Being Led By The Spirit

Let's just lift our Bibles up, wave them around and make Jesus glad and the devil mad.

And let's say this together Say Heavenly Father, I'm so glad to be here today.

I exalt your holy name.

Thank you for the Word of God, thank you for the precious Holy Spirit.

It's the Word and the Spirit that are working together in my life to put me over in every circumstance.

God, you're not restrained to save, by many or by few.

I'm not intimidated.

I've got the victory in Jesus name.

Amen, amen.

Let's turn in our Bibles.

Please couple of places Romans 8 and also Proverbs 20, and we'll start with Romans 8.

First.

Romans 8, 14, very familiar verse.

Romans 8 is one of the great chapters of the Bible.

You know all the Bibles are great, but you know there's certain chapters that just are filled with good news.

Romans 8, 14 says for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

So if that's true and how many of you believe it's true, then the converse is true.

I mean, I learned that in math.

You know if A plus B equals C, you know then A plus C equals B.

I mean, you know, you just switch it around.

So we could say it this way as many as are the sons of God, they are led by the Spirit of God.

If you're saved, you're led.

Just that simple.

It's a fact.

It's not a promise.

Oh yeah, god promised them.

No, he didn't promise you anything.

He said you're led.

You are led.

Now, whether you identify the leading as another matter, but you're led.

You're being constantly lit.

And then in Proverbs 20, 27, it says the spirit of man is the candle, or the lamp of the Lord, and it searcheth all the inward parts of the belly.

Your spirit is like a lamp.

In my margins, a candle means lamp.

God lights.

I like Proverbs 18.

The Lord will light my candle.

He will enlighten my darkness.

So I wanted to share some messages entitled being led by the spirit.

I don't know how far I'll go, but I know for today I wanted to get you.

Many of you've heard this.

I look back on my life, and especially in the financial area, where we preached recently on receiving your kingdom supply.

And you know, without being led by the Holy Ghost, you're going to miss your supply.

I'm testifying now.

I'm testifying of a fact that you can be a tither, you can be generous in your giving, you can check all the boxes that we talk about all the time, but if you are not led by the Spirit, you will miss out.

It's not automatic, folks.

It's not automatic.

We have to be at the right place at the right time, doing the right thing with the right people, and that's a function of being what Led by the Spirit.

So, being led by the Spirit, and every Christian has a right to be led by the Spirit and, as a matter of fact, every Christian is led by the Spirit.

And how does God lead us?

Well, he leads us by His Spirit in our spirit.

You know, I've been ordained minister.

Now this is my what?

36th year, and even before that I did a lot of ministry before that, before I was officially ordained.

And so 40 some odd years of ministering to people, and my experience is most people just go by their feelings.

Very few Christians are led by the spirit.

They're led by circumstances, they're led by their emotions, they're led by you know what they can see, touch, taste, smell and feel.

They're led by their five senses.

And that's not how God leads us.

You know, I hear people still hear people say well, I'm going to set a fleece, well, you're going to get fleeced.

Gideon set a fleece.

Well, gideon set a fleece.

Well, gideon, yeah, I know, gideon set a fleece.

He's Old Testament.

He didn't have the Spirit of God living on the inside of him.

He was a spiritually dead person.

God honored his faith and you know, oh Lord, just let this fleece of wool be sopping wet in the morning and let the earth be dry, if you're calling me to be the deliverer.

And it was.

And he said okay, don't get mad at me, but in the morning, you know, he had to have another test.

He tested God second time.

This time let the fleece be dry and the ground be wet, and it was.

And so we've got Christians that try to set fleeces and tell God you know, if you want me to such and such, then you do so.

And so, well, no, that's not how it works.

No, he leads you by his spirit in your spirit.

God is a spirit, he's not a mind, he's not a body.

He leads you in your spirit.

And so we've been given a supernatural guidance system.

Everybody say I've got a supernatural guidance system.

What a shame if we don't pay any attention to the guidance system.

I mean, it is absolutely tried and true, it's foolproof.

Once you learn what, you see, it takes some faith to actually operate in what I'm talking about.

You have to have faith and that's one reason why I believe God leads us the way he does, because every time we identify his leading and obey it, we're walking by faith, and that pleases God.

You know, if God had to send an angel to tell you what to do every time, it wouldn't take very much faith.

If he had to appear to you and tell you what to do, it wouldn't take very much faith.

But when you've got to identify his leading in your spirit, see, that's why I'm teaching this, so that you will increase in your ability to identify the leading that he gives you and that your faith will grow, your confidence.

Faith and confidence the same thing.

When you first start doing this, it's a little bit scary, if I can use the term.

It's a little bit wow really.

But oh, I tell you, the rewards are great.

So we don't have to wonder, we don't have to wander, we can walk confidently, led by the Holy Ghost.

You know God's on your side, he's not working against you, he's working for you.

He's working for you.

He's not trying to make it hard.

Well, I don't understand why he can't just tell me.

You know, when I first got saved, god talked to me day and night.

