Bible Test for Making Wise Decisions Part Two

Spiritual test

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. - Galatians 1:10

We want to please everyone around us!

But those people may lead you away from God's plan.

There is no better place than to be in God's will.

Corrie ten Boom

There are no 'if's' in God's world.

And no places that are safer than other places. In the center on His will is our only safety-let us pray that we may always know it.

Elisabeth Elliott

The will of God is not something you add to your life. It's a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of God... or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world.

Billy Graham

Do you want to know what God's will is for you? It is for you to become more and more like Christ. This is spiritual maturity and it will change your life.

Secrecy test

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.  - Proverbs 10:9

If people knew the decision I was about to make, would it bug me?

Embarrassment is a great motivator.

When I began to think of the great shame and embarrassment that my choice will bring to my family.

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." - John 3:18-21

There is healing in the light.

Jesus is light.

He will forgive.

You are not alone.

Come into the light and receive grace.

Expose your sin.

Satan wants you to keep your sin hidden.

Satan is darkness.

Satan wants you in bondage.

If Christ frees you, you will be free indeed.

You are not perfect.

You stumble but Christ will lift you up.

You sin, you repent and you are forgiven.

Stumbling test

1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." This "knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up.

2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one."

5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth-as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"-

6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?

11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.

12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. - 1 Corinthians 8

Think of the greater good.

You may think it's alright but a weaker faith brother does not think the same.

19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.

21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.

23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. - Romans 14:19-23

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, - Ephesians 5:18

Be spirit filled.

(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) - 1 Timothy 5:23

This was for medicinal purposes.

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.  - Proverbs 20:1

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? 

30 Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. 

31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. 

32 In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. 

33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. 

34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. 

35 "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink."  - Proverbs 23:29-35

4 reasons to abstain from alcohol

1. It guards your testimony.

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

2. It discourages a weaker brother or sister.

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. - Romans 14:13

3. It sets the wrong example for our young people.

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. - 1 Timothy 4:12

4. It eliminates the possibility of becoming an alcoholic.

so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. - 2 Corinthians 2:11

There is no way to know who will become an alcoholic.

Alcohol will change you for the worst.

Alcohol destroys.

Alcohol makes you stupid.

Is that the example you will set for your children?

Supreme test

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. - 1 Corinthians 10:31

Does this decision bring glory to God?

Your life belongs to Christ.

7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.

8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. - Romans 14:7-9

Thanks Pastor Kevin!!

Bible Test for Making Wise Decisions Part One

8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),

10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. - Ephesians 5:8-10

Scripture test

Base your decision on the word of God!

Obey it and know the word.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, - 2 Timothy 3:16

26 "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:

27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today,

28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known. - Deuteronomy 11:26-28

Feelings deceive but God's word will never mislead.

Sanctification test

Set apart for God

20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!

21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. - Ephesians 4:20-24

Will this decision make me 

Act,

Look,

Think,

And become more like Jesus!

Your command is to be like Jesus!

Survey test

What if people followed my behavior?

Do we drawing people to Jesus or away from Jesus? 

Are we going to the light or toward darkness?

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. - 1 Timothy 4:12

15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me. - 1 Corinthians 4:15-16

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. - Philippians 3:17

Don't

The Serenity test

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7

The will of God will never contradict the word of God!

There is no peace apart from God's word!

Your feelings will deceive!

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. - Isaiah 30:21

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"  - Psalm 46:10

How God confirms His will:

The people of God

The Spirit of God

The Word of God

The scriptures leads to Jesus.

Thanks Pastor Kevin!!

Five Ways Affliction Helps

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. (Psalm 119:67)

This verse shows that God sends affliction to help us learn his word. How does that work? How does affliction help us learn and obey the word of God?

There are innumerable answers, as there are innumerable experiences of this great mercy. But here are five:

Affliction takes away the glibness of life and makes us more serious, so that our mind-set is more in tune with the seriousness of God’s word. And mark this: There is not a single glib page in the book of God.

Affliction knocks worldly props out from under us and forces us to rely more on God, which brings us more in tune with the aim of the word. For the aim of the word is that we hope in God and trust him. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). “These [things] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31).

Affliction makes us search the Scriptures with greater desperation for help, rather than treating it as marginal to life. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Affliction brings us into the partnership of Christ’s sufferings, so that we fellowship more closely with him and see the world more readily through his eyes. Paul’s great heart longing was “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).

