Happy weekend guys......
Trust we are doing great, God bless you
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14) Our opening text helps us see that because we are children of God, we are led by the Spirit of God. The leading of the Spirit is not only for a select few, it's for all believers. You are indwelt by the Spirit of God, so being led is what you should expect.
God won't lead us apart from the word. So if you claim to have a leading from God that contradicts the word, it wasn't from God. For example, as a believer, you can't say God is leading you to marry an unbeliever when it's clearly stated in the word to marry only in the Lord.
Proverbs 20:27 says: “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts.” God guides and leads us through our spirits. God always guides, leads, enlightens us through our spirits. So the believer should never say we are confused. No! We are led by the Spirit of God. Leading is always ours.
Be led to Speak
John MacArther once described Peter as the disciple with the foot-shaped mouth. Man, can I identify with that problem. Peter was known to be impetuous and impulsive. It would take quite a few hard lessons for God to shape him into a man who learn to listen before he speaks. I guess there is still hope for me! This lesson, so hard yet important, challenges us even today. Especially in our society which has instant access to information – true or not. We have the ability to respond at the click of a button, but perhaps we shouldn’t. Perhaps we should take a lesson from Peter’s regret over words he spoke without thinking.
In contrast to Peter’s spontaneous outbursts, James approached things more contemplatively. James understood the power of the words we speak. In the third chapter of his letter in the New Testament, he spends twelve verses warning us about the danger of an untamed tongue. But it is one short verse in James 1 that challenges and encourages me today. Verses 19 says: “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
The Greek philosopher and mathematician, Xenocrates, once stated, “I have sometimes had occasion to regret that I have spoken, never that I was silent.” Adam Clark commented: “A person who is careful to consider what he says, is not likely to be soon angry.” The words we speak matter. They way we speak them matter perhaps even more. We must listen with grace. We must not assume to understand until we have heard. Above all, we must control our tongues. Resist the temptation to gossip or respond harshly. Let us never regret the words we speak or see them destroy the one spoken to. When we are slow to speak and quick to listen we might just learn instead of react.