In this practical message, Dr. Stanley explains that we, too, should be following God as our guide every day. We don’t have a pillar of cloud for a signpost, but as believers, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. He’s our leader, and He’s committed to showing us the correct path in every circumstance. Find out what you can do to gain discernment, recognize His voice, and follow Him in holiness through every challenge and uncertainty.

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who are what is guiding your life

think for just a moment

when you think about a given day in your

life

who’s really guiding your thinking your

attitude your wishes your desires

how you operate how you work whatever it

might be

are you guided by someone

by some philosophy or attitude that you

have in life

are you guided by your feelings and your

emotions some people live by their

feelings their emotions

up to day and down tomorrow in and out

and so they have no real stability in

life because

they’re living by feelings and god does

not intend for us to live by feelings

he intends for us to live by a

relationship

that we have with him who gives us

stability

and strength and clarity and guidance in

every area of our life

well we’ve been in the book of exodus

and the hebrew children are out of

egyptian bondage and they’re on their

way across the desert

and to the promised land it should take

them a few weeks but it took them 40

years because of their unbelief

if they had obeyed god and exactly what

he had said

that he reached the promised land a

whole lot easier and a whole lot earlier

but like many other people they took

their eyes off god

started thinking about something else

looked at uh

where they were going and who was there

and so their fear overtook them

and they as you and i would say backslid

and missed it and spent 40 years

wandering around in the wilderness dying

off when they could have been living

in the promised land so i want to talk

about this whole issue of being guided

by god

if you name the name of jesus as your

savior you should be

guided by the word of god and

when i think about that i think about

the fact that god has given us a compass

really

that compass is really the holy spirit

who lives inside of us

to give us guidance and direction every

day of our life

so i want to think for just a moment

about the fact that

these hebrews were

walking and living

in a strange country now they’re out of

captivity

and they have the scripture says a cloud

by day

and a fire by night and more than likely

if you’ll think about it that cloud by

day

also kept a little bit of the sun off of

them but it also acted like a compass as

a guide

they also had fire in the evening which

probably kept them a little warm from a

desert breeze

and so god is leading them out of

egyptian bondage

and he’s leading him to a whole

different perspective

if they will follow him they will be in

canaan

shortly the place that god has preserved

for him and yet that’s not what happens

and so what i want us to think about for

just a moment

is this whole idea of who guides us

we have this as our guide so we don’t

have to wonder about

how god thinks about certain things and

how he feels about certain things

we have the word of god to give us

guidance and direction

and we thank god for that so

if we want to be guided by god there’s

certain things we need to remember

and some people don’t think about having

a guide they just think about

in the morning they wake up and face

life and they deal with life today

they’ll deal with life tomorrow and it’s

the next day and so forth

god does own us living that way that’s

why he gave us the holy spirit

when we were saved to endure us and one

of his responsibilities

is to guide us in every circumstance of

life

every area of our life is within the

scope

of his vision of his power and of his

will

and so what we have to ask is this am i

willing to live by his guidance and

direction in my life

am i willing to be guided by god i or my

god just going to have it my way

and so the children of israel

once out of a bondage could have

had a fantastic life soon

but they chose not to do it many people

today

have heard the gospel they’ve heard it

clearly

they heard it from their parents or they

heard it from a preacher from an

evangelist or whatever it might be

they’ve heard the truth they’ve made a

decision

just like you you’ve made a decision you

made a decision to trust christ as your

savior

you made a decision to listen to the

holy spirit who indwelled you

you made a decision to be careful

to be obedient to god because you know

in your heart that obedience always

brings blessing

and disobedience brings to something

entirely different

so the issue is this when i think about

what

they had a pill of cloud and

fire to guide them keep them warm keep

them cool

lead them to the promised land what do

we have and that’s this book

there’s not any direction of your life

that’s not covered here whatever you’re

