The Human Spirit
Because we are spiritual, we’ve been talking about spiritual influences upon our lives. In the last post we talked about the fact that we can hear the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, and because God is Spirit, He communicates with us spiritually. God has a purpose and plan for your life and uses a variety of means to make His will known to you. Show More
Recall that I also said that we can be influenced by the spirit of other people, or the human spirit. Last but not least we can be influenced by the spirit of the Devil.
One of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12is the discerning of spirits. “8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills”.
As a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, we have the ability to discern the spiritual realm! We also have the ability to distinguish which voice we are hearing, Jesus, the Devil, or the spirit of other human beings.
We’ve said in previous posts that our human spirit communicates with the spirit of other human beings. This is what we are talking about when we are in a relationship with others. This communication with other people is what makes us human.
That relationship may be casual, deep, familial, or romantic. It is an aspect of a human relationship that will cause you to be attracted, non-committal, or repelled by another person. It is not so much what that person looks like, does, or says, but it is a sense
For instance, in a relationship between a man and a woman, there is at first the physical attraction of “looks”. As the relationship goes deeper, there is the attraction of common interest, eventually, there is the connection of the soul, which is the connection of spirit to spirit!
There are some people who are able to overwhelm your spirit with an irresistible influence. We often referred to this as a magnetic personality, hypnotic personality, or dynamic personality. In any case they seem larger than life!
I have met people like that. They walk into the room and all attention turns to them. They are mesmerizing in their speech and influence. They can be either a positive force or a negative force. That is because they can be motivated by good or motivated by evil. Sometimes it can be difficult to discern what kind of influence they are until you are under their influence or control. That is why it is so important to exercise your ability to discern spirits.
For example, I happen to be a very trusting soul, that is I tend to believe what people say. I will have to admit that I may not be the most discerning person. My wife, Dee, on the other hand, has a very keen sense of spiritual discernment. The world would call it “woman’s intuition” I call it spiritual discernment. She has proven to be accurate more times than I would like to admit. As a result, I have come to trust her discernment! That is why it is so important to have Godly people in your life, to help you see things as they are and not as you want them to be. This is especially true if you are a new believer.
I am not going to get into Demonic influence today, that is for the next post, but realize that the Devil can influence you through the influence of the souls of others. Make no mistake about it, there are people motivated by evil and the most obvious evidence of that wrong motivation is when others try to manipulate and control you.
With so many voices in our minds can you see how important it is to recognize the voice of God! It takes practice and faith to recognize God’s voice, but remember the promise that Jesus makes in John 10,” My sheep hear my voice and they follow me”. As you spend time in His Word, the Bible you will learn to hear His voice. It might be through the illumination of the scriptures, or by personal revelation, or by prophecy or that “still quiet voice” that says follow me. Remember you can always trust the Bible it is a compass that points to the truth.
If what you hear, or sense is against what Jesus would do… beware. I personally like to use the Fruit of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22 and 23 as a guide, and it describes God’s spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Allow these character traits to guide your decisions and you won’t go wrong!