Affliction mortifies deceitful and distracting fleshly desires, and so brings us into a more spiritual frame and makes us receptive to the spiritual word of God. “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (1 Peter 4:1). Suffering has a great sin-killing effect. And the more pure we are, the more clearly we see God (Matthew 5:8).

May the Holy Spirit give us grace to not begrudge the pedagogy of God through pain.

John Piper 

Perfectionism Is A Thief

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: 

Did you know that your performance doesn’t make you any more or less acceptable in God’s eyes?

If you think that God is going to accept you on the basis of your quiet time, your Bible study, or your service, you will fall into a trap of never knowing if you’ve done enough. You’ll never truly feel accepted.

Perfectionism is a thief. It promises rewards, but it steals both joy and satisfaction. Why? Because perfection is an unattainable goal! If you are a perfectionist, you’ve set an impossible goal for yourself, and therefore you will constantly be faced with frustration and failure.

Two things about you are true, without your “performance”—

You are forgiven in Christ.

You are righteous in Christ.

   

ACTION POINT:

Are you a perfectionist? Ask the Holy Spirit to free you from the fear of failure. Now make a conscious decision that you can be less than perfect and still be loved by God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Greatest Love

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)

Why should we emphasize that God loves, forgives, and saves “for his name’s sake” — for his own glory? Here are two reasons (among many).

1) We should emphasize that God loves and forgives for his own glory because the Bible does.

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” (Isaiah 43:25)

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake! (Psalm 79:9)

“Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake.” (Jeremiah 14:7)

We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you. Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne. (Jeremiah 14:20–21)

God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25–26)

Your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (1 John 2:12)

2) We should emphasize that God loves and forgives for his own glory because it makes clear that God loves us with the greatest love.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory.” (John 17:24)

God loves us not in a way that makes us supreme, but makes himself supreme. Heaven will not be a hall of mirrors, but an increasing vision of infinite greatness. Getting to heaven and finding that we are supreme would be the ultimate let down.

The greatest love makes sure that God does everything in such a way as to uphold and magnify his own supremacy so that, when we get to heaven, we have something to increase our joy forever: God’s glory. The greatest love is God’s giving himself to us for our eternal enjoyment, at the cost of his Son’s life (Romans 8:32). That is what he means when he says that he loves us and forgives us for his own name’s sake.

John Piper

Justice, Mercy And Grace

BIBLE MEDITATION::

“...the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: 

There are three words that came together at Calvary:

justice

mercy

grace

Justice is getting what we deserve. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve.

But wait a minute; grace is more than that! It is grace that gives at great cost to the giver. It is not cheap. Grace cost the life of God’s Son. Jesus gave freely of Himself in agony and blood.

Did you know that grace has to chase us down? If God didn’t run faster than us, we would never be saved! Grace seeks to give to vile and wicked people that which they don’t deserve and can never deserve.

ACTION POINT:

Are you a grace-giver? Find someone today and do a favor for them – something for which they couldn’t possibly repay you. Perhaps it will even be for a stranger you will never see again.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Forgiveness Cycle

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” (Luke 11:4)

Who forgives whom first?

On the one hand, Jesus says, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” (Luke 11:4)

On the other hand, Paul says, “As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:13)

When Jesus teaches us to pray that God would forgive us, “for we ourselves forgive,” he is not saying that the first move in forgiveness was our move. Rather, it goes like this: God forgave us when we believed in Christ (Acts 10:43). Then, from this broken, joyful, grateful, hopeful experience of being forgiven, we offer forgiveness to others.

This forgiving spirit signifies that we have been savingly forgiven. That is, our forgiving others shows that we have faith; we are united to Christ; we are indwelt by the gracious, humbling Holy Spirit.

But we still sin (1 John 1:8, 10). So we still turn to God for fresh applications of the work of Christ on our behalf — fresh applications of forgiveness. We cannot do this with any confidence if we are harboring an unforgiving spirit. (Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23–35. He refused to forgive his fellow servant who owed him ten dollars, though he claimed to be forgiven ten million. He showed by his unforgiving spirit that the king’s mercy had not changed him.)

Jesus protects us from this folly by teaching us to pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). That’s why Jesus says we ask for forgiveness because we are forgiving. This is like saying: “Father, continue to extend to me the mercies purchased by Christ, because by these mercies I have been forgiven, and I forsake vengeance and extend to others what you have extended to me.”

May you know God’s forgiveness afresh today, and may that grace overflow in your heart in forgiveness toward others. And may that sweet experience of grace in your life give you added assurance that, when you go to God to experience fresh, blood-bought forgiveness, you will know that he sees you as his forgiven and forgiving child.

John Piper