Friday, May 13, 2005

Considering God's Will? Six practical keys for considering God's will everyday in our life: Ask God for wisdom and guidance.  In Psalms 25:5 the psalmist asks God to "Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day."   As believers, we can be assured that both our needs and desires will be met by God if we acknowledge him and let him teach us. If we sincerely desire to know our duty, with resolution to do it, we may be sure that God will direct us in it. Know the Word of God.  The Bible is God's instruction book for life, filled with guidance for every area of our life.  If we feel led to do something that is in direct contradiction to God's Word, we should not do it!  It is not, and could never be, God's will. Pay attention to circumstances.  God is with us every moment of our life - not just during times of emergency.  He is actively guiding the day-to-day circumstances of our life, and He will often use those seemingly random events - coincidences, new developments, open doors - to direct us.  For a believer, there is no such thing as luck! Seek wise counsel.  Proverbs 11:14 declares that "Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory."  It's good to seek counsel, but we need to be careful!  Not every counselor is wise or godly.  That's why it's so important to examine the lives of our counselors carefully, to see if they, themselves, are living in God's will. Listen to our conscience.  God has given us a conscience to act as a filter for our decisions, and while it can't make us do the right thing, it can certainly make us feel the pain of violating it!  Repeated sin can damage and dull our conscience - so we need to make sure that it is reliable by carefully grounding ourselves in God's Word. Use common sense.  The is nothing wrong with using human reasoning to weigh decisions and discern God's will - as long as it is balanced by Scripture, circumstance, wise counsel, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Portions taken from: Charles Stanley, In Touch Ministries. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary. 5:40:53 PM    comment []

Is It Really Condemnation? If we say Jesus is the only way to God, are we not condemning those who may not believe the only way to God is through Jesus? From a reference standpoint, I might suggest considering the following verses in addressing this question concerning "condemnation":  John 3:16-18   For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. From a condemnation standpoint, I might submit that all are given opportunity to seek Christ (even if not in name, but in a desire to seek God and a right relationship with Him (Romans 1:20)), and that any decision not to follow Him would be an individuals condemnation of himself and not of God's desire (because it appears that it is most certainly not His desire based on the provision He has provided for reconciliation).    In fact I might say that God had demonstrated His desire not to condemn people even when he has already presented the choice and consequences of a decision (examples:  The delays in punishment during the time of the Great Flood and the delays in punishment of the people of Nineveh).     While we might share with someone what the stated consequences of a choice not to follow Christ are - that being of eternity without Christ - thus condemnation - I don't think the sharing of that understanding in a spirit of concern and love as condemnation of someone.  In fact if we believe God's word as fact, we would truly be unloving if we did not share the truth of the consequences of non-belief (condemnation) with those who do not believe and/or are not aware of these consequences. 12:01:44 PM    comment []