1 of 8 Sensitivity to the Spirit Why is sensitivity to the Spirit so important? - Our safety depends on it. - Our healing depends on it. - Our success depends on it. - Our peace depends on it. Sensitivity (Definition): A) Easily hurt. B) Highly in-tune of the feelings of others. The Holy Spirit is easily hurt. This is why we are instructed not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) The Holy Spirit is very in-tune with what s going on in your heart. If there is something that is in you that is hostile towards him, He may eventually close up. This is why we are instructed not to quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19) Because the Holy Spirit is hyper-sensitive in order to host the Holy Spirit, it requires hyper-sensitivity. The Holy Spirit is likened to a dove, a highly sensitive creature. The Holy Spirit is not likened to a pigeon but a dove. This will help you understand the personality of the Holy Spirit. Pigeons vs. Doves (Taken from the extensive research of Dr. R.T. Kendall) 1. Pigeons can handle hyper-activity, but doves prefer a slower pace. You will find pigeons in bustling city parks, but that s too much for the dove. When we get hyperactive, running around like chickens with our heads cut off, just like Martha got over the lunch with Jesus, the Holy Spirit may pull back. I m not saying we shouldn t be productive, but make sure you are peacefully productive and you found a good rhythm that doesn t leave you anxious and agitated. 2. Pigeons are very aggressive and can get violent, while doves are very gentle. Pigeons fight one another viciously, while doves are very gentle and will just fly away. (This explains Jesus reference of being as harmless as doves - Matthew 10:16). Doves don t scream, they coo. It s not vicious or annoying, but clear and
2 of 8 calming. This also tells us that when we are in strife and bickering with others, the Holy Spirit may have to pull back. 3. Pigeons will eat just about anything, doves are very selective in what they will have (seeds and fruits). This tells us that when we devour trash, the Holy Spirit may have to pull back. Yet, when we are feasting on what s fresh and nutritious, He s drawn. 4. Pigeons are pimps and players, doves are true to their one love. This reveals to us that the Holy Spirit is whole-heartedly in love with Jesus. He won t glorify anyone else. That is when there is too much self-promotion or self-occupation, he may have to pull back. 5. Pigeons are always in big groups, whiles doves are in tiny groups. The Holy Spirit is not desiring shallow relationships or mere acquaintanceship, but a deep companionship. 6. Pigeons can be trained, but doves cannot be programed. This is a strong reminder that we cannot train the Holy Spirit. He s not a pet. The Holy Spirit will not adjust to you, so you must adjust to Him - R.T. Kendall. When you try to put the Holy Spirit in a box or get Him on a strict schedule and demand that He follow your routines, you will quench the Holy Spirit. How can we increase our sensitivity to the Spirit? The Holy Spirit is likened to wind, often unpredictable (see John 3:8, Amos 3:7). When the eagle is about to take flight, he slows down to discern the wind, the cooperates with the wind, and is able to soar. Eagles cannot program the wind, they discern the wind and then let the wind do the work for them. When Jesus said, My yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:30), He was letting us know that the Christian life is to be like a eagle soaring, not human striving. He envisioned the Spirit doing the hard work for us. If we want the Spirit s power backing us, we need to: 1) Slow down and quiet down. 2) Discern the wind. 3) Align with the wind.
3 of 8 1. Slow down and quiet down (see Psalm 62:1-3). It s when we slow down and be silent we become more sensitive to the Spirit. Q: How can we slow down and calm down? A: You only slow down and quiet down when you make the Lord the source of your stability, your solution, your security. God, You ALONE are my 1. Stability (Rock): I look to you God only for my emotional and mental stability in you, not in drugs, friends, hobbies, games, coffee, etc. (I m not against coffee, but we must make God our only source of stability ) * More Americans probably drink coffee in the morning than spend time with God, because God is not the one they look to for stability. 2. Solution (Salvation): I look to you God only for my breakthroughs (problems resolved), not the pastor, the doctor, self-help books, my ideas, my IQ, my religious activity. (I m not against pastors, books, using your brain, but we must make God our source of solution ) 3. Security (Refuge): I look to you God only for my security, not my savings account, my job, my degrees, my parents, or my spirituality. (I m not against any of those things, you should have all of them if it s in your reach but we must make God our source of security.) If God becomes our source of stability, solutions, and security- we will spend time with Him and we will be silent before Him. This is called surrender. Surrender = Sensitivity. We will become like that eagle that waits upon the wind and is able to discern the wind. 2. Discern the wind. (Isaiah 40:28-31) Your strength is dependent on sensitivity to the Spirit. The more you become like the dove (sensitive), the more you become like the eagle (strength). Eagle in stillness can discern the wind. You can discern the wind by sensing what is forced verses what flows. If it is forced, it s usually flesh. If it s by the Spirit, it usually flows.
