Category: Uncategorized

How do you make decisions? Someone asked me the other day how I decide things. I realized I have fallen into using the Christian-ese lingo. One of the phrases I caught myself using is “I was led by God to…”.

When I say it I know that I mean that “I decided to…” I should just say that.

Other people wrestle with a decision for a long time, and unable to intuit the correct course of action, they pray and receive an impression. Or they put out a prayer rug or fleece and get a sign via internal urge.

I’ve never done those things (I have prayed but not been led by an impression, or at least when I felt an impression, or had a leading thought, I did not base my decision on it.) A lot of times my internal impressions are likely from satan, lol.

Other times I hear people say, after they ‘were led’, “I know it is from God because I had a peace about it.” I always used to wonder about that, because I rarely have a peace about my big decisions. I have certainty. But not peace. It is scary to move half a country away…to start a new job…to make new friends…to leave your home church. It is nerve-wracking to witness to a hostile person. I rarely have peace about those things. But when the time comes to do them, I am certain, and thus, I do them.

Jonah had peace about his decision to flee God’s will. He actually curled up in the bottom of the boat and went to sleep, while the crew was being tossed and throwing freight and ballast over to save the ship. Having peace about a decision is not a reliable indicator. Ananias and Sapphira likely had peace about their decision to withhold some of the proceeds of the sale of their real estate, at least, they did it without a second thought and Sapphira calmly lied to Peter. But that peace was not the right kind of peace either. (Acts 5)

I was always troubled by these things, fearing maybe I wasn’t ‘doing it right’ with regard to my decision making. Then I heard this question put to John MacArthur- “What is your perspective on the belief that the Holy Spirit leads us by nudging us or whispering to us or giving us dreams, things like that?”  and he answered this way:

JOHN: Well, I think the Holy Spirit does lead us but there is no way to perceive that that’s happening. Right? … I don’t have a red light that goes on on my head and it goes around and around and around when the Holy Spirit’s leading. I don’t know when the Holy Spirit’s leading. I don’t know when I’m just following my impulses or my desires or whatever. I have no mechanism to know that. But in retrospect I see that. And I categorize that in the providences of God.”

“I just put that in the providence…my life is just one amazing act of divine providence after another, after another, after another, after another, after another, every single day of my life unfolds in ways that are so well planned by the divine mind that I…I’m in, you know, a sort of exhilaration day after day after day over what happens in my life. So I don’t know when the Spirit is leading at the time. The Spirit is leading…I can say, “You know, I think I ought to go preach over there.” I do that every day, you know. Friday they brought like, I don’t know, a big list of people who want me to come and speak and what did I do? Did I, you know, begin to go into some kind of mantra and say, “Ohm….” And see if I can induce the Holy Spirit to know what to do? No. I just look at it and say, “Well, I can’t do that. I don’t think I can do that. That wouldn’t be a priority. Maybe I should do that. And you know what happens if I just am open and want to do God’s will, it’s amazing how in retrospect I can look back and say, “Wow, it was absolutely critical that I be there because look what happened when I got there, and this happened and that led to this, and this led to that.” That’s how my whole life has unfolded. So there’s no mechanism that we possess that tells us at the moment when the Holy Spirit is leading us and in some supernatural way. But that in retrospect we will be able to discern by the providences of God that unfold.”

Right! In your decisions, do right by Jesus and do right by our family, and moving forward by logically weighing evidence and proceeding with maturity, and God will take care of all the rest. I look back on my decisions and they have all been good. Either they were wrong but made good by God or they were good and He was leading me but I didn’t have the advantage of having whispers or impressions to know that at the time. His providence!

“Divine providence is the means by and through which God governs all things in the universe. The doctrine of divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. This includes the universe as a whole (Psalm 103:19), the physical world (Matthew 5:45), the affairs of nations (Psalm 66:7), human birth and destiny (Galatians 1:15), human successes and failures (Luke 1:52), and the protection of His people (Psalm 4:8).” (source)

Gary Friesen said in his book, Decision Making and the Will of God— “Impressions are real; believers experience them. But impressions are not authoritative. Impressions are impressions. Inner impressions are not a form of revelation, so the bible does not invest impressions with authority to function as indicators of Divine guidance. Impressions are real. Believers experience them. But impressions are not authoritative.”

