Live Spirit-Directed: Learn To Walk As Jesus Did

By Mark Avery Reed

Live Spirit-Directed by Dr. Mark Reed shows that the Lord's purpose for each of our lives is to glorify the Lord by enjoying a close relationship of loving intimacy with Him. He created and saved us for this. Evangelism, discipleship, service, fellowship, and worship are the key aspects of every Christian's general mission but it is not our specific assignment. Live Spirit-Directed explains how these differ and that the Lord wants us to go further than purpose-directed living.

In Live Spirit-Directed we find out that God wants us to move beyond well-intentioned but self-willed living to be habitually filled with and led by the Holy Spirit. This book helps us know that the Lord's map for our lives is detailed far beyond our basic mission. Live Spirit-Directed clarifies that Jesus did NOT live a purpose-directed life; and we shouldn't settle for that either.

For those who want more than an opportunity to serve in church and to learn about God through studying the Bible, this book offers hope. It speaks to those of us who want an adventure of greater closeness to the Lord and yearn to experience the success of hearing from our Father. It is for those who know we are called to a life of significance as we fulfill our particular orders at the post to which He appointed us.

Live Spirit-Directed discusses:

-The three lifestyle choices we have
-How to hear from the Lord
-That God's guidance in our lives is quite specific
-Spiritual growth and stages of faith in our journey

Dr. Reed points out how the Good Shepherd's people can be equipped to hear His voice and be close to Him. Discover why you might be stuck in your spiritual growth and learn how to more fully walk with the Father as Jesus did. It will also explain what it means to obey the command to habitually be led by the Holy Spirit.

This book challenges us to not live simply by our mission statement. For example, it is not enough for a police officer to know that their general mission is to protect and serve. They need to know the specifics of how to carry out that duty each day. They need to know and live out their particular assignment; and so do we.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Reed Publishing Co.
• Release date: Nov 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9780997367638

Mark Avery Reed

Mark Avery Reed is an ordained minister with a Master’s degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. He also holds two Master’s degrees in Education and Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy plus two Bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Political Science.He has a number of teaching credentials and experience as a chaplain, counselor, and developer of curriculum on spiritual warfare, biblical doctrine, and healthy family living. Mark seeks to enrich God’s people by examining aspects of biblical truth which are largely ignored today.

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Reed Publishing Co. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by means or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Published by Reed Publishing Co.

We hope you enjoy this book from Reed Publishing Co. Our goal is to provide high-quality, thought- provoking books and products that teach valuable truths, ideologies, and practices, that you may live out the fullest of God’s calling for your life. For information on other books and products written and produced by Reed Publishing Co., feel free to reach out by either mail, email, or by typing in the web addresses below.

Special thanks to Lion’s Branches and Christian Massey for designing the cover and formatting the interior of this book for print. For more about him and his company, go to lionsbranches.com or reach out directly at [e-mail].

Reed Publishing Co.

reedpublishingco.com

[e-mail]

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition: 2019

Reed Publishing Co. Edition: 2019

ISBN: 978-0-9973676-3-8

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Three Possible Lifestyles

Chapter 2 – Guidance Is Specific

Chapter 3 – What Does It Mean To Be Led By The Spirit?

Chapter 4 – What Does It Mean To Be Filled By The Spirit?

Chapter 5 – Being Spirit-Possessed

Chapter 6 – Prophetic People

Chapter 7 – Mystics And Listening Prayer

Chapter 8 – The Nature of Spiritual Growth

Chapter 9 – Be Like Jesus

Chapter 10 – Learning to Listen

Conclusion

About the Author

Bibliography

Endnotes

Abbreviations

AAT = An American Translation

AB = Amplified Bible

ASB = Annotated Study Bible

BAGD = Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, Danker Greek-English Lexicon, 2nd edition

