Discerning the Will of God

This is a difficult topic to discuss not so much because the Bible does not give clear direction as much as there are so many different thoughts and expectations that it is difficult to not to give the wrong impression.  For that same reason it is a vitally important topic to take about. How do I know what the will of God is for my life? Young people especially struggle with this question as they are making vital life changing decisions. The scripture I want to reference is Rom 12:1-2 but before I do I want to talk about God’s will in a general sense.

Two wills of God

I believe the Bible refers to two types of God’s will. God is in control of everything and nothing happens outside of His control and knowledge. That would be God’s decreed will.  There is also God’s will of obedience. Throughout the Bible God reveals to us his desire for us in everything we do from morality, to how we view and worship God, to how we view and treat others. I believe these verses are talking about God’s will of obedience for a number of reasons which for time I will not go into right now.

Transformation Takes Work

When we were saved we became new creatures in Christ. Our hearts were changed and we have a desire by faith to please and glorify God but God is still in the process of making us to be like Christ. Phil 2:12-13 tells us to work out what God has worked in. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is accomplished by God, through His word. As we read God’s word and come to understand Him better we change our minds to think like He does and to have the desires that He has. Filling our minds with God’s word will show us who he is in any giving situation.

Know God’s Will by Testing and Discerning

Knowing and understanding God’s will does not come by meditating on nothing and waiting for it to come. Do not sit around trying to attribute your own thoughts and feelings to a spiritual voice to discern God’s will. Never in the Bible do you see someone struggling with discerning whether or not God audibly has spoken to them. And never is that spoken word incorrect or inconsequential to their life or the life of others. If God speaks to you directly He will do it such a way that there was no doubt that God has spoken. God has shown us through His word how we are to discern His will for every area of life and never does it involve mysticism, clearing your mind or chanting the same phrase, song or verse over and over. Next I will cover 4 practical and Biblical ways of testing and discerning the will of God and what is good, acceptable, and perfect. 

Testing through Scripture

I would argue this is the single most important tool for discerning God’s will. Anything and everything else should be viewed through the filter of scripture. That is why it is so important for us to be constantly in God’s word, being transformed and renewing our minds. This type of transformation comes from a deep understanding of God’s word in the context of the whole Bible. It takes time, work and prayer to understand God’s word and how to apply it to your life. Years of time, study and experience which leads me into item two.

2

            Spiritual Advice/Counseling

Spiritual advice can be very helpful from someone who is outside of the situation. But be very careful who you go to for this advice. The Bible mentions in several places about the younger women going to the older women and younger men to the older men or elders for advice. Godly advice can provide a different perspective on your situation. Be careful as bad advice can be just as detrimental as good advice can be helpful.

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            Prompting and peace of the Holy Spirit

I almost hesitate to even mention this because of the heavy emphasis on mysticism in the church today. At the same time I believe it can be an important factor in discerning God’s will. I would not look at this as a reason as much as assurance of the right direction. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If you are grounded firmly in God’s will you should be demonstrating these characteristics. If you are lacking peace, faithfulness, joy etc. then you should look at your life and see why the fruit of the Spirit is lacking in your life. Maybe it is due to decisions you have made or maybe it is because you believe something about God that isn’t true. It may be a small decision of what you believe about a situation or a big decision of being engaged to a certain person without careful thought. The Spirit’s prompting will come through scripture not a feeling, a voice, or goose bumps.

Be weary of the people that tell you to just sit and listen for God's voice, to clear your mind, or even chant scripture over and over to where it becomes a thoughtless process. The Bible never tells us to look within ourselves, our heart, or our own mind for answers but to look to God, His word and to those who are wise in the faith. 

Small Things are Big to God

I was recently reading through the stories of Elisha in the book of 2 kings. You Version had a 13 day reading plan with a small devotional for each section and when through the life and miracles of Elisha. The devotional portion was interesting although I disagreed with the main premise behind the devotionals it was insightful and thought provoking. What struck me more than anything else while reading through the life of Elisha was how meaningless it seemed in the grand scheme of things. You have Elisha the shadow of Elijah who confronted King Ahab multiple times and demonstrated the greatness of God before the prophets of Baal. He stopped rain on the nation for 3 years as God’s judgment on Israel and at a word made it to rain again, and doesn't even die he gets taken up in a whirlwind. What could be more amazing than the life of Elijah?