I mean, I heard his voice.

When I first got saved, it just was the most amazing thing.

I just couldn't get over it that God cared about every little thing and he would talk to me.

I'd be in the shower and he'd start talking to me and he'd I don't know if you had that experience, but I had that experience.

And then one day, you know, after a while, after I'd been in the word, a while going to church, a while growing up, a little while, you know, I heard a voice and it wasn't God and I obeyed that voice and, oh, it was a mistake and I had to learn the hard way that God just doesn't.

He's not going to talk all the time.

He's going to, he's going to get you to listen to him.

According to his witness, the witness of the spirit.

Say, how does he lead you?

Well, he leads you first of all by the word, and he leads you by the spirit.

The word.

You know.

How does he lead you?

Well, he leads you first of all by the word, and he leads you by the spirit, the word.

You know how does he lead you by the word?

Well, this word right here is the logos.

That's why I tell you to read your bible so you'll know what it says, especially the epistles that's written to and for the church.

Some of the gospels are written to jews.

Jesus wasn't sent to us, he was sent to the lost sheep of the gospels are written to Jews.

Jesus wasn't sent to us, he was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

So a lot of people get all confused when they get, when they start quoting Jesus where Jesus wasn't talking necessarily to the church.

Sometimes he was talking to the Pharisees.

He said you're of your father, the devil, the works of your father.

He said you're of your father, the devil, the works of your father, you shall do.

Well, he's not talking to you.

See, people get all.

You know they get all crossed up.

But the epistles are for you and of course all of it's for you, but not all of it's to you.

This is the general will of God.

Teaches us how to live as Christians.

You know, we did a marriage and family series recently and it was interrupted by the storm so we didn't get to preach the last week and answer a bunch of questions, but we'll get back around to it.

But it tells husbands how to be a husband, it tells you how to treat your wife, it tells wives how to be a wife and how to treat your husband and it tells both of you how to be parents and tells kids how to treat their parents and obey your parents.

It's the first commandment with a promise It'll go well with you that you live a long life.

I tell you it matters when you take care of your parents.

It'll be a long life, janae, I'm telling you you've got blessings.

You took such good care of your daddy.

Good care of your daddy, good care of your daddy, showered him with love.

I remember last time he was here he was right over there.

He came up in the wheelchair and I didn't know Claire.

She said you know, dad, I don't ever pray like this.

Mom prays like this, but I don't usually pray like this.

I said rise up and walk and he started trying to get up out of that chair and I didn't know what she had prayed.

I went down there and I put my hands on his lower legs under his on his shins and knelt there in front of the chair and, you know, prayed in tongues and released the power of God.

And when he got back to his chair he got up and walked a few steps.

Last last time he walked was right here in the church.

Now he's walking and dancing in the streets of gold Glory to God, up and down.

Oh, wow.

So anyway, the Word, see, you know it tells you how to live and if you're an employer, how to treat your employees.

If you're an employee, how to be a good employee.

Don't be murmuring and complaining against your employer.

If your favor's dried up, start getting your resume together and look for another place to jump.

Don't just be part of the boo-boo crowd.

You can't get blessed by criticizing.

See the Bible.

This is the general will of God.

If you get lined up with the general will of God, then the specific will of God is going to become a place of discovery for you.

You're going to be able to pick up, and you're nowhere.

You're going to be able to pick it up.

What do I mean by that?

The witness of the Spirit.

See in Romans 8, 16,.

It says the Spirit himself bears witness, with our spirit that we are the children of God.

1 John 5, 10 says we have the witness in ourself, the witness of the Spirit.

So it just follows then that if God used a witness to let you know you were saved, say you didn't, you know, you didn't have Jesus appear to you, you didn't have somebody come up to you and say oh, I know you're saved, you're saved.

Oh, they said, I was saved, I must be saved.

No, you didn't know it that way.

You knew it because of the witness.

You just knew down in your knower.

I mean, I had a supernatural experience with the Lord, and I won't give my whole testimony, but on a Friday night, you know, I committed my life to him, and that was the night I was born again.

I didn't say that, though I didn't know that.

I just said look, lord, you take over.

Everything I've done up to now has been nothing.

I've been a total failure.

I give you my life, you can use me.

I make you Lord.

And I went to bed that night, slept for the first time in months.

I was depressed, I couldn't sleep.

I'd have to stay up at night till 2, 2.30 in the morning and I'd get up at 6 the next morning, start the whole process.

By 9 I was at Mini Mac's buying me my first six pack of beer and I'm you know, I'm just that's how it's been for almost a year.

And that night I slept like a baby.

And then we went to a meeting.

And that night we went to a full gospel meeting and my wife was healed, my mother was healed of osteoporosis, and the next morning we made our first trip to Lakewood.

I was my first service at Lakewood and all of that.

You know all of that.

And then on Monday I met my former partner.

He and I were partners in the home building business, but before that he was my banker.

I borrowed lots of money from him and we got to know each other Kearney Rivette, president of Allied Spring Bank and he quit that to go into home building business.

And then after that I was talking to him and helping him with his business and everything, and he and I would ride together every day.

So I picked him up and we started riding and I gave him my whole testimony and at the end of about 45 minutes of solid me talking and he was so sweet, he just listened to every word I said, didn't interrupt and I said oh, I don't know, kearney, I guess what you?

What I'm trying to say is I've been born again.

See, I didn't ever say it out of my mouth until Monday, but all the time I knew I had the witness that I would belong to him.

It gave me the peace it passes all understanding.

And then I woke up that day and I realized I hadn't cussed since Friday.

He delivered me from a foul mouth.

I'm glad this was so happy.

Turn the air blue.

I'm talking about the witness now.

So doesn't it follow then that the witness of the spirit, it's foolproof, it can't be counterfeited.

Listen, there's many voices.

First corinthians says there's many voices in the world, none without significance.

You start asking God to speak to you in a voice and you're listening for a voice.

You're going to hear one, but it might not be the holy ghost and that's what I discovered right away.

You know I started I was dependency as a baby Christian.

I was wanting him to talk to me, just like a mama talks to her baby, and you know, babies they cry and mama knows what they need.

It's amazing.

It's a supernatural relationship between mother and child and it's the way it is with God.

But you know he's going to let you grow.

That's not good for you.

You need to grow up and learn to identify the witness of the spirit.

Every believer has the witness inside.

Now we have other methods that God uses from time to time as he wills.

First of all, we have the still small voice.

That's the voice of your spirit or your conscience, and you can listen to the still small voice.

A lot of times what I've noticed over the years that people say the Lord spoke to me, but really when they describe what went on, I can tell it was their own spirit telling.

It's a still small voice, it's just barely audible, almost like a whisper.

That's your spirit talking to you to where your mind can understand it.

That's valid.

But again, if you're going to wait for a voice to move, you're going to miss a lot of what God wants to do.

And then, of course, there's the voice of the Holy Spirit, which I've heard, and you shouldn't ask for it.

You shouldn't say, oh, holy Spirit, talk to me.

No, don't ask that.

Let him decide when you need him to talk directly to you, because in my ministry, when he has talked directly to me, usually there's some really tough things ahead of me trouble, and I'm going to need a very sure assurance from him of what I'm doing.

And then you know the gifts of the spirit, the revelatory gifts, the gift of the word of knowledge, the gift of discerning a spirit seeing into the spirit realm like dreams and visions, and God can use those things as the Spirit wills.

But that is not the major way that you're to walk.

Day by day, day by day, you walk by the witness of the Spirit.

Everybody say the witness of the Spirit.

Everybody say I have the witness of the Spirit.

See, if you don't have it, then number one, then you're not saved.

But you know you're saved.

And if you say you don't have the witness, then you're saying God lied.

Well, no, no, god didn't lie, see.

So see, I'm trying.

I want to get you to where you're confident that, yes, you do have this equipment.

I mean, that's a big part of the battle right there.

Because a lot of these bad habits of setting fleeces asking God to talk to you, listening for voices wanting fleeces asking God to talk to you, listening for voices wanting some prophet to have a word over you, baloney, you don't need a word.

That's a misuse.

That's the Old Testament prophet had to tell people what to do because they didn't have the Spirit of God in them, and neither did the prophet.

He had the Spirit of God upon him, all right.

So everybody say the witness of the prophet.

He had the spirit of God upon him, all right.

So everybody say the witness of the spirit.

And so that's the major, major way.

So you don't ask for what I call spectacular guidance.

Don't stumble over the supernatural looking for the spectacular.

You've got the supernatural built in already.

It's in there, ready to be regarded, ready to be used to guide you in your direction.

How many of you want God to have his way in your life?

How many of you want to follow the Holy Ghost?

Amen, Right, I knew, I knew that was true.

Now, so brings me to the inward witness.

What exactly is it?

And I?

My favorite verse is Acts 27, 9 and 10, where Paul is, you know, in a certain place, and he's been arrested and he's going to go to appear before Caesar because he pled his case, he had an appeal.

He said I won't be judged by these people, I want to go to Caesar.

And so that was God's plan, because God wanted Caesar to have a witness.

I mean, just think about that.

The leader of the whole world, the top dog of the whole Roman Empire, god wanted him to have a witness and he moved heaven and earth to get Paul there to give him a witness.

And we don't know how the witness came out.

We don't have a record that Caesar got saved.

See, we're not responsible for the results.

We're responsible to get in the witness chair and give testimony.

So here he is and he came to the owner and the centurion of the ship and the owner of the ship.

They were planning on sailing because where they were was not a good place to spend the winter.

And Paul said sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with much hurt and great damage, not only of the lading of the ship but of our lives.

And now I just advise us, let's not sail.

I perceive See, the inward witness is a perceptionist.

See, he didn't say the Holy Ghost told me.

He didn't say the Lord appeared to me.

Did the Lord appear to him before?

