The Holy Spirit: Our Guide
Every day, individuals face decisions, some of which carry significant, even irrevocable consequences. While everyone desires to make the right choices, limitations such as lack of facts or issues at hand often lead to wrong decisions. These wrong decisions can result from carelessly or indifferently failing to seek God’s direction. The wisest method for decision-making is to seek the mind of God concerning the specific situation. This process is centered on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who serves as the believer’s guide and leader.
The Holy Spirit: The Promised Guide
The message, “The Holy Spirit: Our Guide,” focuses on the promise Jesus made concerning all believers. Jesus spoke to His confused disciples, who were worried about what they would do after His departure. He promised them: “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth”. This guidance is a wonderful promise that every single believer possesses today.
Jesus emphasized that His departure was actually an advantage, stating, “it is to your advantage that I go away” because otherwise, the Helper would not come. The Holy Spirit is identified by Jesus as both the Helper and the Spirit of truth. He is the one who leads us in our decisions, directs our daily affairs, provides direction on how to invest our lives, and prevents us from making costly mistakes.
Unlike human advice, which is often cheap, flawed, or prone to telling us what we want to hear for acceptance, the Holy Spirit provides godly counsel and truth.
The Role of the Trinity in Guidance
The Holy Spirit, as a Person of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit), is omniscient. Therefore, He possesses perfect knowledge and wisdom regarding our past, present, and future and will never have to “second guess” or misguide us.
The process of receiving direction involves the entire Godhead:
- The Holy Spirit will not speak on His own initiative.
- He will receive from the Lord (Jesus Christ) and disclose it.
- The direction comes from the Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ, by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit would glorify Him, take what is Christ’s (which includes all things belonging to the Father), and disclose or reveal it to believers.
The Inbuilt Compass
When a person receives Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell every single one of us. The Holy Spirit is a Person, not a force or a “thing”. His indwelling presence acts like an “inbuilt compass” within us, guiding us properly and exactly the right way every single time without mistake. If a believer’s spirit is in agreement with the Holy Spirit, they will make the right decision every single time.
This indwelling is permanent; the Holy Spirit is present from the moment of salvation and is instantaneously accessible for consultation. The Bible assures us constantly of God’s guidance, as demonstrated in Psalm 23 (“He leads me beside quiet waters” and “He guides me in the paths of righteousness”) and Proverbs 3:5-6 (“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart… and He shall direct your path”).
The Threefold Purpose of Guidance
The Holy Spirit guides us with a specific, three-fold purpose in mind:
- To Prevent Immediate Mistakes: The Holy Spirit guides us to prevent us from making wrong decisions in the immediate present, keeping us from stumbling or faltering due to snap judgment. This covers the daily decisions we face.
- To Fulfill God’s Purpose: The Spirit guides us so that we may fulfill God’s great purpose for our life. This involves making the most of our time and understanding the will of the Lord for our life, ensuring our goals and ambitions are consistent with His plan.
- To Conform Us to Christ: The ultimate purpose of the Holy Spirit’s guidance is related to God’s ultimate goal, which is to conform us to the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. By making right decisions, God shapes us into Christ’s image.
Conditions for Receiving Clear Guidance
While the Holy Spirit is always present to guide, the believer must meet certain conditions to receive and follow this direction:
1. Be a Child of God
The promise of indwelling guidance is reserved for those who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Holy Spirit indwells a person only after they have been forgiven of sin through Christ’s blood, confessed, repented, and received Jesus. For the unbeliever, the Holy Spirit’s primary work is conviction—convicting them of their sin and their need for salvation.
2. Yield to Him
Guidance will not be clear if the believer is walking in rebellion toward God. Attempting to seek direction while living in unyielded sin often leads to wrong, expensive, and destructive decisions. Sin acts like a magnet near a compass needle, throwing off the clarity of God’s guidance and confusing our understanding. True yieldedness means coming to God with open hands, ready to accept His direction, even if the answer is “no” to a personal desire.
Believers are instructed to “walk by the Spirit” daily, relying upon His guidance and direction, seeking Him the moment they awaken. This is the “natural normal way” for the sons and daughters of God to live.
3. Believe and Anticipate Guidance
We must believe that the Holy Spirit will guide us. Those who come to God must believe that “He is and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”. Anticipating God’s answer makes us sensitive to the Lord’s leadership in what we see and hear around us. This expectation generates excitement and is a crucial part of the process of receiving direction.
4. Be Willing to Wait
Godly living sometimes requires the willingness to wait for God’s timing. While some decisions are known instantly, others may require seconds, minutes, hours, days, or even months. God often delays the answer to encourage prayer, prompt self-honesty, lead to “cleanup” of overlooked sin, and highlight our absolute dependence upon Him. The finished product in God’s eyes is not simply getting the answer, but the resulting warm, intimate relationship cultivated during the time of waiting.