• Have you ever asked the questions:– What does God want me to do with my life?– How can I know that what I am doing is what God wants

me to do?– What is God’s will for my life?

• Or, more specifically:– Which job am I to pursue?– Who am I to marry?– Should I move to another city?

• Everything that glitters is not real gold.

• There are so many voices beckoning us to do this or that.

• Which is the right one?

• Which one is real gold and which is fool’s gold?

Geocaching • High tech scavenger hunt • Need:

– Hand held GPS (Global Positioning System) – specific coordinates – off you go

• With those you set out on foot for a specific container called a geocache.

• Geocaching is similar to finding the will of God for your life.

• Your GPS is the Bible – Global Positioning Scriptures. • The Bible:

– keeps you on track – moving in the right direction– provides general guidelines to guide your life

• Just as you can’t play Geocaching without a GPS, you can’t know the will of God without the Bible.

• 90% of the will of God for your life is found in the Bible.

• For example, when it comes to the question of Who am I to marry?

• The Bible does not give you the specific name—John or Jane Doe.

• But, it does give you some guidelines: 2 Corinthians 6:14 –Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? (NIV)

• At the very least, you should not marry someone who is not committed to the Lord.

• And, you see evidence of their commitment.

• This Scripture also applies to business partnerships. – Should I go into business with this person? – Is he or she a committed believer?

• If not, you are asking for trouble. • The Bible is your GPS, but what happens when you

arrive at your coordinates in the Geocaching game. • The container is not obvious. • You have to look for it.• The Bible will get you there, but what next?• OK, this guy is a committed believer, and he meets

all of my standards for a husband, but is he the one?

• You are not left alone to make such huge decisions in life.

• You have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. • He is your Personal Spirit Guide—PSG. • He will give you the assurance to proceed or the

caution to stay put and look for another one. • Be led by peace or by a check in your spirit.

• It is similar to the process of the Prophet Samuel coming to anoint the next king of Israel.

• He knew he was to go to Jesse’s house in Bethlehem and the king would be one of his sons.

• He had his coordinates; he plugged them into his Garmin on his donkey & headed off to Bethlehem. 1 Samuel 16:1 – Now the Lord said to Samuel, "You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king. (NLT)

• Those were his specific directions, but he still did not know which one would be king.

1 Samuel 16:6-7 – When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, "Surely this is the Lord's anointed!" 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

• Remember this: We see in part but God sees everything.

• He sees the beginning from the end. • A girl may look at a guy and say, Wow! He’s

Superman! • But, God will say, Trust Me, He’s really a squirrel. If

you will wait on Me, I will bring you the real Superman.

• Trust the Lord!

8 Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "This is not the one the Lord has chosen." 9 Next Jesse summoned Shimea, but Samuel said, "Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen." 10 In the same way all seven of Jesse's sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen any of these."

• Samuel was sweating at this point! • Did I miss it? These are all of Jesse’s sons, but I don’t

feel the green light on any of them. • He knew he was in the right place because his

Garmin never scolded him to turn back; he asked:11 Then Samuel asked, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse replied. "But he's out in the fields watching the sheep and goats." "Send for him at once," Samuel said. "We will not sit down to eat until he arrives." 12 So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes. And the Lord said, "This is the one; anoint him."

• Often we need guidance and direction that is not specifically written in the Bible.

• The guiding principles are there, but we need the specific instruction.

• You would not be in the right place in order to make the correct decision if it weren’t for the Bible.

• It was the Word of the Lord that got Samuel to Jesse’s house, but the Holy Spirit picked David.

• Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will give you that specific guidance. John 16:13 – He [Holy Spirit] will guide you into all truth.

• Receiving daily guidance from the Lord is one of the biggest challenges we face as a believer.

• But, we are not left alone to do this. • The Holy Spirit is there to tell you what to do and

when to do it. • This is His job! • It goes back to what we established the 1st week:

The Holy Spirit is a Person and not an “it”. • You can have a relationship with a Person, but not

an “it”. • And you have to develop that relationship.

• Practice listening to Him. • Start asking Him for directions & listen to what He

says. • It is not as hard as you think. • Over time you will begin to recognize His voice and

to trust Him.• Phone Calls without name –

– Don’t know personally– Casually know– Lisa calls

• Instant Recognition!

• What is the difference in all 3 situations? • The level of relationship. • The same is true with the Holy Spirit. • If you are a believer, He is always speaking to you. • It may be that you have not been listening. • Start asking and start listening. • Here’s a clue: • His voice is never the loudest, but He is always right.

• In the Book of Acts, the early believers relied on the Holy Spirit for everything.

