23rd October 2022.
| THEME: | HOW TO BE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD |
| LESSON: | SEVEN |
| 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 continued looking at how the subjective leadings of the Spirit works, focusing on the reasons for the subjective leading of the spirit, chiefly being to train and teach a man how to live by the Word of God, as to deal with the “pride of life” in us, to correct our thoughts and ways, to chasten us or deal with us, all with the intent and desire of correcting our thoughts and our ways and eventually our lifestyles. We saw that believers are being led subjectively in order to learn God’s own spiritual and divine economy and to paint the hope and destination of our profession.
Let us look at yet another reason why subjective leading is non-negotiable for anyone who will end up in the fullness of the life of God:
6. Enablement for Entrance (Acts 14:22): In truth, we are all outside the kingdom, even at new birth. It is good to know that we are not automatically entrants into the kingdom, or the life of God when our spirits have been regenerated. This is because flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom. However, flesh and blood is the very capacity that resides in everyone born of a woman. It takes the enablement of the King for a soul to have the capacity to enter into the kingdom of God. This is because the kingdom is not in essence a geographic location (heaven), but the life of God as it is in God (Lk 17:20-21). Until the soul learns to live by EVERY WORD, the soul will lack the ability to enter into the fullness of the kingdom (life) of God (Lk 13:24-30), no matter how much he or she desires to. This is what is referred to as Divine Enablement.
How God Subjects Believers to be Led by the Spirit of God (Psalms 23:1-2)
The Lord begins the process of wanting to subject us by changing the seasons over our souls. He then begins to subject us to a path that allows the Holy Spirit to lead us for all the reasons enumerated above.
Below are some of the things the Lord does to and in subjecting us:
- Create circumstances within and around us which are 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.
- Allowing for Satan and his cohorts to tempt and trouble us (Jam 1:13-16; 1 Cor 10:13; Mark 1:12). In the subjective leading of the Spirit, God may allow 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. The Overcomers badge is not given to anyone who has not overcome and for this singular reason, the enemy and his company are useful in the agenda of God.
One vital distinction that every wayfaring spiritual migrant must be able to make, is the difference between the dealings of God in the seasons of subjective leadings and the oppression of the enemy (2Cor 2:11). From a distance, these two vastly different operations can be lumped together or wrongly labeled in one’s mind. This confusion or deception is the work of the enemy, preying on nothing but our ignorance (Is 5:13).
How to differentiate between the dealings of God and the oppression of the enemy (1Cor 10:13)
One would not be able to differentiate between the dealings of the Lord (as a result of subjective leading) and oppression (as a result of the devices of the enemy) if one is not well grounded in the things mentioned below.
- Testimony of God’s faithfulness:
God is FAITHFUL! All of His promises are in Him, Yea and AMEN! (2Cor1:20) This reality in the soul is the foundation for prosperity in the seasons of subjective leading of the Spirit. In this season which is usually characterized by suffering, an assuredness of the faithfulness of God and His commitment to our all-round well-being is vital to a successful season of subjective leading (1Pet 4:19). It is good to point out at this juncture that one of the importance of milk is for the assurance of the soul that God is good! This persuasion stems from prosperity in faith towards God or faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 1:15, Heb 6:1-2).
- Know your Fundamental Spiritual Rights:
You don’t have to have fulfilled all obedience in order to exercise your rights as one who has been recreated in his spirit. There are signs that follow them that believe (Mk 16:17). A believer should know that he or she can cast out devils (Lk 10:19), speak with new tongues, lay hands on the sick and expect them to recover.
- All these and such like can and should be the normal everyday experiences of one who has been well taught in the fundamentals of the Christian faith. This in no way commends us to God (Lk 10:20) – in that Heaven does not rejoice when we cast out devils, but it does help us in our earthly sojourn as we are by the grace of God able to keep the enemy at bay concerning our affairs.
Being well exercised in these above will prevent us from being presumptuous in assuming that every untoward occurrence in and around us is a dealing of the Lord. 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 (1Cor 10:13)!
Conclusion
The nature of Satan is for him to take advantage of us, particularly, our ignorance as we journey towards salvation. Knowledge helps us decipher operations and corporate with the Lord and (when required) rebuke Satan and his manipulations.