God's Will for Your Life

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

How many of us have had to make a difficult decision in our lives and just prayed that God would reveal the answer to us? What are some big decisions you have needed to make that you prayed for a great deal before you made them? We pray all the time that God will open the door for us, or show us which decision to make. We worry ourselves sick wanting to be sure God will be happy with the job we choose, what school to attend, what person to date and marry, or which house to buy. How do we know we are in God’s will when making these decisions?

Psalm 37:4 says to delight yourself in the LORD. Last week we discussed how you know you are a Christian. We love others, we obey His commandments and they aren’t a burden but a delight, we love reading and learning from His Word, etc. This is key in understanding God’s will for your life.

When you get up in the morning and go to eat breakfast, do you pray to God asking which cereal you should eat? When you pick out which clothes to dress in for the day, do you pray for God to reveal which outfit is his will for you that day? When you are driving to work, do you pray to God which route is in His will for you to take? What is the difference between these apparently petty decisions and the decisions that give us ulcers?

Searching for God’s will in the Scriptures reveal a few things:

1. Salvation (1 Timothy 2:3-4, 2 Peter 3:9) He wants people to repent of their sins and follow Christ.
2. Be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:17-18) He wants us to be controlled by His Spirit revealed through His Word.
3. Sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7) He wants you to be continually growing in Holiness. You should be sinning less as you live and learning more from His Word. You should be loving others and serving the body more.
4. Submission (1 Peter 2:13-15) God says you should obey the commands of those in authority over you. Listen to guidance from your pastors, teachers, parents, and government. You shouldn’t ever violate clear prohibitions in the Bible, but you should trust those God placed in authority over you before you make your own decisions.
5. Suffering (Philippians 1:29, 2 Timothy 3:12) We discussed a couple weeks ago that God promises His children that they must endure suffering for His name. We shouldn’t be avoiding God’s work so we can avoid suffering. When we make decisions, we must consider if we are doing it simply to make our life easier at the cost of serving Christ, we are making a decision against God’s will.

No Scripture says that God will “lay on our hearts” or whisper in a “still small voice” or give you a perfectly timed sign or signal for the right decision we are to make (divination is actually prohibited). If you wait for God to give you a supernaturally spoken voice to guide your decision, you are going to be guessing at which of the voices in your head is the correct one, which will make your decision even more frustrating.

Important Steps in Making Big Decisions:

1. Read the Bible – that’s where you find God’s revealed will.
2. Listen to Your Conscience – God’s Spirit will convict you of unwise decisions
3. Pray Without Ceasing – Be constantly asking God for guidance and keep your eyes and ears open for answers from unlikely places and people.
4. Look for Godly Counsel – We are a body together for one purpose. Together we encourage, rebuke, teach, support, and comfort. Pastors, parents, brothers and sisters, elders, and deacons are not here to just to have something to organize. Seriously consider their thoughts when they oppose what you think you want.

When all of these things come into agreement, make your decision assured you are in God’s will. Don’t disregard the people God has placed in your life. They are there for the benefit of the church (which includes you). If you dive into a decision without spending time in prayer, how can you be sure you have listened for God’s direction or searched for guidance from His Word.

There are no stories in the Bible that tell us how to buy the right car or house, which specific person to marry, or which job to take. There are principles that guide us in making all decisions that can only help us by reading the Bible to learn them and looking for guidance from your pastor or other people who can help you make godly decisions. When buying things we need to be sure we are not wasting money God has entrusted to us. When marrying someone we need to be sure they are a believer who is going to serve God with you in that marriage. When getting a job we need to be sure we won’t be forsaking our family and church responsibilities and that we are witnesses of Christ in the workplace. If you understand and obey principles learned from studying the Bible, God says in Psalm 37:4b He shall give you the desires of your heart. If you are conforming to God’s revealed will as discussed, He places in your heart desires that reflect His will and you can choose what you want to! If the Bible does not offer any guidance for your decision, and one choice is as good as the other, you are free to do whichever you want and God works out His plan through your desires. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil (Matthew 12:34-36) If you are renewed by the Spirit, cleansed by the blood of Christ, your desires are now to please Him and the majority of the decision you make throughout the day will reflect the new heart inside.

John Owen

"The world put Him out of a house and into a stable, when He came to save us. Let Him now turn the world out-of-doors, when He comes to sanctify us, [so that] the baits of sin lose their attraction and disappear."

Memory Verse(s) 9/30/07-11/04/07

1 John 5:1-5 (HCSB)

1 John 5:1—To recite Sept. 30th:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent also loves his child.

1 John 5:2—To recite Oct. 14th:

This is how we know that we love God's children when we love God and obey His commands.

1 John 5:3—To recite Oct. 21st:

For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. Now His commands are not a burden,

1 John 5:4—To recite Oct. 28th:

because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.

1 John 5:5—To recite Nov. 4th:

And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Being About the Business

Brothers and Sisters,

I am writing this as a confession, and a call to repentance. As I reflect upon the current events of my life, I am challenged to become more active in the life of my church. I fear that membership means little if anything nowadays in our churches. Strong, Bible-believing churches are allowing lax entry into the church, an error on the part of our leadership, while members have erred by not vesting a fuller involvement in the goings-on of the church.

