Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Led By The Spirit Pt.3

Let's turn to James' epistle where we left off this morning. We'll pick up and see what else the Lord has to say to us. We've been talking about guidance and that, primarily, guidance comes from knowing the heart of our Father. As we've talked about faith that comes by hearing the Word of God, and we talked about not just the letter of the Word, but actually the intent or, again, the heart, and the purposes of God. That's where guidance really becomes very effective in our lives. We don't have to hear very specific detail. We know the heartbeat of God. We know the course that He wants us to begin to pursue. Being in the way, then, the Lord will direct us, but it's so important to know the heart of our Father.

I thought it was interesting, even this morning there was a good illustration of that. Someone came to me after service and they said, as I made the comment about the lawnmower, they came up and said, "Do you think that maybe you might just get this person to be offended by making a statement like that?" I just kind of said, "Well, I'm sure that this person will be amiable as we approach them." The men that work with me, these men know my heart. They went and talked to this particular gentleman and he was fine. They knew that what I said was not the opening statement, it was the closing statement. We never approach people that way giving them ultimatums as some type of an opening statement. When God speaks to us, many times, it's the same way. He's telling us what the ultimate consequence is going to be, but at the same time we understand that so much of His Word is spoken to us in patience, and in longsuffering, and all of these different areas. That's why it's so important when you hear the words to know the heart source, to know the character of the individual that's speaking to us. When we know the goodness of God, and His desire to bless us as His children; "It's your Father's good pleasure, the Scripture says, to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). Yet so many of us are so worried that we're going to get left out, that somehow God is going to let us come up short, or we're going to end up with less than the next person or whatever. We become so concerned with the cares of this world that we lose the communion with our Father and the greatest treasure of all, and that's the ability to access Him boldly by the blood of Jesus, and to be able to pray after this manner, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name."

Spiritual guidance, as we pray and we seek the mind of God, always runs in correlation with the Lord's prayer, because guidance is summed up there. God is going to always give you a word that will agree with the basic premise of how He taught us to pray. "Thy kingdom come. [Say it with me] Thy will be done" (Matthew 6:10). See, that's guidance. It's the assurance that God is working in us to will and to do His good pleasure. James, as we left off this morning in James the 4th chapter, verse 7, "Submit yourselves therefore to God." We talked about the need of having a meek spirit if we're going to be able to hear the voice of God. The first thing we have to do is come in with an attitude, as we said, in humility, in meekness, and there has to be a submission to his lordship. We said it numerous times already in the teaching, we're going to say it again, and again probably before we're done, and that's the fact that God is not going to speak to those who are going to consider His will. God expects absolute obedience to the things that He reveals to us, because once you've received the revelation or God has spoken to you, "He "...that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (James 4:17). When God speaks it's with the expectation that there's going to be immediate obedience that follows. The mandate of the apostle to us is that we must submit to God. "And if we will draw neigh to Him," verse eight, then the Scripture says, "He's going to draw near us." He's going to take that gap, and He's going to close that gap regardless of how close or how far you might be. The moment you turn toward God, He closes the gap with you, and He's there to help us in a moment's notice. In the midst of all of our failures, the Scripture (Proverbs 24:16) says, "The good man falls seven times but he rises up," praise God. This is the heart that Father is looking for in each one of us. He says in verse 10, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up."

Now, in the midst of all of this we're talking about the bringing of every thought into subjection to the obedience of Christ. We're talking about coming to Him in a spirit of humility. Go back a couple of chapters. We see at the opening of this epistle, as James is speaking to us, that whenever we're seeking the heart or the mind of God there has to be the singleness of intent to do what God tells us. As he opens this epistle he says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not..." God wants to communicate with us. He wants to speak. He wants to guide your life, but He will not speak to you for you to consider it. We must ask in faith nothing wavering, chapter one, verse six. When we're seeking wisdom, when we're seeking guidance, when we're seeking the direction of God in our lives, we must ask in faith. What does it mean to ask in faith? It means to be ready to obey when God speaks. Isn't that what we learned in the life of Abraham in our study? Abraham, the father of faith, when he was called did what? Obeyed. Faith is obedience. It's going not knowing where you're going. Guidance is stepping out in the assurance of God's character and His eternal promises, and not in any way deviated by the immediate obstacles or circumstances, by the immediate fears or inconveniences, but we go not knowing where we're going.

