Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20250406 - How To Know God’s Will — Choose Wisely! - Matthew 6:31-34

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#20250406 - How To Know God’s Will — Choose Wisely! - Matthew 6:31-34 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word recorded live at Calvary
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Church in Aurora, Co. To learn more about the many
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resources available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune
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into our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co
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dot Church or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
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All right, well, it's so good to be here with you guys.
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I got into town on Friday and had some time to kill.
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And so the city was like a buzz. I was in downtown Denver.
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I thought I'd just parked myself at a coffee shop for a few
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hours. Everyone was wearing purple and
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running around. So I was like, what what is
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happening right now? And I found out it was opening
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day for the Rockies. And so I was trying to figure
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out should I go to the game? And so I called my wife because
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I had to make a decision. I call the call the boss.
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She's like, yeah, you should do it.
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Looked at the prices, they were affordable.
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So I'm like, I'm going to be crazy.
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I'm going to, I'm going to go. So I went to the game.
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Now when I made that decision, I didn't I didn't think like this
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is God's will for my life. It wasn't like a big decision,
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but I know now it was not God's will for my life.
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I can prove it to you. Look at my experience at the
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game. Are you kidding me?
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They're like, yeah, they would have cancelled it, but it was
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opening day snow in April. I was at a Padres game last
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week. It was warm, beautiful, and they
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won. And so I I was not God's will
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for my life. So I left at the 4th inning and
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my goodness, come to Denver, Pastor Ed said.
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I mean, man, listen, we make small decisions every day,
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right? But isn't it true that when we
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have a big decision in front of us, we kind of slow down like
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like, who am I going to marry? Like what city am I going to
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live in, right? What, what job should I have for
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those decisions? We, we slow down a little bit
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because we want to get it right. If you're here today and you
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believe in Jesus, then you're thinking, I want to be in the
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center of God's will for my life.
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I want to be there. When we talk about God's will
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and how to know God's will, there's really two different
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categories. The first is God's general will.
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God has said some things to everybody.
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Here's a here's a list. If you look up all these verses,
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you'll see each of them mention God's will, that we would be
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saved, that we would be spirit filled, that we'd be sanctified,
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submissive, and even suffer like God has called us to some bits
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of suffering. And so when we're talking about
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God's will, like God has spoken clearly that there is a refining
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process that he wants us to go through, that he wants us to
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focus on these things. And so we should put some effort
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towards God's general will that he has spoken.
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But if we're honest, most of the time we're just asking God, show
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me your specific will for me and my situation.
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And we describe God's specific will.
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Sometimes we think about it as like a tightrope, like if I
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fall, it's over. Like if I if I make the wrong
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decision, I guess I'll just live God's Plan B for my life instead
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of his best for my life. There's a show on Netflix with
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Bear Grylls called You Versus Wild.
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And it's interactive and you get to actually choose with a remote
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like what you want him to do. And they say choose carefully
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because if you choose wrong, he won't survive.
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And you're like, what's a little dramatic?
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And so do you want Bear Grylls to take the long, slow Rd. up
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the mountain or to climb up the waterfall with his bare hands?
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Like, I want to see that. And then he falls and the and
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the show's over. Like you're not allowed to watch
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anymore. You have to start over.
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And it's very dramatic. And we think that way about our
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decisions, right? If I get this wrong, it's it's
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over and I'm outside of God's will.
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It was a guy named Jerry Sitzer who wrote a book called The Will
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of God as a Way of Life, and he describes what I think is a
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wrong way to think about God's will for our lives.
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Like this conventional understanding of God's will
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defines it as a specific pathway we should follow into the
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future. God knows what this pathway is,
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and He's laid it out for us to follow.
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Responsibility is to discover this pathway, God's plan for our
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lives. We must discover which of the
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many pathways we could follow is the one we should follow, the
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one God has planned for us. If and when we make the right
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choice, we receive His favor, fulfill our divine destiny, and
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succeed in life. If we choose rightly, we
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experience this blessing, achieve success and happiness.
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But if we choose wrongly, we may lose our way, miss God's will
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for our lives, and remain lost forever in an incomprehensible
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way. I'm not saying that's right, but
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isn't that how we feel sometimes?
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Like all the pressure's on us? Why can't we figure this out?
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And so when it comes to knowing God's will, there are some ways
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that are not effective at all that I want to start with.
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And then we'll get to the more effective ways, these least
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effective ways to seek God's will.
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You just need to know that I'm going to offend you on one of
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these, but I go right from here to an airport, so I'm good.
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I'm good. Take up your offense with Pastor
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Ed, all right? He'll help you.
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He's smarter than me. Listen to what he says if I'm
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wrong. Sometimes we seek God's will
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based on a gut feeling. I just have a gut feeling about
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it. The actual phrase gut feeling
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comes from like a Pagan origin where they would cut open an
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animal, look at the liver and make their decision.
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Probably not the best way for us to make a decision.
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You're like, you're right. I'm a Christian.
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What I do is I use the Bible, Bible flopping.
