Who Is Leading Your Relationship?

Romans 8:13: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.“

This is the way the Lord wants us to live our lives, that we are so connected to the Holy Spirit that we are continually listening to His every word. I believe that this is not something that comes naturally but must be developed. I think this is why In I Kings, Elijah, who was hiding in cave and God began to speak to him, it says that God’s voice was not in the wind, or the earthquake, or in the roaring fire, but was in the still, small voice. 

Have you ever been around someone who when they went to talk to you, they talked in such a quiet soft voice that you really had to listen to hear them? What do we do when we are in that situation? We move closer so we can hear them. I believe that the Holy Spirit is continually speaking to us but much of the time we don’t hear Him. 

Why don’t we hear? One is because we are not expecting to hear His voice. I think that many times the Holy Spirit is speaking through the interpreter of the word, or in other words we don’t recognize His voice because we don’t know the word like we should. The shame of this it that we miss many opportunities the Lord is giving us because we don’t recognize the voice of the Lord. Sometimes those opportunities come packaged in situations that we just don’t recognize them as such.

The Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 16:9 recognized one of those times when he said.

“For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” The opportunity many times comes to us wrapped in a package that we just don’t see. 

Many times, we talk about how we want to win our loved ones and yet don’t see those times that we can make a statement that causes them to realize that they really need the Lord. One way is for them to recognize that our faith is not just a passing fancy and that we are really trying to live for the Lord.

How many of those opportunities come our way but we just don’t see that as an opportunity to help them to come to the Lord?

The brother-in-law who buys the new boat and comes by at 9:00 A.M. on a Sunday and say come with me. The relatives who want to come and see you but the only time they come is at 11:00 A.M. on Sunday.  Do they know what you do on Sunday Morning? Do they know that is church time for you and your family?

The Bible warns us about being unequally yoked with those who don’t believe. But then in I Corinthians 5:9-13 it tells us to not have fellowship with those sexually immoral people, but then Paul tells us who he was talking about. He says “Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.” No, He says if he was not talking about not having fellowship with those people of the world then we would have to take out of the world. 

So, I believe that it is our purpose in having fellowship with unbelievers but in that relationship, who is leading who? If those who are unbelievers are leading you and leading you away from the Lord and church, if they always seem to be leading you away from the Lord, then you probably need to break that fellowship. But also, what about you? Do they know where you stand in the Lord? Are you praying that God would give you a door of opportunity to share with them the Gospel of Jesus Christ? But, even more important, are you listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit when He tells you to speak up for your Lord Jesus Christ? 

Pastor Lee Cruse, as we see the days growing closer to the time or the arrival of our Lord do we realize that the opportunities are growing less and less? The Lord has told us “This is the day of Salvation” so let us take advantage of it.