Directed by the Spirit

On days, we hear a strong word from the Lord, but we are not sure it is from Him, and we don’t know what to do with it. It may sound extreme. It may sound irreverent. Maybe slightly psychotic.

Some things we feel that we can discern to be not from Him without any help from the Spirit, like someone saying, “We must all move into one big community and have everything in common,” or, “God told me that we need to start a business together in Viet Nam.” Other things might not be so easy. How about, “You should spend a few hours a week praying”? Or, “If you’re not leading people to Christ, you are sinning against them”? Or, “If you don’t give the church at least 10% of all your income, you will soon be broke”?

Somewhere between walking away from hard words like the rich young ruler, saddened that we don’t have the will to step into the deep things of the Lord, and the thoughtlessly following of a Jim Jones in South America, is the narrow road of obedience to the King. He may call you to great sacrifices. He is just as likely to call you to great blessing. Abraham was rich beyond belief. Jeremiah was abused beyond belief.

How do you tell the difference? There isn’t a rule book. There is a Book that describes our Ruler, though. Read all of it. If the answers don’t “jump off the pages at you,” then ask the Spirit. He wants you to succeed. Jesus died a miserable death to make you able – even likely – to succeed. Expect to get it right. If you get it wrong, expect to do better next time. Expect to be awesome. Your Dad is inviting you to be awesome!