Van Morrison - When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God? - song
Friday, October 10, 2014
Argumento Cosmológico de Kalam em português
2. O universo começou a existir.
3. Portanto, o universo tem uma causa.
Argumento Cosmológico Kalam acima simplificado foi desenvolvido pelos filósofos árabes durante a Idade Média. É considerado por muitos teólogos cristãos atuais para ser o mais forte argumento cosmológico da existência de Deus. William Lane Craig utiliza extensivamente.
"Os defensores desta forma de oferecer o argumento de raciocÃnio filosófico forte para a primeira premissa e razões tanto filosóficas e cientÃficas para o segundo. Uma vez que a forma do argumento é (logicamente) válido, e há boas razões para acreditar que as duas primeiras premissas são verdade, então a terceira declaração de conclusão decorre logicamente e é verdade. Além disso, no que respeita à conclusão, William Lane Craig afirma, 'análise filosófica revela que tal causa (do universo) deve ter vários dos principais atributos teÃstas. "Portanto, não só Deus deve existir, mas ele deve ter muitas das qualidades geralmente atribuÃdas a Deus na BÃblia:. onisciência, onipotência, a racionalidade, a pessoalidade, e assim por diante "[1]
[1] Edwards, Chuck; essay Richard Dawkins’s Illusion; found in True Reason: Confronting the Irrationality of the New Atheism, p.47,48
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Nada É DifÃcil Demais para Jesus
http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/nada-e-dificil-demais-para-jesus/
Maria Fontaine
Quero abordar um tema inspirador, reconfortante e liberador: nada é difÃcil demais para Jesus. Depois que passa a entender e acreditar nisso sente uma grande paz, liberdade e segurança. Oro para que esta mensagem seja um marco na vida de muitos de vocês, que contribua para desenvolver e fortalecer a sua fé e segurança em Jesus, além da confiança de que, não importa o que aconteça, quer agora quer no futuro, Ele é forte o bastante e nos ajudará a passar por qualquer coisa. Não é preciso ser perfeito para receber Sua ajuda, ter um histórico impecável nem ser um soldado de destaque. Basta depender de Jesus e ficar perto dEle.
Apoiem-se nessa verdade. Pensem a respeito. Absorvam as promessas de Jesus. Esbaldem-se nelas e decidam jamais deixar o Inimigo convencê-los do contrário.
Nada é difÃcil demais para Jesus. Nenhuma assolação do mal pode sobrepujar o Seu poder. E quando você está com Ele e nEle, nada é difÃcil demais para você também. Esta é uma verdade maravilhosa, irrefutável, inabalável e irreversÃvel.
A Palavra de Deus e a Sua verdade são mais do que poderosas para enfrentar toda e qualquer dificuldade ou batalha. É claro que muitas vezes é preciso descobrir o “segredo” da vitória consultando o Senhor, estudando a Palavra, aplicando e aprendendo o que funciona. O Senhor à s vezes fica esperando que você dê um certo passo de fé, ou está colocando à prova a sua fé e capacidade de suportar. Às vezes Ele quer fortalecer você em um certo aspecto, ou levá-lo a um certo grau de desespero, submissão e humildade.
Uma coisa é certa, não é fácil travar batalhas e enfrentar circunstâncias difÃceis. É duro, doloroso, e muitas vezes a gente se sente num beco sem saÃda. Por isso, “não estranheis a ardente prova que vem sobre vós para vos tentar, como se coisa estranha vos acontecesse. Mas alegrai-vos por serdes participantes das aflições de Cristo, para que na revelação da Sua glória, vos regozijeis e alegreis!”[1]
Anime-se, sabendo que apesar de não ser perfeito e à s vezes até causar as batalhas, Jesus entende e é fiel. Ele o ajudará a vencer. Nada é difÃcil demais para Jesus! Tente considerar cada situação uma oportunidade de expandir a sua fé.É isso o que o Senhor quer que entendamos. Ele quer que consideremos cada prova, batalha e dificuldade a oportunidade perfeita de nos fortalecermos na fé.
Jesus disse:
Eu tenho a chave para superarem todas as situações, circunstâncias ou dificuldades.Nada, nada mesmo está além do Meu poder. Posso solucionar tudo. Tudo começa ao acreditarem. A fé é tanto o ponto de partida como de chegada. A fé é tudo.
Fé é a senha. Fé é a base do poder, da unção e vitória. “Essa é a vitória que vence o mundo, a sua fé”.[2] Isso não mudou. Fé ainda é o poder de fogo, a centelha que faz a conexão e acende o fogo do Meu EspÃrito para agir em seu favor.
A fé é um mistério. Fé é a substância daquilo que se espera e a evidência das coisas que não se veem.[3] A fé resulta da Palavra. Ela aumenta conforme permitimos que se arraigue em nossas vidas. Aprender a viver a vida de fé é uma aventura e jornada de vida. É algo que nos extasia agora e por toda a eternidade. Acreditar, aceitar, agir e contar com algo é uma atitude interligada e relacionada à fé.
Procure fortalecer a sua fé. Aceite, entenda e acredite que existe uma vitória. Eu posso ajudá-lo a resolver qualquer problema. Você sabe que não é perfeito e talvez ache que não merece superar e conquistar a vitória. Não se sente digno. E apesar de, no geral, acreditar que existe a “vitória em Jesus”, nem sempre aplica a promessa a si mesmo. Pode até pensar: “Funciona para os outros, mas não para mim”.
A fé é um mistério. Fé é a substância daquilo que se espera e a evidência das coisas que não se veem. Talvez o seu relacionamento com as promessas na Palavra tem sido mais intelectual; as aceitou na sua mente, mas manteve distância. Elas ficaram ao longe, distantes do seu coração e situação. Você as avaliou, admirou e aceitou, mas algo o impede de acreditar que se aplicam a você.
