The following are excerpts from the book Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby & Claude King:
"GOD GIVES SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS
A popular teaching says God does not give you clear directives. It says He just sets your life in motion. Then you try to figure out the directions using your God-given mind. This implies that a Christian always thinks correctly and according to God's will. This does not take into account that the old nature is constantly battling with the spiritual nature (see Romans 7.) Our ways are not God's ways (See Isaiah 55:8.) Only God can give you the kind of specific directions to accomplish His purposes in His ways....
The Holy Spirit gives clear directives today. God is personal. He wants to be intimately involved in your life. He will give you clear guidance for living. You may say, 'That has not been my experience.' You need to bring your experience up to the Word of God and now lower God's ways to match your own...
If you do not have clear instructions from God in a matter, pray and wait. Learn patience. Depend on God's timing. His timing is always right and best. Don't get in a hurry. He may be withholding directions to cause you to seek Him more intently. Don't try to skip over the relationship to get on with the doing. God is more interested in love relationship with you than He is in what you can do for Him. (pgs. 94-95)"
"GOD REVEALS HIS PURPOSES
God reveals His purposes so you will know what He plans to do. If you are to join Him, you need to know what He is about to do or what He is already doing. What you plan to do for God is not important. What He plans to do where you are is very important. God speaks with a purpose in mind.
When God came to Noah, He did not ask, "What do you want to do for me?" He came to reveal what He was about to do. It was far more important to know what God was about to do. It really did not matter what Noah had planned to do for God. God was about to destroy the world. He wanted to work through Noah to accomplish His purposes of saving a remnant of people and animals to repopulate the earth. (pg. 99)"
I was very encouraged by these two sections of this book this morning. Lately, I've begun to lose faith in things that God has told me about what He is doing now and in the future, wondering if I even heard His voice correctly. Doubt has been springing up to snatch away the hope I have in His Promises, even Proverbs Promises like, "...He will direct your path."
Last week I went to the Alumni Service at the high school I graduated from. Something was said that morning over and over again after we read Isaiah 40, which was, "Hold onto the Promises of God. He is who He says He is, and He does what He says He is going to do." In one form or another, this message was really driven home, and I was encouraged.
But then of course, I was shot by another arrow of doubt, and didn't withstand it. So this morning, when I walked into my workspace, this book was laid open with a little clump of pages sticking straight up. On the left side was pages 94-95 (the first excerpt), and on the ride side, page 99 (the second excerpt.) These two specific passages were so refreshing to me. It renewed my mind with Truths from God's Word. I often get confirming scriptures from the Bible for things like this, but often God will use books written by Christians to speak to me as well. Praise the Lord!!
I have listened to Charles Stanley since I was younger, but really "got into" his preaching when I was living in Los Angeles, after I had come back to God. One of his staple teachings on "knowing the will of God" is that we must believe that He has a very specific plan for our life, and that we must seek Him diligently to know His "calling" on our life. I know that He has been revealing His will for me, and I also know that the enemy would love to try to make me doubt again, as to render me ineffective in this world. Let us remember the Promises of God! Promises He has given us in His Word, and also Promises He has revealed to us about His plans for us!
"GOD GIVES SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS
A popular teaching says God does not give you clear directives. It says He just sets your life in motion. Then you try to figure out the directions using your God-given mind. This implies that a Christian always thinks correctly and according to God's will. This does not take into account that the old nature is constantly battling with the spiritual nature (see Romans 7.) Our ways are not God's ways (See Isaiah 55:8.) Only God can give you the kind of specific directions to accomplish His purposes in His ways....
The Holy Spirit gives clear directives today. God is personal. He wants to be intimately involved in your life. He will give you clear guidance for living. You may say, 'That has not been my experience.' You need to bring your experience up to the Word of God and now lower God's ways to match your own...
If you do not have clear instructions from God in a matter, pray and wait. Learn patience. Depend on God's timing. His timing is always right and best. Don't get in a hurry. He may be withholding directions to cause you to seek Him more intently. Don't try to skip over the relationship to get on with the doing. God is more interested in love relationship with you than He is in what you can do for Him. (pgs. 94-95)"
"GOD REVEALS HIS PURPOSES
God reveals His purposes so you will know what He plans to do. If you are to join Him, you need to know what He is about to do or what He is already doing. What you plan to do for God is not important. What He plans to do where you are is very important. God speaks with a purpose in mind.
When God came to Noah, He did not ask, "What do you want to do for me?" He came to reveal what He was about to do. It was far more important to know what God was about to do. It really did not matter what Noah had planned to do for God. God was about to destroy the world. He wanted to work through Noah to accomplish His purposes of saving a remnant of people and animals to repopulate the earth. (pg. 99)"
I was very encouraged by these two sections of this book this morning. Lately, I've begun to lose faith in things that God has told me about what He is doing now and in the future, wondering if I even heard His voice correctly. Doubt has been springing up to snatch away the hope I have in His Promises, even Proverbs Promises like, "...He will direct your path."
Last week I went to the Alumni Service at the high school I graduated from. Something was said that morning over and over again after we read Isaiah 40, which was, "Hold onto the Promises of God. He is who He says He is, and He does what He says He is going to do." In one form or another, this message was really driven home, and I was encouraged.
But then of course, I was shot by another arrow of doubt, and didn't withstand it. So this morning, when I walked into my workspace, this book was laid open with a little clump of pages sticking straight up. On the left side was pages 94-95 (the first excerpt), and on the ride side, page 99 (the second excerpt.) These two specific passages were so refreshing to me. It renewed my mind with Truths from God's Word. I often get confirming scriptures from the Bible for things like this, but often God will use books written by Christians to speak to me as well. Praise the Lord!!
I have listened to Charles Stanley since I was younger, but really "got into" his preaching when I was living in Los Angeles, after I had come back to God. One of his staple teachings on "knowing the will of God" is that we must believe that He has a very specific plan for our life, and that we must seek Him diligently to know His "calling" on our life. I know that He has been revealing His will for me, and I also know that the enemy would love to try to make me doubt again, as to render me ineffective in this world. Let us remember the Promises of God! Promises He has given us in His Word, and also Promises He has revealed to us about His plans for us!
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