Romans 8:14-16 (NKJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
We often say, “let me pray about it”, but do we really know what we should do afterwards?
While God speaks primarily through His Word during our quiet time, He also speaks to us through the work of the Holy Spirit by leading, prompting, and bringing Scriptures into our remembrance. When we choose to seek God’s counsel, He will speak clearly to us because He wants to lead, guide, comfort, exhort, rebuke, correct, train us in righteousness, and direct our steps.
Therefore, apart from seeking confirmation through the Word, we also need to train our inner man to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading so that we can live a surrendered life where our decisions are based on His counsel. It will happen when we consecrate our lives to Him through prayer because prayer and consecration work hand in hand.
Because we are born again, the Spirit of God will bear witness in our spirits by giving us peace in our hearts when we need to make a decision. A lack of peace means we will have an uncomfortable feeling and the decision won’t sit well with us even if it makes logical sense. In fact, being led by the Spirit of God in this way is a very important form of protection for us.
Unfortunately, many Christians disconnect from God the moment they leave church on Sunday, living independently from Him the rest of the week. They often seek His hand rather than His face and leave God out of their decision-making process because they want to pick and choose what to believe, and which part of their lives they give authority over to God. However, this is never God’s intent for us. God is a jealous God who wants 100% commitment from us as He is 100% committed to us through the covenant commitment—He is faithful despite our faithlessness. We, on the other hand, tend to stray from Him whenever we get busy, and take matters into our own hands when we are faced with an adversity or tribulation. However, God should not be our last resort. Instead, we need to develop a consistent reliance on Him and intentionally choose to lay down our lives and rights to live life the way we want.
When we consecrate our plans and purposes fully to God, He will take full responsibility, but if we make decisions on our own, we are the ones to take full responsibility and reap what we have sown in the flesh. Therefore, God must not be an afterthought but be the first person we seek counsel from in life’s major decisions because He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
Sermon Series: Are You Ready for Something New in Your Life?
总是先寻求祂的忠告
罗马书8:14-16 因为凡被神的灵引导的，都是神的儿子。你们所受的，不再是奴仆的心，以致害怕，所受的，乃是施恩的心，就是我们呼叫阿爸天父的心。圣灵亲自与我们的心同证，我们是神的儿女。
我们常说“让我祈祷吧”，但我们真的知道在这之后该做什么吗?
虽然神主要是以在我们灵修的时候通过圣经的方式对我们说话，但祂也通过圣灵的工作对我们说话，引导、鼓励并把经文带进我们的记忆。当我们选择寻求神的忠告时，祂会清楚地告诉我们，因为祂要引导、安慰、劝勉、责备、纠正我们，用公义操练我们，并指引我们的脚步。
因此，除了通过神的话语寻求肯定，我们还需要操练我们的内心的灵人敏锐于圣灵的带领，这样我们就能过一种降服的生活，所作的决定都是基于祂的忠告。当我们通过祷告将我们的生命分别为圣奉献给祂时，这就会发生，因为祷告和奉献是携手并进的。
因为我们获得了重生，当我们需要作决定时，神的灵会在我们的灵里作见证，赐给我们心中的平安。缺乏平安意味着我们会有一种不舒服的感觉，即使这个决定合乎逻辑，我们也还是会觉得不妥。事实上，以这种方式被神的灵带领，对我们来说是一种非常重要的保护。
不幸的是，许多基督徒在主日离开教会的那一刻，就与神断绝了联系，在一周其余的日子里过着独立于神之外的生活。他们常常寻求神的手，而不是祂的面，并且把神排除在他们的决策过程之外，因为他们想选择相信什么，想选择把生命的哪一部分的权柄交给神。然而，这绝不是神对我们的意图。神是一个善妒的神。祂要百分百的委身，就像祂在盟约中对我们百分百委身一样 —- 我们纵然失信，神却依旧信实。另一方面，当我们忙碌时，往往会偏离祂，当面临逆境或苦难时，我们会试图以一己之力来解决。然而，神不应该是我们最后的依靠。相反，我们需要始终如一地依赖他，并有意识地选择放下我们的生命，以及以我们想要的方式生活的权利。
当我们把我们的计划和目的完全分别为圣奉献给神的时候，祂会承担全部的责任，但如果我们自己作决定，我们就要负全责，并收获我们在血气中播种的后果。因此，上帝不应该是事后才想到的，而应该是我们在面临人生重大决定时寻求建议的第一个人，因为祂是无所不知、无所不能、无所不在的。
讲章系列: 你准备好迎接生命中的新事物了吗?