“LED BY THE SPIRIT!”

Romans 8:12-17                              (ESV)

“12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the SPIRIT you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

14 FOR ALL WHO ARE “LED BY THE SPIRIT” OF GOD ARE SONS OF GOD.

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the SPIRIT of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! FATHER!"

16 The SPIRIT HIMSELF bears witness with our spirit that we are children of GOD,

17 and if children, then heirs-heirs of W and fellow heirs with CHRIST, provided we suffer with HIM in order that we may also be glorified with HIM.”

Having experienced GOD’s Matchless Grace in ways that few others have, there is rarely a hesitance on my part to wait and see what HE is up to next!!!  HE has always “bailed me out” before?  Surely HE will do it again?  Everyone has seen my quoting Exodus 14:14, “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent”, but from time to time I elect to be talking when ALMIGHTY GOD is wanting to talk to me!  It is awfully difficult to listen when your mouth is open!  

Most of us want to input our thoughts and feelings into a discussion without being led by the HOLY SPIRIT to do so.  Being “LED BY THE SPIRIT” is not something that we should claim without even praying about it.  In Exodus 33:9 Moses didn’t go into THE TENT OF MEETING, not to tell GOD how rebellious the Children of Israel were being, but in order that “the LORD would speak with Moses”.  Since the LORD was speaking with Moses, one would have to agree that Moses was listening?  

Do I listen to ALMIGHTY GOD when I am approaching HIS THRONE?  Or do I bring my WISH LIST to HIM and abruptly cast it before HIM in an almost irreverent manner like HE is some sort of genie?  King David, after battling Saul, said in Psalms 18:30, “This GOD-HIS way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; HE is a shield for all those who take refuge in HIM.”  David didn’t take credit for anything he accomplished against Saul.  Instead he talked about how magnificent and majestic is.  

When we are “LED BY THE SPIRIT”, we are typically in a position of doing what GOD is directing us to do, not begging for more “stuff”!  When we are being “LED BY THE SPIRIT”, we are submitting to HIS Leadership in where we should go, and doing what we should do.  When we are explaining how we think HE should be doing things, we are basically telling GOD that our thoughts are higher than HIS (Isaiah 55:8-9)!  It is IMPOSSIBLE to be “LED BY THE SPIRIT” until we surrender to HIS LORDSHIP over our direction!  

“THE TENT OF MEETING!”

Exodus 33:7-10                              (ESV)

“7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it “THE TENT OF MEETING”. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

8 Whenever Moses went out to the tent, ALL THE PEOPLE would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent.

9 When Moses entered the tent, the PILLAR OF CLOUD would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses.

10 And WHEN ALL THE PEOPLE saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up AND WORSHIP, EACH AT HIS TENT DOOR.”

It has been said, and very astutely so, that “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”!  The Children of Israel had been rescued from Egyptian slavery almost 40 years prior to these Scriptures.  One would think that they would remember the torture of having NO FREEDOM and would NEVER do ANYTHING to succumb to the entrapment of Slavery again?!?  

However, in Deuteronomy 31:20 it is written “For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, THEY WILL TURN to other gods and serve them, and despise ME and break MY covenant.”  GOD told Moses before he “laid down with his fathers” that the Israelites would not be able to stand the prosperity that HE would Bless them with.  

Before the Israelites were Blessed with abundance of THE PROMISED LAND, they were watching Moses go into “THE TENT OF MEETING” to speak with GOD, and the LORD would speak with Moses!  They knew that it would be happening, yet they were becoming so comfortable with there rewards that were from ALMIGHTY GOD that they turned away from worshipping HIM and began following other gods!  They couldn’t SEE their past for the Blessings that they were enjoying!  

Am I any better?  Do I get so caught up with HIS Blessings that I fail to recognize that HE is the ONE WHO provides them?  HEAVENLY FATHER, cause me to remember that TRUE FREEDOM comes from YOU, and that the slavery of sin is waiting to entrap me IF I CHOOSE TO TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU! Cause me to remember “THE TENT OF MEETING” and that YOU are wanting to fellowship with me daily!!!