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That is right. So I just open the Bible to any
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page. Let's see and the Lord said set
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up a Tabernacle, the tent of meeting.
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That doesn't help. And I'll again, oh, here's my
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answer. Listen, don't flip the Bible
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open to any random page. You're making God work too hard.
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I mean, that is not how any author designed a book to be
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used if it's worked for you. It's just that God is merciful.
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Please don't export that idea to your friends.
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Sometimes we have a desire and we say, well, if this is the
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Lord's will, I'm going to pray that if it isn't God's will, the
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desire would go away. It sounds spiritual because
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you're praying, but what you got to start with is the
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understanding in the book of Jeremiah that says the heart is
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deceitful and wicked. The very desire may be wrong or
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at least misleading and so not the best way.
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Another Bible way that we try and make decisions.
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I like this one because I named one of my kids Gideon.
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In the book of Judges, Gideon put out a fleece.
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When Gideon put out a fleece, both options were actually
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impossible. It was a miracle when either
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option happened. When we put out a fleece, the
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option that we really, really want is probable.
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So it's not the same thing. So, Lord, if you want me to
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marry this girl, help me to see her this weekend.
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And we just camp outside the house all weekend.
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Creepily, Lord, it's your will. I saw her.
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She's running away from you. No, you're creepy.
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It's not God's will sometimes and this one is the offensive
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one. We say, well, I have AI have a
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piece about it. Now listen, it depends on how
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you're using that phrase. If you're using that phrase
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connected back to Colossians 315, which says let the peace of
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God rule in your hearts and you've heard the word rule there
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is like umpire. So God will give you peace if
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it's a safe decision or call you out and give you anxiety if it's
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not a good decision. The problem is that verse has
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nothing to do with decision making.
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That verse has to do with peace, as in harmonious relationships
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that are in unity with one another, not making decisions.
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Now, of course, if you're walking outside of God's will
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and you're living in sin, hopefully you have anxiety over
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that. Hopefully that keeps you up at
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night. But there are times when you
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have anxiety that you need to be courageous.
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Instead. Think about Jesus in the Garden
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of Gethsemane, sweating drops of blood.
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Was he having a peaceful moment there?
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No, but he was perfectly in his Father's will.
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Or think about Jonah fleeing from God's will, actually
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heading physically in the opposite direction of God's
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will, The only person peacefully sleeping in that boat.
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Well, that piece didn't show that he was in the right.
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And so peace can be a part of it.
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But just be careful. Sometimes if it's an open door,
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we think I must walk through it. It could just be a point of
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decision, but perhaps the least effective way to seek God's will
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is to beg him for a personal revelation or a direct
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revelation from God. We'll talk more about this, but
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my wife had to go through this where before she met me, there
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was a nice young man who said, hey, can we grab coffee?
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And she said, sure, We're friends at the coffee shop.
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This guy's kind of shaking a little bit.
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She goes, what's wrong? He goes, I'm just going to say
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it. I'm just going to say it.
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God told me that we're going to get married.
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She's like, oh, shouldn't you have bought my coffee then?
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I mean, like, really? And she's like, God didn't tell
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me that. He said, well, you're going to
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have to go seek the Lord. He already told me you got to
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get caught up. And so she didn't marry him.
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And I made the decision to actually marry a woman outside
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of God's will. And now, now she's been living
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in sin with me her whole life, married because she didn't
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choose God's will and marry this boy instead chose me.
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So I'm God's Plan B for her. But I'm so thankful for that.
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Listen, God can give direct revelation, of course, but what
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God can do and what he normally does are two separate things.
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In the Bible, when we see direct revelation from God, you think
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of the different examples. Calling to ministry is 1 where
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where God whispers to Samuel, you know, like, hey, it's me,
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it's me, and that's God speaking to him.
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Sometimes it's in direct connection to the lost being
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saved. I think of Philip, he's doing
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good ministry and the Holy Spirit just speaks to him and
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says, hey, just go to the desert, go South, all right.
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He's going away from good ministry, oddly into the desert.
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And then he sees a chariot and the Holy Spirit just says
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overtake the chariot and the Ethiopian eunuch gets saved and,
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and perhaps Christianity comes to a nation for the first time
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from that. I think of Paul and Barnabas in
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a church prayer meeting just seeking the Lord as they were
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leading this church. And the Holy Spirit said,
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separate unto me, Paul and Barnabas for the work that I
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have for them in Acts chapter 13.
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And so yes, God can do this. Often times it's in relationship
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to evangelism that God will speak this loudly.
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It's really difficult to look in the Scriptures and see how God
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spoke directly about some of the questions that we tend to ask.
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So just keep in mind the priority of God is to save the
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lost and build the church, and that's where we can expect His
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voice. Feelings and thoughts are are
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really they're important, right? But we shouldn't label them the
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inerrant voice of God the same way we label the Scriptures as
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inerrant. So what does the Bible say about
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knowing God's specific will? Don't throw rocks, but not much
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not. There's not a step by step
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example anywhere. In fact, why don't we just read
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the opposite of that in Deuteronomy 2929?
