September 28, 2012

• Teaching Christians to be Spirit- Led

  Lesson Plan for the Misfits Bible Fellowship Reposted from November 2007:

  "I'm saved; so now what should I do?"  Learn to be Led by the Inward Witness of the Spirit of God

   

  Romans 8: 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God....  ¹⁶The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

  Proverbs 20: 27    The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord,   Searching all the ^£inner depths of his heart.

   

  Many times Christians try to receive guidance other than how the Bible says we are to receive. For example, nowhere in the Bible does it say that God guides us through our souls. People sometimes use the words “spirit” and “soul” interchangeably. But they are NOT interchangeable!

   

  Hebrews 4: 12For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharperthan any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

  1 Thessalonians 5: 23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

   

  Actually, the Bible teaches that you are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body.

   

  And, if you are born again, the Holy Spirit of God – the Helper sent as the better replacement for Jesus in the flesh! -- is living IN YOUR SPIRIT.

   

  John 14:16... I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—¹⁷the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you .

  2 Corinthians 5:16Therefore, from now on, ... Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.  ¹⁷... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

   

  Believers have God's Promises that He will guide us directly!

   

  Jeremiah 33: 3‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

   

  John 10: 1“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and arobber. ²But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

  ...14I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

   

  John 16:13However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; ... and He will tell you things to come.

  Usually God simply speaks the truth into our spirits; and we then “perceive” the truth as a known fact, seemingly from out of nowhere! And we ask ourselves, and finally make a decision: “This is God Himself speaking to me! I recognize His voice!”

   

  Acts 16: 6Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.  7After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the ^£Spirit did not permit them. 

   

  Acts 27: 9Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, ¹⁰saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss,...

   

  Notice Paul didn't say, “The Lord told me.” He didn't say the Spirit of God said anything to him. He just said, “I perceive.” Paul is talking about the real “I,” his inner man, the spirit man at the core of himself.

   

  Paul didn't really perceive this truth mentally. He didn't perceive it physically with his senses. No. But in his spirit he had an inward witness that ”...this voyage will be with hurt and much damage...”

   

  Have you ever had something on the inside of you tell you to do or not to do something? Something which may not have made sense to you at the time? Did you obey it, and then see why it had been told to you later? Sharing time!

  Some Precautions To Observe:

   

  We need to make sure we aren't trying to tell God HOW to lead us! Too many times when God is trying to lead believers through the inward witness, they don't take the time to listen for Him! Many times they are hoping He will lead them in a more spectacular way, such as through a vision, a dream, an audible voice, or an angelic visitation. These more spectacular kinds of guidance may occur or they may not. They happen as the Spirit wills. But God never promised us that we would be led spectacularly! He DID, however, promise to lead us by the inward witness, as we have seen. (Romans 8: 16)

   

  Sometimes there's a price to pay in order to receive God's guidance for your life! Often it takes waiting before God in prayer and in the Word long enough to get all of your soul – your mind, will and emotions under control, because your soul is always trying to be in control, and it clamors for attention. And sometimes it just means waiting long enough to get your body quiet, because your body can be just as demanding as your soul. But once you get your soul and body quieted and under control, you can begin to understand what God is saying to you. You can understand what God is saying every time if you'll take the time to wait before Him. (Isaiah 40: 31)

   

  It may take longer for some people than for others to get their flesh under subjection to their spirit so they can hear God, because they have allowed their flesh to dominate then for so long.

   

  A Key Principle to following the inward witness is to diligently train and develop your spirit! But How?

   

  1. Feed your spirit on God's written Word.

  Matthew 4:4But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

   

  2. Make sure you are walking in love regardless what others around you may do.

  John 15: 9“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. ¹²This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

  Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

  3. Pray much in other tongues. (If you do not yet know how, I will teach you because it is scripturally correct and it works!)

   

  1 Corinthians 14:14For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding.

   

  Jude:3Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 20But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  • 11:28 pm
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