THEME: HOW TO BE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD
LESSON: THREE
TEXT: Proverbs 20:27; Romans 8:16; Proverbs 3:6
MEMORY TRACK:
ln our last lesson, by God’s grace, we learnt that the Holy Spirit did not indwell man for to lead them because the spirits and souls of men were not barren of the light of the natural life and/or God’s will for them on the earth. Before the fall of man in Eden, their souls were as “blessed and enlightened” as their spirits were. Hence, their souls did not need to be led by The Spirit of God.
Man lost this estate after the fall in Eden. But through the life, obedience, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, another economy of God was opened to mankind. Under this new economy, we can be born again in our spirits, have our souls and bodies purchased by God. And much more have the Holy Spirit now live in our spirits, for to both seal our spirits and lead our souls through our spirits.
The delusion of the “information overload age” (Proverbs 3:5-8; Proverbs 14:12)
We live in times when satan and his cohorts have done a lot and enough (as it were) to turn us Christians away from relying on our born-again human spirit – which is where God expects us to spring and live from, even if there is no specific leading of The Holy Spirit on a matter (Proverbs 20:27; Romans 8:16). The truth is that the abundance and overwhelming exaltation of “the senses and the brain” (through the acquisition of so much information/facts and figures), are direct affront and ready alternatives to relying on and depending on our spirits as Believers.
Majority of the information available to men in today’s world (specifically information outside of the scriptures of the Bible) are information from spiritually dead men/women attempting to help proffer solutions to many issues confronting the human race and the earth. But it is good to know that such information is from “dead spirits”! Put another way, they are leadings, impressions, suggestions, directions and guidance that come from spirits of those who are spiritually dead.
Many times, through their quest and (many) sincere desire, solutions and answers come forth to help humanity and the earth, but hell is further let loose on man and on the earth. Much more, such solutions and interventions (as good as they are or may appear) lead us downward as against upwards or Christ-ward. They make men (Christians particularly), dull in our journey towards God and in agreeing with God’s soul salvation agenda.
As Christians, we need to repent of “the sin of the information overload age”, which is relying on our brain/mind/flesh/the devil and ‘his spirit (the old man), as against relying on our born again/recreated human spirit (Romans 6:16; 2nd Corinthians 5:17; John 3:3).
The spirit of man, the Lamp of the Lord
In teaching how to be led by the Spirit of God, we will not have done well if we do not look into the subject of being very aware and conscious of the person of our human spirit (particularly for leadings and guidance). Many of God’s people are fast losing “the art of waiting on and relying on our spirits for guidance”.
Yes, we are learning truth for the saving of our souls, but that does not mean we should not wait on our spirits when we are required to make decisions of life and address life issues. We MUST BE MORE SPIRIT CONSCIOUS RATHER THAN JUST BEING SENSE AND INFORMATION CONSCIOUS. The attitude of spirit consciousness better positions us for to be led by The Spirit of God. Amen.
Bringing our body under to better rely on and follow our spirit (1st Corinthians 9:24-27; Romans 12:1)
Not only do we live in an information overload generation, much more, we live in a time of so many distractions that would not allow us focus or rely effectively on our recreated human spirit for leadings and guidance. There is so much to engage ourselves with hourly outside of God and our born-again spirits. There is so much noise from the world and its lusts, sufficient to engage us even Christians. There is so much to watch, hear, read, play with etc. that if we are not careful and consciously disciplined, we may never be “free enough” to make time to rely on or wait on our spirit as Believers.
To do well in following our spirits we have to:
- Deliberately make conscious decisions to bring our bodies under the subjection and control of our recreated human spirit (1st Corinthians 9:27). A believer who lets his body “run riot” to do what it wants, when and how it wants it, may not find it easy to pick from their spirits what the counsel of the Lord Jesus Christ is.
- Deliberately create time to engage in and exercise ourself in activities that causes and allows our spirit to gain the ascendancy over our soul and our body, e.g. praying in the spirit (1st Corinthians 14:4), meditating on the word of God (Psalms 1:2; Joshua 1:8), listening to godly edifying songs/hymns/music with scriptural and sound biblical lyrics and tenets, listening to Spirit inspired messages, and reading spiritual books and other text based contents.
- Learn to fast. Yes, it is very important to fast social media and anything that seeks to pollute our souls and defile our consecration of holiness (that is so important in the days and times we live in). Also, it is good to add that we are meant to fast food too! Anyone who wants to learn and prosper in picking from their spirit cannot throw away this principle of chastening their flesh so that the voice and activities of their spirit can become louder and more pronounced.
Conclusion
While The Lord Jesus Christ has shown this generation so much mercy through so much light and revelation of His word through His Servants (our Parents and Pastors), we may not prosper in the deep waters if we neglect our spirits or if we do not know how to yield to our spirits. What is being taught today are the elementary basics that our Parents and Pastors were built on (through God’s word), and still use in their journey towards God! It will be unwise and unprofitable for us (particularly the younger generations) to neglect this core basic principles and want to do well as our Parents. It is good to quickly add, that these principles are not meant to be for “babes in the Lord”, they are principles that we are meant to walk and run by all the days of our Christian faith on earth (1st Corinthians 9:27) Amen.