Being Led

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Psalm 43:3 Led By God’s Light And Truth

Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to your tabernacle. Psalm 43:3

Traveling on a long trip, people need to have some type of guidance or direction to make it to their desired destination. GPS programs are what most people rely upon give them the needed directions to travel. They trust that the programs will speak the truth and show them the fastest and safest route leading them to their destination. Life is a journey that requires something different than a man-made GPS to finish.

The psalmist asks God to send His light and His truth to lead him to His dwelling place.

The world believes that each person can find their own way through life and that this world is all there is. It comes down to how hard a person works and aims for one’s goals as to whether a person makes the destination or not. While that destination may be good in this life, it does not take into consideration life after death.

Everything that God says and does is for the purpose of moving people through this temporary life on this planet into eternal life in heaven. Instead of seeking the ways of the world to get through this life, believers must turn towards God for direction.

God’s word will go forth and light the path that one must walk to be in His dwelling place, both now and forever, and it will always be in perfect truth. Along with the written word, God has given believers His Holy Spirit to lead the way. God’s light and truth should be the focus of every believer to travel through this life and on into eternity with Him every step of the way.

Just as you most likely allow a GPS program to guide you once in a while, you must also allow God’s light and truth to guide you every moment of every day. Dig into His word and study it to know what God requires of you and how to live. Be led by the Holy Spirit to guide you in your steps. He will reveal His truth to you when you are willing to receive it and apply it to your life. As you walk the path He has for you, you will become His dwelling place, a holy temple.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will see God’s light on the pathway of your life; that you will know God’s truth for your life; that you will be led by God in every area of your life; and that you will dwell in God’s holy place.

Picture by Brecht Denil on Unsplash

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Judges 4:1 Returning To Evil

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, now that Ehud was dead. Judges 4:1

Having a good leader that people will follow will cause them to continue to do the right thing. Good leaders will keep others focused on the right path to walk.

Without a good leader, people will choose to do their own thing or follow just anyone. The sense of doing the right thing is often cast out or ignored. Everything becomes about what is pleasing in the moment, rather than do what is right.

After Ehud had saved the Israelites from captivity and he died, the Israelites quickly rejected God and did evil…again.

The heart of man is wicked and continues to seek wickedness as long as there is nothing pushing to focus upon God and good. Hearts will turn to evil without any motivation to turn to God and His ways of living.

It is very common for many believers to talk about worshipping and serving God when in a church setting, but almost immediately upon leaving the setting, they turn back to sin and evil. When in the private of their own home, there is no one there to lead them or keep them focused upon God. Self-pleasure rises up and the temptation to sin takes control.

Not every believer has someone who can stay with them all the time to help them stay focused upon God, but every believer does have the Holy Spirit to do that work. The Holy Spirit will guide the believer to stay focused on living for God.

However, the believer must not ignore the Holy Spirit’s direction and choose to do evil. Since the heart of man is deceitful, it only takes a moment to slip back into sin. The focus and listening to the Holy Spirit must be continual, non-stop.

The world and Satan are out to get you to ignore God and do what is evil and sinful in the eyes of God. Your heart is wicked and can easily slip back into sin and rejection of God.

Surround yourself with other believers who will lead you towards living for God and hold you accountable. Listen to and obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life to turn away and reject all sin and temptations to sin. Do not allow sin and evil to reign in or control your life.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will keep your eyes focused upon obeying God’s commands; that you will listen to and obey the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life; that God will place people in your life to keep you focused upon Him; and that God will give you strength to reject evil and sinful temptations that will come against you.

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Joshua 3:3 Led By God’s Word And Worship

giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it.” Joshua 3:3

Very few people will blaze a new trail into a completely unknown territory. When traveling to a new place, most people will follow someone else’s path or directions.

Depending upon whose directions one is following, will depend upon how well the travel will go and whether one will actually get to the desired destination or not. There are many who will lead a person incorrectly down the wrong path.

Joshua had the people told that when they see the ark of the covenant and the priests carrying it set out, they are to follow it across the river.

There are many different types of map programs that a person can use to be given directions on how to get from one location to another. Some are very detailed and reliable, while others are less detailed and not as reliable.

Every person is on a journey throughout their life. Each person has to choose how he will be led through this journey. The world tries to say that there are many different ways to get to heaven, however God says that there is only one way.

