Follow God

Prayer

LORD, we thank you for allowing us to enter into your story. We invite you to speak to us today. Give us open eyes to see you; open ears to hear you; open hearts to receive your truth. In the name of Jesus. Amen!

Welcome

Thank you for joining us today. My name is Keith and my wife, Maegan, and I are honored to serve as the pastors here and on behalf of our entire team, we are so glad that you are here. If there is anything we can do to serve you and your family, please let us know.

Introduction

We are in week 2 of our Holy Spirit series and if you weren’t here last week, please be sure to go to our podcast and catch up. Each of these messages to connect to the other and so far we’ve addressed that the Holy Spirit is a gift so we don’t need to be afraid of Him and how the indwelling of the Spirit gives us POWER, BOLDNESS, and FRUITFULNESS but we have to get out of the way in order for Him to flow in our lives. Today I want to continue our teaching on the topic of being led by the Holy Spirit Let’s look at a few very key passages around today’s theme.

Reference Scriptures

Psalm 23:1–5 ESV

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Psalm 23:1–6 ESV

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Romans 8:14 ESV

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

John 14:16–17 NLT

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

John 14:16

Psalms 37:23

Psalm 37:23 ESV

23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;

Galatians 5:18 ESV

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

MAIN TEXT

Allow me to introduce you to Saul he was incredibly smart. He was a Pharisee, which is the very legalistic group the was essentially responsible for the death of Christ. This Saul, was so passionate about shutting down any element of the “Way” that he took personal ownership over ensuring Christians were arrested and many subsequently killed for their belief in Jesus. He had a great deal of murderous ambition especially after witnessing the first martyr, Stephen, get brutally murdered. This inspired Saul and it is with this framework we enter today’s passage.

Acts 9:1–19 NLT

1 Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. 3 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” 5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! 8 Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. 9 He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink. 10 Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied. 11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.” 13 “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! 14 And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.” 15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength. Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days.

Who is Paul?

You have likely heard a pastor mention Paul. You may be asking why do we care so much about what this man has to say? That is an understandable question. The Saul that we just finished reading about, is Paul and after his encounter with Christ, he went on to write 2/3 of the New Testament. His words have shaped our faith and it’s his theology that frames the church. It’s amazing that God would use someone who stood so diametrically opposed to the Kingdom to possibly have the biggest influence in it, next to Jesus. That said, I believe we often miss a key character in this story; Ananias. It was his obedience and response to the Spirit of God that set all of this into motion.

Many of us have likely heard statements like this: “God told me…I was led to…ultimately, that is the language of being Led by the Spirit. The question is, what does that mean? How do we know when it is God? Does God still speak and lead in the same way? Today I want to talk about being Spirit Led. I have entitled my message, Follow God.

Prayer

LORD, we thank you for allowing us to enter into your story. We invite you to speak to us today. Give us open eyes to see you; open ears to hear you; open hearts to receive your truth. In the name of Jesus. Amen!

Illustration

Following God requires us to minimize the other voices. As I work to continue to familiarize myself with the city, I have come to embrace the no matter how comfortable I may get, that I will still likely depend on maps of some sort to get around. I am a man of convenience and I realize that each map has its strengths and weaknesses. The navigation in my car is great because it is clear, but it is outdated. The Apple maps one is great because it is integrated with my watch but sometimes it can take you a route that is not the fastest. Google is cool but it has been known to glitch with me and Waze is wonderful but it is so meticulous that it may have me drive through someone’s back yard to shave off 2 minutes. I can recall one time when using all 4 options to determine which was the best option. I liked the Apple one and started my journey. About half way into my trip, the map told me to get in the right lane and prepare to get off at the exit. A minute later, the app told me to keep straight for the next 7 miles. Again, it told me to get off at the next exit 3 miles away. I was incredibly confused. As I kept driving I realized that I was getting conflicting messages because I was listening to too many voices. 1 saying go left, the other said straight and yet another telling me to make a U turn.

Transition

How many of us are having a hard time getting to our destination because we are listening to too many voices. The voice of our feelings, parents, Google, Podcasts, books, friends…none of this is bad when we use healthy boundaries (, , ) but we have to be mindful that we utilize resources and community to reinforce what God is telling you, otherwise you can have a collision of ideas and inspiration and have a traffic jam in your soul. One voice is telling you to move, another says stay, one says turnaround; this robs you of peace and puts you on a journey of unhealthy affirmation.

