Have you ever seen baby birds in a nest with their mouths open just waiting to eat whatever their mother drops in their mouth? They’re just making noise, waiting for their stomachs to be filled. All believers have the Holy Spirit on the inside of them, but not every believer listens to the Holy Spirit. That’s why so many Christians are so kooky and listen to deception, because they’re not listening to the Holy Spirit who is trying to lead them into all truth. They just have their mouth open like those baby birds, receiving everything out there, accepting it all as truth. Then again, maybe the have their mouth shut, receiving nothing unless they have picked it themself.

A well-known minister used to tell a story of a traveling ministry who was preaching at a church, and as the meeting was being closed out, he and his wife were about to leave to head out to another meeting. Before they left though, this elderly woman in the church had been praying, and sensed that the Holy Spirit was showing her that this minister shouldn’t leave right after church because they were going to be in an accident and his wife was going to be killed.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. – John 16:13 NKJV

This woman shared this with her pastor and the pastor shared it with the minister. The minister kind of got upset because, in his own words, “he had the Holy Spirit too.” The pastor explained that if this news came through anybody else, then he might question it as well. But knowing this woman, he recommended to the minister that he should listen. The minister didn’t listen though, and left right after church. He and his wife ended up getting caught in a rainstorm, and ended up having a wreck and his wife died. Isn’t it sad how quickly we will let pride get in to our life. This minister thought because he knew God, and how he had the same Holy Spirit, that nobody else could hear from God about his life. He was willing to bet his wife’s life on his ability to hear from God. If he only would’ve listened, his wife would not have died that night. We do the same thing in life – letting pride get in our way. We sit back and we don’t listen to other people, other ministers, other Christians, who God has spoken the truth to and through, but we’ve been too busy or too prideful or too this or too that to receive what God was saying to us through them. And because of this, we get off, we get hurt, we fall for this trap of the devil or into that sin. Let it not be said of us.

Of course, hat doesn’t mean that we receive everything someone says is “from the Lord.” You can have 1,000 different people trying to say that they have something from the Lord for you, and all that is going on is that they ate some fried chicken too late at night. That also doesn’t mean that you’re quick to dismiss someone. Honestly asked the Lord if it is Him, or if the person is gone crazy or eaten too many burritos. Be willing to humble yourself and say that there’s a possibility the God’s been trying to say something to you and you just haven’t picked it up.