Rom 8:29-30.For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
“Whom He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” So did He foreknow you? Is there any way He couldn’t have foreknown you? So this is not for a select few. Since he foreknew you, you are predestined to be conformed to the son. It really bothers me when I hear a message about a select few. Now there is such a thing, as what we call, “the first fruits.” But see, that simply means that there are a group of people on this earth who are taking the time they need to nourish and to take in spiritual food, and they will become ripe before the others. If you want to live a slothful lazy lackadaisical life, you can do that. And you can go to church every Sunday and hear nice messages and maybe feel a little bit of good. But you will never understand the words of Jesus. Within you is the voice that will guide you and it will never lie to you.
I know when you are learning to listen to this voice you make mistakes. There will be things that you’ll think, this is really the spirit telling me this, and you’ll find out later it isn’t. But that’s OK because the only thing that’s really important is your heart. If you are seeking truth and you really want to do His will, and you think you are hearing right, and you make a mistake; that is OK, because we have to learn.
Experience is always our best teacher. You can learn to discern that voice so clearly that you will do anything, even though it seems foolish. Carol and I have left everything and just moved to a place where we didn’t know anybody. When we moved to Winston-Salem, we knew one person there. We didn’t know how to get to the grocery store. We didn’t know where to go shopping. Why would we do that? Because we started feeling that God wanted us to move. Something was going on; something was moving within us that we needed to move. And I didn’t say anything for a long time because I didn’t know how Carol would react to moving again. However, I just kept getting stronger and stronger feelings we would be moving. I didn’t want to leave Seattle. We said we would never leave Seattle. We love it there. And we still love it there. Our dearest friends are in Seattle. But I just felt so strongly we should move. One day Carol said, “I really feel we are supposed to move again. She was in full agreement because she had been feeling the same thing. I didn’t know where we were supposed to move.
Well guess what. Carol said, “I know where we are supposed to move. We are supposed to move to North Carolina.” See, these things don’t make sense. And I said to her, “Why in the world would you say North Carolina? You have never been there.” That is the natural mind kicking in. We all have to deal with that. And you know what? Even if that had of been a mistake, if we’d have moved to North Carolina and it had been a mistake, Christ would honor it just as much as if He did tell us to do it, because it was in our hearts to do what was right. So don’t fear missing spirit. The Counselor (Holy Spirit) has been there all the time. All the wisdom of God has been in us all the time. Yet we still keep seeking it outside of ourselves, still keep trying to find the man who can minister to us, still keep trying to find the prophet to give us a word. Once you begin to discern what your spirit is saying you, you can always trust what spirit is saying. “He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit