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The secret things belong to the Lord, but those things which are
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revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do
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all the words of the law. God, God is saying, I know the
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future. I'm not giving you the playbook
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step by step by step because I'm asking you to have faith as you
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follow me, but I I've revealed a lot to you.
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And then we see in that verse, the reason is so that we would
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do them, that we would be doers of the word, not hearers only.
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So we should at least put a good effort behind that.
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So does God expect us to figure out His secret will of direction
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before we do anything? I don't think so.
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But there is a main principle that is given.
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And if you have a Bible, you can turn to Matthew chapter 6 to see
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this main principle. Matthew chapter 6 starting in
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verse 31. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount
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is speaking to people like us that have questions that we're
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concerned about, questions that, you know, keep us up at night.
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And here's Jesus response for those that have big questions in
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life. Matthew 631.
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Therefore, do not worry saying, well, what should we eat?
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What shall we drink? What shall we wear?
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Like when we have questions about provision and guidance in
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life, God is saying, hey, don't, don't worry.
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For after all these things the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly
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Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first the
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Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
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things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about
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tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
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Sufficient for the day is its own trouble when when good
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questions are brought to God about, you know, temporal things
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that aren't really the main priority, but they're important
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to us. We just need to realize that we
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have a Father in heaven. He's going to take care of you
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like he takes cares of the of the birds and and the flowers.
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He's going to take care of you. God is asking us to shift our
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focus to the things that really matter eternally to put our
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focus there. So the principle is this seek
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first the Kingdom of God and don't worry, like don't be
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anxious. Your decision making principle
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is this. Jesus said this in regard to the
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questions that we have. He says, hey, make the main
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thing the main thing. Seek first the Kingdom of God
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and don't worry, these other things are important.
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God knows you need to eat right and so he's going to add those
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things to you, but you should focus on the main things.
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God wants us to rest in the fact that He knows the feet, the
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future and we don't have to. And there could be great trust
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in that. It's said differently in
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Proverbs 3. Trust in the Lord with all your
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heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways.
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Acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
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We are to not lean on our own understandings.
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We don't need to know everything.
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We can have faith in the one who does know everything.
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So the question God cares about the most isn't where should I
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work, should I make a change? But am I seeking the Kingdom of
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God first? I believe that God is, is
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looking at the earth and he's looking for faithfulness and he
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doesn't see enough of it. And so we're here thinking,
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well, should I move to this community or to this community?
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And sometimes I wonder if God says, move wherever you want,
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but will you be faithful when you're there?
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Are you going to reach your neighbors when you're there?
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Are you going to seek my face when you're there?
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If so, go left or right because I don't have enough people in
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either of those places who are being faithful.
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Just focus on seeking first the Kingdom of God.
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And then we we're gifted this Bible.
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And so we want to make a wise, godly decision to end up in
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God's will. Look at how Ephesians 5 connects
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wisdom to the will of God. See then how you walk
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circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time
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because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but
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understand what the will of the Lord is.
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There's a connection there to the will of the Lord and not
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being unwise or being wise and you'll find the will of the
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Lord. So how do we make wise
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decisions? I, I ask some wise questions.
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I ask questions that slow me down and focus me on what the
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scriptures say. I'm going to give you 7 of them
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today. If you've got a big decision in
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front of you, the first one is this.
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Is your decision within the boundaries of Scripture?
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Like is it even allowed? Is it encouraged and promoted as
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something we should prioritize? Look to the Scriptures to see
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your boundaries in decision making.
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You're not allowed outside of those boundaries.
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When you're driving a car, you're really not supposed to be
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outside of that lane. And there's rumble strips and
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other things that show you when you're out of the lane.
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Listen, God's Word gives us the boundaries.
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His word is described in Psalm 119 one O 5 as a lamp to our
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feet and a light to our path, right.
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I like the idea of a lamp because it it'll show you
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obstacles you should step over. It'll show you dangers you
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should avoid. It'll show you when there's a
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split and you should go left or right.
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What it isn't is a laser pointer not driving us crazy like cats
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with a laser pointer. God isn't going to say
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definitely this way, definitely this way, but we have the word
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of God to show us what is dangerous and what is good as
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we're making decisions. The word of God isn't like a a
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detailed road map or even AGPS, even though we want it to be
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like I want God's voice to be AGPS turn left Andy, go go here.
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And at times the Holy Spirit will whisper to us definitely.
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But God's word is more of a compass.
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Where is true north? Seek first the Kingdom of God
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and his righteousness. These other things will be added
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along the way. So check if it's within the
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boundaries of Scripture and then ask yourself, have have you
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prayed about this decision before you made the decision?
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Like, have you prayed about it? We want to be led by the Holy
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Spirit when we're making decisions.
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Well, we got to talk to him, right?
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We've got to show our dependence on God by praying about these
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things, even when it feels obvious.
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There were times in the Bible where King David just won a
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battle, but he would still go back to God and say, Lord,
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should we go up and fight and says, yeah, do that.
