What is the sense of the Spirit in us? We can illustrate this with the following example. One day you may want to visit one of the saints, so you do so. However, in the deepest part of your being, there is a sense. This sense is entirely different from your own thinking. In your thinking you want to go visit this saint, but your sense within does not agree. This sense comes from the Spirit who is within you. Christians are very special because they have the Spirit of God abiding within them. Many times when we have a certain determination in our mind, emotion, and will, we simply have another feeling within us. This feeling is in our deepest part and comes from the function of our spirit. The Spirit of the Lord abides in our spirit and has been mingled with our spirit to become one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).
Whenever our heart opens to the Lord, this Spirit spreads out from within us into our mind, emotion, and will. How do we know the Lord’s Spirit has spread into our mind, emotion, and will? There is one obvious proof. This proof is the freedom mentioned in 2 Corinthians 3:17—“And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Once you have the Spirit of the Lord in your mind, your mind will have freedom. Once you have the Spirit of the Lord in your emotion, your emotion will also have freedom. And once you have the Spirit of the Lord in your will, it will surely be freed.
What is it actually like to have freedom in one’s mind, emotion, and will? Suppose that a sister goes to buy some clothing, sees some fashionable and fancy clothes, and wants to buy them. However, at that very moment, there is a feeling in her deepest part. She feels that it is unsuitable for someone who loves the Lord to wear fashionable and fancy clothing of this kind. This is the Lord’s feeling within her. The critical question in this situation is, which direction is this sister’s heart facing? If her heart is toward the fancy clothes, it will spontaneously be closed to the Lord. If this is the case, the Lord’s Spirit will not be able to enter into her mind, emotion, and will, and she will not have any freedom within her. If, however, her heart is toward the Lord, she will forsake the clothing. Then the Lord’s Spirit will have the opportunity to enter into her mind, emotion, and will, and she will have freedom within her.
Many sisters have this kind of experience. If their hearts are toward the clothes and they buy them, they will be unable to pray for three days. Then since they are unable to pray for three days, they will become low. They will not be released and will not be able to stand. This is what it means to not have freedom. When people meet these sisters, they will think that there is something wrong with them. These sister’s countenances will be miserable and they will appear to be bound by something. Even in their speaking, they will sound unnatural and restrained. In the meetings they will not be able to pray to the extent that they will not even be able to say “amen” when others pray. This is because they are bound and do not have any freedom. We must remember that whenever the Lord’s Spirit is bound within us, we are surely restrained. Many Christians are not joyful because the Spirit within them is not joyful. When the Spirit within them is joyful, then they will be joyful.
If the sisters love the Lord, face the Lord, and say to Him, “O Lord, I love You. I want to please You. I do not want these clothes. I will not buy them,” then immediately they will be released and will have freedom within them. Then they will be able to pray, sing hymns, and say “hallelujah.” In the meeting, they certainly will be released. When people meet them, they will meet a spirit that is uplifted and soaring with joy. They will sense the taste of the Lord with them. If someone says that a meeting is boring, we must realize that it is he himself who is bored within. Because his spirit, his inner being, is bored, he feels that everything is boring. This is not only the case for spiritual things but also for ordinary things. When a man comes across something joyful, his heart will be filled with joy. Then when he meets people on the way, he will feel that they are lovely, and when he lifts up his head to see the clouds, he will find them pleasant. To the contrary, if he comes across something sad, he will be filled with sadness and sorrow. Then even if he meets the same people, the same earth, the same sky, and the same clouds, he will feel sad.