Review:

Two Sundays ago, I delivered a message entitled Divine Discontent! Consequently, you can observe some changes in me today. After returning, I reviewed my own sermon video twice. It is a painful exercise to watch oneself preach, but I did identify areas for improvement. I will keep them to myself for now, hoping that someone will notice the enhancements after I am done. If others notice my progress without me pointing it out, I will be thankful to the Lord, as it indicates genuine improvement. Last week, we explored the story of Jacob, who served Laban for 20 years and had his wages changed 10 times. Including Laban's deception with his daughters, Jacob was deceived 11 times in 20 years. Yet, we observed that Jacob never relinquished the mission God had for his life. Today, we will continue to examine Jacob's story. Previously, we focused on Jacob's ambition for God’s Kingdom; today, we will learn how Jacob applied the Holy Spirit's prompting in his life, resulting in a radical transformation. Let us turn to today's scripture.

Scripture:

Genesis 31:10-12: And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled. And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

Prayer:

Lord, we invite Your Spirit to move powerfully upon us, that we may discern Your times and seasons. Let us be people in whom Your Spirit greatly dwells. May we seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, so that the anointing and power of Your Holy Spirit may be poured out upon our lives. Enable us to serve You throughout our days, constantly relying on the power of Your Holy Spirit.

Background of the Scripture:

We continue with the story of Jacob. Last time, we discussed the torment Jacob endured at the hands of his uncle Laban. The Bible records Jacob's experience as follows: 20 years in Laban's household, serving Laban for his two daughters for 14 years, and for Laban's flocks for 6 years. During those 20 years, Laban changed Jacob's wages 10 times. After 20 years, Jacob desired to leave Laban and return to his father Isaac, but Laban, benefiting from Jacob's good shepherding, was unwilling to let him go. It was then that Jacob had the dream described in the scripture above. Subsequently, Jacob made an agreement with Laban. What did he do? He told Laban to separate all the speckled and spotted sheep from the flock, and give him all the sheep with clean coats to herd elsewhere.

After some time, the sheep with clean coats would remain Laban's, but the speckled sheep would belong to Jacob. As Jianwu, our brother knowledgeable in biology from Singapore, knows, and as many of you may be aware, according to genetics, mating two dominant genes cannot produce a recessive gene. Laban was likely aware of this as well, having spent most of his life herding sheep and never witnessing such a phenomenon. Laban probably thought Jacob was homesick and out of his mind, so he agreed to Jacob's terms. Unexpectedly, the flock of sheep with clean coats did indeed produce many speckled and spotted offspring, and these lambs were remarkably robust. The passage we just read describes the revelation God gave Jacob before he made the agreement with Laban. Jacob is a remarkable person; he boldly proclaimed and acted upon the revelation God gave him, and witnessed the miraculous outcome. Imagine if Jacob had received such a prompting from God, but did nothing with it; what would have been the result? He might have remained Laban's worker for the rest of his life, or returned to his father empty-handed. However, because Jacob obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit, God greatly blessed him. He not only returned with much more than when he came, but he also went back to his father’s house with abundant possessions. The turning point in all of this was the moment Jacob was prompted by God’s spirit. Therefore, it shows just how important it is for us to have the prompting from the Spirit of God. Today we will study three aspects of the Holy Spirit's prompting: 1. How to Receive the Holy Spirit's Prompting. 2. How to Apply the Holy Spirit's Prompting. 3. The Effects of the Holy Spirit's Prompting.

Receiving the Holy Spirit's Prompting – Seeking God's Kingdom and Righteousness

The Holy Spirit doesn't move people casually. Jacob's story is a typical example. Before we look at Jacob, let's first look at Jacob's uncle and boss, Laban. After 20 years, Jacob told Laban that he wanted to leave and return to his father. In Genesis 30:27, Laban said, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” This Laban seems like someone we’ve seen before, like Abimelech, isn’t it?

Laban had been in charge of the flock for many years, but it never did very well. However, when Jacob came, the flock prospered greatly, bringing much wealth to Laban. Through observing Jacob, Laban recognised that God was with him. It seems Laban was aware of some of God's works, otherwise he would not have recognised God's presence with Jacob. But the question is, why did the revelation to give the sheep the ability to transcend the rules of genetics only come to Jacob, and not to Laban?

Upon reading this passage, you will discover that Laban was unwilling to personally come before God to worship Him. Does this not resemble many Christians in this generation? Laban was only one step away from knowing God, but ultimately failed to establish a relationship with Him. The problem lies in the heart. Laban's eyes were only fixed on worldly wealth. Although he saw God's presence with Jacob, he did not have an appetite for God, as he valued only money. With such a motivation, Laban could not receive any prompting from God.

Jacob, however, was different. Although Jacob became wealthy through this prompting, we must understand that this was not Jacob's motive. Jacob's motive was simply to return to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. Why? Because Canaan was the promised land that God had given to his grandfather Abraham, his father Isaac, and to himself and his descendants. Jacob recognised that this was God's promise and mission for his life, which pertained to the Kingdom of God. Jacob was determined to return, not merely to visit his father, but to fulfil God's mission in his life.

Today, we must understand that to receive the Holy Spirit's prompting, we must not be motivated by worldly concerns; otherwise, we will not receive it. We must be involved in matters related to building God's Kingdom to receive prompting from the Spirit of God. Healing and deliverance are directly related to God's Kingdom. In Luke 4:18-19, it says, The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free. Therefore, many of the following examples will be from my personal experiences in the field of healing and deliverance, which I have performed through receiving prompting from the Spirit of God.