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But this time go over here by the Mulberry trees and and then
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you'll win this battle. Always going to the Lord, even
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when we're confident. We're told to do this in James
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chapter one verse 5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let
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him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach,
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and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with no
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doubting, ask God. The reason we don't pray
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sometimes is because we really want to go in that direction and
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we're worried if we pray, God will say, don't do that and we
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know he'll say that. So we don't pray.
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But that should be an indication that maybe we're not trying to
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make a wise decision, just something that we want to do.
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So pray, ask yourself, will this decision bring God glory?
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Right? Will it?
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We're told in 1st Corinthians 1031, like whatever you eat,
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whatever you drink, whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.
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God deserves our glory. He's majestic and worthy of our
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praise. And so whatever you're doing,
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like like we said earlier, there's there's no secular and
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sacred. It's like everything is holy
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that we can focus on the Lord. And so the final goal is, can I
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give God glory with my life? And so if that's the final
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destination, that should inform our step by I forgot which book
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of the Bible it was in. It's the movie Alice in
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Wonderland. Yes, that's what it was.
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Alice comes to a crossroads and the Cheshire Cat says, well,
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where are you going? And she says, I don't know.
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So he responds, well if you don't know where you're going,
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then any road will do nicely. Like it doesn't matter.
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If your goal isn't to glorify God, then move to this
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neighborhood or that neighborhood, and God can't use
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you anyway because you're not trying to give him glory.
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But if your goal is to give God glory, then look at your choices
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and say, my final destination is giving God glory.
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I see how this new environment, this new circumstance could
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bring about God's glory that can inform us and lift him up as
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God, as worthy. Ask yourself, does does your
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decision show God's love to others?
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The Billings family and the missionary update.
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I think they showed their church's mission statement of
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their motto. Love God, love people and thank
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God. The 613 Old Testament laws were
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boiled down to that. Love God with everything you
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got. Love your neighbor as yourself,
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right? Love is a guiding principle.
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Sometimes you'll you'll come to Gray areas in life that you
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can't really see how the scriptures connect.
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Sometimes both choices are good, like both choices will give God
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glory and it can be helpful to say, will one of these choices
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help me to love people more, to show God's love to them?
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Paul said it like this in Philippians chapter 2.
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Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but
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also for the interests of others.
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Often times we default if we're not walking in the spirit to
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selfishness. I, I want to be first in line.
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I I want this right and it's just not loving might not be
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really evil, but it's just not loving, but a sacrificial
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decision will show love towards other people.
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God's all about that. It's all about generosity,
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sacrifice and loving those around you.
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First Corinthians 1614 real simply says like let everything
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be done in love. Just everything should be about
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love. Now as we're going through life,
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even though we know God is sovereign, sometimes something
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happens like a coincidence. And we have to ask ourselves,
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are are we overemphasizing A coincidence or is this really
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the Lord's leading? I don't know how it works in
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Colorado. All right, but these Californian
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Christians, they're different. I'll tell you what, they, they
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get a flat tire and they just can't comprehend.
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Why would the Lord allow this to happen?
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I read my Bible this morning. I pray that I mean, I'm driving
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to do ministry. Why would, why would God allow a
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flat tire? Oh, I got it.
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And everyone's like, what what's happening?
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I know what happened. I was probably going to be in a
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horrific car accident down the road and God stopped me.
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Praise God from whom? All blessings.
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Like, wow, how did you know that?
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It's just, it's just like God. It's also really normal to get a
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flat tire. And so maybe it's just a flat
21:43
tire. I I don't know.
21:45
You'll have to figure that out. My wife told me a story from a
21:48
previous church and, and these are honorable people.
21:50
I'm not mocking them, just giving an example.
21:53
They made a sacrificial decision that I think pleased the Lord,
21:55
but they were trying to decide should they leave California and
21:59
be a part of a church plant in Texas.
22:02
And so they're obviously praying about this, praying about this.
22:04
And in one of their prayer meetings, someone reaches in
22:06
their pocket, pulls out 1/4 and it was a Texas State quarter.
22:11
And they said that's it. It's confirmation.
22:12
We're going to Texas. Everyone rejoice.
22:15
They move their family to Texas and it was like, it was like all
22:19
bad. The kids, there were no kids in
22:21
the neighborhood for their kids to play with.
22:23
Some of the kids got bullied in the school.
22:25
The dad never found a job the entire time.
22:28
And eventually with all these struggles and talking to some
22:31
people, they themselves said, I think it was just a quarter,
22:36
like I'm not sure if that was the Lord leading us.
22:38
And they moved back and and began to thrive.
22:41
Now again, they were trying to serve the Lord.
22:42
I don't think the Lord was displeased with them, but maybe
22:45
they overemphasized a coincidence.
22:47
Circumstances may simply be factors that bring us to the
22:51
point of a decision, not necessarily God leading us,
22:55
although at times he does. There's a guy named John Boykins
22:58
who wrote a book called The Gospel of Coincidence, and he
23:01
gives this caution. He says we've elevated
23:04
coincidence to the status of a miracle and the interpretation
23:08
of coincidence to gospel. Like sometimes we're overly
23:12
confident and we say thus says the Lord God told me this.
