Acknowledging The Holy Spirit

The Trap Of Familiarity

By Evelyn Monteiro • March 3, 2025

Let me first explain what familiarity is: To be "familiar" with someone, means you are acquainted with, close to, buddies with, casual with, attached to, comfortable with. It means that they are your friend. This message is not saying you shouldn't have friends, but it is teaching you something to be weary of: satan uses those closest to us to attack us, too! We are familiar with those closest to us, it is why it hurts so much when the people who should have your back, turn their backs on you. Job had those closest to him, turn on him - his friends, even his wife! The comments they made, the "advice" they were giving him, was going to cost him his salvation in his most difficult time. He had a choice to make. He did not allow the familiarity to his friends and wife, to affect his walk of obedience to God. And that is what I am teaching you in this message.

Spiritual Blindness

By Evelyn Monteiro • February 24, 2025

2 Corinthians 4:4 states that Satan, the god of this world blinds the minds of the unbelieving to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This verse proves that satan wants us to be spiritually blind. What does spiritual blindness look like? * being rebellious * lacking in discernment * hardness of heart * religiousness * pride When we don't deal with the above mentioned, we become spiritually blind. We struggle to see what is really going on in our hearts and lives. When we are spiritually blind, we don't have understanding and revelation. We may have knowledge, but there is no wisdom.

Is My Rebellion Hurting My Spouse?

By Evelyn Monteiro • February 17, 2025

None of us are excluded from this. Because none of us don't have rebellion. We have a sinful nature and that sinful nature, no matter how hard we try, sometimes still gets the better of us and those closest to us get the brunt of it - like our spouses. What is rebellion? Rebellion is everything we do that is opposite to the fruit of the Holy Spirit: hardness of heart, pride, stubbornness, anger, frustration, bitterness, anxiety, controlling behavior, selfishness and the like. All those behaviors that do not resemble Jesus' character, is our rebellious, sinful nature. Our actions, words and behaviors, affect our spouse. When we stress, when fear is in control, we say and do things in haste - Prov 19:2 warns us that when we act in haste, we will make mistakes. How many of your decisions made in haste did not affect your spouse negatively? Of course it did! What affects you, affects your spouse! What about going to be in anger? Eph 4:26-27 teaches us not to go to bed angry and hold on to anger and offense because we give the enemy an access point to our lives when we do that! How many times did you not forgive and went to bed angry?

Is Fear Affecting My Brain?

By Evelyn Monteiro • February 10, 2025

How much is fear affecting your actions and behavior right now? Fear is a filter. It affects how your brain perceives, how it receives messages, handles situations and circumstances. According to 1 John 4:18, fear is a mindset, we expect punishment and we can't understand God's love for us when we are consumed with fear. According to Rom12:2 our minds should be renewed so that we can discern God's will. But when we are consumed in our thoughts by fear, that's not possible. Phil 4:6-7 shows how fear and the mind affect one another: "do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything by prayer, continue to make your requests know to God. And the peace of God, will guard over your heart and MINDS." We should not be having fear control our minds. Fear should not be the deciding factor in making decisions. Fear should not be the driving force behind your functioning, strategizing, planning, discerning and executing instructions.

The Alabaster Jar

By Evelyn Monteiro • February 3, 2025

An alabaster jar was made of the alabaster stone to keep ointments, oils and perfumes in. It kept the oils and perfumes pure and unspoiled. In Matt 26:6-13 a woman anointed Jesus with perfume that was kept in such a jar. She had to break it. It was filled with very expensive perfume, equivalent to a year's wages. What happened? She got rebuked for doing it! In the most holy and vulnerable moment, she was being rebuked, not by unbelievers, but by the disciples themselves! But she did something that they did not understand. It took TOTAL commitment for her to have broken that jar with all that perfume inside, not knowing how Jesus would respond. But Jesus saw her heart. She gave her all, no matter what others would say. It pleased Jesus.

