In this sermon, the speaker discusses the importance of following God's guidance in our lives. He uses the example of Peter and Cornelius from the Book of Acts to illustrate this point. Both Peter and Cornelius were spoken to by God, and they obediently followed His instructions. The speaker emphasizes that God wants to guide and enable us to follow Him, and that He has a good and perfect will for our lives. He also acknowledges that following God's guidance may lead us into unfamiliar territory and may even make us appear strange to others, but it is important to trust in God's leading and not be discouraged by difficulties that may arise.

Let's pray. Father, we look to you to speak to our hearts today. Holy Spirit, you have come to be our resident truth teacher, and it is your truth we seek today, and it's your love we seek, Father. We seek to be filled with your Holy Spirit. We are so full of man's ideas, man's ways, man's programs. What we ask today is to be filled to overflowing with your Holy Spirit, with God's ways, God's leading, God's light, and God's love. Lord God, make your Bible alive to us today, and we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. This message is entitled, Following a God-Authored Trail. Following a God-Authored Trail. And we are here in the book of Acts, studying the movement of God's people as the Holy Spirit leads them around. They're following God. Specifically, in this passage, we are examining the movements of Peter and the guidance of the Lord in his life. God wants to guide you. God wants to enable you, enable you to follow him. He has a will for you that is good and perfect. Romans chapter 12, verse 2 says it is good and perfect. He has a perfect will for you, and he wants to lead you down thus a God-authored trail into that will. I want to read just a few thoughts to you that I came across in my studies to warm us up for where we're going in this passage, just to encourage you. Listen to this. If you've ever thought you made a mistake in following God's guidance, this will encourage you. J.I. Packer wrote this. He said, If God restored David after his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah and Peter after his threefold denial of Jesus Christ, we should have no doubt that he can and will restore Christians who err through making honest mistakes about his guidance. Isn't that good? That is good. Then Packer wrote something else. This speaks to me about a lot of things right now. He wrote this. The truth is that God, in his wisdom to make and keep us humble and to teach us to walk by faith, has hidden from us almost everything that we would like to know about the providential purposes which he is working out in our church and in our lives. End quote. And then I want to read you one more thought from C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis said a glimpse of the next three feet of the road is more important than a view of the entire horizon in your life. Let me give that to you again. A glimpse of the next three feet of the road in your life is more important than a view of the entire horizon. Great thought. Great thoughts to warm us up for where we're going in the word now in the book of Acts to Acts 10, 23. Peter was on the housetop and God spoke to him. Meanwhile, Cornelius was in prayer over in Caesarea. Peter was in Joppa. God spoke to Cornelius. He spoke to both of them. Cornelius was spoken to by an angel. Peter was spoken to through a vision and then by the voice accompanying the vision, the voice of God, and then by the voice of the Holy Spirit who told him to get up and go doubting nothing. Arise and go. We read it over and over in the book of Acts. Why? Because throughout the book of Acts, it's crisscrossed with all these God authored trails and his people are following their own unique individual trail. So we come to Acts 10, 23, and these individuals have come to the house where Peter is and invited him to come on over and see Cornelius. So in verse 23, it's late. So Peter invited them in and lodged them. So they spent the night. On the next day, Peter went away with them and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him. And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and his close friends. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet. Check this out. And worshipped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up. I myself am also a man. And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. So there were many that had gathered together in response to the invitation of Cornelius to come and gather at his place and hear what the apostle Peter would come to share with them about God. There is much in this passage, and that's as far as we're going to go today. The passage runs all the way down to verse 48, and it has to do all the way through with the sending of Peter by the Holy Spirit. It has to do with the supplicant's testimony, Cornelius, and as he shares what God has shown him and they compare notes. And then we see the sermon that Peter preached. But today we're just going to look at the sending of Peter. In the sending of Peter to the Gentile household of Cornelius, we read in verse 23, then he invited them in and lodged them on the next day. Peter went away with them. I want to draw your attention to this little phrase right at the end of verse 23. And some brethren from Joppa accompanied him. Now, remember, Luke is writing the book of Acts. Luke is a doctor, but he is also a latent historian. And the details that he puts in in the book of Acts are put in there for a