Don't follow the crowd!

Let God direct your steps!

It can be so easy to follow the crowd because we all have the desire to fit in with society. Spoiler alert: what society wants is usually the opposite of what God wants! Don’t follow the crowd because it will lead you away from the plan that God has for your life.

Lessons about following God’s direction:

1. God wants to reveal Himself and His ways to you!

   1. God reveals Himself to the most unlikely people, so why wouldn’t He reveal Himself to you? God willingly revealed Himself to people who were far from Him. God wants you to know Him! To know God is to know the way in which you should live. His way always leads you to Him.

      1. “‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do no know.’” Jeremiah 33:3

      2. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

2. God reveals Himself and His way in various ways!

   1. Look to Jesus when you need direction!

      1. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” Revelation 22:16

   2. God leads us through the Bible!

      1. “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105

      2. “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,” John 5:39

   3. God can direct you through Christian counsel! Consider a spiritually mature person you could talk to.

      1. “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.” Proverbs 11:14

      2. “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” Proverbs 12:15

   4. God leads you through dreams and visions!

      1. “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28-29

   5. God can speak to you through opportunities and the desires of your heart!

      1. “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this.” Psalm 37:4-5

   6. God can speak to you through spiritual promptings!

      1. “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:14

   7. As you mature in Christ, the more you can discern if it is God speaking to you or the devil trying to tempt you! All of these ways of communication must be weighed against the Word of God and character of Jesus.

3. Revelation is an invitation to transformation!

   1. You have to act when you feel God leading you. If you don’t live out His calling, then it has no meaning. When God say something, you listen and do what He says!!

      1. “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” James 4:17 - this is the sin of omission

   2. To truly READ the Word you must: Read, Examine, Apply, Pray.

   3. If you are struggling with obedience to God, ask the Holy Spirit to help! Take the step and follow God’s commands!

      1. “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13

      2. “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16

4. Living by revelation is risky but worth it!

   1. The Magi in Matthew 2 had a long and dangerous journey to get to Jerusalem. They risked their lived by not returning to Herod to tell them where Jesus was!

   2. Following Jesus can be risky, but it is worth it! An eternal life with Jesus is worth following Him during our temporary life on earth.

God has truly saved me from a life completely different from the one I live now, and I am so thankful! Part of the reason for that is me listening to His call and choosing to follow Him. There will always be people around us that are not followers of Jesus, but we cannot follow the crowd! Following Jesus has been the best decision of my life, and if it is one you have not made yet and are considering, I pray that the Lord would speak to you and guide towards a relationship with Him!

I hope you all have a blessed week, and I’ll see you again next Monday!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

You're the way that I'm walkin'
You're the truth that I'm talkin'
I don’t care if it costs me followers
As long as I’m followin' You

Followers - LO Worship