Be Like Jesus- Be Led by the Spirit
Pastor Ryan Binkley
5 minute read
Have you ever wondered how God designed our minds to work? Do you ever feel there’s this internal conflict between what you know and what you feel? There’s a famous analogy that our brains are like a rider on top of an elephant. The rider is our logic and reasoning, who can control the elephant, but is no match for the raw strength if that elephant breaks loose. That elephant represents our emotions, whom we try to tame. So what’s the secret if either one is out of control? Welcome to being human.
And nobody knows humans better than Jesus.
He experienced the FULL breadth of what it meant to be one of us.
He experienced tiredness, hunger, thirst, weariness, and temptations.
He was God incarnate. He came as a man. With all of man’s limitations, but empowered by the Spirit – the divine Spirit of God!
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14 NKJV
He felt Hunger in the wilderness.
He felt Exhaustion in the stern of a boat.
He felt Sorrow at the grave of Lazarus.
He felt Anger at the money changers.
He felt Betrayed in the garden.
He felt forsaken at the cross. He was a man, just like you and I! He was also God (not like you and I), who chose to be limited to the physical confines of a human, but with unlimited potential of the Holy Spirit.
And this is what I want you to understand today:
What does it mean to be led by the Spirit?
1. He will convict you of sin
“And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
John 16:8-11 NKJV
He will convict us of both big and small sins. We tend to do a terrible job at judging sins. We weigh our neighbors more heavily while ignoring the weight of our own. The Holy Spirit does the convicting of sin for us. We just follow His lead!
2. He will lead you into a path of righteousness
“If you wander from the right path, either to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, “You should go this way. Here is the right way.””
Isaiah 30:21 ERV
Someone veered into my lane this past week, almost causing an accident. I would be amiss if I told you I’ve never made that mistake. God’s path only has one right way of living and veering from that can cause hurt in my life and others. I need the Holy Spirit’s guidance for righteousness’s sake!
3. He will guide every step of your life
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
John 16:13 NKJV
I don’t have a map for life, and I don’t always know which way to go. But that’s not my job to know! It’s my job to follow. The Holy Spirit is my guide for EVERY STEP. Every single step.
What do we do now?
Well, let’s start with a prayer:
Holy Spirit,
Convict me of all my wrongs.
Lead me to Righteousness
Guide my life.
I want to hear Your voice today and follow where You lead.
Amen.
If you missed any of this weekend’s message about this very topic, you can watch it here. I hope to see you next week!