reason. Nothing at all is haphazard in the book of Acts. If it is in there, it's there for a reason. So when we read some brethren from Joppa accompanied him, why is that there? For a reason. Why did some brethren from Joppa accompany Peter? Notice it doesn't say that they accompanied the group. They accompanied him, Peter specific. I'll tell you why. They accompanied him. Peter brought them along because he had a holy desire to bring them along. He wanted to. But it was a holy desire. That is borne out by the time you get to chapter 11, and we won't go there now, but when we get to chapter 11 and Peter goes back up to Jerusalem and he goes back to headquarters, you could put it, and he tells of all that God has done with the Gentiles. It's brand new. It's unprecedented. And it is so monumental that the brethren in Jerusalem have a really hard time believing. Peter, first of all, went into a Gentile house and then preached the gospel to Gentiles. And then before he even finished his sermon, all of them got saved, filled with the Holy Spirit and even spoke in tongues. So he has to go back when he's all done and report that up at Jerusalem. So when he has this desire to bring some brethren from Joppa with him, you'll find out in chapter 11, these men testify as witnesses back in Jerusalem of what they saw and back up everything Peter has to say. So there was a reason they went along because the Bible taught the Jews that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, everything would be established. So six witnesses is even better. And so this is their leaving. Peter gets this desire in his heart. You know, I just really feel led to bring some brethren with me. I just know God wants me to do that. So he did. It was a holy desire. I call it a holy desire because it came from God. And you must realize, as you read through the book of Acts, that a holy desire is one of the main ways that God guides us in our lives. Peter was on the housetop and saw a vision and of course was given guidance by that. But the main way God led him in his life was not by visions. It was more by the holy desires he put in his heart. It's the same way with you. Peter was led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit told him to go. Nothing doubting. But he also compared that with the word of the Lord. So Peter was led by the word of the Lord and by the Holy Spirit working in his life. So are you. Peter was also led by holy desire. So vision, yes, the spirit and the word, yes, but also holy desire. And you have to realize that the vision is the exception. You find it in the Bible, but it's not everywhere. Read the book of Acts and you won't find it on every page. It is the exception. More often than not, God will lead you by the plain teaching that is there in the word of God. If you know it, if you've been taught it, if you don't know it and you haven't been taught it, how can you be led by it? That's why we must know it first. But then he will put holy desires in your heart for the things that are not in the Bible, but apply to your current situation. And because God is always keeping an eye on the future where he's taking you, because he's always taking you somewhere. On his God authored trail, he puts desires in your heart that will affect your future. And that is why Peter had these brethren from Joppa accompany him. Now, how do you know if you have a holy desire than that's come from the Lord? I look at it like this. You have a holy desire or you have a desire that is from your flesh or from your own heart, or you might have, I call it a cappuccino desire. That's not so much a desire to drink one as it is what happens after you drink it, drink a good, strong cup of coffee. And the next thing you know, you're driving along in your car and you're sipping your coffee, getting all excited and you want to go to outer Mongolia. Oh, man, Lord, I just feel like I should go down to Mongolia and just preach to everybody. You pull over and get another cup. And by the time you're done, you're ready to just travel the world, you know, any place and everywhere for the Lord. You never ever wanted to go before. The problem is, is that a few hours later, when it wears off, you're going, what in the world was I thinking about? God, I retract all those statements. That's what I call cappuccino desire. Coffee desire. It comes and it goes. When it's your desire, it comes and it goes. When it's desire from God, it comes from the Holy Spirit. That's it's a holy desire. It comes in a strong way and get this. It grows even stronger. My desires come and they are there, but then they slowly fade away and my mind changes and over a period of time, oh, that wasn't the Lord. God's desires when they come are strong, but they get bigger and stronger and more definite until the point I reach the point where I know this is God. And if I don't respond to it, I know that I'm disobedient. So it's gone beyond a desire issue to an obedience issue because God has worked it so clearly. It comes from the Holy Spirit. It comes in a strong way and grows stronger. It is holy as a desire, because think of this. It is taken out of God's heart and put into your heart. It's taken from God's heart and put into your heart so that a holy desire from the Lord may seem simple, but what comes out from God and goes into you market is never simplistic. Never simplistic. It may seem simple. He's got to communicate with you somehow. It may seem simple, so it's clear, but it's never shallow. It's never simplistic because it's always with a view toward what he's doing