You Can Have A Right Relationship With God
The Work Of The Holy Spirit
Introduction
How can we identify the work of the Holy Spirit? What sets the Holy Spirit's work apart from the work of man or the work of a deceiving spirit - what makes the Holy Spirit's work unique? These are important questions for today's believer.
Much supernatural activity goes on in churches that is assumed to be of God, but is it? Here are a few examples. As you read them, ask yourself "Do these describe the work of the Holy Spirit? How can I tell?"
News item: NEGLIGENCE - "Act of God" Defense, The Supreme Court of Louisiana has refused to allow application of the "Act of God" defense in a personal injury suit brought by one worshiper against another on allegations that defendant ran into plaintiff while plaintiff was in the aisle of a church praying. Defendant had contended that she was "trotting under the Spirit of the Lord" when the accident occurred. Bass v. Aetna Ins. Co., 370 So.2d 511 (opinion by Justice John A. Dixon, Jr.). (Photocopy in The Wittenburg Door's Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction, published by Harvest House Publishers)
Classified ad: DIVINE HEALING, lay on of the hands, by appointment only, Tuesday and Wednesday, 12-8PM. (Address and telephone number withheld. Photocopy in The Wittenburg Door's Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction, published by Harvest House Publishers)
A cassette tape series called The Holy Spirit In You teaches you "how to put the awesome power of God's Holy Spirit to work as effectively as the disciples did in the First Century Church."
A popular video series called the Alpha Course presents the gospel and basic Christian lifestyle to non-believers. It has been endorsed by many well-known evangelists, pastors and church denominations. The course also promotes as from the Holy Spirit such manifestations as uncontrollable laughter, shaking, and animal noises.
If you came to a conclusion on any of these examples, can you give a good biblical reason for your conclusion? It should be easy for us believers to know what is of God because we have the Holy Spirit living inside us, but sadly, many of us feel a work is of the Holy Spirit even when that work goes counter to how the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit works.
The point of this article is to show you how you can recognize the Holy Spirit's work and distinguish it from man's or Satan's work. While I am going to focus a lot on spiritual gifts in this article, what I have to say applies to all areas of the Spirit's work.
Spiritual Gifts - A Different Approach
The church today tends to approach the subject of spiritual gifts in one of two different ways. Charismatic churches teach that the Holy Spirit still gives miraculous sign gifts to believers just as in the early church. Non-charismatic churches teach that miraculous gifts ceased early on because they were only to help the church get started. Both sides have some pretty convincing arguments to prove their position. Both have scriptures to back up what they believe, but obviously both can't be right. If you bring them together to share their viewpoints, the discussion usually blows up into a verbal battle that doesn't change anyone's mind. While I have my opinion on this subject, in this article I'm not going to take sides. I'm not going to say that such-and-such a gift is for today or not. I'm not going to say which specific supernatural manifestations are of God and which are not. That is not my purpose for writing this. Instead, I want to show you how you can know if any specific work is of God. Then you can apply what you learned to see for yourself if a particular gift or manifestation is of God or not.
One of the reasons that dialog between charismatics and non-charismatics is so difficult is that each of us tend to focus on our own "pet" doctrines. The problem is that we tend to study only the parts of the Bible that confirm what we already believe. This is a type of self-deception. When we study the Bible, we need to study all of it and not make excuses for the parts we don't agree with.
When I study the Bible, especially about something controversial, I try to set aside my own biases. This is hard to do because I'm not always aware of what they are. Listening to various viewpoints helps me become aware of my biases, but what I believe must not be determined by the best sounding argument, but by what the Bible says.
As far as miraculous spiritual gifts are concerned, I've come to the conclusion that the question of whether they are for today or not is irrelevant. Instead, what we should be focusing on is the character and nature of God, who is the Giver of the gifts, so that we tell on an instance by instance basis if any specific work is of God. Paul said:
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
-
The key words in this passage are the last three: "as He wills". The gifts that we received when God saved us were given by God at His discretion. We had no say in the matter. When I first trusted in Christ, God did not ask me what gift I would like. And I did not say, "Well, Lord, I'm going to go to a Baptist church, and they don't believe the gift of tongues is for today, so please don't give me that gift." That would have been silly! If the gift isn't for today, what do I have to worry about - God won't give it. But if it is for today, who am I to tell God what to do. Likewise, I did not say, "Since I'm going to go to a Pentecostal church, please give me the gift of healing.". That would have been equally silly for the same reasons. No, God decided which gift He wanted me to have. He gave me the gift I needed for the area He wanted me to minister in. Any other gift would have limited God's work through me.
