Often when we follow the leading of the spirit, people are not always happy with it. Often the people we think would be happy, aren't happy; and particularly family aren't always happy. That's where the most painful and difficult decisions are made. When you make decisions to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into your course and destiny, and family are locked into other thinking; and what you contained to do, what they think is best for your life. I'm talking from experience, for both of us.
Where does he lead us; and how does he lead us? Let's go back to that first verse again - "As many as led by the Spirit of God, these are the Sons of God".
When the Bible uses a word to describe people, it's very careful in the words the Holy Ghost uses, and sometimes when they're translated, we don't see the differences. We often need to look at the language to think: what was he saying? The word that's used there is the word "huios" meaning a fully mature son, someone who's grown up. Now the Bible uses other other terms.
When you're born again, 1 Peter 2:2 - "...like newborn babes...".
Nepeos, someone who's just born, and just needs a feed of milk. Desire the milk of the word of God, that you can grow. When you're born again, your condition is not a son; your condition is Nepeos - a little wee infant, needing milk, and the nappy is wiped. You don't want to stay there!
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 - "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and [a]behaving like mere men?"
Paul rebukes the Corinthian church. He said: I would really want to tell you some mature things, like you were spiritual people; but instead, you are carnal - because you're striving and competing. Someone says: I follow this one; someone else says: I follow that one. You're all in competition. When you're like that, you're like babes that need just the milk. He's saying then is that our condition can be described in different ways. Nepeos - little babe; or we could be a technon - a young person, growing young person, a young man.
The Bible says of young men - you are strong, and the word of God dwells in you, and you've overcome the wicked one. Different words are used to describe different phases of growth. The word Yuson is a fully mature, prepared son, ready to take on his father's business and represent him properly.
Those who are led by the spirit of God, where is he leading you? He's leading you into sonship; but if you don't know what that means, there's no reason why you would want to be led by the Holy Spirit. If you are led by the spirit, He's going to lead you into maturity. He going to want you to grow up! Tell somebody to grow up! It's so petty. It's so caught up with trivia, like a bunch of little children - gossiping, critical, all kinds of things that go on in church. Immature childish stuff. You have to grow up, if you've been in church for years, and you're still behaving like that. What's wrong with you?
Well, actually, it's the condition of your heart. In other words, you're in the best possible environment, receiving as much as possible, and yet you're not responding. When we don't respond, we stay childish. It's a journey for us all, and you never stop learning. I'm learning all the time. I'm thinking: oh man, I've got so much to learn. There's so much I don't know. God, I want to learn, I want to grow - maintaining the hunger. The humility that I actually still need to grow - no matter how much you know, you don't know enough.
The Holy Spirit then is going to lead you. No-one is born mature; you're born a baby, and then you become mature as you exercise and grow; but you become mature as a Christian by yielding to the Holy Spirit. The more you surrender, the more he's going to lead you to grow up and become mature; and a mature person is able to be a blessing to others. Immature people upset others all the time. If you're going to be led by the spirit, one of the things that you'll have to actually come to address is the self-centered life. Jesus said: if you want to follow me, deny self - that means stop being selfish. Stop thinking about me. First, stop thinking: what's in this for me? I'm a son of my father; I'm being led by the spirit - what's in this for my father? It's a whole different way of moving from being self-centered, and it's all about me, and what I get out of it, and what I can get from people; to actually: how can I represent my father, and be a son? Those who are led by the Holy Ghost, led by the spirit.