Letting the Holy Spirit Lead You

By Alexandra Copeland 

None of us like making mistakes. They can be costly and really cause us to lose out as it relates to the goals that we’ve set for ourselves. Since sinful actions and consequences are detrimental to our relationships with God, and bad judgement and mistakes can set us back so severely, a person might wonder why God allows us to make such errors. It would be so much easier if we were born programmed to make all the right choices and decisions. There’s only one problem with this scenario, if it happened, we would be more like robots than children. Romans 8:16 tells us, “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” The will of the Father was that we be children and joint heirs with His Son, Jesus Christ. This is indeed good news!

Romans 8:29 (NLT) gives us more knowledge about God’s Will for us. It says, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Heavenly Father created us in His likeness, and He had plans for us long before we were born. He knew us in advance. He predestined us to become like Jesus Christ, our Big Brother. In Ephesians 2:10, God calls us His masterpiece, and says that He created us to do all the good things that He planned for us a long time ago.

  

The greatest desire for any parent is that their children will be successful, and that they will use what their parents have provided to continue going higher. Heavenly Father wants this for each of us even more so. Ephesians 1:3 tells us that He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our Lord and Savior reigns over the spirit realm. His ministry, sacrifice, resurrection and ascension made the gift of Holy Spirit available to us. 1Corinthians 6:19 (NLT) tells us, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself.” The Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father and a person of the Godhead. He is more real than you and I, and we are his temple, because he lives inside of us. 

Romans 8:14 (NLT) tells us, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” This is one of the defining characteristics of God’s kids, we are led by His Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit is unlimited and John 16:13 tells us that he leads us into all truth. He will not tell us a lie, but will always tell us what he has heard from Jesus Christ. Let’s explore three extremely important areas of our walks in Christ where we need to be led and guided by the indwelling Holy Spirit; they are purpose, ministry of reconciliation, and worship.  

PURPOSE
In Hebrews 12:1(NLT), the Apostle Paul tells us, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Each of us has a race and no two are alike, because no two people are alike. We each have a call upon our lives that is unique. I can’t do what you do, in the exact way that you do it, and you can’t do what I do, the way that I choose to do it. God has given us gifts, talents, and abilities to use for the uplifting of His Kingdom. Some people will say, “Well, I don’t have any talents. I can’t do anything special.” 

Nothing could be further from the truth. We have each received something unique and special from the Father, and the problem could be that we may not be viewing it in the way that He views it. We’re looking at what others are doing, and judging ourselves by the popularity of their gifts or how they stand out. God wants you to become very interested in what He’s doing in you, so that you become thankful for your gift, and learn to work in it to a greater degree than what we’re doing right now.  

God has given you a purpose, a race to run, and Hebrews 12:1 affirms that He’s laid it before you. 

He’s not keeping it a secret. If we feel as though we’re not anchored in the purpose to which God has called us, it may be because we’re not allowing ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit. Again, we may view it as something small, but God doesn’t see it that way. Our purpose can be connected to our jobs or our faith communities, and the tools that we need to work with are already in our everyday environment. Everything that we need in order to accomplish the things that God has purposed us to do has been strategically planted in our lives. The Holy Spirit will open our eyes and lead us to these tools and opportunities if we will pray and trust in his leadership and guidance.  

MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
2Corinthians 5:18 tells us that we have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, and that He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. God has called every Christian to this work, and it is a privilege and honor to carry it forth. The ministry of reconciliation is the cocoon of your purpose. In other words, your purpose is under the umbrella of your responsibility and duty to witness the Good News of Jesus Christ, so that others can be reconnected to God. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you can be assured that you can make a difference for the Kingdom, but you must be led.  

Our eyes should to be open to the reality that God has not left any of this to chance; the ministry we have been given, nor the purpose to which we have been called to carry His ministry forth. The Holy Spirit doesn’t miss a beat, and He will work through you to demonstrate God’s love. Philippians 2:13 tells us, "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." People mean the most to Heavenly Father, and through the indwelling Holy Spirit, He will work through us and assist our faithful efforts to be a blessing and bring them to an acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.  

WORSHIP
Jesus Christ told us in John 4:23-24(NKJV), “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Indeed, that hour has come, for the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit has been made available to every born-again believer. We cannot worship God any ol’ way that we please. It is not accomplished by hugging trees and taking long walks in the forest, unless the Spirit tells us that is what is required. Worship is an experience of God’s glory and truth. It is the highest level of adoration and affection to Him, and it must be done in the Spirit.  

The indwelling Holy Spirit leads us into true worship of Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ said in John 7:38 (NLT), “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” Verse 39 tells us that Jesus Christ was referring to the indwelling Holy Spirit when he used the term ‘living water’. When we worship God, we should desire with all our hearts to give back to Him the best that we can give. He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to make us His children. We have Him living on the inside of us through the Spirit. He, the gift of Holy Spirit, makes it possible for living water to not only flood our hearts, but to flow out of them to God as we worship and glorify Him. This is the kind of worship the Spirit will lead us into.  

We serve a God who has called us to be consistent in our service to His people and obedient to Him through His Word. On our own, we can’t get it done. The earthly domain is rocky terrain, and we have an enemy that seeks to steal, kill, and destroy us; he wants to undermine our commitment to God through Jesus Christ, and keep us from deepening our relationship with Heavenly Father. We desperately need the guidance and leadership of the indwelling Holy Spirit; we need his power. If we will trust him, he will help us to walk in purpose, be a blessing to others, and worship our loving and powerful Heavenly Father in Spirit and truth. This is what God has called us to do, and He has equipped us for the task through the indwelling Holy Spirit.■ 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.