To put it simply, if a gift is for today, then we will see God give it. If it is not for today, then we won't see God give it. This is a statement that I think both charismatics and non-charismatics can agree on.
The Problem With Pragmatism - Should Seeing Be Believing?
At this point, there are those who will say, "So, miraculous gifts are for today, because there are believers who practice them." But it's not that simple. Just because someone is doing something miraculous doesn't mean it is of God, even if it is a believer who is doing it. John warned us:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
-
The reason he warned us is because we can be deceived.
In the Old Testament, the Israelites were instructed to test prophets.
If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, `Let us go after other gods' --which you have not known--`and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
-
Notice that the test had nothing to do with whether a miracle had
really happened. Real or not, the people were not to listen to the prophet
who led them away from God to serve other "gods". They were to
obey God as He had already revealed Himself, and one of the ways He had
done so was with the command "You shall have no other gods before
me" (
In this world, God is not the only one who works miracles. God permits
Satan to do some pretty amazing things also. When Aaron cast down his
staff before Pharaoh and it became a snake, Pharaoh's magicians did the
same thing and their staffs also became snakes (
When we become believers, we don't suddenly know all that is of God and all that isn't. We are not given perfect understanding of all things spiritual. Just like the Israelites in the Old Testament, New Testament believers were also instructed to test the prophets. In the early church, when someone prophesied, those who listened were not to blindly accept what they heard but were to listen with a discriminating ear to see if what was said was really of the Holy Spirit or of a deceiving spirit:
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.
-
A quick reading of this verse makes it appear that all Paul is doing is limiting the number of those who prophecy in church to three, and instructing those who listen to pay close attention because they might learn something. But Paul is actually giving the listeners a big responsibility. The greek word translated "judge" is diakrino which means to try, to learn by discrimination, to decide. In the New King James version of the Bible, this word is elsewhere translated as:
* Discern (
* Judge (
* Make distinction (
* Show partiality (
* Waver (
* Differ (
* Doubt (
* Contend (
What a responsibility! Paul is telling believers to test to see if what those with the gift of prophecy are saying is true. We are to discern, judge, even doubt the message if it shows signs of not being from God.
Testing is scriptural. The Ephesian church was commended for testing
those who were called apostles (
In 1994, Jill Barnes heard about a church meeting where people were on the floor "laughing their heads off". Some shared about how God had revealed things in their lives that displeased Him. Others said they felt drunk.
After hearing a friend talk about a meeting where she had gone forward for prayer and fell down and shook from head to toe, Jill became curious enough to go with her.
At the meeting, the pastor gave a message, then there was an invitation to come forward for prayer. Jill went forward. Someone put a hand over her head and she felt a bit dizzy. She noticed others were falling to the floor around her. Wanting to be touched by God, Jill let herself fall back. She felt what she later described as a "horrible, uncomfortable, heavy, oppressive feeling" go over her head and down her body. Her hands were clenched together but she couldn't relax or unlock them from each other. Scary, yes. But Jill thought this was of God. Eventually the meeting came to an end and she went home.
A few days later, the heavy uncomfortable feeling came back and Jill went to bed terrified. Soon after, she started hearing voices that said, "Now you're free! Now you don't have any problems!" Then the voices said: "Kill yourself! Jesus isn't real! The Old Testament is real, but Jesus wasn't the Saviour! You've got to look again, find out where and who the Saviour really is!".
By this time, Jill knew that this was demonic oppression. She eventually came out of her oppression with God's help and the help of friends through prayer, in-depth Bible reading and obedience to what she found there. But what happened to her can happen to any one of us who fails to recognize how the Holy Spirit works.
Biblical Testing
The Bible tells us to test the spirits. This implies that there is a method of testing - a standard by which we can know if a message or sign is truly of God.
Many Christians feel uncomfortable with the idea of testing God, and
well they should. The Bible says we are not to tempt God (
So how can we know? What is this measuring stick by which we can test spiritual manifestations? Does it really exist? Can we really know if a message or sign is truly of God? I believe we can.
