Let the church reinforce, but don’t rely on it. The church, the organization, should support and reinforce what you believe. But don’t rely on it to find your beliefs. John chapters 14 and 16 say the Holy Spirit is your teacher, your guide, your friend, your comforter, your counselor, and your advocate. He is all you need—the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. It wasn’t always that way, but it is that way today because we have the teacher living in us. The Word of God is in us. Jesus is the Word. He is the truth, the way, and the life.
Many people don’t take any responsibility for themselves to hear from the Great Teacher, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is part of God, and He is our teacher. He lives within us. He is constantly teaching us and guiding us if we will listen. The pastor isn’t always here on your behalf. No, but the Holy Spirit speaks to you.Your church should be reiterating what the Holy Spirit is already teaching you. Honestly, it shouldn’t be the first time you hear it when your pastor preaches it. Sometimes it is, in the beginning, because you are a baby, just a mere infant, and you are on milk. You need that supply and food, so it is what’s feeding you.
We need to be in the Word of God—listening, receiving, and hearing from Him—so the Word speaks to us and we learn to discern the difference between worldly and godly thoughts. The Holy Spirit will speak to you through your thoughts. It’s kind of eerie sometimes how you do something and you’re like, “Oh, wow! That was really the Holy Spirit telling me to do that. But I didn’t know it. Now I know and in hindsight, I see it was clearly not me. It was God.”
So don’t rely on your pastor for everything. Let him come in and support what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. There is nothing cooler than hearing from God and then hearing your pastor speak a word confirming exactly what the Holy Spirit said.
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