welcome to a grace digital production in this video we will cover hearing the voice of god sometimes we need to take one day of the week to wait upon god we may not have an idea of what will happen having no agenda having no prayer list sometimes just starting by reading the bible but at the end of the day being fulfilled because the holy spirit has led us when we learn to wait on god he will show us hindrances in our relationships with him so that we can be free of them in order to love and serve him better many of you are not where you are meant to be with god right now the aim is not to accuse or condemn but to help when we don't allow the holy spirit to guide us we can't hear the words of comfort direction and wisdom he wants to give us one of the greatest needs in our lives is to take time with god but most christians don't give god much time a condition for which many of us need to repent acknowledging the headship of jesus today in the body of christ something is out of place that needs to be corrected so what's out of place well we are not acknowledging the headship of christ in our lives paul wrote in ephesians god has put all things under the authority of christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church and the church is his body it is made full and complete by christ who fills all things everywhere with himself ephesians 1 22-23 the language of choice used by paul is interesting god has put all things under the authority of jesus they were subjected to him but he also gave jesus to the church having jesus as head is most precious and beautiful blessing for the body of christ and jesus is head over all things not over a few things not over most things over all things can you honestly say in the presence of god that jesus is head over everything in your life that there is nothing that is outside his control nothing that is outside the expression of his determined will for you in ephesians paul wrote instead we will speak the truth in love growing in every way more and more like christ who is the head of his body the church he makes the whole body fit together perfectly as each part does its own special work it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love ephesians 4 15 and 16. the whole body depends on the head it is only through the body's relationship with the head that the body derives nourishment and can grow and function effectively if the connection to the head is impeded the whole life of the body is instantly impaired paul said let no one cheat you for your reward colossians 2 18 let no one disqualify you would better express what paul was saying here don't let such a person deceive you and cheat you out of the righteous inheritance god intends you to have this type of person takes delight and false humility vainfully puffed up by his fleshy mind verse 18. such a person claims to be super spiritual but is very carnal he is puffed up in his mind so that he does not hold fast to the head from whom all the body nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments grows with the increase that is from god verse 19 the new international version says he has lost connection with the head as soon as we lose connection with the head we are in danger of making mistakes getting in some form of deception and some kind of false teaching something that is out of line with god's truth the only condition of safety for the body and for each believer is to be rightly related to the head every true believer has a divinely prepared direct connection with jesus christ that you must not let anyone interfere with pastors are lovely people but they cannot take the place of jesus the function of a pastor is not to be your head but to help you cultivate your relationship with the one who is your head he she is not to tell you the answers to all your problems but to show you how to find the answers for yourselves from jesus some people are lazy and just want a human being to solve all their problems it doesn't work that way also some leaders are authoritarian they want to take control of people you have to have your own personal relationship with jesus you have to be able to hear him speak to you you have to be able to be directed by him you have to have something inside you that tells you when he is pleased and when he is not pleased you have to be sensitive to the head functions of the head now let us discuss about four functions of our physical heads and how they relate to the headship of jesus this is not a competent lesson in autonomy there are just simple practical perspectives as we review these four i want you to consider your relationship with jesus and the church's relationship today with its head it seems that our heads have four main functions to receive input every part of the body communicates with the head and the head gets information from all parts of the body to make decisions the head decides what the body is to do to initiate an action the key word is initiate because the one who takes the initiative is the head to coordinate activity of other members of the body the spirit is how jesus as the head communicates with the body directs the body controls the body and preserves it so we are talking about a relationship with jesus and a relationship with the holy spirit jesus said when the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth john 16 13.
remember that jesus said this to his disciples when he was about to leave them indicating in effect i can't tell you everything you need to know now but that doesn't matter because the spirit of truth the holy spirit is coming and he will guide you into all truth jesus was saying that from that time forward his relationship with us would be effectuated through the holy spirit he went on to say he will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard he will tell you about the future john 16 13 i believe the church should have direction concerning the future divine guidance from the holy spirit not about everything but for certain things we need to know given the world situation for the church to go into the future without the holy spirit's guidance is to head toward disaster we have only glimpsed the troubles and the pressures that are coming on the whole world we will need the holy spirit to warn us of what is going to happen so we won't be in the wrong place at the wrong time one of the prayers that we must pray regularly is to be always in the right place at the right time only the holy spirit can make that possible then jesus said he will bring me glory john 16 14 it is worth mentioning again that in connection with being able to hear what god is saying to us glorifying jesus is a distinctive mark of the holy spirit today many things that are said to be the work of the holy spirit lack the mark of glorifying jesus anything that exalts a human personality is not from the holy spirit it may be spiritual but it is not from the holy spirit whatever the spirit does is always to glorify jesus if jesus is not center stage the outline is not from the holy spirit yielding to god's choice although the head functions are essential let us briefly focus on the fourth function coordinate the activity of other members of the body concerning our relationship with christ this deals with the issue of the initiative jesus said to his disciples in john 15 16 you didn't choose me i chose you this statement is unequivocal there is no doubt about it he said i have chosen you 12. jesus continued i appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit so that the father will give you whatever you ask for using my name verse 16. i understand that only enduring fruit proceeds out of the choice of god you can have all sorts of religious programs and activities and elections in the church but if god didn't initiate them there would be no permanent fruit whatever jesus also said that the father will give you whatever you ask for using my name john 15 16.
do you understand that the ability to pray effectively to the father proceeds from the will of god we can pray all sorts of prayers but if they do not proceed from god's will we have no assurance that he will answer them so the initiative is expressed through choice and the only aspects of our lives god is really involved in those he has chosen any time we take the initiative out of god's hands we have shut off the headship of jesus an excellent example of dependence on god's choice is in the book of acts among the prophets and teachers of the church at antioch of syria were barnabas simeon called the black man lucious from cyrene manon the childhood companion of king herod antipas and saul one day as these men were worshiping the lord in fasting the holy spirit said appoint barnabas and saul for the special work to which i have called them acts 13 1 and 2.