As promessas na Minha Palavra não são apenas lindas palavras. Desejo que tenha uma atitude muito mais fervorosa em relação às Minhas promessas. Elas são para você pessoalmente, individualmente, eternamente.
Se conseguir acreditar nisso, o passo seguinte é agarrar as promessas e segurá-las firmemente bem pertinho do seu coração.Você deve tê-las em grande estima, amá-las e abraçá-las. Precisa entender que isso vai muito além de apenas as reconhecer ou pensar: “Muito bom. Que lindo, é a verdade de Deus.” Agarre e segure essas promessas bem forte, junto ao seu peito, e diga: “Elas são para mim! São exatamente o que eu preciso.”
Se conseguir ter esse relacionamento com as promessas que lhe fiz, a maneira de encarar as batalhas, dificuldades e problemas espirituais será diferente, porque terá mais fé. A Minha Palavra está repleta de promessas, todas elas poderosas para lhe dar fé — se conseguir acreditar que foram designadas especialmente para você. Portanto, o desafio é aprender a aplicar a fé, o que pode acontecer seguindo alguns simples passos.
Primeiro, precisa acreditar que, por meio da sua fé, pode ter a vitória em todas as situações.
Segundo, deve aceitar que as promessas na Minha Palavra se aplicam diretamente a você. Eu morri por você, como se fosse o único, e lhe fiz promessas especÃficas, só para você. Aceitar essas promessas vai lhe dar fé para qualquer situação, porque elas foram feitas para suprir tudo o que você precisar, independentemente das circunstâncias.
Terceiro, deve ter fé para aplicar as Minhas promessas aos desafios que enfrentar. Não se considere uma exceção nem queira explicar o Meu poder porque não se sente bom o suficiente ou merecedor desse poder, da vitória e da libertação. Não pense no que lhe falta, mas sim no Meu poder e grandiosidade.
E por último, proteja, cultive e alimente a sua fé. Entenda que a fé é o ponto inicial dos milagres.
Publicado originalmente em junho 2007. Adaptado e republicado em março 2014. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli. Revisão Denise Oliveira. copyright@thefamily.org
Footnotes:
[1] 1 Pedro 4:12–13.
[2] 1 João 5:4.
[3] Hebreus 11:1.
Maria Fontaine
Quero abordar um tema inspirador, reconfortante e liberador: nada é difÃcil demais para Jesus. Depois que passa a entender e acreditar nisso sente uma grande paz, liberdade e segurança. Oro para que esta mensagem seja um marco na vida de muitos de vocês, que contribua para desenvolver e fortalecer a sua fé e segurança em Jesus, além da confiança de que, não importa o que aconteça, quer agora quer no futuro, Ele é forte o bastante e nos ajudará a passar por qualquer coisa. Não é preciso ser perfeito para receber Sua ajuda, ter um histórico impecável nem ser um soldado de destaque. Basta depender de Jesus e ficar perto dEle.
Apoiem-se nessa verdade. Pensem a respeito. Absorvam as promessas de Jesus. Esbaldem-se nelas e decidam jamais deixar o Inimigo convencê-los do contrário.
Nada é difÃcil demais para Jesus. Nenhuma assolação do mal pode sobrepujar o Seu poder. E quando você está com Ele e nEle, nada é difÃcil demais para você também. Esta é uma verdade maravilhosa, irrefutável, inabalável e irreversÃvel.
A Palavra de Deus e a Sua verdade são mais do que poderosas para enfrentar toda e qualquer dificuldade ou batalha. É claro que muitas vezes é preciso descobrir o “segredo” da vitória consultando o Senhor, estudando a Palavra, aplicando e aprendendo o que funciona. O Senhor à s vezes fica esperando que você dê um certo passo de fé, ou está colocando à prova a sua fé e capacidade de suportar. Às vezes Ele quer fortalecer você em um certo aspecto, ou levá-lo a um certo grau de desespero, submissão e humildade.
Uma coisa é certa, não é fácil travar batalhas e enfrentar circunstâncias difÃceis. É duro, doloroso, e muitas vezes a gente se sente num beco sem saÃda. Por isso, “não estranheis a ardente prova que vem sobre vós para vos tentar, como se coisa estranha vos acontecesse. Mas alegrai-vos por serdes participantes das aflições de Cristo, para que na revelação da Sua glória, vos regozijeis e alegreis!”[1]
Anime-se, sabendo que apesar de não ser perfeito e à s vezes até causar as batalhas, Jesus entende e é fiel. Ele o ajudará a vencer. Nada é difÃcil demais para Jesus! Tente considerar cada situação uma oportunidade de expandir a sua fé.É isso o que o Senhor quer que entendamos. Ele quer que consideremos cada prova, batalha e dificuldade a oportunidade perfeita de nos fortalecermos na fé.
Jesus disse:
Eu tenho a chave para superarem todas as situações, circunstâncias ou dificuldades.Nada, nada mesmo está além do Meu poder. Posso solucionar tudo. Tudo começa ao acreditarem. A fé é tanto o ponto de partida como de chegada. A fé é tudo.
Fé é a senha. Fé é a base do poder, da unção e vitória. “Essa é a vitória que vence o mundo, a sua fé”.[2] Isso não mudou. Fé ainda é o poder de fogo, a centelha que faz a conexão e acende o fogo do Meu EspÃrito para agir em seu favor.
A fé é um mistério. Fé é a substância daquilo que se espera e a evidência das coisas que não se veem.[3] A fé resulta da Palavra. Ela aumenta conforme permitimos que se arraigue em nossas vidas. Aprender a viver a vida de fé é uma aventura e jornada de vida. É algo que nos extasia agora e por toda a eternidade. Acreditar, aceitar, agir e contar com algo é uma atitude interligada e relacionada à fé.
