Day 1 Week Of Spiritual Emphasis — Understanding How God Leads by Bishop David Oyedepo: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Urgency of Knowing How God Leads

Our anchor scripture is Isaiah 59:8. The way of peace they know not; there is no judgment in their goings; they have made crooked paths for themselves. Whosoever goes therein shall not know peace.

Life is a risk in a wide life park without a guide. All that you see are the animals on the ground — you cannot tell the ones hanging in the trees. You could be standing right under a predator. But a wildlife guide knows where they will be and can lead any traveler on a safe path.

That is why the need to understand how God leads cannot be overemphasized. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. What we don't know, we don't know. And what we won't learn, we can't know. And what we don't know, we pay for it.

Isaiah 42:22-25 describes a people robbed and spoiled — snared in holes, hidden in prison houses. The reason? They would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient to his law. That is the challenge of blindness and deafness to his leadings.

But following divine direction will always make a difference — with goodness and mercy following all the days of your life.

God Leads with the Future in View

In Isaiah 48:17-21 he said: I am the Lord which teacheth thee to profit, by leading thee by the way that thou shouldest go. Had thou hearkened to my commandments, then had thy peace been like a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.

Just listen to me and follow me. I will secure your tomorrow. There are no experts in the school of revelation. A wise man shall hear and increase in learning. Daniel the gifted said: I Daniel understood by books. It is a school from where no one ever graduates.

It is God's leading that makes frontliners in the race of life. It is not of him that wills nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy.

God led Abraham to emerge into realms of general greatness. He never leans backward. He always leads forward. He leads with the future in view. When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, "Lest they repent when they see war and return to Egypt." He led them on a longer route with the future in view. We can rest in his loving arms. He leads us with our good at heart.

How to Access Divine Direction

1. Be Born Again

   I know my sheep and they know my voice. Become one of his sheep. Except a man is born again, he cannot see what God is showing him. New birth is fundamental to accessing divine direction. Romans 8:14 — as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. A dead man cannot see. A dead man cannot hear. Until one is born again, he is spiritually dead.

   Divine direction, next to salvation, must be the greatest asset of the believer — because his leading equals his backing. You cannot enjoy his backing and be stranded. When God leads, he packs up the lead. When he sent the disciples, he went with them. They had his full backing all the way. They were not assaulted. They didn't have to beg for anything.

2. Be Clothed with Meekness

   The meek will he guide in judgment. The meek will he teach his way. Moses was said to be very meek above all men on the face of the earth, and he enjoyed divine direction every second. Numbers 12:3. Psalm 25:9 — the meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his ways.

   The man who says "Why must I ask God? I should know what to do by myself" goes in the strength of his flesh and crashes. It took no weakness for a man to have labored all night and caught nothing, and then a preacher came and said, "Push your boat to the water" — and he laid his pride aside. That is a rabbi. I am ready.

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Bishop David Oyedepo
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3. Through the Voice of God Behind the Word (Rhema)

   Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. God's word is ordained to guide our steps. But behind every statement of scripture is the voice of his majesty. Isaiah 34:16 — seek out of the book of the Lord and read. None of this shall fail, for my mouth has commanded it and his spirit has gathered them. Isaiah 55:10 — my words that go forth out of my mouth shall not return void.

   Only men who walk in the spirit can catch the voice of God behind his word. John 6:63 — the words spoken to you, they are spirit and they are life. Galatians 5:25 — if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. We cannot access rhema without walking in the spirit.

   I was praying with my wife — Lord, are you asking us to move the base of the ministry to Kaduna or to remain here? And he said, "Stand up. Take your Bible." He answered it raw. I believe he opened it because I did not flip through the pages. It was Acts 22:10. "Arise and go into Damascus, and there shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do." So I tapped my wife. God has answered. Arise, go to Damascus — Kaduna. That is how we went there. Direct.

   When I stepped into full-time ministry asking who pays me, he opened Luke 10:7 — the laborer is worthy of his hire. You are in my employment. I am responsible. Just stay on duty.

   No question of your life will lack access to direct answers.

   When God delivers the answer, it stays. It keeps speaking all of one's life.

Biblical Proofs of Being Led by the Spirit

• Peace accompanies the leading of God. Psalm 85:8 — the Lord will speak peace unto his people. Had they followed his leading, their peace would have been like a river. Isaiah 48:18. The peace of God is one of the fundamental proofs of being led.

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• Supernatural favor accompanies those who are led. The Lord is my shepherd — goodness and mercy shall follow all the days of my life. He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. My cup runs over during drought and dry season. They possessed the land not by their own strength, but by the right arm of the Lord because he had favor unto them. Luke 22:35 — when I sent you without purse or shoes, did you lack anything? And they said, nothing. When God sends you, goodness and mercy keeps following. Favor keeps chasing after you.

  I received a letter from the Philippines — I have never been there.

Remaining Spiritual — Discerning the Shepherd from the Stranger

There are two voices in the atmosphere: the voice of the shepherd and the voice of the stranger. I have heard the voice of the stranger a number of times. If I had not sat with God on those occasions, I would have missed my road.

A stranger said to me, "You are sent to the world. Don't die in your world. Let go of church ministry." The words sounded soothing, but they came from the pit of hell. God bore me out. The peace of God just settled. It was the stranger talking. Had I yielded in April and May 1992, I would have lost the church ministry.

And in December 2014 through April 2015, there was another battle to decentralize this church. But God came through by May 2nd. The heavens came down: "I, the God of wonder, will doubly visit you." That changed the trajectory of this ministry forever.

That is why we need to learn to be led and to discern between the voice of the shepherd and the voice of the stranger. He that is spiritual judges all things. We have to remain spiritual to stay on course with divine plan. 1 Corinthians 2:8. Despise not prophesying — 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21. But prove all things and hold fast to that which is good.

We are permitted to have plans. Commit your ways to the Lord. Trust also in him and he will bring it to pass. He will direct your path. Subject your ideas to his validation. No one has a spare life. Let us jealously guard the one he has given us.

There is a thin line between your spirit man and the Spirit of the Lord. The Lord said, "Seek my face." And my heart says. Your heart speaks. My heart speaks. Your heart means your spirit. Your spirit speaks. My spirit speaks.

After a commissioning service I went to thank Jesus for his visitation. And he said to me, "Concerning going — I was not the one you heard. You heard yourself. In 1974, playing table tennis, you desired in your heart that if you had a choice of where to live in future, you made that choice. That was you — not me." Your heart speaks. My heart speaks. And only God hears.

He brought it back to me when the decision of moving arose. What do I do? Stay here.

The Two Characteristics of Christ's Leading

Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Two things characterized his mission. John 5:19-22 — I can do nothing of my own, but what I see my Father do, that also I do. And he will yet show me greater things that you may marvel. John 5:30 — as I hear, so I judge, and my judgment is just.

Salvation is not an ideology. It is an experience. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. All things have become new.