Finding the will of God part 1 | |
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Finding the Will of God
Part 1
" For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God."
Romans 8;14
Romans 8;14
God leads us into good paths.
In Matthew 2:6 we read that Jesus is our Shepherd, “For out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” And in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”
A good shepherd leads his sheep into good pastures. A good shepherd stays with his sheep and his sheep become very familiar with his voice. As a matter of fact, sheep become so familiar with the voice of their shepherd that if a stranger speaks to them, they will not follow. They will not heed to the call. They are committed to their shepherd and are bonded with him.
Jesus is our good shepherd and He leads us. The bible says He leads us in the way of everlasting (Ps. 139:24). Psalm 23 says He leads us into good paths, “rich pastures”! God is not leading us into a path of destruction (Jn. 10:10), you can be sure of that! Read the Word and you’ll see for yourself. He always has a plan of promotion and increase. God loves to multiply and multiplication is on His mind.
We can be sure that whatever His plan, it is a good one, filled with His goodness and His desires to prosper us (3 Jn. 2)!
He enlightens us through our spirit.
We read in the text verse that those who are sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. His Spirit leads us. Many times, however, believers run into problems trying to discern the will of God because they look at their natural circumstances. As humans we live in the natural realm, the physical world. Since our 5 senses are made to work for our physical benefit, and since everything around us is in the natural realm, it is easy to focus on the natural.
However, Jesus said in John 4:24, that God is spirit. “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” It is also said in I Thessalonians 5:23 that we have a spirit, a soul and a body. “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26) and since He is a spirit, then we are also a spirit. We are spirit, we have a soul (our mind, our will and our emotions) and we live in a body. We, therefore, should become more spirit conscious than we are conscious about our physical body or the physical realm. (To read the teaching article, Spirit, Soul and Body, click here.)
God leads us by our spirits (Ro. 8:16), our inner man. God may give us an idea or thought in our minds, but He leads us through our hearts. As you get alone with Him, He will lead you to do something by giving you a desire to do it. The bible says that God enlightens us, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Eph. 1:18). To enlighten means to: give spiritual knowledge or insight; to illuminate or make clearer.
God is light (Jn. 8:12) and He brings light to our heart and our lives on a subject matter. “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
We see, then, that we as believers shouldn’t be walking around in darkness because Jesus is our light. He lightens our pathway. He is our light “for revelation” (Lk. 2:32). “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly” (Pr. 20:27 KJV). This verse tells us that on the inside of us is a “candle”, so to speak, of light, of direction. The bible does not say that the body of man, or the mind of man, is the candle of the Lord.
No, He enlightens us through our spirits.
I listen with my heart. I don’t look at the physical realm, or to the natural, but I begin to listen with my heart. That means that I become sensitive to the promptings, or leadings, that He is giving me. Sometimes those come by confirmations in a natural way. In other words, I may believe that God is leading me to do a certain thing, and then when I see something in the natural realm that confirms that, I take it as a possibility that God may be directing me in that way.
For example, years ago God gave us the desire to adopt again. We had 2 biological children at the time and one adopted girl. This time He gave us the desire to adopt a baby! I was so surprised at the strong desire I had in my heart to adopt a baby. The desire was so very strong and it was getting stronger, it wasn’t going away, or lessening.
I spoke with Steve about the idea. He said it was a good idea, but since he hadn’t been thinking about it, and since we always take all ideas and desires to God, he said he would pray about it. Well, sure enough his heart changes as well. He wants to adopt a baby too.
During this time of praying and listening for God’s direction, there was a young baby boy who kept being put into our lap! I had a friend with whom I’d known for years, but I never knew that she babysat for her mother-n-law at times. (Her mother-n-law was a foster parent!) Well, every time this friend of mine and I would meet to visit and let our children play, it always was the day that was chosen for her to babysit this little baby! Of all the years we’d known each other and been friends, now suddenly she’s babysitting on the day that we meet! Finally I said, “Okay God, I get the picture”!
So first, He gave us both the desire. He was leading us by our spirit man on the inside. We were being led by His desires (Ps. 37:4). Then came the confirmations in the natural realm. Sometimes this is how God reveals His will; by confirming it in the natural.
