send Lazarus to go to the earth and warn them to repent. So, humans are made of three parts. The human body will one day die and be buried but there are still two more parts of humans that include a person’s spirit and soul. The spirit and soul go together like an egg yolk and an egg white. These two parts will remain forever either in heaven or in hell. The spirit of man (together with this soul) are the eternal parts of humans that will live forever.
The scripture teaches of the three-parts of man as being the body, the soul, and the spirit. It is the spirit of man that becomes reborn or transformed during the process of regeneration. This is the part of man that becomes new. A believer may look the same on the outside after regeneration but the change will have taken place on the inside. When a man or woman is born again it cannot be seen in the outward physical appearance because this change takes place on the inside within the spirit of man.
An understanding of the three parts of man is necessary to understand what part it is that the Holy Spirit communicates to. The Holy Spirit communicates to the born-again human spirit of a believer. This communication is direct Spirit to spirit communications as the Holy Spirit imparts wisdom, knowledge, and direction to the born-again human spirit of a believer.
1 Kings 19:11-13 (NKJV)
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
This scripture speaks of Elijah when he was standing on Mount Horeb and God came and spoke to him. This account illustrates that God was not in the dramatic physical manifestations of rock-breaking winds, and earth-shaking earthquake, or a fierce burning fire! There was a still small voice that came and Elijah covered his face when he heard this voice because it was the voice of God. This illustrates the principle that God does not typically manifest Himself in the dramatic physical signs like a great wind, or an earthquake or a fire! God does not typically communicate through outward physical signs but rather it was the still small voice that contained the communications from God.
Under the New Testament era this same principle can be applied to the inward witness. This inward witness can be described as a faint impression within. A believer has to become sensitive in order to learn how to discern the faint impressions from God which are like a still small voice or delicate whispering voice. It is not audible to the human ear but is something that is received within as an impression.
If a believer is a carnal Christian then they will have difficulty in hearing the inward impressions from the Holy Spirit. A carnal Christian is one who typically yields to the sin nature and indulges in vices and gluttony and fills themselves with worldly news, and movies and entertainment. All of these things will make them dull spiritually and hinder them from hearing the voice of God.
Isaiah 59:1-2 (NASB)
1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
Sin will separate a believer from God so that God will not hear them. God will hide his face from those who are living in unrepentant sin and not speak to them. They will become like King Saul who was cut off from the voice of God because of his disobedience.
1 Samuel 28:15-16 (NASB)
15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” And Saul answered, “I am greatly distressed; for the Philistines are waging war against me, and God has departed from me and no longer answers me, either through prophets or by dreams; therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I should do.”
16 Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has departed from you and has become your adversary?
Saul disobeyed God and got himself cut off from God. God no longer spoke to Saul anymore and did not answer him by any forms of communications not even through prophets or by dreams. He was cut off from the Lord because of his disobedience. The Lord become the enemy of Saul and departed from him. Those who live in habitual unrepentant sin are in danger of being cut off from God the same way as King Saul.
A key principle in hearing the voice of God is to obey what God says. If a believer disobeys God then God will no longer speak to them unless they repent and do what God told them to do. God’s sheep hear His voice and obey what their shepherd tells them to do. Obedience is a key factor in hearing God’s voice because God does not speak to those who have no ears to hear what He tells them to do.
Matthew 11:15 (NASB)
15 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Jesus often said “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” This means that if a person has ears to hear then they are teachable and will listen to what the Lord tells them to do. Those who do not have ears to hear are those who are dull spiritually and such people will not receive any revelation or communications from God.
Matthew 13:15 (NKJV)
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’
The people who are dull of hearing are those who are carnal and want to continue to live in sin and self-indulgence and not obey what God told them to do. So, they are dull of hearing and are unable hear or receive spiritual revelation.
Luke 6:46 (NASB)
46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Jesus also said that some people called him their Lord but they do not do what He says to them. These are the carnal Christians who are dull of hearing because they closed their ears to obeying God. They do what they want to do and live for themselves and do not submit to anything the Lord commands them. Such people are cut off from the voice of God much like King Saul cut himself off from God’s voice because of his disobedience.
If a believer wants to hear God’s voice, they must determine that they will obey all that He tells them to do because disobedience can cut them off from any form of communication with God.
The primary manner that God speaks to the believer under the New Testament will be that of the inward witness. This is direct Spirit to spirit communications as the Holy Spirit imparts revelation and knowledge to the born-again human spirit of a believer. But in order to hear this voice they must learn to be sensitive to the voice of God.
