It Is Your Birthright                              

Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
Isaiah 48:17

Direction is the birthright of every believer. It is your heritage in God. The moment you give your life to Christ, you are entitled to God's guidance. He commits Himself to lead you in the way to go. That is why you do not need to run helter-skelter in search of any prophet or seer to tell you what the future holds for you. You can get this directly from God, as it is yours by right.

The Psalmist echoes this truth in Psalm 32:8:I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.When God says, "I will", that means He is determined to instruct you, He is committed to guiding and teaching you the steps to take to get to where you are going. Life then becomes very colourful and pleasurable, because you can trust Him to lead you aright. You don't have to be like the horse or mule that has no understanding, going by trial and error, walking in guesses. It is God's will to grant you direction at every stage of your life. Jesus, the pattern Son, had access to divine direction. He said, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge..." (John. 5:30).

Hearing from God secured His destiny and preserved His ministry.If God led Jesus, then He is committed to leading you too. Remember Jesus said, "As my father hath sent me, even so send I you" (John. 20:21), meaning that you have the same heritage with Him; you have the same right before the Father as He had. Therefore, you can hear from heaven explicitly as Jesus did.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Romans 8:14

One of your rights as a son of God is understanding His leadings, without which you may as well be regarded as a child, not a son. One of the hallmarks of sonship is the ability to be led by the Spirit of God. Therefore, until you grow into sonship, you do not differ from a sinner, and you will suffer the same confusions as they do.

Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Galatians 4:1-3

The realisation of God's ultimate plan and purpose for you depends on your maturity. Until you develop into sonship, the dominion God has reserved for you will never materialize. Remember the prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 9:6? Until He became a Son, the government could not be placed upon His shoulder.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

God has committed Himself to your guidance this end-time, you must take advantage of it. He is committed to directing you. When He says, "Go in that direction", He goes before you to make the crooked paths straight.

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight...
Isaiah 45:2

This is one of the benefits of direction. But when God has not sent you and you go, you will surely be confronted by crooked paths, which you don't have the power to make straight, "for by strength shall not man prevail" (1 Sam. 2:9). Let's look at Isaiah 45 again: "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed"

Every time you're called, you are anointed to function in that calling. When God called Gideon, He said to him, " Go in this thy might have not I sent thee?" (Judges. 6:14). As soon as he received the call, the might to run with it came. So you are the anointed God is talking about.

Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;,I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
Isaiah 45:1-3

When the anointed locates direction, the crooked places are made straight and the gates of brass are broken in pieces. Much more, the hidden riches are made available and supplies never cease.Would you pay for a job you didn't assign anyone to do? Of course not! But that's what we expect God to do when we run off on our own programmes, without first clearing from Him.

But Lamentations 3:37 asks: Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Any step you take without God having commanded it will always end in futility. Try as hard as you may, nothing will work.

BISHOP DAVID OYEDEPO

President/Founder, Living Faith Church, Worldwide