Yeah, the Lord appeared to him.

He said you must stand before Caesar.

Angels appeared to him on the boat later and said fear not, paul, you must stand before Caesar.

And lo, god has given you all them that sail with thee.

See, they thought that Paul was sailing with them, but God's perspective was all those 286 people were sailing with Paul.

Glory to God.

So yeah, those spectacular leading, those spectacular guidances came, but he had first to act on, I perceive.

Everybody say I perceive.

I perceive A perception or an intuition.

It's a you know, john.

Let's look at John 11.

This is Jesus.

Here's about his beloved Lazarus.

He just loved Lazarus, martha and Mary.

He just loved them.

They lived in Judea and Bethany.

And in John 11, verse 7, then after that, he heard that Lazarus was sick and he abode two days in the same verse 6.

John 11:7

He heard that Lazarus was sick.

He abode two days in the same verse six.

He heard that Lazarus was sick.

He abode two days still in the same place where he was.

And if he loved Lazarus, why didn't he hurry up and go?

But he didn't.

He was still there two days later.

And then after two days he says then, after that, he said to his disciples let's go again into Judea.

And his disciples said master, the Jews of late sought to stone you and go with you there again.

And Jesus answers that aren't there 12 hours in the day, if any man walk in the day, he stumbleth, not because he sees the light of this world, but if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no light in him.

And then he said those things, said he.

And after that he said our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.

Oh Lord, that's really good that he's asleep.

Well, he's not asleep, he's dead, you doofus.

See, what was he waiting on?

He was waiting on the inward witness.

See, he was waiting on illumination.

He didn't have illumination to go.

See, we go by, need a lot of times.

We hear something and we go.

We have a come apart.

But you know, if we'll wait on the inward witness, the light had to turn on on the inside of him and that way he could go in confidence, knowing that it was ordered by his heavenly father.

I only do the things I see my father do.

I only say the things I hear my father say.

He said that in another place Jesus ministered on this earth, not as the son of God he was the son of God, but he ministered as a man anointed of the Holy Ghost that was subject to the witness of the Spirit.

We think that Jesus just always knew everything immediately.

He knew a lot because he had the gifts without measure.

But that's not how he lived his life.

He lived his life how by the witness.

So you know, walking in the day, I think about Brother Hagin talking about the pastor and his family that you know.

Walking in the day, I think about Brother Hagin talking about the pastor and his family that you know had a long week and it was Friday night.

He decided to take the family out to eat wife and a couple of kids and he got home and loaded them in the car and went to the restaurant, sat in the restaurant and the waitress came and brought the drinks you know, the water and the menus and all of a sudden he had a perception, he had a disturbance down in his spirit and he had an urgency to go back home.

He said you know what?

We got to go back home.

I don't know what the deal is.

We got to go home right now.

Oh, dad, this is awkward.

You know it's awkward to sit down and then get up with the water on the table.

And then get up with the water on the table.

Everybody's looking at you like what did we do wrong.

When they got home, there was a little fire that had started on the stove.

They had left a burner on and it got hot and they were able to put it out.

But if they had just went ahead and ate, I mean their house would have burned down.

I mean it's amazing, the witness of the Spirit saying God is wanting to help you.

There's no telling, when you start obeying the witness of the Spirit, a lot of these things that happen that we say you know, accidents and all that wrong place the wrong.

Listen, I mean you're not going to escape everything, but the witness of the Spirit is going to help you.

Jesus said you know I'm going to leave, but the Father's going to send a comforter.

I'm not going to leave you as orphans.

See, we're not orphans.

Glory to God.

Everybody say the inward witness.

It's a knowing or an awareness, it's a red light.

Sometimes you hesitate, a hesitancy, a lack of peace.

You know you're headed in a direction and all of a sudden, you, you have a.

You have a, you know you, you feel a hesitancy.

See, paul, I perceive we shouldn't sail.

I, I've got, I'm hesitating.

And the more he hesitated, the more he knew it was going to be really bad.

Nowhere, nowhere did it say that he had a vision.

Nowhere did it say that the Holy Ghost told him His spirit picked up stuff.

Your spirit is inside of you, next to the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost lives in there.

You live in there in your body.

A lot of things your spirit just pick up just because of its association with the Holy Ghost, because of its association with the Holy Ghost and hesitancy or a green light that ease the peace, to keep moving the way you're moving.

See, look, you can't go.

I see people take this message and then they just go.

You know A little bit wacky and they feel like they have to pray about every little thing, about guidance.

You got to keep moving, keep moving in the direction you're moving in, because God can't steer a ship at the dock.

I mean if you've got the ship sitting at the dock and the guy's waiting, well, I don't know which way to go, well, he's not going to go anywhere, he's going to sit at the dock, right.

But if he starts steaming out of the harbor, well, you know he's going to.

You know then when he turns the wheel it's going to turn.

I mean, you know God can turn you.

God can move you in the right direction, even if you're going in the wrong direction.

But get moving.

I'm just waiting on God.