in your life now and in the future and in the lives of those that you interact with and will reach for the Lord. So it's a desire that comes out from God and it goes into you and it will come to pass and it will happen because God in heaven is wanting to do something on earth and he's wanting to do it through you. Isn't that a wonderful thought? God in heaven is wanting to do a specific thing on earth and he's wanting to do it through you. Jesus, before he went to the cross and rose from the grave and went back to heaven, said, greater things than I have done will you do because I'm going to go to the Father. I'm going to get out of this body and by the Holy Spirit, I'm going to come back into yours and yours and yours and yours and yours and yours. So the power of the Holy Spirit unleashed by going out into all of the lives of all of his followers, as opposed to just in him, just isolated Israel. So God is wanting to do many things. And so he uses each one of us. How wonderful it is to know that God in heaven wants to do something on earth and he wants to do it through me. He wants to do it through you. Turn in your Bible, hold your place here and turn your Bible to Psalm 37, Psalm 37, to verse four. This is one of those great lifetime verses to mark and memorize and think of often. Psalm 37, verse four. Says, delight yourself also in the Lord and he will give you something. He will give you the desires of your heart. You say, amen, brother. That is what I came for. I was in the mall yesterday and I saw this entire new wardrobe. I want to change my whole look. And there I was just saying, oh, Lord, show me a sign that you want me to do this. Now, here it is. And he will give you the desires of your heart. I am going mulling after church today. No, no, no, no, no. That's not it. That's not what this is talking about. You mean this isn't talking about my new car? No. My new house? No. It's talking about he will give you the desires of your heart. He will put into your heart the desires that he wants you to have because he wants to do something on Earth and he wants to do it through you. His desires become your desires. Jesus Christ said my meat is to do the will of the father and to finish the work he has sent me to do. It's the same in our lives. And so the desires that come from the Lord, he will give you the desires of your heart. I love that. And then verse five. So here's how it all brushes out in real life, then commit your way to the Lord. OK, Lord, you put the desire in my heart and I'm committing my way to you. Then trust in him and he shall bring it to pass. That's so great. Lord, you put this thing in my heart. I feel you leading. So I'm committing my way to you. I'm committing my life to you, Lord. Lead me, Lord. Guide me. Now, Lord, I'm going to trust you that because you put the desire there, you are going to bring it to pass. You will do it. This is your work, not mine. So you commit your way to the Lord, you trust in him and he shall not might not maybe he shall bring it to pass. Verse six, he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice is the noonday. You know what I like about that? What I like about it is that he will do it, he will bring it forth and it's your righteousness. In other words, it's the fruit in your life. It is your life going from the bud to the bloom. You become a full bloom Christian. Full or so that all around see the work of God, the radiance of God in your life and they know it's God. He will bring forth your righteousness as the noonday. You will shine in that thing that he's leading in that work in your life and people will see it. They'll remark about it. You know, somehow you're different lately. Somehow you have a new twinkle, a new sparkle. I've never seen you so focused. He will bring forth your righteousness as the noonday. Isn't that great? Let me give you a little poem. Well, Providence supports that saints securely dwell. The hand that bears all nature up shall guide his children. Well, he wants to guide you. You and I individually and collectively are on a God authored trail. Turn in your Bible to Psalm 145 verse 19. We read in the last Psalm. He shall bring it to pass now in Psalm 145 verse 19. We read. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He will. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He will also hear their cry and save them. Why is that in there? Because market, when you move out in the leading of God in areas you haven't moved out in before, when you follow God into areas you haven't been before, it's going to get exciting and you're going to look strange to people that have known you that haven't seen this spirit led behavior in your life before. They've seen you religious. Yes, but that's enough to bore anybody. When they see you led by the Holy Spirit, you're going to become odd to them. So you're also going to become a threat to the devil in the kingdom of darkness. So in the midst of it, you're going to find yourself at points crying out to the Lord. Lord, I'm in this difficulty because I followed you. Jesus told the disciples to get into the boat and go over to Capernaum. They get into the boat and a storm comes, the greatest storm they'd ever seen. They were in that storm because they had followed him. So you follow the Lord. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He began to bring it all to pass. And you find yourself crying out to the Lord. He will hear your cry and he will save you. He's got it all covered every angle. Verse 20, the Lord preserves all who love him. He will preserve you. He will preserve those who love him. So in the end, you could sum it all up in the words of Jerome, one of the early church fathers who said a Christian's life is a state of holy desire. Holy desire is one of the main ways that he leads us. This is how he led Peter to bring those men along with him that were so instrumental later. The next thing we see in this passage back in the book of Acts, chapter 10, is what we could call a holy faith, a holy faith. Acts chapter 10, 24. The following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. I call this a holy faith because you remember Cornelius was he's a God fearer. He's not born again yet. He is a God fear. He is one who's come to believe in the God of the Jews. But he's responded to the light that he's been given. So God has given him more by this angel. And the angel has told him to send for Peter so Peter can bring him the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So he gets all this, though, from an angel while he's praying. Now, just imagine if if you're a friend of Cornelius, he's a centurion. Imagine you're one of his soldiers. And now he invites you to come to his house. Verse 24. The following day, they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. Imagine if you were a close friend of Cornelius again. He's a centurion of the Italian band. So he's from Italy. And has come to believe in the God of the Jews. So with that kind of a background, imagine he comes to you and he says yesterday while I was praying, an angel appeared to me and he spoke to me. He spoke to me in detail. Now, what he told me was that I should send for a man named Peter over a job and he's going to come and he's going to speak to us. What's he going to say to us? Cornelius, did the angel tell you that, too? In other words, you really think they're going to believe him? You see, it would take a step of faith, don't you think? I mean, how many of you have ever seen an angel? I don't ask for a show of hands because I don't want you to show that you're madness. You know, you hear all these stories. I was driving down the freeway and suddenly an angel appeared sitting on the seat next to me, smiling. How do you know it was an angel? Because of the way he looked. You know, you've seen pictures of angels. I recognized him immediately. You know, when people start talking to me like that, it's like, whoa, you know. All I have to do, all I have is one question for you. Did you keep driving? Because when Daniel saw an angel, he fell on his face and passed out. The angel had to help him back up because of the glory. So, back to Cornelius. It's going to take a step of faith to go to his relatives, because the relatives especially are the ones that are hard on you. We know you. You've been around the whole time. You're a mess. You didn't see an angel. Don't give me that. So, he goes to his relatives and he says, this angel came. And he tells them, then his close friends. So, you know it took a step of faith to do that. But the thing is, is that when God really has spoken to you and you really do have something from the Lord that's burning in your heart, the truth is one flaming heart does ignite another. If it is just you and you really didn't see an angel, they would have just left. But because it really was an angel, because his heart really was burning with a fire that God had put in there and a faith that God had put in there, they saw it in his faith. And as a result, they responded and they came. But he had to step out in faith and invite them. Do you see that? And I love the fact that he did invite them, because he didn't want to go to heaven all alone. It seems to me that some Christians would be perfectly content to go to heaven all alone. In solitude. They don't care if they bring anybody with them. In the Bible, what are we likened to? A bear? No. A lion? No. You there? We are likened in the Bible to, we are the sheep of his pasture. We're likened to sheep. Sheep, they don't like to be alone. They like to be together. Sheep really tripped my mind out. When I, I love to drive by a flock of sheep. And if I have time and no one's around, I like to get out and give them my meanest faces and shout and wave my arms. I just, anything really. I just love honk the horn. Just if you, if you have one guy over here and he's just near a group of others and you honk the horn at the one, he'll bolt and everybody will see him. And they go, Oh, check it out. He's bolting. Why do you think so? And the next thing you know, they're all bolting. And I never know why. When they get over to the other side of the field and they're all looking around. Hey, why did you bolt anyway? You see, they're always together. And the truth is, on a more serious and lovely side, we do like to be together, don't we? I love coming into church and seeing all of you fellowshipping and smiling. I love to hear the laughter of God's people together in church and fellowship and, and just to see God at work in your lives. And to see that you love to be with each other. That's the way we are. I hope that you don't want to go to heaven all alone. I hope that you want to bring others with you and you invite others as Cornelius did, because that is the way of God. And God honors that. That's why there's this group there. So here he is. And here is this group. So Cornelius stepped out in faith and invited his relatives and his friends. And then God honored Cornelius step of faith and the people responded. You see, when you step out, God honors it. God honors it. He especially honors that kind of