“GREAT IS OUR GOD!”

Psalms 147:3-5                                                (ESV)

“3 HE heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 

4 HE determines the number of the stars; HE gives to all of them their names. 

5 “GREAT IS OUR LORD”, and abundant in power; HIS understanding is beyond measure.”

Lately it seems I have been writing a lot about the Brain Hemorrhage I experienced in July 2007.  Please don’t get the wrong impression, I do NOT Glory in being where I found myself to be, but I will NEVER allow the lessons learned to be minimized for fear of offending people.  Teaching me sometimes isn’t the easiest thing to accomplish, but ALMIGHTY GOD didn’t even break a sweat when it came to bringing me through the valley of the shadow of death.  HE is so capable, and I am not!  

Lately I have been writing on the theme of how we seem to have the mindset that the entire world revolves around the events that we have in our lives.  There are currently approximately 7.7 BILLION people in the world according to worldometer.info.  ALMIGHTY GOD is so vast that HE knows the number of hairs on each head (Luke 12:7)!  HE isn’t caught off guard by the happenings of this world and HE isn’t surprised by my lack of obedience and FAITH!  As a matter of fact, GOD is constantly moving me towards perfecting my obedience and FAITH for HIS Glory.  

While driving home from the hospital one evening in w2007, my wife tells about hearing a song, I believe sung by Twila Paris, entitled GOD IS IN CONTROL.  She says that she received PEACE when realizing that GOD had EVERYTHING in HIS HANDS!  Just as ALMIGHTY GOD was IN CONTROL when my brain developed a leak, HE remains IN CONTROL today.  HE doesn’t relinquish HIS CONTROL to anyone, even when we think we are defying HIS Sovereignty!  In Exodus HE caused the Israelites to GO BACKWARDS (Exodus 14:2) and gave the appearance that they were “wandering in the land”!  Of course,Scripture records that the enemy of GOD was introduced to the bottom of the Red Sea later in Exodus 14.  

Another translation of Psalms 147:5 says “GREAT IS OUR LORD” and HE is STRONG IN HIS POWER and THERE IS NO END to HIS understanding.”  Our limited vision cannot grasp the magnitude of GOD’s POWER.  JESUS HIMSELF said in Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE."  My tendency is to say that something cannot be accomplished, but with GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!  HE can heal a Brain Hemorrhage after a seventeen day coma, and there is NO END to what HE can do!  “GREAT IS OUR LORD”!!!

“HIS WILL!”

Hebrews 13:20-21                                                  (ESV)

“20 Now may the GOD of peace who brought again from the dead our LORD JESUS, the great SHEPHERD of the sheep, by the blood of THE ETERNAL COVENANT,

21 equip you with everything good THAT YOU MAY DO “HIS WILL”, working in us that which is pleasing in HIS sight, through JESUS CHRIST, to WHOM be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

As I ponder the journey I am taking that is called MY LIFE, I am humbled to know that ALMIGHTY GOD has chosen to reflect HIS LOVE through the prism of my life.  Hardly is there a day that goes by that I do not think about WHY HE not only CREATED me, but has kept me here for 58 plus years, sometimes having to MIRACULOUSLY intervene to get me through various situations.  Recently viewing a documentary called “American Gospel: Christ Alone”, it has been brought to the forefront of my mind that I have to be careful NOT TO allow myself to confuse my wishes for “HIS WILL”!

When we are trying to KNOW GOD’s purpose for our lives, we have to be extremely careful NOT TO interject our own emotions and dreams to cloud our vision of where “HIS WILL” is leading us.  Knowing that my wishes and desires usually lead me through valleys of despair, I should be more cautious when I am about to follow every whim and notion that pops into my head!  But Numbers 23:19 says “GOD is NOT MAN, that HE should lie, or a son of man, that HE should change HIS mind. Has HE said, and will HE not do it?  Or has HE spoken, and will HE not fulfill it?”  If GOD has said something, HE WILL DO IT, it just is probably not going to be on my timetable.  “HIS WILL” doesn’t have to make sense.  As a matter of fact, FAITH doesn’t require anything making sense at all!  It does, however, require us TRUSTING IN HIM for our next step in life, even when the next step appears to be into a fiery furnace! 

