WEBVTT 00:04.402 --> 00:14.876 [SPEAKER_00]: Today, as we explore the stories of the Israelites being led by the pillar of God's presence, will examine what that means for God's leadership in our lives. 00:15.977 --> 00:33.160 [SPEAKER_00]: As we submit to His leadership, may we find how truly faithful He is to lead us in every single season, open your heart to trust Him a fresh today, and remember He is for you. 00:55.972 --> 01:20.376 [SPEAKER_00]: Our Scripture for today comes from Exodus 13, verses 21 and 22, Scripture says, and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way. 01:20.356 --> 01:27.289 [SPEAKER_00]: and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light that they might travel by day and by night. 01:28.351 --> 01:34.924 [SPEAKER_00]: The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. 01:38.591 --> 01:43.039 [SPEAKER_00]: One of the greatest realities of God's presence is the way it guides us. 01:44.065 --> 01:52.526 [SPEAKER_00]: Exodus 13 verses 21 and 22 provides an illustration for an important truth God would have us know today. 01:53.669 --> 02:00.285 [SPEAKER_00]: When we need guidance we can run to his presence and discover his leadership in abundance. 02:00.265 --> 02:15.628 [SPEAKER_00]: Scripture tells us, and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light that they might travel by day and by night. 02:16.630 --> 02:23.320 [SPEAKER_00]: The pillar of cloud by day in the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. 02:25.308 --> 02:29.092 [SPEAKER_00]: Even in the Israelites' sin, God faithfully led them. 02:30.433 --> 02:35.317 [SPEAKER_00]: Even in their lack of faith, He still provided miraculous leadership. 02:36.539 --> 02:44.486 [SPEAKER_00]: And now, through believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have been filled with the presence of God Himself. 02:45.988 --> 02:52.834 [SPEAKER_00]: We've been given the miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit, who has always present with us and in us. 02:53.877 --> 03:07.161 [SPEAKER_00]: As amazing as it is that God led his people with pillars of cloud and fire, how much more incredible is it that we have been filled with the very presence of God by the work of Christ. 03:08.723 --> 03:16.898 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus made a way for us to know the will of God with every moment as we fellowship with the spirit of God Himself. 03:18.329 --> 03:25.538 [SPEAKER_00]: So, how can we follow the spirit as the Israelites follow the pillars of fire in cloud? 03:26.159 --> 03:32.007 [SPEAKER_00]: How can we discover the abundance of leadership available to us through the presence of God? 03:33.309 --> 03:39.057 [SPEAKER_00]: First, we must acknowledge our need of His leadership and seek out His counsel. 03:40.339 --> 03:43.463 [SPEAKER_00]: He can only guide those who choose to follow. 03:44.845 --> 03:51.154 [SPEAKER_00]: If you choose to go your own way in life, you will step outside the guidance of His presence. 03:52.282 --> 03:58.629 [SPEAKER_00]: It's in seeking His will, that we discover the vast reservoir of the Spirit's perfect leadership. 04:00.430 --> 04:09.520 [SPEAKER_00]: Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 04:10.661 --> 04:19.470 [SPEAKER_00]: In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. 04:19.838 --> 04:33.356 [SPEAKER_00]: acknowledge the reality of his presence in your life in all your ways, trust in his guidance rather than your own understanding and watch as he makes straight all of your paths. 04:35.139 --> 04:41.307 [SPEAKER_00]: Second, you have to believe that God can and will guide you when you ask for his leadership. 04:42.603 --> 04:54.057 [SPEAKER_00]: Isaiah 58 11 says, and the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire and scorched places, and make your bones strong. 04:54.878 --> 05:01.086 [SPEAKER_00]: And you shall be like a water garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. 05:03.910 --> 05:07.294 [SPEAKER_00]: This world is suffering from a lack of God's guidance. 05:08.489 --> 05:16.403 [SPEAKER_00]: We live in a world continuously searching, striving, and yearning for some sort of message of leadership. 05:18.166 --> 05:27.824 [SPEAKER_00]: All around us, the blind lead the blind into greater depths of darkness, continually searching for what we have already found in God. 05:29.707 --> 05:33.113 [SPEAKER_00]: God longs to satisfy your desire for leadership. 05:34.038 --> 05:40.389 [SPEAKER_00]: He longs to make you like a water garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. 05:41.931 --> 05:43.855 [SPEAKER_00]: All you have to do is ask him. 05:45.357 --> 05:56.316 [SPEAKER_00]: James 15 says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 05:58.304 --> 06:01.829 [SPEAKER_00]: God will guide you when you seek him for wisdom. 06:02.990 --> 06:05.794 [SPEAKER_00]: He will lead you to the perfect will he has for you. 06:06.515 --> 06:10.480 [SPEAKER_00]: If you humble yourself before him and commit to following him. 06:12.042 --> 06:18.090 [SPEAKER_00]: All you have to do is ask and follow the Spirit's guidance in however he chooses to lead you. 06:19.472 --> 06:24.058 [SPEAKER_00]: He will make his leadership clear if you stay behind him and listen. 06:25.675 --> 06:31.442 [SPEAKER_00]: Last, you must follow His leadership to experience the fruit of His guiding presence. 