Following
the Leading of the Spirit
Faith involves taking action, as faith without works is dead (James
2:17,20,26).
However, you have to be led by the Spirit of what appropriate action to
take, and the timing of when to step out. Faith is not to be confused with
presumption or foolishness, or acting impulsively in the flesh.
If you step out of the timing of the Lord, then you are out of His
perfect will and things won’t go quite right. Things may not work out like you
thought and planned. The baby (promise) might be birthed premature, which
causes complications.
First of all, if it’s a matter where you are not sure of what the will
of God is and there is no clear-cut Scripture pertaining to your situation
(such as moving to a new location or if you should switch jobs), then spend
time waiting in God’s presence until you DO hear the Holy Spirit’s voice
telling you what to do. Once you know what God wants you to do, then receive by
faith the thing in which you are believing for. Then step out and take action,
but as the Lord leads and when you sense the timing is right.
In matters pertaining to things that ARE clear-cut in the Scriptures of
what the Lord’s will is (because His Word is His will), such as receiving
healing, praying for the salvation of a loved one, family reconciliation, and
being abundantly supplied with provision to be able to pay the bills and give
generously—you don’t have to wonder what God’s will is in the matter. The Word
is full of promises on those kinds of issues.
Just stand on the Word and confess (outloud) those promises from God’s
Word. Meditate (think on, mutter to yourself) His promises. Believe you have
received the promise. As far as taking action, be led by the Spirit. In some
cases, be sensitive to His timing of when to take action. He will give you
wisdom and lead you into what to do in each and every situation. Don’t compare
your situation with someone else’s. God may have a different journey for each
person to take.
There are some matters in life in which there is a combination of
clear-cut Scriptures on the issue, yet at the same time there are no specific
Scriptures giving you an exact answer. What do you do in these cases?
An example is marriage. God, who do I marry? Should I marry this or that
person?
There ARE clear-cut Scriptures that instruct you on what characteristics
to look for in a potential spouse, plus Scriptures teaching you God’s
definition of love, how to be submissive and yielding to one another,
Scriptures on purity and fidelity, the roles of the man and the woman, how to
raise godly children, Scriptures on money management, and so forth. But you
will find no Scripture telling you a specific person to marry.
In matters like these, you need to know what the Bible has to say about
all of these issues. Based on what the Bible says, is it God’s perfect will for
you to be unequally yoked? Would it be His perfect will for you to marry
someone who displays bad fruit, and maybe you need to allow the Holy Spirit to
help you purge the junk and baggage from your life too. Would it be God’s
perfect will for you to marry someone who squanders money or likes to get drunk
or does drugs? Would it be God’s perfect will for you to marry someone who
dishonors and disrespects his/her parents and family because they will probably
disrespect you too? The Bible is full of wisdom on these matters.
Then you need to wait in God’s presence until you do hear Him speak to
you in regards to a specific individual, or when asking Him to order your steps
so that you meet and come together with the person He has for you. Sometimes He
has a specific husband or wife, and other times He lets us choose (but He will
give you wisdom in choosing).
Here is another example. When I was in my early 20’s, I needed a new
car. My other car was a lemon and kept on giving me trouble.
I had a specific new car model in mind that I was believing God for. I
wanted a brand new Toyota Camry, 4 door sedan, automatic, cranberry exterior
and interior, air conditioning.
I had done my research. I needed a car that would be reliable, last for
many years, not excessively expensive to maintain, semi-luxurious interior,
drive very smooth on the road and have a quiet engine, and easy for shorter
people to drive.
Even though I didn’t have all the money to pay for the car in cash, I
had faith that this car was already mine long before I got it. Based on my
level of faith at the time and the fact that I was a young college student and
working part time, it would have been foolishness (for me) to claim from God
something that I didn’t really have faith for in my heart, such as claiming a
brand new Mercedes or BMW.
The grace and faith God had given me was not at that level, but I did
have faith for a Toyota Camry. My faith level and maturity level was not at a
place of being able to take on the responsibility, payments and maintenance of
a car such as a BMW. I’m still not at that place financially. The point is, is
that you cannot believe and receive something from God that is beyond the
degree or level of grace and faith you have in your heart (although God can
increase your faith). Plus, you have to be realistic about things. I was too
young and immature, at the time, to handle the responsibility associated with a
high priced car, even if God had given it to me as a free gift.
I had been saving up money for my brand new Toyota Camry, and was
planning on using it for the down payment.
