Welcome to Coming Home with Julian Awad, where we discuss salvation through Jesus Christ, a production of Coming Home Ministries.
Last week, we talked about walking with God. Enoch walked in close fellowship with God. Even Abraham and Noah did. In fact, when Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said that He is God Almighty, and to “Walk truly before Me with integrity, knowing that you’re always in My presence,” and be blameless and complete in obedience to Him.
A Prayer
So is there a difference between walking with God, and being led by God? Today, we’re going to explore a little bit about what it means to be led by God and what are the dangers.
But first, let’s pray.
Lord help us today to discover Your intense love that You have for us, and hear directly from You. You are the Mastercrafter and a glorious Father. I ask that You hide me behind the cross today, Lord, and let everyone here, hear You and You alone.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Being Led By God
So let’s get a good definition of being led. And you go to the dictionary: There’s a lot of different definitions, but some of the good ones are talking about being able to lead someone or to direct the operations and the activities, or to have charge of someone.But it also means to go or be the head of something and be the first or to be among the first of something in that you’re leading and by demonstration or by going first, it also tends to mean to move towards something or to have a result. To guide someone or to guide something along the way. And one of my favorites was to guide a dance partner through the steps of a dance.
So let’s start in scripture, Romans eight, 14 through 15, you know, we want to start off with this great truth that God leads us as a father leads his children. And it says, “For all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons and daughters, by whom we cry Abba father.”
It’s such a great word, that word, Abba. That Hebrew word that draws us back into knowing that He’s the first, He’s the last, but He’s our Father. And you can see here that not only is He our Father, but He has adopted us and given us the Holy Spirit that we might be led by the spirit of God, instead of the slavery of the law and into fear.
You know, in Galatians chapter five, verse 16, it says, “But I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh for the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh for these are opposed to each other.” To keep you from doing things that you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you’re not under the law. So there’s this freedom that God is giving us. And, that freedom comes through being led by the Spirit because the Spirit will help us to overcome, help us to overcome the things of the flesh, the things that we shouldn’t be doing because we’re being led by the Spirit.
You can see that God is taking us and leading us as children. And He’s giving us the power, His power, to help us make these decisions and to choose what’s right and what’s wrong. And to, and to each day, as we’re, we are faced with some of the tough challenges that we’re going to go through to make the right decisions. You know, and in verse 25, it says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Then the Greek, some of the other translations come out as, or since we live by the Spirit, let the Spirit direct our course. You can see the picture coming together now because we are called to freedom in Christ, and it all starts with being led by the Spirit, not just following the rules, not just following the laws that Jesus fulfilled, but specifically in relationship, following His example and in communication, it’s pointing us back to Jesus. It’s pointing us back to our relationship with God every single day in every issue. You know, even Isaiah said in chapter 48, that, “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord, your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way that you should go.”
Seeking The Lord For Leadership
So when and how often should we seek the Lord to be led by Him? And it’s clear and everything, and at all times we should be in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit. So when you have questions or concerns, or even during the blessed times and in Thanksgiving, for the answered prayers or for the good things that are happening in your life, the ups and in the downs. In second Corinthians, Paul is writing on chapter two, verse 14 and 15. He reminds us that, “Out of the darkness, uncertainty and trouble, Jesus leads us.
Now, he says here, but thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession. And through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” What a beautiful picture. He continues, “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” It’s a triumphal procession. It’s a march of victory that spreads this fragrance, the smell of Christ amongst everywhere. We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those that are perishing. This is an opportunity for you to be confident and assured that in Christ, you are led by God, into triumph, as overcomers and victors.
That is our relationship. That is our relationship with God. That our relationship would be this sweet smelling fragrance that draws the loss and refreshes our brothers and sisters in Christ. So I encourage you to be led by God and get your smell on, let there be the fragrance of us as He leads you and I through these dance steps of life.
Examples Of God Leading People
So let’s look at an example of how a regular person is led by God in Genesis chapter 24. And when I say regular, like someone just like me, right? Abraham’s servant, he is sent to go find a wife for Isaac. When he finds her, he says, “Then I bowed my head and I worship the Lord and bless the Lord, the God of my master, Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsmen for his son.”
You see, he wanted to worship God and thank God. And he was acknowledging that God had led him by the right way. He had led him to the correct place, to the right person, through all the situations that he was in. But what did the servant pray to the Lord earlier on before this happened? And this is interesting because in verse 12, he says, and he said, oh Lord, this is his prayer. “Oh Lord God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.” There’s some interesting things there because in every task we can ask God for guidance and success, and we can pray for the favor of others. That your eyes will be on God’s direction and on the people that He puts in your path to serve, and you can be the fragrance of Christ to them.
