by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
I’ve heard several speak of attending various churches and “not feeling the Spirit move” there. This idea is foreign to the Bible. Feelings have never been the detector of the Spirit of God. If you rely upon feelings, you are not <\/b>relying upon the Spirit of God. You are relying upon your feelings that can easily be deceived or mistaken.<\/p>\n
Since the devil transforms himself into an “angel of light<\/em>” (II Corinthians 11:13-14) and there are “deceiving spirits<\/em>” (I Timothy 4:1ff) at work, how would you know that deceiving spirits are not making you think <\/b>that the Spirit of God is not present at a church gathering? Perhaps your feelings are being used by the deceiver!<\/p>\n The real Holy Spirit is associated with the truth He revealed (John 17:17; 16:13; I Corinthians 2:10-16; II John 9-10). Perhaps people need to seek the already revealed truth, rather than taking the lazy route of “feeling” and trying to “sense” whether they think the Spirit of God is present. If the truth given by the Spirit is present, then that is the measure of whether God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are present. If the truth is in us, then the Spirit is in us. If we do not bring this doctrine, then God is not with us.<\/p>\n “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds<\/em>” (II John 9-11 NKJV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n God is inseparable from His word and our true association with His word. We can only know the things of God through the revelation God gave by the Spirit in the Bible. So, don’t criticize a group because you don’t “feel” something in the air, but rather investigate whether truth is taught and practiced from the heart there.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton I’ve heard several speak of attending various churches and “not feeling the Spirit move” there. This idea is foreign to the Bible. Feelings have never been the detector of the Spirit of God. If you rely upon feelings, you are not relying upon the Spirit of God. You are relying upon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[546,86],"class_list":["post-90174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-feelings","tag-holy-spirit"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67752,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/spiritism-versus-spirituality\/","url_meta":{"origin":90174,"position":0},"title":"Spiritism versus Spirituality","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Spiritism is occultic, feeling and mood-based, and imagination-based, whereas \"spirituality\" is revelation and scripture-based. Those who are truly \"spiritual\" will acknowledge that the things Paul wrote are the commandments of the Lord (I Corinthians 14:35f). Spiritism is trying to contact the dead, spirit world through imagination\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54917,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-holy-spirit-and-my-feelings\/","url_meta":{"origin":90174,"position":1},"title":"The Holy Spirit and My Feelings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer It's not good theology to attribute to the Holy Spirit that which the Holy Spirit never attributes to Himself. Doing so results in both faulty and contradictory claims, and this is exactly what we often see. Feelings get attributed to the Spirit, which are then contradictory to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3599,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/soul-and-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":90174,"position":2},"title":"Soul and Spirit","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: I Thessalonians 5:11-23 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Man is composed of three elements: body, soul, and spirit - I Thessalonians 5:23 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The body is easy to define. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It has a physical dimension to it - Job 19:25-27 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We understand that it is a container for something else that lives on after our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26564,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/evidence-of-pardon-how-can-i-know-i-am-saved\/","url_meta":{"origin":90174,"position":3},"title":"Evidence of Pardon: How Can I Know I Am Saved?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kenneth E. Thomas Christianity is a system of faith, but it is not a leap of faith. Our faith in God is founded firmly upon the evidence of His existence found in His creation. \u201cThe heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork\u201d (Psalm 19:1).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41843,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/subjective-spirit-leading\/","url_meta":{"origin":90174,"position":4},"title":"Subjective Spirit Leading","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Subjective \"Spirit Leading\" is when one is moved by imagined nudging and impulses, then attributes that imagination to the \"leading of the Spirit.\" It often never is in complete harmony with the Spirit's \"revelation\" in the Bible. It is sometimes outright contrary to Spirit guidance through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35783,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-some-people-not-feel-guilty-for-their-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":90174,"position":5},"title":"Why do some people not feel guilty for their sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I just wanted to ask about a question that's been bothering me for a while now. I understand that when a person does something wrong, they will feel guilty about it (usually). From a Christian's point of view, it's often the Holy Spirit's discipline that makes one feel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}