7 Signs of Walking in the Holy Spiritနမူနာ

When the Holy Spirit came upon Saul, the fear of God came upon his people. His courageous act of killing his oxen sent a strong message to the people, but it didn't scare them. It brought the fear of God upon them. If Saul had been mean and cruel, the people would have been afraid of him. Instead, Saul’s act of boldness, inspired by the Holy Spirit, brought the fear of God and inspiration to the people. The people began to fear God, not fear their leader.

When people are afraid of leaders, it’s a sign that the leader is not walking in the Holy Spirit. When we walk in the Holy Spirit, a fear of the Lord is developed, not a fear of the leader.

The Holy Spirit causes people to walk in the fear of God, not in the fear of man. To fear God is not the same as being fearful of God. Instead, the fear of God causes us to run toward Him and run away from sin; but feeling intimidated by God causes us to run and hide. The fear of the Lord is having awe, reverence, and high respect for Him, holding Him in utmost esteem and admiration.

Sadly, we live in the generation today where many believers say they have a relationship with God, but they lack reverence for Him, even using His name in vain. Neglecting the filling of the Holy Spirit results in a lack of amazement and awe in God’s presence.

After Saul’s disobedience, the Spirit of God left him. Now instead of the people fearing God, they became afraid of their king. And guess what? Saul became afraid of the people as well. In fact, after his disobedience to God, the decisions Saul made were based on his fear of people. When Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit, he did not fear what man thought or said about him because he was focused on God. But when Saul took his focus off God, he became concerned and was ruled by what others thought of him. The fear of man led Saul to try to please them. His focus had shifted and he lost sight of God.

Living full of the Holy Spirit is the fear of God operating in us which delivers us from the fear of man. Instead of fearing people, we begin to love them, value them and lead them.

Let’s pray together.

Holy Spirit, replace the anxiety within me with great confidence in You.