If we're moving in faith--look what he goes on to say--he says, "If you're moving in faith you must be an individual who has nothing wavering. That word "wavering" means to be bent or to be swayed in any way by the circumstances. "For the man who wavers, or the man who is double-minded," verse eight, "is unstable in all of his ways." "Don't let that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord" (verse 7). We begin to see right here that we're never going to have accurate guidance if we're double-minded in our approach to God. If we're ever giving consideration to Plan B, God is not going to talk to you. Don't let that man think that he shall receive, say it, anything. You're not going to get a word from God when you're double-minded; when you're being tossed to and fro by the cares, doubts, and fears, and you're already on course set by your own lust, and then you come to God and you say, "Lord what do you really want for my life?" "If you can make me a better deal than the devil, I'll do it." Now we wouldn't say that, but that's basically what we're saying by the course that we're on. "Let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord." That principle that we were talking about this morning, we were talking about the men of God, and how God seeks them, and how God will arrest them through dreams, and visions, and audible voices, and then you and I, the common man that God is speaking to, how do we receive our guidance? What we were sharing with you this morning is basically this: we receive our guidance by the general revelation of the Word of God. God is not going to spend great amounts of time in the specific revelations in your life if you're not walking in the general revelation that's expected of each one of us, and our prayers being dominated with this, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

How taken up are you with His kingdom, His will? We get so distracted by all of these other temporal things. We're so double-minded. Our goals are set over here, and these objectives, "I mean after all I've spent all of these years in college, and I've spent all of these tens of thousands of dollars to set up this particular course, and then now I'm supposed to deviate?" Yes, exactly; if that's what God is telling you to do. Have you abandoned all self-will and personal lordship? Not only of your life, but wives, mothers, fathers, houses, lands. What are those areas that still have power in your life, those idols that cause you to not be able to hear accurately the voice of God? The double-minded man, the man who's going to consider the will of God, is unstable in all of his ways. Don't let that man think that he shall receive any wisdom, any word, any direction, from the Lord.

It becomes so clear over in John 16. Turn over there for just a second and let me show you something out of the 16th chapter of John, verse 13, that's absolutely profound as it speaks toward this topic. I want you to see the simplicity of how you and I, the common man, can hear the voice of God, and how we can know whether it is the voice of God speaking to us or not. "Howbeit when he the spirit of truth is come [The spirit of truth, the spirit of the Word. We're going to see thy Word is truth, John 17 tells us] he will guide you into all truth." Now, does that settle this issue or not? When He the Spirit of Truth is come He will guide you (we're talking about spiritual guidance) into how much? Now, is the spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God? Are you born again? Does the Holy Spirit abide within you? Are you a Spirit-filled individual? "Well, I talk in tongues." I didn't ask you that. Are you a Spirit-filled individual? You see, talking in tongues is the initial physical evidence; it's not the proof that you're still filled. It's the proof that you got filled. As we read the book of Acts there was a refilling, a refreshing, a renewing, a continual proving of the churches being ordered by the power of the Holy Spirit. You shall receive power to be witnesses, not just people that hand out tracts and invite people to church, epistles read of men. "And you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you to be witnesses unto me" (Acts 1:8). When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, when He abides in you, He will lead you into all truth. Thy Word is truth. He, the Spirit, will primarily, prominently point you to the Word of God for your direction. Look what it goes on to say. "For he shall not speak of himself." Now here's a powerful statement. Here's what I said, if you catch the depth of what I'm going to say here it can change your life, and how you hear the voice of God. If the Holy Spirit does not speak of himself then why do we speak of ourselves so much? Our perception, how I see this, what I think should be done. "I'm going to pray the will of God over here. I'm going to speak this into being. I'm going to believe God for that." The Holy Spirit has no agenda, then what are we doing with one?

"For he shall not speak of himself." It doesn't say He won't make reference to Himself, it says He will not originate anything new. "For he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." In other words, what He's going to do is this: He's going to say, "If you'll do the Word then here's what's going to happen because it's already set up. I've given this great cloud of witnesses." There's no temptation that's going to take you in life but such as is common to man, and with every temptation He makes the way of escape. All you have to do is go to the Word and say, "Somebody else was there before me, look what God did in that situation," and He's no respecter of persons. The same course is going to be set for you if we would hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. In every questionable time God will speak to you. The Holy Spirit is there to reveal His will.

