June 4, 2003

God speaks to our heart—our spirit.  He doesn’t speak to our mind, He speaks to our spirit.  They are two separate things.  We need to learn to listen to our spirit.  Our minds were not made to lead us.  Before we became Christians we may have allowed our minds to dominate our lives and been led by our mind.  We may even do this after we became a Christian.  That tendency will still be there unless we learn to submit our minds to our spirit where God talks.

I love to plan things.  I like to be prepared.  I like to see things run smoothly.  It’s a part of the gift God has given to me but I need to make plans according to God’s plans and not according to what I think up in my mind.  It takes practice to learn to submit your mind to your spirit.  Every so often I’ve had the Lord speak to my heart and ask me a question to help me see how to submit my mind to my spirit.  Things like, "Would you change your plans today and do this instead of that if I asked you to?"  Immediately my mind starts wheeling with how I would do that.  What I’ve learned is that I am to submit my plans to His.  He’s the boss.  I’m to be led by His Spirit who resides in my spirit.  He doesn’t live in my mind, He lives in my spirit.  Jesus said, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (John 14:23).  The Father and Jesus come and live with us.  They live with us and they speak to us.  God is a Spirit, (John 4:24) and He communicates with our spirit.

The Spirit of God leads you and speaks to you through your spirit not through your mind.  Now of course you use your mind to carry out the things God speaks to you.  Our minds are important!  But as far as what we follow, we need to follow our heart—or spirit—where God speaks.

If we are His children we are to be led by His Spirit.  Practice.  Practice submitting your mind—your thoughts and plans—to Him.  Ask yourself the question, "If God asked me to change my plans today would I be able to do it?"  Just think about it and get used to the idea of putting the leading of His Spirit first in your plans.