The person of the Holy Spirit in our lives is not just for the sake of empowering our personal walk with the Lord or demonstrating God’s love and power to the lost. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives should cause us to be acutely aware of His activity on a daily basis, pointing us to where God is working and moving so we can partner with Him in prayer and action. If we don’t recognize what the Spirit is doing in the current season and adjust our mindset and prayers accordingly, we may end up getting stuck in a past revelation and totally miss what He is doing now.

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 6:63)

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A personal example of this recently came to my attention. I have taught for many years on the power of prophetic worship and have trained worship teams in how to flow in a spirit of excellence and sensitivity to the moods of the Spirit. It was always for the purpose of creating an atmosphere where the Lord’s presence could flow freely and powerfully. This principle on the call of minstrels and worship leaders not only deepened corporate worship but brought much fruit through the years.

However, as good as the teaching was, the Lord showed me in a dream that I had gotten stuck on that revelation and had now made it into an idol. I had, unknowingly, become rigid in my understanding of how the Holy Spirit wanted to move in corporate worship and had become blind to His current activity apart from those leading on the stage. In the dream, it was what was happening in the congregation that drew heaven’s attention, not what was on the platform. Because I was stuck on a past truth, I hadn’t seen or recognized the fresh manifestation of His presence. The revelation I had held onto had turned into a religious rule that blinded me to His current working. Once I repented of my self-righteous attitude, I was able to embrace and celebrate His current activity.

I believe this reality is happening to many others in the body of Christ who have been clinging to past revelations and missing out on the Spirit’s current activity. Lessons and truths from our past can be important foundation stones, but can eventually become stumbling blocks if we don’t stay updated with God. Though scriptural principles are core to our journey, we must also walk in daily surrender to the Spirit of God and allow Him to update our application of those same truths to a new generation. He desires to enlarge our understanding of His purpose and His character and we must walk in both the Word AND the Spirit if we are to keep ourselves free from any restrictive religious mindset.

Most recently, the Church has been tested on this in our corporate response to President Trump. For some believers, past-held convictions and beliefs concerning personal conduct and morality have prevented them from seeing how God might possibly use this unconventional leader. For others, they have recognized a spiritual empowerment upon this unlikely man that is bearing much fruit for the Kingdom. Instead of focusing on character issues, there is the growing realization of the Spirit’s movement and blessing upon this president’s agenda and accomplishments. God is, indeed, revealing Himself as one who is not limited because of human weakness or held back because of personal failure. As true as the call is for righteous living, so is the message of God’s redeeming power for any and all who call on His name.

Even as we celebrate our victories and revelations of the past, let’s not miss how God’s Spirit is working today that may seem out of the box. He always builds on the past and seeks to enlarge our ability to see Him and know Him, sometimes offending the flesh in the process. Let’s pray that believers can rightly discern the activities of Holy Spirit and join in so our prayers will be effective, our responses be appropriate, and our unity be strengthened.

How do you personally see God moving today that is different than the past? Have you had to adjust any of your mindsets to stay updated with God? Leave your comments below.