Follow His leading
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. John 10:14
Yesterday, I talked with a friend who was struggling with a life decision she was about to make. She said that her co-worker had given her some counsel on how to go about making the decision. This co-worker told her where she should be looking and how to go about it. That person told her what to look for and who to talk to. My friend was a little overwhelmed. In fact, she was beginning to stress over the situation. As I talked with her, she said that before she talked with her colleague that she had peace about the right decision to make. She explained to me what she believed the Holy Spirit was putting in her heart about the situation. When she told the person she worked with that she was trusting God, that just make sense to her. I encouraged my friend to follow that peace and believe for God to open the right doors for her at the right time. I advised her to write down what she believed He was putting in her heart so that she could look at it whenever she began to doubt or when she had a bad day. Lastly, I told her to pray that her heart would be in the direction that the Spirit was leading and for the faith to follow even when it didn’t make sense to the people in the world around her.
Our Heavenly Father is so wonderful, and He wants to help us and lead us away from things that can trap and harm us. He also wants to lead us to the wonderful plans and things He has for us. That is why He sent His Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth (His way) and away from darkness (John 16:13). To recognize when you are hearing from God, you must know Him. That is the first place to start. To hear or sense God’s leading in your life, you must first be a child of God. That is when you come to the point in your life when you recognize that you need a Savior and receive the Lord Jesus into your heart and life. After you receive Him into your life, develop a personal relationship with Him through spending time talking to Him (praying) and reading His Word (the Bible). As you begin to bring your life into agreement with the things He has taught in His Word, you will sense promptings on the inside that you know are aligned with His Word. Such as: If you tell a lie, you may remember that you read in God’s Word you should not lie, or if you gossip or talk about others, you may hear a “prompting” again that these are things you know are not pleasing to God by what you have read in His Word. Using God’s Word as a guideline in every area of your life will empower you to know what you should and should not eliminate in your daily habits.
Side note: Just because you have accepted Jesus into your life as Lord, doesn’t mean that whatever you are thinking or feeling is from Him. You have to yield to Him and let Him know that you want to follow His leading into your designed purpose. This is the way God wants to lead us, by relationship. You can go through life obeying all the rules you read in the Bible, but never have a personal relationship with God. You will probably miss out on things He wants to lead you to through following the leading of His Spirit. The other thing to watch out for is not doing things because you don’t feel like it or because it may not make sense in the natural world. Feelings are fickle and because they can change so quickly, you cannot depend on them to lead your life. Things such as tithing, loving your enemy, or submitting to one another may not make sense to you in the natural, but they are spiritual laws that God has set up to bless you. These are things that require faith and humility and may be uncomfortable at times. But when you act in faith on the things God leads you to, He will give you the grace to follow through and receive His blessing in response.
Lastly, hearing from God is a step of faith, and His Spirit’s promptings will always be backed up with His Word. If you are not sure God is leading you in a direction, ask Him for scripture to back up what you hear on the inside. He will bring it to your thoughts or will lead you to it in your daily reading. In the case of my friend’s decision, she already knew the direction God was leading, but because of an outside influence, she began to question it. It is not wisdom to live life by what is going on around you but rather who is living in you. I promise you God is not trying to make it hard. He sent us His Holy Spirit to help us have an advantage over the rest of the world and He wants us to know the things He is leading us to and that they are good.
Today, I want to encourage you to talk to God about “hearing” from Him or getting a “word” from Him on the inside, so you can begin to learn what His voice sounds like. You can start by saying something like “I love you, heavenly Father”. Then sit quietly and wait for a response on the inside and He will tell you. Let Him know that you want to start living your life led by the prompting of the Spirit inside you. He will begin small, so if you act on it, you will have little risk if you are wrong. Write down what you are hearing and review it often to reinforce and remember that He is leading you. God is so good, and He has given us a Helper to help us in this life. Don’t ignore His leading, learn His voice on the inside, and He will guide your every step.
Today’s scripture reading: John 10:11-21
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.
20 And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?”
21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
The Daily Dose 