Does the Holy Spirit MOVE You? Ep 2-39
Welcome Back! I am your host Dawn Simmons and in this episode of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies we are going to be discussing the Holy Spirit and how to make sure we are moving with the Holy Spirit, in His fullness. Most believers don’t truly MOVE with Him. The Holy Spirit has been silenced for so long that I doubt first century Christians, the first believers would even understand what Christianity is today. They wouldn’t recognize what we call a church service as “church.” Today we are going to talk about how important it is to MOVE with the Holy Spirit in all areas of our lives.
We are still going to get through the remaining Spiritual Gifts before we finish the year, but I want to spend some time discussing the Holy Spirit because if we do not have a deep, deep understanding of who the Holy Spirit is and how to work with Him, then we will not be able to function in the Spiritual Gifts the way God intends and the Holy Spirit provides. We will have only partial power, partial outcomes and that’s not our purpose. We want everything the Holy Spirit will provide, allow and enable in us with Him.
So really the question we have to ask ourselves to start out is what role do we have with the Holy Spirit in our lives, in our family, and sadly, even in our church?
Let’s start out with the Holy Spirit role in our lives. Where would you rate him in terms of your communication and your reliance on Him. Where does that reliance waiver? We have all had those moments, we have started out strong, but when things get really difficult, we either dig down deeper in our reliance on Him, or we run to where it is easier and we have others to lean on instead of the Lord. We have to grow past that point. We have to develop our relationship with him so deeply that no matter what is happening, no matter how loud, no matter how scary, no matter how unsettling, nothing gets in the way of hearing the Holy Spirit and His direction for us. When you get to that point, then you will MOVE in the full power and authority the Holy Spirit provides. No healing will be withheld, no miracle is too difficult, no demon too powerful, no problem insurmountable, NOTHING will be in our way. Whatever level you are at now in Faith, well that will dictate your level of everything else. Without Faith in every aspect of our relationship with the Holy Spirit, how can we accomplish even the simplest task? We have to want to grow. We have to want to develop ourselves. The thing I LOVE about you, you listen to this podcast to grow. You would not keep coming back if you were not interested in growing. We cannot be a person who accepts salvation and then learns a little here, a little there, maybe attends a small group, but never really experiences anything because they aren’t trying to experience the Holy Spirit. Jesus will spit you out of his mouth if that’s all you are going to do. Maybe I sound harsh today, but it is the truth with our church today. The Holy Spirit has been put in a box and he is such a gentleman, he won’t ask you to release Him. He’ll just leave you there with your empty box. He won’t stay where He is not wanted.
The Lord told me something a few years ago. He was talking to me about the vine. He said sometimes when you look at the vine, it looks like a lot of chaos, branches everywhere. When you first look at it, it looks like a tangled mess, but when He looks at it, He looks at purpose. He prunes periodically where He sees fit. The pruning serves a purpose and the branches become stronger. What gets pruned was not fit for the vine.
He told the disciples the same thing in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
It wasn’t until the Holy Spirit came that the disciples were really able to do everything that was required of them. We need to go from being like the disciples before the resurrection to being like the disciples after the ascension. They were totally different people, they were pruned in those moments. When the Holy Spirit dropped in that room in Acts 2, it says “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.”
In February this year I was in Jerusalem, I know I’ve shared that before. I entered the room where they believe this took place, and although the architecture has been changed, the room is the same. I walked in with anticipation and excitement that a place I dreamed of being able to visit for years was now happening. It was a pretty big room, my initial imagining of the room was that it would be much smaller, I looked around to try to imagine everyone sitting in there, waiting, not understanding. I thought of Jesus being in that room, encouraging them with words they didn’t understand. I stood there and in the time remaining I had to be able to be in the Upper Room, I tried to understand what that would have been like to have the Holy Spirit come down in a way none of them had ever experienced before. That incredible, world changing moment occurred in that room. I wanted to relive it, I wanted to experience it. I wanted the Holy Spirit to MOVE me however He wanted. I wanted a SUDDENLY! If you don’t already want a suddenly, I want you to want a suddenly. No matter how many times you experience a suddenly, you want more. I want every ounce of your being to want to be MOVED by the Holy Spirit. That’s when life begins. When you are abandoning yourself, submitting to the Holy Spirit, that is what abundant life is. John 10;10, Jesus tells us He came that we may have life and have it to the full, abundant life.