23:16
This is how he confirmed it. We have to be careful.
23:19
I don't I forgot where where it is.
23:20
Maybe it's in Romans, but the scriptures say let God be true
23:23
and every man a liar. There's been times in my life
23:25
that I have to kind of confess. I said this was the Lord.
23:28
I don't think it was the Lord. I think it was just a good
23:29
thought and we need to be the ones that are humble enough.
23:31
God doesn't need to change. Sometimes we do.
23:34
God does work providentially. It really is amazing to watch.
23:38
And sometimes you can read God's Providence backwards, but it's
23:43
dangerous and really difficult to interpret the situation as
23:47
God's Providence in the present tense.
23:51
Plenty of times as a Monday morning quarterback, you can say
23:53
this is how God has weaved my story and you're so thankful for
23:57
his sovereignty in the moment. It's just tough to do.
24:00
So be careful because God does this right, But it's it's hard.
24:04
Why is it hard? Well, Isaiah 55 gives US1 reason
24:07
why it's difficult, says this for my, my thoughts are not your
24:11
thoughts, God says, nor are my ways your ways, says the Lord.
24:14
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are
24:17
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
24:21
Listen as you read the word and align your heart to God's word.
24:25
Your thoughts become God's thoughts.
24:27
But when it when it comes to the mysterious, the supernatural,
24:30
and the providential, it can be difficult for us to see what God
24:34
is doing. Just trust God, don't be
24:36
mastered by circumstances, just evaluate them.
24:40
This played out in my life in an interesting way.
24:42
Three years after, we were living in a small home that we
24:46
shouldn't have bought. It was like a beach bungalow.
24:47
I was all excited about it. I would walk into the kitchen
24:50
and hit my head. The ceiling was so low because
24:52
it was such an old home. It wasn't a good decision.
24:53
It was my fault, not my wife's. Well, all of a sudden the market
24:56
was good and we saw a house that we we were living 30 minutes
25:00
from the church we were working at.
25:01
This house was 15 minutes from the church, also bigger so we
25:04
could host home groups. And we're like, all right, let's
25:07
test this out. And we put in a low offer and it
25:10
was accepted. All right, a low offer is
25:13
accepted. This is the will of the Lord.
25:16
We thought. We waited a week during attorney
25:18
review before it was all finalized.
25:20
One hour before attorney review was over, another offer came in.
25:24
Supposedly. I'm still bitter.
25:26
I think the seller made it all up, but no, maybe this isn't the
25:30
will of the Lord. We don't have any extra money.
25:32
We'll have to increase our offer by 15,000.
25:35
But wait, that week during attorney review, the interest
25:38
rates were dropping. So it's going to be the same
25:40
amount of money over the life of the loan.
25:42
This is the will of the Lord. And so we put another the offer
25:45
in and it was accepted. It must be God's will.
25:48
I'll tell more of that story in a second.
25:49
But first, here's another question.
25:52
Have you sought counsel from others?
25:55
This is so important because if you don't, you may be guilty of
25:58
Proverbs 18. One, a man who isolates himself
26:02
seeks his own desire. He rages against all wise
26:05
judgement. Sometimes we don't talk to
26:06
others for the same reason. We might not pray because we
26:09
don't. We don't want them to say don't
26:11
do this because we've made our decision.
26:13
Instead, we should be like Proverbs 11/14 that says where
26:17
there's no counsel, the people fall.
26:18
But in the multitude of counselors, there's safety.
26:22
If it really is a good decision, other godly people that are led
26:25
by the Spirit will probably bear witness with it.
26:28
This is also the place where the spiritual gifts can be
26:31
exercised. Someone else may have a word of
26:33
knowledge, a word of discernment, or even a prophetic
26:36
word that they can share with you to bring confirmation in
26:40
these situations. Maybe that's why there's this
26:42
figure of speech that says 2 heads are better than one,
26:45
right? And that's true unless it's your
26:47
goldfish. Flush it down the toilet.
26:50
It's a mutant. That joke doesn't work in
26:53
California either, but I love it.
26:56
Listen, here's what's important. The the last question, do you
27:00
even want to do it? Sometimes we have this old like
27:03
a monk, you know, 5th century monk mentality.
27:05
If I just need to like hurt myself, and then I'll honor the
27:07
Lord and sanctify. What are you talking about?
27:09
God may be using your hobbies, your joys, like the things that
27:14
you enjoy doing with other people that could be part of the
27:17
guiding your preferences. You think this house just feels
27:20
perfect. I like the corner a lot.
27:23
This. I just like the color of this
27:25
one. Which one should I choose?
27:26
Maybe your preferences are leading you to a house where God
27:29
knows there are certain neighbors that will respond to
27:31
the gospel if you're there. God can lead with our
27:34
preferences. They're not they're not evil,
27:35
right? So remember the main purpose,
27:38
seek first God's Kingdom and then it's OK if our preferences
27:42
are within the boundaries of Scripture.
