Need Guidance?
This Works Every Time
by Pastor John Hamel

“When … the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth … He will shew you things to come.” (John 16:13)

"Success is always the result of following the leading of the Holy Spirit." Dr. Kenneth E. Hagin

Do you belong to Jesus? Have you ever opened your mouth and said aloud, “Jesus, You’re my choice?” (Romans 10:13) If you have not yet done so, this would be a good time, particularly if you are seeking guidance. 

The bookstores and websites of the world are overflowing with counterfeit forms of guidance intended to lead the unsuspecting into darkness.  Only by being in union with the God of Creation, through Jesus, are you guaranteed to not be misled by any of them.

Any guidance that is not Bible-based will ultimately and always lead to wrong decisions, loss and tragedy. If Jesus is your Lord and Master, then He is also your Good Shepherd. He promises to lead you away from tragedy and into God’s plan for your life through the Person of the Holy Spirit.

In the above verse of Scripture, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of Truth.”  He said that the “Spirit of Truth” would tell you whatever Jesus or His Father needed you to know. (He’ll even give you a “heads up” so to speak about things having to do with the future.)  The primary way He does this is down in your “gut”.

Have you ever had a “gut feeling” to not do something and you did it anyway? Later, after paying the price for not following your “gut instinct” you said to yourself, “Something told me not to do that. What was I thinking?” Well, that “something” was actually “Someone” called the Holy Spirit. Here’s something the Amplified Bible says.

“… let the peace … from Christ act as Umpire continually … deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds.” (Colossians 3:15)

This is saying, “If you don’t have total peace about something, DO NOT DO IT.” The Inner Umpire (the Spirit of Truth) is saying, “Do it and you’ll regret it.”

Obedience to the Inner Umpire Saved My Life

One day I was riding one of my brother’s motorcycles high up in the Santa Ynez Mountain range above Santa Barbara, California.  It had rained heavily the day before and huge mudslides were blocking the mountain roads everywhere.  

I approached one slide that was blocking my side of the road and decided to quickly go around it – on the wrong side of the road. 

As soon as I made that decision, it was as if someone punched me in the gut. 

I knew “Who” and what it was.

The inner "green light" of the Holy Spirit had just changed to a "red light" and I knew immediately He was telling me to "Stop."  

I quickly downshifted and began braking immediately.  I tucked the bike into a hole in the mudslide on my side of the road.

No sooner had I done that, than a vehicle came speeding around the mudslide from the opposite direction.  The driver had his head back, drinking a can of beer.  Had I not obeyed the “Spirit of Truth,” the “Inner Umpire” or that “Punch in the gut,” I would have been killed instantly.  

Since that experience it doesn’t take much of a “gut instinct” to get me to slow down or even stop in my tracks when I’ve made a wrong decision. You can read this life-saving testimony in greater detail at "Experiencing the Glory Testimony 22."

Trust the Holy Spirit's Red Light or Green Light - No Matter What

On September 11, 2001, Shenksville, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C. and New York City came under a devastating attack of Muslim terrorists. The terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners filled with passengers.  They flew them into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and into the ground in Pennsylvania. Over three thousand human beings lost their lives that day, including eleven unborn children, either on one of four hijacked planes, on the ground or in those buildings.  

On the morning of those Muslim terrorist attacks a Spirit-filled Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ was engineering one of the underground subway trains that made regular stops directly beneath the World Trade Center.  The World Trade Center had already come under attack as he was driving his train there as his next stop.  He had no knowledge whatsoever of what was happening above ground.

The train engineer reports that for some reason he had a big knowing in his gut to stop the train immediately. He had a big "red light" in his spirit about proceeding any further towards his Twin Tower's destination.  

His first thought was if he stopped the train without being signaled to do so from his above ground dispatcher, he would lose his job.  It is an extremely dangerous thing to stop an underground train without being signaled to do so because other trains could come along and slam into it in the dark.  

However, this Spirit-filled engineer was so overwhelmed with the inner knowing to stop the train and to stop the train immediately, he obeyed that inner prompting.  

The train engineer applied the brakes, stopping the train which was headed for the Twin Towers underground station and just sat there.  

He later realized had he overridden the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit, the strong "red light" of the Holy Spirit and continued on, he would have driven himself and his trainload of passengers directly under one of the Twin Towers at precisely the same time it was collapsing into itself.  

The Spirit-filled engineer's prompt obedience to the Inner Witness of the Holy Spirit - the lack of a "green light" and the strong presence of a "red light" within - not only saved his life but hundreds of other lives that fateful morning in 2001. 

For whatever reason the Holy Spirit might be guiding you through the inner witness, we want to encourage you to obey Him at all times - no matter what.  

Maybe He is trying to protect your life.  Maybe He is trying to keep you from marrying the wrong person.  Maybe He is trying to lead you into prosperity.  Possibly He is guiding you into a major change of direction in your life.  

Do not allow outward circumstances to keep you from obeying Him.  

Possibly He has been impressing you for months or even years that something specific is coming into your life.  Just rest and let Him work out the details.

If He is giving you His "green light" to proceed with something, by all means proceed.   

If He is giving you His inner "red light" about proceeding, apply the brakes immediately.