BBE = Bible In Basic English

BDAG = Bauer, Danker Greek-English Lexicon, 3rd edition

BEPC = Baker’s Encyclopedia of Psychology & Counseling

CCB = Christian Community Bible

CEB = Common English Bible

CEV = Contemporary English Version

CJB = Complete Jewish Bible

CW = Clear Word

DDD= Dictionary Of Deities And Demons In The Bible

DPCC = Dictionary Of Pastoral Care And Counseling

EBC = Expositor’s Bible Commentary

EDBW = Expository Dictionary Of Bible Words

ESV = English Standard Version

GW = God’s Word

HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible

HGKSB = Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible

IDB = The Interpreter’s Dictionary Of The Bible

IVPBBC = IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament

JB = Jerusalem Bible

JNTC = Jewish New Testament Commentary

LB = Living Bible

NAB = New American Bible

NASB = New American Standard Bible

NBV = New Berkeley Version

NCV = New Century Version

NEB = New English Bible

NET = NET Bible

NIB = New Interpreter’s Bible

NIDNTT = New International Dictionary Of New Testament Theology

NIDNTTE = New International Dictionary Of New Testament Theology And Exegesis

NIDOTTE = New International Dictionary Of Old Testament Theology And Exegesis

NIV = New International Version

NJB = New Jerusalem Bible

NKJV = New King James Version

NLT = New Living Translation (first edition)

NLV = New Life Version

NRSV = New Revised Standard Version

REB = Revised English Bible

RSV = Revised Standard Version

SFLB = Spirit-Filled Life Bible

TEV = Today’s English Version

TLNT = Theological Lexicon Of The New Testament

TNIV = Today’s New International Version

TWOT = Theological Wordbook Of The Old Testament

VCED = Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary

ZPEB = Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia Of The Bible

Introduction

We Christians are to completely surrender to the Lord in absolutely every aspect of our lives so we will be able to obey the command to continuously be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit. To the extent we fail to do this, to that degree we are living in a self-initiated, self-willed way. This kind of living is a less mature form of spirituality because it fails to live as Jesus did in never doing anything whatsoever unless God directed Him. None of us live precisely as Christ did, but He is our Example. We should make every effort to live fully surrendered as He did. This certainly has to include trying to discern God’s will in every choice we make, through every reasonable means the Lord has provided.

I believe millions of well-intentioned believers have embraced a purpose-directed manner of living which implicitly encourages them to not be fully surrendered in the specifics of their lives and does not represent being continuously filled with and directed by the Holy Spirit. This is a disaster for those individual Christians and for the church as a whole. We can and should do better.

To illustrate the difference, look at the story in Lk 10:38-42. Martha and Mary were friends of Jesus. Both welcomed Him into their home and trusted in Him. They each had faith. On this occasion, Mary was doing her best to hear the Lord and better discern what He wanted. Martha, though, was content that she already knew what the Lord generally desired. Hence, she didn’t try to first listen to Him but made a self-initiated choice to engage in what most religious women of that day would consider to be appropriate behavior. Jesus told Martha that her decision was not as good as Mary’s.

The contrast I am making is not between being busy working and just spending time listening to the Lord. We need to do both. Yet, we need to listen to Him first then do what He is telling us to do in each of the specific circumstances we face. This was Martha’s problem. Martha made her own biblically-acceptable choice, without asking the Lord what His more precise will was in that situation, then wanted Him to approve of and support her plans. Mary, on the other hand, tried to first learn what Jesus’ plans were.¹ Jesus said Mary’s actions were better. Both were believers but Mary was acting in a more spiritually-mature and God-honoring way.

Martha illustrates purpose-directed living which de- emphasizes the need to try to hear from the Lord about the specifics of our lives. According to what the purpose-directed approach seems to say, we can marry any believer we choose, live wherever we decide, and take whatever job or ministry we like as long as our plan doesn’t contradict what the Bible says we should do.² For instance, the Bible says Christians are only to marry other Christians, so purpose-directed living implies we can marry any believer we please, without consulting the Lord. As long as our job is not being a prostitute or some other vocation the Scripture forbids, the purpose-directed approach says we can do whatever we want. This is not Spirit- filled living where we are under His moment-by-moment guidance. It is not how Jesus lived.