27:43
The psalmist says in chapter 37, delight yourself also in the
27:47
Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart, right?
27:51
If you're getting to know God by reading his word, if you're
27:54
lining your heart up with his word and you, you love his word,
27:57
you love God. It's easier for God to give you
28:01
the desires of your heart because He's placing them there
28:04
as you read the Word, as you serve Him right, as you have His
28:07
priorities. It's so much easier.
28:10
And here's the cool thing, we do all this, we pray about it, we
28:14
try and make a decision. You don't even have to worry as
28:17
you're making these massive decisions that you think will
28:20
make your life or ruin your life.
28:22
Why? Because of the of the attribute
28:25
of God's sovereignty. Because of God's sovereignty,
28:28
you make a decision and trust that God has control.
28:31
I want to give you 3 points from God's sovereignty to think about
28:34
that should comfort us first, you have the responsibility, but
28:38
none of the pressure. That's the truth.
28:41
Like if, if God knows you, if you're his kid and he knows how
28:45
to get a message to you, but you're still confused between
28:48
two God options, a good options, right then, well, that's kind of
28:52
that's kind of on him, right? He could speak loudly to you.
28:55
If he didn't, he's leaving it to you to make the decision within
28:58
his boundaries. And so you've got the
28:59
responsibility to try and pray and seek the Lord for a good
29:02
decision, but all the pressures on God.
29:05
Colossians 323 says this. Whatever you do, whatever, do it
29:10
heartily as unto the Lord. So if the thing that you are
29:14
doing can be unto the Lord, then you could do that with no
29:18
pressure involved at all, but some responsibility.
29:21
Second, God's sovereignty means that He will gently overrule us
29:25
if needed. Like if you're stuck between two
29:28
decisions and and you go right, but God actually needs you left
29:34
to to accomplish his plan, He'll just overrule you and won't even
29:38
be mad. He'll just overrule you.
29:40
His good effort. You tried.
29:43
I thought I was being really loud and clear, but hey, come
29:45
up, come over here and he will gently overrule you if needed.
29:49
Proverbs 16-9 says a man's heart plans his ways, but the Lord
29:54
directs his steps. The implication is like plan,
29:58
like you've got responsibility for that, but don't worry, the
30:00
Lord will direct your steps. He can overrule if needed.
30:04
Proverbs 11/3 says the integrity of the upright will guide them.
30:09
That's an interesting thought. The integrity of the upright,
30:11
like if we're, if we're doing the best we can to be faithful
30:14
to God and what we know about him, somehow that'll be a part
30:17
of the guiding process. I want to give an example about
30:20
how this happens if you want to turn in your Bibles to Genesis
30:23
chapter 20. In Genesis chapter 20, Abraham
30:33
the the man of faith is making a faithless decision and like he's
30:38
making a decision that obviously isn't what the Lord wants.
30:43
And and look how God gently overrules the situation.
30:48
Genesis chapter 20 verse 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream
30:52
by night and said to him, indeed, you are a dead man
30:56
because of the woman you have taken for she is a man's wife.
30:59
Abraham had gone to the city terrified of being around those
31:03
that didn't believe in the real God.
31:04
He's like, they're going to be crazy.
31:06
So he tells his wife Sarah, just tell everyone you're my sister.
31:10
Even though that sounds offensive.
31:11
They're going to kill me If you say I'm the husband and take you
31:14
so to say you're my sister and nobody's going to nobody.
31:16
I'll offer a really high bride price.
31:18
Nobody can pay and we'll be safe.
31:20
I don't know what he was thinking.
31:21
It was crazy, right? But it didn't work.
31:24
Abimelech's like, great, she's mine, but God intervenes to a
31:28
Pagan to stop the situation. But Abimelech had not come near
31:33
her. And he said, Lord, will you slay
31:35
A righteous nation? Also?
31:36
Did he not say to me, she is my sister?
31:38
And she even herself said he's my brother.
31:41
Listen to this. In the integrity of my heart and
31:45
the innocence of my hands, I have done this.
31:48
And God said in a dream to him, yes, I know that you did this in
31:51
the integrity of your heart, for I also withheld you from sinning
31:55
against me. Therefore I did not let you
31:57
touch her. An unbelieving king who did not
32:01
know the true God, which is a severe competitive advantage to
32:04
be in a relationship with the real God.
32:06
An unbelieving king was still just trying to make a good
32:09
decision was wrong and God mercifully overruled him and
32:14
said, I know you did this with integrity.
32:16
I know you actually didn't do anything wrong, but I'm the one
32:19
that prevented you from touching her.
32:22
How much more is God going to help those that are in his
32:26
family that are praying and saying, Lord, I just want to
32:28
make the right choice. God will gently overrule you.
32:32
Here's how it worked out for me. And that house I was talking
32:35
about, we were excited. I mean, we packed up everything
32:38
in our house. We were selling, we were picking
32:41
out pink colors for the new house at Home Depot.
