"Oh, there is so much more I want to tell you, but you can't bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting his own ideas; he will be telling you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by revealing to you whatever he receives from me. All that the Father has is mine; this is what I mean when I say that the Spirit will reveal to you whatever he receives from me. John 16:12-15
In this world, all of God's children are on a journey. And as we travel through life en route to our eternal home, every one of us will face a multitude of choices. Forks in the road and unmarked intersections challenge and frustrate us. In such circumstances, how can we know which way to go?
Jesus promised to give us an internal and ever-present Guide. Starting at the moment of salvation, everyone who trusts in the Savior is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who promises to lead believers into all the truth. Like a built-in compass, He will direct us exactly the right way, regardless of the choice. He never makes a mistake.
So you may be thinking, If He is living in me and never makes a wrong choice, why do I keep messing up? His leadership is always right, but our reception isn't always clear. Yielding to the Lord is an essential requirement for receiving His direction. We cannot tolerate sin and go our own way in one area and expect to receive His guidance in another.
Sin does to our understanding of God's clear direction what a magnet does to the needle of a compass. If a magnet is placed next to a compass, the needle will point in a multitude of directions. In the same way, sin misleads us.
When a decision is unclear, ask yourself these questions: Will Christ be glorified in this choice? Can I do this in Jesus' name? If either answer is no, don't follow that path, because the Holy Spirit is not guiding you there. His leading always aligns with Scripture and brings glory to Christ.
For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.
6 comments:
I really like the the compass/magnet analogy. It clearly demonstrate the impact of sin in our lives. Also, I know I don't ask myself those 2 ?'s nearly enough - Will Christ be glorified in this choice? Can I do this in Jesus' name? How about you guys? Do you ask for Christ's direction for everything?
Blessings
cas
Those 2 questions are really good questions to ask. No, I dont ask myself those type of questions nearly enough. I will do my best today!
I used the illustration of God's spirit being like a using a cell phone. God always sends the signal but our sin is like entering a tunnel. The more we sin the deeper we go into the tunnel and lose the Spirits reception. When we ask for forgiveness and repent to righteous living we come out of the tunnel.
What a great promise God kept!!! The Holy Spirit as the ultimate ONSTAR!!
Just add signal repeaters in the tunnels :o)
Posted for Murph - our new member
How hard it is to hear that little voice!
I know it has taken me many years to learn how to distinguish which voice is the right one, or not. For me it becomes a matter of the heart. How do I know for sure that my decision is in the Lords will? Is what I'm hearing, what I want, or that of the Holy Spirit ? First I make sure that my decision is not against the Lord's word . Any decision made outside of, or in conflict with His teaching will not be the right one. Another thing that the Lord has taught me over the years is that we have to be able to hear the word (NO) before we start hearing the word (YES!) God says no to me a lot more than He says yes, but that's not what I really want to hear. That leads me to my next thought. When we have discerned the Lord's will and have an answer to our question, then what am I to do with it. See many times I believe that we hear His answer but we don't like it, or its not what we had hope for, so we apply our own solution to our problem. Have you ever had friends that come to you with a problem and ask for your advice? You pray with them and you give them good biblical answer, for them to only ignore it and do what they had intended to do all along. That just ticks me off. You ask , why did they come to you in the first place? Did they just want you to agree with them or did you waste your time. Don't you think that God feels the same way? Are we really seeking his advice, or are we just wanting him to see our side of the problem. If he doesn't agree with us then, What ever! The more we ask and apply his solutions to our problems the louder and more distinct His voice becomes. Another Problem I have is waiting for His answer. A lot of times I feel like if I don't hear Him or get my answer right away then I have to fix it on my own. What a big mistake. Sometimes God want to test our hearts to see if what we want is just a whim or He might just be giving us time to cool down. What ever it is we just have to wait. Now once we have the answer or solution, my next big thing is just that. I see how hard what he wants me to do is gong to be! All I see are the obstacles, the Mountain that he wants me to climb. What I for get is that he made the mountains in the firs place and he can tear them down for me too! All I have to do is just be willing to take that first step and God will move or remove the obstacles. Just remember that if it is truly God's will then what ever he has asked you to do, might be hard, but it won't be a burden. More than not, it will be the thing that brings your heart and soul more joy than you could have ever imagined!
Love and peace to All that are in HIM!
Murph
Posted by Murph at 12:15 PM
Awesome post Murph. I can really see that God is working on you.
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