Martha was a believer and sincere purpose-directed individuals may be also. Only being directed by a conscience which seeks to honor biblical purposes is a much lower level of obedience than Jesus displayed or than believers are to live. Remember, a key sign of spiritual maturity is to not act like the unsaved, who do as they please, but to live out Christ’s mind and the discernment for the Spirit’s precise guidance which comes with it.³ If we would go to higher levels of maturity in the faith, we need to follow the Lord in the details – not just in general purposes. This book is meant to help us become more of what God intends for us to be.

Chapter 1 - Three Possible Lifestyles

There are three lifestyles we might embrace: lawlessness, a life primarily supervised by laws (nomism), or a life directed by God’s Spirit.⁴ The Lord had the apostle Paul deal with all three of these options most particularly in the book of Galatians. If we would avoid the problems which threatened the spiritual well-being of the Galatian believers, we, too, must avoid the first two lifestyle choices in favor of being habitually directed by the Holy Spirit.

Lawlessness

In Gal 5:13-6:10 Paul clearly indicates that Christians must avoid lawlessness. Known also as antinomianism or libertinism, this is a self-centered way of living which asserts that it is okay to live however we want without regard to laws or the direction of the Holy Spirit. Instead of being directed by law or by the Holy Spirit, we allow ourselves to be governed by the impulses of the sinful nature. The results are sinful activities such as selfishness, non-medical drug use, sexual immorality, involvement in magic or the occult, drunkenness, wild partying, hatred, inappropriate anger, various addictions, and any type of religious commitment which is unacceptable to the Lord.

This self-centeredness may be subtle, however. An individual may not commit truly blatant sin but simply not be concerned with whether their behavior is biblically acceptable. Likewise, they may not bother to try to listen to what the Holy Spirit wants them to do. They live their life as seems best to them. This is self-willed and self-centered living. In places like Isa 30:1 and 1 Sam 15:23, the Bible says it is rebellion and living according to the sinful nature even when the self-will seems innocent enough.

For an antinomian, moral rules, laws, ‘good’ purposes which are to govern life, and even love are to be rejected as norms we must follow.⁵ Christians, though, cannot have an antinomian lifestyle for we are specifically told that we are to follow the law of Christ as given in the New Testament. In all we do, we are also commanded to be guided by love, directed by the Holy Spirit, and aim at furthering the Lord’s rule in our lives and the lives of others.

All believers, though, have a diminished understanding about what the Lord wants in at least some areas. As a result, we may live in ways which reflects the sinful nature of our lives. Trying to boss other people around and tell them how to live is wrong. Yet, it may take us awhile to truly grasp this. To use a different example, I knew of a woman who had recently become a Christian. Since her family and friends were not believers who knew what the Bible taught, this woman didn’t think there was anything wrong with having premarital sex. Indeed, from her background, this was considered to be perfectly normal behavior. Fortunately, she attended a church where believers were able to tell her that her activities were displeasing to the Lord. She was surprised but committed herself to ending her practice of casual sex. For some time, however, she had lived an antinomian life, at least in the area sex.

I have known quite a few other believers who routinely had sex with other single individuals or even with those who were married to someone else. For many, this went on for quite a few years until they got married. This was a deliberate practice of wrongdoing which was at odds with both of the other lifestyles we will discuss. Hence, since antinomianism is so clearly contrary to the kind of life the Lord wants us to have, we will focus on the second option of law-based living.

Law-Based Living

What is law-based living, which I describe as nomism or ‘soft’ legalism? It is when we insist our life be governed by the need to conform to the specific standard of behavior given in such things as the Mosaic law.⁶ The rules or standard determine what is proper behavior in each particular situation. There is no need to ask the Lord what He wants us to do. Instead, we merely need to perform the proper biblical duty. Hence, nomism can be described as an orientation primarily toward duty or as the prioritization of law or rules over love.⁷

Does this mean that a nomist does not love others or that someone who is Spirit-directed violates clear biblical standards and rules? No.