32:43
We told everybody, all of a sudden the only thing I had to
32:46
do is secure the financing. But I I had 20% down, an
32:48
excellent credit. It should have been easy.
32:51
But then the bank just said, cool, but we need you to come up
32:53
with another $10,000 because you haven't sold the house.
32:56
I said, well, hold on, I told you about that.
32:57
I didn't want to make a contingent offer.
32:59
You need 10 grand. So I call a friend and borrow 10
33:03
grand. That's the kind of friends we
33:05
need, right? And if you guys need 10 grand,
33:07
he's right. He's right there.
33:08
Put up your hand. Yeah.
33:09
I mean, he's got a big backpack full of cash, too.
33:11
I would talk to him after the service.
33:13
Listen, so I get the money deposited the next day, I tell
33:16
the bank I got the 10 grand and they're like, well, who gave it
33:19
to you? I'm like on my friend.
33:19
They're like, Nope, it's got to come from family to prove you're
33:22
not going to give it back. I'm like, that's impossible.
33:23
My family's poor. Come on.
33:25
They didn't care. They were merciless.
33:27
Sorry. I fought on the phone with them
33:29
all day. Finally I hung up the phone,
33:32
realizing I tried everything. It's over.
33:35
I'm not getting this house. I drove to a parking lot by a
33:38
pizza shop. It's going to meet somebody for
33:39
a discipleship meeting. And I was like, how am I going
33:41
to tell my wife this? This is like devastating.
33:44
My phone rings. It's the director of Calvary
33:47
Chapel Bible College. I had flown out there over the
33:50
past two years to teach like 2 week courses on and off.
33:52
I'm like, Oh well, at least I get to teach again.
33:54
He's probably going to ask me to teach again.
33:55
I pick up the phone. He says, hey, Andy, what are you
33:58
doing? You, you want to move out here
33:59
to California and take over the Bible college for me?
34:01
I said, what are you talking about?
34:03
He said, for two years, I've been praying about someone
34:06
younger that I could train to take over the Bible college.
34:08
And yours is the only name that's come up.
34:11
I was like, what? And he goes, So what do you say?
34:13
And he says these exact words. You didn't just buy a house or
34:16
anything, right? You're free to move.
34:18
And I said, why did you say that?
34:20
Like, why did you say that? He's like, I don't know.
34:22
I just kind of thought in the moment, like, it'd be probably
34:24
hard to move if you just bought a house.
34:26
I looked at my watch. I just lied in church.
34:28
I didn't own a watch. I looked at my phone.
34:32
I hung up with the bank 14 minutes earlier, 14 minutes
34:37
earlier, my good decision that was God honoring to be closer to
34:41
the church and do better ministry was was what I thought
34:44
life was. And 14 minutes later to God
34:47
gently overruled me where he's like, Andy, you are thick
34:50
headed. Listen to your wife more.
34:52
This was the wrong decision, but you tried.
34:54
You had integrity in your heart, but I actually, I need you in
34:56
California. And he gently overruled me and
34:58
he wasn't even mad. It was exciting.
35:01
It was thrilling. And it was during those eight
35:03
years of the Bible college that I met the Taylor family.
35:05
And I'm so thankful for that. And it's because it's because of
35:08
being there in California that I'm now at the church I'm at
35:10
today. And I am thankful that God
35:12
gently override. So let's not sweat it when we
35:15
make a decision and it doesn't work out.
35:17
It could be the Lord moving. Let me give you one more
35:20
example. Shannon and I prayed.
35:22
We did the math and we're like, we can only afford two kids.
35:25
I have 3 kids. Like, the only thing that makes
35:29
me feel better is we got a $10 refund on birth control.
35:32
Like, hey, I'm sure that'll balance out over the years.
35:35
Yeah. College is so affordable.
35:37
We named him Titus. We have no idea where he came
35:39
from. Right.
35:41
You know, Titus is the Greek word for oops.
35:44
That's just a reminder. That's a reminder.
35:46
It's like, not my decision. Lord, you take care of him,
35:48
right? My goodness.
35:49
Listen. Final point, God's sovereignty
35:53
means this. This is really important.
35:55
Other people can't ruin God's plan for your life.
35:59
It's actually impossible now. They think they have all the
36:02
power. These enemies, these slanderers,
36:04
these gossips, these selfish people, they have no power.
36:07
There's they're being used by God and they'll be judged for
36:10
that. We don't have to worry.
36:12
Didn't this happen to Joseph? Joseph's brothers were trying to
36:15
ruin his life, right? Throw him in a pit, kill him and
36:18
you know what, Let's get some money, sell him really good
36:20
brothers, right? You could say that they were
36:22
enemies. They, they were trying to ruin
36:24
his life. Years later, Joseph looked at
36:27
them in Genesis 50, verse 20 and said to his brothers, As for
36:30
you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in
36:34
order to bring it about as it is to this day to save many people
36:38
alive, Joseph. Joseph even said that gently and
36:41
kindly because he had such a trust in God and his sovereignty
36:47
that God orchestrated things, that he even took the blame off
36:50
of the people that were attacking him.