looking for whatever you’re seeking

whatever guidance

you desire in life you open the word of

god and he will give you that

living in this world reading the bible

every now and then is not sufficient

we live in a wicked vile world it’s very

evident from what we see happening

and we live in a world that is against

god

against the lord jesus christ and

opposed to so many things that you and i

believe so we have to decide

am i going to live by my emotions

am i going to live by what other people

are doing or am i going to live by the

one thing that i know will

absolutely give me clear true

true true guidance every single day of

my life

that’s the word of god so i want us to

think about

that and when i think about what god

says

number one meditating upon the word of

god now those hebrews didn’t have this

we have something they didn’t have and

if you will look at the

119th psalm for a moment

and i want you to notice a verse here

and the scripture says

in this 119th psalm

and verse 105 your word

is a lamp to my feet and the light to my

path

now look at that do you believe that the

word of god

is a lamp to your feet which means

he will always show you the right path

to take

and a light to my path that is what the

cloud and the fire were to israel

in those days of desert times the word

of god is to us

what is it a light to my path and

a lamp to my feet that is if you want to

go

and you want to be in the right place at

the right time you get in the word of

god

you say well the word of god doesn’t

know everything about me

listen the god who penned these words

knows

exactly where you are what you’re facing

in life

and listen there is a passage of

scripture

here somewhere in this book that applies

to who you are

where you are today no matter who you

are and it is an adequate word to give

you guidance and direction

the problem is not that we don’t have

direction the problem is

we’ve closed the book and if the nation

of israel had said

forget the cloud and forget

the fire let’s just go where we want to

go that’s exactly the way people are

living

and many people only open the word of

god when they’re in trouble

a lamp to my feet a light to your path

listen you and i should always be

walking in the path of

righteousness and what’s good we have we

know which way to walk

and god has told us that secondly we

need to be sensitive to the leadership

of the holy spirit

and one of the things that jesus made

very very clear

to his apostles he said i’m not going to

leave you

alone he says i will come to you and he

was speaking of

of the holy spirit and and the

scriptures he

makes it very very clear the 16th

chapter

and uh in this 13th verse he says

when he the spirit of truth comes and

all of us have the holy spirit living

within us

he will guide you listen to this he will

guide you into all the truth

so that if you own a copy of the word of

god

you don’t have any excuse for not being

able to discern what is right what is

wrong

what it’s true and what is untrue what’s

good what’s evil

we live in a world with all kind of

philosophies

and telling us that well you know jesus

that’s the ancient times no

jesus is alive living within us today

and he says when he the spirit of truth

comes

he will guide you into all the truth for

he will not speak

on his own initiative but whatever he

hears he will speak

and he will disclose it to you that is

what’s to come that is

watch think about this when you wake up

every morning

as a follower of jesus you have abiding

within you

living within you in all of his eternal

power and being

the very person of the holy spirit to

give you guidance

direction strength energy discernment

and all the rest

all day long we have everything we need

to live a godly life

and so when somebody says well i got

saved way back yonder and

somewhere i just felt like god left me

no he didn’t leave you

and you may be seated here today and

you’re just absolutely

a backslidden christian you’re living in

sin disobedient to god

looking back and thinking about what

your mother taught you years ago

it’s brought back to you some things

that you learned right after you got

saved and

when you were surrendered to jesus and

you look back and you

ask yourself this question how did i get

where i am i’ll tell you how

you got where you are because you close

this book you stop

listening to the holy spirit who’s

living within you you decide to make

some choices apart from god

now you’re in a mess you cannot blame it

on your parents

on your children who you work for your

friends or whatever it might be

god gave us the book is a guidebook

think about this every one of us is

responsible to almighty god

to be good stewards of the knowledge and

the experience

that the word of god tells us about

about every single circumstance of our

life

we’re to be we’re to be guided by the

spirit

then one of the things we have to wait

for if we’re going to follow the lord

is to wait for his timing and one of my

favorite verses

is isaiah 64.