Procure fortalecer a sua fé. Aceite, entenda e acredite que existe uma vitória. Eu posso ajudá-lo a resolver qualquer problema. Você sabe que não é perfeito e talvez ache que não merece superar e conquistar a vitória. Não se sente digno. E apesar de, no geral, acreditar que existe a “vitória em Jesus”, nem sempre aplica a promessa a si mesmo. Pode até pensar: “Funciona para os outros, mas não para mim”.
A fé é um mistério. Fé é a substância daquilo que se espera e a evidência das coisas que não se veem. Talvez o seu relacionamento com as promessas na Palavra tem sido mais intelectual; as aceitou na sua mente, mas manteve distância. Elas ficaram ao longe, distantes do seu coração e situação. Você as avaliou, admirou e aceitou, mas algo o impede de acreditar que se aplicam a você.
As promessas na Minha Palavra não são apenas lindas palavras. Desejo que tenha uma atitude muito mais fervorosa em relação às Minhas promessas. Elas são para você pessoalmente, individualmente, eternamente.
Se conseguir acreditar nisso, o passo seguinte é agarrar as promessas e segurá-las firmemente bem pertinho do seu coração.Você deve tê-las em grande estima, amá-las e abraçá-las. Precisa entender que isso vai muito além de apenas as reconhecer ou pensar: “Muito bom. Que lindo, é a verdade de Deus.” Agarre e segure essas promessas bem forte, junto ao seu peito, e diga: “Elas são para mim! São exatamente o que eu preciso.”
Se conseguir ter esse relacionamento com as promessas que lhe fiz, a maneira de encarar as batalhas, dificuldades e problemas espirituais será diferente, porque terá mais fé. A Minha Palavra está repleta de promessas, todas elas poderosas para lhe dar fé — se conseguir acreditar que foram designadas especialmente para você. Portanto, o desafio é aprender a aplicar a fé, o que pode acontecer seguindo alguns simples passos.
Primeiro, precisa acreditar que, por meio da sua fé, pode ter a vitória em todas as situações.
Segundo, deve aceitar que as promessas na Minha Palavra se aplicam diretamente a você. Eu morri por você, como se fosse o único, e lhe fiz promessas especÃficas, só para você. Aceitar essas promessas vai lhe dar fé para qualquer situação, porque elas foram feitas para suprir tudo o que você precisar, independentemente das circunstâncias.
Terceiro, deve ter fé para aplicar as Minhas promessas aos desafios que enfrentar. Não se considere uma exceção nem queira explicar o Meu poder porque não se sente bom o suficiente ou merecedor desse poder, da vitória e da libertação. Não pense no que lhe falta, mas sim no Meu poder e grandiosidade.
E por último, proteja, cultive e alimente a sua fé. Entenda que a fé é o ponto inicial dos milagres.
Publicado originalmente em junho 2007. Adaptado e republicado em março 2014. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli. Revisão Denise Oliveira. copyright@thefamily.org
Footnotes:
[1] 1 Pedro 4:12–13.
[2] 1 João 5:4.
[3] Hebreus 11:1.
The Gift of Failure
A compilation
Audio length: 13:30
Download Audio (12.3MB)
Learning from our experiences
Sometimes God uses life’s disappointments to draw us closer to Himself or teach us patience and trust. He also may use them to redirect us toward His will. Don’t let failure or disappointment cut you off from God or make you think the future is hopeless. When God closes one door, He often opens another—if we seek it.
The apostle Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”1 He wrote those words while in prison, his plans disrupted and his future uncertain. The reason he could say them, however, was because he had learned to see disappointment and failure from God’s perspective, and to trust the future into His hands. May this be true of us.
When life turns against you, let the psalmist’s prayer become yours: “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.”2—Billy Graham
Failing is a blessing
The fact is, everyone fails in life, but it is a gift if you do not give up and are willing to learn, improve and grow because of it. Failure often serves as a defining moment, a crossroad on the journey of your life. It gives you a test designed to measure your courage, perseverance, commitment and dedication. Are you a pretender who gives up after a little adversity or a contender who keeps getting up after getting knocked down?
Failure provides you with a great opportunity to decide how much you really want something. Will you give up? Or will you dig deeper, commit more, work harder, learn and get better? … On the other hand, sometimes failure causes you to take a different path that is better for you in the long run. … Sometimes we have to lose a goal to find our destiny. Sometimes failure helps us see that we want something else.
Whatever path failure guides you toward, it is always meant to give you a big serving of humble pie that builds your character, gives you perspective, grows your faith, and makes you appreciate your success later on. If you did not fail, you would not become the kind of person who ultimately succeeds.
So the next time you fail, don’t let it keep you from the life you were born to live and the future you were meant to create. See failure as a test, a teacher, a detour to a better outcome and an event that builds a better you.
Failure is not meant to be final and fatal. It is not meant to define you. It is meant to refine you to be all that you are meant to be.
When you see failure as a blessing instead of a curse, you will turn the gift of failure into a stepping stone that leads to the gift of success.—Jon Gordon3
God’s fabulous flops
Was Elijah’s ministry defeated when he ran from Jezebel after his great victory on Mt. Carmel? Was his great bravery there scuttled by his cowardice in the wilderness? After slaying the hundreds of false prophets, here he was running from a mere woman. What a picture! The great, brave, statuesque prophet, towering above all the people in the might and power of God on top of Mt. Carmel, calling down fire from heaven, then afterwards running from Queen Jezebel. Here was the prophet of God afraid of a woman! Did not this defeat his whole ministry? Did not this undermine his entire witness? Did not this prove he was not such a great prophet after all? Did not this cause him to lose his following? Or was God trying to show him something that was going to make him a better prophet, a humbler prophet, who would come back unafraid even of the king, much less the queen?
After Elijah found out that God was not just in the fire, the thunder, and the earthquake, this man of fire and thunder became a meek man of the still small voice of God.4 He had been great on doom and destruction and judgment, now he was learning the slow, patient process of feeding and leading the sheep.
