Daily guidance is something each and every one of us needs from the Lord.

Last time we looked at how the Holy Spirit strengthens us to witness. We have looked at a lot of really important topics about the Holy Spirit, but one of the most important is still to come today.

Today, I want to look at how to Holy Spirit “bears witness” with our spirit. He leads and guides us throughout our day. A christian who understands and follows this leading will always be successful in life.

Our Text

¹⁶ The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Romans 8:16 KJV

Salvation Gives Us Access to this Daily Guidance

⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2:8 KJV

If we have accepted Jesus into our hearts, we have salvation by grace through faith. It is a free gift. WE don’t do anything to deserve it, but when we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord we become a Christian. (Romans 10:9-10).

We then have access to the total life of God in Christ.

¹⁰ And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Romans 8:10 KJV

This is then where we get the statement, “A live in Christ and dead to sin.” We are now married to Grace instead of the Law.

Our Spirit always wants to follow the Daily Guidance of the Holy Spirit

¹⁶ The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Romans 8:16 KJV

Our spirit follows the witness or testimony of the Holy Spirit. Jesus put it this way in John 15:5.

⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5 NKJV

Jesus is the vine. He has the life of God inside Him. When we become Christians, we are IN HIM. Because our spirit is alive unto God, we have the same power flowing through Him flowing through us.

¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^[a]through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 8:11 NKJV

The Holy Spirit is the POWER of God flowing through the vine (Jesus), and because we are IN HIM that power flows through us. This is why Jesus could say these things and greater things you will do (John 14:12). WE have the same power that Christ had on this earth.

The Holy Spirit Guides Our Spirit

Our spirit receives guidance from the Holy Spirit throughout the day. Sometimes when explaining this to younger kids we call this the Red Light / Green Light Feeling.

The RED Light is the gross feeling we get on the inside of us when we do something we aren’t supposed to.

The GREEN Light is the pleasant feeling we get like we are at peace when we do something right.

Because God IS a spirit, He will talk to us primarily in our spirit. Spirit to Spirit.

Which makes sense right?

One of the primary responsibilities of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). This is part of how He does that.

So why do we still sin?

At the root of sin is just disobedience to what the Holy Spirit (inward witness) is telling us to do.

¹⁷ Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

James 4:17 NKJV

This applies to everything big and small.

Our spirits are alive unto God because of Christ, but our bodies are still in sin.

¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

Romans 7:17-18 NKJV

Our heart serves God and yet our bodies still want to do all the same things we used to before we got saved.

The Soul (Mind, Will, Emotions) is the Battle Ground

Where do ^[a]wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

James 4:1 NKJV

When decisions have to be made about what we are going to do. It is the soul that makes the choice. The Soul is our mind, will and emotions. This is the battle ground where the fight of faith is fought. And like any war the side with the most resources and strength will win.

²⁵ I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Romans 7:25 NKJV

Paul says he keeps his mind on the law of God even though the flesh keeps focusing on the sin.

He later on says to

² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2 NKJV

The side that you feed the most will be the strongest.

The Holy Spirit Provides Daily Guidance but it is up to us to OBEY

⁴ That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

⁵ For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

⁶ For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

⁸ So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:4-8 KJV

The Holy Spirit is always leading and guiding us through our own recreated human spirits. It is up to us to listen to Him as He bears witness with us. If we want peace in our lives, if we want life, we must listen to our spirit.

That means we have to make our minds aware of our spirit. Pay attention as you go throughout the day to the red light / green light inside of you. Stop and acknowledge Him.

²⁷ The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

Proverbs 20:27 KJV

The Lord uses our own spirit as a candle to light our path and make clear to us where we are supposed to go and what we are supposed to do.

So in summary

• the spirit of a man lives under the law of grace because of Christ
• the soul of a man should be fixed on the law
• the flesh is under the law of sin and death

We sin because we listen to the voice of our flesh instead of the voice of our spirit.

There is so much more to be said about the Holy Spirit and His daily guidance through our own human spirits. This topic is one of the most important things to understand because it tells us how to follow after God.

For more information or sermons like this one check out our Fresh Bread page.