If a person looks to their impressions, whispers, or nudges, then they are looking to something that is not only NOT authoritative, but is deceitful and corrupt!

Gary Gilley states,  “Psalm 19 teaches us there are two sources of revelation, from nature (vv. 1-6) and from Scripture (vv. 7-14). The “general revelation” of nature, while speaking boldly of the glory of God, still has serious limitations. Romans 1:20 confirms that nature is capable of revealing to mankind the eternal power and divine nature of God; therefore even those who know nothing of Jesus Christ are without excuse when they reject God. But general revelation is incapable of exposing a multitude of things including Jesus Christ, the Cross, grace, eternal life and on and on. For such things we need the “specific revelation” of Scripture. …”

There is general revelation by nature and specific revelation by the bible, and nothing in between like impressions, urgings, or whispers.

Even the famous evangelist George Whitefield “mistook fancy for faith and imagination for revelation” when going forward by impression rather than scripture. He had prophesied that his pregnant wife would bear a son, and that the son would grow up to become a famous preacher. Whitefield did have a son, but unfortunately the child died at 4 months old. That is when Whitefield told Jonathan Edwards that he mistook fancy for revelation. (source, book Jonathan Edwards, by Iain Murray, pp. 240-42)

Precious brethren, inner impressions are bubbling up through our fleshly filter of putrid sin, a sin nature, and corruption. Ick! Who would want to make a decision based on that muck! I refute the logic and the method of Bill Hybels’ whispers, especially when Hybels says “Without a hint of exaggeration, the ability to discern divine direction has saved me from a life of sure boredom and self-destruction.’ In [Hybels’ book] The Power of a Whisper, vision is cast for what life can look like when God’s followers choose to hear from heaven as they navigate life on earth. Whispers that arbitrate key decisions, nudges that rescue from dark nights of the soul, promptings that spur on growth, urgings that come by way of another person, inspiration that opens once-glazed-over eyes…”

Mike Feazell said it better, much better when he said,

“Wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy the godly freedom to say: “Lord, I’ve got several paths before me, and based on all the facts as I understand them, here’s what I think I should probably do. Please have mercy on me as I enter into this. As you well know Lord I know I am often a moron. I know that in my need You have always been there. And I know you’ll see me through this too. Just please don’t make the bumps If there’s something I’m missing here, would you show me before it’s too late? And if I miss the cue, then please have mercy on me, a sinner and a frequent dumbbell. And one more thing, if this is a trap door instead of an open door, would you mind not letting go of my hand until I get back to where I ought to be? Thanks. Amen.”

Don’t look for a sign or a whisper or a nudge or urgings. Trust God. “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9). Even though you can’t hear or tell He is directing you, He IS. Appealing to your inner impressions is the same as appealing to yourself. His providence has you in the palm of His hand…therefore trust!

“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” (Psalms 16:8)

Anti-Bullying Speaker Curses Christian Teens
“As many as 100 high school students walked out of a national journalism conference after an anti-bullying speaker began cursing, attacked the Bible and reportedly called those who refused to listen to his rant “pansy assed.” … Savage was supposed to be delivering a speech about anti-bullying at the National High School Journalism Conference sponsored by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association. But it turned into an episode of Christian-bashing. “I thought this would be about anti-bullying,” Tuttle told Fox news. “It turned into a pointed attack on Christian beliefs.”

It gets worse from there. If you want to read what Mr Savage said and how it was responded to by his sponsoring organizations, click on the link.

What is sad for me is that this was a forum for teen reporters. Teenagers…mocked, bullied, and called names, by an adult. Rather than being ashamed of his behavior in front of children, rather than apologizing for his screed that offended teens, Savage hurled scorn on them as they left and was supported by his organizations, needling the kids as the ones in the wrong and for failing to stay because “it’s important to be able to listen to speech that offends you”…

I know this verse from Ephesians 6:4 is targeted to actual fathers and their biological/adoptive children, but I dare to say we can widen it to apply here, even as a warning in general:

“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”.

