Understand the Holy Spirit Moving in Your Life

Hello, welcome to Self Talk with me, Dr. Ray Self, the show that empowers you with the Holy Spirit and gives you the ability to overcome every scheme of the enemy so you can enter your promised land. Today, you're going to get a new strategy for success in your life.

 

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Hello and welcome to Self Talk. I'm your host, me Dr. Ray Self. Thank you for being a part of the show today. I appreciate you. Very important topic today. I know I always say that, but maybe for your life, this may be the most important thing we can do. So stay tuned. Don't forget, check out my page, icmcollege.org. That's like my college, International College of Ministry. Always enrolling, always accredited, always full of the Holy Spirit. Thanks for being a part of the show. Let's get started. 

 

First things first, let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you that you have sent the Holy Spirit to be in our lives, to be in our spirit, to be, to be a part of us, that you said that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Father, for that incredible gift. And Father, I pray that for this show, I'll be led by your Spirit and speak the truth and help those that are listening. Thank you, Father. 

 

So, in the scripture that I want to talk about is a very, very important scripture. Now…and don't take this lightly. 1 Corinthians 6:19: Paul's writing to the church at Corinth, and he says, "Do you not know that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have received from God?" So, he's explaining that when we're saved and we get filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit resides within us. And that's critical because the fact that the Holy Spirit's within us means a lot of things are happening every day that you may not be aware of. But what I want to talk to you about is being aware of these things. And what's happening within you is very, very important. Maybe you've heard me say that there's three voices talking to you all the time. There's your voice, or the Bible calls your flesh. There's the Holy Spirit, and there are demon spirits that want to say things to you like “You're a failure, you're worthless, you'll never make up, you don't measure up, you got to prove yourself,” everything contrary to what Jesus did on the cross. But what I want you to understand is since the Holy Spirit lives within you, He brings everything with Him. He brings His gifts of the Spirit. We've talked about that a lot. He brings to you words of knowledge, words of wisdom, miracles, healing, prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues. All this comes with Him because that's part of who He is, and He's living within you.

 

Also, the Bible says that those that are led by the Spirit are the sons of God. Well, and that's critical. I mean, that's– if you're led by the Spirit, you're a son of God. So, if you're not led by the Spirit, what does that mean? Hmm. Scary stuff, isn't it? But the Holy Spirit within you is doing more than trying to prophesy to you, trying to give you miracle-working power. He does all that stuff, which is fantastic. And you know, I'm very blessed. The Lord lets me move prophetically a lot. I've seen many signs and wonders with God. I've seen people miraculously healed. I've seen cancer healed, blind eye, uh, restored. I've seen a lady raised from the dead. Yes, sir. I've seen broken legs healed. I've seen small things, headaches, you know, shoulder pain, all that kind of stuff. And all that's a work of the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit is constantly trying to lead and direct you. The point is that sometimes I think we're just not aware. He can be that small voice, that still small voice that's within you. He can be what we used to call- some people call your conscience, “Don't do that. You will be sorry.” And, “Man, have I messed up on that so many times.” He can be a feeling. He can be, uh, an impulse. He can be a warning. You see, the Holy Spirit communicates to us and is working within us in many, many, many ways. Um, sometimes it's just an overwhelming feeling. 

 

I, I’ll tell you a kind of a story that changed my life forever, and I was, um, I think a freshman in college, and I was madly in love with, with this girl. I had a girlfriend, and I was just crazy in love with her. She was crazy in love with me. If we knew what love was back then, who knows if we actually knew what love was. But she worked, um, at a department store, and she got off work at 9. Well, it was about 9:15. I'm sitting at– sitting at home, and I got this overwhelming urge that I needed to get in my car and drive to a particular intersection. It was just– I could not shake the feeling. I need to get in my car, and I need to drive to this intersection. I, I just…it was, it was just very, very strong. And so finally I gave in to that quote urge, and I drove to the intersection, and there was my girlfriend who had been in a car wreck. I mean, she was not seriously injured, but it was obviously, you know, it was very traumatic. And then– but what impressed me was, wow, the Holy Spirit wanted me to go to this intersection. Matter of fact, right now I think about– I know it's the Holy Spirit. Back then, I just thought, “Well, that sure was a coincidence. What a, what a cool feeling.” But the Holy Spirit is constantly communicating with us, but we're just not tuned in. Sometimes it's when you do something you shouldn't do, or you say something you shouldn't have said, and you get that little feeling of remorse or a conviction. 