As we look at this passage, I believe we get a beautiful glimpse of extremes of being led. One being led by the flesh and the other being led by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16 ESV

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Background/Context

Saul and Ananias brilliantly illustrate the distinction between being led by the flesh versus being led by the Spirit. I do want to take a moment to highlight the fact that Saul honestly thought he was doing the right thing. It’s so funny how our passion and zeal creates justification for some pretty weird stuff, especially if we can substantiate it in scripture. I have seen followers of God attack others with toxic venom that repels a person looking for God because His ambassadors are at war. Sometimes we can confuse personal passion with a divine call.

Truth is, nobody asked Saul to hunt down Christians but his passion convinced him it was on a divine assignment. Side note, if God has called you to do something, He will confirm it with ELDERS! We are either being led by the Spirit or driven by our flesh.

Don’t let personal passion make you believe it’s a divine call.

Points

When looking at Ananias I am inspired and challenged but I see a glimpse of what it means to be led by the Spirit. God speaks to him and Ananias responds with “here I am, Lord”. There isn’t 4 more powerful words you can say to God when He calls your name; “here I am” to indicate, Lord…I am present in your presence. I believe there are 3 things we can extract from this narrative that will help us have some texture around what it means to be Spirit-led.

Go where God tells you to go.

Ananias is at home during his quiet time with God and he is met with a vision that included some very specific instructions. He is told to go to Straight Street to the home of Judas. That is so specific. Have you ever felt that God was leading you to go somewhere specific? My family knows that I am methodical when I go to grocery stores. What’s the plan? Which isle do we need to hit. Let’s get on the same page. The key is to spend a little time as possible. However, this one time I couldn’t shake why I was in one of the longest lines at checkout. No matter how much I wanted to go to the next line, there was this gentle nudge telling me, stay where you are. So I did. Turns out the lady in front of me rung up her order and was exactly 12 dollars short. She was so embarrassed as she was trying to figure out what to put back. I stuck my hands in my pocket and pulled out what I thought was an old receipt, turns out it was exactly $12. I didn’t even know that I had it. There was an overwhelming sense of, “this is why I told you to stay in this line”. I simply paid the remainder and told her, God bless you. She was moved to tears. She recently lost her job and got a new one but was waiting on her next payday. She budgeted her money but ended up running short. She literally prayed and asked God, “please let me have enough” and He told her, He had it covered. This small moment reaffirmed her faith in God and I was able to pray with her in the parking lot. Maybe you’re wondering why you are where you are. Could it be that God has given you an assignment?

Do what God tells you to do.

Ananias is told that Saul is in the house waiting for him and he needed to lay hands on him, pray for him, so that Saul could be healed and receive the Holy Spirit and be baptized. This is so alarming for Ananias. Saul has a bad reputation. The instruction actually doesn’t make sense. Have you ever felt like you were being led to do something that just doesn’t make sense? Sometimes you are led to forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it. There are other times that you have this feeling or pressing that you need to reach out to someone. Maegan has a routine where she literally goes through the contacts in her phone and asks God who should I reach out to today? It’s not anything serious but when someone on her mind or heart, she typically reaches out. There was a young lady that our family is close to and talks to frequently. She was prompted to text her. Nothing deep, not a scripture but just a quick text saying hey, you are on my mind and prayers today. Just know, my family and I truly care about you. She didn’t expect to get a response where the young lady revealed that she just had a miscarriage and she felt so alone but Maegan’s text was a subtle reminder that she is not.

There are times that God will tell you do call someone, just do it. You may never know how it will affect them.

Say what God tells you to say.

Ananias now has to speak words of encouragement over a man that very well could be responsible for the death of his friends and fellow believers. I particularly love that he refers to him a Brother Saul. The man who once was an enemy, is now his brother. Being Spirit-led is calling things that be not, as though they are. It means saying words that don’t always match with your reality or feelings. It means encouraging someone who had a tough day at work. It means letting someone know that God loves you. Maegan and I were in a grocery store a few years back and a sweet elderly lady walks up to us and said God loves you and has big plans for you, stay faithful and trust him; then walked away. We had been walking with God for about 15 years at that point so quite honestly, I thought she was being nice and maybe she does that with everyone but didn’t think I “needed” to hear that. 2 days later, had a very challenging day at work, which is ministry. I began to ponder if we should leave and plant a church. Isn’t it interesting that God speaks the loudest when we don’t get our way?…I digress. I was praying about it and all I kept thinking about was this lady saying, God sees you, He loves you, stay faithful. I never saw that lady again but her words were an answer to prayer before there was even a problem. You may never know the power of your encouragement but it matters. Being Spirit-led with your words quite simply means, responding to those moments when there is a nudge in your mind, heart, gut that says, tell that person that God loves them.