 “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” (Colossians 3:21)

 Is Mr Savage a father? An Uncle? Would he feel satisfied knowing someone had entered a place where children were gathered, including his own, and hurled insults directly at them for their beliefs?

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 18:10

I live in a pretty area, one that the Lord led me to 6 years ago. He asked me to leave all I had ever done, all the people I had ever known, and all the scenery that I had ever seen, and move to Georgia. I said “OK.”

I drive through pretty areas on my way to work. I pass a barn, and pastures, and see cows and colts and foals and lambs. I see green fields with waving hay and eagles and heather and pine trees. It is quiet and there’s little traffic. If there are 4 cars at the four-way stop sign it’s a jam. I sing and pray and praise Him the entire way. Every day.

He chose to re-make my life for me here. It is a better life than I would have had if I had remained, I see that now. He knows what is best. Bless You, Lord. May Your will be done.

This morning, I was thinking the thoughts I write below. I hope you sing and pray and praise Him for all His works in the world and for what He does in your life, too. He is wonderful gracious, and loving. He is our Savior and our God.

I hope this fine spring week has offered you beautiful glimpses of God’s creative intellect and His wonderful power. We always enjoy the march of the seasons. “He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.” (Psalm 104:19, KJV). Wherever we are in the world, reading this newsletter, we see and understand the times and seasons. We look for the robin, the crocus, the ladyslipper. The orderliness and consistency of the seasons since His ordination of them is a comfort.

Yet in Jeremiah 8:7 Jeremiah says of the seasons, meaning God’s season, “Yes, the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.” In the natural history of Israel, Barnes notes explains, “Jeremiah appeals to the obedience which migratory birds render to the law of their natures. The “stork” arrives about March 21, and after a six weeks’ halt departs for the north of Europe. It takes its flight by day, at a vast height in the air (“in the heaven”). The appearance of the “turtle-dove” is one of the pleasant signs of the approach of spring.”

As for the part of the Jeremiah verse which speaks to His judgments, Matthew Henry holds sway here: “Sin is backsliding; it is going back from the way that leads to life, to that which leads to destruction. They would not attend to the warning of conscience. They did not take the first step towards repentance: true repentance begins in serious inquiry as to what we have done, from conviction that we have done amiss. They would not attend to the ways of providence, nor understand the voice of God in them, ver. 7. They know not how to improve the seasons of grace, which God affords. They would not attend to the written word. Many enjoy abundance of the means of grace, have Bibles and ministers, but they have them in vain. They will soon be ashamed of their devices. The pretenders to wisdom were the priests and the false prophets. They flattered people in sin, and so flattered them into destruction, silencing their fears and complaints with, All is well. Selfish teachers may promise peace when there is no peace; and thus men encourage each other in committing evil; but in the day of visitation they will have no refuge to flee unto.”

How perfect and prescient His Word is! What was true then is also true now. So many are in a season of backsliding sin, of wasting this season of grace. My statement goes toward the lost and Christians as well. The lines of demarcation are widening, and more Christians than ever are uncovered as pale, weak, lukewarm. It is the season of woe, because “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isiaah 5:20). It is the upside-down season. This is the season of proclaiming sin as good and Jesus as evil. Man becomes more like the animals every day.

In Numbers where God is dispensing instruction to the Priesthood, God said, “I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift.” (Numbers 18:7b). It is a gift to serve Him. It is a gift to dedicate one’s life to him. It is a gift to be close to Him. It was a gift to the people who needed priests. He also gave the Prophets as a gift and in the New Testament, the gift of prophecy is also a gift. (1 Corinthians 12:10; Romans 12:6).