and when i think about

this verse and how many times i’ve read

it and

have said yes lord please give me wisdom

enough

to do exactly what it says and so

here’s what it says in this 64th chapter

listen this for from days of old they

have not heard or perceived by ear

nor has the i seen a god besides you are

like you

listen a god who acts on behalf of the

one

who waits for him so ask yourself the

question

well let’s say when you get up in the

morning you’re going to start the day

off with prayer

you get up and you get on your knees or

you read the scripture and then you just

take off

what does the bible say about waiting

upon god

if you’re going to read the word of god

listen carefully let’s just say you’re

going to read the 23rd psalm which you

already know by heart

you know what makes the scripture stick

in your

life what makes it register in your mind

in your brain what causes you to be able

to remember it

is when you read it you think about it

you forget everything else for the

moment and you ask yourself this

question and you talk to god about it

lord help me to remember what you’re

saying

don’t let me forget this simple verse

you

act in behalf of those who wait upon you

how much time did we spend waiting upon

and we said well i read my scripture

this morning and

i had to hurry up think about this every

single day of your life in my life

is totally uncertain and what’s

happening about us is very

evident of that we need to begin

every day in the word even if it’s

one verse or a whole chapter or whatever

it might be

remembering that the spirit of god

who lives within us

takes that word drives it to our mind

to our heart to our spirit and does what

intends to use it to guide us throughout

the day

god has given you the most treasured

thing you own

you can stack up all of your stocks and

bonds and money over here

and cars and houses and farms and

whatever it might be over here

none of that all of it together can

equal this

because none of that can get you to

heaven

only the word of god can get you to

heaven and only the word of god

god can give you clear instruction for

your life

so likewise

if i’m following him i’m going to be

able to walk

sometimes where it’s not clear i want

you to turn to one of my favorite

passages

proverbs 3 speaking of guidance and

direction

verse 5 trust in the lord

with all your heart do not lean

on your own understanding in all your

ways

not some of them acknowledge him look to

him

listen to him wait for him and he will

make your paths

straight instead of crooked listen to

this

do not be wise in your own

eyes fear the lord and turn away from

evil and he says

here’s what you can expect it’ll be

healing to your body

and refreshment to your bones

what can promise you that and if you

just had one passage of scripture that

you want to memorize

and say you can you can say you can say

that passage to yourself every morning

and praise god

listen when you put the key in your

ignition and you turn it what do you

expect to have

is that all you expect to happen you

expect the engine to start right

when you read this passage of scripture

daily

or quote it to yourself and you’ll find

yourself quoting it to yourself often

what happens something turns on inside

of you

and you know what that is that is your

awareness

of the spirit of the living god who will

guide you enable

you empower you give you understanding

how to face every circumstance of life

today

listen god has given us this because he

knows

we can’t live a successful life from his

perspective or even

from our own unless we are doing what

we have they had their eyes on the cloud

by day and the fire by night

to be sure they walked in the right

direction we have the word of god

to do what to give us clarity

understanding

and insight so we can walk

in a holy way every day of our life

the word of god we’re talking about

being guided by it

here’s some verses that i just want you

to remember so i want you to turn to

joshua for example

and um let’s let’s look at

the first chapter joshua another one of

my favorite passages

because i had to turn to this

many times i remember when i preached my

first sermon

i can still see my mom she called me

she came into my bedroom and she says i

want you to read this

before you preach your first sermon

tonight because she knew i was a little

bit frightened

but here’s what my mother gave me

she says i want you to read this verse

have i not commanded you to be strong

and courageous do not tremble or be

dismayed

for the lord your god is with you

wherever you go

so i read that about two or three times

i wrote it down

when i got i walked out about two blocks

from my church

when i got i remember i was standing on

the street calling a light

there and so i pulled my little note

and uh then i turned to the bible and

just stood there for a moment and read

that verse

and the first sermon i preached uh

you thought i’ve been preaching a long

time but it had nothing to do with me

because in my mind the bible says have

not

commanded you to be strong and of a good

courage fear not need to be there as me

