Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Divine Guidance

Divine Guidance

Spiritual Guidance
In this lesson we will learn the importance of Spiritual guidance, Being misled, the leading of God, How to be led, Proving what is Gods will, Finally How God leads you.

In this world there is a lot of trouble (chaos) do to our lust and pride. This is what motivates men and women in the direction that the world is headed today. These men and women don’t know God and are not led by the Holy Spirit. With all the knowledge we gain in life, if not being directed by the Holy Spirit we wind up with a big mess. (Daniel 12:4). God has given knowledge to mankind to bring glory to God not for mankind to become prideful and never seeking God and his word. People are Hating and using one another in order to get to the top just to find out that without God all their efforts are done in vain. There is some who know God and are still not directed by the Holy Spirit. This is due to the lack of knowledge. ( Hosea 4:6 )My People are destroyed for the lack of knowledge. Those of us who are directed by the Holy Spirit find peace and prosperity in the world, where others are suffering in all areas of life. God is blessing his people by us seeking Him first through His word. (Matthew 6:33) We are to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not unto our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge Him and He will direct our path. ( Proverbs 3:4,5). In the last days the bible tells us that these are signs that men and women will be lovers of themselves, and that the love of many will grow cold. Found in (Matthew 24:10,12). That is why it is very important to be led by the Spirit of God in these last days.
A believer must learn to become so depended on Christ that we wouldn’t want to do anything without checking in first with Him. Jesus is our guide, He knows everything you need to know or ever worth knowing in this life. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

How to avoid being misled


Don’t be led by your Feelings
We as believers in Christ are not to be led by our feelings, every thought or notion that comes up. That in turn will make us flakey, and fruity like a (granola bar). We may think that being led this way is wise, but in the end it can turn against you and hurt you. (Proverbs 14:12).These type of people are led by their own ways, lust, desires, and not seeking Gods word or help. This is due to a lack of knowledge. Here are 7 pit falls that can hinder in being led by the Holy Spirit. Human Emotions, this person acts on their emotions, feelings and is ruled by them. Human Ego. (1 Samuel 15:23). The desire of natural things (Mark 4:17-20) Desires and pleasures are a blessing from God when kept in balance .If not they can cause many problems in your life. We are to seek God first. Lust of the Flesh This is the biggest distraction the devil uses against us. (James 1:14,15). The works of the Flesh are in (Galatians 5:19-21); The Fruit of the Spirit is found in (Galatians 5:22-25). Human Logic. It is ok to be smart, but use common since, because the natural human mind can’t accept the supernatural (1Corinthains 2:14). Outside voices Listening to outside voices can be very dangerous for anybody to get into. They could be Familiar spirits, departed dead, or just thought patters in your mind. God works through people but so does the devil, so follow the Shepherds` voice . Guilt in the Human mind People who are religious like to make people feel guilty and unworthy but the bible says that we are righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21) greater is He that is in me (1John 4:4) there is now no condemnation (Romans 8:1) when we hear that junk we are not to accept it. We are to renew our minds (Romans 12:2.) We `re bought with the blood of Jesus. (Hebrews 9:14). The leading of God In the Old Testament God led his people by a cloud by day and a fire by night. God did many signs and wonders to lead his people and to instill trust and faith in them. In the New Testament we are led by God speaking to us directly, by his spoken and written word.
We see that signs and wonders follow the believer instead of us following them. (Mark 16:16-21) The bible is Gods spoken word .It leads, guides, directs, corrects, and teaches us. It is up to us to want to listen and do what it says. The Holy Spirit will guide you, not dictate you. In some of our decisions there are many options, but there are times that there isn’t a choice; it will be a direct command from God. Remember the Holy Spirit is a gentleman not a bully.
How to be led
You see it is all about Gods will .You must learn to hear Gods voice. This is done by studying and renewing your mind to the word of God. (Romans 12:2) We have the mind of Christ so let it be in you. (Philippians 2:5) Being born again isn’t enough to be led by the Spirit of God. You must study, pray, Praise, Worship, attend church. Most of all love God and love others. Matthew 22:27
Proving it with Gods word.

Try the spirit to see if it is of God.(1 John 4:1-6).If there is confusion it is not God , it is the devil. (1 Corinthians 14:33), (2 Corinthians 4:4) We are to put on the armor of God . (Ephesians 6:10-19). Find out if you have any peace about it. Peace is like an umpire giving you direction. If there is a bad feeling like a churning in your gut then back away and wait on God. (Colossians 3:15).
How God will lead you

God will lead you mostly through His word. (John 1:14) God will lead you in the operation of the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) which is as the Spirit wills and is in direct union with the inner witness. The Holy Spirit will also bring to your remembrance the word of God that you placed in your heart at just the time you need it. This comes from studying and spending time praying in the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 5:14).

