Please note:

There are six points to be explored when it comes to making godly decision. In each posting we will explore two points for a total of three posting on the matter of guidelines for making godly decisions. Each part in this series will begin with the following question and answer followed by a review of two new guidelines you can use to examine how you are making your decisions.

Here is a question someone once asked me that will to bring us to the topic of this study.

Question:

When you want something or want to do something really bad, something that on the surface is not bad, and you have different emotions about it, how do you discern between what God is telling you to do, and what the devil is trying to get you to do?

Answer:

Without a specific example of the “something” referred to in the question this can be a hard question to answer. The reason it can be difficult to answer is that we use so many factors to discern if the prompting and leading we are sensing is truly from God, Satan trying to trick us, or even just our own desire. There are some things to keep in mind however, when trying to discern which it might be.

We need to make sure our hearts long for what God desires and that we seek Him in every decision. Scripture tells us He will guide us if we let Him.

Proverbs 3:5,6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

“shall direct” –

as found in the Hebrew language means the following:

3474. rv’y:

yaÆshar, yaw-shar’; a prim. root; to be straight or even; figuratively to be (cause to make) right, pleasant, prosperous:— direct, fit, seem good (meet), + please (will), be (esteem, go) right (on), bring (look, make, take the) straight (way), be upright (-ly)

God tells us exactly in His Word how to obtain the information we need to make wise godly decisions.

James 1:5,6 NKJV

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

From the Greek Language, we can know:

“wisdom” ^{4678 –}

4678. sofiva soáphia, sof-ee´-ah; from 4680; wisdom (higher or lower, worldly or spiritual):— wisdom

o God provides the information we need both for the world and for the spiritual life. Any and all information needed for living and following God should be found by seeking God for His godly wisdom. Making each of our decisions based on His wisdom will ensure our abundance in life.

“liberally” ^{574 –}

574. aJplw`" haploµs, hap-loce´; adv. from 573 (in the obj. sense of 572); bountifully:— liberally.

o There is no desire on God’s behalf to withhold information from us that we need. He will grant us any form of godly wisdom we need, if we will only ask. The problem comes in two areas. One, we do not ask. And secondly, we ask then we doubt what we believe God to be telling us.

“wavering” ^{1252 –}

1252. diakrivnw diakrinoµ, dee-ak-ree´-no; from 1223 and 2919; to separate thoroughly, i.e. (lit. and refl.) to withdraw from, or (by impl.) oppose; fig. to discriminate (by impl. decide), or (refl.) hesitate:— contend, make (to) differ (-ence), discern, doubt, judge, be partial, stagger, waver.

o Here is where the rubber meets the road. Once we have heard from God regarding His godly wisdom for us, we must not depart from the course He has set before us.

However, for many people, we hear from God, then fear sets in and doubt takes over. We begin to tell ourselves things like, “What if that was not God I heard?”, “What if I am wrong about what God said exactly or what I heard?”, or “What if something or someone other than God was speaking to me?” Before you know it, we are so confused and filled with so much doubt about what we should or should not do we become paralyzed with fear. That paralysis leads to lack of productiveness, and lack of action taken, which leads to lack of abundance, growth, and change in our lives.

Once we have heard from God, His wisdom for us, along with the duration of time in which He is asking us to invest in the matter, we should move forward despite any second-guessing. Will we make mistakes? Yes, but if our hearts are honestly seeking to do God’s Will according to God’s Wisdom, God will take care of any mistakes we make.

Ask Him what to do, and then do it despite the little voice of the Wicked One who wants to make you doubt.

Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.