A Servant’s Pledge

We are continuing to examine the top ten indicators that signify if we are growing in the Lord. So far we have examined our change of appetites and gaining a disgust for shameful activities. Now we are going to examine two positive indicators we should possess.

3. A Genuine Love For Other believers! Jesus emphatically told His disciples on several occasions, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Jesus didn’t say if they went to church, read their Bible, witnessed effectively, or grew in numbers, then people would know they were His disciples. No, Jesus said that the world at-large would know real believers by their love for one another.

The principle here is simple: the closer we are to Christ, the more we will love His people. Conversely, the further we stray from Christ, the less concern we have for other believers and the more critical we will become of them. In short, if we love Christ, we will love His people. If we love the world, we will despise His people. This is one of Jesus’ main markers to indicate whether we are truly growing in the Lord. How are you doing in this area?

4. Possessing Unusual Peace and Quietness! With the recent upheavals in the economy, political arena, and in the natural world, it is a wonder that anyone could walk in tranquility. The growing believer can! There are numerous “peace” verse in the Bible. This is for a good reason. We need them!

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” (I Corinthians 14:32-34)
“And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your minds and hearts in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-8)

If you are growing in the Lord, His peace is your rudder. His peace is supposed to be guiding, guarding, and steadying your walk in this world. It is our lack of understanding and possessing the Lord’s peace in our hearts that keeps us from receiving real revelation from the Lord about futuristic events. As Jack once said, “You can’t handle the truth.” The reason we can’t handle the truth is because the Lord’s peace is not fully installed in our life. This is why there was such a glaring distinction between Jesus and His disciples when they faced storms, demons, death, and other problems. Jesus possessed peace, they didn’t. Grow in the peace of God today! The Lord will lead you to places you never thought you could go.

Guide You In All Truth

22 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by eisakouo in Our Spiritual Process

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directional information, GPS, guide, Holy Spirit, John 16:13, spiritual GPS, spiritual journey, trust, truth, wisdom

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. John 16:13

Have you ever traveled anywhere using GPS? Insert your own joke here. In reality, we as a society have had to grow accustomed to having a computer voice telling us our next turn. Now that we have gotten used to the idea of using them, we have gotten better at using them. We know when they will be reliable and when it might be better simply following the signs. The point is that a GPS is only as good as the maps inside.

The Holy Spirit works on our behalf like a GPS in this fashion. He speaks to us and gives us directional information from heaven’s perspective. If we fail to follow His directions, it is not His fault. He cannot make our turns or coerce us to choose correctly. His job is to speak what He hears from heaven. Our job is to listen. Just like it doesn’t make good sense to yell back to the GPS, it doesn’t do any good to be in disagreement with the Holy Spirit. He is our Guide, not our consultant. When we choose to treat Him as a consultant, He simply stops speaking.

Jesus was trying to convince His disciples of the benefits and advantages of trusting the Holy Spirit. Jesus trusted the Spirit’s guidance and so should you. If we can learn to trust and use a man-made GPS, we can learn to trust and use God’s spiritual GPS, the Holy Spirit. His maps and guidance of our spiritual journey are not incomplete, but perfect. The Holy Spirit’s mandate is to guide us in all truth. Are you taking advantage of His wisdom and trusting Him with your future?