A Jersey Does Not Make You an Athlete! Does Calling Yourself a Christian Make You a Child of God?
I believe God has spoken to me quite a bit lately about what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit. It all started as I was preparing to explain why I felt God had called me to begin a ministry called Spirit Led Coach.
I asked the Lord that exact question and the Spirit led me to a verse that blew my mind. It honestly felt like God had written these words in the sand just to validate that I had heard Him clearly.
Romans 8:14 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
This verse answers the question. Who are children of God? The answer: Those who are led by the Spirit of God! Are you a child of God?
Let’s first look if our Savior was led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was filled with the Spirit beyond measure (John 3:34) after being baptized by John the Baptist. In Matthew 4:1 the Word of God says immediately following being Baptized, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. The Spirit Led Jesus directly into a test. Check it for yourself. Before reaching their destiny, great men and women in the Bible were always challenged with a test! Before reaching greatness they made the difficult decision to walk through the door of opportunity to their destiny! Testimonies come from test.
The problem back then and still is today, everyone wants their destiny without passing the test. We want the reward without facing the difficult challenge! Some test are small and we can conquer them on our own. I am not talking about the test that you can endure on your own. I am talking about test that seem impossible. Mountain size test, that require a helper and guide sent by God to conquer.
Eventually the Spirit led Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus once again had to make the difficult choice of fulfilling His purpose. The Bible says Jesus suffered through a condition of sweating blood as a result of the pressure and challenged he faced! A condition called Hematidrosis in which capillary blood vessels that fee the sweat glands rupture, causing them to exude blood, occuring under conditions of extreme physical and emotional stress! The challenge of experiencing a beyond brutal death on the cross was more than anyone but Jesus (full of the Holy Spirit) could handle!
The Spirit did not leave Jesus, nor will He leave you, during His test! From there, the Spirit empowered and led Jesus out of the grave, victoriously through Hell, and to the Mount of Olives where Jesus ascended to the Father’s right hand!
Jesus specifically instructed His team, the disciples, to wait for the Holy Spirit to return before they were to fulfill their mission of spreading the Gospel to the whole earth. Why would we do anything different? Once we receive the Spirit we are both empowered and called to daily to share the Good News.
We can go back to Old Testament times in Isaiah 31:20 where the Bible points out the Spirit of God can lead us even from behind. According to one translation, the Spirit often whispers. You can’t here a whisper unless you are listening closely. It is also just a important that you know His voice. We all tend to respond quicker and more often to a voice we recognize.
My question for you is this. If you claim to be a child of God and that the Spirit is leading you, as the Bible says is a requirement in Romans 8:14, then do the places you go and your actions verify or bring evidence validating your claim.
An athlete’s ability to produce evidence of his or her talent is what makes them an athlete! Yes that does depend on a person’s definition of an athlete. Well we must look at God’s word for the definition of being a child of God, it does not depend on our personal definition. If you are going in clubs and coming out drunk, visiting porn sites, cheating on your taxes, or judging other non believers who do not agree with your beliefs, then is their evidence that you are a Spirit led child of God?
What about the time the Spirit allows you to be tested and an attractive person of the opposite sex begins flirting with you, but you are married? Do you allow yourself to be tempted by lust? Nearly every great accomplishment by faith in the Bible followed a test. Before David became King, he endured the pain and challenge of Ziklag and prevailed! Yes, David failed when seeing Bathsheba, only Jesus is perfect. Esther experienced potential suicide by walking in faith into the King’s court without being summoned. Her faith stood the test as she realized God had placed her in the Kingdom for such a time as this! (Esther 4:14)
No human, including Jesus, loves when a test shows up, but with the Spirit’s help guiding and empowering us, we can overcome. We often call these test pits or dark valleys, but from experience I have learned to initiate James 1:2 reverse thinking at this time. I start believing Psalms 91, that even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death (it is just a shadow!), I will fear no evil, because the Spirit of God is with me!
Because God has been so faithful in the past, while I was going through multiple miscarriages, death of loved ones from cancer, and an unfair loss of my job, I honestly now get excited imagining what God might have in store for me if i only pass the test! I start believing the possibility that the Spirit has allowed a test to show up. When I continue to keep my joy and refuse to stop praising God in the pit, just like Joseph or Daniel. The result more times than not, God shows up with a taxi cab and takes me to the palace! He will do the same for you! Even when it appears that God did not show up, He still carried me through the valley and set my feet on solid ground. God never fails and His promises can not return void!
I have experienced uncommon favor both on the court as a coach and in my daily life. Nearly every experience that you would consider favor, such as championships and my amazing family, all followed a difficult test. My pastor, who I call coach, said it like this. We all want someone’s favor and anointing, but are we willing to pay the price?
Do you see test as an opportunity or a option? We all have the choice of being led by the Spirit and following Christ! Yes, these two are the same! You can’t follow Jesus without being led by the Spirit. I can say this because the Truth, the Word of God, says it.
What was Jesus final message to His chosen disciples? The twelve that followed Him through test after test. Remember a multitude of disciples chose to walk away in John 6:66. During this time, the Spirit was in Jesus without measure, so I echo again that following Jesus then and now is following the Holy Spirit.
Jesus last message to His chosen disciples before leaving earth and going to the Father, would obviously be an important one! In John 14:16-17, John 15:26, and John 16:13-16, Jesus repeats that God is sending a helper, guide, and advocate specifically calling Him “The Spirit of Truth”, not division! I personally struggle with churches who avoid the Spirit in fear of causing division. Why would Jesus call the Spirit the “Spirit of Truth” if He would bring division. Jesus is giving you the blueprint, the game plan for conquering and reaching your destiny! Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit can and will take you places you cannot reach alone! Fact is, you must build an intimate relationship and follow daily the Holy Spirit if you desire to be a Spirit led child of God!