Following The Leader

1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 4: 1 - 6 NKJV

The question came up this morning on the subject of following our Lords lead in certain situations.  Of course, as I anticipated, one of the concerns one of our guys had was just how we would know if what they were feeling was from God or not.  Indeed, I have been in that situation many times before and I feel that I just might not be done in my life with this very issue.  I have often struggled with those feelings of if what I was doing was being led by God or just my flesh.  Many a pulpit pounder may stake claim that this is a simple determination, but for many christians on lifes front lines it is never that simple.  It is true that the Spirit of Christ Jesus is within us {Galations 2:20}.  So, are we then to conclude that ANY feeling we may get is one that is coming from Christ?  I would disagree on that one on the basis of our human flesh being highly susceptible to those influences around us.  For what we may feel is being led by Christ may in reality be our flesh reacting to something around us.  I have found that in many a situation that my desire to "Hear" from God is so strong, that I jump on that very first feeling that comes along and label it as Gods leading.  So, our question may then be, how are we to know if what we are feeling is true to what our heavenly Father desires for us?  Is it as simple as a litmus test of knowing that anything that may bring harm is not Gods leading?  Perhaps, but I still feel that it goes deeper than that.  We have all at one time or another had that "Feeling" that what we were doing was led by God.  To that there is no doubt.  I'm sure that as christians we also are convinced of who our leader truly is.

14“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15“As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
John 10: 14 - 18 NKJV

As followers of Christ Jesus, we are part of His flock and we know and follow His leading.  Or do we?  There is zero doubt that this world is filled with false voices that will compete with that of our Shepherd.  Gods word indeed warns us of this.  Dennis tends to refer to our human flesh as being neutral, and I tend to agree with his thinking there.  Therefore, as our flesh is neutral, it is therefore subject to any and all influences which we may come across.  Be these influences good or bad, our flesh is still subject to their influence.  So the question remains, with so many influences competing for our attention, how are we to know if what we are feeling is being led by Christ?  My mother had a unique answer to this very question.  I have no doubt that she spent many an hour in Gods word, that was her daily routine.  I remember asking her on quite a few occasions on how I could be sure that what I was feeling was my heavenly Fathers leading.  Her response to me was usually something along the lines of "You'll know that you know."  BINGO!  How would we not know our Fathers voice?  It is something I have come to refer to as His heart whisper, that still, steady voice that we have in our very heart.  Now, Dennis might explain it better, but I refer to our human flesh as reactionary.  As we all know, there are certainly many influences for it to react to.  However, as followers of Christ Jesus, we all know the voice of our Shepherd within us.  His heart whispers to His children are what we need to listen for.

~Scott~