If you want God to be glorified in your life, you have to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and to be able to follow that prompting, you must be submissive to the will and Word of God. You must start searching the Word of God and then, while praying diligently and without ceasing, (1 Thess. 5:16) ask the Lord that for His glory you would be submissive so that you would be willing to be led.
There really is no other way, you must stop following and adhering to the precepts, traditions, by-laws, and all other ideologies of the religious organization you attend, every one of those need to be checked thoroughly against the Word of God, every word that the person behind the pulpit speaks must be able to stand up against the same scrutiny, whether he be called pastor, preacher, or priest. If what is said, if what is written down, if what is read is not in line with the Scriptures, it is to be counted as useless.
You have to do this, for we are slaves called to worship, not human beings with free will in the matter, not if you are claiming to be a follower of Christ, not if you are a Christian. “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office.” (Romans 12:4) It does not matter if you are behind the pulpit or in the pews, it does not matter if you attend church or not, what your employment field is, the color of your skin, male or female, you are responsible for you, to search the Scriptures diligently, not just for wisdom, not just for knowledge, but for how to live your life to the glory of God, every minute of every day until the day that you are called home. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)
This verse will either produce terrifying fear and anxiety in you, or will be one of the greatest days of your existence, the day that you used every conceivable excuse in the world for your lack of obedience, or the day that you lay at the feet of the Savior all that He has blessed you with, fall to your knees and say, “Thank you.”
There is a verse in the Scriptures that in those times when I don’t want to serve, when I just want to be left alone, when I want to go buy a ticket for Tarshish, (Jonah 1:3) that haunts me. “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” (Heb. 11:16) You do realize that verse has an inverse, do you not? That there are individuals on this planet at this moment, perhaps though I will not say with certainty, even some in heaven right now, that God is ashamed to be called their God. Saved, but unprofitable, desiring to be led, but rarely if ever following for any other reason than to be obedient only to the very least that was necessary. “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” (Luke 17:10)
The Lord has throughout the age of the church placed God-fearing, Christ-centered, Bible believing men into positions of leadership, men who never attended seminary, who did not take Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic class, or spent four years or more in Theology classroom settings before being “sent out.” These men were of the streets, they sought to be led for His glory, along the way the Lord taught them, from His Word and by other men’s writings that the Holy Spirit had also empowered with the ability to understand, apply, and inform others of the will of God. Those men are few now, now people sit in the pews and listen, checking their cell phones occasionally, trying not to fall asleep, wondering what the day ahead, the week ahead will bring. You are responsible for you, no excuses will be listened to, your life is to reflect every aspect of Jesus Christ, as the situation merits. If it doesn’t, the unthinkable may occur, He may be ashamed to be your God.