I received a book today on sayings of Yogi Berra. Somebody gave me one. I was having fun reading it this afternoon. One of his sayings in there was, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Now how many of you are glad God is not giving you that kind of guidance, amen? What does the Bible say? "When you come to a fork in the road, choose the old paths," (Jeremiah 6:16) amen? See, that's what Jeremiah says;, the Holy Ghost is smarter than Yogi. In our life the Spirit of God is there to meet us at every fork in the road, and in every fork of the road you already know which way to go. Which way do you go? You don't go the new path, you take the old path, the proven path of the cloud of witnesses, those that have gone before us, those to whom God has shown Himself faithful. "Be followers of those who through faith and patience are inheriting the promises of God" (Hebrews 6:12). You don't have to invent the wheel over again. You don't need new revelation. It's not going to work out differently for you than it did for all of these guys. As we've said numerous times, one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over, and over, and over, and expecting a different result. That's why we've shared with you in counsel so many times, we can watch young people, and they're getting ready to make decisions, and we can tell you what's going to happen. Why? Because we've seen a hundred people before you do it and every one of them got a dart in the liver. You're not the exception, it won't be different in your case. When you come to a fork in the road, choose the old paths, the revealed will, Word of God. For He, the Holy Spirit, will not speak of Himself. There will be no new course set, even by the Holy Spirit. So if He won't bring any new revelation, what new wisdom are you and I going to bring? Why would you then go to natural man for counsel if even the Holy Spirit won't speak of Himself? That's one of the problems with adolescents so many times, they go to one another for advice. There's a Scripture for that, "If the blind lead the blind, you both fall in the ditch" (Matthew 15:14). Here the Holy Spirit is speaking to us and He's telling us look, "You can't come any way but in faith, a willingness to do exactly what God's Word is revealing. You can't be double-minded. You can't entertain this thing. You can't be swayed by circumstances or what the cost might be." When we come with humble hearts, and we come in a spirit of meekness, and we come in a servant's attitude, we're just unprofitable servants. "Lord, just speak and I'll do whatever you want me to do." We realize, then, by our relationship with Him, that it's His good pleasure to give us His kingdom.

We saw this morning in Isaiah that we have to be very careful because we've talked about the age old perception, "Well if I just yield everything to God then He's going to probably want me to remain single all my life, and send me to Africa." So what's wrong with that if that's God's will for your life? Do you have a better plan than God? "Well, I'd rather marry tall, dark and handsome and go to Palm Beach." Okay. You'd better sign a prenuptial because most of them down there don't make it, and most of them down there are going to find another girlfriend. Most of them down there are better looking than you. I understand now we have a couple of guys here that think nobody in the world is better looking than them. I've heard that from Pastor Jeff. He said there are some young men in our midst that believe that. I said, "I'm going to go talk to them and say, "'Listen. I want to tell you something: you're not even the best looking guy in this conversation, so don't go to Palm Beach whatever you do.'" But we have that mentality that God is going to ask me to do something horrible like His will. Somebody has to go to Africa, amen? Amen, send Ronnie.

We have to come to that place where we don't think we know better than God. There's a spirit of humility to where we say, "Not my will, Lord, Your will be done," and then we become candidates for hearing that voice. But we have to realize His ways are not our ways. His ways are far above our ways. He knows the beginning to the end. He knows what's best for us. He knows how sufficient His grace is, praise God. We're double-minded, we keep second-guessing God. We want Him to understand the plan that we've set forth and anything that's contrary to it we're not amendable to. Really we're praying my kingdom come, my will be done in earth as it is in Heaven. "Give me this day abundance and ease, and keep me away from all troubles, and forgive me even though I don't forgive others, for mine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Bless me Lord." Twenty-first century America Lord's Prayer. God is saying, "If you're going to come to Me then you come with a servant's heart and you come ready to hear."

