Have you ever wondered how to follow God’s direction? How do you know what God wants you to do? Today, I want to help you figure out how to discern God’s direction, how to be led by the Spirit; not necessarily to be led by your spirit, but by God's Spirit.

Say this with me: Relationship > Religion.

Technically, based on the current definition of religion, Christianity is a religion, but in practice, it's much more than that. Christianity offers us a relationship with the God of the universe.

In religion, God says:

• Religion = You should. You don’t? You’re toast.

But this isn't how God works. In a relationship, God says:

• Relationship = You can't. I can. Let's toast.

Today, we're talking about being led by the Spirit, and outside of an intimate relationship with God, that's hard to describe. A relationship with God is powerful, largely because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. He's not just a power we leverage; He is a person we know. There are a few authors that have been impactful in my life, but their impact is limited. Why? They’re not here. I forget what they wrote or I hear something that contradicts them and doubt them.

When it comes to living the Christian life, the Bible is our map. Have you ever gone to a hotel, and when you check in they give you a map of the city? I love those things. They've got the cartoon landmarks on them, but when you're in a new city, they're hard to read. So what does the concierge do? They use their pen to point you to things on the map. They’re a guide. For us, the Holy Spirit is our guide.

I like a concierge who tells me the best restaurants and landmarks I need to see, and that's a small picture of what the Holy Spirit does for us. He guides us to the good life and keeps us from danger. Because we are created in the image of God, we intuitively know what is right and what is wrong. Now, sometimes we convince ourselves of lies, but without the influence of lies, we know right and wrong.

There’s a passage in Romans where Paul is talking about his battle with sin. The great apostle Paul had not removed all the sin from his life, and he says:

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25, NIV)

To which religion says, “Try harder. Be a better person.” It gives a list of rules: “delete your Netflix account, smash your cell phone, stop drinking alcohol, turn control of the bank account over to your wife.” And maybe you need to do something like that, but the answer Paul is looking for isn’t a rule. It’s not a what. It’s a who: Jesus Christ our Lord.

I need someone, not something. How does God deliver me? With a map, through a guide. The Holy Spirit does more than tell me what sin is. There’s something beyond what's morally right. Most of us don’t usually wrestle with questions about what is sin. We wrestle with “what is best? What is wise?”

There are a million right things that I can do. God never told me I have to marry Darci or I would be sinning. I could have married another girl without sinning. But I didn’t just want to avoid sin. I wanted to do the best thing. Because He is omniscient, He can show us the wisest thing to do. Jesus said:

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads in