GPS: God's Positioning System - Part A

Now you know the principle. 2 Corinthians 5-7 says, for we walk by and not by. That's right, we walk by faith. We don't walk by sight. We don't walk by a printed out agenda. We don't walk by a ten year plan.

There's nothing wrong if you make a ten year plan. Just know if you're a Christian, God has editing rights. But we walk by faith. We trust Him.

We believe Him. We believe in His principle, the principle of faith. The psalmist wrote, commit your way to the Lord.

Trust in Him and He will act. Have you entrusted every aspect of your life to the Lord? That's exactly what we're called to do. Today on Connect with Skip Heising, Skip uses the Apostle Paul's life to show you how God guides and leads you in yours. Then, at the end of today's program, Skip and his wife Lenya share more about what you can do to receive God's direction for your life. The Lord led me. I being in the way, the Lord led me. I just like that, get in God's way. Get in His flow. Just sort of insert yourself into God's program and watch what He's going to do with you down His river.

Thank you, Skip and Lenya. If you want to hear more, please stay tuned after the teaching. Now we want to tell you about a great resource that explores God's character and nature and shows you what it truly means to be His friend. Someone once said that if you want to know about Michelangelo, you need to study what he said, what he did, and what he created. Well, the same is true if you want to know God. You must devote yourself to His words, actions, and what He created.

That is one of the reasons I wrote the book, The Biography of God. It's available now and I hope you'll join me on this noble, demanding, and even rewarding journey. Here's how to get your copy of my newest book, The Biography of God. Skip's new book is our thanks when you give $35 or more today to help keep this ministry on the air.

Call 800-922-1888 or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer. Okay, we're in Acts chapter 21 as Skip Heitzig starts today's study. Question, how many of you have ever been lost?

Show of hands, honest show of hands. You've been lost. Okay, you've been driving in your car. You didn't get the directions right. You're now frustrated, maybe even a little frightened because you overshot it by 200 miles.

I don't know. You're lost. It's no fun. Imagine what it was like for the astronauts in 1970 in the Apollo 13 mission as they were making their lunar orbit to completely lose communication with Houston. The course was set, but they couldn't for an entire night, several hours, hear or talk to mission control in Houston. It was a very eerie feeling, the astronauts said. Though the course was set, they heard nothing.

They didn't know what was going to happen. Well, a lot has changed since 1970, technologically speaking, and now they have these great things out there called the GPS. I brought one. I had to borrow one. I should get one.

I don't have one, but I think they're like the coolest devices ever. This is how it works. There's about 24 satellites around the Earth that if you have this on, make it accurate down to 30 feet. You can be anywhere and it'll pinpoint where you are and you can put in there where you want to go. Now, whenever I travel, I usually rent a Hertz, rent a car and they often will have a little GPS attached to the wheel and they call theirs Never Lost. I like that.

Hertz Never Lost. And when you program in where you want to go and if you do overshoot it or take the wrong turn, there's a little voice in there that says Recalculating. And then it'll recalculate and basically in a nice way say you totally blew it, turn around, go the right direction, get on with the program. Okay, there's a major issue in the Christian life and that issue is guidance. How can I know God's will for my life? How can I go in the right direction and get to the right destination that God wants me to go in? And have you discovered that sometimes knowing God's will is pretty obvious and easy, almost like a GPS, but a whole lot of the time it's very difficult and we wonder like Job who said, I cry out to you but you do not answer me. When I was a brand new Christian, I was a little bit obsessed in a strange way with the will of God for my life. I didn't know how it worked.

True story. I went into the garage, I got a staff like a broom handle, that's all we had and I walked up to the nearest mountain by my house with a pad of paper and a pencil waiting to hear God's will for my life. I'd seen Charlton Heston do it on the movie, I thought it's going to work for me and I sat there for quite a long time trying to figure out what I was supposed to do. Now as weird as that was, I actually knew someone who was even weirder than I was and this guy got in his car, would drive down the street, come up to a stop sign and he would pray, should I turn right God? Should I turn left Lord?

Should I go straight? And then he would wait and he'd feel some kind of an impulse, okay I turn right and I go down, he'd do it like every stop sign. He wanted to hear from God. I think if God were to speak audibly he'd say get off the road, you're a danger. How do God's people come to know his voice?

What's our GPS? How does God's positioning system work? Well I've had you turn to Acts chapter 21. It's a great place to start because Paul feels deeply in his heart that he should go to Jerusalem while other people around him would say not a good choice, don't do this. Now as we go on with the story we discover that because he does go to Jerusalem he gets arrested and pretty much for the rest of his life he's a prisoner. He's bound. His ministry of traveling is completely stopped because he goes to Jerusalem which then leaves us with the question, should he have gone or shouldn't he have gone?

Let's see what happens. Chapter 21 verse 1, it came to pass that when we had departed from them and set sail running a straight course we came to Kos and the following day to Rhodes from there to Patara and finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia we went aboard and set sail. When we had sighted Cyprus we passed it on the left sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre for there the ship was to unload her cargo and finding disciples we stayed there seven days.