The Root Of Your Problem

By Evelyn Monteiro • January 27, 2025

Things don't just happen. We must not just accept things in life. We have to ask questions, we have to investigate. Many believers today blame God for their problems because they don't understand what is really going on. But with understanding there is clarity and wisdom. The Bible makes it clear to us that most of our troubles are actually spiritually rooted! That means that most of your current problems are actually because of sin, because of the evil that is stealing, killing and destroying. But we find ourselves trying to solve spiritual problems in the flesh and we wonder why they problem doesn't go away?! We wonder why our prayers have no effect. That's because we don't pray the ROOT of the problem.

How To Fight Back

By Evelyn Monteiro • January 20, 2025

The biggest thing satan bargains on, is that we are passive spiritually. As long as we are spiritually passive, we just take whatever comes, believing it's God, when it was not and we were meant to fight it, resist it, stand firm against it. This is why spiritual passivity is so dangerous - the enemy can do with us whatever he wants to! We must learn and practice the weapons Jesus gave us so that we are worthy opponents and cause the devil's schemes to fail against us! The Bible tells us that satan and his demons are always scheming against us! Eph 6:11 and 2 Cor 2:11 "don't be ignorant of his schemes". Your enemy is always looking for opportunity to make us fail - 1 Peter 5:8. A scheme can be anything from depression, bloodline curses that have destroyed your family, sickness, constant setback, cycle of bad relationships, constant rejection. Is this what God says about you? Is this what God wants for you? Of course not! But we have our part to play!

Hearing God Through Visions!

By Evelyn Monteiro • November 25, 2024

Each and everyone of us have the right to hear God through visions! If you accepted Jesus into your life, His Holy Spirit is in you, and He is the One who gives visions! You can see visions, understand them and respond to them because as God's sheep, we hear His voice and follow His instructions! Visions are not only in the form of pictures, did you know that? Visions can come in various forms because God speaks to all of us in a different way. My husband sees pictures all the time, whereas me, I get the impression of an image, meaning, I don't actually see a picture, but rather, have the thought of something which I know to be a vision. Let's look at some of the types of visions: - Thoughts: if I told you to envision a juicy, beautifully red strawberry, that is a form of vision! The thought came to you - Images: so clear and vivid as if you're seeing a picture in front of you - Moving Images: like a movie! - Trance: through a dream or even an out of body experience! (2 Cor 12:1-4 / Acts 10:11-15) - Hearing: just like young Samuel hearing the voice of God so vividly, he thought Eli was calling him!

Hearing God Through Wise Counsel

By Evelyn Monteiro • November 10, 2024

This is such an important topic to me as a minister of the Gospel, because I have seen this too many times: people want to hear from God through people and not for themselves. There should be a balance! God should always be the first One you run to before you run to people for advice. To use people, is just ONE of the methods God uses to speak to you and me. And it is so special when it happens! But make sure it is not the only way you "hear" God for your life! Don't run after events or personal prayer from another - there's so much you are missing out on because God speaks to us in so many ways! This, being just one of them: through wise counsel.

Hearing God Through Your Circumstances

By Evelyn Monteiro • November 4, 2024

To hear God, is to have a personal relationship with His Holy Spirit. Did you know that God is speaking to you constantly about what you are facing? He never leaves us where we are at! In fact, He even uses your current situation to speak to you, train you for your calling and to prepare you for the great future He planned for you! There is something to learn, to reflect upon, through your circumstance. When things get tough, we want to pray them away, but this is not Biblical! Jesus said we would face troubles but to take heart! The life of a believer is one of prayer! We cannot go through what we're going through successfully, without prayer! Phil 4 says we must pray over everything! This way, we will be ready for anything and we'll be able to hear God in the midst of challenges. Isn't that what we want? We read about the "tent of meeting" in Ex 33:7-11. Did you know that this tent wasn't only for Moses? Anyone could go there and meet with the Lord (verse 7). But the people chose to watch Moses enter the tent, waiting for him to hear on their behalf! What a waste!

Acknowledging The Holy Spirit

Evelyn Monteiro • November 4, 2024

All of us want to hear the voice of God. There are many voices raging around us. Our circumstances, family, friends, opinions, advice given, the enemy and even our own thoughts.

How do we know it’s God speaking?