Was it not a disgrace and a terrible blow to His cause for the great leader of the prophets of doom, Jeremiah, to be hung in stocks before the temple door, so his brethren could spit in his face—or be dropped in the mud to his armpits by his enemies, so that his dear friend, Ebed-melech, had to come and get him out? And was not that finally the most scandalous of all, that he should land in jail branded a traitor and a criminal, disloyal to his nation and his own people?5 Yes, but not to God! It was all a part of God’s plan to keep Jeremiah humble and close to the Lord, utterly dependent on God.
Did God make a mistake? Or was He trying to show that He can use anything—even you—by giving us such encouraging examples of His successful failures, His fabulous flops, His daring dropouts who dared to trust Him in spite of themselves and give Him all the glory because they knew it had to be God!—D. Brandt Berg
Moving beyond failure
The road to failure is usually paved with good intentions. It’s at the end of this road, when we’re out of our own resources, that we meet with God’s abundant grace.
Peter, though well-intentioned, had failed Jesus several times. At the last Passover Supper, Jesus wanted to wash his feet, but he protested, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” Peter quickly reverses his response: “Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well.”
Shortly after, Jesus tells His disciples they would all fall away on account of Him. In his usual outspoken manner, Peter replies, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”6 Jesus then tells him before the rooster crows that night he will have disowned Him three times.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, despite Jesus’ repeated requests to pray with Him, Peter was too tired and slept. When the soldiers came, he was not prepared. In an effort to protect Jesus, he hastily drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, one of the soldiers. Because he had failed to pray, he had failed to exercise self-control. Jesus rebuked him, and Peter fails to say he’s sorry. He then fails to remain loyal, and as Jesus said, denied Him three times in one night.
If we are not living in a prayerful place, we are not prepared for coping with unexpected turmoil and tragedies. Most of us can click in at some point with Peter’s failures. We come out of an overinflated sense of our own ability to live for Christ, and then discover we can’t. But Jesus does not leave Peter in that desolate place. He teaches and reteaches a principle that we must never move away from. Jesus can only do through us what we allow Him to do to us. “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
Recovery for Peter did not mean perfection. It means acknowledging where he is in his life, and being realistic in his assessment of who he is. His reinstatement does not come because of his strength, but because of his brokenness. We step into the will of God by acknowledging our love of Christ. We are loved to love. We are strengthened to strengthen, and having moved beyond failure, we do it in the power of Jesus. … Failure leads us to that beautiful discovery that when we are faithless, Christ is faithful.—Charles Price
The soul-making process
We know that moral character gets formed through hardship, through overcoming obstacles, through enduring despite difficulties. Courage, for example, would be impossible in a world without pain. The apostle Paul testified to this refining quality of suffering when he wrote that “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Let's face it: we learn from the mistakes we make and the suffering they bring. The universe is a soul-making machine, and part of that process is learning, maturing, and growing through difficult and challenging and painful experiences. The point of our lives in this world isn't comfort, but training and preparation for eternity. Scripture tells us that even Jesus “learned obedience through suffering”—and if that was true for him, why would not it be even more true for us?—Peter Kreeft7
*
It takes great faith to face what looks like failure and defeat in some area and still keep standing on My Word, on My promises. You sometimes feel weary‚ exhausted, discouraged, and can't see the victory or even the potential for victory. Virtually every great man or woman of faith throughout history has had to face those times—sometimes for many years, sometimes until the point of death. Yet no matter how long the struggle, living for Me and holding on to your faith is the ultimate victory.
How do you think the martyrs in the Colosseum of Rome felt? My promises must have looked like flat failures in man's eyes in those situations. Yet the martyrs won some of the greatest victories of all time as they simply and humbly remained faithful to the end.8
You may often look defeated in your own eyes, but your commitment in holding on to Me, even when everything looks lost and contrary to logic and reason, is the greatest victory of all.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
*
Keep on believing, do not ever give up! Keep on believing, do not be discouraged. Keep on believing, do not quit. Keep on keeping on. Keep on holding on to His promises. Keep on standing on the promises, and whatever you do, keep on going for Jesus.
Do not ever quit, do not ever give up! Do not despair. Do not lose faith just because you feel like you have missed the last bus. Keep on waiting on the Lord a little longer, and He is bound to send you another bus, another chance, another opportunity.
If you really want to find His will, He will not fail to send along His bus of opportunity to pick you up and lift you up and lift your spirits and encourage you and inspire you and strengthen you and heal you and carry you along in the power of His Spirit to the glorious victory of your heavenly destination. Keep on believing!—D. Brandt Berg
Published on Anchor in October 2014. Read by Simon Peterson.Copyright@thefamily.org
Footnotes:
1 Philippians 4:11 NIV.
2 Psalm 25:4 NIV.
3 Courtesy of Guideposts. For full article, see: http://www.guideposts.org/inspiration/inspirational-stories/motivational-stories/the-gift-of-failure.
4 1 Kings 19:11–13.
5 Jeremiah 20:2, 38:6–13, 37:11–15.
6 Matthew 26:33 NIV.
7 As quoted by Lee Strobel in The Case for Faith (Zondervan, 2000).
8 Romans 8:36–37.
Audio length: 13:30
Download Audio (12.3MB)
Learning from our experiences
Sometimes God uses life’s disappointments to draw us closer to Himself or teach us patience and trust. He also may use them to redirect us toward His will. Don’t let failure or disappointment cut you off from God or make you think the future is hopeless. When God closes one door, He often opens another—if we seek it.
The apostle Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”1 He wrote those words while in prison, his plans disrupted and his future uncertain. The reason he could say them, however, was because he had learned to see disappointment and failure from God’s perspective, and to trust the future into His hands. May this be true of us.
When life turns against you, let the psalmist’s prayer become yours: “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.”2—Billy Graham
Failing is a blessing
The fact is, everyone fails in life, but it is a gift if you do not give up and are willing to learn, improve and grow because of it. Failure often serves as a defining moment, a crossroad on the journey of your life. It gives you a test designed to measure your courage, perseverance, commitment and dedication. Are you a pretender who gives up after a little adversity or a contender who keeps getting up after getting knocked down?