One day I had the TV going in the background. A program on Christian
television was on, and while I was listening to it, I wasn’t paying much
attention to the broadcast. But then I thought I heard God (in my heart) speak
to me such a ridiculous thing.
He told me to give away my entire savings account to missions, except
for enough to keep the account open. I thought that this could NOT be God,
after all I needed a new car. The other car, as I mentioned, was always
breaking down (even sometimes while driving on the freeway) and I had long
distances to commute back and forth on an almost daily basis on busy highways.
I pushed away those thoughts of giving away all the money I had saved,
with the exception of keeping $50 to keep the account open. I was a generous
giver of tithes and offerings, and to ministries (according to the amount of
money I did have), but giving away my entire savings account was a whole other
issue.
A couple of weeks had passed by and I was at church one Sunday morning.
This was when I went to Family Worship Center in Concord, California. The
pastor, Gary Gelnette, happened to receive a word of knowledge that very
morning (although he didn’t know who specifically it was for). He said that
there is someone there whom God spoke to recently to give away their entire
savings account. You are not to give it to the church or other organization,
but to give it to missions. It’s not a large savings account (I had less than
$3000 saved). By keeping the money, it won’t save you (it’s not enough to live
on). You’ve been resisting the Holy Spirit.
When you obey Him, then He will bless you.
As a young person in my early 20’s, that was a lot of money to give back
then. But I did give it to missions. I gave the money cheerfully, and had faith
that God would provide somehow for me to get my Toyota Camry. Every way in
which I thought God would do it, He ended up doing it in a different way. To
make a long story short, six months later (after obeying God and giving the
money to missions) I drove off the car lot with my brand new Toyota Camry,
automatic, 4 door, cranberry exterior and interior, with air conditioning. I
had a tape cassette player installed of my choosing (that was back in 1989
before CD’s and DVD’s came out).
I had the car for about 17 years, and never once did it ever break down
or overheat. The car was still in decent running condition (although needed
some work done) when a man wanted to buy the car and has a brother who is a
mechanic. He had the car fixed up in good condition for his daughter to use at
college.
Thus, when God blesses, He blesses real good! Not only did He provide
the money for me to pay for the car and the maintenance, but He blessed me with
a car that always ran really well and it never gave me heartache. “The blessing
of the Lord maketh rich, and He adds no sorrow to it” (Proverbs 10:22). Of
course, the Lord helped me to choose wisely in the first place.
Sometimes God will ask you to do something that seems ridiculous—maybe
to test your obedience, but ultimately to bless you.
My story isn’t saying that you
need to give away your entire savings account to sow as seed to receive
whatever you are believing for. You can’t buy blessings or answers to prayer,
but there is a Biblical principle of sowing towards whatever it is you are
believing God for. Sowing is not always in monetary forms. You can sow into
people’s lives by acts of kindness. In my particular situation, this is what
God asked ME to do (and my situation involved a financial matter). He never did
ask me to do that again.
Just obey whatever instructions God asks you to do for whatever it is
you are believing Him for.
It is God's will that no one should perish (end up in hell), but that ALL should come to repentance.
For God so loved this world that He gave His only begotton Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God did not send His Son into this world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him would be saved.
The thief (Satan the devil) comes only for to kill, steal and destroy. But Jesus has come to give us life, and life more abundantly, until it overflows.
I urge you to come to the Cross today and receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord. He will wash away all your sins and make you as clean and white as fresh snow.
Just pray this prayer and mean it with your heart:
Dear Lord Jesus (if you are not able to call him Lord yet, then just say "Jesus")
I receive You as my Savior and Lord. I give my life over to You. I believe that You died and rose again, and that if I call on the Name of the Lord I shall be saved.
I accept you into my heart right now, and confess that You are Lord and have risen from the dead and forever live to make intercession for me.
Thank You for washing my heart pure and clean and making me whole, and for giving me peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Thank You that now I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. The old has gone and the new has come.
And there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh (carnality and sin), but walk after the Spirit. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
If you prayed this prayer, I believe you got born again and are now heaven bound and will be with the Lord forever and have eternal life. Your sins are now forgiven. You are accepted in the Beloved.
I would encourage you to find a good Bible based local church to help you grow in your faith, to learn the Word of God, to praise and worship Him, and to have fellowship with the saints.
Serving Christ is the best decision you will ever make.
God bless you!!!
