FROM the EDGES – Morning Devotions
Pastor Calvin Cook – May 21, 2024
HSG – Holy Spirit Guidance
Scripture focus Psalm 143:10 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
We begin this morning with a prayer from Psalm 143 – Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy – “In your faithfulness, answer me in my righteousness.”
I have been praying for Holy Spirit guidance through all my ministry. Recently within our fellowships, worship, and Bible studies, we have been speaking, seeking, and feeling a need to be reminded of Holy Spirit guidance within our churches. Added to this has been a renewed commitment individually for the recognition and seeking direction of the Holy Spirit as part of the trinity. But we have so much more to consider and revival of our commitments for seeking Holy Spirit guidance.
This morning as the Holy Spirit was preparing my time of devotion and sanctuary – I was guided to Psalm 143. In the reading of these pages, I was reminded of conversations and statements of recent days in response to the question “What is the Holy Spirit calling, guiding, directing us to”. This is not just a church question but a very important question of discernment for our individual lives in the present day.
In these verses of Psalm 143, I not only find prayers for redemption, professions of faith or lack of it but in verse 10 the prayerful plea – “Teach me to do your will” the acknowledgment of a personal relationship and commitment – “For you are my God” and then a plea for the guidance of the Holy Spirt – “Let your good Spirit lead me – to level ground”
The last plea of verse 10 is the tough one. Admittingly, we seek God’s will, but do we know the why? Why are we seeking God’s will, why are we seeking direction, why are we seeking more than what earthly standards and expectations says is enough. The answer for God’s glory and purpose.
The picture of a very dense forest comes into my mind. We are wandering, struggling through a very dense forest. We know there is a clearing up ahead, we know there is refreshment of water just up ahead, we know there will soon be a marked path with direction. But instead of that being our focus we get caught up in the obstructions that block our way from seeing and experiencing clarity. We focus on using one bad idea to get out of another bad idea that we put into play. We have not sought the inspirations of the Lord, instead sought, and become satisfied with something that is contrary to the Holy Spirit that is guiding us.
How do we get there? Moses got there by following directions, Joshua got there by fighting the battle for the Lord, David got there by devoting his whole heart to God, Jonah got there because he realized the need to follow direction or become consumed in other things, Paul got there because of complete surrender and commitment to that which Jesus called him to. But what about us – how will we get there? How will realize the directions that the Holy Spirit is giving us is finally lived out by us and the church?
Psalm 143:11 gives the answer in a three-step plan – 1: For God’s name sake and purpose – 2 In God’s righteousness. Becoming right with God in all things 3 Realizing and experiencing redemption being brought out of trouble. All of this and so much more will come through Holy Spirit Guidance-
Thoughts from the Edges 
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