compassion for others to know the Lord like you know him. In Acts 10, 27, as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. That is so tremendous. Listen to this. There was once in a village years ago, a man who is a confirmed, a confirmed infidel. In spite of all the efforts of the minister and many Christian people, he resisted all attempts and appeared to be more and more confirmed in his sin. He just rejected the Lord. Finally, the people held a prayer meeting, especially to intercede for his soul, the people in the church. And they got together, especially to pray for his soul. In the morning, one of the elders in the church rose from his knees after feeling especially pressed to pray all night, even after the prayer meeting, he went home and prayed all night alone for this man. And in the morning he was pressed in his heart with really a holy desire to go see this man. He was a blacksmith and he went to see him and he had a great deal in his heart to say to him. But when he got there, all he could say was this. Oh, sir, I am deeply concerned for your salvation. I have been up all night in prayer for your salvation. And then he couldn't say anything else. His heart was too full. And he just stood there and smiled at him and just loved him and then left. Down with the blacksmith's hammer. He went in immediately to see his wife. She said, what is wrong with you? And he said, what's wrong with me? He said, matter enough, I have been attacked with a new argument this time. The elders been here. You know what he said to me? He said, I'm concerned about your salvation. He said, why, if he is concerned about my salvation? Is it a strange thing that I'm not concerned about my salvation? His heart was captured. He went to the elders house. When he arrived, the elder was in his parlor on his knees praying. He looked up and he said, come on, come and pray with me. And he knelt down next to him. And as he knelt down in prayer, the Holy Spirit got a hold of his heart, just melted his heart. And right there, he came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. It was because the church cared enough to have a special prayer meeting for him, the brethren. Brethren, we are the church. And because this man stepped out in faith, this man responded and came to know Jesus Christ. This is the way the Lord works in our lives. He stepped out, he invited his friends and relatives and God honored it. They responded. See, God honors a faith that will stand still and hold on. He does. He honors a faith, a faith that will stand still and hold on. You see, you must realize up front that faith is not something you can work up. I don't know what your background is, but you may have been taught all kinds of crazy things about faith. You've got to get your faith up. You know, from the Word of Faith movement, you hear that kind of thing. You've got to get your faith up. You get your faith up and you'll live differently. I don't know why they have to always say it that way, but you cannot get your faith up. Can you? I'll huff and I'll puff. No, you can't. I'll get my faith up. No, you can't. You want to know why? Faith is a gift from God. It is a delightful gift from God. God works in Peter's life on the rooftop. He gives him a vision. He talks to him and he works in his heart by the Holy Spirit. And then he says to him, after all that, now you go nothing doubting. He's put the gift of faith in his heart fresh. Salvation begins that way. Saved by grace through faith that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God in the beginning and all the way along. It's a delightful gift. And so when the faith is there and you stand still and hold on, God honors it. He really does. Someone as well said. You believe in God for your soul. Believe in him about your property. Believe in God about your sick wife or your dying child. Believe in God about your losses and your bad debts and your declining business. Stand still and believe him. He will preserve those who love him. We read it in the Bible today. Holy desire. Holy faith. These are the ways that God leads us. And he leads us then in a third thing we see here, and that is a holy humility. Look at verse 25. Acts 10. As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. Peter lifted it up, lifted him up, saying, Stand up. I myself am also a man. If ever there was a time in Peter's life where he was freshly aware of that, it was now. I am also a man. And so he was broken. Peter was. He was blessed and he was so very human. He had been freshly humbled on the rooftop. Arise, Peter. Not so, Lord. Arise, Peter. Kill and eat. Not so, Lord. Will I never. Peter, we're approaching the third time. Something about threes in your life. Now think very, very carefully before you answer again. Are you going to do what I'm going to tell you or not? Lord, you got it. Anything you say, you just point the way. So you see, Peter was humbled again. He comes out of that fresh humbling on the rooftop in prayer with the Lord. And you know what I see here? It's so tremendously instructive to me, and that is the most holy men are always the most humble. The most holy men are always the most humble people that tell you they're holy and they're not humble. Guess what? They're not humble. They're proud. People that tell you they're spirit filled are humble. People that tell you they're full of faith, if they really are, they're humble. And usually they're not boasting so much about it anyway. The holiest men are the most humble men. If you want to see the mountaintops of God's love, you go down