You see, we can ask God for just about anything. And especially when we’re asking for others, when we need to be led, when we need direction, that’s the time to go to God. God may lead us through trials to humble us and even test our hearts. You know, He’s always got this goal of leading us to focus on Him and His word.
In Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse two, it says, “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord, your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness, that He might humble you testing to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and let your hunger and fed you with manna. Which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make, you know, that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” So how can we hear what God is saying? You can see here that He was leading His people out and testing them, humbling them, challenging them with things that were unknown to them, that they might trust in Him and Him alone. And they might look to the word of God for survival. And some of you may be in that position. And it’s interesting. And when we’re in that position, that we do need to lean on God.
How Can We Hear God’s Leadership?
So how can we hear what God is saying? We have to read and listen, and even ask God for help. You can even ask God for help on how to learn or how to hear His voice.
Listen to David, as he begged God in Psalms 27, “You have said seek My face. My heart says to You Your face Lord, do I seek hide? Not Your face from me. Turn, not Your servant away in anger. Oh, You who have been my help cast me not off forsake me not, oh God of my salvation for my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in, teach me Your way. Oh Lord. And lead me on a level path because of my enemies.” And there’s no place that God can’t help you. In Psalms 139, he says, “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there, Your hand shall lead me and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night. Even the darkness is not dark to You. The night is bright as the day for darkness is as light with You.” It’s wonderful to hear that the Lord in no place, no darkness, no deep sea, no, no point of despair. God can’t lead you and continue to walk you out. No darkness is anything but light for God.
And even at the end of Jesus’s time, he was leading his disciples. After the resurrection, he led them along and Luke 24, he said, and it says in verse 50, “He led them out as far as Bethany. And lifting up His hands, He blessed them. And while He blessed them, He parted from them and was carried to heaven and they worshiped Him to return to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God.” You know, Jesus left, but as He promised, Abba father did not leave us as orphans. He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us and to lead us. John 14, verse 26, he says, “But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
And later on, in John chapter 16, verse 13, He says, “But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own. He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.” So the Lord, even though He left us, made sure that His Spirit was going to be with us to guide us, to train us, to teach us, to remind us of what Jesus had said.
Dangers In Being Led
Now there is a danger in being led, as we mentioned in the beginning and being led by the wrong things or people can derail you or cause destruction and ruin in your life.
We must be vigilant, daily even, to check to see we are being led by. What do you allow into your mind daily? What leads your thoughts in your heart? Which leads your actions, and then of course your actions prove your character and who you and I belong to. In Titus 1, 16, it says “They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works and they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.” So I challenge you to take a moment and think about what leads your thoughts. What TV and videos? What items on social media? What books do you read? What conversations do you engage in? What words do you allow out of your mouth? Take a moment.
Think about what leads you.
And now let’s look at some scripture. We could talk about this for, ah, for hours, but if we look into Mark. Jesus began to say to them in verse and chapter 13, he says, “See that no one leads you astray.” And in first, John, John says, “Little children, let no one deceive you. No one deceive you.” Matthew chapter 24, verse 24, Jesus says, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”
First John chapter four, verse one, he says, “Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Jeremiah even called out to Israel and it says “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick, who can understand it.”
Matthew chapter 15, “For out of the heart. Jesus says evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. All coming out of the heart.” Solomon, Proverbs chapter 28, “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.” And finally, Proverbs chapter three, verse five, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make straight your path, be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.”
Continue To Be Led By God
So in summary here, don’t be led by your flesh, your mind, your heart, others that don’t point to Jesus, false prophets that deny Jesus in any way, spirits, you know, evil spirits or spirits or mediums or sorcerers, any of these kinds of people. And especially not false messiahs or savings or even belief systems, um, that somehow support the works based righteousness, or believe that salvation in somehow you can be good enough for God without Jesus or without repentance. These are all things that you shouldn’t be led by.
But remember what Isaiah said in chapter 58, that the Lord will guide you always, He will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. Think each morning. Be concerned daily about what you’re allowing to lead you.
Now, some of you might be thinking, you know, how do I actually do this? You know, what are the steps about being led by God? So first get in the word and get in there, that word of God daily, or more.
Psalms 119 105, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Study, analyze, seek, reflect, memorize the word, get it in every day. Get it to the point where you can recall it any moment where things during the day are triggering verses in your mind. You’ll begin to hear the Lord speaking to you through His word.
And ask God for discernment, ask Him to speak to you, and for answers. James chapter one, five, a famous one, “If you lack, if any of you, lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” So don’t forget to ask God for discernment, for wisdom, for answers, to ask God, to help you to hear His voice.