In Matthew 2:6 we read that Jesus is our Shepherd, “For out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” And in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”
A good shepherd leads his sheep into good pastures. A good shepherd stays with his sheep and his sheep become very familiar with his voice. As a matter of fact, sheep become so familiar with the voice of their shepherd that if a stranger speaks to them, they will not follow. They will not heed to the call. They are committed to their shepherd and are bonded with him.
Jesus is our good shepherd and He leads us. The bible says He leads us in the way of everlasting (Ps. 139:24). Psalm 23 says He leads us into good paths, “rich pastures”! God is not leading us into a path of destruction (Jn. 10:10), you can be sure of that! Read the Word and you’ll see for yourself. He always has a plan of promotion and increase. God loves to multiply and multiplication is on His mind.
We can be sure that whatever His plan, it is a good one, filled with His goodness and His desires to prosper us (3 Jn. 2)!
He enlightens us through our spirit.
We read in the text verse that those who are sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. His Spirit leads us. Many times, however, believers run into problems trying to discern the will of God because they look at their natural circumstances. As humans we live in the natural realm, the physical world. Since our 5 senses are made to work for our physical benefit, and since everything around us is in the natural realm, it is easy to focus on the natural.
However, Jesus said in John 4:24, that God is spirit. “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” It is also said in I Thessalonians 5:23 that we have a spirit, a soul and a body. “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26) and since He is a spirit, then we are also a spirit. We are spirit, we have a soul (our mind, our will and our emotions) and we live in a body. We, therefore, should become more spirit conscious than we are conscious about our physical body or the physical realm. (To read the teaching article, Spirit, Soul and Body, click here.)
God leads us by our spirits (Ro. 8:16), our inner man. God may give us an idea or thought in our minds, but He leads us through our hearts. As you get alone with Him, He will lead you to do something by giving you a desire to do it. The bible says that God enlightens us, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Eph. 1:18). To enlighten means to: give spiritual knowledge or insight; to illuminate or make clearer.
God is light (Jn. 8:12) and He brings light to our heart and our lives on a subject matter. “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
We see, then, that we as believers shouldn’t be walking around in darkness because Jesus is our light. He lightens our pathway. He is our light “for revelation” (Lk. 2:32). “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly” (Pr. 20:27 KJV). This verse tells us that on the inside of us is a “candle”, so to speak, of light, of direction. The bible does not say that the body of man, or the mind of man, is the candle of the Lord.
No, He enlightens us through our spirits.
I listen with my heart. I don’t look at the physical realm, or to the natural, but I begin to listen with my heart. That means that I become sensitive to the promptings, or leadings, that He is giving me. Sometimes those come by confirmations in a natural way. In other words, I may believe that God is leading me to do a certain thing, and then when I see something in the natural realm that confirms that, I take it as a possibility that God may be directing me in that way.
For example, years ago God gave us the desire to adopt again. We had 2 biological children at the time and one adopted girl. This time He gave us the desire to adopt a baby! I was so surprised at the strong desire I had in my heart to adopt a baby. The desire was so very strong and it was getting stronger, it wasn’t going away, or lessening.
I spoke with Steve about the idea. He said it was a good idea, but since he hadn’t been thinking about it, and since we always take all ideas and desires to God, he said he would pray about it. Well, sure enough his heart changes as well. He wants to adopt a baby too.
During this time of praying and listening for God’s direction, there was a young baby boy who kept being put into our lap! I had a friend with whom I’d known for years, but I never knew that she babysat for her mother-n-law at times. (Her mother-n-law was a foster parent!) Well, every time this friend of mine and I would meet to visit and let our children play, it always was the day that was chosen for her to babysit this little baby! Of all the years we’d known each other and been friends, now suddenly she’s babysitting on the day that we meet! Finally I said, “Okay God, I get the picture”!
So first, He gave us both the desire. He was leading us by our spirit man on the inside. We were being led by His desires (Ps. 37:4). Then came the confirmations in the natural realm. Sometimes this is how God reveals His will; by confirming it in the natural.