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Indescribeable 65F
5216 posts
8/4/2006 11:06 am
CHOICES

I was always taught that we have to first take initiative, use discernment for our best choices, then make a choice within God's will. On the flip side, one that just prays and waits on the Lord to direct and gets stuck in a rut never goes anywhere.

The correct choices will be the ones that feel right after one has sought His will. In my early 20's when I was making major decisions. I would pray, put everything out into the universe in prayer and talk to God about my desires. Then I would take action to cause something to move in the direction of my desire. The way that I knew it was His will or not was very simple.

For example: "I want to move, but I have a house to sell." You place a sign in the yard to try to sell the house." You take action.

If there were no cogs in the wheel of motion, then it was within His soverign will. Within his sovereign will is the ability to make choices as long as you stay within His moral will. But, then some will say I am wrong and this has nothing to do with it.

Would anyone else care to share about how they feel the Holy Spirit directs us to make good choices in our lives?



(¯`•♥•´¯) ¤`•.♥.•´ ¤ (¯`•♥•´¯)


carolinehampton
(caroline hampton)
58F
8849 posts
8/4/2006 12:40 pm

I believe God has made us the way we are with all future decisions and actions in mind so that nomatter what we do or say we remain within His will as long as we do not sin..that is the choice we can make once we are Christians to choose not to sin..it matters not whether God inclines the house to sell or not to sell..He will determine outcomes according to His will..we can put forward our will about the matter at hand and He can choose to agree or disagree but that choice was already part of His eternal plan anyways..but so was His plan that we pray with our request and make our requests known to Him..we are told to pray without ceasing..not because we can change His will in our favour but because He wills for us to pray and therefore to obey..that is His will for our lives..just to be obedient


Indescribeable replies on 8/4/2006 11:38 pm:
Caro, I agree with everything that you say here. I do believe in pre-destination. and I would like to add that the part that I guess I haven't been able to put together is that I have always viewed in my Type A personality mindset which includes logic, sometimes, I do find it difficult to grasp non-concrete concepts, the ones that deal with the unseen. Yet, I have faith. I think that choices that are made within God's soverign will (grace to His redeemed/forgiven children) are expected of us as long as we stay within His moral will (law/His precepts for our lives). In order to rationalize this I have resigned myself to trust my conscience when it came to decisions through the years and even though I know that my life path is pre-determined based on scripture I do feel that He gives us the ability to make choices and act. I can't imagine Him asking me to sit around waiting for a sign and being a fence sitter when I have responsibilites to care for a family.

Rebekka 77F

8/4/2006 2:38 pm

No honey, you are right. Faith and action go hand and hand. I ask for direction and then I take steps in the way I feel like He is directing me. But before I do, I ask Him to open doors that no man can close and close doors that no man can open. Love ya' sweet sister.

James 2:20 But wilt thou know, vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Like that blog someone wrote about buying a wedding dress.

Elizabeth


Indescribeable replies on 8/4/2006 11:43 pm:
I do believe in this too. Thank you for your comments.

linus801
(Jerry C)
77M

8/4/2006 2:47 pm

I presume U have read my recent post on yr earlier blog; just under Sienna Sun where this topic arose,
As I reflect back on how God kept control of me I have recently missed a point. EG when I was eeking employment to meet some financial shortfall, I would send out applications to all possible adverts and see which set of doors God opened. So, to that extent I had options, but The Lord maintained control by only opening the appropiate doors. Yes I would receive other offers but there would be undesirable or unacceptible issues involved. 1 or 2 times he even let me make a mistake, just to help me keep on trusting. But through it all Molly and I have always come out Okay+
Ro 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.


Indescribeable replies on 8/4/2006 11:57 pm:
I am so glad that things have worked out for you & Molly and I love that scripture too. I am grateful that He would shut doors that He did not want us to take cause we would be lost without Him.

linus801
(Jerry C)
77M

8/4/2006 2:52 pm

Sheri my dear, which post are we going to have this discussion on; coz right now U have 3 or 4 posts goin on on the same topic so I have to put my comments on all 3 which makes it boring reading for others.

So please tell me where to post; coz right now we R talking at cross purposes.


linus801
(Jerry C)
77M

8/4/2006 4:40 pm

I promised to explain how I came to trust the Lord fully.
In 1992/93 God had me in a period of reflection after 2 years of Spiritual Growth and experiance.
[Our growth in the Lord; I find, is a series of actions and reflections; bile studies/workshops/seminars and applications in minisrty, then a time to reflect on what youve learned]

At home group this particular evening, we were looking at Revelation 1:10 - 17.
10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

Rev 1:12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

Rev 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

Ross [our Priest] placed a bible in the middle of the floor and asked us to imagine we were John and to move to where we thought he was.
We then explained what we understood.

When it came to my turn I assumed a position and turned to look over my right shoulder to see what I heard:-
At this point something happened and I had a vision from Jesus.