To ask God to lead you in everything that you’re doing. Decisions for good things, for bad things, and ups and downs, concerns. Even just the way that you speak. Follow God’s word and let your actions exemplify and smell of Jesus and His works. I love that verse about the aroma of God. So as you get into that word, ask God for help, help Him give you wisdom. Show Him, ask Him to lead you and make the right decisions and then follow God’s word and follow what you hear the spirit of God telling you. And don’t be led by the ways of this world. Don’t let them creep in. Don’t let them cause confusion or distract you. The ways of the world or your flesh, false prophets, false messiahs, that point somewhere other than Jesus.
And finally, don’t give up. Struggle. Work at hearing an answer. Be persistent, and have faith. God will answer. There’s so many examples in the Bible where God rewarded people who were persistent and continued to seek, to seek him and to seek an answer from him. I love this parable of this widow in Luke chapter 18, verse two. And it’s where Jesus told this parable. He said in a certain city, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him saying, give me justice against my adversary. For a while, the judge refused. It says for a while, he refused. But afterward, he said to himself though, I neither fear God, no respect man, yet, because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.
And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.” This is neat, what Jesus says here. He says, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says and will not God give justice to His elect who cried to Him day and night. Will He delay long over them? I tell you, He will give justice to them. Speedily. Nevertheless, when the son of man comes, will He find faith on earth?”
So be persistent. And have faith, trust the Lord that He will lead you. And He will give you an answer. God’s on your side. If you don’t hear yet from God, and you’re looking to be led on an issue or on, on something, or rather that you need an answer, continue and be persistent, He will answer you. Continue to pray, seek the word, fast, spend time alone with the Lord to just listen. Stop what you’re doing. Get in a place of silence and just spend a few minutes calling out to God and listening. Just remember again, God is on your side and if you’ve made Him Lord and savior, you will be cleansed of all unrighteousness by the blood and sacrifice of Jesus.
Starting Your Walk With God
The Holy Spirit will dwell inside of you and will lead you as long as you let Him. So would you like God to lead you today? Well, the first question to ask is, are you sure you’ll go to heaven when you die? Are you a hundred percent confident that you are saved? You could have that confidence today. Right now.
You could start walking with God today.
You know, it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one in Romans chapter three. It also says for all, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That’s Romans chapter three again. You don’t have to start doing something good in order to find Christ, that is done after you find Christ, the Holy Spirit will empower you to live the Christian life.
You don’t have to straighten out your life first. You don’t have to make yourself well before going to a doctor. Jesus is the great physician. He stated it’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick and that He’s come to call, not the righteous, but the sinners. They’re the ones that need Him the most. Just come as you are. The blind man came just as he was. Mary Magdalen with the seven demons came just as she was. You know, the drug and alcohol addicts come just as they are. The gang members, the drug dealers. I saw one just the other night, throw it all down, and get on his knees, crying out to God. He came just as he was – in need.
Romans chapter five says that God demonstrates His love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He wants you just as you are. We just have to admit that we are sinners and that we’re in need of a savior. All of us. That God is calling all men and women to repentance. That means not only they ask for forgiveness, but to turn and go the other way from our sins. Because the wages of sin is death, Romans chapter six, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. That’s a free gift that comes from God, eternal life, and it comes through Jesus. So call on Jesus to save you and trust in Him for salvation in Him alone. If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart, that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. That’s Romans chapter 10. This is for everyone and anyone who’s listening. If anyone wants to know the Lord tonight, it says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That’s you, if this is something God is stirring in your heart, tonight is the night. Today is the day of salvation. Remember you enter the kingdom of God by faith and you’re justified by God. By faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus.
And Ephesians two says by grace, we are saved through faith. Therefore, since we have been justified through our faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Once you call out to the Lord, you can walk forever with Him without condemnation. God promises us that if there is no condemnation for those of us that are in Christ Jesus.
So if you want to follow the Lord, if you want to be led by God, if you want to have that life with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you, but you don’t know what to pray, just repeat after me. God, I know that I’m a sinner and that the wages of sin is death. I believe that You sent Your son Jesus Christ as a payment for my punishment. I declare that Jesus is my Lord and profess my faith for salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Thank You for Your grace, forgiveness, peace, and gift of eternal life. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, your next step is to dig into the word of God. Get a physical Bible and download the Bible app on your phone. Read it every day without excuse. Look for a Bible focused church to get connected with other believers that will help you grow in the Lord.
In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
Fill my heart with your love. help me share it with my brother.
Help me show them you’re the one, and beside you, there’s no other.
This has been a production of Coming Home Ministries. For more information, or to reach us, go to ComingHomeMinistries.net.