INYOU WINDOW, September, 2006: “How God Leads Me.”
“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn. 10:27).
God leads me by His Spirit. The believer does hear the voice of Jesus; the believer is known by Jesus; the believer follows Jesus. That’s how God leads me! God takes the initiative in this love relationship. He calls me by name and I follow. If I have trouble hearing God, I have trouble at the heart of my Christian experience!
“Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me?
He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father in Me does the works.
Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name I will do it.” (John 14:9-14)
In his excellent discipleship course, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says: “God speaks by the Holy Spirit, through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself (to increase my faith), His purposes (so I will do His work) and His ways (so I can accomplish His purposes).” When God speaks, that IS the experience with God. When He speaks, NOW is the time to respond in faith and obedience, adjusting our lives to His purposes and plans. Who can argue with that?!
Jesus said “I am the Way the Truth and the Life…” He doesn’t point the way or show the way; He IS the Way. If you ever climb the Andes Mountains, you will need a guide or a way to the top. There is no map, because the terrain is constantly changing, so the way is a person who leads you step by step. To get there, you must follow him. This is the kind of dynamic relationship God has called us to. He calls us into an unknown mystery that we might “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).
To be honest, I have struggled with the newsletter because there are so many ways God leads me: impressions, my wife’s words, needs, conviction, Scripture reading, a gnawing sense of discontent that drives me to Him, etc. Ultimately, it’s by His Spirit! But just how or by what means God’s Spirit leads me is very dynamic! When I look for God’s leadership in my life, I’ve learned to ask myself two questions: 1) What is the desire of my heart? (Ps. 37:4). I believe God leads me through desires He places within me. 2) God’s sovereignty and man’s free will meet at a point called choice. Choice requires faith, so in faith I say, “Lord, I desire Your will and not my will. I choose ______.” I hold it up to the Light and walk.
Ironically, I have been living these past few INYOU WINDOWS. I have been facing a “crisis of belief” and wrestling with my fears. “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Rom. 8:15). I see from this verse that I am not wresting God, but myself. God has made Himself clear, but I am afraid to follow. You would think by now that I would have learned that my way doesn’t work and that God’s way is life. His vision with INYOU MINISTRIES has been clear for about eight years now and to a greater or lesser degree we have followed that vision. Our family has certainly seen God’s massive hand at work in our lives, as we have trusted Him to this point in our journey. His provision has been sufficient and miraculous. BUT…
There is always more in this eternal life Jesus has called us into, and to experience the more we must lose more of ourselves. John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn. 3:30). I have become that seed which grows and then gets choked by the worries of this world. I’ve been unsettled and at times miserable painting my days away. I have tried to justify my situation as the unjust jail-sufferings of Joseph, but it’s probably more like the pouting, unbelieving misery of Moses in the wilderness. If I have an obedience problem, I have a love problem. (Ouch!)
Synergism seems to be a very real “energy” and from time-to-time, because of the invitation or inspiration of others, I have reconnected to the vision… but is has been sporadic. My sin has been waiting on the results before I act, and doing what I can “afford.” Again, Blackaby says, “When God lets me know what He wants to do through me, it will be God-sized—something only God can do!” and “How I live my life is a testimony of what I believe about God.” (Ouch! Ouch!) If I am to practice what I preach, then I must to go where He leads!
NOTE: Next month I will write about the decision to adjust my life to His plan. Pray for us as we follow the Way! Hannah Sobeski is home and continuing chemotherapy. Please pray for her continued healing.