Failure provides you with a great opportunity to decide how much you really want something. Will you give up? Or will you dig deeper, commit more, work harder, learn and get better? … On the other hand, sometimes failure causes you to take a different path that is better for you in the long run. … Sometimes we have to lose a goal to find our destiny. Sometimes failure helps us see that we want something else.
Whatever path failure guides you toward, it is always meant to give you a big serving of humble pie that builds your character, gives you perspective, grows your faith, and makes you appreciate your success later on. If you did not fail, you would not become the kind of person who ultimately succeeds.
So the next time you fail, don’t let it keep you from the life you were born to live and the future you were meant to create. See failure as a test, a teacher, a detour to a better outcome and an event that builds a better you.
Failure is not meant to be final and fatal. It is not meant to define you. It is meant to refine you to be all that you are meant to be.
When you see failure as a blessing instead of a curse, you will turn the gift of failure into a stepping stone that leads to the gift of success.—Jon Gordon3
God’s fabulous flops
Was Elijah’s ministry defeated when he ran from Jezebel after his great victory on Mt. Carmel? Was his great bravery there scuttled by his cowardice in the wilderness? After slaying the hundreds of false prophets, here he was running from a mere woman. What a picture! The great, brave, statuesque prophet, towering above all the people in the might and power of God on top of Mt. Carmel, calling down fire from heaven, then afterwards running from Queen Jezebel. Here was the prophet of God afraid of a woman! Did not this defeat his whole ministry? Did not this undermine his entire witness? Did not this prove he was not such a great prophet after all? Did not this cause him to lose his following? Or was God trying to show him something that was going to make him a better prophet, a humbler prophet, who would come back unafraid even of the king, much less the queen?
After Elijah found out that God was not just in the fire, the thunder, and the earthquake, this man of fire and thunder became a meek man of the still small voice of God.4 He had been great on doom and destruction and judgment, now he was learning the slow, patient process of feeding and leading the sheep.
Was it not a disgrace and a terrible blow to His cause for the great leader of the prophets of doom, Jeremiah, to be hung in stocks before the temple door, so his brethren could spit in his face—or be dropped in the mud to his armpits by his enemies, so that his dear friend, Ebed-melech, had to come and get him out? And was not that finally the most scandalous of all, that he should land in jail branded a traitor and a criminal, disloyal to his nation and his own people?5 Yes, but not to God! It was all a part of God’s plan to keep Jeremiah humble and close to the Lord, utterly dependent on God.
Did God make a mistake? Or was He trying to show that He can use anything—even you—by giving us such encouraging examples of His successful failures, His fabulous flops, His daring dropouts who dared to trust Him in spite of themselves and give Him all the glory because they knew it had to be God!—D. Brandt Berg
Moving beyond failure
The road to failure is usually paved with good intentions. It’s at the end of this road, when we’re out of our own resources, that we meet with God’s abundant grace.
Peter, though well-intentioned, had failed Jesus several times. At the last Passover Supper, Jesus wanted to wash his feet, but he protested, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” Peter quickly reverses his response: “Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well.”
Shortly after, Jesus tells His disciples they would all fall away on account of Him. In his usual outspoken manner, Peter replies, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”6 Jesus then tells him before the rooster crows that night he will have disowned Him three times.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, despite Jesus’ repeated requests to pray with Him, Peter was too tired and slept. When the soldiers came, he was not prepared. In an effort to protect Jesus, he hastily drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, one of the soldiers. Because he had failed to pray, he had failed to exercise self-control. Jesus rebuked him, and Peter fails to say he’s sorry. He then fails to remain loyal, and as Jesus said, denied Him three times in one night.
If we are not living in a prayerful place, we are not prepared for coping with unexpected turmoil and tragedies. Most of us can click in at some point with Peter’s failures. We come out of an overinflated sense of our own ability to live for Christ, and then discover we can’t. But Jesus does not leave Peter in that desolate place. He teaches and reteaches a principle that we must never move away from. Jesus can only do through us what we allow Him to do to us. “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
Recovery for Peter did not mean perfection. It means acknowledging where he is in his life, and being realistic in his assessment of who he is. His reinstatement does not come because of his strength, but because of his brokenness. We step into the will of God by acknowledging our love of Christ. We are loved to love. We are strengthened to strengthen, and having moved beyond failure, we do it in the power of Jesus. … Failure leads us to that beautiful discovery that when we are faithless, Christ is faithful.—Charles Price
The soul-making process
We know that moral character gets formed through hardship, through overcoming obstacles, through enduring despite difficulties. Courage, for example, would be impossible in a world without pain. The apostle Paul testified to this refining quality of suffering when he wrote that “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Let's face it: we learn from the mistakes we make and the suffering they bring. The universe is a soul-making machine, and part of that process is learning, maturing, and growing through difficult and challenging and painful experiences. The point of our lives in this world isn't comfort, but training and preparation for eternity. Scripture tells us that even Jesus “learned obedience through suffering”—and if that was true for him, why would not it be even more true for us?—Peter Kreeft7
*
It takes great faith to face what looks like failure and defeat in some area and still keep standing on My Word, on My promises. You sometimes feel weary‚ exhausted, discouraged, and can't see the victory or even the potential for victory. Virtually every great man or woman of faith throughout history has had to face those times—sometimes for many years, sometimes until the point of death. Yet no matter how long the struggle, living for Me and holding on to your faith is the ultimate victory.
