Led By the Spirit

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13).

Have you ever taken a trip to a place you have never been before and tried to see all there was to see in a short time? We call that vacation time at our house. We always leave late, never have enough time to see everything we want to see, and we find out later that there was something really cool that we missed. It seems that we always end up taking the longest and hardest route possible. Then you learn in a conversation with someone that they could have saved you time and energy because they knew the area really well. But why would you stop and get directions when you can figure it out on your own? I thought everyone knew that.

This verse says that the Holy Spirit wants to guide us through life. He wants to guide us as we walk into the future. It uses the Greek word odegeo, and it is the word for a guide who shows a traveler the safest course through an unknown country. That is what Jesus did when He ascended to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to be our Guide. This word implies that the Holy Spirit knows the best way in which we should go. He knows how to avoid every trap and every attack; He knows the safest and fastest route to take. I have caught myself saying, “If I only knew where God wanted me to go or if I only knew what decision to make.” There you have it, we have access to what the Father says because the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, will not speak on His own, but only what He hears from the Father.

We see throughout the Gospels where Jesus is being led or guided by the Spirit. Take John 11:1-11 where Jesus was led by the Spirit not to go to Bethany to see Lazarus when His friend was sick and on his death bed. Hostile Jewish leaders expected Jesus to go to Lazarus’ aid and were waiting there to trap Him. Jesus didn’t go right away to Lazarus, in fact, He waited a few days after he died. It must have been difficult for Jesus not to go and intercede for Lazarus. But the Holy Spirit guided Him to stay away from that place because there were people waiting to stone Him. It wasn’t until these leaders left that Jesus was led by the Spirit to go to Bethany, where He raised Lazarus from the dead.

There are many stories of Jesus avoiding the religious leaders with intentions of killing Him. He was supernaturally guided by the Spirit, escaping any confrontation before His time had come to reveal Himself.

In the book of Acts, we see the Early Church being led by the Spirit on many occasions. Acts 16:6-9 mentions how the Holy Spirit kept them from preaching and led them to do certain things. God still speaks through the Holy Spirit today. We just need to be in tune with the Spirit, to live according to the Spirit. Being led by the Spirit is one of the privileges we receive as children of God. Romans 8:14 says, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” The word “led” is the Greek word ago, which is the picture of someone gently leading someone else. This shows that the Spirit will lead us, but we must extend our hearts and hands to Him first, for without our cooperation, He cannot guide us anywhere. Without the Spirit, we are left to find our own way.

So today, be extra sensitive to the fact that the Holy Spirit wants to lead and guide you to places only He knows. If only I would have stopped and asked for directions from someone who knew the way, I could have enjoyed my vacation a little more. Maybe next time – or not.

Joy in Jesus!

Pastor Mike

www.findlayfirstnaz.org