A carnal Christian who stuffs themselves with food constantly and commits gluttony will not be able to be sensitive enough to hear the voice of God in the form of inward witness. Fasting makes a person sensitive spiritually because those who are stuffed full of food will be spiritually dull and unable to discern that faint inward impression of the Holy Spirit.
The mind of the believer must also be kept quiet because a noisy mind that is filled with all kinds of natural thoughts will drown out the still small voice of the Spirit.
Luke 10:38-42 (NASB)
38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.
40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”
41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;
42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Martha is a picture of a distracted Christian and Mary is an example of a believer who knows how to quiet themselves and listen to the word of the Lord. Martha was distracted with all of her preparations and her mind was filled with busy thoughts. A person who is distracted with natural things is not going to be able to listen to the still small voice of their inward witness. Mary however sat peacefully at the feet of Jesus and listened to His word. This is a picture of a believer who learned to quiet themselves and silence their natural distractions and who has prepared their heart to hear God’s voice.
A quiet time is a time when a believer rises early in the morning before their day begins and gives that first hour of their day to the Lord. They set aside all of their busy thoughts and just spend time waiting on God, praying and reading God’s word. If their mind is distracted about something that has to be done that day, they may write it down and then go back to fellowship with the Lord without distraction. If a believer has a mind that is busy with natural thoughts it will be difficult for them to pick up on that inward witness within them as God’s Spirit communicates to their human spirit.
When the human spirit of a believer is strong and healthy then it will be sensitive to the voice of God. Reading the word of God is like spiritual food to make the human spirit strong. Also praying in the Holy Spirit will edify and build up the human spirit and cause it to be sensitive to the impressions of the Holy Spirit.
Jude 1:20 (NASB)
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
This scripture says that if a believer will pray in the Holy Spirit (meaning praying in tongues) this will edify or build them up spiritually. This is similar to charging a car battery with an alternator or battery charger to recharge the electric charge within it. A carnal Christian who is dull spiritually is much like a dead car battery. If someone has a dead car battery or one that has a weak charge and they try to start their car on a cold day then the engine will barely turn over. The battery will be too weak to get the car started without being charged again. A carnal Christian who is dull of hearing is like this because they will be too dull to hear the faint spiritual impressions of the Holy Spirit communicating to their reborn human spirit.
The human mind and the human body must be kept quiet in order for the believer to hear the inward impression of their human spirit as it receives communications with the Holy Spirit.
I know of a man who was an inventor who created things that were never made before. Often times when he was barely awake early in the morning that was when he received the revelation about how to make his inventions. At this time his mind was still half asleep and not yet filled with noisy thoughts of his own. It was at this time just before he was fully awake, that he was able to hear the inward witness of the Holy Spirit imparting the answers he needed to his human spirit.
A believer can teach themselves to quiet their minds and wait on God until they can hear that inward witness within them. Prayer, study of the word and fasting are all things that help a believer become sensitive to the inward impressions of the Holy Spirit.
I also heard of an investor in Texas who never lost money on an investment because he had learned to hear his inward witness. He purposely would quiet his mind and wait on the Lord for direction. Sometimes he would wait for a few days and do nothing but pray and read God’s word and wait on the Lord. He would only eat a light meal once a day so as to keep himself sensitive and then he would wait until he had an inward witness. So, when he had an impression about what to invest in then it was always something that made a profit.
We taught our niece about following the inward witness and when she was attending computer graphic school, she would often be given projects that were beyond her ability. She however learned to trust in God and pray and then follow the impression inside. Over and over again she was able to solve problems that other students could not do and even the instructors were amazed that she was able to do things that they themselves could not do. It was not because of being intelligent because there were many students more intelligent than herself. The answers for doing these things came from her spirit within as the Holy Spirit gave her the wisdom that did not come from natural sources and in fact it bypassed her natural mind and came out of her spirit instead.
Later after she graduated from the computer graphic school, she was told that the instructors now refer to her as the former student who was a “legend” because she could solve computer graphic problems that no one else could solve. But this came from following the inward witness to receive revelation about solving technical problems in CG work.
I know of another man who had a reputation of being able to solve technical problems that no one else could solve. They would bring some sort of problem to him and he told them to just leave it there and he would contact them when he received a solution. He would pray about it and wait on God for an inward witness. One time he went to church and during the sermon suddenly the revelation came to solve the problem. He jumped up and ran home and applied the solution he received as an inward impression and the problem was solved! It was revelation that was not coming from his natural mind or from books or from natural advice but it was the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to solve problems that others could not solve.
