This passage refers to ‘mature’ sons. Maturity is the condition of being able to produce and reproduceaccording to God’s will. An immature ‘son’ will always be a son, but it not grown up enough to fulfill the call on his life. God’s plan for every ‘son’ or child of God – male and female, is to be led by the Holy Spirit in the words they speak, and in their actions and reactions.

There is a close connection between growing in the Word of God and being led by the Spirit. He does not ever lead you apart from His already revealed will as given to you in the Word. When you make it your custom to saturate your life with God’s ways (His Word), you gain a heavenly perspective that the Holy Spirit can work with in helping you make wise Godly choices. Learning to hear His voice in the unique situations of your life is a lifelong privilege.

Make a habit of worshipping Him, waiting upon Him, and writing down what you see and hear so as to be accountable and accurate.

Realize also that because of your unique life, you will need to cultivate openness to new and fresh things that your eyes have not yet seen. Being led by the Holy Spirit is often a creative consequence of your relationship with Him. In Chapter 7, we look at how to get to know Him better. When you know a person’s nature, you begin to know how they will act or react in any given situation.

God actually wants you to know Him intimately, and be like Him, His representative or ambassador in any situation.

 

1 Corinthians 2:12-13

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

 

2 Corinthians 5:20

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us…

 

 

The Different Ways He Leads You

 

The different ways in which the Holy Spirit leads you, always occur within the framework of, and in confirmation of God’s Word and include the following:

 

• Impressing upon your heart a specific scripture that speaks to your situation – a passage ‘jumps off’ the page (Daniel 9:2).

 

• An inward impression about something or someone – an inner ‘knowing’ (Acts 17:22).

 

 

• A point made by an anointed minister – you witness that what is being said or written in a book etc is for you (Luke 24:32).

 

• A vision or spiritual dream – these make a greater than normal impression upon you than simple daydreaming (Acts 10:3).

 

• Night vision or spiritual dream (Daniel 2:19 / Acts 18:9).

 

• A prophecy or tongue and interpretation (usually in confirmation of what you already perceive in your heart).

 

Be open to any and all of these ways.

 

 

‘Testing’ or seeking confirmation of what you have ‘heard’ or ‘seen’.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:21

Test all things; hold fast what is good.

 

It is not wrong to seek clarity or confirmation of your ‘leading’. Avoid falling into dangerous waters by glibly grabbing at any ‘spiritual’ encounter without being sure that it is from God. Many have gone astray because they wrongly assumed that just because something appears supernatural it is automatically from God. Satan is the master deceiver, and the Bible teaches that we are to ‘test the spirits’ (1 John 4:1).

Then too, you may be driven by something that you personally want, and the impression you have actually originates in your own heart and not from God. You may even desire something that is good in itself, but not God’s specific plan for you at this time.

Here are some ways in which you can ‘test’ what you feel are Holy Spirit leadings.

 

• Does it agree with scripture?
• Does it make you more like Christ?
• Does your trusted church oversight confirm it?
• Is it within your call?
• What is the time frame?