Well, he's waiting on you.

Move.

Well, what if I make a mistake?

Well, see, there you go.

See, you're afraid you don't think God's big enough.

Peter started sinking and hollered at Jesus.

Jesus brought him back to the boat.

He didn't let him drown.

I tell you, I'd rather move and then have to adjust my pathway.

Sometimes we start to do something and we just stop it and say no, we're not going to do that, or we're going to quit doing that.

Brother Osteen taught me.

You know, you don't have to keep doing everything.

I mean, I hesitate to say our first annual because I don't know if we'll ever do something again.

This is our first annual taffy pull.

This is our first annual Glorious Way Church taffy pull.

We're going to do it at the same time next year.

I don't know if we will ever do it again.

We might not even do it the first time.

Are you all with me now?

It's that peace, or else the check or the hesitancy.

Brother hagan, jesus appeared to him, talked to him about these things.

Now, see that spectacular guidance.

He's a prophet, prophet c.

How many times seven or eight times jesus appeared, appeared to brother hagan and, uh, this time he was in the hospital.

And he was in the hospital not because he was sick, but he'd fallen off the platform and broke his elbow and he was feeling kind of bummed out, you know, because Brother Hagin preaches faith, he preaches health and everything, and now he's laid up in the hospital.

First time, I mean here he'd been paralyzed and got it and got over that and got you know.

Here he is laid up in the hospital.

So he hears these footsteps coming down the hall and here it is.

Jesus comes in the room, 5'10", 180 pounds, wearing sandals and a robe, sits down on the edge of the bed.

The bed sinks down.

He said well, you're in here because you've been disobedient, what?

Yeah, you know you've been.

You know you're called to be a prophet and a teacher and you've been put the wrong emphasis in your ministry.

You're not comfortable with profit and so you're a teacher and a prophet.

That's wrong emphasis.

You need to emphasize the prophet's ministry.

And so you open the door to Satan and he was able to attack you this way.

But I, I'm, I'm healing you.

You'll, you'll, you'll be through quicker than the doctors are saying, and so forth.

See, god wants to bless you as far as he can.

Sometimes he just can't bless you very far because you're way off.

So let's walk in concert with the witness of the Spirit so we can be available and eligible for all the things that God has in store for us.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, all the things that God has in store for us, hallelujah.

And then he started talking to him about being led by the Spirit.

He said now I want to talk to you about being led of the Spirit.

You know, you need to learn to walk by the witness of the Spirit.

And he started quoting these verses and this is all in his book, how to Be Led by the Spirit of God and read that years and years ago.

This is all in his book how to Be Led by the Spirit of God, and read that years and years ago.

It helped me.

But I've had to learn a lot of things the hard way on my side.

I mean it's a little hard, it's not that easy to learn.

You're going to make some mistakes, don't say that.

Well, I'm just stating the obvious.

And so Brother Hagin made mistakes.

All the men of God that I've known have made mistakes.

There are none of them infallible.

The point is, jesus is on their side.

Jesus is on your side.

So he said now you got an invitation to go to a church and he said here's what I want to show you.

He said you sat down at your desk and you wrote a letter to tell him you were coming and you'd get halfway through and wad it up and throw it in the trash.

And you've done that about six times.

He said that's the witness of the spirit telling you not to go.

That I'm telling you now face to face.

I'm telling you don't go there because that church will not accept what you preach.

But this is the last time I'm ever going to lead you that way.

This is the last time I'm going to tell you face to face what to do.

You're going to have to learn to lean on the witness of the spirit.

Say, oh, I tell you thank God for what we have been taught, and the shoulders on the great men and women of God that we stand, that we can learn from their mistakes, learn from their successes.

Come on, lift your hands right now.

Thank God for the witness of the Spirit.

Just say that out loud.

Thank God for the witness of the Spirit.

Sometimes I think we think it's, like you know, lesser.

No, it's not lesser, it's supernatural.

It's supernatural.

It can't be counterfeited.

Voices can be counterfeited, visions can be counterfeited, dreams can be counterfeited Anything like that, anything spectacular, can be counterfeited.

The witness can't be counterfeited.

I got a call from real estate agents.

They were in charge of houses that I was building in a Cypresswood subdivision at the time.

Cypresswood, the developer was a partnership between King Ranch and Exxon King Ranch.

You've heard of King Ranch.

Well, they had a partnership.

It was called Friendswood Development Company.

They're still around.

I don't know whether they still have the same makeup, but back in the 80s they did 70s and 80s they had a partnership between Exxon and Friendswood.

And here I am just an individual builder, family-owned building companies.

All of my guys that I knew were builders.

We're just individual guys.

We're not traded on the stock exchange, we don't have a lot of clout.

But they had some lots that they wanted to unload and they called me and said hey, we've got these five lots and they were big lots.

They were a typical lot in those days that I would build a house on was a quarter of an acre.

These were three quarters of an acre and a typical lot that I would buy to build up my house on would be at $12,000 to $15,000.

