Following God's Spirit

Sarah’s Corner

www.thecarpenterschurch.org/sarahscorner

Volume 110 - 20, October 2020

God’s Spirit

On the other side of every miracle you desire, lies your obedience. God has made you a promise of fruitfulness, just like He promised to give the Israelites a land owing with milk and honey. The only way they crossed the Jordan, the walls of Jericho fell at before them, and they defeated their enemies was by learning to trust God. In this article, you will learn; what it truly means to follow God's Spirit and enjoy His precious promises.

15 Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of re.

Numbers 9:15

To follow means to go after or behind, it means to keep along the line of, to imitate, to keep the eye and mind xed on and the assumption is that somebody is leading. To lead means to show the way by going rst, to precede, to guide by the hand, to direct, to conduct, to induce, to have a principal or guiding path or place in something.

Following God's Spirit Is A Lifestyle Following God's Spirit should be a lifestyle; this is the rst thing you need to know. Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”. Following God's Spirit is equivalent to walking with God. Now, why is it so important to talk about following God's Spirit or being led

by God's Spirit? It is simply because the quality of your life today is a direct function of whom you are following, who is leading you, or how well you are following the one leading you. The foundation of your lifestyle is your relationship with God. What is your relationship with God? What is He to you? God is your Father. So, following His Spirit should be a lifestyle, and the foundation of that relationship you have with God is that He is your father, and you are His child. God wants to establish His Fatherhood over you, not just by what you can get from Him, or what He can give you, but by your ability to successfully follow His Spirit.

21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of re to give them light, so as to go by day and night.

Exodus 13:21

God doesn't want to lead you only when you have a specic problem; God doesn't want to lead you just to face your red sea and be able to cross your red sea. God asked the Israelites to build Him a sanctuary because He wanted them to understand that in following His Spirit, they are with His presence. In our dispensation, God's presence is always with us. You carry His presence on the inside of you, so it's not something that you try to put on and off when you are facing a “red sea” experience. After the Israelites

crossed the red sea, God intended to lead them based on a relationship and His presence.

The day you gave your life to Jesus Christ, you got born again. From that day, God's Spirit came to dwell on the inside of you, and therefore you could follow God's Spirit as a lifestyle. As you begin to walk with God, you will nd out that there would be certain regularities and similarities in the way you follow God's Spirit because it's a lifestyle. As you grow in God, you may nd that more often than not, maybe through a dream, God might minister something to you. It might be in the Word, or something may just occur to you in your heart, and you know that it is the leading of God's Spirit. As long as that foundation of the relationship with God is there, you carry His presence. When you carry His presence, you carry His guidance, His leading, and you carry the ability to follow.

Following God's Spirit Is Supernatural Following God's Spirit is supernatural. This is the second thing you need to know. Following God's Spirit may follow a regular pattern and regularity but it is still supernatural! It is not intellectual. Somebody who was the worst of all sinners gets born-again, and instantly becomes the tabernacle of God almighty; this is supernatural!

When I was being trained under Pastor Charles, this was one lesson I had to learn the hard way. It got to a point where he used to call me a mathematician. That would so irritate and offend me. Do you know why?

The things that are the truest about you are the things that will offend you.

But if you allow yourself to have a Pastor, a father, or somebody whom God has put over you to guide you or to mentor you, those truthful things, after irritating and offending you, will fall off. Sometimes, he will tell me certain things that need to happen in the church, and it would not follow my logical thinking. As a mathematician and engineer, I will check it, and I'd have a problem with it. At some point, he would tell me, “Pastor Kech, this is not mathematics”. The more he said that to me, the more I began to understand that following God's Spirit is supernatural. Sometimes, it won't add up or make sense.

Following God's Spirit is supernatural and not superstitious! Superstition is when you are always looking for something to conrm something else.

God can ask you to do something, and you keep looking for a conrmation or a reason why God said that thing to you, and you may never nd one.

Also, the supernatural doesn't mean spectacular. So, you may be following God's Spirit, and there won't be a visible display of anything or visible feelings necessarily. People who look for the spectacular always want something to shine, or need an angel to appear before obeying God's instructions.

The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other form, without the prior permission of the above.

