When Christ Leads

Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, " How long do you keep us in doubt?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do  not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Fathers hand.  I and My Father are one."
John 10: 24-30 NKJV

In my lifetime, I've run into more than a few situations where I honestly felt as if God was leading my decisions.  Indeed , there is no more content feeling than knowing in our hearts that Jesus is guiding us.  In fact, the truth we all need to realize is that, for those who have trusted in Christ Jesus, we share a intimate connection with Jesus.  For scripture tellls us that Christ is is us today.  Is it no wonder, then, that we would indeed be led  each day by our risen savior within us?  Our very decisions, actions and thoughts are intimately experienced through Christ Jesus.  And if we experience our life through Jesus, then we live AS Jesus.  Some years ago there was a decent movement in christian America which asked the question, "What would Jesus do?"  Everywhere you looked, there were bracelets, bumper stickers and t shirts sporting this new christian identity fad.  It seemed that everyone was asking what Christ would do.  However, far from bringing people closer to the realization of the truth of Christ, people seemed to use this new fad as more of a finger to point out the bad behavior of others.  Were you thinking of viewing pornography?  What would Jesus do?  Were you considering an affair?  What would Jesus do?   Sure, perhaps this new slogan made a few people consider the consequences of their actions, but did little to introduce people to Jesus.  I always saw this slogan as more of a condemnation than anything else, which is not what Jesus is about at all.  So, we were left to wonder, who is this Jesus we're hearing so much about?  How do we be more like Him?  What would Jesus do?

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body off sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live witth Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He liives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6-11 NKJV

When we put our focus on what Jesus would do, we may just miss what it is He IS doing through us.  For as Paul tells us in Romans 6, there is no seperation now between ourselves and Christ Jesus.  We live as our Lord and savior.  Whatever we live, feel and experince, we experience as Jesus who is within us.  We need not wonder what it is Jesus would do, for we live it each and every day.  This is a true example of Jesus leading those who trust in Him.  We can rest assured that when we are led by Christ Jesus, that we will be at peace with the results.  There are those situations and decisions in our lives where we need to step back and listen for the gentle voice of Christ who is not far away.  In those moments, when we listen for His voice, we will find the peace which comes when Christ leads us.

~Scott~