Latest / The Daily Word / October 21 – The Key to Holy Spirit Direction
Transcript
- Robert Rosales: Hey good morning, Lakeshore family. Welcome to the Daily Word Podcast. I'm Robert Rosales, and along with my wife Yolanda, I have the privilege of serving as the campus pastor for our Gastonia location. Thanks so much for investing some time with me to get into God's Word today. Whether you're listening on your morning commute, enjoying a cup of coffee, or you're just beginning your day with the Lord, my heartfelt prayer. Is that this time would encourage you, draw you closer to Jesus, and give you some added revelation and insight from God's Word. As a reminder, as a church, each day we're reading through the Bible together and we're using the life journal reading plan. Today, once again, we're going to focus on the New Testament passage. We're using the SOAP method, scripture, observation, application. And prayer. It's a simple framework that we've been using for years, and it really helps to move God's word from the pages into our everyday lives. If you don't have a life journal, I want to encourage you, whichever campus you attend, come on, go to the next step desk, go to the lobby, ask for one. I'm sure we can get you one as soon as possible. Hey, before I share this entry with you, would you just agree with me? Let's pray, let's invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Father, Thank you for this new day and for the privilege of opening your word. Quiet the distractions around us and the noise within us. Give us hearts that are teachable, minds that are attentive, and lives that are ready to obey whatever you reveal. Holy Spirit, illuminate the word. Help us not only understand the word, but help us to be doers of the word. In Jesus' name. Amen. Well, today's passage for October twenty first is actually two chapters, Acts thirteen and fourteen. And I journaled specifically from Acts chapter thirteen, verses two and three. Let me read it to us out of the New King James. The Bible says, as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Verse 3. Then, having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them, that's Barnabas and Saul, away. Now, you may have read this and you may have even studied it out a little bit if you've ever read through the book of Acts. But I want to show you something that really, really touched my heart as I read this. Notice in verse 2. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said. Wow. The title of my journal entry is The Key to Holy Spirit Direction. Come on, say that with me. The key to Holy Spirit Direction. Let me explain. Here's my observation. What stands out to me in these verses is eye-opening and It's an incredible insight. The Holy Spirit speaks and gives direction. As the church leaders minister to the Lord, the Bible says the Holy Spirit spoke to them. And what's amazing is that they recognized his voice and leading and did what he asked. Now it's important to note this: the Bible contains numerous references to the Holy Spirit speaking. Directing, revealing, and bearing witness to God's people from the Old Testament prophets to the New Testament church. Now, there's no single count of the number of times that this happens, but scripture clearly shows that the Holy Spirit is not merely a power that we experience, but a person who speaks. Leads, guides, and always in alignment with God's will and God's purposes. So here's a question that I wrote down in my observation What key can help a person or people hear the voice of God through the Holy Spirit? And here's what I see. The apostles and leaders were focused on worshiping God. The Bible says in the New King James Version. They ministered to the Lord. That means to serve him, to worship him, to honor him, and attend to him. Not merely to ask him to do something, but they gave him their love, their devotion, and their attention because he was worthy. Notice the order. Before Barnabas and Saul were sent out to minister to others. The believers, the leaders of the church, were ministering to the Lord. They weren't simply holding a planning meeting or asking for God's direction. They were worshiping, fasting, and seeking the Lord. In that atmosphere, in that setting, catch it, the Holy Spirit spoke and gave them direction. Another translation, the NIV says. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting. This shows that ministering to the Lord includes worship, prayer, fasting, and attentive devotion to his presence. Here's another question I wrote down. What does ministering to the Lord look like? Let me share this with you. It means to worship Him for who He is. We praise God not merely for what He gives us. But because of who he is, his holiness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his love, and his majesty. Psalm 29,2 says, Give the Lord the glory due to his name. To minister to the Lord means we love him with an undivided heart. We turn from our requests, responsibilities, and distractions to express our love and devotion to God. Matthew 22, 37 says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. In addition, to minister the Lord means we honor Him through surrender and obedience. Ministering to the Lord isn't limited to singing. It includes presenting ourselves to him and making our lives available for his kingdom purposes. Romans 12:1 says, That we're to present our bodies or our whole lives as a living sacrifice. And then finally, I wrote this down ministering to the Lord means we give him our attention, we quiet our hearts before him, we pray, we meditate on his word, and we remain attentive to the Holy Spirit's leading. Psalm 46 10 says, Be still and know. That I am God. In summary, I see in this text what I call the key to direction from the Holy Spirit, worshiping, fasting, and seeking the Lord. Friends, ask yourself Are you a God seeker? Do you invest time in ministering to the Lord? Are you one who regularly turns down the noise and tunes out the distraction and puts down your phone and just ministers to the Lord in worship and prayer and fasting? Friends, that's a key to Holy Spirit direction. Here's the application that I wrote down. As a follower of Jesus, I will intentionally invest more time in worship, prayer. fasting and seeking the Lord. As I do this, I will expect to grow stronger in my walk with God and recognize the Holy Spirit and is leading in mine. Friends, I like to ask this question. On a scale of one to five, one being the weakest and five being the strongest, where are you in seeking the Lord? I promise, if you'll invest more time in doing that, you would become more aware of the Holy Spirit's presence, more aware of the voice of God through the Holy Spirit, and you'll be able to tap into His leading, His guidance. And his direction at a whole new level. Come on, would you pray with me? Father God, thank you for speaking to us today through your word. Holy Spirit, we're simply asking in humility, help us to live as God seekers. Encourage us, lead us to investing more time in your presence, in prayer, in worship, in fasting. and meditating on your word and seeking your direction. We're so desperate for you, God. We ask these things in Jesus' name. And everybody said, Amen. Friends, I love you. Bye for now. Have a great day.