First, while the Holy Spirit can manifest Himself through physically miraculous means, His work is not identified through a particular outward act or manifestation. Satan has power in this world to cause miracles that look on the surface very much like the work of the Holy Spirit. For example, what we know of today as the gift of tongues or glossolalia (speaking in an unknown language), also occurs in some eastern religions and cults. The Way, International, which denies Jesus is God, practices glossolalia. So did the Heaven's Gate cult whose mass suicide in 1997 made the headlines years ago. There is even some evidence that much of this practice is not even supernatural. An article in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology (mentioned in Science Frontiers issue 51) told of an experiment where 20% of the participants spoke in tongues (unknown language) immediately after listening to a tape recording of genuine glossolalia. With some further training, the number increased to 70%. Whether this is a valid gift of the Spirit or not, it cannot be relied on as evidence that God is at work. No outward physical manifestation can.
Second, the Holy Spirit's work is not identified through a particular feeling or emotion. Satan can produce in us convincing feelings of closeness with God. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit doesn't always supply us with good feelings. One of the things the Holy Spirit does is makes people uncomfortable with respect to sin in their lives.
However, the Holy Spirit's work can be identified through the character and the results of His work. It is these two areas that show the uniqueness of the Spirit's work and set it apart from man's or Satan's work.
Character
The character of the Holy Spirit's work is what reveals His character
and divine nature, and it is always in agreement with God's character as
revealed in the Bible. This is because the Holy Spirit is God, who is
unchanging, the same yesterday, today, and forever (
The Holy Spirit is the least understood Person of the Trinity, but this doesn't have to be. Because the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are One and share the same nature, we can learn what each Person is like by studying the Others. When Jesus walked this earth, He showed us what the Father is like so that when one of His disciples asked Him to show them the Father, He replied:
"Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, `Show us the Father'?"
-
Jesus also showed us what the Holy Spirit is like because the Holy
Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus (
-
will not lead someone to glorify self or a ministry at the expense of His own glory (
Isaiah 42:8 ). -
will not cause someone to prophecy falsely. (Anything less than 100% accuracy is not of Him -
Deuteronomy 18:22 .) -
will not tell someone to lie or act deceptively (
Zechariah 8:17 ) -
will not tell someone to steal (
Hosea 4:1-3 ) -
will not tell someone to seek a divorce (
Malachi 2:16 )
These things displease God, and what displeases God the Father also displeases the Son and the Holy Spirit. Angel Maturino Resendiz murdered 9 people in 1997 and 1998 because he believed he was on a mission from God to eliminate evil. His actions showed his mission was not from God. His actions contradicted God's character.
We grieve the Holy Spirit when we sin (
Whoever abides in Him does not sin. ...
-
When you sin, you can be sure you didn't do it under the control of the Holy Spirit.
God's character and nature was most evident through the life of Jesus
on earth. We can learn a lot about God's character by studying Jesus' life
and teachings, and by putting those teachings into practice. When we let
the Holy Spirit have His way in our lives, our lives will become more
Christ-like (
-
We will be careful not to cause even the least person to stumble in his walk with God (
Matthew 9:42 ). -
We will make sure our relationships with others are in order so that our relationship with God will not be hindered (
Matthew 5:23-24 ). -
We will forgive those who continually sin against us (
Matthew 18:21-22, Ephesians 4:32 ). -
We will love and seek to benefit those who are our enemies (
Luke 6:35 ). -
We will humbly serve others (
John 13:13-15 ).
Nobody is saying that these are easy things to do. But the Holy Spirit living inside us enables us to do them because God's work inside us reveals God's character and nature through us. If we are not living this way, then what's being revealed is not of God but of the world, the flesh, or the devil.
God's character is evident through the work of the Holy Spirit in both
the Old and New Testaments. God's Holy Spirit was with David through much
of his life, and it showed. David was called a man after God's own heart
(
Results
Just as with the character of the Holy Spirit's work, the results will also always be in agreement with the results of His work in the Bible. One of the most popular passages on the work of the Holy Spirit is Acts chapter 2. Sometimes, when we read this chapter, we focus on only one aspect: the miraculous gifts. But to gain a more complete understanding, we need to look at the ends, not the means, of the Spirit's work.
