Latest / Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self / 17.2 - James 1:5-8 - Knowing God’s Will For Your Life

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17.2 - James 1:5-8 - Knowing God’s Will For Your Life · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  We hope that this podcast will help you to know Christ, grow in
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  His word, and show His love to others.
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  Let's dive right in. Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk.
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  Today we are in James chapter 1 and we're going to be looking at
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  verses 5 through 7. Today.
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  James chapter 1, verses 5 through 7, the letter from
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  James. James was one of the kind of key
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  pastors you could call him like the senior or the lead pastor of
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  the church at Jerusalem. And he's writing to many people
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  that had been a part of his congregation that were now
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  scattered all throughout the Roman Empire.
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  And he's writing to encourage them and to challenge them very
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  practically in their faith. So just went through earlier
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  today and mapped out where we're going to be for the next several
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  weeks. And I think we're at about 18
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  episodes that we're going to be going through the book of James.
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  And so this is going to be very practical for you and for me as
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  I say that I am a pastor. And so because I know we've got
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  people from our church that will be listening to this at various
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  points over the next several months, frankly, maybe over the
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  next several years. I want to say at the outset the
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  same thing that they have like at the ends of movies, any, any
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  likeness to any person, living or dead is merely coincidental.
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  And so if you're watching this and, you know, maybe you and I
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  have had a conversation. You've been like, man, I'm I'm
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  really struggling in this area or you know, whatever else have
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  you. And then in an episode you're
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  like, oh man, well, it it really seems like, you know, pastors
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  Aaron, my whatever, I promise you I am not doing that.
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  But this book gets crazy practical and I know it will be
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  an encouragement to you. It's continues to be an
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  encouragement to me. Let's read through verses 5
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  through 7 today and see what the Lord has for us.
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  James one and verse 5. Now if any of you lacks wisdom,
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  he should ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly,
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  and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without
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  doubting. For the doubter is like the
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  surging sea, driven and and tossed by the wind.
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  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord,
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  being double minded and unstable in all his ways.
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  All right, here's the call that we have today.
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  Are you stupid? No, just kidding.
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  That's that's not the call, but but a little bit.
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  James here is saying all of us need wisdom in our life.
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  This is the capacity to understand and function
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  accordingly. This would be as we would learn
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  in the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament.
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  Wisdom is to know God and the way that God thinks about his
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  world and to act in accordance with God's way and God's will
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  and for all of us because we are not Jesus, we are not born in
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  perfection, that everything that we think, say, and do aligns
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  with the will of God. All of us need wisdom for our
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  life. We need to know what God thinks
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  and we need to know what God wants us to do.
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  Now, there will be times where we're interacting with our kids
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  and we don't know the right thing that we should say or do.
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  We're in an argument with a spouse and we don't know what
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  God would have us to do. We're having to make a decision,
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  maybe about college, decision about a job, a decision about a
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  house, and we go, OK, God, you know, there's no verse here that
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  says thou shalt buy 3716 S Hummel St. in Essex.
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  I don't think that's a real address.
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  We'd say, OK, there's no verse that says this.
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  So God, I need to know your mind.
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  I need you to guide and direct me.
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  If any of us lack knowing what God wants us to do, verse 5, we
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  should ask God. We pray to him and it says,
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  what's God's response to this? He gives to all, generously and
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  ungrudgingly. I love this.
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  This is a great God to serve. That when we ask God for wisdom,
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  He has a promise that this is not.
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  He gives to some people in these ways.
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  He says He gives his wisdom. For those that want to know what
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  the will of God is, God will let them know that.
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  And it says generously over and over and over again, He will
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  make His will clear to you. And then secondly, ungrudgingly,
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  God is not going to hold it against you that you do not
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  innately know if you will, the right and wrong decision in
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  every circumstance. This is kind of a recurring
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  theme all throughout Scripture that finds its source in Genesis
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  2 and Genesis 3 with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
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  that God defines good and evil for Adam and Eve.
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  And he says this is the right decision, this is the wrong
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  decision. But if you eat of the tree of
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  the knowledge of good and evil, in essence you're saying I'm
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  going to take this defining all on my own and I am going to
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  determine what is right and what is wrong, not based on what God
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  said, but based on what I think. However, when we look to God to
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  find answers for our life, instead of us defining good and
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  bad, we are asking God to be the one that determines good and bad
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  in our life. And God is happy to do that.
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  That is what we were made for, to listen to the voice of God
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  and to respond in faith and obedience.
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  And so God generously gives his wisdom, He gives His will to us.
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  And certainly I would be very remiss if I didn't say that
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  found within the Word of God is the wisdom that we need for a
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  life. Now I realized that I mentioned
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  a couple situations that there's no like thou shalt answer thy
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  daughter in this way in this scenario, but God gives us all
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  of the building blocks that we need, all of the pieces that go
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  together in the puzzle of God's will for your life and for my
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  life. And even perhaps even more
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  important because, you know, 1000 years ago, believers, the
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  vast majority of believers could not read Scripture and did not
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  own a personal copy of Scripture.
