As a boy, I served in the altar at the Greek Orthodox church. It was a big deal in our family and culture to be an altar boy. We had to prepare ourselves and eventually be ordained. While I don’t worship that way anymore, I must admit there are some beautiful traditions that taught me so much. One thing that stood out to me was the huge Bible that lay on the altar of communion. It was massive, very heavy. The cover was made of silver and gold. There were precious jewels embedded in the cover. Also embedded in the cover were small paintings of the Lord. To this day I still have never seen a Bible like that one. As large and as beautiful as it was, it was always a bit intimidating to me.
On the one hand, the grandeur of that Bible drew me to it. On the other hand, the sheer mystery of it made me feel like it was too grand for me to understand in any way. Yet I could not dismiss the magnetic pull of the Scriptures. At the age of about ten years old, I remember lying in my bed and hearing a voice deep in my spirit say to me, “Get up and read the Bible that’s on your mom and dad’s dresser.” In our home, the Bible was respected, but we never opened it unless we were imitating and pretending to be priests, chanting the Scriptures in Greek just to make each other laugh. But this night was different. There was a literal voice pulling me toward the Scriptures. So I woke my mom up in the middle of the night, and I said, “Hey, Mom, if God tells you to read the Bible and you don’t do it, is it a sin?” Well, the question shook her to the core. I don’t know if she thought I’d lost my mind or that God was actually speaking to me. Even though we did not know the Lord intimately at the time, there was still a reverence and respect for His name and His word. My mom’s reply was typical of her passionate Greek personality. She said, “Well, get up and go read it.”
So, I grabbed the Bible, went into my parents’ bathroom of all places, shut the door, and began to read the Scriptures. But this time was different. This time the voice of God, the reality of God in the moment, and the Scriptures were colliding right in front of me and all around me. Today I know that voice as the one that you and I have been speaking about all this time in this book. It was the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus promised us that after He departed and went back to Heaven we would not be alone, that He would not leave us as orphans. He promised to send another, and He said, speaking of the Holy Spirit, that this person would become our teacher. Jesus said He would remind us of everything that Jesus ever told us (see John 14:15-17,26).
I’m often complimented after I teach the Bible. People wonder, “How does Michael see what he sees in the Scriptures? How do these things come to light? I’ve never read the Scriptures that way before.” Well, I’ve never been to a long-term Bible school, but I have had the best teacher in the universe: the Holy Spirit. When I read the Bible, I always pray this prayer, and I do it with my children in our devotionals too. I say:
Holy Spirit, be our teacher. Please show me Jesus as I read Your Word.
We have to remember the Scriptures tell us that all Scripture is inspired by God (see 2 Tim. 3:16). So, what better place or person to go to for a Bible study than the author of the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit? The Bible says in First Corinthians 2:12: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” The Bible is full of promises that have been freely given to us by our Heavenly Father, but entering into them requires the work of the Holy Spirit, for He teaches us the Bible so that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
One of the greatest revelations that we can receive as the Holy Spirit teaches us is this beautiful truth: our God is not a distant God or a slave driver. He is our Heavenly Father. This means that His objective in our lives is not to give us a formula or to cause us to be consumed with right and wrong and good and bad alone. The Bible tells us, “A s many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Rom. 8:14-15).
The greatest way to become aware of the fatherly love that God has for all of us is to become a friend of the Holy Spirit. As He leads us, we receive the love of the Father.
Imagine Jesus saying, “Don’t follow Me, because where I’m going, you can’t go.” He told them, “But the Holy Ghost, He will guide you. He will lead you” (see John 16:13). The Lord was preparing the disciples for the life that they would have to live once Jesus ascended into Heaven. Because He is so loving, He did not want them to be shocked about His departure. Now, I can hear you asking right now, “Wait, I have Jesus. He’s in my heart. He’s everywhere.” That’s true, but how is He in your heart and how does He make Himself available everywhere? By His Spirit. Back to the Scripture: “But the Holy Ghost, He will guide you” (see John 16:13). One of the ways the Holy Spirit teaches us is by guiding us.
My favorite pastime is fishing. Even though I played professional golf, if I had to choose between fishing and golf today, it would be fishing. My father owned boats so I grew up on the water. I was raised in a town that was on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. Just about every day I was out on the water fishing. I even drove to other cities to fish, and slept in my car. I waded through swamps and lagoons, cut my feet on oysters, read fishing magazines—you name it and I did it to catch more fish.
One of the best things you can do as a fisherman to become familiar with uncharted waters is to be on the boat with a guide. The guide takes you to all of the good spots. His job is not to take you about the water aimlessly or drive you into a storm. The job of the guide is to show you those spots about which most people just don’t know. His motives are good. He drives the boat, he knows the weather, he knows the tides, and most importantly, he knows how to find the fish. Reading the Scriptures with the Holy Spirit is just like this. He takes you out into the water of the Scriptures, the vast ocean of truth, and then based on what you need, He begins to guide you to the different verses that become alive to you. He begins to show you Jesus in a way that you have never seen Him before. He brings you into a peaceful place, just like the guide on a boat avoids the storm. He knows the weather of your heart, just like that guide knows the weather in the area. His presence comes in waves and flows, just like that guide knows the tides. The Holy Spirit is the greatest guide on earth and in Heaven.
