How to access spiritual guidance (final)

 

6. Set yourself apart. “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it” (Hab 2:1-2). Habakkuk was expecting to hear something from GOD. He was so eager to hear it that he set himself apart to listen. As the result of his separation from his country and kindred, GOD was ready to bless Abraham mightily (Gen 12:1-2). Saul and Barnabas were already serving in church when the Holy Spirit asked to set them apart for the special work that He had for them (Ac 13:2) –> there was more to come. Jesus separated himself from the three at Gethsemani (Mat 26:36-39) –> There is a point where we need to learn to walk alone. In Rev 4:1, John is already in heaven, but he still heard a voice telling him to go higher –> There is a place to go higher and we need to aspire to go higher. The higher we go, the clearer we hear. How do we separate ourselves?

• By fasting. It doesn’t move GOD, but it helps us to separate ourselves.
• By going on a rhema hunt: it is digging the Bible or other relevant Christian material dealing with our situation, in search for a word that will pop up and give us the answer we long for. It is better to do this during a fast.

7. Learn to inquire in prayer. Our faith is dynamic. In 2Sam 5:18-25, David faced the Philistines twice. He inquired in prayer: “Should I go up against the Philistines?”The first time, GOD said ‘Yes’. The second time, He said ‘No. Go round to their rear….” The two events were very close in time; and it was easy to just do like before; but David did not presume. Do the same. GOD may not want to use the same strategy twice. Jesus did not heal all the blind or the deaf the same way. Always make spiritually informed decisions: know things by facts and by faith.

8. Be full of joy, praise and gratitude. Never allow life to take these away from you. Surround yourself in this atmosphere and always keep the sanctuary (i.e. your house) safe. There should be NO argument in your house, because the words that come out in situations like these are usually anti-praise words. Besides, there is a power/spirit behind words (see Jn 6:63) and this power/spirit will charge the atmosphere of your house. It can be Holy Ghost-charged or devil’s friends-charged; the choice is yours. People fight because the devil doesn’t want GOD to dwell in their homes. And if GOD doesn’t dwell in your home, how can He lead you?

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it" (Is 30:21). In summary, GOD wants to lead us. He wants to show us the way where we should walk in order to get to destination and avoid all the traps and pitfalls. He wants to show us the way to success. But for this to happen, we need to become sheep; be humble; nous mettre à set ourselves apart from wordly ways; embrace the ministry of the Holy Ghost; Be in the Spirit; embrace the Word of GOD; make spiritually-informed decisions and maintain an atmosphere of joy, praise and thanksgiving around us.

May your spiritual ears be open forever. Have a great week. GOD bless!

How to access divine guidance (IV)

 

5. Be in the spirit. John said: I was in the Spirit on the LORD's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write what you see in a book…” (Rev 1:10) Do you remember the verse that triggered this series of messages? It was Isaiah 30:21, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it."

John was IN the Spirit when he received GOD’s direction. Indeed, GOD delivers instructions (guidance) from His Spirit to ours. We are called to live and to worship GOD in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23). Paul says exhorts us to walk in the Spirit and we will not fulfil the lusts (desires) of the flesh. He is right, because nobody can be in the Spirit and in the flesh at the same time. There can only be one driver, and it has better be the Spirit. This is why he adds that if we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law (Gal 5:16, 18). And this law, which he is referring to, is not the Law of Moses. It is the law of sin that dwells in his members/ works in his body, and wages war against the law of his mind, making him do what his conscience reproves (Rom 7:23).

