16th of October, 2022.

THEME: HOW TO BE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD

LESSON: SIX

TEXT:        Deuteronomy 8:1-5; Psalms 23:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:12-16

MEMORY TRACK:

By God’s grace, in our last lesson, we learnt about the all-important agenda of God, being the giving of Eternal Life to man in the days of his flesh. We saw that flesh and blood CANNOT inherit the kingdom of God (1Cor 15:50) and in order to inherit the things of God, a man needs to be slain to receive. And just like a lot of the Biblical characters, we need to be trained to trust God even when He cannot be traced, particularly when we are being led subjectively.

Subjective Leadings of the Spirit of God: HOW IT WORKS! (Psalms 24:1-2)

Subjective leadings of the Spirit of God are initiated by the Lord over the soul(s) of a saint(s) that the Lord wants to move out of the realm of ‘Childhood/Milk’ (Isaiah 28:9) into the realm of ‘knowledge’/wilderness/Sonship. The Lord Jesus Christ initiates and opens the Soul up for Subjective Leadings of the Spirit for some or all of the following reasons;

  1. To train and teach Man on ‘how to live by The Word of God!’ (Deut 8:3): This is probably one of the biggest reasons for the subjective leadings of The Spirit of God! Satan and fallen evil spirits have, for several millennia, taught ‘man how to LIVE without EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD! The way God originally created and made man was so that He can live by EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM GOD’S MOUTH! Man was meant to have all his existence, attainments, and accomplishments (both internally and externally) according to the clock of God’s progressive revelation, with the intent that man would eventually enter into the Promised Land/Life/Eternal life/God! This is not using the word of God to change our circumstances by faith or to get biblical results! No! Rather it is being trained and cultured by God, to live our total lives depending on the progressive revelation of the word of God, with THE SINGULAR PURPOSE AND GOAL OF US laying hold on Eternal life!
  2. To deal with the ‘pride of life’ in us (Deut 8:2-3): There is pride life induced by the formation of sin and death arrangement in the souls of man! Whether we know it or not, every man is proud against God, His ways and standards, and every man has pride formations within his/her soul. It can only take subjective leadings of The Spirit of God to reveal to us, and to deal with the nature of pride in our souls. Pride here is not limited to actions or inaction of pride, much more, pride is any life that God didn’t design for man to live by!
  3. To correct our thoughts and ways (Deut 8:5): Another reason for the subjective leading of the Spirit is to chasten us or deal with us, with the intent and desire of correcting our thoughts and our ways and eventually our lifestyles! One good reason for the subjective leadings of The Spirit of God is to ‘chastise and correct us from our thoughts, ways and lifestyles, and teach us His thoughts, His ways and His style of living. This cannot and will not be achieved by just instructing us without subjecting us to the processes of The Spirit of God that would culture and cultivate such habits into us.
  4. To teach us God’s own spiritual and divine economy! (Deut 8:4): Until we are brought into the subjective dealings of God, we might not know or understand God’s true economy! Many principles that govern the economy and finances of God’s People are Babylonic in wisdom and expression, even though most of it is taught paying reference to portions of the Bible. It is in the path of the subjective leadings of The Spirit that we learn and appreciate the phrase that “it is The Lord Thy God that giveth Thee Power to get wealth” Deuteronomy 8:18
  5. To paint the hope and destination of our profession (Deut 8:7-10); Even Christ, Everlasting Life and Eternal Life!
How God Subjects Believers to Be Led by The Spirit! (Psalms 23:1-2)

The Lord begins the process of wanting to subject us by changing the season over our souls. He then begins to subject us to a path that allows the Holy Spirit lead us for all the reasons enumerated above.

Below are some of the things the Lord does to and in subjecting us:

  1. Create circumstances within and around us conducive for us to learn the teachings of Christ/Everlasting Life. The Children of Israel being taken from Egypt and taken into the wilderness is a perfect example.
  2. Allowing for Satan and his cohorts to tempt and trouble us (Jam 1:13-16; 1 Cor 10:13; Mark 1:12). In subjective leadings of the Spirit of God, God allows evil spirits to come around us to tempt us, according to our growth level, and what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing in our souls. The Lord in doing so wants us to overcome those spirits and the infirmities that those spirits use to trouble and tempt us.
Conclusion

It is good to note that the Lord does not expose His saints to spirits that are beyond their level of growth, because He would not allow us to be tempted more than what we can bear! Our being subjected is always in tandem with our level of growth! Amen.