The Spirit Led Life

Rom 8:12-14 Therefore, brethren, 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 as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

I want to talk to you about the being Led by the Holy Spirit. There are two different kinds of life. This verse in Romans 8 talks about living according to the flesh and living according to the Spirit. Now, It is God's will for us to led by the Spirit of God. It is not His desire for us to be emotionally led. Circumstances led, Opinion led. We are supposed to be Spirit Led. How many of us want to be more aware of the direction of God? More and better yielded to the voice of the Holy Spirit?

The Good News is that we can all grow to becoming more and more sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

Acts 16:6-10 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Here we have an example of Paul the Apostle being directed by the Spirit. He was kept from preaching in certain places-- and led to preach in other places. He was sensitive to the leading of God.

In the book of Acts, we see this dynamic of the Spirit speaking and directing and moving. Don't water down the experience of the scriptures to match your experience by saying "Oh that's all passed away. That was for them." People water down the Bible to match their lack of experience. No!--aspire that your experience live up to what the Bible declares is normal Christianity!

We need to realize that just because we have the Holy Spirit--just because we are Christians, doesn't mean that we are listening or paying attention to what the Spirit is saying in our lives. You see, just because you are married doesn't mean that you are listening to your spouse!

Many of us want to learn more of how to be led by the Holy Spirit, but we don't trust ourselves to hear right or we just don't know how, or it is scary to us. But let's build on the scriptures so that we can have confidence in hearing from God. But first of all we need to understand what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. Let's start with the basics. It is important that we know that the ..

Holy Spirit is a Divine Person
John 14:15-18"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

Notice how many times in that passage. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as He, or Him. Why is that? Because He is a Person. You can't have fellowship with an it. You can't have fellowship with a chair. But the Holy Spirit is not an it. The Holy Spirit is a person.

Jesus says the Holy Spirit is not only going to be with us but he is also in us.
John 16:6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

The disciples were filled with Grief because Jesus said he was going away. Then, Jesus told them that it was better that he was leaving. Why? Because he was going to give them another counselor. Another Counselor. That means they already had a Counselor. Jesus himself. But he said it was better for him to go away. Because we would have this Comforter with us and in us!
As believers, not only do we have the Holy Spirit with us and in us , we see that...

THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS!
Rom 8:16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children

One of the greatest lies of the devil, is the notion that God doesn’t speak to us today. The implication is that God doesn’t love us enough to speak to us today. This is a lie. God is still speaking. But sometimes we are too busy with our own agendas to listen to what He is saying. Or we may not believe that we are worthy to have God speak to us. Or we may have missed it before and now we are afraid of trying to hear from God.

THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS TO DIRECT US.
Acts 11:12-13The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house.

Here we hear Peter's testimony about how the Spirit directed Him to do something. On the other hand, most of the world is living by their intellect and by their five physical senses, but you and I are not led by that .We have the Holy Spirit inside of us. He leads us. He guides us. Teaches us. And Helps us continuously.

He will help you with natural things. Not just spiritual things. You see there in Acts, Peter said the Spirit told me. Sometimes people get upset by that. They think that it's okay to talk to God but if God talks back , then you are a wackadoo. You are hearing voices.

But just read the book of Acts and you will see how real the Holy Spirit was to them. I just want to encourage you. No matter what has been your experience of the past. Draw closer to God. The Bible says draw near to God and he will draw near to you. God is the same , yesterday , today and forever. The same Holy Spirit that spoke to Peter wants to speak to you. We are living in the same covenant!

REALIZE HOW CENTRAL THE HOLY SPIRIT IS TO OUR LIVES NOW. REVERENCE HIM AND RESPOND TO HIM BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU AND HE WANTS TO CONTINUE TO SPEAK TO YOU AND GUIDE YOU.

The Joy of the Lord

Nehemiah 8:10..For the Joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.

God's will is for us to be joyful. How many of you believe that God wants us to have joy? Sometimes we think that God is a cosmic killjoy. If we are enjoying ourselves, well then it can't be of God! Or we have been through disappointments. Things haven't worked out the way we had hoped and the devil comes along and says "God is not for you. You should be depressed. What have you got to enjoy?" And we believe him and lose our joy. So let's find out what God has to say about this issue.

