CHAPTER FOUR

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS MY Teacher: HE WHISPERS Truth TO ME

Do you know of Elijah, prophet of God, who challenged 450 idol worshipers to a contest to see whose God was best? With thousands of spectators watching, the competition of gods felt like a championship football game or soccer match (1 Kings 18:17-38).

Whose god was the real God? They all wanted to know.

Each side built a wooden altar on which they laid a sacrifice, but neither was allowed to set fire to their sacrifice. Each side had to cry out to their respective god to provide the flames.

The prophets of Baal went first. They thought they had this match won because their god was the god of fire. Surely it would be easy for him to show his power and dominance. Once the altar was built and the sacrifice laid on top, the 450 began their chants and prayers with all the earnestness they could show. This went on for hours and hours until late afternoon.

Finally Elijah was tired of waiting. He called a halt to the madness and began building his altar of twelve stones on which he laid his sacrifice. He then dug a large trench around the altar and poured jars of water into the trench and all over the ox and the stones.

Then, Elijah, the one-man team, convincingly conquered the powerless opposition by calling on God to show Himself and to let the people see that He alone is God. Dramatically God answered. He sent fire from the sky, burned up the ox offering, the wood altar, and 12 stones stacked beneath. God’s fire even “licked up the water that was in the trench” around the altar.

THE AUDIENCE WHO SAW EVEN STONES AND WATER CONSUMED IN FLAMES RESPONDED BY FALLING ON THEIR FACES AND SAYING, “The Lord, He is God …” (1 KINGS 18:39).

No doubt Elijah felt an adrenaline rush! He was ecstatic for the vindication of God’s name and emboldened to believe God for more. It’s easy to feel that way when you’re certain something you see is from God.

Yet even Elijah was still very human. Just a few verses later, Queen Jezebel sent a courier with a threat on Elijah’s life. 1 Kings 19:3 says, “Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life …” and hid in a cave.

BUT GOD KNEW WHERE ELIJAH WAS HIDING, JUST AS HE KNOWS WHEN WE ARE HIDING FROM HIM TOO.

The word of the Lord came to Elijah and told him to go stand outside the cave. A great strong wind came that dashed rocks in pieces “… but the Lord was not in the wind.” After the wind, an earthquake came “… but the Lord was not in the earthquake.” Then a fire “… but the Lord was not in the fire.” After the fire came THE SOUND OF A LOW WHISPER.

Elijah sensed that God was present in the soft whispers. He covered his face in humility and listened as God spoke. (See 1 Kings 19:11-13.)

This is how we too can recognize the voice of the Spirit, by paying attention to the soft whisper amidst the loud shouting of competing voices in our lives.

OUR HELPER IS ALSO OUR Teacher

During His final meal with the disciples before He was crucified, Jesus spoke often of the Holy Spirit who would be sent by the Father and the Son after Jesus’ death and resurrection:

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. … These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”

JOHN 14:16-17, 25-26

The Helper will also be your teacher, Jesus explained. While Jesus was walking on earth, He was Teacher to His disciples and His many followers who had come to depend on His presence, leading, teaching, giving direction and correction. Then Jesus reassures them He will still lead them but by “the Spirit of truth.” The Helper, He said, “will teach you all things…” (John 14:26).

THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACHES ME INWARDLY AND PERSONALLY WITH HIS STILL SMALL VOICE. And He longs to be your teacher too.

HOW THE HOLY SPIRIT Speaks TODAY

1. THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS BY QUOTING THE WORDS OF

GOD. In John 14:26, Jesus says that the Spirit of truth will “teach you all things.” The Spirit wants us to know all that Jesus said because that is how we get to know God as a Person. Over our lifetime this is His goal for each of us: to know and become like

Jesus as much as we can before heaven. Therefore, you can know the voice of the Spirit because He will quote the Bible. The

Holy Spirit will never whisper anything to you that contradicts what God says in His Word. (More on recognizing His voice in

Chapter 5.)

As you read books or listen to sermons, always pay attention to how the teaching lines up with the Bible. Look up the Bible verses and pay attention to the context. There are many teachers who quote phrases out of the Bible to make their point, but the verse doesn’t actually mean what the speaker or author said. Know too that the Bible never contradicts itself.

2. THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACHES BY ILLUMINING GOD’S WORD.

The Spirit is the One who illumines our minds to see truth, who opens our eyes to understand. He helps God’s Word make sense and then He helps apply it to the circumstances of our lives.