These were $5,000.

So I looked at that, I looked at $5,000.

I looked at $15,000.

I looked at one quarter of an acre and three quarters of an acre and I thought, hey, this is, and I had one house to my name.

We had one house to sell that was finished and we had no other houses.

Well, that meant, since I didn't have any other houses, I had no other cash flow.

In fact, the only cash flow that I had was out because I had to pay the interest on that.

One finished house sitting in the subdivision hadn't sold yet.

So this is an opportunity for me to get started at a real good situation and I can put these houses up and I get a cash flow again and have something in the deal.

But so what I didn't know is they were about to sell a whole bunch of houses and lots to Perry Homes.

Well, perry Homes is traded on the stock exchange.

Perry Holmes borrows their money from Wall Street, not from the bank, and Perry Holmes gets interest rates on their money a lot less than me, two above prime on my side, with interest paid every month.

They might have to pay interest at the end.

I mean I didn't know that's what they were going to do, but I mean, you know, they knew.

So they're going to get a sucker.

I'm the sucker Guess, who knew that the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost knew that I'm being played for a sucker.

But John and his infinite wisdom as a home builder and businessman, and his infinite wisdom as a home builder and businessman, I just went forward, went forward, went forward, and then I had that hesitancy.

The hesitancy finally hit in and I just didn't, you know, and I knew the papers were at the office for me to sign and I just didn't show up, didn't show up and they finally called and said look, we can't hold this any longer.

We've got people we've been talking to.

If you don't want these, just let us know.

We'll, you know.

I said, no, I'm coming.

And as I sat down and I put my name to that page and I signed my name and I'm obligating myself to build about a, you know a million and a half dollars worth of houses, that's what I'm doing.

I'm fixing to obligate myself to spend, I'm buying the lots and I have to build houses on the lots.

It's a million and a half as I did, I mean, I was almost violently ill.

The Spirit of God was so witnessing with my spirit, a hesitation and, just, you know, the fear of man.

I thought what are they going to think?

See, the pastor went home and saved his house from burning down because he didn't care what the waitress and the owner of the restaurant thought.

Why in the world would I care what a bunch of real estate salesmen think of me?

Anyway, they think I'm a sucker, and I was.

So I overrode the witness of the Spirit, signed my name and I went into a 10-year situation.

It took 10 years.

In fact, the starting of this church was the end of that financial trial that I started when I signed my name against the witness.

Are you getting anything out of this?

I'm telling you the witness of the spirit If you'll learn to follow the witness of the spirit of God, he will make you rich.

If you do the other things, if you're a giver, if you're a tither and a giver, you have to do the other things too, but he will preserve you, he will help you, he's on your side.

All right.

So, being led by the Spirit, I got six things real quick.

Number one we've established this, but I want to say it again it's absolutely God's will for you to be led by the Spirit.

In fact, the Holy Ghost is leading you.

He's leading you whether you know what to do or not.

Well, what do you mean by that?

Well, number two develop your prayer life and pray much in other tongues.

You're going to have to pray and you're going to have to develop your prayer life more successfully, praying in other tongues, especially because when you pray in tongues, your spirit prayeth and the leading that you have is spiritual.

It's not the lot's cheap, the lot's big.

That's not the leading, that's the flesh.

That's what I can see, that's what I can touch, taste, smell, feel.

That's not the leading.

The leading is down in here, and when you pray in tongues, your spirit becomes active.

So, pray much in other tongues and pray.

Have a prayer life.

Number three read your Bible every day.

Because why?

Because this is the logos If you'll, if you'll dedicate yourself to looking at the general will of God and use this Bible as a mirror.

Don't just read it for information, read it as a mirror.

Look in the mirror and see how you're doing.

Baby, make yourself accountable.

If Jesusesus is lord, this word is lord.

And let me tell you, when you read your bible, you can find out oh, I'm not, I'm jesus is not lord in that area of my life, lord, forgive me, I need to do better on that, see.

In other words, my number four is walk in the light of the word when you read, read it, check up on yourself and see if you're walking in the light of the word, because you are walking in the light of the spirit when you do, when you walk in love.

Read 1 Corinthians 13 in the Amplified yeah, gary, I double dog.

Dare you to read it in the Amplified and see if you can't find a room of improvement in your love walk, because it's pretty high standard and most people just don't ever hit that.

Well, what's the big deal?

You mean God's punishing?

No, you're opening the door to Satan to steal, kill and destroy.

And when you don't walk in light of the word, then you're not going to be able to discover clearly the witness of the spirit.

It's going to be blurry.

You've got a weak connection down here.

So it's God's will for you to be led.

In fact he is leading you.

Develop your prayer life, pray in other tongues, read your Bible every day and walk in the light of it.

Walk in love, forsake wrath, tell the truth, honor your word, amen.

Yeah, when you say you're going to do something, do it.

You know, while I'm on that subject, I mean success many times comes from saying no.

Just because somebody asks you to do something doesn't mean you have to say yes.