4 of 8 When I spend time with God, look for what flows, that means you are in sync with the Spirit. If there is a jerk in your spirit, it s because you and the Spirit are going in opposite directions. Let the Spirit lead your time with God, let me give you a few examples: - Maybe you are trying to intercede right now, but you feel no wind behind it. Yet, you sense the wind leading you to worship. Go with worship. That s where the wind is, and that s where you will soar. - Maybe you are in the Scriptures, and you feel a gentle tug to get on your knees, do it. Don t be like, Wait, Holy Spirit, I m not done with this chapter Go with the wind. - When we can be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in our time with God, we can be more sensitive to Him in our time on earth. We can t program the Holy Spirit, so we can t rely on formulas, just wait upon Him, be in fellowship with Him, discern the wind, and go with it. Fellowship > Formulas. - To go against the wind will lead to great frustration. That s one of the ways we can discern the leading of the wind. Now, don t forget we had to quiet down and surrender first before we can discern rightly. - When you are in step with the Holy Spirit it is a pleasant stroll (Galatians 5:16). Discover the direction in which the sovereign Redeemer is moving, then move in that direction - Jonathan Edwards Holy Spirit is our tour guide in life (John 16:13), He will take us through the safest and fastest routes to our destiny. Tour guides kept you away from unnecessary dangers. When we aren t following Him, but trying to lead Him- there will be a jerk in your spirit and you will lose the peace. (Colossians 3:15), the peace of God is the umpire. It s the role of the umpire or referee to say, Out of bounds! or Out of your lane! or Safe!. Only if you honor the referee, and take him seriously, can you succeed. We should not make decisions (especially important ones), if you have a check in your spirit. People may pressure you to make a decision, but just say, I have a check in my spirit, so I can t answer you right now. I can t make a decision right now. If you love me be patient, for love is patient. 3. Move in the direction of the wind.
5 of 8 Once the peace is there, move forward. Once there is clarity of how God is leading, then proceed. You will sense His strengthen behind you! You will not burn out. We burn out because burn up, and we burn up because we are not under the cloud of His leadership (Exodus 40:36-38). The Israelites couldn t program the cloud. The cloud wouldn t follow them, they had to follow the cloud. When they were missing God, they were in the agonizing sun. When we miss God, we too will be in agony. You stay with the cloud! Don t let people pressure you into moving forward, wait until you see the cloud. 3 Results of Missing God: 1. Anxious and agitated beyond understanding. You will just be edgy and not fully know why. It s because you are not under the cloud. (Luke 2:48-29), Jesus parents are annoyed, anxious, and agitated because they had missed God. While their 12 year old, Jesus was synchronized with the Spirit, they weren t. So when the Spirit said park, they carried on and started their journey back home. Whenever you get ahead of God or even way behind God, you will be anxious and agitated. They are taking this event so personally! When you are not in God s will, you get anxious and agitated and start taking everything so seriously and personally. 2. You don t sense His presence as strong. Mary and Joseph were legally still His parents, but the sense of His presence was gone. I m not saying you lose your status as a child of God, just because you missed Him, but you may go without His presence. In the Song of Songs, when the Bridgegroom said, Let s go! and the Bride said, I m kind of tired no Next thing you know she lost His presence and began to miss Him. When you miss Him you start to miss Him. 3. Burnout. We burnout because we burning up, not under the cloud. When you are in step with the Holy Spirit life is a stroll (Galatians 5:16). It s when we are not flowing with the Spirit, that we become obsessed with the wrong things and start acting on them. You got ahead of God or behind God. You are so tired, and when you are tired, you make poor decisions. I heard a pastor tell his story about how his marriage and health failed. He explained how God instructed him to have monthly healing services at his church. He did for a while, but stopped because it was the same people coming, it was becoming a show, and when he studied the lives of healing evangelists, none of them really end well. He
