We must give corporate praise to the Lord that gives new life to those who choose the correct path. My question today is what path are you trying to stay on? We are going to feast on decision making from a spiritual perspective, so get ready.
Today’s Prayer
Father, Today I am burdened for specific family members and friends who are living in a cycle of sin, who are held back and chained by strongholds in their lives. I lift them up to You and ask that Your Holy Spirit would convict them and lead them to repentance, and provide an open door, a way out, and that their eyes would be open to run through that door and into Your loving arms. I pray for their souls, their spiritual condition, the other people their sin affects and their testimony before the world. God, please have mercy and help them out of their bondage. I pray that they will accept the key to unlock those chains and be free in Christ. May You get the glory, praise and honor. In the matchless name of Jesus I thank You, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Obedience-Based Decisions
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him. – Acts 5:32
So often we as a society equate numbers with success. The larger the conference, the more successful we deem it. The larger a church, the more we believe that God is blessing. And so on. I recall planning a youth function a few years back. Registrations were not where I felt they needed to be a few weeks before the date of the event. It wasn’t long before I began to get bent out of shape about the level of attendance. My friend, who was organizing this function with me, called and asked how I was doing. I had to confess where I was. He immediately reminded me of my own teaching in this area. We are all called to be led by the Spirit, not by outcomes. “If GOD called us to put on this event, then the outcome is up to Him if we have done our part.” He went on to explain how he learned this lesson in a similar way a few years earlier.
He and another friend were led to host a Bible study group. His friend was to speak. It was seven o’clock and they were the only two people there. His friend was discouraged and was ready to leave.
“No,” said my friend. “We have done what the Holy Spirit directed.” He then stood up and began to welcome people as though there were many in the room. (No one was in the room.) He introduced his other friend and they began the meeting. A few minutes later, people began to straggle in. By the time the meeting was over, ten had shown up, and one man in particular was impacted by the meeting and accepted Christ.
Being led by the Spirit often means we must not use the world’s standard for success as our measuring stick. You never know what an act of obedience will yield at the time. We must leave results to God. Our role is to obey. His role is to bring results from our obedience.
Do you make decisions based on the potential outcome or by the direction of the Holy Spirit in your life?
Do you overly evaluate the pros and cons without consideration to what the Holy Spirit might be saying deep inside?
We are all prone to make decisions based on reasoning alone. Ask God to give you a willingness and ability to hear the Holy Spirit and to obey His promptings.
Quote of the Day
To worship God means to serve him. Basically there are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for Him that He needs to have done – run errands for Him, carry messages for Him, fight on His side, feed His lambs, and so on. The other way is to do things for Him that you need to do – sing songs for Him, tell Him what’s on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in Him. ~Frederick Buechner~