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  But what they still had was the Holy Spirit of God living inside
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  of them, His holy presence. That especially paired with the
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  truth of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will bring
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  specificity to the life of the believer where Holy Scripture is
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  silent. I'm going to say that one more
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  time. Pastor Josh Tice of Southern
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  Hills Church in Las Vegas, NV, said this.
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  Where the Holy Scriptures are silent, the Holy Spirit will
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  bring specificity to the life of the individual believer.
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  So when we need wisdom, when we need to know what the right
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  decision to make in a specific circumstance is, we ask God, we
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  pray. It doesn't just say if any of
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  you lack wisdom, he should read the Bible.
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  Now, is that a good thing to do? Yes, because in the Bible we
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  find the mind of God. We find out how he thinks about
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  circumstances, how he thinks about situations, the way in
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  which he wants us to treat people or interact with people,
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  or what is the wisest way to act within these types of
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  circumstances. So we we find out how God thinks
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  in Scripture and then as we're asking God for wisdom, we're
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  praying to him. Then we can receive, if we, if
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  you will, if we've put all of the building blocks together, if
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  we've put all of the materials from God's word in our heart
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  that we know what kinds of things God says and does, then
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  the Holy Spirit can put those together in a specific way that
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  he's bringing to mind. OK, you need to act love in this
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  way and you need to have some wisdom that you would not waste
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  resources in this way. And you should rely, you know,
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  you should ask your brother or sister in the Lord about this
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  thing and you should ask your pastor about this thing.
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  And as you put all of these things together with all of the
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  gifts that God has given you in in people and resources and your
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  intellect and your spiritual leaders and your friends and all
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  of those things, when all of that comes together, you can
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  know that God is speaking to you.
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  I think this is what's brought out in the word that God gives
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  wisdom to all generously. That is over and over and over
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  again. God is not stingy with letting
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  you know what is right and wrong in your life.
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  He's not stingy about it. He will tell you again and again
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  and again. We have 66 books in Scripture
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  that that should tell us that God is not stingy with his
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  advice. You can look at this even in the
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  life of Gideon in Judges, where Gideon goes, OK, God, you're
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  saying that I'm going to lead an army against this invading force
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  that is just brutalizing the people of Israel, he says.
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  But I want to make sure that, like, it is really you that's
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  telling me to do this. And so I'm going to put out a
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  sheep and a sheep's, you know, wool, whatever.
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  And if it is, if it's wet in the morning and all of the grass
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  around the the wool is dry, then I'll know you're speaking to me,
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  OK, Then God does it and he's like, OK, well, maybe that was
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  just a coincidence. How about this next time, how
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  about the wool be dry and all of the grass around it will be wet
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  in the morning. And he wakes up and and God did
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  it. And God again and again,
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  generously and ungrudgingly let him know exactly what he needed
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  to do. Many of us would get very
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  frustrated. We'd be like, OK, it's been 3
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  days since I told you to do this.
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  I am God. Like just obey.
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  But God doesn't treat us in that way.
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  He treats us lovingly, generously, ungrudgingly when we
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  are genuinely seeking the face of God.
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  This happens even in Moses's life when God calls him to go
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  declare to Pharaoh, let my people go.
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  And that Moses would lead the children of Israel out of Egypt,
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  that that he five different times objects to being God's
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  spokesperson. And God finally goes, OK, you're
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  going to go, but I will let Aaron, your brother, speak for
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  you. Aaron speaks for like two or
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  three of the plagues before Pharaoh.
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  But then Moses takes it from that point on that Moses even
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  ends up doing exactly what God had called him to do later in
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  the process. And we would say, OK, here,
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  Moses, you know God's asked you and you have said no four times.
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  We would expect God to act angrily at this point.
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  But as Moses is genuinely actually wrestling with OK, is
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  this something that God has equipment to do?
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  Is this something that he wants me to do?
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  God deals with him kindly. And the same is true in your
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  life and in my life. When we lack wisdom, we ask God.
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  He gives to us generously and ungrudgingly, it says, and it
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  will be given to him. You can to know that you are
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  receiving the right answer from God.
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  Now, if you are expecting like an inner voice to tell you an
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  exact answer to something, if you are hoping that it's going
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  to be written in the sky in a cloud, you are probably going to
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  be disappointed. That is not how God primarily
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  works in people. Now there are some people that,
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  you know, maybe they're very sensitive to the Holy Spirit and
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  so as they're praying for wisdom, maybe they, they do get
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  a very distinct sense of what God is, is telling them to do.
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  Very often it it goes through our conscience and I, I've
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  talked about that at length before.
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  The Holy Spirit uses our conscience kind of that right or
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  wrong meter in our heart to to let us know when we have made
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  some right decisions or some wrong decisions.
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  Our conscience can be wrong, but as we continue to form it
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  through the word of God, it will become more and more accurate as
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  we yield it to the Holy Spirit and we listen to it and we obey
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  it when the Holy Spirit lets us know like, hey, something's off,
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  bud. So all of that, oh, don't
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  discount your brothers and sisters in the Lord.
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  Don't discount other people with the Holy Spirit that they them
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  and their advice, especially spiritual people, whether that's
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  a spouse of yours, you know, it's your Sunday school teacher,
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  it's the person that led you to the Lord.