A lot of times we get all diverted out of God's plan for our life because we've said yes to too many things.

That might be good, they might be good, but they're not God.

So think before you say yes and then, if you say yes, well then follow through.

You know, when you start really walking in the light of the word and you start doing what it says, it will set you free from being a man pleaser and being somebody that just does everything that everybody.

Well, I just want you to come to our little party.

We're going to have a little me, me, me, me, me.

People mean well, but they're not you and they don't.

They don't.

Most people don't walk in the spirit like you, and so you've got to, you've got to.

Sometimes you have to say no to certain things.

I don't know who that's for Somebody.

Number five instantly obey the leading you receive.

When you identify a leading, obey it.

Now.

This is the interesting part.

See, this is the interesting part.

See this church.

He is here because I obeyed the witness of the Spirit.

Nowhere in this Bible did it say start your church on January 29th 1995, and the address is going to be 6827 FM, 1960, west Houston, texas, 77066.

Nowhere, and he didn't appear to me and an angel didn't tell me.

Where did he come from?

The spirit, my spirit Witness.

I kept moving.

I went up and down 1960 until I had an unction.

Are y'all with me now?

Glory to God, get moving, quit waiting, move.

If you make a mistake, stop, turn around and go back.

I like Gloria Copeland's testimony.

She just heard Kenneth Copeland were just starting in this life and Kenneth was obeying God, going out and preaching In those years.

What little he knew.

But he was a preacher.

So he went out and he was preaching what he knew and, uh, just getting started and he's got a wife and a couple of kids at home and and he's gone for the weekend and she's at home and she's got her bible and she's reading.

The kids are down in bed, and you put them to bed and like a friday night, I think, and and uh, and she was just thanking God for this new life She'd gotten saved and filled with the Holy Ghost and this whole wonderful life, you know, and she put her Bible down in her lap and then she heard this just still small voice, which was her own spirit.

See, it wasn't God talking to her, it was her own spirit.

And her own spirit said the light is on in your car.

So she thought God doesn't care about the, what that's so carnal?

I mean, that's not spiritual, I mean just lights on in the car.

What does that mean?

That's just.

That can't be God.

You know, god talks to me about real spiritual things, holy things.

He doesn't talk to me about practical things.

See, that's her mindset.

She's a baby Christian.

And so a little bit later, the light is on in your car and she said you know what's the big deal?

There's nobody here but me If I go out there and the light's not.

Know what's the big deal?

There's nobody here but me If I go out there and the light's not on.

So what I just missed?

I mean, I just missed this voice?

I don't know.

I don't know, but what if it is on?

So she had to talk herself into getting up and walking out to the garage, and when she did, she opened the door and the dome light was on in her car because the rear door, when she'd brought the kids out of the back seat when they went to the store earlier, she didn't get it shut properly and so it didn't latch all the way, and so the dome light was rolling and she just bawled and boo-hooed because she'd heard from God and God cared so much about her that he let her know that her dome because if her dome light was on by the next morning the battery's going to be dead and she's going to be without a car.

God cares about whether your car starts.

God cares about everything you care about.

And then the last one God guides as much as what he doesn't indicate, as what he does indicate.

God guides as much as what he doesn't say as what he does say.

See, quit straining to hear God, keep walking.

If he isn't talking to you about it, or he hasn't given you a witness about it, or he hasn't disturbed your peace about it, then just keep doing what you're doing.

Don't be a goofus.

I had a guy one time.

He just he heard my message and he just, you know, yeah, I've been out of the will of God and it took a while for God to show me that I was out of his will.

Okay, fine, and then you just start trying to apply my life to your life and then so he's over there fasting and praying, trying to hear from God.

What are you hearing?

I just want to make sure I'm in his will.

Well, you know, I knew he's going to hear wrong.

You're straining and struggling to hear a voice and you're going to hear one.

He's going to tell you to do something he shouldn't do.

Paul and Silas they were together for the first time.

You know, paul and Barnabas.

They split up.

They had a, they had a difference and Jesus didn't fall off the throne when they had a disagreement there's a very harsh disagreement and they parted company and Barnabas went and took John Mark.

John Mark appears in the Bible after this, but not Barnabas.

Barnabas disappears from the pages of the Bible.

It says some associations.

You better be careful not to throw away.

He threw it away.

He threw it away.

That's a new way of talking.

Now I say through, and the weather girl says threw, falash flood flood, falash flood warning.

We have a falash flood warning Okay, I'm off, I'm off.

Flash flood warning Okay, I'm off, I'm off.

So they're together, they're wondering what to do and they say to go into by if any of the spirit suffered them not.

And then they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia Minor.

They got two no's A no is guidance, a lack of peace is guidance.

I don't know what to do now.

Well, don't do what you thought you were going to do.

That's the thing not to do.

Otherwise, keep moving.

And sure enough, paul and Silas heard.

And Paul had a dream, and the Macedonian man in the dream said come over here and help us.

And that's the rest is history.

God guides you.

