Following God: How to be led by His Spirit?

I’m a pastor. Because I’m a pastor, sometimes people ask me questions. There are some questions I love to answer, because I’ve studied that thing, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned. However, sometimes people ask me what they should do. My answer is usually some version of, “What is God saying about that?” Hearing God is one of the most important skills we can learn.

While some people are arguing about whether God speaks today, others of us hear God, do what He says, and change the world. Which side do you want to be on? I don’t have time to argue, but if you’re willing to learn, I always have time to teach.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my four decades of living on this spinning ball, it’s that no one’s journey is the same. God is amazingly purposeful and creative, and He has created every person who has ever lived uniquely. We each have distinct purposes, callings, gifts, talents, abilities, desires, and skills. What will move me toward my calling isn’t necessarily the same thing that will move you toward yours. Consequently, there’s no cookie cutter answer to the questions we have. We have to learn to be led by the Spirit of God, since God is the only one in existence who knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). I don’t know how situations will work out, but I know He will work them out for my good and His glory (Romans 8:28). Even if I don’t know the purpose for which He put me on this earth, I know The One who knows (Psalm 139:13-18, Jeremiah 1:5). The more I learn to keep in step with Him, the closer I move to His heart and His purpose for my life. He promises His Spirit to us, and His Spirit will lead and guide us towards truth (John 16:13).

Following God: Being led by His Spirit into His Purposes, Plans, Protection, and Provision!

Following God: Learning to trust Him or me. It can't be both.

I used to struggle with Proverbs 3:5-6. In essence, it tells us to trust in God with all of our heart, understanding, and mind, and to not lean on our own understanding. It instructs us to acknowledge Him in everything we do, and He will make our way straight. Even though I have an emotional side, but I’m mostly a logical, intellectual, reasoning, systems person. I like to know things, get good at them, and design systems that will work for me. I struggled with this scripture because I thought it was telling me to not develop my intellect. “Lord, why did you give me a brain that works and intelligence if You don’t want me to use it? That doesn’t make sense to me!”

As I talked to Him about it, shared my struggles, and looked at the scripture over and over, something emerged. It says to trust in God, which I’m learning to do. Trust in Him with all of your heart, which is the seat of our knowledge, thinking, memories, emotions, and even our passions. He asks me to trust Him with my thinking process, my memory stores, and my intellect, but don’t lean on my own understanding. I can develop and form my own understanding, but He’s asking me not to rely on it, trust in it, or rest upon it. Instead, in all things, check with Him and allow Him to make the path straight. He wants me to walk habitually with Him, asking Him constantly. How can we do this until we have developed the skill of hearing what God has to say?

I believe He actually loves that we develop understanding, but He cautions us against relying on only ourselves to know everything there is to know. There’s always a spiritual aspect to every situation that our human intellect can’t discern. We need the Spirit of the Living God, whom has been deposited in us, connecting our spirit to His, leading us and making our paths straight. We need ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to respond and obey.

Who's leading? Logic and reason or His Spirit Following God

God has been talking to me about this, because I have a bad habit of letting my intellectual side lead. There have been several instances where I had a check in my spirit about something, but because I couldn’t identify it in my intellect, I overrode my spirit warning and went ahead. Later, I learned that I should have listened to what was trying to warn my spirit. Scripture clearly tells us to be “led by the Spirit” instead of being led by the flesh, which is our physical bodies and includes our soul (mind, will, emotions).

In 2022, I went on my first missions trip, and we went to Rwanda and Uganda. While I was packing for the trip, I felt the Spirit prompt me to put in a pair of good quality fabric scissors. I had never been on a mission trip before; I didn’t have a packing list yet, and I couldn’t fathom a situation in which I would need those specific scissors. But, I was obedient, and threw them in. While I was there, one of our partners in Uganda shared she was hoping to start a sewing center. The church has many single mothers in their congregation, and they wanted to give them a skill they could use to get jobs, start businesses, and be able to take care of their families. They had two sewing machines, a little bit of fabric and thread, but they didn’t have any scissors. I was able to share with them that God asked me to pack some scissors and I didn’t know what they were for until that moment. They started crying, and so did we. How wonderful is our God that He had someone from the other side of the world pack scissors to meet the exact need they had in that moment? Their faith was built that God was with them, and mine was also. I am learning not to rely solely on my intellect, logic, and reasoning ability. It was an excellent lesson in being led by His Spirit, not by my understanding. I don’t have to understand. I just need to obey.