into the valley of humility and you look up. And that's how you see it. Peter, this centurion, falls at his feet to worship him. You know, he could have, if he was just full of himself, he could have said, well, you know, Cornelius, don't get up. Hang on a second. I want to tell you a few apostle stories. There I was with Jesus. And he called me. He made me an apostle. Hang on. He made me an apostle. I'll let you get up in a minute. Stay, boy. But there's none of that. He is so aware of his own humanness. It's immediately get up, get up, get up before that angel that was around here the other day sees me accepting worship from you, tells the Lord I'm in big trouble. Get up. I love it. Holy humility. And you know what it leads to? What happens next is what I would call a holy first. It is a holy first. God uses Peter to open the door of the gospel to the entire Gentile world. He is not called in the end to minister to the Gentiles. Paul is. But he is the one who opens it. Jesus said, Peter, I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Yes, that's right. And that's the key. That's the gospel. And I'm the gospel, that gospel. I will build my church and you will take those keys. And whoever you tell that they are bound will be bound. Whoever you tell they are loose, they will be loose. What does that mean? That means if someone receives the key of the gospel as you give it to them, you can say, you know what? Your sins are loose from you. If they refuse the gospel, you can say your sins are still bound on you. That's what that whole passage is teaching. Peter will go on now to give the gospel to these Gentile people. And he, the key of the gospel, opens wide the door of salvation to the entire Gentile world. And then God unleashes Paul on the Gentile world with a power like never seen before. And uses him to do more than all the other apostles put together. But you see how it's all involving each one following their own God-authored trail. I want to ask you a very important question today. Are you following your God-authored trail? Or have you allowed difficulty in your life to derail you? Have you been derailed from your God-authored trail by difficulty in your life? Have you made a recent decision that was important, that was made because of your own disappointment, your own trouble, your own failure? And that decision is a direct result of failure and trouble and frustration. Have you made a decision like that? If so, I would say be doubly careful before you act on it. Because, think of it, when Paul and Silas went into Philippi and they were arrested and imprisoned, if they had allowed the initial reaction of being imprisoned, beaten and everything else to sway them in their guidance, the gospel would never have gone any further into Europe. Rather, they let the Holy Spirit lead through the midst of the difficulties. Listen, if God is leading you, follow Him. And if you've been making excuses, I really encourage you to stop. I'll tell you why. Because, listen very closely to this, he that is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else. He that is good at making excuses, she that is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else. So I encourage you, follow Him. Don't make excuses. Follow Him. And He will bring it to pass. He will preserve you in the way. And God will always provide a light through every one of His tunnels. Listen, when you go through difficulty in life, you will go through dark tunnels in life. I would rather go through God's dark tunnels than my own or the world's or the devil's. So when I'm in a dark place, I know God will always provide light in His tunnels. There's not only light at the end of the tunnel with God, there's light in the tunnel. Light of God. And always remember this, men give advice. God gives guidance. Your God-authored trail can only come to you from God. And only you can walk it. In the end, our life as believers, as pilgrims and strangers passing through this life, in the end, the life of the believer is a conducted tour. You know who your guide is? The same one that guided Abraham, who went out not knowing where he was going, just that he was led by God. He didn't know where he was going. God gave him a vision of the first three feet, not the horizon. The same God that led Abraham is your God and your guide. The same God that guided Moses and all the others in the Bible is your guide. And you know something? He knows the end of your journey and He knows the best way to take you there. Let Him do it. Follow your God-authored trail. Follow your guide, the Holy Spirit, and He will lead you. He will preserve you. He will hear your cry and He will fulfill the desires He gives you. He shall. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you today for your word. We thank you for your work in the lives of your people. We thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are still working. Even as we read on the pages of the book of Acts, you're working in our lives even this day. Lead us, each one, Lord. Put those desires in our hearts that are yours. Take out our own selfish, misguided desires and replace them with yours that we might have confidence in you, that you will preserve us and we will know the blessing, the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. O God, let us look up from the valley of humility to the mountaintop of your love and be filled with it until we overflow. And we ask these things expectantly for you are a good and gracious God, eager to bless your people. For we ask them in Jesus' name. Amen.