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CHOOSE TO BE LED

O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. Jer 10:23 NKJV

At the root of sin is the desire to be independent of God.

It was the first sin, setting the standard for all other sins. Lucifer said, “I will!” five times. He was going to ascend into Heaven, exalt his throne, sit on the mount of the congregation, ascend above the heights of the clouds, and finally…be like the Most High. Pretty ambitious plan! But it didn’t work out so well. “Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” Isa 14:15 NKJV. To rebel against and seek to overthrow an all-powerful, all-knowing Master, who is the definition of love and kindness, would seem to be foolish indeed. Perhaps he thought the Lord just wouldn’t notice. Pride can make you rationalize all degrees of foolishness, as I well know!

The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man – not in his logic, not in his creative mind, not in his imagination, not even in his collective psyche of all humankind – to direct his own steps in a righteous manner that leads to a more abundant life. If anything, the history of man, the collective testimony of billions of lives, testifies to just the opposite. Even genius in one area of life does not pervade the whole life unless that genius and that life is rooted in God. Our greatest heroes are often trainwrecks, or just mediocre, in parts of their lives outside of their genius. There is a God-sized hole in every man…

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  John 12:24 NKJV

For a new life to begin, something must die. Roses must be pruned back to their basic stalks for the new roses to bud forth. Pruning is death to individual sections of our lives, individual paradigms that don’t hold real weight, practices that bring us down rather than up, habits or conclusions that leave us accepting mediocrity rather than reaching for true glory. You and Holy Spirit can put to death the evil and worthless parts of your life (Romans 8:13) because…something must die!

The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Ps 12:6 NKJV

I’ve had so many deaths to my theology in the past thirty years it’s hard to keep track. Between 1992 and 1999 the changes were like day and night. The original ‘Holy Spirit Seminar’ manual I wrote in 1992 looks nothing like the one I wrote in 1999, which we are again in the process of pruning and making new. Our theology of the word of the Lord must go through a purifying process which will extend beyond our lifetimes. I’ve had so many deaths to personal habits and paradigms, and we are still in the process! One time, old Pastor Mentze, whom I loved like a father – we called him Pastor Sparky – got up in church and said, “Consider your ways, says the Lord!” I heard that and I was down on my face in the aisle, considering my ways.  The Lord said, “You have three strongholds in your life: pride, jealousy and prejudice against My people Israel.”

Now when God tears you down, He also makes a way to get back up. There is a righteous sense of self-worth and worth in others – the Lord certainly values you and I intrinsically as well as in what we do and how we live – but the wrong kind of pride is fear and cowardice, hiding behind a wall. I had to let that out and let HS crush it. Today, rather than being ambitious of the limelight, we seek to be nameless and faceless servants who only do our duty. Jealousy is simply a form of hatred, so the way up is to rejoice in the success of others. Emotions follow decisions when you are led. You decide to love; then your feelings catch up with your decision. Rejoicing over others positions you to be in a place for rejoicing in your own life. The prejudice towards Israel was due to being trained by one who espoused replacement theology, that the Church in effect replaced Israel as God’s chosen ones.  That position can APPEAR to have some truth in it, but the reality is that God’s covenant relationship is with Israel forever (Ezek. 24:20-31).

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Rom 8:6 NKJV

Reason holds the same relationship to the Spirit as the body does to reason.

Your bodily passions and emotions are held in check by your reason. Reason tells you that there are consequences to illegitimate thoughts, words and actions, so your passions are restrained. Reason is overruled and restrained by the Spirit as you in your spirit seek to submit to His leading. Allowing reason to reign over the Spirit is what led to the false doctrine of cessationism, and basically turned the Church from being ‘Spirit led’ to being ‘soul or intellect’ led, leading to a thousand different complications that still plague us today.

Reason must be subordinate to the Spirit. Just be sure that it’s the Spirit! Reason is a good servant – it’s good to be smart! – but it’s a lousy master.

For instance, your reason will tell you that it is unREASONable to put your hands on someone and speak words over them and expect diseases to leave their body. This is unreasonable! But the Word instructs us to lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Its unreasonable to give away 10% of your income and expect to prosper but God says that if you tithe in love and faithfulness, He will open the windows of heaven to pour you out a blessing that there is not room to receive! Which will you believe – your reason or the Spirit of God? This is the crux of the whole matter!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Prov 3:5-6 NKJV

What is trust? Trust is a quality or state of mind that comes out of a relationship of testing and being tested, and passing the test, obtaining trustworthiness. Job says that God tests us every moment (Job 7:18), to see our trustworthiness. To those He trusts He gives more and more! What about our trust of Him? As a teacher I would say that trust must grow until you and I fully trust Him with all of our hearts. This is why it is so heartbreaking when someone is hurt in church – most atheists seem to be folks who were hurt by church folks (Gandhi allegedly said, “I would have been a Christian if not for the Christians!”) or the institution itself – because once that trust is broken it takes a miracle to heal. Your level of trust, born out of relationship with Him, is the key to all the operations of the gifts of the Spirit.

Second key is the one we have already discussed – of reason being subordinate to the Spirit.

In all your ways acknowledge Him! I know I have found a friend when someone listens to me. I have talked to some people for years and never had their attention to the end they would listen to me. I know in the teaching process I must have the attention of my students, or they can never learn, and teaching is a waste of time. So, many times I’ll tell stories until I have their attention. The art of any relationship is speaking and listening. So, it is with the Lord! The whole creation trumpets the testimony of the Creator, but men are so caught up in their own egocentric worlds that they never stop to listen. Thus, they can never be led by the Spirit. But for you and I, our hearts are caught up in the wonder of our God and our ears are attentive to the words of His lips. Our hearts melt in holy joy at even the smallest testimonies of His greatness like a spider’s web or the perfect little hands of a newborn baby. Acknowledge Him by intentionally listening to Him!

…and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. 1 John 1:3-4 NKJV

To be led is a choice, but it’s not a hard choice. We become full of joy when we walk with the Father and the Son! Life is sweet. Prayers get answered. Needs get met. The paths He directs us on are beneficial to us, and to those around us. Surrender to His will – denying ourselves – becomes easier and easier as our trust in Him grows because He continually passes our tests (bet you never thought of it that way! Yes, He is faithful and worthy of trust).  Don’t let this article be something you just skim and then forget ten minutes later. Evaluate your own trust levels in Him. Are you taking time to listen every day? Are you acknowledging His constant presence? Fullness of joy now and great rewards in the future for those who are led by Him! Amen? Love you!

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…