Closing

How do I know it is God?

John 10:27 ESV

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

We have all been at that place of wondering, God, is that you? Should I stay or go? I have an opportunity, is it you? Should I marry her? Should I marry him? Truth is, we can make it a little too complicated. We often think being led by the Spirit is only for large matters, but it is our obedience in the small things prepares us to move forward in the big things with less resistance. Sometimes the little nudges, the gut feelings can lead to significant life change. After a radial moment with God, similar to Paul, there was a profound moment when I looked at my then girlfriend and was overwhelmed with this pressing, this gut feeling, almost like an audible voice say, this woman will be your wife; steward this relationship. I’m not here to say that God is in the business of whispering spouses in ears. I am just saying He did with me. From that moment forward, I knew I had a responsibility to do all that I could to position myself and our marriage to be successful. In other words, being led by the Spirit means being obedient to what He shows you and tells you to do.

For you, you may be at a point of decision making and it may not be clear as to what you should do. Let me give you 4 questions that I have asked for the past 20 years when it comes to being in the will of God.

Is it Biblical?

John 10:27 ESV

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

John 10

God will NOT lead you to do something that is contrary to His Word. I know there is a lot of room for explanation here. Some of us are dealing with conundrums. Because you want to be Biblical but it’s not always that easy. For instance, you are in a marriage where there is abuse or broken covenant but you also know that divorce is not the will of God. While I can’t give you a specific answer because you have to truly seek God in those matters, however, in these moments we have to look at the consistent nature of God to draw wisdom from who He is. The nature of God shows us that He has NEVER been in support of abuse, oppression. The very mission statement of Christ is connected to the idea of people not being captive or oppressed. If you are in a situation where that is your reality, there is grace for you to move forward. David was very loyal to Saul through the insecurity and fear but when Saul threw a spear, David was out. God never intended for us to remain in areas where we are being abused. That said, I have seen and heard of miracles when those elements were present.

Is it helpful?

Will this be a lift? Will it make a difference? God leads us to decisions or environments so that we can have an impact and in most cases it’s not exclusively about us. We are entering into the most amazing time of the year. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I also know that as I am planning our family meal, there are those who can’t afford to eat a meal for themselves. As I am planning to buy gifts for my family, my precious granddaughters, there are those who struggle to survive so there is no margin for that. This is also the time when many of us measure that awareness and ask the question, how can I help? Here at Celebration we have partnered with organizations that will allow you provide food and gifs for those in our community that can’t afford it on their own. Additionally, some among us, may not be as stretched but this is a tough season for us. We are here for you too. We have our church wall in the lobby, which has our needs wall. If you have a need, write it down. If you can meet a need, write it down. The goal is for us to serve one another and be family. Dan will be out in the lobby to answer any questions and help you whether you have a need or want to meet a need. As a church we are committed to being helpful to those who are in our city and those who are in our church.

What will it cost you?

Jesus tells us it is important for us to recognize what obedience will cost us, because obedience will ALWAYS cost you something. He says we are to count the cost. We are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. Perhaps it will cost us our comfort or preference. Other times it may cost us a literal dollar amount. A few years back, my daughter felt led to go to Zimbabwe. This a very expensive trip. However, she truly believed God told her to go. She posted on social media and the support was very slow initially. However, there was another lady that was praying about where she could donate some of the proceeds of an unexpected check. She went on social media and saw a picture of my family and noticed that my daughter was going to Zimbabwe. God told her, the extra money was for her.

Is it helpful?

Do you have peace? Do you not have peace?

This isn’t meant to be an emotional excuse to make a bad decision. People will often say they have peace in an effort to insinuate that it must be God. While I am not here to argue semantics but I will say that EVERYTHING needs to line up before you allow peace to be the definitive answer. The presence of peace doesn’t ALWAYS mean it is the presence of God, but the presence of God will always lead us to peace. Peace is not the absence of doubt and questions, peace is having wholeness, even in a broken situation.

We were about to buy our house in DC. Everything lined up, but we didn’t have peace. An door isn’t always God. Your gift makes room for you but every room isn’t meant for your gift.

Altar/Response

Ananias means God is gracious. This isn’t irony that God would led a man named grace to a man that needed to experience grace.

Maybe you think you are here by accident. Let me assure you, there are no coincidences in the kingdom. You are here because God led you here and you have a part to play.