As much as what he doesn't indicate it was, it's what he does indicate.

As I was starting this church, I called several families that expressed an interest in being part of it and I asked them to help me pray and birth the church.

And one of them gave me a tape by Pastor Reggie Scarborough from Lakeland, florida, and Reggie's a Rhema graduate, and before we started the church he had graduated from Rhema, I don't remember what year.

He hadn't been pastoring very long when we started our church.

He said you'll find this really interesting.

So I listened to his testimony and his wife and he and his wife were in Ramah for two years and he was in the pastoral.

He knew he was a pastor, but nothing.

No one had called, there was no jobs, no positions open, and they just said they had a plan.

See, it's good to have a plan.

There's nothing wrong with you having a plan.

Don't sit still waiting for God to tell you something.

They made a plan.

What was the plan?

They're going to go back home to St Augustine, florida, where she lived.

Her parents lived and starta church there.

The phone hadn't rung, nothing else had happened.

So we've got a plan.

We're going to go back to St Augustine, we're going to start a church there.

Her family's there.

We can have a good start with her parents are going to be there and brothers, sisters, whatever.

You know, a lot of churches start with just a family.

And so they pack her U-Haul trailer up and she hauls the furniture back to St Augustine, florida.

He's in the apartment by himself.

The next morning is graduation.

The next day is graduation.

He's waiting around for graduation.

When he graduates, he's going to make his way back and meet with her and they're going to get started in the ministry.

Graduates, he's going to make his way back and meet with her and they're going to get started in the ministry.

So he's leaning up against the wall in the house, empty, nothing there, and he gets kind of tired.

He'd been praying in other tongues and you know reading his Bible.

He had his head back against the wall and he heard the still small voice, not the authoritative voice, of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit's got an authoritative voice A lot of times.

It feels like it's audible.

But this was not that.

It was a still small voice, which would be what?

The voice of his own spirit, his conscience.

See, you know things that you pick up from the Holy Ghost.

And so his spirit said to him San Augustine is not it.

Spirit said to him San Augustine is not it.

Keep in mind mama's already there with the furniture.

They're talking about, the church they're talking about.

And he said oh, great God, that's just great.

San Augustine is not it?

That only leaves about 100,000 other places.

It could be.

What is it?

What is it?

Now I know what it's not.

What is it?

You know he's aggravated.

He's aggravated.

See, he didn't realize the closed door is guidance.

I mean, just think of what the Holy Ghost saved him from.

He could have gone back and started that church in his own strength, started it in a location that God didn't author, and it would have failed.

And I've lived long enough to see a lot of churches fail because they were in the wrong place by the wrong and the wrong town.

It wasn't the Holy ghost don't even last six months, some of it's ambition.

Some people were sent and some people just went, and the ones that went didn't make it so anyway, and the ones that went didn't make it so anyway.

So he calls his wife Honey.

The Lord spoke to me.

Well, the Lord didn't really speak to him.

I quibble.

The Lord spoke to me.

He said San Augustine, is not it what?

She was not a happy camper.

Well, what are we going to do now?

He said I don't know.

I'll come and get, get with you, and we'll decide what to do when I get there.

So they decided to drive.

You know you're in San Augustine, right on the Atlantic, and you've got two ways to get out of town north or south.

So he made a decision to go south and he goes and he bends around, he goes through Orlando and about two and a half hours up the road he comes into Lakeland, florida.

And they're praying in the Holy Ghost and just checking their spirit.

If St Augustine is not it, what is it?

We're going to go.

If we have to go all the way to LA, we're going to travel around the country.

We're going to go until we have an unction, until we have a witness that we're in the right place.

And they get into Lakeland Florida, lakeland Florida.

And they felt both of them they had this attraction.

They stopped and said, I wonder, could this be it?

And he said you know, isn't this a town where Carl Strader got that big church here in Lakeland?

I think he might have been Assembly of God.

I think he was Assembly of God.

He got in on some of the revival meetings.

Rodney went to his church many times, rodney Howard Brown.

So he went to and they got a pay phone and they called his office and he agreed for them to come.

Just come on up, I'll be glad to sit down with you and pray with you about what you're going to do.

Wonderful man of God and he talked to them and interviewed them and encouraged them.

He wasn't in competition with them.

He didn't say, well, I'm the apostle of Lakeland, you don't have any reason to be here, just keep on going.

I'm the sheriff in these parts.

I'm the sheriff in these parts.

He encouraged them and they started their church in Lakeland.

It's still there.

35, 40 years later.

They're still there, still going strong.

See the witness of the spirit.

Glory to God.

Everybody say I'm determined to follow the witness of the spirit.

I'm going to follow the witness of the Spirit.

I'm going to build my spirit up to where it becomes an authoritative guide to God's will in my life.

Lift your hands and receive the Word of God today.

Hallelujah, glory to God.

Thank you, jesus.

Did you get anything out of this this morning?

Amen, amen, amen.

Well, come on old patty cake.

Let's rejoice that we're led by the Spirit.