There are three things that every PERSON possesses. These are what make a person a person! The following triangle may help you to remember the three components that make up a PERSON:
Do you decide, think and feel? ______ Do you qualify as a true PERSON? _____ Does GOD have these three elements of personality? To answer this, please place the following verses of Scripture where they belong on the triangle:
| Psalm 2:4 Psalm 7:11 Isaiah 46:10-11 |
Isaiah 55:8-9 Luke 22:42 Romans 11:33-34 |
1 Corinthians 2:16 Ephesians 1:11 Ephesians 4:30 |
Do animals have a WILL? Does the robin decide not to build a nest? Do salmon decide to swim upstream? Do beavers choose to stop building dams and to go on strike? Is it correct to say that an animal is a person? _____ Is there a difference between built-in instincts of animals and real choices of the will made by intelligent persons? _________
Every day a person uses his WILL (either rightly or wrongly). People make
hundreds of decisions and choices daily!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What are five decisions you made at the
breakfast table this morning? What was the most important decision you made
today? What was the most important decision you made this past week? This past
year?
What are some of life's most important decisions? Before each of the following write Extremely Important (EI), Very Important (VI), Important (I), Not Very Important (NVI):
______________ Deciding whether to smoke cigarettes or not
______________ Deciding whether to attend college
______________ Deciding what to do for an occupation (for one's life's work)
______________ Deciding whether to drink alcohol or not
______________ Deciding who I should marry
______________ Deciding whether to believe on Christ or not
______________ Deciding how to use my free time
______________ Deciding whether to forgive someone who has wronged me
______________ Deciding whether I should live for myself or live for Christ
______________ Deciding whether I should tell another person the good news of salvation.
What are some of life's least important decisions?
The decision to buy a hamburger with fries and a drinks or to just get a hamburger by itself.
The decision of what color shirt or pants or dress I should wear.
The decision as to which password I should choose for an internet site.
Can you think of other minor decisions we make every day?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Some decisions involve saying NO (refusing to do something) and some decisions involves saying YES (agreeing to do something). When is it right to say "NO"? When is it right to say "YES"?
For each of the following Scripture passages, consider the following questions:
1) What choice did God want man to make?
2) What choice did man make?
3)
Was God pleased?
According to Isaiah 1:19-20 man can either be W____________ and O___________________ or man can R______________ and R ______________! Which of these two choices best describes you before God? Which of these two choices best describes you before your parents?
What important decision did Joshua make (Joshua 24:15)? _________________________________________
What important decision did Daniel make (Daniel 1:8)?
______________________________
What important choice did the Israelites in Elijah's day
need to make (1 Kings 18:21)? _________________________________________
Man's eternal destiny depends upon what great decision (John 3:18,36; Matthew
7:13-14)? ______________________________________________________
What decision does God
want you to make (Deut. 30:19; 1 Tim. 2:3-4; Ezekiel 33:11; Isaiah 55:6-7)?
__________________________________________________
When is the best time to say YES to God
(2 Cor. 6:2; Heb. 3:7)? __________________
CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY (Josh. 24:15)
* * * * * * * *
Making God Honoring Decisions (by A. W. Tozer)
 |
A.W. Tozer was a man of great spiritual insight. His penetrating writings have been
profitable to many believers in exposing sin and directing them to a closer walk with
Christ.
Leonard Ravenhill once said of Tozer, "I fear that we shall never see another
Tozer. Men like him are not college bred but Spirit taught." Tozer’s insight into
knowing the will of God is found below: |
First, it is essential that we be completely dedicated to God's high honor and surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God will not lead us except for His own glory and He cannot lead us if we resist His will. The shepherd cannot lead a stubborn sheep. The evil practice of using God must be abandoned. We must submit ourselves joyously to God and let Him work through us to achieve His own ends.
Now, granted that we are wholly committed to God with full intent to obey Him, we may expect actually to be led by Him. The Scriptures that teach this are many, such as Proverbs 3:5,6. It only remains for us to believe they mean what they say. The choices that we make from day to day involve only four kinds of things:
● Those concerning which God has said an emphatic "no."
● Those about which He has said an equally emphatic "yes."
● Those concerning which He wants us to consult our own sanctified preferences.
● Those few matters which require special guidance from the Lord to prevent us from making serious mistakes.
First, put this down as an unfailing rule: Never seek the leading of the Lord concerning an act that is forbidden in God's Word. To do so is to convict ourselves of insincerity.
Again, prophet, psalmist, apostle and our blessed Lord point out the way of positive obedience. His yoke is easy, His burden is light, so let this be the second rule: Never seek the leading of the Lord concerning an act commanded in the Scriptures.
Now, a happy truth too often overlooked in our anxious search for God's will is that in the majority of decisions touching our lives God expresses no choice but allows us to choose our preference. Some Christians walk uncertainly, worrying about which profession they should enter, which car they should drive, which school they should attend, where they should live and other such matters. The Lord has set Christians to follow their own personal bent, guided only by their love for Him and their fellow men.
It appears more spiritual to seek God's leading than to do the obvious thing. But it is not. If God gave you a watch would you honor Him more by asking Him for the time of day or by consulting the watch?
Except for those things that are specifically commanded or forbidden, it is God's will that we be free to choose. The shepherd leads the sheep but he does not decide which tuft of grass the sheep shall nibble. Touching our life on earth God is pleased when we are pleased. He wills that we be as free as birds to soar and sing our Maker's praise without anxiety. God's choice for us may be any one of a score of possible choices. The Christian who is wholly and joyously surrendered to Christ cannot make a wrong choice.
But what about those times when much is at stake and we can discover no clear scriptural instruction and yet are forced to choose between two possible courses? We have God's faithful promise to guide us aright. Here are two among many passages from God's Word:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering" (James 1:5,6).
"Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go" (Isaiah 48:17).
Take your problem to the Lord. Remind Him of these promises. If you are dedicated to God's purpose, He will not permit you to make a mistake.
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