Serving GOD ALMIGHTY doesn’t require us following a “seven-step plan” that this world has approved.  For me, I don’t want to settle for what man believes is the best way of being successful and then letting someone write a book about how I “made it”.  2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 says “To this end we always pray for you, that our GOD may make you worthy of HIS calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work OF FAITH by HIS power, so that the name of our LORD JESUS may be glorified in you, and you in HIM, ACCORDING TO THE GRACE of our GOD and the LORD JESUS CHRIST.”  We should be longing to find “HIS WILL” for our lives, excited about being used to be a role-player in HIS magnificent Plan to Glorify HIMSELF!

“HIS WILL” doesn’t indicate that our paths will always be the proverbial bed of roses.  

“HIS WILL” may lead us through the valley of the shadow of death, but HE is there to guide us and protect us as we serve HIM, or HE will be there to guide us home!  Either way, we are winners because JESUS CHRIST has already won the war.  We don’t deserve HIS goodness and mercy, but HIS Grace is sufficient for everyone who is CALLED to Believe.  Making certain that I remain in “HIS WILL” is vital for my Spiritual wellbeing, my inner PEACE, and avoiding the pitfalls of the enemy.  

“BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD!”

1 Peter1:17-21                                                (ESV)

“17 And if you call on HIM as FATHER WHO judges impartially according to each one's deeds, CONDUCT YOURSELVES WITH FEAR throughout the time of your exile,

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

19 but with the precious blood of CHRIST, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

20 HE was foreknown “BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD” but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

21 who through him are believers in GOD, who raised HIM from the dead and gave HIM Glory, so that your faith and hope are in GOD.”

Most of us have a MAJOR CRISIS that has happened in our lives where there is no earthly explanation for how we made it through our dilemma.  Many are aware of the Brain Hemorrhage I experienced on July 09, 2007.   It would be easy for the Doctors assigned to deal with my case to claim that their knowledge and medical training sure helped them, AND ME, while I was hospitalized for 52 days.  However, my medical records from September 25, 2007 tell the actual story.  They say “However, he has had a remarkable recovery that can only be defined as a miracle from God.  He is walking without assistance.  He is speaking normally and eating well.”

Doctors are used by ALMIGHTY GOD to oversee some miraculous events.  They are also assigned to oversee situations where they not as successful.  My little sister was diagnosed with Gastric Carcinoma (Stomach Cancer) on October 25, 1996.  She died on December 26, 1996!  GOD used a brutal disease to usher her into Heaven, just as HE used a Brain Hemorrhage to draw honor and glory to HIM in 2007.  The doctors had no idea what caused my Brain Hemorrhage, other than being overweight and treated for hypertension, but why do some grossly overweight (500+ pounds!) people have blood pressure below 120/80, without medication???  

My thoughts were directed this morning while watching a documentary entitled “American Gospel: Christ Alone”.  Rev. Matt Chandler, a Brain Cancer survivor himself, and others were explaining that the entire Bible is about GOD Glorifying HIMSELF, NOT ONLY ABOUT GOD MEETING OUR NEEDS!!!  Sure, GOD meeting our needs is used to Glorify HIS Name, but “GOD IS NOT A SUPPORTING ACTOR IN MY LIFE MOVIE!”, according to Dr. Michael Horton.  “I have been cast as a player in HIS unfolding story of redemption!”  Skewing the focal point of where the Glory should go violates the FIRST COMMANDMENT!  

We should be honored that our CREATOR is using us to have a small part in HIS Divine production of LIFE.  Instead, we act as though we are the lead character and everything is about us?  There is NO ROOM for co-stars in our lives.  Either we surrender our starring role to our MAKER, or we can try making everything about us?  JESUS CHRIST and ALMIGHTY GOD is the star of our show and we have a very small part that lasts only a few years, at best.  We are called a simply REFLECT HIS Love into the darkness of this world.   

