Listening To The Voice Of The Holy Spirit

Speaker: Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines

April 30, 2024

in Spritual Growth

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April 28, 2024

Readings:
Deuteronomy 4:32-40
1 John 3:18-24
John 14: 15-21

5th Sunday of Easter

We live in the midst of an awesome event. God has given us so much and blessed us. If only we would stop for a moment to really see and understand all that He has given us, then we would have the joy and strength in life. Take the creation alone and realize how awesome it is. It was created for eternity. When man makes something, it is just temporary because things keep changing. God’s creation is for all eternity. Scientists have this theory that the world was created by the big bang. But how can an explosion cause orderliness to come about? The Lord is high above the heavens and below the earth – there is no other. We are so consumed with what’s happening around us but God is still in charge. Man thinks he is in control of things but he cannot. There is a limit. He thinks he is wise but he is not.

Scripture says God will abide in us forever. God is love. Everything He has is love. He does not have any evil in Him. God has given us everything. He speaks to us through His Word. “I love you,” and what He does for us is always good and for our benefit.

John in the Gospel today stresses the importance of love. John 14:15 – “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. God requires obedience from us. Love is shown only in obedience. We have twisted things so much today that if iwe fail to know the truth if we love, then we should follow Him. Love is action. It doesn’t come in words, it comes in action. Jesus was the greatest example of love when He came to fulfill His task by obeying the will of the Father. In Gethsemane, although He sweat blood because of His human, emotional struggle, He still followed the will of God.

The enemy deceived man in the garden and when man disobeyed God, sin came into this world. John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever.” The Holy Spirit is our strength, the ability, the power, the understanding and knowledge to overcome. Changing a life of sorrow into victory. The Helper is One who’s called in the time of need. When we do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit will help us. He is our Counsel and Lawyer. When Jesus was tempted, He did not argue with the devil. He simply quoted the Word of God. We are to know the Word of God when we are tempted or when we face difficulties. It is in knowing God that we know who we are in Him. We should not be anxious or fearful if we know Him. We will be able to cope with everything if we know that He is in us, because He takes away our inadequacies.

God wants us to be in the Garden. Today, it’s getting hotter and hotter because we have cut down the trees and in its place, built high concrete buildings. The only truth is in Christ. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. He will not speak on His own initiative. He will reveal the truth to us. We should not be listening to other voices but only to God’s voice.

All things will pass away but not the things of God. He said to His disciples, “the things that I have done so shall you do, and even greater.” Do we see God in us? The Master of Life. The Lord of life. We’ve been indoctrinated by the system of the world that we think that what we do is normal. But God’s “normal” is peace. Many are teaching false doctrines today. We should only be guided by the Holy Spirit. If we truly love Him, He will be the One to come to us. We need to believe the things that God has given us. 1 John 3:18 “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” Romans 8:26 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”