Length: 4 minutes

In the first part, we established that the leading of the Holy Spirit is not simply the Spirit speaking instruction into your mind. It is the Spirit actually doing the thing through you. That is the leading of the Holy Spirit. But when God does things through you, He doesn’t just act them out, giving you the strength and performance through your body. He also puts the desire in your heart for it.

Philippians 2:13 (NKJV) for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

In your born-again spirit, you have the mind of Christ and all His desires along with it (1 Corinthians 2:16, 1 John 2:20, and Hebrews 12:23). And because you have the mind of Christ in you, as you grow in your knowledge, those desires are able to come up into your human brain so that you feel what He feels. That’s what Philippians is talking about when it says that God gives you “the will.” This is speaking about God’s desires actually being worked in your heart, so that you feel what He feels, and when He feels it.

Now, not every desire you get is from the Holy Spirit — not by far — especially when our mind needs a lot of renewing, but while not every desire you get is the Holy Spirit, every time the Holy Spirit is doing something through you, He’ll put desire in your heart for it. He will desire it and also do it! You could say, not everything you desire is the Holy Spirit, but everything that is the Holy Spirit will come with desire. 

God desires certain things and does not desire other things. And because you have His mind within you, His desire, or lack of it can come up into your physical mind. 

So, what if you don’t want to do something? Does that mean that it’s not of the Lord? Well, on one hand, you may just need mind renewal or some time to remember what you know, to allow the Holy Spirit to work through you more clearly. But on the other hand, if you’re truly delighting yourself in the Lord, if you’re setting your heart on Him, and still don’t desire something, many times it’s because the Lord simply doesn’t desire that thing either and you’re feeling it.

You need to take this with some caution and not use this as an excuse to not do things that you ought. There are certain absolutes that we already know are of God. The Lord would never lead you outside certain parameters. For instance, if you don’t feel like going to a good church, you can’t say, “Oh, maybe the Lord just doesn’t want me to assemble with other believers anymore.” That’s not going to happen. That feeling is not from the Lord. 

Nevertheless, the more we delight ourselves in the Lord, and the more we get our mind on Jesus, the more that allows the Holy Spirit to work through us (2 Corinthians 3:18). When you’re delighting in the Lord, He will work through you, putting His desires in your heart. So sometimes, when you don’t want to do something, it very well may be because He doesn’t want to do that right now either. And sometimes, when you want to do something, it’s because the Lord wants to do that also. 

Philippians 2:13 said that the Lord would perform the desire and the doing for whatever pleases Him (of course this happens by faith, not automatically), but Psalms 37 is basically the Old Testament version of that verse from Philippians. 

Psalms 37:4-5 (NKJV) Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart [the will]. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass [the doing].

This says as we delight ourselves in the Lord, and entrust our way to Him, He will put His desires in our heart and bring it to pass! That is exactly what Philippians 2:13 said. He works in us to will, and to do. 

So, delight yourself in the Lord and get your mind stayed on Him because as you do this, you are literally producing the desires and performance of God through you. It is a combination of these desires and this performance that makes up the leading of the Holy Spirit.

He’s not just instructing you on what to do. It’s not a voice coming from the outside in, to give you a roadmap for you to follow. It is a real living through you that happens. It is a tangible feeling and natural performance that He can give your flesh. Not that everything you feel is from the Lord — not by far — and we will discuss this in our next part, but this is a real privilege that you have in Christ. 

We are not under a covenant that says, “Thou shall” and expects us to carry it out – a covenant that not one of us could keep. We are under a covenant in which the Lord Himself lives through us, with His desires and performance, as we simply grow in the knowledge of Him.

There’s more specific information to come in the next part of this series, so keep reading. 

If this blessed you, share this with someone else. More people need to understand this awesome truth.