Tag: sensitive to the Spirit

Sensitivity

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Romans 1:21

The Bible speaks of a process where our heart either becomes softened or it becomes hardened. Obedience over time softens a person’s heart toward God. A sensitivity to the Holy Spirit develops that allows us to follow His lead without having to be shoved. The hope is that with a gentle whisper from the Lord, we’ll step out and do what He asks. Paul described this process to the Galatians:

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 

Galatians 5:24-25

Yet, the opposite can happen as well. The more we resist the Lord–the more we do our own thing and follow our own way ignoring the promptings of the Holy Spirit–the more our heart will harden. Obedience will become more and more difficult.

Paul told Timothy to beware of false teachers whose “consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:2). What an image! Our conscience, which should be soft and tender, sensitive to the touch of the Spirit, can become so hard and numb that it loses all sensitivity, as if seared with a hot iron. Exposure to sin over time is what does this.

However, as your connection with the Lord grows and as your faith matures, you’ll notice a sensitivity develop. You become both more sensitive to the Light and to the darkness. Do you know that feeling of the top layer of skin being removed to reveal the new, raw skin underneath? This is what happens to our conscience. This is what it means to live with a circumcised heart.

Practically, this sensitivity is necessary to get better at sensing the leading of the Spirit. If you want to follow His promptings and hear His voice, this kind of sensitivity is necessary. It is not emotional sensitivity, although it will affect your emotions; it is spiritual sensitivity. And what you’ll notice is that things will start to bother you that never used to bother you.

What I have found in my own life is that this sensitivity has led to me being able to sense things in the spirit realm much easier. I can sense when darkness is around. I can more easily sense when someone is being deceptive. I can sense when a demon is tormenting someone. I can more easily sense when the Holy Spirit wants me to do something or say something. 1 Corinthians 12:10 calls this “discerning the spirits.” But it comes with a down side.

I can’t watch many TV shows or movies that have dark content in them anymore. It used to be that I couldn’t watch horror movies. Now it is so much more. Dark themes of violence, death, murder, abuse, sexual immorality, homosexuality, (even foul language) and the like bother my conscience at a level that is uncomfortable. If I watch something with that kind of content, I feel like I got slimed. I can feel the darkness and demonic influence behind it. Sometimes I am even given revelation into the twisted mind that wrote the scene I just watched, and it is deeply disturbing.

When we get comfortable with sin, we start to get comfortable with darkness. It stops bothering us. We start to feel quite at home in things that are macabre and disturbing. Our hearts and minds harden to it, and we lose our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Participation with darkness, even in entertainment, can grieve the Spirit.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:30-32

We all say we want to hear the the Lord better. We all say we want an interactive relationship with the Holy Spirit where He guides our steps and speaks to us clearly. But do we want all that comes with that? It will requires a new level of sensitivity in your spirit that will make you sensitive to both the Light and the darkness in the spirit realm. It will require a new level of cleaning things out of your life, including what you are entertained by. It will require protecting the tender, sensitive heart and not letting it be hardened again by sin or letting it be slimed again by the world.

Jesus Passed By

Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Mark 1:14-15

In the Greek language, there is two words for “time.” Chronos is the word you use when you ask, “What time is it?” This is chronological time. But when Jesus said, “The time has come…” He wasn’t using this concept of time. Kairos is the Greek word for time that means “appointed time” or “opportune time.” Kairos speaks to a moment that is pregnant with opportunity and possibility. Jesus was speaking about a kairos moment.

Part of being a follower of Jesus is developing a sensitivity to the Spirit so that we can discern when these kairos moments are happening. These are burning bush moments (like Moses had in the desert). These are moments where God’s Presence or God’s activity invites us to stop and turn aside.

In the Gospels, these kairos moments would happen as Jesus would pass by. People sensed that the moment was pregnant with possibility as Jesus walked by them. Those who had eyes to see, those who didn’t want to miss the moment, responded with spontaneous faith or quick obedience. They understood that there was a window that had been opened up to them, yet knew that the window of opportunity would be closing.

When Jesus passed by blind Bartimaeus, he didn’t let the moment slip away. Though he was blind, he had eyes to see the moment in front of him. Bartimaeus called out to Jesus, “…have mercy on me,” and it led to his physical healing. (Mark 10:47)

When Jesus passed by the woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, she didn’t want the moment to escape her. She had to try something. She had to take the risk to reach out and touch Jesus’s cloak. Because of her spontaneous faith, she received from the Lord what she had always longed for–healing in her body and restoration of her life. (Matthew 9:20-22)

While Jesus was passing by, He stopped to focus His attention on a man blind from birth. Jesus made some mud with His saliva, placed it on the man’s eyes, and told him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam. It must have been a confusing moment for this man. Yet, the man sensed that it was a kairos moment. He could have pushed Jesus away. He could have ignored Jesus. Instead, the man responded with quick obedience. In doing so, he was completely healed as he washed the mud from his eyes. This is the man who proclaimed to the Pharisee investigators, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:1-34)

We too are faced with moments where Jesus is passing by. The Holy Spirit will invite us to step into these moments with spontaneous faith and quick obedience. These kairos moments are pregnant with possibility if we are willing to have eyes to see them. These moments don’t last forever. They are short windows of opportunity. Jesus is passing by, inviting us to partner with Him in bringing about His Kingdom on the earth. The Holy Spirit is prompting us to step out with a word or to take a risk with an act of obedience.

When the kairos moment is upon us, what will we do? Will we miss the moment?