Ezekiel 8:3
And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
A common phrase people often use to justify what they want to do is that they feel the Spirit of God has led them. Often, what we say is the Spirit of God leading us is not the Spirit of God, but our own spirit wanting to do something. The Spirit of God is God, and God never leads you to do something that would take you away from Him or His Word. Moreover, the Spirit of God moving in your life often does not make you feel emotional or give you a warm feeling. Too many base the moving of the Spirit of God on a feeling instead of on the fact that God told them to do something. Ezekiel said the spirit lifted me up, and this phrase shows several things about the leading of the Holy Spirit.
First, the Spirit of God never leads you in any direction but closer to God. When the Spirit led Ezekiel, it led him closer to God. You cannot tell me that the Spirit led you to do something that will pull you away from God. The Spirit will not lead you to miss church or to miss your walk with God. The Spirit will never lead you to marry someone who will pull you away from God. The Spirit of God only leads you to draw nigh to God, which means you will have to forsake sin and die to self to draw closer to God.
Second, the Spirit of God will always lead you up. The Spirit of God led Ezekiel up, which means the Spirit’s moving in one’s life is a directional movement. The Spirit of God will never lead you laterally or backward; it will only lead you to go up by faith to do more for God. If what you are saying is the Spirit of God leading you, it will take faith to do it. You can't expect to see God’s Spirit work in your life when you are going the wrong direction. He will work in your life, but He will work to convict you of the wrong direction to try to bring you back to God by doing something by faith. If you truly want the Holy Spirit to work in your life, attempt something great by faith.
Third, the Spirit of God will never lead you to sit. There is no purpose for the Holy Spirit to work through your life when you are sitting and doing nothing. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to help the believer to do the works of God, works that can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit. You will never know God’s power on your life until you attempt to do something great for God. God’s power falls on those who are doing something for God that is beyond their abilities. I have found the easiest way to get the Holy Spirit to work through one’s life is by going soul winning. Soul winning is a work of faith that needs God’s power to work in the heart of the lost while you give them the Gospel. If you want to know the power of God, go soul winning. Soul winning takes you from sitting to doing something for God, which requires the Holy Spirit to help and lead you.
Fourth, the Spirit of God never leads you to be content with sin. The Spirit of God will create a great disgust for sin in your life so you can live a holy life, a life that is closer to God. The more the Holy Spirit leads you, the more you will get rid of sin that hinders you from drawing closer to God and from doing works of faith for God.
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