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
-
Pentecost (or the Feast of Weeks) was a Jewish holiday that celebrated
the bringing in of the first fruits. It occurred 50 days after Passover
and was one of the three holidays all Jewish men were required to be in
Jerusalem for. So at this time, not only were all of the disciples still
in Jerusalem (per Jesus' instructions in
We also read in this verse that the disciples were all together in one
place when the Holy Spirit came. This group included the eleven remaining
disciples (see vs 14), but it may also have included some women, including
Jesus' mother, as well as His brothers, as they were previously meeting
together for prayer and supplication (
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
-
When the Holy Spirit came, it was suddenly, without warning. Yes, Jesus had said He would send the Holy Spirit, and they were expecting Him to come, but the disciples did nothing to cause Him to come. As Jesus had told them, all they had to do was wait and He would send the Spirit to them unconditionally as He had promised.
We don't decide how the Holy Spirit works; God does (
The Holy Spirit comes at God's own leading, not at our own. We cannot cause ourselves to be filled with the Spirit because the Spirit is sovereign God who moves when He wants to. But we can prepare ourselves to be used. We can willingly submit ourselves to His will, obeying the commands that He has already given us. When we do this, then the Holy Spirit will come and fill us.
A note on spiritual gifts: All believers are given at least one
spiritual gift. The gift you were given was not given for your own benefit
but for the benefit of the body of Christ (
And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? ... we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."
-
When the Jews heard the apostles speak, they were amazed. Here were uneducated, common, everyday people, whom they recognized as Galileans, speaking in their own languages. It was obvious to them that the apostles had never learned these languages. This miracle was in itself enough to attract their attention. However, they not only recognized their own languages, they understood what the apostles were saying. They paid attention to the words. They heard them "speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." This was something that would have been impossible had the disciples been speaking in an unknown language.
One of the results of the work of the Holy Spirit is that glory is
brought to God the Father and Jesus Christ - not only by believers but by
non-believers (
The Holy Spirit's work glorifies God the Father and Jesus Christ. It makes His character and nature known to believers and non-believers alike. Men come away with a better understanding of who God is and what He is like. This is one of the primary works of the Holy Spirit. It is not the Spirit's purpose to glorify anyone or anything else - not a ministry, a leader, a spiritual gift, or surprisingly, even Himself.
When Jesus walked this earth, even though He was equal with God, He did
not glorify Himself. Instead He humbled Himself (
Beware of those who lift up a man or a ministry. When this is done, it is at the expense of God's glory. We need to focus less on ourselves and our accomplishments and more on God and what He has done.
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: `And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; ...
-
Peter's first public message was given under the power of the Holy
Spirit. As Jesus had promised, he was given the words he needed to say in
that very hour (
First, Peter addressed what had attracted the people's attention. No,
he was not drunk as some had thought. This event was of God because it was
a fulfillment of a prophecy written hundreds of years earlier. The
prophecy said that in the last days, God would pour out His Spirit on all
flesh. It would not be limited to the occasional king, priest, or prophet.
Instead, God would work through common people such as Peter the fisherman,
Matthew the tax-collector, and even the gentiles (
What the Jews had seen was not only a fulfillment of prophecy, it was also a verification of the authority and message of the apostles. Because it was evident that this miracle was of God, the people had to listen to Peter because God was working through him. They must listen to him or ignore him at their peril.
Miraculous sign gifts, such as the gift of tongues, were given to
validate the gospel message to non-believers. Paul taught this when he
wrote that tongues are a sign for unbelievers, those outside of the
church, not believers (
... And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.' Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know---- Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ...
-
After Peter shows that his authority to speak is of God, he draws the people's attention away from the miracle and to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He uses Joel's prophecy as a lead-in to the heart of his message.
Peter pulled no punches when he spoke, he just gave the facts. He didn't worry about what the people would say or do. If they rejected him, then they would really be rejecting Jesus. This was a big turn-around from the way Peter had acted earlier. Just seven weeks ago he didn't want people to know he was associated with Jesus. Now, he boldly proclaims the gospel message. This was entirely due to the Holy Spirit's power in his life.
Jesus was clearly a "Man attested by God". The miracles He did testified to His being sent by God. But even with this evidence, He was crucified unlawfully by the very people Peter was speaking to. God, however, raised Him from the dead. Peter was a direct witness of His resurrection as well as Jesus' life and death. So were the other disciples with him. Therefore their testimony carried a lot of weight.
The Holy Spirit works in us to spread the gospel message. The gospel focuses on the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as the final payment for our sins to reconcile us to God. It is the message of God's grace shown through Christ's death. It is not a message of morality, healing, Christian life-style, social change, religion, or anything else.
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
-
Through Peter's message, the people were "cut to the heart". They were suddenly aware of the status of their relationship with God, and almost in panic, asked "What shall we do?" A valid question, since their guilt was real: they had crucified God's Holy One.