How do you think the martyrs in the Colosseum of Rome felt? My promises must have looked like flat failures in man's eyes in those situations. Yet the martyrs won some of the greatest victories of all time as they simply and humbly remained faithful to the end.8
You may often look defeated in your own eyes, but your commitment in holding on to Me, even when everything looks lost and contrary to logic and reason, is the greatest victory of all.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
*
Keep on believing, do not ever give up! Keep on believing, do not be discouraged. Keep on believing, do not quit. Keep on keeping on. Keep on holding on to His promises. Keep on standing on the promises, and whatever you do, keep on going for Jesus.
Do not ever quit, do not ever give up! Do not despair. Do not lose faith just because you feel like you have missed the last bus. Keep on waiting on the Lord a little longer, and He is bound to send you another bus, another chance, another opportunity.
If you really want to find His will, He will not fail to send along His bus of opportunity to pick you up and lift you up and lift your spirits and encourage you and inspire you and strengthen you and heal you and carry you along in the power of His Spirit to the glorious victory of your heavenly destination. Keep on believing!—D. Brandt Berg
Published on Anchor in October 2014. Read by Simon Peterson.Copyright@thefamily.org
Footnotes:
1 Philippians 4:11 NIV.
2 Psalm 25:4 NIV.
3 Courtesy of Guideposts. For full article, see: http://www.guideposts.org/inspiration/inspirational-stories/motivational-stories/the-gift-of-failure.
4 1 Kings 19:11–13.
5 Jeremiah 20:2, 38:6–13, 37:11–15.
6 Matthew 26:33 NIV.
7 As quoted by Lee Strobel in The Case for Faith (Zondervan, 2000).
8 Romans 8:36–37.
Kalam Cosmological Argument Simplified
1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause.
2. The universe began to exist.
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.
The above simplified Kalam Cosmological Argument was developed by Arabic philosophers during the Middle Ages. It is considered by many current Christian theologians to be the strongest cosmological argument for God's existence. William Lane Craig uses it extensively.
"Defenders of this form of the argument offer strong philosophical reasoning for the first premise and both philosophical and scientific reasons for the second. Since the form of the argument is (logically) valid, and there are good reasons to believe the first two premises are true, then the concluding third statement logically follows and is true. Furthermore, regarding the conclusion, William Lane Craig states, ‘philosophical analysis reveals that such a cause (of the universe) must have several of the principal theistic attributes.’ Therefore, not only must God exist, but he must have many of the qualities generally ascribed to God in the Bible: omniscience, omnipotence, rationality, personhood, and so on."[1]
[1] Edwards, Chuck; essay Richard Dawkins’s Illusion; found in True Reason: Confronting the Irrationality of the New Atheism, p.47,48
Quotation from Signature in the Cell by Stephen Meyer
Our uniform experience affirms that specific information—whether inscribed in hieroglyphics, written in a book, encoded in a radio signal, or produced in a simulation experiment—always arises from an intelligent source, from a mind and not strictly material process. So the discovery of the specified digital information in the DNA molecule provides strong grounds for inferring that intelligence played a role in the origin of DNA. Indeed, whenever we find specified information and we know the causal story of how that information arose, we always find that it arose from an intelligent source. It follows that the best, most causally adequate explanation for the origin of the specified, digitally encoded information in DNA is that it too had an intelligent source. Intelligent design best explains the DNA enigma.[1]
[1]Meyer, Stephen; Signature in the Cell; p.347
[1]Meyer, Stephen; Signature in the Cell; p.347
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
How to Recognize God's Voice
http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/how-recognize-gods-voice/
Excerpts of devotionals by Rick Warren
Download Audio (13.8MB)
“Don’t believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God; test it first to see if it really is!”1
When I get an idea in my mind, how do I know if it’s from God? How do I know it’s not my own desire or even a lie from Satan? The answer is clear in 1 John 4:1—I must test it to find out.
I want to share with you [a few of the] biblical ways to test an impression and find out whether it is from God or not.
The First Test
The first test is to ask the question, “Does it agree with the Bible?”
God will never contradict His written Word. Luke 21:33 says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”2 God’s truth is consistent. He is not going to tell you one thing in the Bible and then tell you something different in an impression.
And as Proverbs 12:19 says, “Truth stands the test of time.” How does this apply as a filter? For example … there are many verses in Proverbs that say God will bless your business if you have integrity and if you are honest and fair in all your business dealings. So if you get an idea that you could make more money and increase your profits by being dishonest, that idea is not from God.
The vast majority of God’s will for your life is in God’s Word. … God’s truth does not change. If you want to know God’s voice … you need to read the Bible. You need to memorize it, study it, and meditate on it.
The Second Test
“In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.”3
God’s … purpose in your life is to make you like Jesus. He is the standard for your life in how you think, act, feel and speak. That’s why the second test to determining whether an impression is from God or not is to ask this question: “Does it make me more like Christ?”
God is never going to tell you something … that would cause you to do something that’s un-Christlike. If it is not like Jesus, believe me, you did not get the idea from God.
What is Jesus like? James 3:14–17 gives us some specifics that are a good measure for testing an idea: “If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition … such ‘wisdom’ is of the Devil. The wisdom that comes from God is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial and sincere.”4
First of all, this passage tells us two things God’s wisdom is not. It will not be motivated by bitter envy or selfish ambition.
These verses instead give seven things to test if an idea that comes into your mind is from God:
• Is it pure? If any thought is impure, God did not give it to you.
• Is it peace-loving? If the idea is from God, it will promote harmony and reconciliation, not conflict.
• Is it considerate? Any idea that would hurt or harm someone, even though it may benefit you, is not from God because He cares about the effect it might have on others.
• Is it submissive? If you get an idea from God, you must be open to having it tested by other people, asking them what they think about it. If you are hesitant and don’t feel like letting other people test the idea, then it did not come from God because it is not leading you to submit to others’ feedback.
• Is it full of mercy? An impression from God will make you more gracious and forgiving. It won’t make you judgmental or critical.
• Is it impartial and sincere? When you get an idea that’s from God, you don’t use it to manipulate people to get your own way.
Any idea that encourages these seven qualities in your life is an idea that will make you more like Christ.
