Barnabas Bulletin ~ 0160
BEING LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
“For as many as are led (guided) by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14, NKJV).
Have you ever stopped to seriously think what this verse of Scripture is speaking to us about? The fruit of a Holy Spirit-filled life is that we know the reality and experience of what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit. It means that we have learned to trust the Lord enough to make ourselves available and yielded to the Holy Spirit to guide us in whatever and wherever He desires. It is no longer our asking God to bless what we’re doing, but our being obedient to God to doing that which He wants us to do. That is a big difference. Being led of the Holy Spirit is a sign ~ and an evidence ~ that we are maturing in our walk with Jesus and know Him sufficiently well enough to do His will, His bidding. Jesus said, “If you [really] love Me you will keep (obey) My commands” (John 14:15, Amp. Bible). It was Jesus Himself Who sent the Blessed Holy Spirit to lead and guide us! You can rest assured that if Jesus sends us Someone or something, then we desperately need what He sends! For too long we have neglected and rejected the provision of God to us and have tried to fulfil Christianity in our own efforts ~ that is religion, not reality. God’s way is far above our ways and He wants us to so know the Holy Spirit that being led of the Holy Spirit is a blessed reality, not a Scripture quote that we know nothing or little about (theory rather than reality). When we are yielded to the Holy Spirit ~ with a commitment to do whatever He asks us ~ then we are “His witnesses” wherever we go (Acts 1:8). It is a daily relationship with the Living God through the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11)! And He lives inside every Spirit-filled believer right NOW! He speaks, He leads, He guides, He shows us what to do, He tells us of things to come, and much more (see John Chapters 14 to 16). He provides us with whatever we need to fulfil His purposes here on earth. But we have to be led.
I like this translation of Romans 8:14 ~ “The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them” (New Century Bible).
The question is: “Do we let God’s Spirit lead us, or do we like to keep control?” The older I get the more I realize that New Covenant Christianity is so different to the natural way of doing things. God takes us “nobodies” and turns us into “some bodies” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31) and then teaches us the great benefits of allowing Him to lead and guide our lives. When He is in control, and we are committed to His leadership, then we are in for a lot of surprises: God asks us to say and do things that we naturally have not thought about. So often it is totally illogical. But when we know the voice of God, and have learned to trust that voice, then we know to trust God, knowing that He is the Truth and He never tells lies. We can then do whatever He asks us and the results are testimonies to the glory of God ~ and happenings that will last throughout time and into all eternity.
Consider this translation: “God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!” (Romans 8:14, The Message Bible).
- When we are being led by the Holy Spirit we will see the God-factor coming though in our lives, families, ministries and wherever He has placed us.
- We see God’s provision for us that we do not see in any other way.
- When we are being led and obedient to the Holy Spirit we are co-operating with God and it allows God to be GOD in our lives and ministries.
JESUS:
In John 4 we read of the amazing results of Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit. He was going somewhere, but felt led to “go through Samaria” (v. 4). The result of that was He met the woman at the well and, through a word of knowledge about her marital status, brought about her salvation and the whole village of the Samaritans. Jesus is our Great Example and we are called to follow Him!
ANANIAS:
Have you thought about the little-known disciple called Ananias? We read of him in Acts Chapters 9, 22 and 26. God so trusted Ananias to be obedient to what He asked of him that He could give the newly-converted Saul of Tarsus his name and tell him that Ananias was coming to tell him what to do. God could not have told Saul that if Ananias had not proven himself obedient to whatever God asked him. To obey, Ananias had to “take authority over his natural thoughts” as they were telling him if he obeyed what God was asking him, then he would get beaten up, thrown into prison, or even killed by Saul! But he so knew the Holy Spirit’s leading that, when assured by God, he was obedient and went to meet Saul. The result was that he prayed for Saul; he was healed, filled with the Holy Spirit, water baptized, and prophetically given his calling and purpose in God for his life. The fruit of Ananias’ obedience to God was that Saul became the great Apostle Paul, who has influenced multiplied millions of people (including you and me) ever since!
- Right now God has chosen YOU.
- Will you be obedient enough to allow Him to lead YOU by His Holy Spirit?
There will be wonderful happenings when we trust God enough to do whatever He asks us. It’s time we allowed God to be GOD in our lives, listen to what he says to us, and then see what He can do through our simple obedience to whatever He asks of us. “God’s Spirit beckons you”! Many Blessings in Christ ~ Rodney W. Francis.
Bible Reading: Romans 8:13-17 1 John 3:1-3
Prayer: “Dear Lord God, I come to You in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son, and I ask You to help me to yield myself more to the leading of Your Holy Spirit. I ask You to help me to have a much bigger believing heart so that I can earnestly desire and persevere more, and demonstrate my faith and belief in You much more positively. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for hearing my prayer. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry, New Zealand. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.