The Inward Witness
ICS Daily Devotions
Romans 8:14,16 (NKJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God…. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God. Once we are conscious of the fact that the Holy Spirit resides in us, we should make the effort to listen to His prompting. Since He cannot be seen with the naked eye, we need to allow Him to lead us through our heart or “spirit man”.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t bear witness with our minds—but our spirits—that we are children of God. Our minds can only learn from Scripture that those who have the Son of God are children of God and are saved, but we will need to learn about bearing witness in the Spirit because this is the way the Holy Spirit guides us after we are born again.
When we simply know something on the inside, it’s an inward knowing. This knowledge does not come from our physical senses, but directly from the Holy Spirit to our spirit. It is an inward conviction that lets us know what we should do in a certain situation or area of our lives. This inward urge or prompting can either be an uncomfortable feeling on the inside (not in our body or our emotions, but in our spirit) that we should refrain from taking a certain action or direction in life, or a good, comfortable feeling in our spirit that we should go ahead with doing something or head down a certain direction. It is not so much about hearing words or a voice inside, but more a “perception” on the inside, an inner intuition or knowing that “this is it”—that’s the inward witness.
We, as New Testament believers, are greatly blessed to have the Holy Spirit residing on the inside of us, available to help, counsel, and guide us around the clock, as long as we are open to His help and guidance. Every believer, regardless of age, can tune into the leading of the Holy Spirit by listening to the prompting in their heart. However, if we want to recognise His voice, we must train ourselves to yield to and be led by the Holy Spirit. We must not grieve the Holy Spirit, but yield to His promptings to forgive someone if we have been wronged or offended, or walk away from temptation because it is the same voice that will guide us to make the right decision.
The Holy Spirit will lead and protect you, but we have the responsibility to tune into His prompting daily. We should make it a habit to listen to what He is saying in the area of walking in love and yielding to the Lordship of Christ as a believer.
Sermon Series: How to Be Led by the Holy Spirit in Your Daily Life?
