THE SPIRIT LED LIFE

Christians are to be active and careful discerners of truth ... Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

Blindly trusting those who claim to speak for God can severely cripple your walk of faith. To think of a pastor or teacher as an infallible conduit of truth creates a scenario in which a wall of partition is placed between you and your Lord. 

First, there is a need to establish whether you have truly accepted Jesus Christ as Lord. Paul admonished those who are religious to ... Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as believers. Or do you not recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit? (2 Corinthians 13:5)

If you are indeed a Christian, everything that comes your way must be filtered through the indwelling Holy Spirit ... everything.  

1. He testifies that your faith is well-placed: 

Romans 8:16 states ... The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Since He imparts the blessed assurrance that our relationship with the Lord has been secured, it follows that we can trust Him to lead us into understanding our Father's will. 

2. He guides your steps in perfect agreement with Scripture: 

Even the slightest variance must be recognized, so it is vitally important that we study the Word of God. It is the very discipline for which the Berean Jews were commended. After they heard the teachings of Paul and Silas, they ... examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11)

3. He warns when something is amiss:

In the same way that the Holy Spirit can guide us into all truth, He can also cause us to suddenly stop through a 'check in our spirit'. Paul experienced this ... After being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. (Acts 16:6-7)

Part of the sanctification process is learning to have a sensitive ear toward the Holy Spirit's promptings. We gain divine insight by listening to His 'still small voice' in every situation. 

Don't allow indifference or pride to drown Him out.