Leadings

Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

I’ve had many types of leading in my life that I know were prompted from the Holy Spirit. These promptings have enabled me to help others in times of need, to speak words of encouragement and conviction in the messages that I have preached, to pray for people who I felt directed to pray for and to sense God’s call in my life for ministry. The leading of the Holy Spirit is necessary if we are to live the Jesus Walk in its fullness.

It’s no accident that we are reminded here in Matthew chapter 4 that Jesus Himself was lead by the Spirit at the beginning of His ministry. What words of encouragement these are to us who follow the Lord. Jesus was lead by the same Spirit that leads us. Now granted, He heard the Spirit much better than us, but we are called in the same way to follow the leadings.

If you look closely at this passage, you can notice an amazing fact. The first leading from the Spirit was into a time of testing. Jesus was lead into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Many times in my own life as I have followed the leading of the Holy Spirit I have discovered that the devil was there waiting to test me and tempt me from doing that which I was lead to do.

We get a description of the tempting of Jesus in the following verses. Jesus was tempted in many ways to give in, give up and give away the call of God in His life. The same is true for us. In our leadings, the devil will come at us from many fronts to try and steal away our faith in the leading. Words fill our minds like: “You’re not wanted, let someone else do it, it’s too hard, I don’t have the money,” and so forth goes the battle in our minds concerning this leading by the Spirit.

So here is the key. The only way to get to the heart of the leading is to be led. Jesus went into the desert, was tempted, relied upon God, was triumphant and in the end accomplished the course. The same can and will be true for us; however, the beginning point is to hear the call of the Spirit, to respond to that call, and to face what difficulties will come because of the call. Be assured if this leading is from God, it will lead you into a time of testing.

God leads us by His Spirit to transform us into the people He wants us to become. It only happens when we are led to follow where He leads. Where is God’s Spirit leading you today?

Dreamers

Matthew 1:24-25 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

How big is your dream? I mean how big is the idea that God has given you? What effect does it have in what you do and how you act and live? How does this God-dream change how you see life and your future and literally everything? Or has your dream not affected you? Or has it not set the goal in front of you so that you know the direction you need to go in order to fulfill that to which you have been called?

That’s the real question isn’t it? Sometimes dreams have a life-changing effect, and sometimes dreams are pushed out of the way for the more practical. In Joseph’s case, the practical course of action would have been to “get away as fast as possible.” I feel that at times with my God-dream. Sometimes it is too difficult and too hard or taking way too long. At other times, I fear that the money or resources won’t be there, and the dream will die. Sometimes I just don’t want to follow the dream; the cost is too high. All of this must have gone through the mind of Joseph. I can assure you that these thoughts go through my mind about my dream all the time.

So what do we do with these dreams, these God ideas? I believe the answer lies in what Joseph did. There are three actions which he followed, and perhaps we can gain some insight. The first thing he did was to wake up. As easy as that sounds, it is the first step in following the dream. Getting a clear picture of what we have been called to do is like waking up. Wake up dreamer so that the dream journey you have been called to can begin. It’s like getting out of bed on a cold morning. Once you make the first step you know what to do next.

The second was that he did what the Angel of the Lord commanded him to do. He was faithful to the call of God in his life. Perhaps he had a plan or perhaps he did not. What he did, however, was to follow the dream set before him. We know that he took Mary to be his wife. Unpractical as it was and facing the criticism of his family and friends, he followed the dream that was given. Can you think of others like him who decided to follow as well?

The last thing he did was to wait. I can relate with that one very well. I have been waiting for a dream now for at least a year. Not a long time when you put it into perspective, yet waiting is difficult. It’s hard to keep the dream alive when time passes and the prospects look dim. Yet that is what we must do. Persist in believing, continue hoping, and keep on doing!

How big is your dream?