Titus 2 Christian HomeKeeper ™

The Holy Spirit is truly a great gift to the believer. His presence with us is a privilege yet Christians often neglect this Gift and fail to appropriate His wisdom and blessings. When we do live out our lives under His influence, we are said to be Led by the Spirit. As true children of God we have already heard and obeyed the leading of the Holy Spirit. It was His Voice that called to us when we were saved. The Holy Spirit led you and I into faith and by grace through that faith we were saved.

The Spirit was given to us because Jesus shed His blood in our place. Now, we have the comfort of His Spirit with us and in us always. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” John 6:44 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8 “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17

From the time of our salvation onward, we are to be walking in faith, led by the Spirit. In all areas of life, the Spirit is waiting to lead us. Just as He once led us to faith in Christ, He will lead us in doing the will of God (Colossians 2:5; Matthew 25:23). There is not one area of life where He will not lead us. When we pray, teach, witness, encourage and even when we read His Word, He will lead us. And really, we must allow Him to lead if we want a victorious and Godpleasing life.

We must listen to His Voice because if He is not leading in these areas, all those worthy things I listed above are like the dust around my baseboards. They don’t mean anything except that we are not paying attention and we’re not being faithful.

We can pick up the Bible and read the Word, but if we aren’t reading as led by His Spirit, the words are not going to be powerful in our lives. Then it is important to pray that the Spirit will lead us when we read His Word.

When we teach others, including our children, about the Lord and His ways, if we don’t teach as led by the Spirit, the things we teach will be dry and lifeless.

When we pray, if we pray as led by the Spirit, our prayers will be in His will and will reach the heart of God.

When we witness about Jesus, if we are just following a pattern of witnessing developed by men without the leading of the Spirit, our witnessing will not be fruitful.

When we go about our work as Church members in Sunday School, discipleship classes or in the nurs- ery, if His Spirit does not lead us, we are merely filling a space. We are not having the effect for Him that He desires.

There are people who call themselves Christians and who do very big and exciting things in His Name. We are warned though that “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Mat 7:22-23 These people are not allowing the Spirit to lead them but are trusting in their own works to save them and are attempting to do God’s works without the leading of the Spirit.

God can use anything and anyone to do His will and preach His gospel. But if we are not seeking to be used by Him, listening and following Him, we cannot be those vessels of honor that He wants us to be. The key to the Spirit led life is not necessarily miracles and extravagant happenings, it is a relationship between ourselves and our Father God through His only Son, Jesus Christ. Once we are totally and completely surrendered to His will, He will use us.

In Isaiah 11 we are given a picture of what the Holy Spirit will do in our lives. If we allow Him, the Holy Spirit will lead and guide, give wisdom, power, counsel and a proper fear of the Lord. He will cause us to walk in obedience and righteousness. He will be our Helper and Comforter.

If the just live by faith and faith is hearing and believing, then it is crucial that we hear and obey God the Holy Spirit’s Voice. Our lives without His influence will be powerless, frustrating and weak. When we have reached this point, God has made a way for us to repent and be restored (Ephesians 4:30; 1 John 1:9).

The normal Christian life, however, does not consist of a series of highs and lows, but of a life lived in following the Spirit in faith, consistently. When we are not led by the Spirit, we are led by our own flesh which can only fail us, and usually does at the most inopportune time.

As women of God it is so important that we are led by the Spirit every day. Every day there has to be a lying down of self will. Every day there has to be a time of repenting and refocusing on the Lord and asking Him to lead us by His Holy Spirit into His will. When we do this, He will be faithful to lead us and to provide for us those blessings He has promised to give us in Isaiah.

How can we know if we are walking in the Spirit? We will also find that the words in the Bible, though penned so many hundreds of years ago, were written to us specifically, that our words are seasoned with salt and meaningful to others, that our teaching is fruitful and that our witnessing is effective. We will find our lives full of the Fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We can see spiritual growth in our lives. We can see an increase in grace and wisdom and we have a confidence of our everlasting righteousness imparted to us through Christ. We see our Joy increasing and our love of the world’s ways decreasing. We avoid doctrines and teachings that are sensational, that promote self-righteousness and teach “Jesus plus something” equals salvation. We see the war between evil and God in our lives increase. We find that the Truth of God is increasing in our mind and His glory is of greatest importance, even more than our own personal needs. We notice that we are constantly growing and that Jesus is the center of our lives.

Father God, what an amazing gift You have given us in Your Holy Spirit. Help us in our frailty to understand more about being led by the Spirit. Help us to follow the Spirit and to keep in step with Him through prayer and meditation on Your Word. When He speaks, give us the grace and the will to turn aside and listen. Grow us into the women You desire us to be. Amen.

© 2006 Sylvia Britton