Holy Spirit’s voice
2 Cor 10:5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
Why is it necessary to take every thought captive to obey Christ? We need to remember that not every thought we have, is our own. Some thoughts are a communication from the spirit realm, either from Holy Spirit, or from Satan and his demonic forces.
How then are we to discern where our thoughts originated from? One of my favourite teachers, Neville Johnson, speaks of the spontaneity of the Spirit’s voice. Your own thoughts mostly come out of your deliberations concerning a specific matter, it is based on your own logical reasonings and arguments about it. Which mostly cannot be trusted, as it comes from you! But the Spirit drops a thought into your mind spontaneously, it just suddenly is there, out of the blue as it were. I was reminded of this when a friend gave her testimony on how she was packing for a camping weekend, and a thought just arose: Pack an extra pair of contact lenses. Which she ignored because it was not something she usually did – to her detriment, as one lens tore while she was on the camp!
Holy Spirit’s voice sounds just like your own thought voice, it is not an audible voice from outside (although God can speak to you in this manner if He wishes to). It sounds the same because there is a Spirit-to-spirit communication which then reaches your brain instantly, using your physical neural pathways. But there is a certain awareness or feeling of the person behind the voice. The character of the speaker shines through. If what is thought makes you anxious, or afraid, or makes you feel condemned and ashamed, or puts you down, or alters your mood so that you now feel depressed – you can surely know that Satan and his demons are behind this communication. He is the father of lies, he hates you, does not want you to have the joy of the Lord, and will always try to deceive and mislead you. Holy Spirit, on the other hand, will give you thoughts to uplift you, guide you, give you truth, and even if you need correction will never make you feel condemned, but just quietly and lovingly convict you that you are now on the wrong path.
God has given us a test by which we can discern who is communicating with us:
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Is that thought in your mind conveying truth? Will it lead to behaviour that is noble and honourable? Does it encourage me to do what is right? Is it pure, lovely, admirable? Can I praise whatever it is suggesting to me as excellent? If not – cast it out of your mind!
Points to ponder: Am I just accepting all thoughts which arise in my mind as my own, or am I discerning where they come from? Ask Holy Spirit to teach you and start practising to recognize His voice. You can stand on His promise given in Joh10:27 that His sheep do indeed hear His voice!
Priscilla Koegelenberg
Feel free to email me at questions.powerhouse@gmail.com