When we are IN the spirit, we can be led BY the Spirit, and only thence, walk and live BY the Spirit. Therefore, to be IN the Spirit, we must:

a. Avoid the things listed in Gal 5:19-21 (sexual immorality, impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, rivalry, jealously, outbursts of anger, quarrels, conflicts, factions, envy, murder, drunkenness, wild partying etc.), for it is written that, those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

b. Meditate on the Word of GOD like cows ruminate their food. We should constantly go over it because one cannot do this and have ungodly thoughts or desires (i.e. live in the flesh).

c. Keep godly companies – remember that you can be unevenly yoked even with Christians. We are not all at the same spiritual level and everyone is not necessarily striving to achieve godliness. Many Christians are perfectly at ease with all sorts of compromise. They don’t really care about heavenly rewards. All they want is to escape hell and go to heaven, even as if through fire. If you are radically for Christ, then you’d better be friends with those who are equally hot for HIM in the church; if not, you will get cold and fall…

Have a great week IN the Spirit and let’s meet next week for the concluding part of this series. Cheers!

How to access divine guidance (III)

 

4. Be humble. Proud and arrogant people can never be led by GOD. Pride is a spirit which can come into our hearts in a very subtle way. For instance, they are praising one child for his/her achievement and you think: “That’s nothing. My son can also do that, or can do better.” Or, you go back home, summon your child and shout: “Have you seen so-and-so? Why am I paying your school fees for? My friend, make sure that you bring an award, so I can also boast!” All this is the name of emulation, of course… Sometimes, children are playing in church, and you will be comparing their clothes. Or you feel the need to wear certain brands, just to be as cool as the gang; or to show that you can afford them as well – even if this means drowning deeper in debt. Pride is a spirit; I say it is a “Me spirit”. To be proud is to serve the god “Me.” Some people are surprised not to hear any direction from GOD when they pray and fast and pray again, whereas, GOD knows that they only want to hear HIM confirm what they have already set their hearts to do. He will not speak – or worse, He will say: “Go ahead!”, like He did with Balaam (Nu. 22). Let’s not forget that GOD sees and read the hearts. He knows whether you truly want to do His will and if you’ll follow His lead or not. You cannot fool Him, you will only fool yourself in the name of “waiting on the LORD and seeking His Face.”

GOD made known His ways unto Moses (He revealed his plans to him; He taught him His laws), but only His deeds to the people of Israel - They ate the popcorn without knowing where the corn came from; they enjoy the smartphone but didn’t know how they were made, unlike Moses (Ps 103:7). Why? The answer lies in Nu. 12:3-8. We read: “Moses was a humble man (very meek), more humble than anyone else on earth. Suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "I want the three of you to come out to the Tent of my presence." They went...and the LORD said, "Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you, I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel. So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form…" You see, it is through meekness and humility that we can discover how things are done.

Have a great week in GOD’s gracious Presence!

How to access divine guidance (II)

 

Let us continue from where we stopped last week.

2. Embrace the ministry of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth… He will declare to you the things that are to come (Jn 16.13). We can live a life where we constantly expect the Holy Spirit to guide and reveal things to us, if we so desire. The way GOD sees it, NOTHING should ever happen to us by accident. Indeed, the Bible tells us that GOD does nothing without revealing His secret to his servants the prophets (Amos 3.7). NOTHING. And He reveals those secrets through the Holy Spirit. It is worth remembering that, in the New Covenant, we are all under the prophetic anointing. For instance, this morning I woke up with an idea of what awaits me. Before opening my eyes, I saw somebody who will greatly sollicit my help today. If I do not organise myself differently than usual, I will not be able to tackle all the things that I need to do today. Now, I have not seen the whole day; maybe this is the most important thing that I needed to know; or maybe, the rest will be gradually unfolded, I don’t know. But one thing I know, is that I am en route to living the fullness of Jn 16.13. Such was the life of Jesus, our divine role Model. He was never taken by surprise and, neither was Paul. Listen to him: “And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia… they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them… A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ …immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them… The Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me etc.” (Acts 16:6-7, 9-10 & 20:23).