Gaining the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit – Inheritance and Practice

Before Jacob worked for Laban, the Bible records Jacob's experience in shepherding. In Genesis 29:7, Jacob had just met Rachel at that time. He didn't know who Rachel was. Seeing Rachel bringing sheep to the well to drink water, he said to Rachel, The sun is still high, it is not suitable for the sheep to drink water, we should wait a little longer. Jacob hadn't shepherded for Laban yet, how did he know about shepherding experience? It was learned from his father and his grandfather. So learning is a kind of inheritance, and Jacob inherited it, and he also practiced it.

Before waiting for the inspiration of the Spirit of God, inheritance and practice play a very important role. When I first started serving, doing healing and deliverance work, I basically didn't receive any inspiration from God. What I did was inherit what the pastor said and did when he was doing healing and deliverance. I still remember that the first case of healing and deliverance I came into contact with was a brother. At that time, there was no inspiration from the Holy Spirit at all when I prayed for him. I just relied on the will of inheritance and lay there to pray for him, and his toenail problem was solved.

Using the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit – Bold Declaration

Jacob is a person who often declares the word of God. You will find that Jacob's way of doing things is that after he received the revelation from God, he went directly to Laban and said, I want to make an agreement with you on how to do it. In fact, many of us don't like or are not used to doing things like this. Why? Because it will bear certain risks. Everyone imagine that Jacob made such an agreement. If things don't work out, then Jacob is likely to be ruined for the rest of his life. Either stay with Laban here to be a laborer, or return to his hometown empty-handed, gaining nothing. But if you want to apply the inspiration of God's Spirit well, you need to boldly use the knowledge to declare it, and boldly use the word of knowledge.

In the first chapter of Genesis, God said, Let there be light, and there was light. Our mouths are very spiritual organs. So when I see myself gradually and constantly gaining inspiration from the Spirit of God, I decided to start boldly using the word of knowledge to declare my inspiration.

Using the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit – Bold Operation

When you observe carefully, you will find that after Jacob finished talking to Laban and made such an agreement, he declared the inspiration from the Holy Spirit, but he didn't do nothing. In Genesis 30:37, Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled the bark into white stripes, exposing the white on the branches. Then, when the sheep were mating, he used the peeled branches to give the sheep water to drink. We will find that God often likes us to have some acts of faith under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

In 2 Kings, there is such a record that the disciple of the prophet Elisha dropped the axe into the river. Elisha cut a piece of wood and threw it into the water, and the axe floated up. It is difficult for us to imagine what relationship there is between throwing a piece of wood in the water and the axe floating up, but the result is that the axe floats up.

In the New Testament, Jesus did the same. In the process of healing a deaf and stuttering person, Jesus used his fingers to explore his ears and used saliva to smear his tongue, and the person was healed.
It turns out that doing some bold operations is as important as boldly using the word of knowledge. Later, in my ministry and pastoral work, in the process of healing and deliverance, I formed such a model. Boldly speaking the word of knowledge, and boldly asking those being ministered to do some things are what Jesus often did, and I found it is also what pastors often do. Then back to the beginning on how to gain the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit has not yet inspired me, then I think, being healed from illness must be in line with God's will and also related to God's kingdom. So if there is no inspiration, I will use the method of inheritance and practice, that is, what Jesus said, I also say, what Jesus did, I also do. Later, I found that after doing it for a long time, when serving, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is often in me.

The Effect of the Holy Spirit's Inspiration – Fast, Accurate, and Ruthless

Let us take a look at the effect of doing things brought about by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that is, fast (speed), accurate (accuracy), and ruthless (strength) are extremely amazing. Everyone imagine the scene of Jacob shepherding for Laban for 20 years. Chapter 31 of the Bible describes it this way: I was consumed by heat in the day and frost in the night, and sleep fled from my eyes. That was how I was. This is Jacob shepherding by experience, and he did a pretty good job, otherwise Laban would not be so happy with him and want to keep him. But compared with the operation of the Holy Spirit, this way of shepherding is far less effective than the operation of God's Spirit. We will find that the operation of God's Spirit brings miracles and innovation.

When we go to see the news, there are too many physical merchants blaming Jack Ma, because Jack Ma's Taobao has caused many physical merchants to close down. Why? Because of the competition of speed, physical merchants can't compete with Jack Ma. People can buy what they want by sitting at home on Jack Ma's Taobao. For physical merchants, we have to run to their stores. The problem is that I recently saw in the news that many places are below minus 30 degrees, who still wants to go out to buy things. This is speed. Then let's look at accuracy. If we want to buy what we want in a physical store, we need to go around in one place for a long time. Why? Because we are afraid that there are still places we haven't turned to and missed what we want. But if you are online, you can directly search for what you want, exclude the interference of other things, and it is easy to find what you want. This is accuracy. Let's look at the strength again. You know that physical stores need to pay rent, electricity bills, and a lot of operating costs, but you don't need to open a store on Taobao. My sister opened a store on Taobao. I heard that many brothers and sisters in the church opened stores on Taobao. The problem is that the cost is reduced a lot, the things sold are cheaper, and the strength will be released all at once. According to official data, there are more than 9 million merchants on Taobao, and these are the people who open stores, including logistics, operations, and customers. Everyone imagine how many people are integrated into such a shopping system; then just in the past 2015 Double 11 shopping festival, Taobao's transaction volume was 91.217 billion, an increase of 59.7 percent compared to 2014. Did everyone see the intensity? I am not saying that the Holy Spirit also inspired Jack Ma, I am saying that the Holy Spirit inspires us, and we will bring out such service effects if we serve according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.