According to our scripture in Nehemiah, the joy of the Lord is our strength. And in the bible joy is something that we are constantly encouraged to have,. .One of the dictionary definition of joy is.

Joy : The Emotion stimulated by the expectation of Good!

There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is based on your comfort. But joy is not based on your comfort. You can have joy no matter what, and we’ll see why in a minute.
Now, Joy can make you happy because joy affects your circumstances and gives you the victory. So joy is deeper than happiness--and can cause happiness. But joy is more powerful than happiness. The first thing I want you to see is that..

JOY IS A DECISION!
Now, how is that possible? You mean I can choose joy? Yes you can. You can choose joy. Because joy is not based on circumstances or feelings. As we saw in the definition, joy is based on the expectation of good. Now if anybody should be rejoicing and expecting good, it should be the people of God.
Why? Because we have something to base our joy on! You see our joy is not based on sentimentality. Our joy is based on the Promises of God. You understand? Our joy is based on something. You see a lot of times we think that things have to go right in order for us to have joy. But .....

Joy Comes From Believing The Word Of God
John 15:9-12 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

Jesus wants us to have joy and for that joy to remain. How will that joy remain? As much as we stay linked to the things that Jesus has spoken! The Word of God. As much as we keep stayed on the Word of God will we have joy.

Joy comes from what you believe! The origin of joy is from the Word. No Word---No joy. If there is No joy--No Word.

Picture me getting a phone call from the IRS. They say they did a miscalculation. And that I am actually owed a million dollars in a refund. Now I hang up the phone I run out of my house. I run to church, run down the isle and leap into the air and say glory to God! Now look at the joy that I feel . Based on what? Based upon a promise from a man that I never met, about some money that I haven't seen. To come at some unknown time in the future.

Now compare that to the promises of God. A God that cannot lie that has given me eternal life. Who has paid for all my sins and forgiven me. Who has adopted me as his very own child! Who has given me the Holy Spirit- Who is living inside of me . Who has made me a new creation. Who has transformed my nature. Who has given me resurrection life and authority over the enemies of my soul. Hello? Who has said "never will I leave you or forsake you." Who has promised to provide for my needs according to His glorious riches in Christ.

Here is the question: Are we willing to believe some stranger on the telephone more readily than we are to believe God himself?

Because of this it becomes clear that ...

JOY IS NOT DEPENDANT ON YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES!
Ps 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Hallelujah. This is a declaration that David was making . You see having joy is not about a feeling. It is primarily a decision. And it’s not dependant on the circumstances. You see David didn’t say. "If its a good day, I will rejoice in it." He didn’t say that. He said this is the day that God has made and I am going to rejoice in it, No matter what!
C’mon we need to decide to be joyful right where we are at!

You see we need to make our mind up. We cannot be of two opinions about this. We need to say and declare what God has to say in this area of our lives. I’ll say it again, your joy is not dependant upon your circumstances but is based on what you believe!

Now don't get me wrong. If something tragic happens it is only natural that we will have a period of grieving. But I am not talking about that . I am talking about a consistent moroseness or dissatisfaction that causes us to mope and be joyless.

I have struggled with this in the past. But every time I really looked at how I lost my joy I was able to trace it to a lie that I was believing and a truth that I wasn't believing.

God’s will is for you to enjoy life!
Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
1 Thess 5:16 Be joyful always!

How often does it say that we should rejoice in the Lord. Always! That means we should be in the habit of being joyful. "But Dan, you see. I think God wants me to be miserable." No. You see that is the lie of the devil. Because of the scripture we see in John 17.

John 17:13 "And now I am coming to you. I have told them many things while I was with them so that they would be filled with my joy.

Jesus' desire is that you be filled with joy. And where does that joy come from? It comes from an understanding of his words. A faith in--A trust in. --A confidence in the Holy Word of Jesus!
The Bible says, "Don’t stop rejoicing." Don’t allow things to keep you from rejoicing. Make up your mind that that is how your going to live. I have made my mind up that that is how I am going to live. I am going to rejoice in my God and Savior.

Say every day “ I am going to enjoy this Day!” because I believe the Word!

Blessings!