by Jim Gordon
1 Corinthians 2:4-5 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God
People can be persuaded to do certain things or believe certain things by the power of suggestion from other people, especially those who have a charismatic personality.
There is nothing wrong with listening to others. We can learn from others by listening and we can encourage others by talking together. Yet we do not want to depend on what others say putting all our faith and trust in their words and opinions.
Our faith needs to be based on more than just the power of words. Our faith needs to be in the living God and the power of his Spirit. Paul tells us that when he spoke it was not by natural wisdom of men but by power and demonstrations of the Holy Spirit.
Even today there are many people who can talk and persuade others by the power of their message. We do not need more powerful man-made messages or the opinions of others to guide us. Now more than ever we need to seek and listen to the wisdom of God presented through the Holy Spirit. The powerful and life changing guidance of the Holy Spirit is the only thing that will make a difference in our lives today.
We need to be careful who we listen to and what message they are presenting. There are many people with their own agendas and who are way off base from the message the Holy Spirit wants to give. Love God, love one another and seek first the kingdom of God are not common messages in our world today.
Remember, John wrote in his epistle that we have the Holy Spirit living within us and we have no need for anyone to teach us what is true.
Abide in Christ and listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit within you to lead and guide you. Let the love of God flow from you daily to help and encourage others along the way.
This message also brought peace to my heart as I read it. I also have much to learn in discerning the voice of the Holy Spirit. Usually in making decisions, if I don’t have peace about it, I won’t make any moves. The times that I have thought I heard the Holy Spirit speaking and moved forward in making a decision, I was totally wrong in the decision I made, but found that God still put me back on the right path. We do need to be careful who we listen to. I can at least now pick up immediately when someone is trying to use the power of persuasion to further their own agenda. My spiritual meter starts fluttering and I know that what they’re saying is not the wisdom of God. Some people are actually being charmed. As you say we need to let the love of God flow from us daily and be an encouragement to others with no hidden agenda….just LOVE.
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Good comment Carol. I think the Spirit will make his way known as we wait and listen for him. And as you found out, even when we get it wrong God still redeems his way in us. Thanks for commenting.
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The years I attended church services, I don’t recall hearing much if anything about testing spirits, judging what is said, anything like that. And I certainly don’t remember ever hearing anything on the verse you quoted- we have no need that anyone teach us. I didn’t really see that verse until I left the system. It’s the system that encourages dependence on leadership. Such a pity. Again, thanks for an on-target post.
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Thank you. Same for me, never thought about hearing from the Spirit. It was always the pastor or Sunday school teacher. It is true, the system wants to be in charge and dictate to us what to believe. Thanks for your comment and encouraging words.
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I agree we have to give more power to the Spirit’s than human’s voice. But I still have much to learn in how to discern the Spirit’s voice.
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You are so right. I am with you on that. It is easy to say that is what we need, but harder to actually learn how to know for sure the Spirit’s leading.
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Such a great message here, Jim. And it brought such a peace to my heart as I read it. Thank you.
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Thanks for the encouraging words Jem.
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