06:33.044 --> 06:37.871 [SPEAKER_00]: The prize of a winning lottery ticket remains worthless until it is cached in. 06:37.911 --> 06:43.077 [SPEAKER_00]: The contents of a gift remain useless until it is opened. 06:44.419 --> 06:47.283 [SPEAKER_00]: You have been given the most incredible gift of all. 06:48.144 --> 06:50.687 [SPEAKER_00]: God's guiding presence in your life. 06:51.899 --> 07:00.792 [SPEAKER_00]: Proverbs 3, verses 13 through 18 says, Belast is the one who finds a wisdom and the one who gets understanding. 07:01.633 --> 07:07.742 [SPEAKER_00]: For the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. 07:08.804 --> 07:14.532 [SPEAKER_00]: She is more precious than jewels and nothing you desire can compare with her. 07:14.512 --> 07:20.521 [SPEAKER_00]: Long life is in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor. 07:21.602 --> 07:25.829 [SPEAKER_00]: Her ways are of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 07:27.111 --> 07:36.825 [SPEAKER_00]: She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her, those who hold her fast are called blessed. 07:36.845 --> 07:44.316 [SPEAKER_00]: But until you choose to follow the wisdom of God in your life, you won't experience an ounce of its value. 07:44.853 --> 07:53.244 [SPEAKER_00]: Until you follow the wise guidance of the Holy Spirit, you will experience the incredible abundant life he has in store for you. 07:54.826 --> 08:04.920 [SPEAKER_00]: James 1, verses 22 through 25 commands us, but be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 08:04.900 --> 08:13.815 [SPEAKER_00]: For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 08:14.877 --> 08:21.508 [SPEAKER_00]: For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 08:21.488 --> 08:34.399 [SPEAKER_00]: But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty and perseverance, being no here who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. 08:36.942 --> 08:39.224 [SPEAKER_00]: Persevered today in God's presence. 08:40.525 --> 08:43.868 [SPEAKER_00]: Seek out his wisdom and counsel during guided prayer. 08:45.369 --> 08:50.854 [SPEAKER_00]: Lay the burden of leading your own life on his mighty and loving shoulders. 08:51.155 --> 08:57.469 [SPEAKER_00]: and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into the abundant life he has prepared for you. 09:22.137 --> 09:33.270 [SPEAKER_00]: As we begin, meditate on God's desire and ability to lead you. 09:34.912 --> 09:51.132 [SPEAKER_00]: Jeremiah 33 3 says, call to me and I will answer you and I will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. 10:00.562 --> 10:18.942 [UNKNOWN]: Thank you. 10:28.372 --> 10:28.953 [SPEAKER_00]: and next. 10:29.995 --> 10:33.302 [SPEAKER_00]: Meditate on the value of God's leadership in your life. 10:34.545 --> 10:35.667 [SPEAKER_00]: Trust in His Word. 10:36.769 --> 10:40.196 [SPEAKER_00]: Believe that His wisdom is far greater than your own. 10:40.216 --> 10:48.253 [SPEAKER_00]: Trust in Scripture, that why He leads you to is far beyond anything you could discover yourself. 10:49.853 --> 11:09.668 [SPEAKER_00]: Isaiah 58 11 says, and the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. 11:37.829 --> 11:51.067 [SPEAKER_00]: And last. 11:52.068 --> 11:54.992 [SPEAKER_00]: Ask the Spirit for wisdom and guidance in your life. 11:56.374 --> 11:58.417 [SPEAKER_00]: Where do you need the mind of Christ today? 11:59.799 --> 12:01.181 [SPEAKER_00]: What issue before you? 12:01.501 --> 12:03.344 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you not know how to handle well? 12:04.785 --> 12:06.688 [SPEAKER_00]: Where do you 12:07.951 --> 12:15.727 [SPEAKER_00]: Lay your questions at his feet, and pay attention to how he responds to you. 12:15.747 --> 12:28.474 [SPEAKER_00]: James 1-5 says, If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all, without reproach, and it will be given him. 12:37.178 --> 12:38.600 [UNKNOWN]: Thank you. 13:09.292 --> 13:13.289 [SPEAKER_00]: The prayer of Paul to the Ephesians is my prayer for you today. 13:13.329 --> 13:19.133 [SPEAKER_00]: May you be blessed with the vast reservoir of God's wonderful guidance. 13:20.227 --> 13:26.673 [SPEAKER_00]: Ephesians 1, verses 16 through 19, says, I do not cease to give thanks for you. 13:27.273 --> 13:38.784 [SPEAKER_00]: Remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge of Him. 13:39.905 --> 13:47.432 [SPEAKER_00]: Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you. 13:47.412 --> 13:51.441 [SPEAKER_00]: What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? 13:52.423 --> 14:03.126 [SPEAKER_00]: And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might? 14:16.083 --> 14:20.709 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's devotional, I'm Josh Miller with verse 15. 14:21.690 --> 14:38.412 [SPEAKER_00]: As you go about your day today, look for one more opportunity to follow the leadership of God in your life, as you face a difficult decision or challenging person, ask God for direction, and wait just a moment for his response. 14:38.392 --> 14:48.762 [SPEAKER_00]: Every day, even this day, is an opportunity to follow the direction of the Lord into a more abundant life for you and those he's placed around you. 14:50.043 --> 14:56.329 [SPEAKER_00]: Make sure to leave a rating or review if you can or send us a note at podcast at first15.org. 14:56.830 --> 15:01.374 [SPEAKER_00]: We would love to hear how God is using this space to impact your life. 15:02.275 --> 15:06.559 [SPEAKER_00]: Have a wonderful rest of your day and may God bless you as you see him.