Enter Elisha. He burns his plows, sacrifices his oxen and follows after Elijah with a fervent dedication. When asked what he wants he doesn't hold back and asks for a double portion of the power of Elijah. Who has the confidence to say I want everything you have plus double because I’ll know what to do with it? And yet, God gives it to him. You have Elisha, with amazing power, faith, and dedication. His high school would have voted him most likely to do something amazing.

As I read through the stories and miracles, of which there are many, I began to see a pattern. God uses this faithful man not to proclaim to kingdoms,  to bring down kings, to win mighty battles for the nation of Israel, God uses him in the most unlikely and strange places. God, through Elisha is gracious to an unnamed man by making his borrowed ax head float. God ministers to a unnamed widow and her son by providing them bread and restoring her sons life. Elisha did heal one captain of an army from a different nation but to no know benefit to anyone but that captain. Finally God brings another unknown man back to life after touching Elisha’s bones.

Many would see this life and think, what a waste. Elisha, a man of great faith with the spirit of 2 Elijah’s and God uses him to show His love to individuals. Maybe the small things in life are much more important to God than we can ever dream. Maybe the most powerful, dynamic thing we can do sometimes is fed someone in need in the name of Jesus. God will raise up Elijah’s who will perform great and mighty things, but that does not mean they are any more important than the person who prays for a sick family member and provides comfort. The small things are just as, if not more important than the big things. 

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People

Here I am sitting on a plane at a time when I would generally be getting ready for bed plagued by a question from my sister in-law earlier in the day. Why do bad things happen to good people? Not an easy question to resolve in a short amount of time but in my best rambling fashion I did my best at a semi concise, cohesive answer that most likely left the listener in much of the same state if not worse than when I started. With a plethora of time on my hands and a desire to put thoughts on paper I hope to provide a slightly clearer response to this question.

Before getting started I would like to throw out a disclaimer of sorts. First, that I have not been through the dire and distressing times that so many go through in these days. I have not known the death of close relatives and friends, I have not known deep debilitating depression, and I am not close to anyone who has battled day and night, month to month with cancer or another devastating illness. If you have been through distressing times my heart and love goes out to you. At the very least I know that it is not easy, that some fight moment by moment to continue and that hope though not easily found is a fountain of joy when it arrives. I desire that nothing I write belittles your pain but brings hope in a God that truly is in control and desires the best for your life.

To answer the question of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” I believe you must first review your terms closely. I believe the Bible is the ultimate source of truth and that is the source from which I will define my terms. In this question I believe it is best to work backwards through the question addressing the subject first; good people.

Typically the thought process behind the question follows the logic that there are some people who make an effort to be good. They treat others fairly well, they give to charity, they go out of their way to help others, and they live a fairly good life. Most would consent that maybe they don’t do everything right, they mess up but in the end they are good people who live honest lives and care about others. First and foremost, regardless of experience and philosophy the Bible must be the source of truth so we must look at what does the Bible say on the matter of good people.  It doesn’t take much study through the Bible before we realize that no one is good. Rom 3:23 for all have sinned, David talking of being sinful in the womb in the Psalms, countless times of men being left to their own devices only to reject God. I would argue that even the most upright action from an unbelieving person is at best only in an effort ultimately to do the right thing for them and not for God revealing the selfishness of their heart. Hebrews states that without faith nothing is pleasing to God.

That still leaves the question of why would bad things happen to people to do believe in God, who do trust and obey and try to live to the glory of God, people who are not righteous in themselves but are made righteous through Jesus Christ. Why would bad things happen to them? That leads us to the next section of the statement. What are the “bad things” that happen to these good people? This is where I find nowhere to turn but faith and trust in Jesus Christ because it does not always make sense to me. He ultimately knows what we need and has our best interest in mind. Romans 8 it says that God works all things out for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Verses 29 and 30 go on to explain what that purpose is; to make us into the likeness of Christ. To make us, like Christ. That is a hard verse to swallow at times. When you are going through depression, deep loss, or illness how do you trust that God will work it out for your good? My only answer is faith in future grace based on past grace. God saved me, He brought me this far, I know His work is true so I will have faith that He will bring me through this trail more like Christ than previously. Although the trial may be more than I can bare, His strength is shown through my weakness. It is not a feeling at this point, it is not something to be reasoned, it is pure unadulterated faith that His word is true. I pray that God would bring comfort to anyone going through a situation like this currently and pray that God would be able to use you mightily in the future because of it.