for the lord thy god is with you

wherever you go watch this carefully

if you walk in the spirit of god

you’ll have to be strong and courageous

because god is going to tell you

don’t go here and you have to decide

whether you’re strong enough

to be obedient to god or you yield the

pressure from somebody else or whatever

be strong and courageous fear not

neither be that dismayed

but the lord your god’s with you how

blessed we are to have the word of god

and it’s our light and our fire and our

direction

and our help and our hope and our

strength and our energy

and there’s something about reading the

word of god that does energize us

because what happens is this we are

reminded

of the presence of the holy spirit

within us

we’re reminded he’s the one who empowers

us

strengthens us guides us helps us keeps

us

protects us we’re reminded we have

within us the living god

in the person of the holy spirit we

should be able to start

every day with confidence and boldness

and assurance

and when you look around to see what’s

happening not a single person

knows whether they’ll be able to get

home tonight or not

we live by faith we live by hope

and many people live by a faith that

they don’t even realize what that

faith’s all about

the truth is those of us who have a copy

of the word of god

and lived by the word of god know the

source of our hope and of our strength

and we know the source of our protection

and our watch care

you and i have the written living

perfect word of god to give us direction

about

every single solitary aspect

of our life with no exception you can’t

think of anything the word of god

doesn’t have an answer for

that some people would say well i’ve

asked god about some things he didn’t

answer well you probably aren’t

listening very carefully

or probably you

didn’t like his answer but everywhere in

the word of god

he’s got a word for us so i think about

we’re going to find ourselves facing

conflict and so somebody says well

you don’t know where i work and i go to

work every single day

and i go to work in a situation that’s

not very helpful

not very encouraging and so i want to

give you this passion scripture in

acts chapter 5 and

verse 29 listen to what he says

peter and the apostles answer to those

who are persecuting them

we must obey god rather than men

the god of our fathers raised up jesus

whom you have put to death by hanging

him on a cross

he is the one whom god exalted to his

right hand as a prince

and a savior to grant repentance to

israel and forgiveness of sins

we are witnesses of these things

and so is the holy spirit whom god has

given to those

of us who obey him listen you have the

treasure of god deposited in your life

to do what for guidance and direction

think about this would god ask you to do

something he wouldn’t help you do

no but if you don’t know about the holy

spirit

you would end up doing it in your own

strength and energy

this is why oftentimes people just they

say well

i’ve tried to live a christian life but

somehow i’m not doing too well

the spirit of god who indwells one of us

is the spirit of god who endures every

single one of us

and he has equipped us and enabled us to

face difficulty in hardship and

opposition

so if i should ask you this morning how

many of you have been through a tough

time in your life

and the only thing you had was god was

he there

all of you to raise your hand if you if

you know

that he’s been there you know that there

have been times when all you had was god

the bottom dropped out the sides fell

off the top disappeared and there you

are

helpless and hopeless and the only thing

you have is almighty god

when people say to me once in a while

one of these days

i’m going to think about becoming a

christian but

i think to myself think about this

who said you have one of these days

the only day you and i have for sure

is right now and the spirit of god

the spirit of god came to live in our

life to do it

to give us assurance so that we don’t

have to worry about today

we just live in his presence knowing

that he’s within us

he is our god and our guard and our

health and our strength and everything

we need

so we can live happily we can live with

a discerning spirit to know some things

that are not wise for us to do and if

for example if god

let’s say you headed into some store or

something or whatever it might be and

you had a reservation in your spirit

don’t do that

and you say well why not let me just say

this to you when the spirit of god tells

you

something do exactly what he says

he said if he tells you if he tells you

don’t do that don’t argue with him and

ask him to tell you why

he is under no obligation to answer your

why

his obligation is to give you direction

guidance and protection if i disobey him

i suffer the consequence

god speaks to all of his children once

you trusted him as your personal savior

the spirit came into your life to do

what they give you direction

and all these other things we talked

about so therefore

you have you have living within you

holy god in the person of the holy

spirit and

one of his primary responsibilities is

to give direction to