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  It's your pastor, whoever do not discount talking to spiritual
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  brothers and sisters in the Lord in your life.
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  They they will often speak the truth and give you wisdom in
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  ways that you would not have just figured out on your own.
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  God has given you them for a reason.
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  And so utilize that gift that God's given.
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  All right, verse 6 says, OK, you need wisdom.
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  Ask God. He's going to give it to you.
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  He's going to give it generously.
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  He's not going to be mad at you for asking for to because you
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  want to do the right thing or just say the right thing says,
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  but let him ask in faith without doubting.
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  When you ask God for wisdom, believe that he is going to let
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  you know. It might come through just
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  reading a verse of Scripture and it jumps off the page and you're
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  like, man, that's exactly what I need to do.
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  Could be through someone's advice that you go, man, that's
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  exactly it. It could be that, you know,
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  still small voice inside you go, yeah, this is the route that I
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  need to take. It could just be circumstances
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  that all of the other doors are closed and there's only one door
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  left to walk through that. That might be how God gives you
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  the wisdom to know what to do says, but let him ask in faith.
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  Believe that God will answer without doubting.
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  Don't doubt that God is going to answer that prayer because God
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  has staked, if you will, his character on this truth that he
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  says he gives to all generously and and grudgingly, and that
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  wisdom will be given to the person.
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  And so God has said, this is who I am.
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  And so you can believe him and you can act in faith on that.
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  Do not doubt that God is good to his word.
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  The end of verse 6 for the doubter is like the surging sea
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  driven and tossed by the wind. It's just tumultuous waves that
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  when you are like, Oh yes, like I'm, I'm going to listen to
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  God's advice. But actually, no, I don't think
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  God will do it. Oh, maybe he will.
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  Those of you that are just listening to the audio, you
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  can't see it, but I'm doing like waves and with my arms and
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  acting like I'm bobbing in the water.
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  The person just has no settled miss.
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  There's no anchor. It's not the solid firm ground
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  of being able to stand on the word and the character of God.
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  Instead, you're just kind of going by whatever your emotions
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  are doing at the moment. So don't doubt when you ask God
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  for wisdom, ask in faith verse #7 that person should not expect
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  to receive anything from the Lord.
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  When you ask in faith and you go, God, I want to hear from you
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  and I know that you're going to answer me.
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  You should expect to receive wisdom from the Lord in what you
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  need to do. It might not be a one day thing.
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  It might not even be like a weak thing.
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  There have been things that I've prayed for for months and then
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  saw God answer. And in those moments I'm like,
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  yeah, God, that was awesome. Thank you so much for doing
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  that. So don't put a timeline on it,
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  but believe I'm asking and I know God is going to answer.
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  You should expect to receive wisdom from the Lord when you
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  ask. But if you do not, if you are
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  not confident that you're going to hear from God and you just
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  think, well, He might answer me, He might not.
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  I might just have to make this decision on my own.
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  You are not relying on God, you're not waiting on him as
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  your Lord, as your master to give you your marching orders.
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  Instead, you're saying I'm going to do what I want on my
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  timeline. And it doesn't matter what the
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  master says or when the master says it, I'm just going to do my
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  thing. And so don't expect then the
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  master to give you his advice when you go, OK, give it to me
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  on my timetable. Otherwise, I'm just going to do
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  what I want. Don't do that.
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  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
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  Verse #8 being double minded and unstable in all his ways.
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  To be double minded is to be uncertain about the truth of
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  something that they're doubting. They are hesitating.
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  A double minded person goes, this may or may not happen.
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  God may or may not give me wisdom.
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  If that is your approach #1 repent like, confess that sin,
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  go back to God and say God, I'm sorry for not believing that you
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  would answer me. I do believe that you're going
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  to give me what I need to do in this situation, right and wrong.
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  This is being double minded and unstable in all his ways.
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  That is, he is he's restless. This phrase would also be called
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  like a a restless evil of of slander personified of like a
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  restless demon. This is a person that just never
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  has secure footing in their life.
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  They are always emotionally driven.
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  This might be the type of person that they're always bouncing
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  around from like job to job. They're always moving.
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  They they just never have any stability in their life and it's
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  because they're never sure what they're supposed to be doing.
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  So they just go by whims instead of going by as we would read in
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  Colossians 3 and verse 16. Let the peace of Christ rule,
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  officiate in your hearts, and be thankful.
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  So today, ask God when you need to know what is right and what
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  is wrong. Believe that He is going to
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  answer that. He might answer in a variety of
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  ways. He might answer in a variety of
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  timelines. But believe that He will give
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  you what you need when you need it.
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  He probably won't give it to you before you need it, but He will
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  absolutely give it to you in the time when you genuinely need it
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  and believe that He will answer. Choose.
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  I'm not going to act until I've heard from God.
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  I'm not going to be rushed by someone else in some other
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  location. Instead, I'm going to wait for
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  the voice of my Master. And when it comes, I'm going to
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  be faithful to obey. And as we do that, we will be
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  blessed in following and knowing the will of God for our lives.
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  Hope that'd be an encouragement to you today.
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  Thanks for tuning in.