6 of 8 said that s what caused him to loose his marriage and have a health breakdown. I thought to myself, I don t know if I buy it you are probably a difficult guy to live with and you probably are a workaholic who doesn t get enough sleep. Don t blame it on the fact that you didn t follow through an instruction from God God s not punishing you over missing him a bit. Now, God wasn t punishing, but there are manifold consequences for getting out from under the cloud. When you went ahead of the cloud, and God said, Stay on this and you move on prematurely, you can get hit with emotional problems and burnout. His presence wanes. All kinds of things can happen at that point. Even all this is the grace and mercy of God, helping us to know we got off track and helping us to get back on track. How do we lose sensitivity to the Spirit? We don t wake up in the morning and say, I want to get insensitivity to the Holy Spirit. but supposing him to be in the group they went a day s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances (Luke 2:44) 1. Bound to ritual and tradition. God is not a cookie-cutter God. Stay current with God. Don t make formulas out of what God did before. That s called presuming (arrogantly assuming). But prayerful, not presumptuous. Stay in fellowship, not stuck on formulas. Joshua presumed that God was going to give them the victory against Ai, and 36 people died because of presumption (Joshua 7:5). It s worth slowing down to be prayerful, verses presumptuous. See what God is doing now, and go with it. Don t think what He was doing in your last church is what He is wanting to do here! Don t try to re-create something that was powerful in the past. Wait on Him, and have Him direct you! Noah released two birds from the Ark, the Raven and the Dove. The Raven goes after dead things that used to be alive. The dove only goes for what s fresh. Don t be trying to emulate past moves of God that are now rotting, but go after what s fresh. What s God doing now? Don t be a raven, be a dove! There is a key in every service, but it s a fresh KEY. The old keys expired. Get the newest pass-codes! How? Fellowship! We build altars to past methods of God, when God may not be in it anymore (ex. Bronze serpent). 2. Excessive busyness and too many voices. It was a big family reunion! Friends got together to travel for safety in numbers. We have to be careful who we allow to
7 of 8 speak into our lives. Even when people do, to test and judge what s spoken, verses swallowing it whole. We need to limit the number of people who have full access to us. We have to be very selective with our time. Don t meet with people the Spirit isn t leading you to meet. It s a waste of everyone s time. Assuming he was in their company, they traveled on for a day ( How can I get back on track if I ve gotten off track? It may take some time. It took them 24 hours to realize something was wrong. It took another 72 hours to recover. There are consequences for getting off track. You aren t going to fix everything instantly. It may even be embarrassing. Mary and Joseph were probably labels as Baby-ditchers and irresponsible parents. It was an ugly stain to their reputation. God can use this too, to get our attention. Don t be too hard on Mary and Joseph now, or even yourself. Mary and Joseph were still the BEST GOD HAD TO WORK WITH. They shouldn t have left Jesus, they shouldn t have gotten so carried away in conversation with their family and friends, they should have been more sensitive to God! They could have better stewarded and parented their son. But they were still the best God had, and even the best God has will have the worst of moments. But, we are still indebted to them for their yes to God and I m so thankful for their lives. Mary and Joseph may get criticized a ton for this episode, but still God chose them, and God saw a humility and a hunger in Mary and picked her to birth the move of God through. Was she flawless as a parent? No. But when she did miss it, she realized it sooner than later, and was willing to go make things right again. 1. You may need to backtrack. You may need to backtrack. Get back to what God told you to do last. Ask yourself, Where did I sense Him last and what was I doing? Has He told me to do something that I may have prematurely walked away from? Has He asked me to do something that I ve put on the back-burner. You will feel the pleasure of the wind behind you, supporting you, as you get back to what God has called you to do.
8 of 8 2. Just look for Him. Assuming he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. (Luke 2:44-45) You may turn first to people. When you aren t under the cloud you look for temporary shade, when you need to get under the cloud. She went looking for Him, not direction, not answers, not the cleaning up of your reputation, not even healing for emotional issues- but just Him. You will have the best times with Him when you just spend time with Him because you want Him. You seek the King you get the whole Kingdom. 3. Sit at the feet of the Teacher and ask Him questions. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. (Luke 2:46) The parents are getting caught up by the pressures of people, the traditions of the past, and the busyness of the whole trip, while Jesus is with the teachers and asking questions. How we are with people often reflect how we are with God. Our teacher is the Holy Spirit. Sit with Him and ask Him questions, instead of letting people rush you into things. Take the position of Jesus.