The only way we’ll know whether something is from God or not, is to know God! Having a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, is the most precious gift. We must know Him, talk with Him, respond to Him. This is how we learn to recognize His voice above all other voices. But the question I am asking you is: Do you have a relationship with the Holy Spirit?

Ask Yourself These Questions:

Do you acknowledge the Holy Spirit all the time? Do you have “communion”, “fellowship” with Him? (2 Cor 13:14). Do you know who He is? Is He your Friend?

Do you wait on the Holy Spirit to respond? Or do you do your own thing? Do you consult the Holy Spirit every day?

Do you have a personal relationship with Holy Spirit?

What does it mean to hear God?

To hear God means you are walking in the Spirit, meaning, you live a life not to gratify the flesh, but to please God in everything you do. To hear God, means you have relationship with the Holy Spirit. You pray over EVERYTHING and you consult Him, understanding that you cannot do anything without Him. This is what it means, to walk with the Lord. He consumes your life and thoughts. This is how we learn to know His voice above all else.

Just like a relationship, trust is built, respect and closeness come as you get to know the other person. In the same way, you have to get to know Holy Spirit as a Person. Learn to trust Him, to honor Him first above all else, spend time with Him. How else would you be able to say you know Him?! How else would you be able to know His voice?

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Who is the Holy Spirit:

He is the Presence of God with me in Psalm 51:11. Who would we be, what will we become if not for His Presence?! God must be your everything!

He is your Helper (John 14:16/John 15:26)

In John 14:26 the Holy Spirit Teaches you all things, brings to remembrance what Jesus said.

In Ezekiel 36:27, He helps you to do what God is asking you to do.

He is your empowerment, enabler in

Acts 1:8 (you shall receive power when He comes upon you to do what you’re called to do).

He is the Giver of Gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:4. His gifts, enable you to be used as an instrument of God (give you the ability to prophesy, heal, do miracles, give words of knowledge, give words of wisdom).

He is the Spirit of Truth ind John 15:26/John 16:12-15/John 16:13.

He is the One that reveals, unveils, brings out into the open, exposes lies and deceit (1 Cor.2:10).

Your own heart can deceive you. He is the Only One who can search the heart and reveal to you what is truly going on (Psalm 139)

He is the anointing in Isaiah 61:1.

He is the anointing to preach, to heal, to set the captives free. You and I are only the vessels!

He is your Dream Interpreter in Genesis 41:15-16. The Holy Spirit gives you dreams! How can you interpret your dreams without Him?

He intercedes for you in Rom 8:26.

He strengthens you, He is the God who works behind the scenes

He is the One who gets you through trials (Rom 5:3-5).

He is the One that shapes, sculpts your character and brings you to maturity (Gal 5:22-23 = fruit of the Spirit).

He is the One who convicts and corrects you (John 16:7-15/Heb 9:14).

He is the One who teaches you about spiritual things (1 Cor 2:13, 1John 2:27).

He is the One who gives dreams and visions (Acts 2:17-18)

He is the One that transforms, He is the life-giving Spirit. Where there was death, He can bring back to life! (Rom 8:11-the same spirit that raised Jesus) (2 Cor 3:6).

Are you walking with the Lord? Do you acknowledge the Holy Spirit?

Cultivate a relationship with Holy Spirit: consult Him in everything! You have your part to play! God will always draw near to those who draw near to Him! Phil 4:6-7 teaches us to “pray about everything”. Then His Peace comes! Consult the Holy Spirit.

Learn to become sensitive to His leading and guiding. It doesn’t always happen when and how you expect it to. God has ways to speak to us we won’t always expect! He will use foolish things and strangers to speak to us and we must be ready to recognize it when He does.

Pray, wait, respond. To wait on God is not easy. It means to push in more, trust Him more. Don’t doubt, act in faith. God sees your heart intent. Our obedience to Him is our protection. God loves it when we respond to Him! Sometimes, we feel unsure, but He honors those who act instead of doing nothing. Give God something to work with. Don’t stay frozen in fear!

The key to hearing the voice of God, is to acknowledge the Holy Spirit and responding to His leading. The more you do this, the more you know His voice above all the others.

Evelyn Monteiro

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