I feel deeply for Jeremiah the Prophet, who was known as The Weeping Prophet. Jeremiah lived in a time when the People’s pride was dragging them backward into sin and away from the LORD. (Jeremiah 13:15-27- “Pride precedes captivity”.) He lived when the people’s sins had piled up to the point where they were actually living in their last days. Jeremiah was the last prophet sent to preach to the Southern Kingdom. The searing effects of their sins had hardened them so much that no one ever listened to Jeremiah. He never had one convert. “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.” (Jeremiah 7:24).

Unfaithful Israel, engraving by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

Jeremiah preached and spoke and prophesied, but yet he was hated and reviled. They did not listen. He had no friends. He had no wife even to weep with, for the LORD had forbidden him to marry, knowing the grievous deaths that would soon take place in His coming judgment of the southern kingdom. God was actually sparing Jeremiah THAT special kind of grief, but Jeremiah still cried out, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! (Jeremiah 9:1). He is saying here that he mourns so deeply for what he knows, that he does not have even enough tears to weep for the people.

“My mourning for the sins and desolations of my people has already exhausted the source of tears: I wish to have a fountain opened there, that I may weep day and night for the slain of my people. This has been the sorrowful language of many a pastor who has preached long to a hardened, rebellious people, to little or no effect,” says Clark’s Commentary.

This is how I feel. Is it how you feel? Do you weep for the people and nations that sin, who allow sin to drag their hearts to destruction? Do you rejoice in gladness for the warnings and grace the Lord bestows, but weep for those who refuse to heed? Knowing the brutality that awaits them in the Tribulation, punishment for living a brutal life of sin against Jesus? I do. I weep especially for all those who believe they are saved and are a sanctified Christian, but will discover to their horror at the rapture that they were not called up. They were left behind. “My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me!” (Jer 8:18). Jeremiah could clearly see the people’s pride and sin and he could clearly see the coming consequences, destruction of the nation and destruction of many hearts.

I ask you this, gently, lovingly: at prayer meeting, we weep and cry and mourn for Aunty Tilly’s big toe, but do we weep and mourn for souls? Sob, tear our clothes, wish that our very head was a fountain that we could shed many tears for them? We speak of His love these days and His joy, of peace in knowing Him. All these things are good. But where is the grief? Where are our weeping prophets (Christians) today?

Jeremiah begged them not to succumb to the false gods who lulled them into security and which did not make them feel guilty or convict of sin. They did not listen, and they were destroyed. It shall be so again. Prepare your hearts. Jesus is coming soon. Don’t be left behind.

We had a nice study at church Wednesday night. We are going through Matthew, and we are up to Matthew 3. This chapter introduces an adult John the Baptist. and I loved exploring it. The people in our study will talk and share and contribute, which makes it interesting and collegial.

This blog post serves a dual purpose. It is good to employ some metacognition when studying the Word. That means thinking about your thinking. Knowing about your knowing. When you’re learning, understand not only what you’re learning, but how you’re learning it. To that end, I want to share what I learned about John the Baptist this week, and also how I learned it. I am hoping that this will raise your own awareness of how the Spirit may be working in your own study life.

So I was reading Matthew 3. When I first begin to read a section or book, I just read it. I let the words flow and I don’t stop to consult a concordance or look at a commentary. I just read. I let the word engulf me and wash me. I think it’s important to let the word speak for itself, uninterrupted.

Then I read it again. At this second reading I also resist the temptation to stop and look up stuff. At the third reading, I start digging. Now, at the first or second reading, but certainly by the third, a word or a verse will “jump out” at me. You know what I mean. If it happens at first I jot a note down and keep reading. But by the third reading, the Spirit seems to be pulling me to one certain point in the verses. This time is was John being a Nazirite. I mean, there is a rich variety of points to ponder in the chapter. Certainly John’s message of repentance, there’s the reference to the prophecy in Isaiah, there’s Jesus’s baptism, there is the history behind the Pharisees and Sadducees. But the Spirit pulled me to the behavior of John and whether he was a Nazirite from birth.

