A Heart to Heart With The Holy Spirit - Rev. Bernadette Towers
“God speaks once, even twice,
and still the hearer misses the point.”
Submitted by: Rev. Bernadette Towers
Some time ago I was having a conversation with a friend and we were discussing the Holy Spirit and how He speaks to us and how blessed we are to have God’s Spirit. Somehow we started discussing how some people seem to have the Holy Spirit on mute. We discussed the dangers of not being in the Word, knowing the voice of God and discerning false teachers and false prophets. We had a very real and honest concern for the spiritual well-being of the Christian community as a whole.
Later that day I remembered our discussion and looked up the word mute; Mute - to muffle, silence reduce, or eliminate the sound of. I ponder this and the word for a few days along with our conversation. I also thought about the scripture in Matthew 24, where Jesus speaks about how false Messiahs and prophets would rise up to deceive us. I then found my mind thinking of 2 Timothy where it speaks of people not desiring sound doctrine, turning away from the truth. I thought about the words in 2 Peter 2 where we read about the destructive doctrines, false teachers, and deceptive words.
I started thinking to myself, how very dangerous it is indeed to mute the Holy Spirit. I then questioned, am I guilty of muting the Holy Spirit? How does one mute the Holy Spirit? I even asked the Lord that night in prayer.
The next morning my alarm went off and I muted it, twice. Later that night my cell rang, I was in the middle of watching a show and it was at a very suspenseful part, so I muted my cell. It rang again a few minutes later, but I thought I had such a difficult and stressful day, do I feel up to talking? I took a quick look, I saw it was my younger brother and thought, I’ll call him back (and I did).
The next day I started thinking again about the word mute and the Holy Spirit. In the vision I first saw myself, yes me. I saw my phone rang, it read God and I muted it. I also saw me asleep, with my alarm going off. I could hear the voice of God calling to me. I said, oh Lord, no; I’m tired, muted my alarm and covered my head with my sheet.
I then saw a vision of a home Bible study, with a group of 4, waiting for another 4 to arrive so they could begin. But the other 4 never showed. After this vision, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit gently speaking to me. He said I am muted when you do not study the Word, when you do not take the time to listen and let Me guide you and correct you. I am muted when you choose not to show up for Bible studies and prayer meetings. I am muted when you choice to follow false teachings, so you can say, do and want what is contrary to the will of the Father and the Word of God. When instead of communing with Me, you turn over in bed, and go to sleep. I am muted out of ignorance. Many have forsaken the Word of truth; My people are perishing for lack of knowledge.
Have they forgotten that I have been sent by the Father? I am the helper, the One Who teaches.
I am the One Who brings conviction over sin. I am the source of power, strength and knowledge. I bring relation and understanding. I am the one who guide my people into truth. I am the Spirit of God; I dwell in believers.
All I could do was praise God and pray. Pray that we the believers, the followers of Christ would let the Holy Spirit rule in our lives. How blessed we are to have the Holy Spirit!