175 Learning to be led by the Holy Spirit – Part 3

Holy Spirit Guidance Through Recalling Scriptures or the Word, (Rhema).

There is another way to receive guidance from God, especially when we are at a crossroads of decision. The Holy Spirit will cause us to remember a scripture story or verse. There are many cases where the disciples of Christ would recall statements that Jesus had made. The recalling of Christ’s words would encourage or give direction to the disciples. The recalling of the Word is called Rhema.

Jesus says in the Gospel of John 14:25-27, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 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 things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” I want to focus on the phrase “bring to remembrance all things I said to you.” Because Jesus knew that He would soon be leaving His disciples, He wanted to encourage His followers so that they would not lose hope. Jesus makes a promise that the Father would send a Helper and that Helper is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. In a sense Jesus was sending Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit. 

Here is an important thought: the Bible is the Word of God. However, Jesus is also the Word of God. Listen to John 1:1-5 & 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” 14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Whether we read and recall the scriptures through the Spirit or perceive Jesus speaking to us through the Spirit, both can be thought of as Rhema words. 

Hebrews 13:8 makes an important statement: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This means that what was spiritually true when Jesus walked the earth is true for us today, no matter what some may think. Today, Jesus is doing the very same thing through the Holy Spirit and Scripture. Jesus says in John 16:13, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” 

Let’s take a look at six scriptural examples of statements remembered:

1. Recall when Peter declared that he would never abandon Jesus. Then Jesus prophesized that Peter would deny Him three times. It is possible that Peter forgot the Word Jesus spoke to him, especially when Jesus was taken prisoner in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter, terrified, followed the guards who had Jesus. Along the way, he was accused of being a follower of Jesus, and each time, he denied knowing Jesus. Then in Matthew 26:75,“And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So he went out and wept bitterly”. In this case, the Rhema word produced conviction and eventual repentance.

• After the crucifixion of Jesus, His body was placed in a tomb. Several of the women came to prepare Jesus’ body with spices which was the custom. They came upon the tomb, which had the door rolled away, and the tomb was empty. It is here they encountered two angels, and they said in Luke 24:6-8, “He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ And they remembered His words.”You see, they remembered the words of Jesus, the Word of God.

• Remember in the scriptures when Jesus cleared out all the money changers and merchandisers on the Temple grounds? In John 2:16,17 Jesus said, “And He said to those who sold doves, ‘Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!’ Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.’” In this case, the disciples recalled the Old Testament scripture found in Psalm 69:9.

• There was an occasion when Jesus was talking to the religious leaders about the Temple in Jerusalem, and He said John 2:19-20, “Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” The religious leaders thought Jesus was talking about the building, the Temple when He was actually talking about Himself. Then in John 2:22, “Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.”The disciples would later understand the scriptures, the Word, and what Jesus, the Word, had said. 

• During what is known as the Triumphal Entry of Jesus, the people laid down palm fronds and proclaimed the following in John 12:14-15 “Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.” The followers of Jesus were confused by the events, but then John writes in John 12:16, “His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.”

• The final example is found in Acts 11. Here, Peter is speaking to the council of elders about the fact that the grace of Jesus is available to the Gentiles and not only to the Jews. He recounts the fact that the Holy Spirit fell upon those of Cornelius’ household and then says in Acts 11:16, “Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” There will be times when what we read in the Bible, or a prophetic word received does not make sense at the time. However, we must be patient for the Lord to work out the circumstances that will make all things work out for good!

Holy Spirit Guidance Through Circumstances

Pentecost

Psalms 37:23-24, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand.” What a beautiful verse of encouragement for the Believer seeking after God. God orders the steps, and the righteous person walks in them. The Lord is continually ordering our steps it is up to us to see, with spiritual eyes, the doors He opens for us. The keys are to trust and obey.

The Bible says that over 550 people saw the resurrected Christ for 40 days after the resurrection. Jesus tells His followers in Luke 24:49, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” Then again in Acts 1:4-5, “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Then Jesus made a promise in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” After all these proofs, only 120 of them ended up in the Upper Room in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. The Lord orchestrated the greatest move of God, the beginning of the Christian church! The door was open to all 550, but only 120 walked through, and they were used to change the world. 

God’s way is not always our way!

In Acts Chapter 16, we read about circumstances orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. First, Timothy joins Paul and Silas on one of Paul’s missionary journeys. They are traveling to the churches with a message from the apostolic leadership in Jerusalem. Paul planned to preach the Gospel in an area referred to as Asia. This is not the Asia we think of today. This region was part of the Roman province of Asia; We know it today as Asia Minor, where the nation of Turkey is located. 

Just as they are prepared to go into Asia/Turkey, they are forbidden by the Holy Spirit to continue their travel plans. Exactly how the Holy Spirit forbade them from entering Asia is not clear. Circumstances were likely such that they were unable to travel as planned. “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia” (Acts 16:6). 

Now, there are the plans of man and the plans of God. It is normal and natural to make our plans. However, we need to be ready to abandon our plans when God’s plan is revealed (Proverbs 16:9). There are times when our plans align with God’s plan. It is wonderful when that happens. There will also be times when we must give up our beautifully worked-out, well-thought-out plans and replace them with His plan. Our plans may occasionally be successful, but His plan is always fruitful!

Notice that instead of waiting for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the ministry team continued with a plan of their own. “And after they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them” (Acts 16:7). Again, they were prevented from fulfilling their plans. We are not told how they were prevented from going forward with their plan, but probably the circumstances prevented them.

Why wouldn’t the Holy Spirit allow them to preach the Gospel in these areas? Apparently, in God’s strategic timing, the Gospel was not ready to be preached in this area of Asia, but the time had come for the Gospel to be preached in what is now known as Europe! “So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:8-10).

Be Kingdom Minded

But why, it may be asked, did the Holy Spirit forbid Paul’s apostolic team to preach the Gospel in Turkey/Asia? We cannot fully know God’s reasons for redirecting Paul and his team. God’s ways are often higher than our own (Isaiah 55:9). We can, however, understand after the fact that the Holy Spirit knew that the people of Europe were ready to receive the preaching of the Gospel – and that Paul was well-fitted for that assignment. We also see that the Holy Spirit was preparing another servant, Peter, for the assignment in Turkey/Asia (1Peter 1:1).

In the final analysis, we must see our efforts benefiting the Kingdom of God – rather than an individual church or a ministry plan. To be Kingdom-minded is to have the mind of Christ. To be Kingdom-minded means to recognize that we are all co-laborers in the harvest field of God. To be Kingdom-minded means serving God as our King, not serving our plans. Our obedience and loyalty are to Him! “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor” (1 Corinthians 3:7,8).

We are all ministers of the Gospel, and as such, God has a plan and strategy designed for you as a minister of the Gospel. You are an essential part of His larger Kingdom’s purposes. You are called to rest in (trust in, be faithful and diligent in) that to which you have been called. Please do not make the mistake of looking at what others are doing in ministry and comparing yourself to them. Seek God’s perfect plan for you and your ministry!