So often, at least in Southern Baptist life, decisions are made on a congregational level, in the dreaded Business Meeting, and yet these meetings are rarely reflective of our congregations. Oftentimes, the large majority of members elect to not be bothered with the events of the church, and then complain that "nothing is being done," or, "I wish things were different."

While business meetings are often boring (if you're lucky), heated, and/or uneventful, we are remiss not to attend. Granted, I would have second-guessed my recent attendance, perhaps, if I were not on staff, for all of the above reasons. However, I am firmly convinced that much of the stagnation we are frustrated by in our churches, overall, is because many ministries and initiatives are never seen, because the church at large is not at the meetings to have such things voted in.

I appeal to you, as vibrant and concerned citizens of the Kingdom of God, who have tired of the lethargy and apathy that plagues our churches, to become active, as a voice in your respective congregations. You are missing a grand opportunity to support new, vibrant ministries of the church that you never even hear about because they are defeated in business meetings. I know they can be messy, frustrating, and outright enraging sometimes, but if the Church elects to do something, the Church should have spoken; NOT the politicking minority.

Be a Soldier of the Cross. Be a Part of the Body. Be an Active Member.

God Bless! Pastor Jeremy

The Attractiveness of Sin

Galatians 5:13-16
"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

Romans 13:14
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."

I was brought to these passages, among others, in my study of John Owen's "Sin and Temptation," as he speaks to The Challenge of Personal Godliness (subtitle) . Though the original writing dates back to the 1850s, I have found its admonitions wholly pertinent in my life, and very applicable to our present circumstance.

I was prompted, then, to write this note b/c I fear that we, as American Christians, often feel justified in our flirtations with sin, often for the sake of entertainment. I have grown more and more convicted in what I do with my "free" time, as it is often filled with "innocent" movies, unspecific searches on YouTube, and casual walks in the mall, to name a few. None of these things are evil in and of themselves; however, they are easily conducive to such evil, and often lend to it simply by the very nature of their occurrence. That is, because I am casually involved in these things, and "mindlessly" engaged, I am so very prone to sin's entanglement. Paul states that, yes, we are free, free indeed; but, may it never be that we use such freedom to indulge the sinful nature, especially in frivolities. We who have been given one singular life to exhaust upon the glory of our Savior would be remiss not to follow His very pattern; even as He lounged with Lazarus, or supped with the Pharisee, He was about His Father's business.

I would challenge you to apply what Paul says in Galatians; rather than indulge the sinful nature, aggravate it by "serving one another in love." Do you find yourself with nothing to do? Get to know your next door neighbor. Call a church member who you don't know as well, or have been avoiding. Engage the Word in an unfamiliar passage (or a familiar passage; shoot, they are just as needed). Be about your Father's business.

I leave you with two quotes from Owen's work:

"When we indulge with delight in thoughts of forbidden things, we commit sin, even though our will has not yet consented to perform the deed." And again: "When there is a readiness on the part of the soul to listen to these silent voices--[those] secret insinuations that arise from deceit--it is evident that the affections are already enticed.

Praying Christ's Victory Over Our Flesh,
Pastor Jeremy

Recovering a Bold Vision for Biblical Preaching

Here is a link to a great article from Albert Mohler discussing the trend of preaching heading away from biblical exposition towards a self-help form of psychological discourse in the modern church. In order to "meet people where they are at" preachers have tended to preach on the "felt needs" of their listeners, shying away from the deeper and more imminent truths revealed in the Word. I thank God for our pastor who takes time to dive into every verse of Scripture and share with us verse by verse the meaning of the text.

That You May Know You Are Saved

1 John 5:13

John says he wrote this epistle so we may know that we are saved. We can use the many comparisons he makes to examine ourselves in the light of the Word to know if we are truly followers of Christ or if we deceive ourselves.

Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness.’
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith.
2 Peter 1:10 Be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you.

1 and 2 John make some very black and white statements that are hard hitting to not allow you to make excuses for the grey area in your life, but to be sure you are on the narrow path (Matthew 7).

Distinct from the world
James 4:4, 1 John 2:15, Romans 8:7 Not of the world
2 Corinthians 2:15, Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26 New Heart with New Desires
Matthew 5:13,14 Salt and light, No secret Christians. We add flavor, burn wounds, light that cannot be hidden
2 Corinthians 2:16 Sweet Aroma to believers and Aroma of death to non-believers

Obedient to God’s Commands
See 10 Commandments Exodus 20
Matthew 5-7 Sermon on the mount. Lust is adultery of the heart. Hatred is murder of the heart. Hypocricy cannot fool God.
1 John 2:3 By this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
James 2:17 Faith without works is dead.
1 John 5:3 This is how we know we love God, we keep His commands and they are not burdensome. It is a delight to obey Him.
2 John 6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.