The Third Test
“God’s intent is that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.” 5
God has not meant for anyone to go through life alone. He made us to live in relationship with other people. So when it comes to hearing God’s voice, you need to listen to the people around you. You need a … small group to confirm whether what you sense God directing you to do is true or not. This is the third test question: Are there other people who can confirm what I believe God is saying to me?
If God has genuinely spoken to you, He will confirm it through other mature believers. This idea that we have to do everything on our own is … not God’s. He wants you to share your idea with others for confirmation and listen to their feedback.
The reason God tells us to get advice is because He wants to save us from a lot of things. As it says in Proverbs 11:9, “The wisdom of the righteous can save you.”6
Advice from other mature believers can save you time wasted doing the wrong thing. It can save you from wasting money. It can save your reputation. It can save you from making mistakes.
One of the main reasons people mess up their lives is that they have no godly friends to give them feedback. That is why it is so important to be in a group with fellow believers who can hold you accountable and give you advice.
The Bible says, “In the multitude of counselors there is safety.”7
The Fourth Test
“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”8
The fourth test for confirming a word from God is to ask yourself, “Is it consistent with how God shaped me?”
A lot of people end up wasting millions of dollars going after pipe dreams, starting businesses and making plans they weren’t shaped to do. Romans 12:6 says, “God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well.”9 So ask yourself, “What do I love to do that I’m good at doing?” Note that I did not just say, “What do you love to do?”
Before I became a pastor, I was a worship leader. I played guitar and loved to sing, but nobody liked hearing me. So I learned pretty quickly that while I had a passion for music, I did not have the talent for it. I loved it, but I was not good at it.
You discover a lot of God’s will simply by looking at what you are good at.
The Fifth Test
“We will all be judged one day, not by each other’s standards, or even our own, but by the judgment of God … it is to God alone that we shall have to answer for our actions.”10
If something is not your responsibility, why should God talk to you about it? Would not He just talk directly to the person it concerns? This is the fifth test to consider when you wonder if an idea or impression you have comes from God: “Does it concern your responsibility?”
In John 21, Jesus told Peter that he would die a martyr’s death. Peter’s response was to glance at John, who was standing nearby, and ask Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”11 Peter was not satisfied with God telling him what was going to happen in his life. He wanted to know about John’s future as well.
Jesus responded by saying, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”12
“What is that to you?” My wife, Kay, calls that the WITTY principle. We get ourselves in so much trouble when we start comparing ourselves to others. But when we do this, God says, “What is that to you?” He wants our focus to be following Him, not worrying about other people.
All believers have a direct line to God. Now, does God ever speak to others through another person? Of course He does. But there are three guidelines you need to follow if you feel God is using you to speak to someone else.
1. Be patient and pray. Give God a chance to speak to that person directly.
2. God will typically use you to confirm in someone else’s life what He’s already told them. So when you share your words with someone, it won’t be a big surprise.
3. God will usually use you without your being conscious of it. If God is going to speak through you to others, He will often do it in a way that you don’t even realize it was God speaking through you. But the person on the receiving end will recognize its truth.
The Sixth Test
“There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”13
When you get an idea and you are wondering if it is from God, the sixth question to ask yourself is, “Is it convicting or is it condemning?” If it convicts, then it is from God, but if it condemns, then it is from Satan.
A lot of Christians live under condemnation, or constant guilt, and they think it is from God. It isn’t. Condemnation comes from Satan. But conviction comes from God.
Here’s the difference between the two: The purpose of conviction is to correct you on a specific issue in order to bring a change in your life, and it is motivated by God’s love.
Because God loves you, when He sees an area in your life that needs change—a relationship, a habit, an attitude—He will nudge you and say, “You need to work on this thing that’s out of whack in your life.”
The purpose of condemnation is to criticize and make you feel guilty, usually in a vague way. If you’ve ever felt guilty but you could not point to anything specific, or if you have ever had a feeling of worthlessness, that is condemnation from Satan.
Romans 8:1 says, “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”14 God will never attack you; He will never say you’re worthless or unlovable. In fact, in Revelation 3:19 God says, “Those whom I dearly and tenderly love, I tell their faults and convict and discipline. So be earnest and repent (changing your mind and attitude).”15
But condemnation is Satan’s way of making you feel worse and worse. It does not go away even after confession. It’s like the American court system. First there is the conviction of a crime in the court; then comes the condemnation, or sentencing, which can last for years.
God does not work that way. In God’s justice system the Holy Spirit convicts us of what’s wrong in our life and we admit it. Jesus pays the condemnation. He serves the punishment for our sin through His death on the cross. And we are free to live the way God created us to live, to live the way Jesus enables us to live. That’s the grace of God.
The Seventh Test
“[God’s] peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”16
The final test in recognizing God’s voice is to ask yourself, “Do I sense God’s peace about it?” If you think you have heard from God, it measures up to God’s Word, you have gotten advice from other people and passed the other tests, but you still feel confused or anxious, then it does not pass the seventh test.
Why? “God is not the author of confusion.”17 So you wait and remain patient until you sense God’s peace.
God is a perfect father. Parents do not want their kids to feel worried or pressured when they ask them to do something. No, they want their children to feel encouraged. That is the same way God wants to relate to you. He does not want you to feel anxiety in anything He asks you to do.
The only time a sense of pressure is legitimate is when you keep saying no to God. That is a relational pressure that comes from holding God at arm’s length.
Satan wants to drive us compulsively in the things we do, but God does not work that way. God wants to draw us compassionately. He’s the shepherd who wants to lead the sheep. He does not drive us; He guides us. And, as sheep, we need to listen for His voice.
Philippians 4:6–7 describes the attitude you should have when you listen to God’s voice. “Do not worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”18
It’s not just a matter of hearing God’s voice; it’s also a matter of responding. Hearing is not enough. You have to act as well.