ALMIGHTY GOD knew “BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD” that JESUS would have to be sacrificed for the sins of all mankind.  HE created us anyway!  When we act as though we are god, we are attempting to elevate ourselves beyond our abilities to function.  None of us are capable of managing a nation, let alone the entire world and the future of it!  We can only TRUST the ONE WHO was on HIS Throne “BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD”, for HE ALONE IS WORTHY!!!

“HE EXISTS!”

Hebrews 11:4-6                                 (ESV)

“4 By FAITH Abel offered to GOD a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, GOD commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his FAITH, though he died, he still speaks.

5 By FAITH Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because GOD had taken him. Now before he was taken he was COMMENDED as having PLEASED GOD.

6 And WITHOUT FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to please HIM, for whoever would DRAW NEAR to GOD must believe that “HE EXISTS” and that HE rewards those who seek HIM.”

Hebrews 11:6 has always been a favorite verse of mine.  Having FAITH is not a silver bullet to alleviate most of our problems.  We have FAITH that the chair at our desk will hold us up when we sit in it, yet that isn’t what Hebrews 11:6 is all about.  

Having FAITH IN GOD is something that we can’t trick our way into experiencing.   GOD is SPIRIT (John 4:24) and our Spirit either is either for HIM, or it is against HIM (Luke 11:23; Matthew 12:30)!  Now I am as poor of an example of a Spirit-filled Believer as the Apostle Paul claimed he was in 1 Timothy 1:15, but I KNOW “HE EXISTS” and HE has already won the war.  We simply have to reflect HIS GOOD NEWS to everyone and allow HIS SPIRIT to do the rest!  

Outside of Enoch, everyone of us will be required to die, AND THEN THE JUDGEMENT (Hebrews 9:27).  Enoch PLEASED GOD with his FAITH that GOD existed.  Even though I know that GOD exists, the fact that I some of the make the choices that I make is evident that I either don’t FEAR GOD, or I don’t FEAR HIS JUDGEMENT?  Romans 7:20 says “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”  Then in Romans 7:24-25 Scripture reads “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to GOD through JESUS CHRIST our LORD! So then, I myself serve the law of GOD with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

When will I realize that “HE EXISTS” even when I am thinking that HE is not paying attention?  ALMIGHTY GOD doesn’t sleep nor slumber (Psalms 121:4) and GOD is not required to rest from HIS labor.  “HE EXISTS” because HE IS, I AM, and forevermore WILL BE!  JESUS said in Luke 18:27 “What is impossible with man is possible with GOD."  “HE EXISTS” and we NEED TO live our lives like “HE EXISTS”!  Not like HE can’t SEE what we are doing!?!?

“HE WOULD WITHDRAW!”

Luke 5:12-16                               (ESV)

“12 While HE was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw JESUS, he fell on his face and begged him, "LORD, if YOU will, YOU can make me clean."

13 And JESUS stretched out HIS hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 And HE charged him to tell no one, but "go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them."

15 But now even more the report about HIM went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear HIM and to be healed of their infirmities.

16 But “HE WOULD WITHDRAW” to desolate places and pray.”

Many times in my life I have been caught up in what I thought was helping others and would allow my focus to become the act of helping instead of worshipping ALMIGHTY GOD!   JESUS knew better than to get caught up in what others thought about the miracles HE performed, so “HE WOULD WITHDRAW” to a quiet place and pray! 

When we begin to look at what “we have done” instead of what GOD has done through us, perhaps we need to WITHDRAW and pray???  JESUS didn’t admire the miracles that HE performed.  No, “HE WOULD WITHDRAW” from having HIMSELF glorified and would instead focus on THE FATHER being Glorified!  

Perhaps I could learn a lesson from this and be more willing to WITHDRAW and let GOD receive Glory rather than man???