Christians today don’t want that. They don’t want to abandon themselves, or submit to anything. I’m so thankful the first believers were willing to do so much for our benefit. They were able to do so much more than we even know because they submitted to the Holy Spirit and had all of the power the Holy Spirit provided. They suffered, they repented, they prospered, they had moments of rebellion. All the things we have today, but they were willing to allow the Holy Spirit to MOVE them and MOVE in their lives. So they saw literal chains break open, they saw dead coming back to life, they saw miraculous healings. Have you seen any of those things with your own two eyes? We need to be doing what is necessary so we can see those things. Let the Holy Spirit MOVE you. If you can be willing to let Him MOVE you, then He can begin to MOVE in the lives of your family.
Once we open the door for our families then we have momentum.
Last November, about 1 am, we got a call. When the phone rings at that time, you know its generally not a celebratory call. It was one of my sons. He had tried my phone first, but I am a heavy sleeper and I didn’t hear it. My phone is always on silent, so I rely on vibrate. So when my husband’s phone rang and he answered I was, admittedly, alarmed. I could only hear my husband, so I didn’t even know who he was talking to but in those moments as he spoke, the Lord was revealing to me what the call was about. As I laid there, I could see my son driving his car, it was late at night and I can see my son in the car, drivers side, he is alone, but for some reason he doesn’t have control of the car. I can see the car is moving fast, it’s on the freeway and I know it is between our house and San Diego. The freeway on that stretch of road has concrete barriers to keep cars from passing over and hitting the cars going the opposite direction. My son’s car was no longer in the lanes but was driving up along the concrete barriers, going freeway speeds and along side his car is an angel, dressed in white, dark hair and he is holding my son’s car. He was straining somewhat as he held onto the drivers side fender. The Angel was perpendicular to the car, pushing it back, preventing it from colliding with the concrete barrier. Then I heard the Lord tell me something to the effect of, “I had him.”
I now start to listen to my husband talking to my son, thinking I understand at least who is calling but not fully understanding. The conversations carried on a few more minutes and then my husband makes sure he is okay and tells him to call back when he gets home.
My son was extremely tired. He was supposed to be headed to Japan on the Monday following Thanksgiving, but was told on Wednesday that they would be leaving on Friday instead. His plan to move out of his condo over the weekend was now not going to happen. Thursday was Thanksgiving and my son had to work, so he was trying to move out of the condo whenever he could and he was bringing his personal items home as quickly as he could. He had been at our house, visited some other family after he left our house and on his 4 hour drive to San Diego, he unfortunately fell asleep at the wheel. He awoke when the car drove up the concrete barrier and he said he heard his car hitting the concrete barrier. He called us immediately while it was still happening, how I do not know, but he was on the phone with my husband and they stayed on the phone while he pulled over off the freeway so he could assess the damage. He was thinking we would need to come get him, help him move out of his condo with the rest of his stuff and deal with his car while he was in Japan. He pulled over, got out, and was looking at his car. He was stunned. He said, I don’t know how this happened, I know I felt my car hit the concrete, and I heard it, but there is no damage to my car. Nothing. We drove down the next day to get his car so we could keep it at our house while he was gone and he retold the story and we all stood there looking at his car in amazement. I knew why it had no damage, but to see it was still pretty amazing. All he had was a white transfer from the concrete barrier on a bit of his tire.
That was a suddenly in the life of my family, not because my son is perfect or because he prayed before he got on the road. I’m sure praying was not on his mind as he got in the car that night. That suddenly happened because I welcome the Holy Spirit to MOVE in my life however He wants to and that night it meant He moved on behalf of my son.
Once we open the door to our family, He will MOVE in their lives as well.