You may be reading through a passage in the Scripture and suddenly you see it in a new way—almost like reading it for the first time. Like

turning on a light in a dark room, so the Spirit of truth enlightens

our understanding. Without His active work in our minds we would not recognize truth.

Years ago I made a discovery that was life-changing—a “light bulb moment” as we sometimes say—about the illuminating work of the Spirit. While doing a Bible study for a class I was taking, I found this passage in the Old Testament:

“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your

God”(DEUTERONOMY 5:12-14).

This is, of course, one of the 10 Commandments. I had heard of this commandment many times, but on this day the Spirit gave me eyes to see.

At the time I was a tired mom with a bunch of little kids. Every Sunday we made it to church … barely clothed, but always smiling as if we had everything perfectly together! Going to church. Check. Learning about a holy God. Check. Got the first part of the verse right. But the part about a day of rest? Not so much for me as wife and mom.

After reflecting on the words of this verse about the Sabbath, I realized our weekly church attendance was more a historical habit than one of obedience to Scripture. And then I began to think about how we spent the remainder of the day. The Sabbath was anything but a rest for us.

It is very healthy to question why we do what we do in light of

God’s Word. When we follow a pattern without understanding why, it can lead to legalism instead of life.

That day I heard God’s heart for me as a woman and a mom built into these Scriptures about the Sabbath. I saw it personally for the first time. And I decided God planned the Sabbath for women! The old saying, “A woman’s work is never done,” is proof that women need a Sabbath rest once a week.

Most important, I experienced the Holy Spirit’s personal leading of me, His child. I asked Him how we could practice the Sabbath as a family beyond the Sunday morning hour at church. He gave me several ideas that helped our whole family actually enjoy a day of rest. And we’ve planned ways to keep the Sabbath rest ever since—for nearly 40 years.

I knew these thoughts and ideas were all from God and not my own imagination because, first, this inspiration originated with Scripture. Also, God is “not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33) and so His peace assures us we are doing the right thing. Conversely a lack of peace or feeling disturbed or unsettled means we are not being led by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit affirms God’s truth within us.

3. THE HOLY SPIRIT SOMETIMES SPEAKS IN OTHER

WAYS BUT ALWAYS IN PERFECT ALIGNMENT

WITH THE BIBLE. For me personally I have discovered the Holy Spirit often uses hymns and song lyrics that are theologically accurate, meaning they line up with Scripture, to remind me of His truth.

I remember a morning when I woke up hearing the melody, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” I was surprised because I hadn’t heard those words in a long time, and I wondered why the Spirit had given me that reminder.

Later that day I found myself in a conversation with friends. Instead of feeling comfortable with these people I had known for many years, I felt alienated as the talk increasingly focused on topics I couldn’t engage in. As I sat in silence, feeling out of place and insignificant amidst the happy chatter, I remembered Jesus loves me. He reminded me, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in My love” (John 15:9). It was a sweet comfort from the Comforter Himself that He loved me even though I didn’t feel loved by my friends in that moment.

Learning to recognize the whispers of the Holy Spirit is a process that develops over a lifetime. The Spirit speaks the language of God and we shouldn’t be surprised when we don’t understand or find ourselves confused. He is patient with us and will never give up on us. We too must be patient with ourselves and never give up on God. Over time I have learned to recognize His voice teaching me more quickly and easily than I used to. And you can too if you ask Him to teach you.

Reflection

1. Ask God to show you the truth about your relationship with His Spirit. Do you know Him well or only a little bit? Do you want to hear

Him speak to you? A good evaluation helps invite truth in our lives which in turn makes us more receptive to growth.

2. Print the words of some of the commands of Jesus, like the commands to love one another, or His words in the Sermon on the

Mount. Tape them on your refrigerator or near your desk or on your car steering wheel.

As you are evaluating decisions or ideas, look at those words of God about how to live and compare your possible decisions against the list. Scripture is our teacher.

Then ask, “Would doing this or that be in line with what God has commanded?” Ask the

Holy Spirit to use these written words, His language, to teach us what to do.

3. Ask the Spirit to teach you by illuminating

His Words every time you read the Bible. Ask

Him to remind you of Jesus’ teaching so you can be more careful about following Him.

Either of these prayers will please God and will usher you into a more intimate exciting relationship with God Himself!