Are You a Romans 8:14 Christian?

Several years ago, a pastor friend was asked by a church member why the member was no longer hearing from the Lord. The pastor looked at him and said this, “It’s been my experience that when the Lord stops speaking to you, you need to go back to the last place you said no to Him and say yes.”

How do you know it’s God asking you to do something? Here’s my test…is it biblical, does it fly in the face of conventional wisdom and does it make your flesh scream? (Borrowed from Charles Stanley) If the answer to all 3 of those questions is yes, then 99.9% of the time it’s the Lord asking you to do the task.

When we started JAMA Racing ministry, we had no bible college, no clue how to start and run a ministry and zero experience. By all of man’s standards, I was a baby Christian. Our job was to love people wherever we went…so that’s what we did. When He moved us from race track ministry to marketplace ministry we had no clue how to operate a business nor did we have an experience in the mechanics of streaming video. Our job was to reach out to those individuals we did not have access to as chaplains with the love of Jesus…so that’s what we are doing.

In both areas, we’ve had victories and failures. However, I have learned to judge our success by the Lord’s standards, not man’s. This has made my life much simpler. Caution, do not equate simple to mean easy.

Where do you find yourself today? Are you doing as the Lord has asked with joy or are you struggling to hear from Him? If it’s the later, time to examine your path and see if you’ve said no to Him in any area of your life.

Blessings

Are You a Romans 8:14 Christian?
by Os Hillman

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. – Romans 8:13-14

Joshua and Caleb are described in Scripture as men who had a different spirit. They were two of the 12 spies sent into the Promised Land to determine if it could be taken, as God had promised it to them. The other ten gave a bad report that instilled fear in the people, which ultimately caused a rebellion. This resulted in an entire generation dying in the desert. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who were led by the Spirit of God, versus the spirit of fear. They were the only ones to enter the Promised Land from their generation.

Are you a person led by the Spirit? The verse above tells us that those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God. “But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it” (Num. 14:24). Caleb was a Romans 8:14 man! The Spirit led him. He was not led by fear.

Many of us have failed to enter into our own Promised Land because we have failed to be led by the Spirit rather than by fear. Fear prevents us from entering into what God has promised for each of us. God has reserved an inheritance for us that is exceedingly good. God described the Promised Land as a land of milk and honey. Our own Promised Land is the same. But you must be led by the Spirit to enter in. You cannot be led by fear, reason and analysis, or even skill. The Spirit must lead you.

Commit yourself to being a Romans 8:14 man or woman. Then you will enter into the land God has promised for you.