So what about the other family, the church family. Is the Holy Spirit moving in your church family? Of all the places it should be moving, that is the first place you would think you would find it, but it is so disappointing to see the Holy Spirit being discounted and relegated to the sidelines while people make all the decisions and plans for the church. That isn’t going to work. To sit in a church with no Holy Spirit moving is depressing. There are multiple reasons why this can happen. These are the three reasons I have encountered.
First, the Holy Spirit was never invited. Generally you will find that in cessationist churches and churches that are referred to as “seeker” churches. That just means their whole focus is on getting unbelievers in, so everything is geared to being seeker friendly and as a result, in my experience those churches cater more toward worldly experiences that Holy Spirit experiences because they think it would be better for a non-believer to feel comfortable. That’s where compromising begins. They talk about the Holy Spirit, but nothing is explained about a relationship. One dimensional.
Second, these are churches that talk about the Holy Spirit, but they do not actually know how to or in some cases want to actually engage with Him. This can sometimes happen because members or leadership have had a negative experience with charismatic people and don’t want anything to get too out of hand. This is unfortunate because growth doesn’t happen and they end up missing out on what should be an amazing life with the Holy Spirit.
Third, I’ve seen churches who have leadership that are so scholarly that they rely on their knowledge instead of inviting the Holy Spirit to relationship. Book knowledge is nice, but it will never trump a relationship. When book knowledge is leading, there is no room for the Holy Spirit to MOVE.
There could always be a hybrid of any of these things happening as well, but these thoughts or practices will keep your church from being MOVED by the Holy Spirit. No church is perfect, but I would rather be in a church that engages with the Holy Spirit, that is of course, Bible based, than in a church with no life. The more you can surround yourself with people who hear the Holy Spirit and have a relationship with Him, the more you will be able to grow. Like it says in Proverbs 27, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” We have to always be growing in Him and doing it together is building the Kingdom.
I hope this has been time that inspires you to want to dig deeper with the Holy Spirit. We can never dig deep enough, He always has more for us and He will never stop giving us what we need when we lean into Him. He wants to MOVE in our lives, all we have to do is say yes and let Him MOVE. Your life will change and you can change the lives of anyone around you who is willing.
If you know anyone who might benefit from this, please share.
As always let’s discuss our Top Show Points:
· We discussed how important it is to MOVE with the Holy Spirit in all areas of our lives.
· We have to develop our relationship with him so deeply that no matter what is happening, no matter how loud, no matter how scary, no matter how unsettling, nothing gets in the way of hearing the Holy Spirit and His direction for us and then you will MOVE in the full power and authority the Holy Spirit provides.
· We have to want to grow. We have to want to develop ourselves or we won’t see the Holy Spirit MOVE in our lives
· John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
· Acts 2, Upper Room experience
· My visit to the Upper Room this year
· First century Christians were willing to allow the Holy Spirit to MOVE them and MOVE in their lives. So they saw literal chains break open, they saw dead coming back to life, they saw miraculous healings.
· Once we open the door to our family, He will MOVE in their lives as well.
· Story of my son falling asleep at the wheel and the angel protecting him
· Three types of churches where the Holy Spirit being discounted and relegated to the sidelines while people make all the decisions and plans for the church.
o Churches where the Holy Spirit was never invited
o Churches that talk about the Holy Spirit, but they do not actually know how to or want to engage with Him
o Churches who have scholarly leadership that rely on their knowledge instead of inviting the Holy Spirit to relationship. When book knowledge is leading, there is no room for the Holy Spirit to MOVE.
· Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
We encourage you:
· To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment
· If you want to learn more about how to Hear God's Voice, take a look at my book, Loving Conversations: How to Pray and Hear God's Voice. There is also a Study Guide available and two devotionals out based on the Loving Conversations Book. One devotional is for women and one is for men. Those are available on the website www.lovingconversationssalo.com.
· Follow us in Instagram, @conqueringourunseenenemies
If you are enjoying our podcast, consider supporting us as we continue to build the Kingdom of God. You can support us for as little as $3/month. Kingdom work is my full time job.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1995558/support
I have enjoyed our time this week and look forward to spending time with you again next week!