The Witness Of The Spirit

The Witness of the Spirit
Romans 8:16 NKJ
"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."

God has a plan for guiding His children in all aspects of life, especially in matters that the Bible does not specifically address, such as decisions like which job to take or whom to marry. The primary method God uses to lead us in these areas is through the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. This is not an audible voice, but an inner knowing communicated to our spirit.

Romans 2:15 NKJ
"Who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them."

Another term for the witness of the Spirit is "peace."

Colossians 3:15 (Amplified)
"And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise…]"

An umpire is responsible for making decisions. Similarly, our "umpire" is the inner peace or witness in our spirit, which helps settle decisions and directs us.

1 John 5:10 NKJ
"He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself..."

One way Scripture describes the "inner witness" is with the phrase "it seemed good."

This phrase is how God has led many to understand His will in various situations. It is how I, personally, have determined which messages to preach—by praying and seeking God until it just "seemed good" to my spirit. While I couldn't always explain it, I knew it was God's direction for me.

I also saw this same "leading" in Scripture, as in how Luke decided to write the Gospel of Luke or how the early Church made decisions.

Luke 1:3 NKJ
"It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus."

Acts 15:25, 28 NKJ
"25 It seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul.
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things."

An immature believer might misinterpret this guidance and claim that something "seemed good" to them when it is not in line with God's will. However, the witness of the Spirit is not about what "seems good" to our flesh or minds but to our innermost being—the spirit where God dwells, if we are believers in Christ.

We must always remember that the Holy Spirit will never lead us to do anything that contradicts God's written Word, the Bible. So, being familiar with and grounded in God's Word is essential.

SAY THIS:
God is helping me understand how to be guided by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit.

BURNED BISCUITS

When I was a kid, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I’ll never forget what he said: “Honey, I love burned biscuits.”

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, “Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she’s real tired. And besides – a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!”

Life is full of imperfect things…..and imperfect people. I’m not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I’ve learned over the years is that learning to accept each others faults – and choosing to celebrate each others differences – is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that’s my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God.

We could extend this to any relationship. In fact, understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or siblings or friendship!

“Don’t put the key to your happiness in someone else’s pocket – keep it in your own.”

God Bless You….. Now,and Always….

Your Marriage Is Your Ministry

EPHESIANS 5:33 ESV

33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and

let the wife see that she respects her husband.

God desires to bless your spouse through you!

Jesus has sent us out as members of His spiritual Body, to

minister to those around us. We are supposed to allow His love

to flow through us.

MATTHEW 25:40 GWN

40 "The king will answer them, 'I can guarantee this truth:

Whatever you did for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter

how unimportant they seemed, you did for me.'

God loves your spouse -- enough to die for them.  His desire is

to help them and bless them. They are not perfect. They need a

lot of help. That is why God sent you, as His representative,

to minister to them.

To minister means to serve. God put you where you are to serve

-- to be a blessing. It is a mistake to think of "Christian

ministry" only as being a pastor or missionary, etc. Any time a

Christian is serving (helping) people it is "Christian

ministry."

Your ministry is not limited to your spouse, but it certainly

includes them.

Whatever other ministry God may entrust to you, if you are

married, God has trusted you with the ministry of being a

blessing to your spouse.

God has not left you to struggle in this ministry on your own.

He is with you, and in you, to work through you. God will help

you. But you must allow Him to do so.

Building up and encouraging your spouse will also be doing

yourself a favor. They will be more pleasant to live with when

they are blessed, loved, and encouraged.

SAY THIS: I accept responsibility to minister to my spouse, to

serve them by helping them in any way I can.