 

Now, very important distinction here. The Holy Spirit will never condemn you or put you to shame. He cannot do that. He will not do that because Jesus took condemnation and shame to the cross. What the Holy Spirit will do is He'll give you that little still small voice, a conviction that, golly, I shouldn't have said that. I need to apologize for that. That can be the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, um, there's this– somebody pops into your head, you know, “I haven't talked to so-and-so in a long time. I think…you know what? I think, I think I'll give him a call.” Now, a lot of times we ignore that. We ignore that person that keeps– that, that pops into our mind. You've heard the expression, “I've had you on my mind, or I've had you in my heart.” So many times that's the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicted me to, to go to that intersection. The Holy Spirit may convict you to make a phone call. The Holy Spirit may convict you to make a change. The Holy Spirit may warn you, may warn you about a dangerous situation. 

 

Another story: when I was, uh, sometimes I like to say I was young and dumb. I was, um, invited to a, a party, and this party was in a, an apartment building, and the apartment was a second-floor apartment. And it was just, you know, college kids were sitting around. It wasn't anything, um, bad going on. It was just a bunch of kids, you know, college kids having a party. Of course, back then I wasn't following the Lord like I needed to follow the Lord. Now, listen, folks, I'm showing my age here. I'm talking about like 1971, 1972. I'm showing my age here. And so, I'm sitting in a room with a friend of mine and some other friends. We're all sitting around. We're listening to music. And all of a sudden, out of the clear blue, I had this overwhelming fear come on me. I needed to get out of that room. “Get out of the room. Get out of the room.” It was just, it was just overwhelming. It was just odd. Came out of nowhere. And I looked at my buddy, I said, "Hey, I got, I got to go. I got–" He said, "What do you mean? The party is just getting started." "No, I don't know. I, I got to go. I, I just got to go." It was an overwhelming urge to get out of that place. I got up, and I walked out, and I noticed in the hallway, uh, a group of guys coming into that apartment. They're headed toward that apartment. Anyway, I, I went on my way, and I found out the next day that a tragedy had occurred at that party, that a fight had broken out, a horrible fight had broken out. A number of people had gotten hurt, and several people were actually thrown off the balcony. Um, one witness, a friend of mine, said the, the fighting was so violent there was actually blood on the walls. All this happened, and I was warned to get out of that situation. And I know back then I wasn't really following the Lord, but I know it was the Holy Spirit. I know it. Sometimes the Holy Spirit is just a feeling. 

 

Now, you know, we, we like to call it- the world calls it gut feeling. Well, I think these quote, gut feelings are the Holy– is the Holy Spirit. And another thing: in that time in the 70s, I had drifted far away from God. I got– now, I was, I was a Christian. You– I was a Christian, but I was living that 70s lifestyle, and I was heavy into that lifestyle. And as I was doing things I shouldn't have been doing, I remember to this day this conviction, this, this feeling, a knowing that what I was doing was wrong. I needed to stop. It was like a warning. But what happened to me was I kept pushing that feeling down. I would push it away and push it away and push it away. Some people say it's your heart growing hard, but I pushed that feeling down. And I continued to do things that I should not have done. And I regret that to this day. But the amazing thing was, despite all the stuff I was doing in college– listen, I wasn't a criminal or anything. I was just, I was part– I was living a party life, and you know what I'm talking about. Not a, not a good life. But during all this time, the Holy Spirit never left me alone. Now, I, I got to where I could, I could quiet His voice. I would shut Him out. But looking back, He never left me alone. And eventually, He got me. He, He got hold of me. I came out of it. I got complet– I got baptized with the Holy Spirit. I answered a call to ministry. And I did come out of it all. But in the midst of my years of darkness, living in darkness, just living the, the party life, I was able to somehow squelch His voice. But what was amazing to me, looking back, was how faithful He was to never ever ever let me go. The Holy Spirit is working within you every day of your life. He is trying to give you a direction. He's trying to give you a vision. He's trying to, uh, He may even tell you which way to drive, which, which way is the shortest way to get to wherever you're going. He may give you, uh, not just feelings; He may give you a picture, a feeling, a sensation, uh, an impression to call so and so, and you do it, and they say, "Oh, thank God you called. Thank God you called." 