So, once I opened that Bible as a little boy, a relationship with the Lord began. The Holy Spirit began to answer my questions, and He would one day bring me to a place where I would hear the Gospel for the first time. But I was getting to know Him better, and to this day, that voice remains. It has become clearer and is a greater part of my life than I could ever explain.
Maybe you are stressed; perhaps you’re full of fear and anxiety? Maybe you don’t sleep well anymore? Maybe your thoughts have gotten the best of you? Have you wondered if you’ll ever just be the “old you” again? Wondered if you’ll ever have your personality back? If you’ll ever smile again, laugh with your friends, and see the good in life? Wondered if you’ll ever be able to control your mind? The Bible says, “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul” (Ps. 23:2-3 ESV).
The beautiful thing about the Holy Spirit is that as He teaches and guides us, He actually heals us. He leads us to a certain place; it is the place of still waters, a place of peace, a place of tranquility. And once He leads us to these still waters, He restores our soul. Our emotions are healed. Our will is surrendered to Him. Our mind becomes the mind of Christ, all because the Holy Spirit now is driving the boat of our life. He does not desire to lead us into chaos but rather to still waters. Still waters are deep waters, and it’s in those depths of peace where you will find your healing. While He is all powerful, we must remember that He is a gentle teacher and a gentle guide who will never force His will on us or drive us. Slave masters drive; the Holy Spirit guides.
Much of the brokenness, and the pain, and the scatteredness that we go through is often due to our desire to live our lives according to the ways of the world. But the Bible teaches in First Corinthians 2:13: “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, you begin to live according to another world, another kingdom. We begin to follow another voice. Our thoughts become spiritual. The eyes of the heart begin to look above. As Paul said, “I press on toward the high call of God in Christ” (see Phil. 3:14). This all comes from allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us. When He touched me as a boy, I began to know how great and powerful His teachings are, how beautiful His ways are when we embrace them. Remember, Jesus said He wouldn’t just guide us, but He would guide us into all truth (see John 16:13). Fear has gripped millions of lives. It has shattered families, marriages, and children. If allowed to take root, fear can literally cripple us. Fear comes from believing a lie, and it increases as we meditate on that lie. The Holy Spirit promises to lead us into all truth—not merely to speak truth to us, but to lead us into truth. And as we experience that truth, rather than living in fear, we live full of faith; rather than living on the defensive, we become proactive; rather than hiding in the mountains, we take mountains for His Kingdom.
Yes, He’s a faithful guide. There are so many examples of this in the Bible. Do you remember Peter on the rooftop of Simon the Tanner? The Scripture says, “…the Spirit said to him, ‘Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them’” (Acts 10:19-20). Peter recognized the voice of the Holy Spirit and yielded to Him. Again we see this happening in the life of Paul through the Macedonian call. The Holy Spirit spoke to Paul in a dream. A man stood there begging him to come bring the Gospel. Paul obeyed, went to Macedonia, and preached the glorious Gospel. And today I have seen with my own eyes revival in Northern Greece through my wonderful friends, the Stimanti family, all because Paul listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit. How about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch? There Philip goes to Gaza. He sees an Ethiopian reading the Book of Isaiah. He runs to the chariot to tell that man about the Gospel. Why did he run? The Holy Spirit urged him to run. He was guiding him. Philip was getting caught up in the Holy Spirit’s desire to get the Gospel to that man. And after that man believed on Jesus, Philip baptized him, and that man took the Gospel to Ethiopia. And Ethiopia to this day is a Christian nation. I’ve been there with my wonderful friends Reinhard Bonnke and Daniel Kolenda. I’ve seen hundreds of thousands of Orthodox and Coptic Christians and Evangelicals burning to know God all because Philip listened to the Guide—the wonderful Guide—the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps you’ve said to yourself, “What do I have to offer? What can I bring the world? I’m just an average person. I don’t have a great education. I barely know the Bible. I have no theological training. I’m incredibly normal.” You are the exact type of person the Holy Spirit enjoys using. Once we are convinced of our inability, it is then that He steps in to give us power. The Scripture says it is “not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord” (Zech. 4:6). The Lord takes average people and quickens them, just like He empowered Philip, Peter, and Paul to shake regions of the earth. Through the life of Paul alone, Asia Minor and Europe were Christianized. Between these three men, many nations of the world followed and continued to follow Jesus because of one reason: They yielded to the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit. And you can do the same.
How do you begin? Begin talking to Him. Begin asking questions. Begin waiting upon and listening to Him. Give Him time to talk back to you. Become familiar with His slightest nudge, His slightest whisper, and His faithful presence. That’s right, my friend, He will take your life and change the world with it.