Transformation; Being Led by the Spirit

The times we are living in are full of uncertainty and many are faced with difficult and complex choices, thrust into tough circumstances where they know a decision must be made, but aren’t certain which decision is the right one. Perhaps you can relate, I know I certainly can, with the numerous decisions we are faced with every day, decisions about our relationships, our jobs and careers, our finances, health, food, and so much more.

You may not know the right decision to make, the right thing to do, or how to accomplish the change that you want to make, and it seems like everyone around you is in the same boat, looking for direction while being overwhelmed by the personal, spiritual, and relational changes that need to be made in their lives.

God does not want you to walk around blindly, stumbling through life, not knowing, or understanding where to go or what to do, He wants you to walk on the path that He has set for you. Whether you’re a new Christian or have been growing in your walk with God for many years, understand that God did not place you here on earth without thought. You are not an “accident.” He has a purpose for you, a plan for you, and seeking his plan and purpose will lead you onto the path he has for you.

Seeking God’s purpose for your life will require a change. You want to make a transformative, lasting change, and that can only occur with the leading and guidance of God through the Holy Spirit. When you allow yourself to be led by the Holy Spirit, His transformative power will begin to produce dramatic changes in you and in every area of your life. God wants to lead, direct, guide, and steer you away from old patterns, habits, and ways of living that conflict with His word and will for your life.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” – John 16:13

We can see in the scripture above that the Spirit will guide us in all truth, that is the right knowledge and wisdom for every situation and concerning all things, but He does not do so by his own authority, but by what He hears from our heavenly Father. This shows us that He will not lead us in a way that is contrary to the will and word of God. We have been made children of God through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and as His children, we should not behave in a manner contrary to God and His Word, but instead, be led by the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit.

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” – Romans 8:14

There should never be a time that you pull off your Christianity and turn your back on your relationship with God to live like the world around you when it becomes inconvenient or unpopular. When you are a true son or daughter of God you are led by the Spirit and will not live like everyone around you but be true to yourself and the self you must be true to is the self that Christ has transformed you into.

A change has taken place in you, but don’t assume that being a Christian will eliminate all the troubles that come into your life. You will face adversity, trouble, and challenges, and people may even turn their back on you, but don’t quit on God when you experience adversity and failure because Jesus has overcome the world and He will lead you out of it and through it by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit will always lead you to God’s will for your life and He will lead you away from failure and onto the path God has for you, onto a path of success, peace, and joy. On the path God has for you, He provides everything you need to grow, succeed, and be prosperous, you are guaranteed God’s protection and provision. God wants to provide for you, but the Holy Spirit won’t force you to listen to Him when He tries to lead you, you must choose. He will not infringe upon your will, so you have control over whether to listen or not.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” – Revelations 2:29

You want to be in tune (have an ear to hear) with the Holy Spirit and condition yourself to hear from God and not do what you think, want, or feel. This is Jesus speaking here and when he says “let him hear” He is showing that not everyone will choose to hear and pay attention to what the Spirit is trying to say to them when He speaks. When He speaks to you, it will not be in an audible voice like you or me when we speak to others, but the Holy Spirit will lead or guide us with His presence, His prompting, and His peace.

When you get into His presence, you open yourself up to Him, and He will be able to show you the way to go or show you what to do. You will experience His joy and peace as you draw closer to Him. There is nothing that can compare to getting into God’s presence. I have learned to seek His presence whenever I begin to feel stressed or overwhelmed by the challenges in my life, and it all fades into the background. My focus is on how big God is and not on how big my problems appear to be.

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” – Psalms 16:11

The word show means to direct and when you get in His presence, you can hear from Him, and He will direct you. It is very important to seek God’s face, to seek His presence, as often as you can because the more you seek Him and the more you get to know Him the more sensitive you will be to His leading, to His prompting.

Worship, prayer, and His word are critical to getting into His presence and are essential in growing in your relationship with God, and your growth as a believer. Prayer is communication with God, and He wants a personal relationship with each one of us. Just as He walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, He also desires to fellowship and communicate with you and me every day and not just because we need something. Every day you should be praying for God’s will, provision, protection, and guidance in your life.

Every day you should make time to give honor to God and worship Him. Our worship attracts God’s attention and provides an atmosphere for us to encounter His presence for He inhabits our praises (Psalm 22:3). As we focus our time and attention on the Lord in worship and prayer, we can expect God to intervene in our circumstances, to lead and direct us. The more we get into God’s presence and seek Him, the more sensitive and open we will be to His prompting. His prompting is a strong urge in your spirit to do or not do something, to trust or distrust, or to know when something is not quite right. When you learn to follow the prompting of the Holy spirit it can save your life or allow God to use you to help someone around you.

He will tell you when to speak, when not to, and give you what to say if you let Him. He is not in a hurry and His prompting will save you a lot of pain, loss, and heartache. It will not always be for huge decisions, for He cares about all aspects of your life, big or small, and will guide you in things we might consider insignificant or unimportant. I recently experienced this in my own life and it was entirely unexpected.

I had a task I needed to complete at work and it was looking like it would be a long and rather tedious process taking at least half the day, in my eyes not a life-changing thing, but shortly after I began the Holy Spirit prompted me to do it differently. Following His prompting, I was able to write a program that took what I expected to take at least 4 hours down to 30 minutes and I could let it run as I worked on other things! I took a few moments to give Him praise and thank Him.

Finally, when you come to God about a situation, the Holy Spirit may give you peace about it to let you know it is the right decision. Allow the peace of God to rule in your hearts and be the controlling factor in your life. Don’t override his peace and guidance.

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” – Colossians 3:15

When Holy Spirit tells you not to do something, don’t try to find a way around it. Strive to be obedient and do as you are instructed. Don’t make the decision to do what you want to do and then ask God to bless it. Be willing to lose something to wait on God and His leading and you will never be steered wrong. Trust the Holy Spirit to lead you along the path that God has for you.

I pray that this article helped to encourage you and help you to better understand being led by the Holy Spirit.

The information expressed above are excerpts from the sermon “Transformation; Being Led By the Spirit” preached by Dr. Lee A. Simpson. You can listen to the complete sermon on our YouTube channel.