In Acts 27:9-10 Paul says that he PERCEIVED that the voyage would be with hurt and much damage. I love the way that Hagin breaks down this scripture in chapter 27. Did he perceive it mentally? Did he perceive it physically? NO! He perceived this in his spirit — that inward witness we’ve been talking about.
“The reason that we as spirit-filled believers continually miss it, make mistakes, and fail is because our spirits, which should guide us, are kept locked away in prison, so to speak. Knowledge, or intellect, has taken the throne….Any person who shuts his spirit away and never listens to it — because the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord— becomes crippled in life and becomes an easy prey to selfish and designing people.”
- page 132
I pray that over the course of this book you’ve been able to take a good look on the inside at how you are perceiving your current situation and decisions you may need to make for the future. Is it based off of your own intellect? You may have even begun to notice in conversation with other people that everything that they are saying may make “sense” mentally but something just isn’t sitting right. That is your inward witness recognizing the difference between being guided and directed by human intellect rather than the spirit of God! Aren’t you grateful for the holy ghost?
Just as Hagin refers to the pastor’s situation in chapter 27, we are all capable of missing it! This is why we must endeavor every day to become more spirit-conscious. It’s easy to be body-conscious and mental-conscious because from a young child we naturally developed our body and our soul. To be spirit-conscious is the opposite of natural. It takes determination and focus to educate and develop our spirit man:
By meditation in the Word
By practicing the Word
By giving the word first place
By instantly obeying the voice of the spirit
Chapter 28 breaks down each of the ways to develop your spirit above. Make sure to do a study on these scriptures and post what God is showing you through this. Have you grown during this study? I know that many of you have and I am excited to see your comments. Have an awesome spirit-led week!