You Need To Hear The Holy Spirit
And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. Acts 21:4 NKJV
Do you realize that every moment of the day the Holy Spirit is speaking to you? He is giving you guidance, direction, comfort, peace, love and every insight for your life today directly from the throne room of the Father. It is important for each of us as believers to learn to hear His voice speaking to us directly. As followers of Christ many times we rely upon others to hear the Holy Spirit speak into our lives. While it is a blessing to have others speak a word of knowledge to us, we have to realize that it does not take the place of you hearing His voice yourself. In fact when someone else speaks a word to you from the Lord it should be a confirmation to you, not breaking news. The Lord will not tell someone else of His plans for you without telling you first. Learn to hear from Him directly, it will save you a lot misunderstanding and frustration later.
If someone tells me that the Holy Spirit told them I was going to go to Africa as a missionary and I had already heard that myself from the Lord, I could say “Praise God! That is a confirmation of what you already told me Jesus. Thank you for making that so clear to me.” However, if someone well intentioned said that, but had not heard from the Lord, and I just accepted it without knowing this already from Him, I might move, trying to be obedient but missing the direction entirely. We have to learn to hear from the Holy Spirit ourselves. People can mean well, but allow their human emotions to cloud the words they share with you. We see this happening to Paul.
Paul was a man who listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to him and simply obeyed that voice. In the verse above believers and followers of Jesus were shown by the Holy Spirit what would happen to Paul if he went to Jerusalem. They allowed their emotions to get involved and in sadness told him not to go. Another prophet came and told Paul that he would be bound by the Jews and handed to the gentiles when Paul went to Jerusalem. Those around Paul implored him not to go, but Paul said, “For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” At hearing this his friends said “Let the will of the Lord be done”
His friends all saw by the Holy Spirit, what would happen to Paul when he went to Jerusalem, and out of love they attempted to persuade him not to go. But the Holy Spirit had already prepared Paul for what lay ahead and he was going forward in obedience. Had Paul not listened to the Holy Spirit and known his role, he would have been persuaded by others who meant well and saw from the Holy Spirit what would come, but did not have the instructions from Him, that Paul had. Learn to hear the Holy Spirit as He speaks to you, so you can interpret the words of others and receive His confirmation for His plans for you today and everyday.
J Todd Hostetler