• They consulted Him for: – direction – selection of leaders – who to send out on missionary journeys– formation of doctrine and so on . . .

• Have you ever noticed that before the disciples received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they made a decision without 1st consulting Him?

• They attempted to find a replacement for Judas who had betrayed Jesus.

• They narrowed their choices down to two men: Justus and Matthias (Acts 1:23).

• But, Jesus had instructed them to go to Jerusalem and wait until the Holy Spirit came.

• In other words, He instructed them to wait and don’t do anything until they had received power from on high.

• They did wait, but Peter had a bright idea. • They decided to find Judas’ replacement without

the Holy Spirit to guide them.

• They cast lots or rolled dice to find out which one. • When they did, Matthias was selected. • Here’s the interesting point in all this: the Bible

never mentions Matthias again. • They might as well have played paper, rock and

scissors! • You will notice that the disciples never rolled the

dice again in the book of Acts.• Contrast that with how the Holy Spirit guided them

after they were Baptized in the Holy Spirit.

1. World-wide Missionary Thrust

Acts 13:2-4a – One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them." 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way. 4 So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. (NLT)

• This marked the beginning of the world-wide missionary thrust.

• There were missionaries before this, but this is where the greatest inroads into the nations began.

• We are here today because they listened and were obedient to the Holy Spirit.

• One word from the Holy Spirit led to millions among the nations coming to Jesus.

2. The Jerusalem Council

Acts 15:28-29 – For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: 29 You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.

• Notice how they came to this decision. • It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us . . . • They consulted Him and He gave wisdom. • This was perhaps one of the greatest decisions the

early church made. • What happened was a big debate over whether

Gentile believers had to become Jews culturally or not before they were saved.

• That meant they would have to be circumcised and had to follow all of the dietary laws of the OT.

• Not unlike today, making a Nigerian become an American before he can accept Jesus.

• This single decision caused the Church to explode among the Gentiles.

• It all began because the early believers asked the Holy Spirit and He spoke.

• How simple: A Roman could remain a Roman and still follow Jesus.

• From there, the Gospel has grown to the point where we now have believers in every country!

• Let’s look at one more place where we see the Holy Spirit’s guidance in the Book of Acts.

3. Macedonian Call Acts 16:6-7 – Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.

• Paul was trying to preach in different places in what is today Turkey.

• But, the Holy Spirit kept stopping him.

Acts 16:9-10 – That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" 10 So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.

• You see what happened here? • Instead of going north or south or east on Asia

Minor (Turkey), they were led to go Europe.

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• From that foothold in Macedonia, the Gospel continued to spread west throughout Europe.

• Eventually the center of the Christian Faith for centuries was in Europe.

• It all began with the Holy Spirit guiding Paul not to go in one direction but to go in another.

• Paul’s obedience to the Holy Spirit led to changing the entire course of human history.

• From Europe came some of the greatest men and women in Church History.

• Martin Luther• John Wesley• John Wycliffe• Sir Isaac Newton• William Carey• Hudson Taylor• David Livingstone• William Wilberforce• Men & Women who changed the course of history

through their faith in Jesus Christ.

• You might ask: How do you know it is the Holy Spirit speaking to you?

• My question: How do you learn anyone’s voice? • By spending time with them and developing a

relationship. • The more you get to know Him, the quicker you

recognize His voice. • It is fine to practice this. • Ask Him for guidance and then follow what He

speaks to you. • Eventually you will know it when He speaks.

• Do you hear an audible voice?• Usually you don’t hear an audible voice. • Usually it is a knowing. • Many say that their conscience speaks to them. • They don’t hear an audible voice, but it is just a

knowing. • And, as you get to know the Holy Spirit, you will

become more familiar with that knowing.

• Not only do you recognize someone’s voice when you spend time with them, you also get to know their character.

• You know whether you can trust what they say or not.

• When you know the Holy Spirit, you learn that you can trust Him implicitly.

• As we learned, He does not speak on His own accord, but only what Jesus tells Him to say.

• When He speaks to you, His direction comes directly from the Lord.

Conclusion• Several guidelines:1. Must agree with the Bible.

– He will not contradict the Word of God. 2. Seek confirmation from those you respect in the

Lord.3. Put yourself in a position to hear from Him.

– Make sure you are on His frequency. – Don’t clutter your mind and spirit with a lot of junk.

4. Be still5. Trust Him

– The more you know Him, the more you trust Him.

• Take your handheld GPS (Bible) & PSG (Holy Spirit) and go out on the adventure of life’s treasure hunt.

• The Holy Spirit will never steer you wrong.