IS GOD GOOD? Led by the Spirit // Midweek Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Is God Good?     Led by The Spirit

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (I don’t lack anything)
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3     He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.                           Psalm 23: 1 – 3 (ESV)  

Romans 8: 14 (NLT) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

I must stop being led by...

1.   My culture.

Romans 12: 2 (NLT)  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world,  but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you,  which is good and pleasing and perfect.

2.   My friends.

1 John 3: 7 (NLT)  Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right,  it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.

3.  Pagan practices.

Deuteronomy 18: 9 - 12 (NLT)  When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there.  10 For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, 11 or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.  It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you.

4.   My circumstances.

Acts 27: 10; 13 - 15 (NLT)  “Men,”  he said,  “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck,  loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.” 13 When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete.14 But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a “northeaster”) burst across the island and blew us out to sea. 15 The sailors couldn’t turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale.

5.  My feelings.

Proverbs 14: 12 (ESV)  There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.  

 Isaiah 53: 6 (NLT)  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.                         

 To be led by the Spirit I must…

1.     Desire His leading.

 Psalm 40: 8 (NLT) I take joy in doing your will,  my God,  for your instructions are written on my heart. 

2.  Be willing to comply.

John 7: 17 (NLT)  Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.

3.  Focus on God’s Word.

   Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.   Psalm 119:105 (ESV)

  Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil. Psalm 119: 133 (NLT)

4.  Ask for His guidance.

   ...You do not have, because you do not ask.    James 4: 2 (ESV)

Psalm 27: 11 (ESV) Teach me your way,  O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

· Ask in humility

Psalm 25: 9 (ESV) He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

· Ask in faith

James 1: 5 & 6 (ESV)  If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach,  and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 

5.  Wait to hear from God.

Job 33: 14 (NLT)  For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it.