your life and to show us what to do not

to do

where to go and not to go who to meet

and what not to meet

what to buy not to buy where to live and

not in other words

he has the answers you say i can’t just

go around asking god what to do why not

you have within you the voice of the

living god

who will urge you not to do something

and i i can just tell you something this

very week

i was working on and i thought i had

this all planned out and so forth

and it’s like at the last minute

god just gave me a check in my spirit so

i had realized lord

that was my choice we can do what we

believe is right it wasn’t a matter of

right or wrong

it was a matter of wise or unwise or the

proper thing to do

and so god is just as willing to speak

to you and i wish i knew how to get this

into your mind

you listen and say amen god

will speak to you personally

it won’t be loud you won’t hear it with

your ears

you will hear it with your spirit

now listen carefully if you’re living in

sin

here’s what that does put something

between you and the spirit

you don’t you don’t quite hear it if

you’re not hearing god it’s because

you’re not

listening because god wants to protect

you and give you guidance and wisdom and

direction

it’s so clear to me when all of a sudden

it’s a check

that that that’s not the right direction

that that’s not that’s not what i want

you to do

in it’s crystal clear and he will do the

same thing for you if you listen if you

say to him lord

i’m coming to being obedient watch this

i’m committed to being obedient

god’s committed to showing you what

obedience is

but if you say lord i want you to show

me your will and so

you think that’s not exactly what i want

to do you do something else

next time you ask god the next time the

next time after a while you don’t even

ask him

many of god’s people are living

oblivious

to the very presence of holy god who

lives within them

and so they wonder why they get in

trouble do things they shouldn’t do go

away they shouldn’t go

see you name it it’s not because god

doesn’t care

it’s not because god’s not speaking it’s

because we’re not listening

listen carefully it’s dangerous

absolutely

dangerous in this day and time to live

close to god

we all need him and he’s just that clear

that you may be sitting in you may be

thinking well i don’t think

that’s absolutely necessary and and i

don’t think

i just don’t think god will speak to me

that way yes

he will asking

listen to this asking that you’ve been

given you

seek in this you’ll find knocking that

shall be open unto you

everyone who asks receives seeks finds

knocks opens

as a promise so do you believe the word

of god

if you believe the word of god you must

believe that when you come to him and

ask

whatever the situation is he will

answer your petition i believe one of

the most

important lessons we learn as a believer

is how

do you listen to god now

you heard me say this many many times

obey god and do what

is that what you’re doing are you

obeying god leading all the consequences

to him

what that says is obey god and trust him

with everything

would you say that god is trustworthy

that he can handle your everything

absolutely

for the hebrews it was a cloud by day

fire by night and trusting

moses for us

it’s the living word of god

that we have with us every day of our

life

we can find out whatever we need to find

out

we can find clear direction for every

single issue in life

you said you mean to tell me do you you

believe that god will give you direction

for every single thing in your life yes

like what what would he not give me

direction for

god listen god doesn’t act like we do

god is true to his word and in these

days

this book is the most important

possession

you have because here’s the source of

all the promises of almighty god

and so many of us here are grandparents

what have you ever said to your

grandchildren about the bible

have you ever made that an issue with

them

who do you talk to about the word of god

or do you just take it for granted

this to us is like a cloud by day

fire by night and moses was their leader

the holy spirit is our leader so look

how precious we are

look how good god is to us he let us be

born in the time when we got it right

here

and the holy spirit to god is in this

if you’ve never trusted jesus as your

savior you should do so immediately

how did i do that you asked god to

forgive you of your sins

you acknowledged him that you believe

that his death on the cross

paid your sin dead in full and that if

you confess your sins and surrender your

life to him and accept him as your

savior

by faith that he forgives your sins

writes your name in the lamb’s book of

life and you’re forever a child of god

and dwelt by the holy spirit who will

help you interpret his word

the rest of your life that’s who you are

father we bless you and praise you

worship you and adore you

treasure dear god your precious word

and pray that you will lead every person

who hears or watches this message

to know the truth and to walk in your

ways

but we ask it in jesus name amen

amen

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you