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?

The Jesus Prayer

John 17:20-21 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one.”

How cool is that? Jesus, Himself says that He is praying for us. I never quite thought of it in that way. I have always known that the work and power of Jesus demonstrated in my life was through His grace, yet here it is very evident that the very prayers of Jesus is for His people and for all who might believe. How does that make you feel to know that Jesus is intentionally praying for you?

Prayer is a powerful practice in my life; I can't say that this was always the case. Many times I tried to do things on my own and failed miserably; however, I have discovered this amazing fact. Jesus is praying for me. That changed everything. I discovered that for my prayer life to be meaningful I needed to pray in agreement with the words of Jesus.

This begs then the question: what is Jesus praying about concerning me? There is much if you read chapter 17 in the Gospel of John. The first is that we, (you and I) may be one with Him. That is a relational prayer. Jesus is my Savior and my friend. It is founded in the belief that Jesus died for me and that He rose to redeem me unto Himself for the glory of God.

The second is that the world might come to see through this relationship with Christ, the opportunity that He offers those who have not yet believed. The purpose in this is that all of us become one with God through the atonement of Jesus Christ. As powerful as these prayers of Jesus are, the one thing that grabs me in His prayer is this. Through the glory that God gave Jesus, Jesus is giving through prayer to us. Can you grasp the significance of this? Jesus is praying that everything that He is, will be ours.

I can't even begin to phantom the depth of this statement, yet everything about my past and future is grounded in this prayer. What I know to be true is this: God through Jesus has promised everything we need in order to be fully one with Him.

That is His prayer for us.

ASK

John 18:23-24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Living for a while in a third world culture, you learn valuable traits about people--things like courage and hope and adaptability. I find people who have placed value upon family and God and living life fully even in some of the most difficult of circumstances. Don't get me wrong; life in a third world culture is most difficult. Food is in short supply, jobs don't exist and life in general is not good. So what can we learn from these folks we call our brothers and sisters?

Perhaps we can discover how to live life in the face of ever-increasing struggles. I believe that this is what Jesus is talking about here in the 16th chapter of John. Life is filled with difficult times. Things are not going to get better on its own, the world will not be in step with the Christian faith, and hope will seem far away at best. Most of us have been there, living life less than full, filled with despair and wonderment about the future. The uncertainty of the life we lead can cause us distress.

SO what is the hope? Hope is found only in Jesus, and here in this passage is the key to unlocking that hope. No, this is not the key to prosperity; it is the key to discovering joy in the midst of struggle. This passage is dealing with the reality of human existence where things go wrong and life makes little sense and sometimes we want to give up. In the midst of this, Jesus said you could have joy. This joy is expressed in the simple things of life where family and shelter and waking up another day with good health are the benchmarks to living full.

In reality, it is not about stuff at all. It's about attitude. I choose through this passage to ask of Jesus for those things that will bring me joy. That’s what life is truly about. Life is not measured on the things you accumulate but on the things which bring joy. Jesus said ask of the Father anything in His name so that our JOY will be full. I can only conclude that if our joy is not full, perhaps we’re asking for the wrong things.

SO what brings you joy? Ask of the Father in Jesus' name who gives freely to all who ask.

Position

John 13:16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

What an amazing example! Jesus has just finished washing the feet of the disciples. Taking the position of a servant, He was demonstrating the position that He wants us to assume. I'm OK with that idea. In fact, it is comfortable for me to want to serve others. I find satisfaction in serving and realize that when I am serving, I am at my best.

However, this passage is not about what we do but about who we are in the Kingdom work God has called us to do. It really is a battle of the mind. Scripture reminds us that Jesus' taking the form of a servant, emptied Himself and sacrificed all that He was for us. He became obedient even unto death. I often think of my position in light of that. Who am I and what am I doing with the gifts of ministry that God has given me?

Position is a difficult thing to master. However, when we discover the attitude of being a servant, we are growing closer to that which God has created us to be and thus we are growing in the reflecting of Jesus in our lives. That's really what it is about, you know, being like and acting like Jesus. We are called not only to follow but also to become like Him in every way.

So how does that happen? How can I become more like Jesus? The formula is simple in the passage above. It is about the realization of who it is we have as our master. We are not greater than our master; therefore, what we do is what He has done in order to be like Him. As Jesus was obedient, then we should be obedient; as Jesus was serving, we should serve; as Jesus was giving, we should give. It is in the position we take that determines who we are.

So what are we going to do with this? We start today to serve like never before, to live as if our lives really were reflections of the love and grace of our Savior and to believe that He is leading us forward because we are willing to take the position of a servant to the King.

That's what Jesus did.

Followers

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I love this passage. It's all about calling and hearing and following after that which Jesus calls us to do. Following is easy; we all follow something or somebody. That’s the way we're made. I remember early in my life following the wrong person and doing wrong stuff. It's easy to be a follower. In fact, life lived to its fullest is about following the right person and going in the right direction. NEWS FLASH! Not to be a follower is to choose to live life on your own.

That’s right. The person who does not follow is headed into self, going where they want and doing what they decide. On the surface this sounds like a great plan. All of us want to be unique and special individuals; we like doing our own thing. It's about self-discovery and self-fulfillment, but the problem is this--following self ends in destruction. In fact, the cause of the fall of humanity was the quest of self over God.

So again, what's wrong with self-discovery? It's wrong because, unless we become followers of Christ, we have no part in Christ. Being a Christ follower is everything about being a follower. It is about following the Savior and discovering fulfillment in service and sacrifice to the one who gave Himself for us as a ransom for us all.

That's why Jesus said that His followers, His sheep, know His voice; they can hear Him and they can follow because they understand that only Jesus has the way that leads to life. A key ingredient to this is relationship. Notice that Jesus says that they (we) know Him and that He knows us. If Jesus knows us, that means He has our life in His hand and we can follow Him in full confidence that He is leading in the right direction.

Who is leading your life today?

Everything

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Over the past three years, I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time visiting and working with people in Nicaragua. This has been a rewarding and enriching experience for my family and me. Many of the lessons and experiences I have had, have profoundly changed me, and have given me a new perspective about the things I have and the things I think I need.

Jesus in this passage is setting forth the same profound insight into the things of life. Everything you need for the living and fulfillment in life is found in Him. There is no lack. One of the beautiful things about visiting a third world country outside the United States is how much your perspective changes. The "stuff" of life is no longer as important, and the basics of living come into sharp perspective.

The reality is that bread and water are symbolic for our spiritual life. We can spend all of our time running from one "spirit" experience to the next yet never finding real satisfaction in these things. They are only the expression of our stated need yet never being able to deliver on the real substance. Jesus is saying that what we really desire is found only in Him. He is the bread of life.

Here is a simple yet profound truth about bread. To enjoy bread in every way, you must eat it. Looking at a freshly baked loaf of bread is nice, smelling the aroma of that bread is sweet, but our experience to this point is only based on past knowledge of what bread looks and smells like. It is only in the tasting of the bread that we enjoy and discover all the unique qualities contained therein.

Jesus is saying of Himself that the only way to discover real life is to experience life fully in Him. This discovery comes with a promise that says, "whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” It is therefore only in the tasting of Jesus that we discover what real life is all about.

I have also discovered that bread is something I need every day. One slice or one taste may satisfy for a moment, but for the endurance of the journey I need bread every step of the way. Jesus is constantly calling us to come and see; come and taste--an invitation to discover fully the bread of life.

Jesus has everything we need. Try Him and see.