God is personal and He wants to be intimately involved in our lives. In a
recent post on prophecy and decision making, I noted that while prophecy is alive and well today, the norm for direction is not through personal prophecy but rather through the rationale thinking of a renewed mind. I quoted seven "guidelines" offered by John MacArthur to help with that process.
But the question still remains, "how do I know it is God?" To that I can only offer what I already have plus that we must live a life that is hid in Christ. As we live in Him day in and day out, moment by moment, we will hear and know His voice. Drawing on Henry Blackaby's
Experiencing God, there are several ways that God might speak to us today to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
- The Holy Spirit
- The Bible
- Prayer
- Circumstances
- Spiritual Markers
- The Church
We have to know ourselves. We have to know if our heart is truly after God and if our mind is truly being renewed in His Word. If yes, then based on these "indicators" plus the "7 guidelines", I think the believer can rest in peace and know that God is leading them. There is always the caution that peace cannot assure us that we are in God's will. I agree if that peace is the result of ignorance or an unregenerate heart, however, with the assumptions I made earlier, I think we can trust in our decisions and know that God will be with us - even if we are wrong.
Technorati Tags: discipleship, John MacArthur, prophecy
4 comments:
Rick,
The problem with some people is that they devote themselves to looking for God in "circumstances" at the neglect of the other means. With that attitude, all types of non-God conclusions can be drawn.
Randy (no blog)
Randy - Right but I would add that caution to all of these. In the end, when seeking direction, any of those means can be misleading. If Scripture alone, how do I know I have the proper understanding or am applying the right passage? If the Holy Spirit, how do I know it's Him? If the Church - well, you get the idea.
In the end, it's about a day-in and day-out, moment-by-moment life hid in Christ. A mind that is constantly being renewed by the Word. Etc..
To the list of 7 I would like to add the "famous" quote of Martin Luther taken from the recent movie, that God can also speak through the mouth of a donkey!
ok - should i be offended that i was just accused of being a donkey? or should i be happy that i was credited that God spoke through me?
just kidding - anonymous is exactly right, god will use all kinds of means and rules simply will not due. In the end, the only thing that helps is relationship.
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