3. Embrace the Word of GOD. Firstly, this is our Constitution. We have no trouble grasping the foolishness of a Russian who immigrates to the US, but wants to keep on living under the constitution and standards of Russia. It is not possible – or it will not end well. And yet, this is precisely what happens, when a born again Christian tries to live in the Kingdom of GOD, as if they were still living in the world! Everything has changed: the system, the mindset, the culture, everything (2Cor 5:17). And the new rules and ways are inscribed in the Bible which is the Constitution and Sat-Nav in the Kingdom of GOD. The key to everything that you can ever look for in life, is in the Bible. We cannot afford to bypass it. Unfortunately, we have become too lazy to spend time in/with it. We want shortcuts. The portion of the Bible that you are neglecting right now can be the very one containing what you are actually looking for. When you are in love, you take time to read and re-read the letters/emails/messages of your loved one. Generally, you will even know them by heart, but will keep on reading. When we truly love the LORD, that’s the only incentive we will ever need to spend time and time again, deciphering the words of His love letter, the Bible, with fire burning in our hearts.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit will only remind us of what we have read and studied. GOD uses what we have stored in our hearts to lead us. We cannot outsource this. You are facing a difficult situation; you are beginning to despair, and all of a sudden, a verse or a story that you read a while ago, pops into your heart and hope comes back. You get up, armed with the Word, and fight. If you need GOD’s intervention in any area, find one to three specific scriptures related to the matter and begin to meditate on them until faith breaks forth. Indeed, faith comes from hearing (in our spirit), and hearing through the word of Christ/GOD (Rom 10:17).

Have a great week in HIS Presence!

How to access divine guidance

 

My pastor has just completed a series of messages on divine guidance and has encouraged us to meditate, expand and share them because the Body of Christ badly needs to go back to these basics. Indeed, if we don’t get this right we risk messing most part of our spiritual journey up.

The key verses were: Is 30:21 - And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," – and also, Ex 23:20-22, “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him… if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.”

This means that GOD is committed to leading us; but are we equally committed to being led? We cannot tell the future, but GOD can. We don’t know what lies ahead of us, but GOD knows. What seems wonderful, beautiful and exciting today might turn out to be our ugliest nightmare tomorrow. The only way to avoid making any terrible mistake is to follow GOD’s instructions and pay attention to His warnings. Here are the necessary requirements for the one who truly desires to be led by GOD.

1. Become a sheep, not a goat. This is the very first condition. It is not because you can correct your child in a certain way that you can correct every child in the same manner. Either they will not understand your correction, or they may understand it and refuse to obey. If one member of church A is in the hospital, my pastor is under no obligation whatsoever to visit, pray or assist them in any way. If a member of church B falls into sin, my pastor has no right admonishing them. His sole responsibility is the members of his congregation or ministry. Likewise, the LORD only leads HIS sheep -He has no business minding someone else’s- and you will only hear, understand and follow HIS leading if you are one of HIS sheep (Jn 10:4-5). “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” If I do not want to lack of ANYTHING, then, GOD must be MY Shepherd. It is neither the memorization nor the recitation of this verse over and over again that will cause me not to lack; but it is because I am HIS sheep that I will naturally be led to a place of abundance where all my needs will be met.

I said, become a sheep – the LORD’s sheep – not a goat. GOD will judge between both and will separate one from the other. There is a difference between sheep and goats (Ez 34.17, Mat 25.32). Sheep have a strong flocking instinct and become very agitated if they are separated from the rest of the flock. It is easy to keep them inside a fence. Sheep eat grass and a few select herbs: an image of a Christian who is careful about his/her spiritual diet. Finally, sheep keep their babies by their side at all times; nursing them frequently and they will stand and fight to death to protect their babies against any predator.

Goats are naturally curious and independent. They are difficult to keep in and will go under or over or through most any fence, unless of course they decide to just open the gate. They will nibble on grass, herbs, weeds, trees and even paper! This is an image of Christians who are not content with the boundaries placed by God in their lives and also of believers who will eat all manner of spiritual food, from every manner of preacher or prophet out there. Lastly, goats will leave their babies for long periods of time and will only come back to nurse them a couple of times a day. They will fight a predator; but if it comes to a choice between their babies and their own life, they will run away and abandon them.

Have a ‘wonderblessed’ week!