LED BY GOD

What is the perfect will of God when He is leading a Son? Is it God’s will to lead us by causing us to learn from our mistakes? Or does He lead us by placing obstacles in our path and then guiding us around them, assuring that we arrive at our destination? God’s intent from the beginning was that His Sons would not to have a lifestyle of “hit or miss”, groping around trying to figure out who He is and why He saved us. This is why the Church is so frustrated with their salvation, living an ineffective prayer life This is because many who are born in the Kingdom of God cannot function in the Kingdom.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, St. John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. What does it mean to be Spirit? Jesus was identifying the existence of two different worlds. He was making a distinction between the life we were born into at birth and the renewed birth that took place at salvation. When we were born into the world we were completely equipped to function in it. We had eyes to see, ears to hear and we could effectively communicate with the other inhabitants of planet Earth. In fact, we were the most intelligent creatures created with divine intellect that God breathed into mankind. Jesus continued to tell Nicodemus, St. John 3:3 . . . Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Just like we were born with natural senses that allow us to function effectively in the world, so also in the Kingdom of God we received spiritual senses that allow us to communicate with God and each other. What are these spiritual senses that we received?

Isaiah 11:2-5

2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

When Jesus came to planet Earth, He was different than any other creature because He did not walk by His natural senses but He grew in the wisdom and counsel of the Holy Ghost.

St. Luke 2:40

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

It is the same when we receive the Spirit, we should walk and be guided by Him. When we walk after the Spirit we will be able to see and hear God, and we will not be void of His instructions. This is the whole foundation of prayer. It is that two-way communication with God that brings about results in our everyday lives. In order for us to have an effective prayer life, we must change our minds about who we are and what position we should take in petitioning the Father.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We have become new creatures, made One with God, born into a literal Kingdom where the power of God exists! Jesus told Nicodemus that those who are born again are like the wind, you do not see which direction the wind comes from when it blows, and you only see its effects. He was describing the power of those who walk in the Kingdom. All throughout the New Testament we see these examples . . .

St. John 18:36

My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Jesus had been captured by the Romans and was about to be crucified. Nevertheless, He knew that the power that He had was not something that could be seen in the natural. He spoke of another Kingdom, one that had great power and authority.

Jesus is always our example!

Acts 7:55-56

55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Stephen experienced great persecution at the hands of the Jews. But in the midst of this, He was able to see heaven opened and Jesus standing with the Father. He actually saw them with his natural eyes.

Acts 9:10-17

10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.

11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,

12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.

13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:

14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.

15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

16 For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

There was a two-way conversation between Ananias and God. He received instructions from God to go down and see Saul and what he was to say to him. Ananias even questioned God! He was afraid for his life. This is true relationship where he was able to express himself without being afraid of a “far away” God he did not know. When we look at the story of Peter on the housetop we see him being caught up in a vision . . .

Acts 10:9-14

9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:

10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,

11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:

12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.

14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.

Peter witnessed a spiritual happening; he saw a vision of heaven opening. He interacted with God, just as we interact with each other everyday. This is how a minister should be when seeking God for his people. His voice should be plain, not mystical, or spooky. When we come out of prayer, we should leave strengthened, knowing the will of our Father.

Acts 8:26-40

26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

In the story of the Ethiopian eunuch, Philip was led by the Spirit and was given specific instructions to go down to Gaza. From the story we see this was not his original destination but he was following the voice of the angel He knew where to go and consequently found the eunuch studying the book of Isaiah. As we read we see Philip translated after he finished baptizing the eunuch. When we study the lives of these men of God, we see that they all exhibited one main quality . .because of their of their Oneness with God they knew His voice. Jesus said “I only do those things I see the Father do.” There was no separate existence between these men and the purpose of God. They walked like they were pilgrims on this earth. They did not just seek the face of God when there was a spiritual crisis they were facing, or out of a ritualistic format.

WHY CAN’T WE SEE THE KINGDOM?

Why is it so difficult for us to see, hear or communicate in the Kingdom of God?

1 John 1:6

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

The scripture admonishes that if there is darkness in us, we can have no fellowship with the light, therefore no fellowship with the Father. We cannot walk in a mindset where we harbor darkness in our hearts and seek to pray the power of God in our circumstances, situations and relationships, we are not in fellowship with the Father. God will not hear us when there is darkness or iniquity in our hearts. At other times we may find ourselves being consumed by the cares of this life and we rush into prayer to be strengthened by God. However, this is because we have allowed the greed and lust of this world to capture our minds, not being content in our oneness with God and His control in our lives. In those times there is no two way communication with the Father, rather a constant plea from the Sons of God to help with the wrong choices they made. That is not prayer as that is not communication with God. Neither do we approach prayer as a platform to be sanctified over and over again. Our prayers will be powerless, God already sanctified us when He made us One with Him. There has to be a reverence of the holiness of the God we serve and a consideration of His will being done in us. We cannot give God a small slot of time in our day and spend the rest of the time groping around, trying to fit into a kingdom we have been taken out of and delivered from.

1 John 2:9-11

9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

As the Body of Christ, we were not born again with birth defects, retarded nor spiritually deprived. However, some may ask, “What is God’s will for me?” or “How do I know the voice of God?”

James 4:1-4

1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

When we are in fellowship with the world we will be spiritually blind not knowing the will of God and not able to hear His voice.

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS

St. Matthew 6:23

But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

St. Matthew 7:21-27

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. THE

POWER OF THE TRUTH

St. John 8:32

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The Holy Spirit has given us the truth that we may abandon our ritualistic approach to the things concerning our salvation. We have been made the righteousness of God. We are new creatures created in Christ Jesus and we have been translated into another Kingdom. The scripture tells us we are seated with Christ in heavenly places and our citizenship is not of this world. When we look at the life of the old Patriarchs we see that they were not mindful of planet Earth. They knew they were strangers here. There was no longing for the things of this world. Their face was set like a flint to accomplish the will of our Lord. Paul said it like this . . .

Philippians 3:13-14

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

When we begin to walk in the Kingdom that we live in we will no longer be strangers there. We will begin to walk in the mind of that Kingdom and fellowship with the other citizens. The will of the Father will no longer be a mystery. In fact we will see, hear and know the voice of our Lord. The things of that Kingdom will be what we live to reveal to the inhabitants of planet earth. Our testimony will be Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Then we will see the power of God manifest! The mindset that we walk in will reveal the presence of another Kingdom.

St. Matthew 5:43-45

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

People will see the Kingdom of God when we do that which is not of this world. In order to be a manifestation of light to a dying world, we must lay down our lives and allow the power of Christ to be revealed in us and through us. Now our prayer life will have power!