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For all who are being led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Romans 8:14).
The Spirit softly nudges you daily. Are you aware of this leading?
I grew up in a church with an inadequate theology of the Spirit. Yes, we believed in the Spirit of God, but He existed in the book of Acts. After the first century, the Spirit was put into the theological box of my upbringing church’s thinking – not to be let out to empower again until heaven.
It’s easy to get away with this theology today. Even if we believe in a current relationship with the Spirit, His leading is soft – we can easily ignore Him.
However, when you learn to be led by the Spirit, the adventure of your life begins. God sends His Spirit to lead, empower and provide for this leading, and bless others through you.
I will be leading a conference soon. The conference on discipleship is offered free to those who attend. It will cost $2500 to put on. I felt led to have the conference and I’ve been praying for God’s provision.
Yesterday, in a meeting with a man, he spontaneously asked me about this conference and how much it would cost… then said that he would cover the cost.
How do you know you are being led by the Spirit?
First: God leads through your calling. Understanding your calling enables the Spirit to lead you. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1 to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Worthy-walking looks for signs of calling increase – it doesn’t blunder about.
The first indicator of the Spirit’s leading is an open door or idea to extend your calling.
Second: The Spirit’s leading will cause a dependence upon the provision of Christ. The Spirit wants you to worship Jesus, not yourself. Once you agree with the Spirit’s leading, you will need peace, power, or provision – or all three.
The second indicator of the Spirit’s leading is that you need His help.
Third: You will experience God’s grace. The mark of maturity is receiving God’s grace and extending it to others. God’s grace flows through you when you pray for someone’s healing, when you give generously, and in peacemaking.
The third indicator of the Spirit is grace.
Calling… Dependence… Grace – the three indicators of the Spirit’s leading.
Watchman Nee, in his book, The Release of the Spirit, describes hindrance number one in following the leading of the Spirit. He calls it “the thing in hand”:
Suppose a father urges his son to do something for him. The son answers, “Right now I have something in my hand. As soon as I finish this, I will come and do it for you.”
“The thing in hand” is what the son is doing prior to his father’s summons.
It might be anything – a good, important, or seemingly necessary thing – which preoccupies us and diverts our attention. And, right now, we most likely have our hands full of things.
So, when the Spirit of God moves in our spirit, our outward man cannot answer God’s call. The “thing in hand” blocks the way to spiritual usefulness.
God leads his children. So ask God to lead you today. He will lead you to make your calling more effective, according to His power, and bring grace to others. What can hinder the Spirit’s leading?
The thing in hand!
You will not hear the soft nudging of the Spirit if you are distracted.