In His infinite wisdom, God has given believers His word in the Bible to guide them on their journey just as the Israelites had the ark of the covenant to lead them. The Bible gives all the needed details as to how to live for God and complete the journey.

As believers are traveling along that path, they are also to worship God, as the Israelites did with being led by the Levites. Worship gives God praise for what He is doing.

Being led by God’s word and worship will open doors for God to open the pathway through the river of life.

In your journey through this life, you will be following a path of some sort that someone has blazed. Do not allow yourself to be caught up in following the path of the world but follow the path God has for you.

Search through His word how you are to live your life. Then as you are traveling give God praise and worship Him for what He has done and is doing. Allow His word and worship to lead you through the river.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will allow God’s word to guide your every action and move; that you will worship God with every step and breath you take; and that you will see the path God has for you to take.

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2 Corinthians 2:14 Are You Allowing God To Use You?

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 2 Corinthians 2:14

The majority of people around the world do not really like to be led by someone else. People like to consider themselves free and be able to go where they want to, as they want to. Some of those actually like to be the leaders of others.

On top of this, no one likes to be led around as a captive. Being a captive means one is a prisoner and has no rights.

Paul gives thanks to God that he, and others with him, are being led around like a captive by God and being used to spread knowledge of Jesus everywhere.

At the moment a person chooses to follow Jesus, he gives up his personal rights before God. All authority and power is handed over to God to do as He pleases. He is now captive to God.

As God is given that position of authority over one’s life, He begins to lead that person around as needed. The believers life is changed to where it no longer looks or smells like that of the world, but something different. It has the look and smell of Jesus.

Just a perfume permeates a room that a lady walks into, so does the smell of Jesus permeate anywhere a believer walks into.

The purpose of this aroma is to spread the gospel message of Jesus to everyone in this dying world. It is to let people know that there is a hope and a life that they can have as a gift from God that will last for eternity.

A believer, who understands this great gift, will be thankful to God that he is being led and used by God to touch lives.

If you have chosen to believe in Jesus, allow God to lead you around to spread the message of Jesus. Everywhere you go people should be able to notice the smell that you are a follower of Jesus. There should never be any doubt in their minds.

Now as God is leading you, give thanks to Him that He is using you. Do not see it as a chore or a drudgery, but as a great honor. As He uses you, lives are being changed and saved.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will be led by God; that you will be used by God to spread the gospel message; that those around you will know that you believe in Jesus; and that God will draw many to Jesus through you.

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Ezekiel 34:31 Belonging To God

Sheep and shepherd

You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord. Ezekiel 34:31 

Very few people like to be owned and controlled by someone else. They like their freedom. People like to be able to do what they want, when they want and how they want.

While everyone loves absolute freedom, everyone is also partially under control of someone else. Most people have a job and are controlled in what they can and cannot do while at work by their employer. Every nation has rules that govern what things can and cannot be done. So no one is truly one hundred percent free all the time.

God tells the people of Israel that they are His sheep and that He is their God. This is despite the fact that they have fallen away from Him. He will draw them back.

Every person is free in themselves, but at the same time, every person has to answer to God. The one who has chosen to follow Christ has chosen to give up his own personal rights and obey God completely. He is now a sheep of God’s pasture.

The sheep does not get to choose what he does or where he goes. The shepherd guides the sheep into what is best for the sheep. Left on its own, the sheep will get itself hurt and in trouble.

In the same way, the believer, left on his own will fail and be destroyed. Following God’s commands and word will bring life. The believer must allow God to be his shepherd, His Lord and God, the one who controls everything.

As one allows God complete control of his life, he will have everything that is needed at the time it is needed. Just as a shepherd provides all that is needed, God will also provide all that is needed.

You have a choice as you walk on this earth as to who will be your leader and guide. You can try to lead yourself, in your limited knowledge and wisdom and sight. Or you can allow someone else to lead you.

In allowing others to lead, you also have a choice. You can allow those with the same limited knowledge and wisdom to lead you, those in this world. Or you can allow God to lead you.

Allow God, in His infinite wisdom and love, to be your God and to lead you to a full life that will extend into eternity. Let God be your God.

I pray today that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will allow God to lead your whole life; that you will trust God with all of your life; and that God, alone, will be your God.