The Holy Spirit convicts men of sin (
A note on baptism: Peter says that everyone must be baptized (Greek
baptizo) in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins. The baptism
he is referring to is the regenerating indwelling of the Holy Spirit that
begins the moment we are saved (
The clearest example that shows the meaning of baptizo is a text from the Greek poet and physician Nicander, who lived about 200 B.C. It is a recipe for making pickles and is helpful because it uses both words. Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be 'dipped' (bapto) into boiling water and then 'baptised' (baptizo) in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution. But the first is temporary. The second, the act of baptising the vegetable, produces a permanent change.
When used in the New Testament, this word more often
refers to our union and identification with Christ than to our water
baptism. e.g.
When we are saved, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, changing us from the inside out. This is the process of sanctification and it results in a permanent change. A cucumber permanently becomes a pickle by taking on the nature of the vinegar. The longer it is in the solution, the more the cucumber-nature is replaced with the vinegar nature. Likewise, the more the Holy Spirit works in us, changing our nature, the less like our old selves we will be and the more Christ-like we will become. But it takes time. The cucumber must remain in the solution to become a pickle. The process is not instantaneous.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
-
A change came over the people once they were saved. They had a new relationship with Jesus Christ and a new relationship with each other. They not only spent time under the apostle's teaching and in prayer and communion, they also started developing spiritual fruit. They sold their possessions and with the money gave assistance to those in need. They did this joyfully with a great peace in their hearts. This change was evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit produces good spiritual fruit in our lives. This fruit
is listed in
When we let the Holy Spirit have His way, this fruit will grow and mature in our lives and the church will become more unified in Christ. Not only will individual believers grow, so will the whole church. The Holy Spirit does not cause us to lose control, but frees us from other things and powers controlling us so that we can do God's will.
The Bible says the fruit (results) of a work will tell you about the
source of the work (
Jesus said every tree is known by its fruit (
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
-
Corrupt fruit is a result of living a life that pleases the flesh.
Living to please yourself will produce corrupt fruit which is not edifying
but destructive (
Summary
Other passages in the Bible show these same characteristics of the Holy
Spirit's work. For example, in the next two chapters of Acts, when Peter
healed a lame man, this gave him another opportunity to present the gospel
to the Jews and to glorify God. This article is only the start. I
recommend that you study for yourself the nature, purpose, and work of the
Holy Spirit. When you become familiar with how the Holy Spirit worked in
the early church and thoughout the Bible, you can better recognize His
work today and discriminate His work from the work of deceiving spirits.
Some general passages on the Holy Spirit are
Testing is very important so that we don't get sucked into every whim of doctrine. These qualities that I've listed can be used to test if any work is of the Holy Spirit. But they can also be used to see if the Holy Spirit is working in your own life. Just ask yourself:
-
Are my actions affirming or contradicting God character or nature as revealed in the Bible? Am I obeying or disobeying God's law? Am I living a more Christ-like life or am I living like the world?
-
Is God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son being glorified in my life? Are people able to see and understand God better through me? Is His character and nature being revealed?
-
Is it obvious God is at work in my life? Or it is only me, a ministry, or a spiritual gift they see?
-
Is my spiritual gift being used to build up the church, either by providing opportunities to spread the gospel, or by helping the church grow more Christ-like? Or am I using my spiritual gift only for my own benefit, for my own self-interests?
-
Am I being used to spread the gospel message of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection? Are non-believers being convicted of sin, repenting, and coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?
-
Are all of the fruits of the spirit becoming more evident in my life? Am I showing love even to my enemies? Do I have joy even when external circumstances seem contrary? Am I living a more sober, self-controlled life? Am I more patient? etc.
-
Am I seeking the Holy Spirit's leading, or am I trying to lead the Holy Spirit? Am I seeking God's will, or am I looking for God's approval of my will?
If one or more of these areas are lacking, I suggest looking for things and attitudes in your life that are grieving the Holy Spirit. Examine yourself to see what is hindering the work of the Holy Spirit in and through you.
The key to recognizing the Holy Spirit's work is to become personally and intimately familiar with God Himself. Spend time reading, studying & meditating on God's word. Get to know God through obedience to His commands. Get to know His nature, His character, and His purpose. Get to know Him. Then you won't be fooled by imitations.
Written by Andrew R. Bernhardt - as of 5/16/2003