So then I pray. I ask the Spirit to dispense wisdom to me in what He wants me to learn. It is one of His ministries. (Ephesians 1:16-17; James 1:5; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10). After prayer, I begin research. In this case, I looked up Nazirite in the bible. Matthew 3 does not state that John the Baptist was a Nazirite, but Luke 1:13-17 seems to indicate that John would be specially consecrated from birth, and the addition of the prohibition of never drinking wine is one of the Nazirite vows. The verses say nothing about the most physically evident of the prohibitions, that the person making the vow shall never cut his hair as long as he is under the consecration, but I believe circumstances are such that I believe John was a Nazirite from birth. Luke 1:80 states he went to live in the deserts and from then on he consecrated himself to God completely, separating from society.

After I looked up the Nazirite vows in the bible in Numbers 6:1-21, and also looked up the verses relating to other Nazirites from birth- namely Samson and Samuel, I stopped to pray again. I asked the Spirit to continue to lead me in the direction He wanted me to go to learn what the Lord was making known. I can’t say I know how I got to Numbers and Luke and Judges and Samuel 2, just that it is a work of the Spirit to lead me to the right verses that relate to the study I’m engaged in. It is an answer to my prayer to be led and taught.

It is really interesting, how the Spirit works in this. A study always builds on something that came before and will build on something that will come after. A year might go by, and then some verse will “jump out at me” in another study of the future and I’ll remember this one, and a connection will be made.

Oftentimes, after I use the bible as primary source in the first through third readings, I’ll listen to a preacher I trust preach on it expositionally. This extends the study. And of course, I’ll go to class and listen to my home teacher and the comments from my fellow saints, folding in the insights gained from those places. The most important thing at this point is two fold: pay attention to what the Spirit says, and make notes. We often pray, but it is equally important to pay attention to the answer to prayer. Don’t send up a prayer for wisdom and insight and then move ahead so fast you leave your ears behind!

I picture the study of the Word as sewing a tapestry. Every nugget of learning through this process is a thread that weaves through the tapestry. The first and most important result of a study is to learn more about God. The bible is His revealed truth to us. It’s the only untainted way to learn Him and His ways. The bible contains words about who God is, what He is doing, what He will do, what he expects, and more. So I ask myself, what did I learn about Him through this? How does what I learned help me understand Him, my position before Him, and/or what I need to do to make corrections in any of the above?

Ultimately, a good bible study for me will include reading the Word, prayer, submission, and open mind, a notebook, and a willingness to use good study aids, such as concordance, commentary, or a solid bible teacher, and participation in my home church.

A good study would not be complete without seeing how the Word can be applied to my life. I ask the Spirit to let me know how to apply this new knowledge. The Word is not only the Word for head knowledge, it is for heart knowledge and for encouraging the saints and applying in life. So I ponder John, being filled with the Spirit, and think about how he consecrated himself so that he would remain pure. I thought about how bold he was to proclaim curses on the Pharisees. I thought about how humble he was to say that his time was over, he must increase and Jesus must increase. His humility was also displayed when Jesus came to John for baptism, and John said he wasn’t worthy to loosen His sandal. There are many messages to learn from John the Baptist, and I am sure the Spirit will reveal more to me in time, along with increasing the fruits He wants borne from this knowledge. Faith into action, based on the prayerfully studying the Word. I love studying the bible. I hope you do too.

My LORD and my SAVIOR. I follow YOU!

http://skitguys.com/videos/embed/1407/

HT @dpbkmb

Got time on my hands…I’m playing with the blog template & design. Hence my advance explanation of why the blog will soon be either gibberish or a black screen has been issued.

I had a request to increase the font size. If this is too big or too distracting let me know. If is it acceptable, let me know that too. Change is hard for me, so I can’t really tell. Thanks.

There are login issues, and that means I don’t always have access to the administrative parts of the blog when I want in order to check comments or to post a new entry. Comments are not showing up, either. Blogger says they are working on these issues, so please be patient. If you do not see your comment, that is why. Unless it was a comment I deemed not appropriate nor discussion-enhancing and I deleted it. 😉

Have a great day everyone.