Am I lead by the Spirit?

August 26, 2011

What has the most influence in my life? Who guides my steps? What determines the values that I live by? Whose voice and whose words are most important for me, especially when I am making my day-to-day decisions? Are what I say and what I do different? This should not be a dilemma to the Christian. If the answer to those questions is not the Holy Spirit, then we are going to find ourselves repeatedly facing our own failures and sins. The Holy Spirit must guide our lives or we are left to fail by our own weaknesses. There have been many times when I have tried to live my life by putting the Holy Spirit in the background. I have tried to close my eyes, ears and most importantly my heart to the Holy Spirit by insisting on doing only what I want to do and when I want to do it.

Do we really want to be led? Does that mean I may have to change what I do? I may have to give up something? This is not a discussion about what method the Holy Spirit uses to guide our lives. That’s for another time. However, we must submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote in Galatians 5 that we cannot live in submission to the Holy Spirit and at the same time gratify the flesh, as the two are “opposed to each other” (Gal 5:17).

What does the Holy Spirit have to do with the church? The church is intended to be a family, a home, a place to be loved and nurtured, exhorted and encouraged, admonished and rebuked in love -- a place where if one rejoices, we rejoice together and a place where if one suffers, we suffer together (1 Cor. 12:26). Without the Spirit of God working in our midst, working through us, guiding us, we cannot be this family. We are then just a bunch of Christians meeting together. But are we truly Christians? Can I be a real believer without the Holy Spirit? Can we be a real church (as God intended) without the Holy Spirit? The church is intended to be a place where we ALL can grow spiritually. The first century Christians (Acts 2:42:47) set the bar pretty high. Do we use those early Christians as a model of what we should strive for?

I have a choice don’t I? No matter where I live or what I do, I can depend on myself to try to live safely, live out of harm’s way, avoid temptations. Or I can live as God intended (and the blood of Jesus confirmed) as a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit of God, a person completely dependent on Him, committed for the Holy Spirit to be the central part of my life and making a difference in God’s church. I am so blessed to have this family. To have brothers and sisters that are committed to helping me achieve the home in heaven. Let’s pray that God continues to build this church, that we may be a beacon of light, a haven for seekers, empowered and sustained through the Holy Spirit. Instead of wasting time attempting to judge whether somebody else is walking by the Spirit, it is imperative that I closely examine myself and look at my own “fruits of the Spirit”, as a barometer. Am I allowing the Spirit of God to lead my life and ensure that the church is strengthened by the Spirit, and as we saw in Acts, be privileged to work in God’s vineyard?