Psalm 25, verse nine says. "The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way." We've shared before what this word "meekness" means as it talks to Moses, the meekest man upon the face of the earth. Moses was a bad dude. We saw him kill this guy. We know that he was trained in Mr. Moto's karate class in Egypt; all the hand-to-hand combat, the man was a warrior. He was obviously a strong individual to be able to take men on hand-to-hand, and kill them; to survive the desert as he did, a man of physical prowess. Yet the Scripture says that he was the meekest man. That word "meek" is very interesting. What it's talking about is a man who is pliable to the will of God. Meekness is a strong man, a strong man who gives his will and ability over because of recognizing One greater. The meekness aspect does not underestimate who we are or what we can do, but it recognizes those that are greater. Moses, when he encountered God, was undone, and he saw the greatness of I Am. Meekness is the ability to be humble and obedient to God but unrelenting as we take His will out to man. A meek individual is one who will subordinate to the heart of God, to the purpose of God, but will not in any way bow his knee to the world, to the Pharaohs, to the Pharisees, but will submit himself to God, and resist the devil. You see, you're never moving in meekness when you're just submitting to God, there must be a resisting of the devil. If you're going to hear the voice of God, you have to be pulling down everything Satan's saying, all the propaganda that's around you. We can't just sit here static and entertain all of this stuff. We can't hold it out there and just let it begin to distract us. We can't entertain the world's methods, but we have to be wholly seeking God. The meek individual is the single-minded man, the mind that won't even give consideration to another method. The meek, the Scripture says, will he guide. And to those, verse 14 goes on to say in that chapter, "To those that fear him will he reveal his secrets."

You see, the friends of God, the guys that learned what it meant to walk with him, the hall of fame of Hebrews 11, these guys knew the secrets of God. They knew these little secrets that kept them walking in the favor of God, and in that eternal victory. We understand that it's by meekness and the fear of the Lord that we have riches, and honor, and life. How many people are trying to put themselves forward, trying to achieve certain things, and there's a secret in God's kingdom. You can't do it that way; you can only do it by not wanting to possess anything. You can only have everything by wanting nothing. You can only receive the daily necessities by seeking something other than them, the kingdom of God first. The blessings make rich and add no sorrow. The blessings overtake us as we're trying to overtake God. This is that secret place. This is what He reveals to the truly meek individual, the one that's been able to drink the cup of Gethsemane, those of us that have been able to, in humility after knowing the Word of God, still remain in submission, and at peace, at rest when all of the momentary circumstances are going against the Word of God. Case in point, Joseph. He knew the Word of God, you and I know the Word of God. All of a sudden things aren't going according to the Word. "I'm going to be the big shot. What am I doing in a pit?" "Oh, I know." See, because God begins to speak to him. "Oh, I see it, I see it clearly, the brethren hated me, sold me into this pit so that I could end up in Potiphar's house, miraculously be delivered into the prison which will give me access to the throne to save my people. I see it, God. Praise God, and the Lord is guiding me!" Does guidance work that way? You don't receive guidance that way. Joseph did not get led by the spirit by having an understanding of everything that was going to happen. The leading of the spirit means that regardless of where we are the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. "Where I am is where God wants me." Circumstances are adverse but God has promised. Let God be true and every man a liar. Abraham, strong in faith, giving glory to God, staggering not at the promises, being fully persuaded that what God had promised He was able to perform. I believe that. I don't have to pray about how deep the pit is, how smelly the camel is. "I don't understand why I'm in this pit. I don't understand why I'm in this foreign country. I don't understand why everything seems to be going wrong. I'm doing everything right and all I'm receiving is rejection. Why hast thou forsaken me?" It's not about these immediate circumstances in the life of Joseph or "Joseph, who was a type of Jesus." You don't get caught up praying about all the circumstances, the immediate circumstances. We ask Him to keep us faithful to the original revelation, the general revelation, the process of being conformed into His image, of being the light of the world, the salt of the earth, the servant of the brethren, and all of these other things are added to us. The moment our eyes begin toward other than the general revelation, the moment we speak of ourselves--not in reference to ourselves--we speak of ourselves, it originates out of us, this evil heart that we talked about this morning, then we experience what Ezekiel says. Turn over to Ezekiel for just a moment and we'll unhook with this for tonight.

We had a good time of worship, amen? Good time in the presence of the Lord, yet you always step up to the Word of God no matter what happens in worship, but we believe the Lord has done some things here in our midst tonight in this time of worship. I believe that lives have been touched, people have been healed, and I think we're going to hear some testimonies of God working in lives tonight during that visitation of the Lord. But we're seeking God, we're looking for His will in our lives, but it's never going to be the will of God if it isn't originated from the heart of God.