The last part of the question is, why. I don’t know that we will ever fully know the answer to why. Job tried asking that question and found out that it was too much for him to handle. The God of the universe, who does all things justly, who holds the earth in his hand is supposed to reduce the awesome complexity of why this one thing was allowed to happen to you? Can you imagine all the small details and reasons and unknown situations that lead up to, and resulted out of each and every decision and situation? First and foremost I think the answer is who are we to question God, and yet David and Job did just that. I don’t think it is wrong to ask, and many times God may provide at least a partial answer. It is when we believe we need, deserve or have earned an answer that our self-righteousness becomes prominent.

To wrap up my answer to the question: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  1) No one is good except God. 2) God allows bad things for His purposes. Why do bad things happen in general is another blog post but for now it is enough to say that those bad things are allowed and that God will work it out for good in the lives of Christians. Sometimes the evil prospers, sometimes the righteous struggle but God holds all things in His hands. That should be comforting to those who trust in Him. 3) It is not always for us to understand why, but we can know that God will perfect those who are saved into His likeness. 

Book Review Manly Dominion

If I was going to rate this book which I did I would probably rate it at 2 ½ stars out of 5. I know this is a book that that comes highly recommended by some but I have to say I was somewhat disappointed. I would have rated the book much lower but for the fact that the author has some some great advice and really encourages men to step up and do something in a time when men tend to sit down wait. I was encouraged in my vocation, personal life, and family life as a husband and father. To not sit idley by and watch life pass by but to act upon life and lead my family, be assertive at work and lead those around me.

The book starts out with a comparison of someone who subdues life and takes Dominion over it as oppose to someone who is like a purple 4 ball. I believe the negative side to the 4 ball was mostly that it was purple and the author apparently sees purple as a Sissy Pansy color, which is kinda racist but probably true. The real point is that pool balls get pushed around. They are pushed around by other balls, by a cue stick, or by bumpers. they really never take control of where they are going, they just go where they’re told. The moral being, take control don’t be a billiard ball.  

This by itself seems harmless and helpful prospective to have and to some extent I agree. The problem come when now that we have this perspective we are going to go and try to find some scripture to back it up with. The author turns to Gen 1:26-28 when God instructs Adam and Eve to subdue the earth and have dominion over the animals of the earth. The author then extrapolates this idea into every single nook and cranny of your life. You should subdue not only earth, and dominion over the animals, but subdue and have dominion over your job, your family, yourself, your daughter’s relationships, your church, ect. This is a command to every part of your life here on earth. It’s some of the wost proof texting I’ve seen. It’s like he was looking for a theme for his new book idea and stumbled across it.

This is my reason for giving the book 2 ½ stars. It does have some good idea and promising thoughts, but in the end they are based on a poor foundation. I completely disagree with his exegeses of Gen 1:28, and everything else in his book is based on that idea. There has to be a better book out there for calling men to be spiritual leaders of their families. I will continue to search for it.

Love them like He does

Finding myself in the leadership role as a husband and father has been wonderful humbling experience. So many times I find that I don't have the right answers. It makes you wonder how other fathers do it. How do they know just the right thing to say at the right time. How to you make a difficult decision that doesn't really have a a right answer. Many times I find myself at a loss for words. How do I lead my wife spiritually when sometimes I feel leaps and bound behind her. I raise my hand and say "follow me!" as I'm running to catch up. How do you know when your 8 month old daughter just doesn't know better and when she is being defiant? One thing I keep reminding myself of that is it is my role as the husband to display the love of Christ to my wife. This is a rather large responsibility and I find it distasteful of God to lay such a burden on an already struggling individual. But what are you going to do, fight Him about it? As much of a monstrous position God's directive has put me in I find it most often my fall back in times of need. When my wife is struggling and I really don't know what to say or how to help I find myself asking God, how would you treat me in this situation. Although God has given me a seemingly impossible task to preform He has also given me a model to emulate. Not just a model understood through study, but also understood through personal experience. I find that most of my difficult answers come through how God has treated me, what God has promised me in His word and how His word says that He relates to me. I can always ask myself how does God love my girls right now, and then try and do the same. 