They told Paul through the spirit not to go to Jerusalem. When we had come to the end of those days we departed and went on our way and they all accompanied us with wives and children till we were out of the city and we knelt down on the shore and prayed. When we had taken our leave one of one another we boarded the ship and they returned home and when we had finished our voyage from Tyre we came to Ptolemais greeted the brethren and stayed with them one day.

On the next day we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea and entered the house of Philip the evangelist who was one of the seven and stayed with them. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied and as we stayed many days a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea and when he had come to us he took Paul's belt bound his own hands and feet and said thus says the Holy Spirit so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. Now when we had heard these things both we and they from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem and then Paul answered what do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart for I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. So when he would not be persuaded we ceased saying the will of the Lord be done.

Question is was it? Verse 15 after those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem. Now this morning I'd like to give you four components to finding your way four components to finding your way and first is the guidance principle and we all know what that is it's the principle of faith faith faith is what turns the GPS on so to speak faith gives us access to the guidance network Lord I trust you I believe in you you're going to leave me I trust that will happen and that's what happened with Paul. Now it's important for us to go back and see the very first time this thought to go to Jerusalem came into Paul's thinking so go back with me if you don't mind to chapter 19 just two chapters chapter 19 when this first comes up I'll tell you where he's at he's in Ephesus he's been there for a while he sees amazing results and he makes a declaration of faith chapter 19 verse 19 also many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all and they counted up the value of them and it totaled 50,000 pieces of silver so the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed when these things were accomplished Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaea to go to Jerusalem saying after I have been there I must see Rome also. Okay so he's in Ephesus he has just seen a mighty work he has seen his powerful spiritual harvest the results were good and upon seeing them this is the first declaration that he makes and it's a declaration of faith God has been so faithful here I trust him that he wants us to go to Jerusalem and take this whole program of evangelism all the way back to Jerusalem notice it says Paul purposed in the in the spirit now and my bible is a capital s and most translators and scholars would say it's probably a misprint it should be a small s not referring to the holy spirit but here referring to Paul's spirit Paul purposed in his own spirit and that's why many translations will render this verse Paul made up his mind this is a statement of faith God has been so glorious here let's go to Jerusalem he trusted now you know the principle 2 Corinthians 5 says for we walk by and not by that's right we walk by faith we don't walk by sight we don't walk by a printed out agenda we don't walk by a 10-year plan and it's nothing wrong if you make a 10-year plan just know if you're a Christian God has editing rights but we walk by faith we trust him we believe him and that's the guidance principle the principle of faith and that's where Paul is at I believe deeply in my heart that this is what God wants for my life and for our team a foundational truth about guidance is this God wants you to know his will you believe that God wants you to know his will I might want to phrase that another way God wants you to know that he'll guide you in his will you may not exactly know his will at the time that's where the faith comes in but he wants to reveal his will to us and the Bible's filled with those promises like Psalm 37 the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way Psalm 32 I will instruct and teach you in the way that you should go I will guide you with my eye Isaiah 58 verse 11 the Lord will guide you continually so God is in the GPS business he guides he directs but but not in advance not in totality but incrementally he doesn't give it to you all at one time but he gives it to you in increments you know why so you'll keep coming back to him see if God would give to you a printout a computer printout of his will for your life 24 7 every day for the next year you probably and I would probably take and just run with it but we don't do that we get up every day and we go God I surrender myself to you by faith direct me today so you walk a little bit you get a little bit of guidance you come back to him and you ask him for more and this keeps us coming back and staying tethered into his will it's very similar to what God told the children of Israel in the Old Testament remember when he said I'm bringing you into the land I'm gonna get rid of your enemies God said but I won't do it in one day or in one year or all at once but little by little I will drive out your enemies from before you and this is where the adventure comes in that's why I believe the life of faith is the most adventurous life you could live you trust him you don't know exactly where you're gonna go instead of Abraham he went out not knowing where he was going I think that describes a lot of us we don't know how he's gonna guide us but we know that he promised that he would so throw out the notion that discovering God's will is a formula you know if you do one two and three bingo every time you're gonna discover it not gonna happen there was a pilot newly licensed he's flying a private plane and the clouds rolled in got really foggy he couldn't see where he was going and he was not skilled yet at landing by instrumentation so he's in contact with a control tower they're giving him directions he can't see they're giving him directions they're helping him land the plane as he's coming toward the runway he suddenly remembered where he was that he's in a city where there's lots of buildings below there's lots of mountains around him he starts getting really freaked out finally the control tower said look you just obey our instructions we'll take care of the obstructions I think the Lord would say that to us just follow my instructions do what I say I'll take care of the obstructions that's faith but you know what we hate that we do don't kid yourself we as human beings hate the life of faith you might say oh not me I love the life of faith no you don't