As I looked back, I put out my right hand trying to catch Jesus hand reaching up to me but I was a couple of inches short; I wanted to lean back further but was hanging onto something with my left hand.
Jesus kept saying to me "LET GO, YOU ARE SAFE I WILL CATCH YOU" but I would not let go with my left hand.

I later understood that my left hand was hanging on to the security I knew and was familiar with; Work, Friends etc. and Jesus was saying that I must let go of all that woldly stuff and trust in Him; then He would give me the better life.

Eventually, Molly and I did let go with prayer and agreement and we haven't looked back since; like every thing stayed much the same but at an enhanced, deeper level. We had better understanding of things and a much better understanding of God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, worship and so on.

Sheri, I hope this is helpful.


Indescribeable replies on 8/5/2006 12:00 am:
Cool testimony! Thanks for sharing. You know, they say that only a small percentage of the population has had such experiences.

linus801
(Jerry C)
77M

8/4/2006 7:33 pm

My General oversight of Gods plan

Our God is a Supreme and Intelligent Being. Before He created this universe , He had a plan

That plan simply was to create exactly the right structure to provide a place and environment for Him to create and grow a people that would choose to Love Him in return for Him first loving them in ways they can never understand.

To that end, every single particle of matter, from the smallest grain of dust to the most complex member of creation “The Human Being” has an absolute and finite purpose.

In the original plan, Adam and Eve were to be the immortal founders of the Humane race; however as stated above they could chose to Love [hence obey] or not to Love [disobey] God. Adam chose not to Love; sinned and God had to make them mortal beings.

In the same way, all their offspring, including Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and right up to you and me to day can choose to obey [Love] God or disobey [not loving] God.

Most of us do both and through Salvation into sanctification we get better at loving God and so become more like Him, just as we were created to be.

As stated at the beginning, every part of Creation was Created for a purpose. If that part fulfills its purpose, then that particular target is met. However, for each part; and now I am thinking particularly of people; that fails to meet its target, another person has to complete that part of the plan.

The Master plan always has been and still is to create a loving obedient race of people God can call His Children and take them to live with Him in His Kingdom.

The parables of Jesus describe all the various shades that go into making that race.

Our parts today are all centered around spreading His Word and discipline people from all Nations to be His Children. Every Man, Woman and Child has there specific part to play, and as 1 person chooses not to play there part, so God must bring another person into being to finish that particular work

The Plan will be Completed and the Loving obedient Children Will enter His Kingdom as Brothers and Sisters of Jesus.


Indescribeable replies on 8/5/2006 8:34 pm:
Thank you for your testimony.

Indescribeable 65F
8057 posts
8/4/2006 10:15 pm

HERE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A CORRECT CHOICE THAT FELT GOOD:

I am very good with finances, doing income taxes, mortgages, etc. In the income tax year of 2003 I came across something on the computer tax program that I was using that was trying to give me a tax benefit of about $2,000. more on my tax return than what I was expecting.

Since I did not need the money and didn't have time to research it due to an overseas move pending and a ninth hour deadline to file the return on time, I did not take the benefit that the silly program was trying to force onto my tax return papers. I had to manually delete it.

I said a prayer and said, since it doesn't make sense and I cannot find any logical reason for it then I am not going to claim it. My conscious felt good about this decision and I prayed about it. This year about a month ago I got a notice from the government that I may be entitled to a tax refund for the year 2003. I called the IRS and sure enough the memories came back and I said, sure. I'll take the deduction and proceeded to file the amended returns.

Some would call this being honest to a fault, some would call this coincidence, some would say I was foolish, some would say this is God's hand delivering a blessing in His timing which I was entitled to and did not take at that time.

Regardless of the reasons I believe that I was walking in his moral will the entire time and He blessed me when I needed the money most while in-between jobs. I believe this is a blessing that He gave me when I needed it in His timing and because of my faithfulness.

(¯`•♥•´¯) ¤`•.♥.•´ ¤ (¯`•♥•´¯)


joyful0061 62F

8/5/2006 10:43 am

My favorite verse Ps. 37:4. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will fulfill the desires of your heart.
If you are in him he will show you the way, just keep moving....
My pastor in Fresno gave me once a set of personalized verses, one of them, I'll put your name into.
Sheri, whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying. "This is the way; walk in it.!" Is. 30: 21. It has given me hope and encouragement on a number of occasions.

Another one: "When God closes a door he opens a window" I had a picture with this saying in my office at the Rescue Mission. One day one of the guys told me in counseling, that he was going to leave the program, because he felt that he could not do it, but the day before that, he had the assignment to clean my office and this saying gave him strength to continue. God works sometimes in mysterious and sometimes in simple ways.
I am glad you have an idea what you would like to do. I am praying that God will give you clarity. Bless you,
Ani

Annie

What God does in our lives during the waiting period is just as important as what we are waiting for.
John Ortberg


CHRISTIAN WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS


Indescribeable replies on 8/5/2006 10:52 am:
Thank you so much Ani for your prayers and comments.