Spirit’s Leading Brings Life and Peace
Romans 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
You will recall in our example earlier, how everyone rejected the Apostle Paul’s perception because they looked at their natural circumstances. As we read the account in full, we see that they made their decision to sail based on what they could see in the natural. The weather conditions were right. The experienced sailors knew what they were doing. And the current location they were in was not ideal to spend the winter. In other words in the natural, Pauls’ counsel was foolish. And so we clearly see in that example that the natural man does not receive the leading of the Spirit of God. On the other hand, one who has renewed their mind is referred to in scripture, as one who is spiritually minded and no longer carnally minded. The above quoted passage of scripture reveals to us that one who is spiritually minded experiences two specific benefits. The first benefit is life, which refers to the life of God. The second benefit it lists is peace. The reason that peace is listed is because there is no longer any conflict taking place inside their hearts. The reason for this is because their minds are now receiving the things of the Spirit of God. And they are following the leading of their spirits, as their spirits are being led by the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 2:12-13 “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, (13) I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.”
Just as the renewing of our minds is not an overnight process and takes time, so learning to follow the leading of our spirits also takes time, and practice. The weaker we are spiritually, the more difficult it is for us to recognize the leading of our spirits. Believers who are weak spiritually, need to take more time to seek the Lord’s leading through prayer (mainly in the spirit), until they have peace in their hearts (i.e. feel comfortable on the inside) about the course of action that they want to take. If after a period of time there is still no peace, then the believer should reject that course of action. As believers become more mature spiritually, then they will more readily recognize the Spirit’s leading and can make decisions accordingly. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul gives us another example of being led by the Spirit, when he tells us that he changed his course of action because he had no rest in his spirit. In other words Paul felt uncomfortable in his spirit with what he was doing and changed his course of action, which brought his spirit into a place of rest once again. The old covenant practice of the leading of the Holy Spirit through the use of the Urim has not been carried over into the new covenant. One reason for that is very obvious, which is that the Urim and Thummim no longer exist. But nevertheless, that old covenant method of God’s leading was a type and shadow of the spiritual leading of God’s children under the new covenant. You will recall that under the leading of the Urim that the children of Israel could only receive a “yes” or a “no” answer to their questions asked of the Lord. The witness of the Holy Spirit leads us in a similar fashion today. Because when we seek His guidance through His witness in our spirits, the answer that we receive is mainly, either a “yes” or a “no”. The “yes” answer, is when we are comfortable on our inside and we have peace, i.e. the more we think about our course of action, the better we feel about it on the inside. The “no” answer, is when we are uncomfortable on our inside and we do not have peace, i.e. the more we think about our course of action, the worse we feel about it on the inside. This method of guidance is used by the Lord Jesus to guide us in all the affairs of life, and so we need to learn to walk in it and practice it. Look to your spirit for guidance in every area of your life, including the small day to day things. As you learn to recognize His leading in the small things, you will more readily recognize His leading when you have to make major decisions in your life.
Luke 24:32 “And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
Our spirits can and should burn. The context of the above quoted account in scripture is that two of the Lord’s disciples were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, on the day the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead. And so our Lord joined them as a fellow traveller, but hid His identity from them during this encounter. As the Lord walked with them, He explained the scriptures to them concerning His death, burial and resurrection. That evening as He broke bread with them, He was revealed to them and then He disappeared from their sight. But I want you to notice their reaction afterwards when they realized that they had been speaking to Jesus. Their spirits were burning the whole time that Jesus was speaking to them.
Jeremiah 20:9 “Then I said, "I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name." But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.”
The prophet Jeremiah had a similar experience when it came to the word of God burning within him. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that when he tried to hold back from prophesying because of all the trouble that he was getting into, the word of God would burn hot within him. And the only relief he could get was to speak out that which the Lord had placed upon him.
Michael E.B. Maher
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