I know of a believer who was working on an aqua-phonics system and he prayed for wisdom about how he could cause a water tank to flush into the plant growth beds on a timer. The PhD guys had spent millions on computer-controlled robots to do this type of thing by dipping a plant tray in nutrient water but he prayed for wisdom to do this in a practical and affordable manner. Suddenly he had the revelation to use a toilet flush valve and an empty plastic bottle. When the water tank was full then it would overflow into a bottle that would serve as water-weight to open a flush valve! This worked perfectly and was better than the million-dollar robot that the PhD guys were using and it only cost about $2.00 for the valve! That is practical wisdom that he received from the Holy Spirit and it was wisdom imparted to his human spirit that he did not receive from any natural sources.
Even large space agencies like NASA will typically have believers working for them that are either Jews or God-fearing Gentiles who worship the God of Israel in private. It is these men who are on the cutting edge of supplying most of the solutions to problems for the technical teams. They may not wear a sign on their backs saying that they worship the God of Israel but nevertheless they are privately praying and fellowshipping with God in prayer and hearing the voice of God by inward witness to come up with solutions to problems.
Israel has many God-fearing Jews who are working in technology development and this is the reason why they have more technology than any other nation. When a godless communist nation has a new invention often this will be because of the influence of people who worship the God of Israel in their countries. Again, it is the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles that come up with most of the inventions that come from these otherwise godless communist nations also. But by far the greatest number of inventions come from nations that are Judeo or Christian or both because it is believers who hear God’s voice that come up with clever or witty inventions.
Proverbs 8:12 (KJV)
12 I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
The KJV of the bible speaks of finding out the knowledge of witty inventions and this information most often comes by inward witness to those who worship the God of Israel (both Jews and believing Gentiles). The inward witness is the greatest source of inventions because these things come from the Holy Spirit imparting divine revelation to those who hear His voice.
One time I bought a part for a computer but I had no background or training in computers and I had no idea of how I could install this part myself. But I prayed and asked God for wisdom on how to do it. Suddenly I had an impression and when I followed this impression I was able to install the part and it worked perfectly! This impression came from my human spirit communicating with the Holy Spirit who imparted revelation and wisdom about what to do. I know this did not come from my natural mind because naturally speaking I had no idea how to accomplish this task.
If a believer will learn how to discern the inward witness of the Holy Spirit communicating to their born-again human spirits then they can do just about anything because they have the greater One dwelling inside of them and the Holy Spirit gives them the wisdom and guidance about how to do any task.
John 16:13 (NASB)
13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will guide the believer into all truth and show him what is to come. When I was working in the Philippines as an international minister for over 14-years I would often miss the disasters that were so commonplace in that nation. I would always be in the right place at the right time to miss whatever natural disaster that might occur. When a volcano went off on Luzon Island I was in another location and was unaffected. When they had a huge earthquake in Baguio City, I was on another island that was not affected. When there was a huge flood that killed thousands in Ormoc City in Leyte Island then I was not there when that took place. I missed earthquakes, floods, landslides, and even coup d’état attempts. The Holy Spirit always gave me an inward witness or impression about when to go and where to go and this kept me 100% safe from every major disaster that occurred during my time in the Philippines.
See “Idolatry-Curse of a Nation” for more details.
I even avoided NPA-communist insurgents In the Philippine in regions that were not safe for foreigners because I was always in the right place at the right time. I would be there and gone before they even showed up and I never had an incident even though traveling in these unsafe regions. The safest place to be is being led by the Spirit of God and this predominantly takes place by the inward witness.
Even the Gifts of the Spirit such as revelation gifts will operate predominantly by the inward witness. The gift of Word of Wisdom speaks of future events and this has always come to me by inward witness or impression. I knew what was coming by inward witness and repeatedly this impression was proven to be accurate.
I also knew what was happening in the country by inward witness and whenever an activist tried to present an alternate view of the country, I was able to rebuke them and speak the truth and they could not argue knowing what I said was true. That impression did not come from outward sources or news but from the inward witness and this is also part of the operation of Word of Knowledge to know things in the present realm.
The gift of discerning of human spirits also operates by inward witness as I was able to discern the human spirits of people to know if they are bad or good. I would know if someone was a liar or if they are greedy or covetous or a cheat or if they were engaged in immorality. I would always know the good people to work with and those who should be avoided because of the operation of the Discerning of human spirits. This revelation gift also operated by inward witness.
See “Spiritual Gifts” for more details.
The inward witness is the primary way that the Holy Spirit communicates with the believer through their born-again human spirit. This is the main way that a believer will be led by the Spirit of God. It takes place with direct Spirit to spirit communications as the Holy Spirit imparts communications and direction and wisdom to the born-again human spirit of believers.