Now the Scripture says out of the heart proceeds certain things, the adulteries, and the fornications, and all of these different things. We know the heart is deceitful, desperately wicked, who can know it. Only the Holy Spirit can lead you to those principles of truth to where you can see yourself. Keep your finger in Ezekiel go back to James real quickly. We are going to go a little shorter tonight. It's already eight thirty. Back in James he says in this first chapter, verses 18-19. "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. [So be swift to hear you begotten by the word of truth. Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,] Be ye doers [verse 22-24] of the word, and not hearers only deceiving your own selves. For if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." The Spirit leads us to the Word of God at all times, will always hold that word there so you don't forget what manner of man you are, what you're potentially capable of doing in the flesh, and what you're capable of doing in the spirit. He's going to hold them before you, both of them at all times. It's not just going to be the negatives that if you walk in the flesh you're going to die. He'll speak that to us, but He also will constantly remind us of who we are in Jesus Christ, and that I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me, amen?

So it says as we look into that mirror the thing that we cannot do is, like so many people do, they turn from it. They get one glimpse and think they have the whole picture, and begin to run out, and make it happen for God. He goes his way and forgets what manner of man he is. "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed (verse 25). We find, then, that the man that's going to be blessed is the man that continues getting revelation of who he is. He never thinks he has it figured out. He never has God figured out. He never has this thing seen from beginning to end like the scenario that we talked about of Joseph, because His ways are not our ways, His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8). We don't have a clue what God's doing. You can't know the will of God in its entirety. You can only know what He's revealing to you at this moment of His will. You don't know the full course. It's not like Mapquest. It's going, not knowing where you're going, but confident that the steps of the good man are ordered by the Lord. Are you a doer of the Word? Are you continuing in the Word and not forgetting what manner of man you are?

Ezekiel 14 says the thing that we have to fear is when we become that double-minded man, that man that's distracted by the flesh, the one we talked about this morning that begins to try to justify, and find Scriptures to vindicate his own predetermined course to find that this is God. "This is God. Look, I can give you four Scriptures that prove that what I'm doing is not contrary to the will of God." We didn't ask you if it was contrary to the will of God. What we're saying right now is that by the fruit being evidenced, and how you got here doesn't line up with the general course of God's revelation. What you might be doing we can find in the Scriptures. Why are you doing it? How do you find yourself here doing this? "This is the will of God that I go preach the Gospel." Ma'am, there's another will of God. Keep the home, submit to your husband. God's Word never contradicts itself. You can't be in the will of God out here preaching if your husband doesn't want you out there preaching, not if you're both believers. "God wants me out here preaching and my husband to keep the house." Where did you find that one? So, you see, we can try to say anything we want. How did you get where you are? What character in you is lacking? What are you not doing of the revealed will of God that needs to be a requisite before you fulfill this that you think you should be doing for the will of God, the things that you like to do for the will of God?

Chapter 14, we'll finish with this. He talks about this evil generation and how they're just after one thing, their own will. The prophets are trying to con the people, and the people are conning the prophets, and the Scripture says they have a personal agenda. This is over in chapter 13, verse 6, and it says, "They have seen vanity, and lying divinations saying, the LORD saith: and the LORD has not sent them. [But look what they've done], and they have made others to hope [in this message] that they would confirm the word." In other words, it's self-fulfilled prophesy. You get enough people believing it, you sell it well enough, you can make this thing happen, and then say it's God. Then that just fortifies your own self deception. It's the popular message, it's what everybody is doing. The prophet Ezekiel says we need to guard ourselves against that spirit. Verse 19 of that same chapter, he says, "Will you pollute Me among the people for a handful of barley?" Just for your own personal gain and ease you're going to pollute My name by doing this thing the way other men do it, by the way the world does it? Okay, if that's what you want, God says, if that's what you insist on. You're insisting on doing this thing your way; okay, son of man. Chapter 14 verse three, "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: [they've deceived themselves, they're lying, they're hearers and not doers] should I be enquired of at all by them?" In other words, what He's saying is, "I'm not going to entertain anything they have to say." This is the condition that I was telling you about that we have to guard ourselves against. "Therefore speak unto them and say unto them thus saith the LORD God, every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart...I the LORD, [the last part of that verse], will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols, that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. Then he goes on, and here's basically what he says. The people are going to come to prophets for guidance, because in that day the people received their guidance from the prophets, and the prophets will answer them exactly what they want to hear. They'll tell them exactly what they want to hear. Verse nine. "And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing I the LORD have deceived that prophet. And they shall bare the punishment of their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh [the information] unto him. I'll see to it that you get exactly what you want. I don't know about you but that's a frightening thought. Now we know that in things that are less important than this when they wanted quail instead of manna, God gave them quail, didn't He, till it came out their nostrils.