Hermeneutics, Interpretations, and something about Blue and Red

I have thought several times about writing down some of my thoughts on theology, the Bible and whatever else seems to come to mind. This is not a situation where I give you the 3 points to prove I’m right but more of a “this is what I have learned so far and God is still working on me”. As I was thinking about different subjects to write on it hit me that I should probably cover my understanding of good biblical hermeneutics and what I would consider to be a true interpretation. It doesn’t do anyone much good to present a opinion if you both look at the same color and one person calls it blue and the other says it’s red. There wont ever be an agreement until you establish a baseline for what is true.

That being said, let me cover a few of my basic beliefs on good biblical hermeneutics.
1.) I believe that when each book of the Bible was written it was inspired by God through direct revelation. There is no possibility for error, it never contradicts itself and it can be completely trusted to be true and accurate. I may go into why I believe this at another time, for now it’s good enough to say that I believe it with all my heart.

2.) I believe that when the bible was written it had a definite literal meaning that made sense to the person writing it and to the people it was written to at the time. That’s not to say that all the prophecy was completely understood as to how it would take place, but that the prophecy did have a specific meaning and what was prophesied was understood as something. It had meaning, it wasn’t just gibberish. That is also not to say there aren’t figures of speech throughout the Bible, but the figure of speech did have a literal meaning that meant something at the time of being written. It didn’t have one meaning then and change meanings over time.

3.) There are confusing parts of the Bible that I don’t completely understand. In those cases I typically believe the Bible is meant to be clear and not confusing. I typically try to take as literal an interpretation as possible and believe that it is true. I do not try to twist it around and figure out a way to make sense of it based on my understanding of scripture. I do however let scripture help interpret scripture as long as the context of each passage is kept in mind.

These are some of the basic principals that I try to stand by as I read scripture. To break it down into a nutshell I believe in a literal, historical, grammatical, interpretation of the Bible. Although many people would say the same thing, I find myself disagreeing with them at times because they have twisted things around to fit into their little world of theology that makes sense in their head. They assume that the passage can’t really mean what it said because it doesn’t make sense to them. Dare I say that maybe it’s not the Bible that had a hard saying what it meant, maybe our theology (knowledge of God) it just a little lacking and we just need to trust that God said what He meant to say and it was as clear as He could make it for us. Just maybe God is a little more complicated than the little box we put Him in and His grand plan for this world is more complicated than we realize.


(yes, I’m aware there are 3 points............it’s a joke)

Get Motivated!!

Recently I had the grand opportunity of attending the Get Motivated! seminar. A seminar that requires you to wake up at an ungodly time of day and mope through traffic at rush hour in Atlanta in order to qualify for entering the building. Assuming you arrive in one piece, you are in the perfect condition for being motivated. Just agitated enough to stay awake and yet just tired enough to think you require professional counseling instead of a good nights rest.
The seminar is actually put together quite well, so well in fact that you would think people who are really good at making money put it together. Everything is done in the name of helping you achieve your lofty American dream of making more money. If you have the right perspective, say something about Jesus, work hard, have good character, and buy my program you can be like me! Be nice to other people because you have a lot to gain by it. Be honest because it helps you in the long run. Work hard because you’ll go farther that way.
Don’t get me wrong, there were some very good speakers that had a lot of helpful advice. Where I disagree is not in the action but the motive. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason is still wrong. Some might disagree on that point but it’s your right to be wrong. HA!

Example: Unsaved people do a lot of good things and yet their righteousness is as filthy rags. Why? Because their motives are messed up. It's true that good things are pleasing to God but without faith nothing is pleasing to God. You can be the goodest, hardest workingest, in the name of Jesus speaker alive and make millions by setting up an easy web that you only check once a month and teach everyone else how to do it in a 2 day class (usually for $10,000) but for only you today for $29.99 and yet without faith it’s garbage.  (Tip of the day: Don’t say it “gar-bash” its like the only joke mom’s have).
So if you are really going to strive hard and be motivated about something, forget the money and focus on faith. If God wants you to have the money he’ll provide it. You’ll have all you need and maybe a little extra for the kids.