Following God: Learning to let Holy Spirit REALLY lead us into battle

Let’s look at a few parts of Romans Chapter 8 for a few minutes. This scripture is in the middle of a dissertation Paul wrote to the Roman church. Paul encourages this church to live according to the Spirit instead of living according to the flesh, which is their minds, will, emotions, and physical bodies. Our physical body constantly bombards our brain with needs. It sends signals of hunger, tiredness, and desires. Paul tells them not to be led by their bodies or their minds, wills, or emotions. He warns them those who walk obeying the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh. But, those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5). Paul calls them up in verse 9. He tells them they are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit! Now, having built a foundation, he jumps into verse 13, which contains a great caution. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:13-14 ESV).

It’s a bold statement, packed with truth. Your body, which fights against the desires of the spirit, will fight for what it desires. Without realizing it, our bodies move us toward death. My body desires sugar, which kills. My body constantly desires pizza, which isn’t good for longevity. If I listened and obeyed every desire signal my body sent my brain, I’d be headed toward death. When our emotions get hurt by someone else, our bodies feel the physical pain, and send signals to go hurt them in return. It’s actually the Spirit of God which guides us away from obeying the signals of our bodies. One of the fruit of the Spirit of God in us is self-control. When we are led by the Spirit, self-control will grow and get stronger.

Galatians 5 tells a beautiful and terrible story of the battle that happens within us between our flesh and the Spirit of God. I like the picture the Passion Translation paints. When we understand the battle we’re in, we understand who our enemy is. Not only that, we will also understand who our General is: the Holy Spirit of the Living God who is constantly leading us towards life, holiness, and godliness. Galatians 5 starts out with this:

“At last we have freedom, for Christ has set us free. We must always cherish this truth and firmly refuse to go back to the bondage of our past” (Galatians 5:1 TPT).

In verse 13, Paul writes, “Beloved ones, God has called us to live a life of freedom. But don’t view this wonderful freedom as an excuse to set up a base of operations in the natural realm” (Galatians 5:13, TPT).

Remember, our physical bodies are a part of the natural realm, so just because we are free doesn’t mean we can just do whatever we want in our flesh. Paul exhorts the Roman church to stay connected and led by God’s Spirit:

“Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. When your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit, you hinder him from living free within you. And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your self-life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self-life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-17, TPT).

The author of the passage describes the “works” of the flesh, or the “behavior” of the flesh. I like to go back to the phrase in verse 17, that the Holy Spirit has cravings that will keep the self-life from dominating you. Here’s the list:

“The behavior of the self life is obvious:

Sexual immorality [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

lustful thoughts [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

pornography [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

chasing after things instead of God [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

manipulating others [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

hatred of those who get in your way [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

senseless arguments [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

resentment when others are favored [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

temper tantrums [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

angry quarrels [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

only thinking of yourself [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

being in love with your own opinions [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

being envious of the blessings of others [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

murder [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

uncontrolled addictions [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

wild parties [but Holy Spirit will keep them from dominating you],

and all other similar behavior. Haven’t I already warned you that those who use their “freedom” for these things will not inherit the kingdom realm of God!” (Galatians 5:19-21, TPT, [authors notes])

While some of us don’t struggle with some things, we all struggle with something. It may not be murder, but many of us feel resentment when others are favored. Maybe I don’t cheat on my spouse, but I may have a problem with being in love with my own opinions. I may not be addicted to meth, but I’m addicted to sugar. This message is for all of us. No matter what battle we face, the Holy Spirit will keep it from dominating us, as we “yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit.”

Yielding to His Spirit, learning to die to self. (Following God)

This battle is so familiar to us, we can go for a long time without realizing it. In my experience, the more we lean into the life God calls us into, we experience it more often and with more intensity. The key is understanding there are two realms, and the heavenly realm is actually the one which should rule the natural realm. When my body signals to my brain, I’m hungry, my first thought should be, God, what are we doing today? Sometimes, God is calling me to fast. I’m learning to curb those impulses and ask. He’s calling me to be led by the Spirit, not the cravings of the body.

Following the cravings of the body will eventually lead me to death, while following the cravings of the Spirit will lead me deeper into God’s plans, purposes, provision, and protection! In the next post, I’ll dive deeper into developing our spiritual senses. We are designed to sense the spirit realm. If you want to dive deeper into asking God questions along your journey, take a look at Belief Rehab: You Are Enough. I want you to discern what God says to you, so you don’t have to go to a pastor, prophet, or spiritual leader to hear God for you. He can speak directly to you, and you are designed to hear Him. Don’t get me wrong,  I love being a part of a vibrant faith community, and we can interpret what God says within those faith communities. We need the Holy Spirit, our communities, and scripture. We are designed for community! Nothing can replace your own personal relationship with the God who created you and knows exactly what He wants to do with you and your life. Jamie Winship wrote a book called Living Fearless if you want to dive into living a life of truth and identity. See you in the next post!