Now, we use this just as an example because it's a very important part of our lives, and I understand that. I want to talk again--for instance, a life's mate. Now let me first of all say this: the Scripture says that it's not good for man to be alone. It's an exception for God to call spiritual eunuchs to himself. His general will. God wants to order your steps and to bring you a life's mate, two to become one, one putting a thousand and two putting ten thousand. When one falls, the other one is there to pick them up. All of these principles are God's word to us. It is not good for man to be alone. But just to make the point, because this is something that is so general and yet so much a part of each of our lives that there are those that God is going to separate, and bring as spiritual eunuchs to Himself, solely set aside for the kingdom of God. Because that runs contrary to the general revelation, and it runs contrary to our culture, there's going to be the pressure to hear another voice, and it runs contrary to your nature. So, now it's contrary to the general revelation, it's contrary to culture, and it's contrary to our nature. I'm going to be hearing these three aspects and yet there's this one small voice over here that's speaking, saying, "This is the way walk in it." Now, if I'm not amendable to this voice, and if one of these becomes an idol, it becomes a dominant force in my life to where I won't even entertain this. What am I going to hear? I'm going to hear this voice that's according to my idol. What is an idol? Anything that's placed in front of the will of God. I'm not asking you tonight if God's telling you that you're supposed to remain single; what I'm asking you is this: are you willing to? If you're willing to you'll be able to hear clearly the voice of God. If you're not willing to you're going to hear the voice of your idol, the voice of your flesh, the voice of culture. For you, men, the Scripture makes it very clear. A brawling woman in a wide house, you can't get a house wide enough with a brawling woman in it. You can't get a house big enough to escape. That faucet, you'll hear it leaking on the other side of that big house, drip, drip, drip. But he that findeth a wife in the Lord finds a what? Good thing, and finds favor of the Lord. You see the difference? It can be torment or favor just based upon whether it's an idol or not in your life. Why not let God pick them and be at peace, and know the blessings of the Lord that make rich and add no sorrow. Why not let God choose your vocation? Why not let God choose your habitation? If you're answered according to your idol it will turn to gravel in your mouth, it will come out your nostrils, it will be a dripping torment. Do you know your heart enough tonight to identify the idols? Tear them down or you will not receive anything from the Lord. The double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways.

Father, we thank You for the Word tonight, and we just ask that You would speak to us according to Your wisdom, and according to Your eternal purposes. It's not primarily about jobs, life's mates, neighborhoods; it's about self will verses your will. It's about double-mindedness and single mindedness. It's about speaking of ourselves or hearing the voice of He who does not speak of Himself that brings to remembrance all things that the Master spoke. The Spirit of truth who, when I begin to pray, "Lord should I buy this new house, should I buy this new car, should I marry that individual, should I charge this on my credit card, should I go on this vacation, should I hang out with those unsaved people, speak to me Lord, speak Lord." The Spirit of truth comes on the scene and says pray after this manner, "Our Father which art in heaven holy, separate, unique, distinct be Your name. Thy kingdom come thy will be done." "Lord what do you want me to do?" "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." "Lord, I just don't see any way of escape." "I'll make a way where there is no way." As His ambassador He'll bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you. If He's for you nobody can be against you. We don't play by the world's rules. We don't fortify ourselves in their wisdom and their methods; we humble ourselves, and we take on the yoke of meekness. "Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly. Take my yoke and learn of me and He'll reveal His secrets to you" (Matthew 11:29). Make it real, Father, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. Before we go, just turn to somebody next to you and say, "The meek He'll guide with His eye." Praise God. Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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