“How sweet Your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey. Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life. Your Word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:103-105).

When Jesus was preparing for His departure from earth, He told the disciples that He would ask the Father to send them the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells us when we become born again. Paul tells us in Romans 8, that when we are led by the Spirit of God, then we are the children of God. So, as Christians, we are to rely on the voice of the Holy Spirit within us to guide our steps (decisions in life).

Not everyone who is saved feels confident that they are hearing the Holy Spirit. This lack of confidence can prevent forward progress and maturity as a child of God, because they might not walk by faith but only by sight. If you struggle with your ability to hear and trust the leading of the Holy Spirit, then read the passage for this post again.

If we don’t invest the time that is needed to study the Word of God and show ourselves approved, then we leave ourselves in the dark, so to speak. Jeremiah tells us, in no uncertain terms, that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. If we try to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, but haven’t become familiar with the Word of God, then it will greatly limit His influence on our hearts. In fact, we are living in a time when Christians, who are ignorant of God’s Word, are complicit with sin and even try to defend it. Why? Because they’re listening to their own hearts and are believing that they’re hearing the Holy Spirit. But, in reality, there is a lack of spiritual truth in their lives.

We must get the Word of God in our hearts so that the Spirit of God can successfully guide us into all truth. If we only rely on our heart, it will simply produce the values that have been imparted to us through parental guidance. So if the parents weren’t godly, then the values will be skewed at best. There is no substitute and no counterfeit for the Word of God. If we choose to walk in spiritual ignorance, then our own hearts and emotions will deceive us. If you haven’t taken the time to learn the Word of God and become familiar with the ways of God, then ask the Lord to give you a hunger for it.  —submitted by Asa Dockery, US