Sarah’s Corner

www.thecarpenterschurch.org/sarahscorner

Volume 110 - 20, October 2020

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us

by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:12-14

How then do you understand supernatural phenomena? As the Word of God renews your mind, and you begin to grow in revelation knowledge, you can follow God's Spirit more accurately. The more you stay in the Word of God, the more you understand the things of God. The Bible says you will know those things that are freely given to you (1 Corinthians 2:12-13). Note it says, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. So, if you are going to follow God and be guided by Him, your reference has to be spiritual or supernatural. By growing in the Word of God, your natural mind gets renewed by the Word of God. So, certain things He begins to tell you to do will no longer be foolishness to you. You will follow Him easily. A Pastor whose mind is not renewed in the Word of God will be less successful in following God than an usher who has taken time to renew his or her mind in the Word of God.

destination. Without a destination in the mind of God, following His Spirit becomes a circle of chaos. That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9: 26, “I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I don't ght like one beating the air. I don't ght like one without a target, or without a destination”. God might be taking you to a place where you can learn to forgive anybody who has done anything wrong to you. He could be getting you to a place, where you will learn to love yourself for who you are. You learn to appreciate yourself; you learn to look at yourself and say, “There is something good in me”.

Maybe, He wants to get you to the point, where you can truly learn to be submissive to your husband or truly learn to love your wife, as Christ loves the church. That could be the destination.

10 For it was tting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Hebrews 2:10

Following God's Spirit Creates Seasons In Your Life

That word, “bringing”, is the same word, “leading”, seen in Romans 8:14, “...Those that are led by the Spirit of God…” Every destination which following God's Spirit takes you to is a destination of glory. It is a destination of glory, when God leads a selsh person to the point where he or she can give up anything for the sake of the Gospel. Glory is not a “goosebump” feeling; glory is a tangibility of God's goodness and grace. Glory is seen in the resurrection of Lazarus. Glory is seen in the resurrection of dead parts of your life. That is the destination that following God's Spirit has in store for you. When you do not know what that destination is, you will be like one running aimlessly.

The third thing you need to know is that following God's Spirit creates seasons in your life.

Following God's Spirit Is For A Purpose

19 Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did not journey.

20 So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the LORD they would remain encamped, and according to the command of the LORD they would journey.

21 So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey.

22 Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey.

Numbers 9:19-22

The cloud was above the tabernacle for a few days - that was the time to stay. They did not move when the weather was good; neither did they stay when the weather was bad. They did not move when they were hungry; neither did they stay when they were well fed. When the cloud was above the tabernacle, they stayed, and they never knew when the cloud was going to leave. Not only did the cloud stay as it wanted, the Bible says that the cloud would decide to move, whether in the day or at night. So, they didn't even have the luxury of moving only in the daytime. Sometimes in the night, if you are following God's Spirit, God will ask you to do something you don't want to do; but the choice is yours. Whether by day or by night, when it was time to move, they moved.

Abraham had waited twenty-ve years to get a son. Then he nally gets the son, and God says, “Sacrice him”. That looks like midnight. Abraham didn't say, “So, You waited for me to have this son. I have groomed him for some years, and now, you are telling me to go and sacrice him”. Abraham simply followed God's instructions in obedience.

Following God's Spirit Takes You To A Destination The fourth thing you need to know is that following God's Spirit takes you to a destination. One of the meanings of lead: is to bring to a point of

The fth thing you need to know is that following God's Spirit is for a purpose.

Following God's Spirit has one purpose ultimately, and that is getting you to completely trust and obey God's leading. Every miracle you will ever experience lies on the other side of your obedience. After the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea in desperation, no one was looking at God. God said, “No, we can't go on like this”. God began to teach them trust and obedience, and He taught them in two ways. He said, “First of all, you watch the cloud, follow my Spirit, and carry My presence”.

God said, “There is a Promised land, I've got it ahead of you”. The crossing of the Jordan was different. How did they cross the Jordan? They didn't run in a mad panic. They didn't run in desperation. What did they do? First of all, the Bible says that they went, and they sat by the Jordan for three days. When they were sure they were ready to obey God no matter what it took, or how much pain it cost them, they stood up, carried the Ark, and crossed the Jordan without fear or panic. They had cultivated trust and obedience. On the other side of Jordan, was the Promised land, but there was a process of learning to trust God. Some people never learnt, so they never saw the Promised land. You don't need to argue with God. When He says, “Move”, don't say, “God, I've stayed here too long, I want to stay”. When you do that, you begin to run around in a circle of chaos.

Joshua and Caleb crossed the Jordan in calmness of spirit, and with unshakeable trust and faith in the destination, where God was taking them.

There was no looking back. If God says, “Stay here for three years”, you say, “Yes Lord”. If He says, “Move at night”, you move. If He says, “Go during the day”, you go. That's the purpose of following God's Spirit: to cultivate trust and obedience. When that happens, you are ready to cross the Jordan and possess the Promised land owing with milk and honey. The walls of Jericho and all kinds of enemies on the other side won't be able to stop you.

God's promises stand sure, and it has your name on it. As you learn to follow God's Spirit in obedience, you will carry your babies and enjoy all His precious promises to you.

The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other form, without the prior permission of the above.