If you don’t mean business with God, do not read any further!

After being part of this in-depth study of the Holy Spirit and His leading, you will be held accountable. You will have a clear understanding of what it means to be a Spirit-led Christian. If you fail to respond to His leading or return to a life of sin, it will be much worse for you. If you do, you have decided not to obey, be disobedient, and will come away with a hardened heart toward God. The Lord may forgive acts committed against Him in ignorance but for those believers who have been led into all truth, judgment is harsher for falling away from the path chosen for you.

20If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit, “and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud (2 Peter 2:20-22).”

“If you have escaped… [then] are entangled in it and overcome…”

Peter tells us ignorance is bliss in this scenario because to have such knowledge and return to your former lifestyle is not just mere folly, it is absolutely dangerous. If you refuse to be Spirit-led, God is the only one who can have mercy on you, in other words. Judgment is sure to follow you for stepping outside His divine order for your life. This gives greater meaning to Christ’s words to His followers in Luke 6:46 NLT,

“Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?” After making this statement, the Lord shared the story of two men who built homes. 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete (Luke 6:47-49 NIV).”

There is a cost associated with your decision, good or bad. You and your family will pay dearly; what will your disobedience cost those you love? Do you relish watching your life wash away before you as the Lord reminds you that your life must be founded upon Him and His finished Work at Calvary? The opposite is true if you follow His lead; you will be rewarded handsomely, openly, and beyond measure.

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again (Luke 6:38 NIV).”

Have you ever been berry picking? When I was a youngster, my parents used to take us blackberry picking. The whole afternoon was wrapped around one purpose: to get enough berries for a magnificent cobbler. Occasionally, we would get extra and Mom would whip up a few jars of jam. The lion’s share always went to that blessed blackberry cobbler my family dreamed about and salivated over until it was served piping hot, ladled with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, and sot with mother’s love.

Those are priceless moments just as the love of the Father touching our lives is priceless. Any attempt at measuring the blessings of God upon us is futile; they are boundless and eternal. We simply cannot out-give God. On the other hand, what will your disobedience cost you or those you love? Is disobeying the Lord worth putting all those precious memories at risk?

“For it is no empty word for you, but your very life…” (Deut. 32:47 NLT)

God means what He says; He says what He means. Make no mistake. No idle words are spoken where the Lord is concerned. This is not a fluffy Sunday School lesson. God is not kidding around. He does not think your ability to commit your life as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him (Rom. 12:1-2), is cute; nor will He cut you any slack once you have full knowledge of the truth. Letting go and letting God is easier said than placed into practice. What if His will requires you to make a few sacrifices? Listen up: doing His will might mean you have to give up a few things. He may call you to service in another zip code or another country altogether. He may ask you to leave all you know and love behind that He might show you a more abundant life in Christ than you could ever have if you stay where you are until you die.

But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house (Matthew 13:54; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24; John 4:44).

A prophet is never accepted in his/her own country. This truth is present in all four gospels. Not all messages are present in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. What does this tell the believer? It tells us that the Lord wanted us to know this, remember it, and abide in Him taking no thought for the place from which we hailed but all your thoughts and desires should be focused on the land to which you are going! We can see Christ’s life and his inability to minister to the people of Nazareth. Why? It was too close to home for Him to be of any effect.

Being Spirit-led might mean that you have to lose some associations. Rest assured though, if you are following the Holy Spirit’s direction as every Christian should, certain associations will get rid of you long before you have a chance to say your goodbye’s to the old life and group of buddies. “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Mark 8:34 NIV).” Then, we have those who say they want to follow Christ but cannot relinquish the old life before taking up his/her Cross. Look at Christ’s response to a certain ruler.

“ 18And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 19And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. 20Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. 21And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. 22Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. 23And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. 24And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 25For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? 27And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. 28Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. 29And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, 30Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting (Luke 18:18-30 NIV).”

At the risk of being annoying I will say it once more: doing God’s will is not optional once you know the truth. Should this be a problem? It should not be for the believer.

“A new heart will I give to you and a new spirit will I put in you…”

We were designed to love Him and do His will.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV).”

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:36 NIV).”

There is not a gradual process. It’s an actual heart transplant, folks. If you have the new ticker that Jesus gave you, you are going to want to live for him. Why? The Spirit of the Living God dwells within you and he cannot strive alongside lukewarm attitudes, indecisiveness, noncommittal relationships, and false professions of Christianity pushing a social gospel that He never endorsed or preached. Even if this path seems right to modern man, it is wrong in the eyes of God.

Without the Spirit, it is impossible for the human being to discern such things as Paul exhorts:

“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (2 Corinthians 2:14 NIV).”

Christ had a similar conversation with Zaccheus as told by John the Beloved in the third chapter of the book of John.

16″For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.[g] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God (John 3:16-21 NIV).”[h]

There is no mistaking those things which are of God (and those which are not). A situation birthed in sin, is not of God. A situation brought about by Him that later became sin, was not His Will. His Spirit brought about the scenario that pleased Him; sin took that scenario to a terrible end. Judgment is certain. Make no mistake. God is not mocked. He is not a liar. You reap what you sow; harvest always comes for the believer.  You do not take a bad situation, pray over it, and ignore the root sin problem.  The Lord will continue to judge your life until He makes Himself clear, clear enough for you to repent of your sin.  For example, do not ask the Lord to bless your new marriage when your old relationship was ruined by your infidelity.  Do not ask the Lord to put His stamp of approval on your sin.  That is what you are asking, whether you married your accomplice or not.  It was sin; you always pay for sin.  God never changes His mind when it comes to sin.  Sin is sin; it is stench in the nostrils of a holy God and He will not tolerate sin in the lives of the redeemed.

Have you ever known someone who continues to live complacently but professes Christ. This person monetarily prospers and by all outward appearances looks blessed of God? Do not be deceived. It is a façade. Have you seen in their closet lately? Would the secrets in that closet make your mother blush? Would you blush? You just might and it would not take long for you to see this person does not live a surrendered life. Rest assured, the devil will never bother this person. They will financially prosper as long as they ride the fence, profess Christianity, and give those who live their faith a bad name. Why is that so, you might ask: the devil takes care of His own. Not all who cry “Lord, Lord” will enter Heaven’s gates regardless of how many professions of faith they have made. They may cry “Lord, Lord” but they do not do what He says. A person with a new heart led of the Spirit does not have to be told twice. Pleasing the Father is ‘second nature’ and is a joy to serve the Lord.

I invite you. The Spirit says ‘come’. Pick up your Cross and follow Him. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit any longer. You are accountable. I pray that you will make the right choice and answer His call today, whatever and wherever that call may be. Be blessed!