“‘However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.’” -- John 16:13
I was in a restaurant one time and a bodybuilder walked in and sat down with his wife. Right when I saw him, the Holy Spirit spoke something to me about him, so I went over to talk to him.
It’s important to have an icebreaker when you’re giving a stranger a word from God, so I said, “Excuse me, have you ever lifted weights?” He and his wife laughed, and then I said, “This may sound strange, but the Holy Spirit spoke something to me about you. Do you mind if I share it with you?” His eyes got really big, and he invited me to sit down. I said, “The Holy Spirit told me that when you were young, you sat in your grandmother’s lap crying, and she said God would make you strong like Samson if you would serve Him. You committed to serve Him that day. God is here to tell you that He kept His end of the deal, but you didn’t keep yours.” Big tears welled up in his eyes, and he told me about the moment with his grandmother. His father and mother had left him years before, so his grandmother raised him. Some boys had been throwing rocks at him that day, and his grandmother told him the story of Samson.
I was able to lead both him and his wife to the Lord through a gift the Holy Spirit gave me in that moment. That particular gift is called a word of knowledge, and it falls into a category known as the discerning gifts. Simply, a word of knowledge is knowing something specific without having learned it by natural means.
In John 4, we see a perfect example of this. As the woman at the well is asking Jesus for water, He asks her to call her husband, and she says she doesn’t have one. Jesus responds in verses 17 and 18: “‘You have well said, “I have no husband,” for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.’” That was certainly a word of knowledge that led to the woman believing in Jesus and telling her entire town about Him.
It’s amazing to see people’s lives changed through the gifts of the Spirit, and it’s really quite easy when you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit and a willing heart. Will you commit to listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit today? He just might give you a word of knowledge that will change the life of someone around you.
PRAYER
Holy Spirit, thank You that You know all about us and use us to impact the lives of others. I open my ears to Your voice today. Please speak to me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
- Luke 4:1; John 4:17-18; Philippians 2:7
Taken from The God I Never Knew, a Gateway devotion.
