Calling Which Way Do We Go?

Calling

Which Way Do We Go?

Jesus said “Follow Me”

After ascending to Heaven, Jesus gave us the Spirit to lead us

In Acts 16, we see Paul the Apostle challenged

With finding which way the Spirit was leading

In his quest we learn

Being led by the Spirit

Is doing what you know to do

As you are moving, the Spirit will hinder as well as open doors

And when you get to the place the Spirit leads it may not look like you thought

  

Which Way Do We Go?

Jesus said to His disciples…

 “Follow Me”

When Jesus went to be with the Father,

 He said I will send you another.

We know the other Jesus would send was

the Holy Spirit who lives inside the believer.

Jesus described the Holy Spirit

as being hard to follow…

The wind blows wherever it pleases.

You hear its sound, but you cannot tell

where it comes from or where it is going.

So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." 

John 3:8

We see Jesus being led by the Spirit when

He was led into the wilderness to be tempted.

 Matthew 4:1 & Mark 4:1

Romans 8:14 says…

Because those who are led by

the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Then in Galatians 5…

 We read the fruit of the believer is

the result of being led by the Spirit in

contrast to being led by our sinful nature.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit,

you are not under law.

Needless to say being led by

the Spirit is not always clear.

The Apostle Paul had a strong

spiritual experience with the Spirit.

The Call of God on Paul’s life and

his following that call is amazing.

It is Paul in the Book of Romans

 and in the Book of Galatians who

teaches us about being led by the Spirit.

But when we read Acts 16, we see Paul

struggling with direction on which way to go.

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was

following the yellow brick road.

 When she comes to a fork in the road

she says to Toto her dog,

 “Which way do we go?”

A scarecrow with no brain points

in one direction and says,

“That way is a very nice way.”

Then he points the other way and says,

“That way is pleasant too”.

His next comment is where we many times

find ourselves as he crosses his arms and

points both ways and says…

“Then of course people go both ways”.   

 

Paul takes on Timothy in Acts 16

 just after Luke leaves him.

Paul and Timothy are in Lystra and

leave there to carry on the Call of God.

Verse 6 says…

Paul and his companions traveled throughout

 the region of Phrygia and Galatia,

having been kept by the Holy Spirit from

preaching the word in the province of Asia.

Paul was kept from preaching in Asia by the Spirit.

So Paul tried another approach.

When they came to the border of Mysia,

 they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit

 of Jesus would not allow them to.

Acts 16:7

Paul seems to be a person who believed

a moving object is easier to steer

then an object not in motion.

Paul shared the Gospel where ever he went.

I am sure Paul felt good about the direction

to go to Mysia and Bithynia, but the

Spirit hindered him from going.

We many times find the direction

of the Spirit by what doesn’t work.

Closed doors are a part of being led by the Spirit.

We don’t always get dreams or visions to lead us but…

During the night Paul had a vision of a man

of Macedonia standing and begging him,

"Come over to Macedonia and help us."

Acts 16:9

It is interesting that when Paul got there,

 He does not meet a man, but a woman named Lydia.

Then he was beaten and locked up in prison.

That night an earthquake severely damaged the

prison and the guard was about to kill himself

when he thinks the prisoners have escaped.

Paul cried out to stop him and the jailer

and family became believers.

 

In the morning, the town leaders required

Paul and his followers to leave the area.

I think for some of us being beaten and

put in prison would cause us to wonder if

we had missed the Spirit’s leading again.

Being led by the Spirit is…

Doing what you know to do at all times.

Love one Another 

Proclaim the Good News

Produce the Fruit of the Spirit, etc. 

Being led by the Spirit is…

Recognizing when the Spirit is

hindering and not blaming the Devil.

Being led by the Spirit is…

Always keeping on the move.

Closed doors mean new opportunities.

Being led by the Spirit is…

Realizing the place where He is leading

may not look just like you think.

Being led by the Spirit is…

Not always wonderful hospitality

by people like Lydia.

 Sometimes the hospitality is a

night of pain in a dark prison.

Next time you are asking directions…

“Which way do we go?”

Keep doing what you know God

would have you do…

 Until you find the door the

Spirit of God is opening to you.

You may be wrong in your direction,

but you will be right as you keep moving in

a way that is sensitive to the Spirit of God.

 

Wizard of Oz

Which way do we go?

https://youtu.be/yejtZgzB5Ik

Scripture Reading

Acts 16:1-17:1 NIV

16:1 He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

19 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."

22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole family.

35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: "Release those men." 36 The jailer told Paul, "The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace."

37 But Paul said to the officers: "They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out."

38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.   39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.