The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:8).

Going With Jesus Makes Everything Unpredictable.

We learn from this verse in the Gospel of John what it is like when the Holy Spirit gets into the life of a man. Jesus told Nicodemus that, once you are born-again, your life will be as unpredictable as the wind. Before I became a Christian and before I had the Holy Spirit dwelling within me, I planned my days; I planned my week-ends; I planned my vacations and I did what I planned! But since the Holy Spirit has come into my life, Jesus plans my days; He plans my week-ends and He plans my vacations. Whenever I follow the plans of the Holy Spirit, then I am in God’s perfect will.

There is nothing greater in this life than for you and I to live in God’s perfect will. When we are in God’s perfect will, we are living as Jesus lived when He was here on the earth. Jesus could not live any higher than in God’s perfect will and neither can we. Therefore, living in God’s perfect will should be our ultimate goal spiritually speaking. It is the gold standard of life. As Jesus reached this ultimate life style by the Holy Spirit, so can we. Therefore, dear friends, whatever your previous life has been, however it may have been stained by sin and wrong decisions, you can enter into God’s perfect will today if you are willing to submit yourself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, to the Spirit of the living God for Him to guide your steps.

Now, of course, this does not mean that you should not have an agenda. I have an agenda for every day, but all my agendas are subject to change as the Holy Spirit leads. I have it on my agenda to write an article and to fix things around the house for my sweetheart of 56 years, but when I get up in the morning, I say: “Jesus, what do You want me to do today? What is Your agenda?” I allow and permit Him to arrange and re-arrange my agenda to be the way He wants it to be. He has an agenda that takes me around the obstacles that I cannot see. He has an agenda that prevents me from falling into pits. He has an agenda so that I will not miss what He wants me to receive. He has an agenda that will prevent me from crushing people. He has an agenda for me to find that which is lost, to lift whatever needs to be lifted, to repair what seems to be irreparable, to restore what looks unrestorable, to see what is invisible, to fill that which is empty and to empty that which should never have been filled. Many times, He puts things on my agenda that I had not even thought of doing. Indeed, this life of being led by the Holy Spirit is exciting and it is thrilling and totally satisfying versus my agenda which is boring and lacking in anointing.

Going With Jesus Sometimes Makes It Difficult To Get Rest.

This means that Jesus at times will take us off of our regular sleep schedule and that may include our children being taken off of their regular sleep schedules. We must never be slaves to any schedule but God’s perfect, acceptable will. We learn from Mark 6:31-34 that Jesus tried to get some rest for Himself and for His disciples before the feeding of the 5,000, but because people came running after Him and pressing upon Him with their needs, He decided to have compassion on them and delay His rest. This great miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 came out of Jesus not resting and His disciples not resting when they wanted to rest and felt the need to rest. Some of you have said to your pastor: “Pastor, you look tired; you look worn-out; you need to rest!” Yes, there are many times your pastor needs rest, but there are times when the needs of people and the compassion in your pastor’s heart work together to rob him of his rest. In fact, it happens to all who are yoked together with Jesus. As the Master, so are His servants. But in the end, there is always much fruit and while staying with Jesus, we will eventually get our rest; He will see to it.

Going With Jesus Means That Many Will Try To Pressure You To Get You Off Course.

When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone (John 6:15). After the feeding of the 5,000, the Jewish people wanted to make Jesus their king. So, obviously, they tried to force Him to be their king because of this wonderful miracle. The Greek word here for our English word, “force,” has the definition: to seize him, or to snatch him away. They had misdirected expectations and so, they tried to pull Him away from God’s perfect will. We also learn from the other verses in this gospel that even His disciples also had some misdirected expectations of Jesus. They also tried to change His course. Many people with good intentions will try to get you off the course that God has set before you. Do what Jesus did in this case. Get your bearings and refresh yourself. He withdrew into a mountain to be alone, and told His disciples to get into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee.

Going With Jesus Means That He Will Always Come Through For You.

So they got into the boat even though it was late and no doubt they were tired and would rather have found a bed on which to rest. A storm arose and they ended up experiencing a breath-taking event. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid (John 6:18-20). When you go with Jesus, you will be given assignments that will many times challenge you and occasionally take your breath away. Yes, of course, you have the Spirit of God living in you, but you are still a human being and fear can build up in your soul. Yet, God always sees the deliverance at the same time that He sees the storm. You do not. My beloved friend, God saw this boat in the storm and at the same time, He also saw the boat already anchored safely on the other side at the shore. But the disciples did not see that! That is why they were worried. That is where trust comes in. Again, God never worries because He sees the whole picture. As the storm continued, as the darkness became darker, as the disciples began to wear out under the power of the wind, perhaps the thought came to them that this might possibly be the last day of their lives. Yes, we all have been there, but then, suddenly, they heard the reassuring words of the Lord Jesus saying: ...It is I; be not afraid. My friend, going with Jesus means that He is always watching you and is always ready to step in to rescue you before it is too late.

Going With Jesus Means You Will Have Some Rough And Frightening Rides!

As the disciples had some rough rides, so will you. You will have times when you seem to be rowing all the way into the night experiencing spiritual storms, rowing against the powers of devils and demons facing hurricane winds, spiritually speaking, and facing waves that are higher than you. This is what Abraham faced when God told him to offer his only son, Isaac. It is what Jacob was about to face when meeting Esau; it is what Moses faced when God told him that He would destroy His people; it is what David faced when he saw his sin of adultery; it is what Jesus faced in Gethsemane and it is what Paul faced in his zeal for a holy church. There are times when you will have to row and row and row, and you will feel like you are not making any progress at all, but God will be faithful!

Going With Jesus Means That He Will Give You Assignments That Are Over Your Head!

He will tell you to witness to somebody you may not want to witness to because they look like they might get mad at you if you do or they look like they are not at all interested and you have no idea how they will respond. Going with Jesus, He may tell you to sell some property that you have a great attachment to or He may tell you to give something up that means a lot to you, as He told the rich young ruler to sell all he had and give all of his money to the poor (Mark 10:21). Going with Jesus, means that you never know what He is going to tell you!

Going With Jesus Is What You Were Born Into The World For.

Get started at going with Jesus in your daily life and stick with it. It will take you right into heaven in His time and you will never regret the ride.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:8).