Attitude toward Sin
1 John 1:6-8 If we say we are Christians but continue to walk in sin, we are lying to ourselves. If we deny or make excuses for our sin we are also deceived. Christ is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Both Christians and non-Christians are filthy sinners. The difference is that the non-believer makes excuses for his sin while the believer confesses immediately, repents, and grows in righteousness. Believers struggle with sin because they despise it, they want to rid their lives of it; non-believers embrace and excuse it. Believers still sin, but as time progresses, they increase in holiness (decreasing the frequency of their sin).


Loving Others
1 John 2:9,10 He that loves his brother abides in the light. If you say you love Christ and aren’t loving to your brother you are a liar.
1 John 1:3 If we have fellowship with Christ we have fellowship with other believers and love to be with other believers (no matter what other differences we may have).

Correct Doctrine (this isn’t necessarily a list of basic doctrines, but an emphasis on the importance of a correct understanding of who God is)
1 John 2:22-23 Those who deny Jesus is the Messiah deny the Father and the Son. He who confesses the Son has the Father.
1 John 4:2 Confessing that Jesus came in the flesh (not some disembodied spirit)
1 John 5:1 You must believe that Jesus is the Messiah and you will then be born of God.
2 John 9 If you don’t have the fundamental doctrines of Christ you do not know God.

Perseverence
1 John 5:4 Whoever is born of God overcomes the world.
1 John 2:19 They fell away because they weren’t really with us in the first place.

Sincere Worship
Matthew 6 Not superficial like Pharisees who just acted spiritual to attract attention.
Desires to sing praises to God. Loves to come together with others in worship. The Psalms are great expressions of a heart worshipping God.

You Thirst for Gods Word
1 Peter 2:1-3 Desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow, tasted an seen that the Lord is good.
Job 23:12 I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
Psalm 1:1,2 Delight in the word, meditate on it day and night
Psalm 19:7-11 The law converts the soul, rejoices in your heart and enlightens your eyes.
1 Corinthians 2:14 God has opened your eyes and the Holy Spirit reveals things to you in His word that you never realized before.

Subjective Assurance
2 Corinthians 1:12 Our conscience tells us we are following the Spirit
1 John 5:10 The Holy Spirit bears witness to our heart
Romans 8:14-16 We have confidence to come before a righteous God and call him Father.

Assurance of Salvation isn’t based on your baptism, saying a prayer, or growing up in a Christian family. Biblical assurance is based on God growing you in holiness, obedience, love for others, love for His word and true teaching, and perseverance to the end. The evidence of salvation is the manifestation of godly living proving we have been transformed from the inside out. This lesson is meant to encourage us to confess our sins to each other and encourage one another to grow in the fruits, showing we truly have repented. Read through all 5 chapters of 1 John on your own with a prayerful heart and ask God to reveal to you where you fall short and for Him to grow you in that area.

If They Persecuted Me, They Will Also Persecute You

We had a great study last night concerning the place of suffering in the life of a Christian, how we should be more bold in the face of suffering, and that we should pray for endurance through it, not for it to be taken away. Remember to pray for the newest members of our group. It was truly a blessing to get to know a few new people. The worship last night was awesome. Remember, if anything is on your heart to pray for immediately, to sing right away, or to share a verse you thought of, let us know right away. This should be a Spirit led study.

John 15:18-25

Who in our Bible Study can say they have suffered persecution for the name of Christ? What was it and why did you receive it? Why are we persecuted (why was Christ persecuted)?

Take a look at 2 Corinthians 6:3-10, 11:23-28 for a few of the sufferings Paul endured because he preached Christ.
vv. 18-19. We are not of this world. If you are truly a Christian, you have different desires than the world. You desire to go to church, to hear sermons, to read and study the Bible, to pray, worship, and give. The world hates these and hates to always hear about it from Christians. (Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:7, James 4:4, 1 John 2:15,16)

With the commands to love our neighbors, to do good to those who harm you, to turn the other cheek, and give our resources to the poor and needy, why would we be hated? Why was Jesus hated when he healed the sick and performed many miracles? (John 3:19,20, 2 Corinthians 2:15) They hate us because they hate God and His righteousness. They don’t want to bow the knee to Him and follow His rules. Most people probably would say they don’t hate God, but if you pressed the discussion to focus on the depth of their sinfulness and their need for repentance, you would get a more heated response.

Persecution of the saints is actually persecution of Christ (Acts 9:4,5, Matthew 25:37-46)

“All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12. Are you suffering persecution for the name of Jesus? Paul told Timothy that Christians will be persecuted, not may be. This may be a test to see if you are truly saved. Hypocrites will not endure persecution (Matthew 4:17, Galatians 6:12). If you never have persecution it may be you are too ashamed of the name of Jesus and aren’t really saved. If you see persecution coming and cower in fear instead of boldly proclaiming His name, you may not be saved.
God will guide us through the suffering He allows us to go through (2 Corinthians 4:9, Romans 8:35, John 5:26-6:15) and will bless those who endure (Matthew 5:10, Luke 6:22).

Why does God put us through trials and allow us to suffer persecution? To learn to trust Him, not our own strength. To partake in Christ’s glory by partaking in His suffering. To glorify Him in growing us through tribulation.

Learn to pray not for God to simply remove suffering from your life, but embrace the difficulty and ask God to make you more Christ-like through it.