 

I remember this has been about, I think, eight, nine years ago. Um, my wife was grocery shopping, and she had this strong feeling come upon her to go check on her mother. Now, we lived in the same town, you know, her parents did. And Christie was just grocery shopping and, and she threw the groceries in the car, and she went over to her mom's house, and she found her passed out on the kitchen floor. Now, you know, that's God. And now sometimes the Holy Spirit leading is not that– it's not that dramatic, you know, like life-saving issues, but it can be small. But if we pay attention to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, what He's trying to direct us, He'll lead us into success. He'll lead us into peace. He'll lead us into correct relationship. Sometimes with the Holy Spirit, you, you, you're in a relationship you shouldn't be in, and He's trying to warn you. You're in a job you shouldn't have taken; He's trying to warn you. Sometimes what the Holy Spirit’s doing is He's warning you. He's putting these little check marks in your Spirit, little red flags. He also, on the, on the flip side of the coin, He'll give you a green flag. “This is the way to go. This is the way to go.” He'll give you peace about it. Or He'll say, "No, this is the way not to go." But the point is, sometimes we've got to get out of our natural mind and learn how to tune in to what the Holy Spirit is doing in our life. I believe the Holy Spirit is working within us continually. I also believe that we have a great habit of shutting Him out with our own thoughts or own ideas. Remember, you know, in Isaiah, He made it very clear. God said, "My thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways." And so, what I'm thinking is not what God's thinking. My way is not His way. And I have to learn how to quiet my mind and recognize His mind. He is within me.

 

And I believe the Holy Spirit; I know the Holy Spirit wants what is best for me. He wants what is best for you. He wants for you to be healthy. He wants for you to be successful. And He's leading you. He's leading you on what to eat, what not to eat. He's, He's convicting you on, on that exercise program you need to take. He's convicting you on, on a relationship you need to maybe set some boundaries. He's, He's given you answers. He's given you solutions. He's given you life, and life more abundantly if we'll just learn how to let Him lead our life, let go of our control issues. I've been talking about control last three or four weeks. Let go of our control. Give Him control. And learn how to recognize when He is trying to give us directions, instructions, corrections, conviction, ideas, red flags, green flags. There's so many things He's doing within us, and it's all for your benefit. It's for your benefit. It's, it's because God is love. It's because He loves you and He wants what is best for you. But it's up to us to train ourself to hear His voice. Jesus said, "My sheep know My voice and they follow me." And that voice, like I said, is not always “Ray, don't do that.” It is an impression, a feeling, a picture, a conviction, uh a, a knowing in your knower, so to speak. And, and then when you're going the right direction, there's a peace about it. There's a, uh, it feels right. It feels good because it's God's will for you. And that's so critical for us. And so I want to pray for you right now.

 

That– Heavenly Father, I pray for each one listening to this podcast that we will learn how to follow your leading through the Holy Spirit that's residing within us every day. Father, forgive us for letting our flesh override what you're trying to tell us through your Holy Spirit. Father, for those who are willing, we make a new conviction today. We make a new commitment today to listen and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. And Lord, help, help those that are struggling, like, "How do I know if it's the Holy Spirit?" Father, help us. Help us to hear. Help us to know. Help us to understand when it's you talking or it's just our own imagination, and to know the difference, Father. And Father, I rebuke every scheme of the enemy and all those dark voices that try to drown out the voice of God. That cannot happen. We know that. But I rebuke that scheme against everyone listening for the voices that drown out the voice of God speaking through the Holy Spirit. So Lord, I thank you for everyone listening. Holy Spirit, have your way. Help us. Lead us. And Father, forgive us when we don't follow, but give us the courage and the understanding and the commitment to follow you through the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

 

So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being a part of the show. It's been great. Thank you so much. Please, please, please help me out, uh, to get some more downloads. We're doing pretty good. But, you know, subscribe, download, share, tell your friends, go to the website for the show, uh, icmcollege.org/selftalk, and there, uh, you can, like, you can give a review. Reviews help us a lot. Everything you do helps me get this message out to more people. First off, I appreciate you very much. Thank you for being a part of this. This is our 271st episode. Can you believe it? Anyway, thanks so much for being a part of Self Talk. This is Dr. Ray Self himself signing out. Bye-bye.

 

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Thank you so much for listening to today's show. I appreciate you very, very much. Don't forget, go to our website for the show. The easiest way to get to it is at icmcollege.org/selftalk. There you can access any of our previous over 200 episodes. You can like, you can subscribe, you can get on our email list. Don't forget to share it with your friends. Again, thank you for being a part of Self Talk. God bless.