Do you know when the Holy Spirit is leading you? How can you discern the differences between your own ideas, feelings of guilt and the Holy Spirit? When are you confident that you have done what the Lord has asked of you and not just followed your own way?

It’s not the easiest lesson to learn. It has taken me years to recognize the Holy Spirit; and I’m just now somewhat confident. I don’t always know for sure that it is the Holy Spirit, and I often question myself. When I sense Him asking something of me, I think it might be God; but I never know for sure until I do it. A lot of times it just comes down to a feeling of supernatural peace after I do something, which is irrational from my human perspective.

1 Corinthians 2:14 says,

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

I often consider something the Holy Spirit might ask of me as foolish, yet that is the time I’ve learned to obey the most. The Spirit of God goes against my self-will. My sinful spirit naturally considers that the things of God are foolish. I don’t want to be kind to my enemy. I don’t want to keep inviting the neighbor who has shown strong signs of rejection over for a fourth or fifth time. I don’t want to make the effort to give a cup of water in Jesus’ name. What good is a cup of water anyway? You get the picture.

What is life about if we do not pay attention to the Holy Spirit? What is the purpose of life if we do not attempt to get better at speaking and understanding the language of the Holy Spirit? When we don’t listen to the Holy Spirit we become self-indulgent, distracted, small minded, selfish people. The Holy Spirit knows how to show us the best things in life. When I am listening to the Holy Spirit, He helps me notice things I have never seen before. I learn to really see the world and smell the air, taking in the shaft of light as a touch from heaven.

In addition to getting more out of each and every ordinary day, I also get to see how much better I can be than who I am. I absolutely get ideas and again an understanding of myself and others. I can explain spiritual concepts. I have the strength, power and wisdom to do what is impossible for me.
Spiritual maturity is becoming more and more confident of when it is the Holy Spirit. The great thing is that the Holy Spirit is the one to teach you how to sense His guidance and obey Him. He will show you how to hear Him; you just need to want to hear and obey what He has to say.