36:52
It hurt him. It was emotional for him, we
36:54
read in that story, but he came to realize God is fully in
36:57
control and what hundreds of thousands of people, millions of
37:01
people's lives were saved because God allowed what seemed
37:05
like evil to happen. And so it's going to happen to
37:08
us too. There are going to be times
37:09
where you just don't get, what did I do to offend you that you
37:12
attacked me so much that you're against me, that you whisper
37:15
against me? Trust in God's sovereignty.
37:17
They actually can't ruin your life.
37:19
When it comes to decisions that are in bounds of scripture, we
37:23
have a great deal of freedom to make the choices.
37:26
God doesn't write all of our life's steps and decisions into
37:30
a movie script. Hide it and say hope you find
37:33
it. If you do, you'll be blessed.
37:34
No, He knows the future and we don't have to.
37:38
We have faith for the next step, not clarity into the entire
37:42
process. He leaves the choices to us and
37:45
God works in our choices through them and despite them sometimes
37:51
because He is good. I want to close by reading a
37:54
quote to you from a book I recommend you read if you're
37:56
making a decision. It's by Kevin Deyoung.
37:59
It's called Just do Something. It's a great short book or
38:02
Audible that you can check out. Here's a summary that kind of
38:04
brings it all together. He says this God is not a magic
38:08
8 ball we shake up and peer into whenever we have a decision to
38:11
make. He's a good God who gives us
38:14
brains and shows us the way of obedience and invites us to take
38:17
risks for Him. We know God has a plan for our
38:20
lives that's wonderful. The problem is we think he's
38:22
going to tell us the wonderful plan before it unfolds.
38:25
We feel like we can know and need to know what God wants
38:29
every step of the way. But such preoccupation with
38:32
finding God's will, as well-intentioned as the desire
38:35
may be, is more folly than freedom.
38:38
The better way is the biblical way.
38:40
Seek first the Kingdom of God and trust that He will take care
38:44
of all of our needs even before we know what they are and where
38:47
we're going. So I hope that brings some
38:49
comfort to you as you're making big decisions in life.
38:51
But listen, those decisions seem really big.
38:55
You know, the actual big decision is, have you placed
38:58
your trust in Jesus for your salvation?
39:01
God screams it through the Scriptures and his actions.
39:06
What we need to know that all of us are sinners and being a
39:10
Sinner doesn't mean like, oops, I got it wrong.
39:12
I miss, I missed the mark. I just did wrong, you know, No,
39:15
it's full rebellion against God. God is holy and perfect and we
39:20
go contrary to the ways that he created for us.
39:23
We're in rebellion against God and that deserves judgement.
39:26
And God has made a place of judgement and it's hell and it
39:28
was designed for the demons, but it's for those that will not
39:31
accept the good news of Jesus and confess their sins.
39:35
And confessing your sins is you saying I'm going to trust that
39:38
God is right and I'm not. I'm going to be humble enough to
39:41
say I need rescuing. And God loves you so much that
39:45
he made a way by sending the God man, Jesus Christ, the Son of
39:49
God, to live a perfect life, to die on the cross for your sins
39:54
and my sins to be raised again three days later so that we
39:58
could put our faith in him alone for our salvation and become
40:02
born again, adopted into God's family, sealed with the Holy
40:07
Spirit. I know the other decisions
40:10
matter a lot and they're important.
40:11
You've, you've got a Father in heaven, but nothing matters more
40:15
than securing your eternal salvation and being right with
40:18
God. He is worthy of you making that
40:21
decision. And if you haven't made that
40:23
decision, I just want to give you an opportunity to do that.
40:26
If you're here and you're a part of the body of Christ, would you
40:28
just close your eyes and pray for those that might not be?
40:31
And if you're here today and you want to put your trust in Jesus
40:34
Christ, would you raise your hand so I could lead you in a
40:37
simple prayer that makes you right with God?
40:40
Just go ahead and raise your hand wherever you're sitting.
40:42
Make this bold decision for the Lord.
40:44
Awesome. Anyone else?
40:46
Great, awesome. Don't make this just as an
40:52
emotional decision you forget about.
40:54
Count the cost. This is going to require
40:55
everything God. God will demand everything from
40:58
you but give you so much more and you will never regret giving
41:01
up anything to gain Christ. If you're one of the ones that
41:04
raised their hands, you could pray a prayer like this after
41:07
me. You can say it out loud and will
41:08
rejoice. You can say it in the quietness
41:10
of your heart, but you could express it to God like this.
41:13
You can say, Father in heaven, I know that I am a Sinner, please
41:18
forgive me and make me a new creation.
41:24
I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died on the
41:28
cross for me, that he was raised again three days later.
41:34
Save me Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and guide me to make
41:40
decisions to follow after you all the days of my life in Jesus
41:45
name, Amen. We pray that you've been
41:48
encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
41:51
sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
41:54
Call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
42:03
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42:06
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42:11
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42:14
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.