Who's Leading?

So many things are swirling through my head these days. Where to begin? Well, the Spirit is definitely showing me that He is my all-in-all on this earth. He is the one whom I must seek first in all areas of life. Why must I view the Holy Spirit in this way? Explore this with me…

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

This is a “wow” statement to me. The Word tells me that I must be “led” by the Holy Spirit. So who am I to follow first, man or the Spirit? I believe we must first follow the Holy Spirit in our personal lives in all things. He is the one who is called to lead us, and we are individually chosen to follow His leading.

Would the Holy Spirit ever lead us in a direction that the “group” or the “body” or the “shepherd” in our lives is not leading us? Would the Spirit of God ever tell a person to follow Him over his “appointed leader” or would God’s Spirit always coincide with the thoughts, wishes, and goals of your particular pastor? Is the Spirit bound or confined to work only within the confines of man’s delegated authority or does the Bible say that we can hear the Holy Spirit directly for ourselves?

The Holy Spirit’s direction would never veer us away from God’s Word and what it teaches. Never. Yet, 2 Corinthians 3:17 says:

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

In Romans 14, Paul reiterates the liberty that we have as believers to follow the Spirit in all things as He leads us. We are to have grace for one another’s preferences and understanding of it, without judging each other over those particular viewpoints. What the Spirit is leading me to do may not necessarily be the exact way He is leading someone else in their life at that moment. Not a problem for the Lord! Only a problem for us humans who like everyone to conform to our personal convictions and standards.

I am learning so much about the liberty and the freedom we truly have in Jesus. I believe so many of us have barely tasted this freedom for many reasons. One reason is a lack of knowledge of what the Scriptures are really saying. Hosea 4:6 says:

…my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

Many of us are not truly seeking to know God intimately for ourselves. We are content to go to “church” and hear a sermon from the pastor and digest it as the truth. We are not searching out the Word on our own and asking the Spirit to guide us in discerning what He is speaking to us through it. We are hearing the letter of the law without the Spirit of the law. Galatians 5:17 says,

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

In regard to this verse, what happens if you are not “led” by the Holy Spirit but are instead primarily led by a man? It seems to me that you would still be “under the law.” What does being “under the law” mean? It could likely mean that you are still ruled by “legalism,” that you are being ruled by man-made authority and not the Spirit of God.

Just some thoughts. To be continued for sure in this saga of life…

T