Vision and dreams.

The Open vision is like a daydream. It shows you a clear picture of Gods plan and it usually happens after you were in a deep attitude of praise and worship before God .It is referred as to being drunk in the Spirit. Peter had such a vision about the salvation of the gentiles. (Acts 10:10-45.)
We have dreams at night where God can lead you as well. This type of dream often happens when you spend a lot of time in the word before you went to bed. Out of body experience is another way God leads you. It is where you don’t know if you were in the body or not. The Apostle Peter and John had this type of experience found in (2 Corinthians 12:2,3)- (Revelation 1:1-10). These type of dreams and visions are used to give us Gods highly important message and it is followed with inner peace.
I wrote all this to say that we are not to seek dreams and visions to get a spiritual experience, but to seek God.

Signs and wonders

Signs and wonders follow the believer. (Mark 16:16-20) These signs show that we are in Gods will and that we believe in the Name of Jesus.
To maintain you Spiritual walk with God and be led by Him you must keep Studying, praying, praise & worship, Most of all you must have Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Then you are on your way to a wonderful Christian walk with God.

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Faithfulness of women in the Bible

Here are some women in the Bible that I found to be faithful who during trials and tribulations kept the promises, found favor with God, a King, and a rich ruler.

The first woman: Name Esther, in chapters 2;3 Esther finds that she was in the right place at the right time of her life where God was able to carry out His plan for His people, if it wasn’t for Esther’s Faith and courage and putting her own life in danger the Jews would be destroyed. Esther kept the wise plan of her cousin, Mordecai, and found favor of the King to save her people.

God has a bigger plan for our lives than we have for ourselves. God may put you into positions of leadership or influence so that we can be able to complete His plan and purpose. God uses ordinary people like you and me to accomplish the extraordinary things for him. Even though God corrects us don’t ever think for one moment that he will ever abandon us for he loves us and will never leave us stranded. Amen.

The Second woman: Name Ruth In this story we find the Genuine love and giving of self in order to benefit others this kind of love and kindness will be rewarded. The book of sets out where there was a famine that struck the land and man name Elimelech and his wife Naomi moved to Moab where they had 2 Sons the Husband died and the 2 sons married and also died. The wives of the 2 sons were Orpah, and Ruth. The women split up and Ruth and Naomi stayed together. Naomi begged Ruth to leave to find another Husband, but Ruth refused. Naomi became very depressed and changed her name which means pleasant, to Mara which means bitter the reason for this was that Naomi was blaming God for all her troubles. Ruth stood strong and and finds a rich ruler by the name Boaz who happen to be Naomi’s cousin .God blessed Ruth for her love, Sacrifice and proven devotion. Gave her a husband a Son and a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. Isn’t that a great God or what? God Abundantly blesses those who seek to live obedient lives and wanting to please God in all that we do Amen.

The Third woman: Name Hannah, in this book Hannah was a woman who was despised by her rival who would provoke her in order to irritate her, because her womb was barren
Hannah Prayed the God would give her a Son and that she promised that she would give him back to the Lord to serve God all the days of his life and not a hair of the Sons head would ever be cut. God hears her prayer and gave Hannah a Son whose name is Samuel. Hannah was faithful to her promise and Samuel became the first Prophet Hannah Prayed a prayer of Joy for what God had done found in 1 Samuel Chapter 2:1-11.
God keeps his promises and he expects us to do the same God does hear our prayer everyone of them and answers them.

The Forth Woman: Name Mary. Mary was the Mother of Jesus. Found in Matthew 1:5, 6, And 16 in Luke 1: 26 Mary finds Favor with God and believed the word spoken by the Angel of God and gives Birth to our Lord and Savior Jesus. VS 31-35, 37, 38 Mary sings a song of Joy and Praise that Glorifies God.

The Fifth Woman: is My Wife Diane she is what I call a true Virtuous woman. You find her in Proverbs 31:10-31 and Proverbs 18: 22 which state to find a wife is to find a good thing and finds Favor from the Lord. You may not find my wife in the Bible, but I believe that the Book of Acts isn’t finished being written yet. My wife fits this proverb to the best of her ability and by the Help of God she is always praying over her family and always there to lend a helping hand to all that she comes in contact with. She makes me look good when I don’t always look good. We all rise up and call her blessed. I thank god for my wife for if it wasn’t for God and her I wouldn’t be here today. Thank you Jesus

From the desk of
Pastor Erik Hossann