you're like everybody else you and I would rather see it with our eyes figure it out with our mind rather than waiting for it by faith you know wouldn't it be great if you could always have a vision like Peter on the rooftop or a dream like Joseph in the Old Testament or a bush speaking to you like Moses said wouldn't be cool you're going down the street and the tree starts talking to you and then you go down there's a bush starts I go okay this this can work I can live this way but that's living by sight the Bible says we walk by faith and not by sight so that's the first thing the guidance principle faith the second component to finding your way is the guidance person that's the Holy Spirit this is perhaps one of the best parts go to chapter 20 you were in 19 just turn over to chapter 20 let's follow this whole progress toward Jerusalem and now I take you down to verse 22 Paul has left Ephesus going toward Jerusalem he stops in Miletus and there the Ephesian elders come and meet him at the shore verse 22 and see now and notice this I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem not knowing the things that will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me but none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus do you hear that I feel deeply convicted that I should go to Jerusalem I don't know what's going to happen in the future but I do know that the Holy Spirit has revealed to me that it's not going to be very pretty it's gonna be painful there's gonna be suffering in Jerusalem mentions the Holy Spirit did you know that in the book of Acts the Holy Spirit is mentioned 42 times it's so obvious reading chapter by chapter Holy Spirit this Holy Spirit said Holy Spirit did Holy Spirit led that some have even called the book of Acts not the book of the Acts of the Apostles but the book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit because he is so intertwined in the life of the early church and in the life of the Apostle Paul the Holy Spirit it's exactly what Jesus promised isn't it didn't he to tell his disciples that he was leaving but another counselor comforter was coming and he said when the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth that's the guide and we talked about guidance we can't forget the guide there's a great book that I have on my bookshelf I've used it so many times I've looked at it for so long it is falling apart I just have pages that I just squish together and keep them between two books it's called the fight by John White and he has some very helpful words about guidance he says though the Bible never uses the word guidance which is interesting in itself it does talk about a guide though you may seek guidance it's God that desires to give you something much better himself and deep in your heart it is a guide even more than guidance that you really want here's why it's a great thought because sometimes we're so hung up on how is the guidance gonna come and what form what sign when we have the guide living inside of us which can just sort of let us relax a little bit got the Holy Spirit living in you here's an example let's say you went to New York City which in and of itself is an intimidating town to get around in there you are you're in New York City you've rented a car doesn't have GPS but you have a map now a map though it's better than just trying to figure it out on your own can also be intimidating let's say somebody knocks on your window and says excuse me but you really look lost I've got some time if you don't mind I'll just hop in with you and I'll show you you tell me where you want to go and I'll take you there now barring that that person isn't a serial killer from New York City that's a good plan you'd much rather have a guide than just the guidance in the form of a map that's why I love GPS because it talks to you and it says in one mile turn right on I 195 north and you wait a little while you're almost at the off-ramp turn right now so I mean you have to be like so totally disconnected from reality to miss this thing and yet I have done it before that's the funny thing so the guidance principle faith the guidance person the Holy Spirit here's a third component a third component the guidance predicament other voices that come to you you say how is that then a component actually it is because sometimes the voices from other people that aren't what the Lord is saying to you personally help confirm what God is saying sometimes it balances it out and you need to adjust directions and other times it just clarifies it that's Skip Heitzig with a message from the series the biography of God now let's head into the studio with Skip and Lenya as they share more about what you can do to receive God's direction for your life after giving their lives to Christ many believers come up with the question how can I know God's will for my life and today we learn to find that answer we must let the Holy Spirit guide us Skip how can we cultivate our relationship with the Holy Spirit as we follow his leading yeah you know I laugh a little bit because we had a mutual friend that used to teach on how to know God's will but it could be he could be teaching anything in the world he would just use that title because he felt like that was the general principle of the Christian life determining God's will well let me just tell our listeners the good news God wants you to do his will more than you want to do his will so we're all freaked out about well how can I know God's will listen God's big enough to get that information in front of your eyes and and prompt you with the with the right course of action I love Genesis 24 the servant of Abraham named Eleazar said being in the way the Lord led me I being in the way the Lord led I just like that get in God's way get in his flow just sort of insert yourself into God's program and watch what he's gonna do with you down his river I think we like to talk about it if there's a big boulder it's harder to get that thing moving than it is once it's moving to direct it and so maybe you just need to get moving that's good make some steps and then God can direct your path that's right get out there and get going thanks skipping Lenya at connect with Skip Heitzig we want to help listeners like you with a life of dynamic faith in Jesus but we're counting on your financial support to keep this strong Bible teaching on the air please give today to continue bringing this broadcast your way and connecting more people to the living Savior just call 800-922-1888 that's 800-922-1888 or visit connect with Skip comm slash donate that's connect with Skip comm slash donate thank you tune in again tomorrow as Skip Heitzig shares about the fully reliable spiritual GPS that you have access to connect with Skip Heitzigened is a presentation of connection communications connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times