The Bible says that God speaks to people who do three things. “Listen to this wise advice; follow it closely, for it will do you good, and you can pass it on to others.”19
God speaks to those who listen to what He says, follow it closely, and then pass it on to others.
From: http://www.purposedriven.com/.
Published on Anchor September 2011. Read by Simon Peterson.
Footnotes:
1 1 John 4:1 TLB.
2 NIV.
3 Philippians 2:5 NCV.
4 NIV.
5 Ephesians 3:10 NIV.
6 GNT.
7 Proverbs 11:14b KJV.
8 Ephesians 2:10 NIV.
9 TLB.
10 Romans 14:10, 13 PH.
11 John 21:21 NIV.
12 John 21:22 NIV.
13 Romans 8:1 NLT.
14 NLT.
15 AMP.
16 Philippians 4:7 NIV.
17 1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV.
18 NLT.
19 Proverbs 22:17 TLB.
Excerpts of devotionals by Rick Warren
Download Audio (13.8MB)
“Don’t believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God; test it first to see if it really is!”1
When I get an idea in my mind, how do I know if it’s from God? How do I know it’s not my own desire or even a lie from Satan? The answer is clear in 1 John 4:1—I must test it to find out.
I want to share with you [a few of the] biblical ways to test an impression and find out whether it is from God or not.
The First Test
The first test is to ask the question, “Does it agree with the Bible?”
God will never contradict His written Word. Luke 21:33 says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”2 God’s truth is consistent. He is not going to tell you one thing in the Bible and then tell you something different in an impression.
And as Proverbs 12:19 says, “Truth stands the test of time.” How does this apply as a filter? For example … there are many verses in Proverbs that say God will bless your business if you have integrity and if you are honest and fair in all your business dealings. So if you get an idea that you could make more money and increase your profits by being dishonest, that idea is not from God.
The vast majority of God’s will for your life is in God’s Word. … God’s truth does not change. If you want to know God’s voice … you need to read the Bible. You need to memorize it, study it, and meditate on it.
The Second Test
“In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.”3
God’s … purpose in your life is to make you like Jesus. He is the standard for your life in how you think, act, feel and speak. That’s why the second test to determining whether an impression is from God or not is to ask this question: “Does it make me more like Christ?”
God is never going to tell you something … that would cause you to do something that’s un-Christlike. If it is not like Jesus, believe me, you did not get the idea from God.
What is Jesus like? James 3:14–17 gives us some specifics that are a good measure for testing an idea: “If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition … such ‘wisdom’ is of the Devil. The wisdom that comes from God is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial and sincere.”4
First of all, this passage tells us two things God’s wisdom is not. It will not be motivated by bitter envy or selfish ambition.
These verses instead give seven things to test if an idea that comes into your mind is from God:
• Is it pure? If any thought is impure, God did not give it to you.
• Is it peace-loving? If the idea is from God, it will promote harmony and reconciliation, not conflict.
• Is it considerate? Any idea that would hurt or harm someone, even though it may benefit you, is not from God because He cares about the effect it might have on others.
• Is it submissive? If you get an idea from God, you must be open to having it tested by other people, asking them what they think about it. If you are hesitant and don’t feel like letting other people test the idea, then it did not come from God because it is not leading you to submit to others’ feedback.
• Is it full of mercy? An impression from God will make you more gracious and forgiving. It won’t make you judgmental or critical.
• Is it impartial and sincere? When you get an idea that’s from God, you don’t use it to manipulate people to get your own way.
Any idea that encourages these seven qualities in your life is an idea that will make you more like Christ.
The Third Test
“God’s intent is that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.” 5
God has not meant for anyone to go through life alone. He made us to live in relationship with other people. So when it comes to hearing God’s voice, you need to listen to the people around you. You need a … small group to confirm whether what you sense God directing you to do is true or not. This is the third test question: Are there other people who can confirm what I believe God is saying to me?
If God has genuinely spoken to you, He will confirm it through other mature believers. This idea that we have to do everything on our own is … not God’s. He wants you to share your idea with others for confirmation and listen to their feedback.
The reason God tells us to get advice is because He wants to save us from a lot of things. As it says in Proverbs 11:9, “The wisdom of the righteous can save you.”6
Advice from other mature believers can save you time wasted doing the wrong thing. It can save you from wasting money. It can save your reputation. It can save you from making mistakes.
One of the main reasons people mess up their lives is that they have no godly friends to give them feedback. That is why it is so important to be in a group with fellow believers who can hold you accountable and give you advice.
The Bible says, “In the multitude of counselors there is safety.”7
The Fourth Test
“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”8
The fourth test for confirming a word from God is to ask yourself, “Is it consistent with how God shaped me?”
A lot of people end up wasting millions of dollars going after pipe dreams, starting businesses and making plans they weren’t shaped to do. Romans 12:6 says, “God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well.”9 So ask yourself, “What do I love to do that I’m good at doing?” Note that I did not just say, “What do you love to do?”
Before I became a pastor, I was a worship leader. I played guitar and loved to sing, but nobody liked hearing me. So I learned pretty quickly that while I had a passion for music, I did not have the talent for it. I loved it, but I was not good at it.
You discover a lot of God’s will simply by looking at what you are good at.
The Fifth Test
“We will all be judged one day, not by each other’s standards, or even our own, but by the judgment of God … it is to God alone that we shall have to answer for our actions.”10
If something is not your responsibility, why should God talk to you about it? Would not He just talk directly to the person it concerns? This is the fifth test to consider when you wonder if an idea or impression you have comes from God: “Does it concern your responsibility?”
In John 21, Jesus told Peter that he would die a martyr’s death. Peter’s response was to glance at John, who was standing nearby, and ask Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”11 Peter was not satisfied with God telling him what was going to happen in his life. He wanted to know about John’s future as well.
Jesus responded by saying, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”12
“What is that to you?” My wife, Kay, calls that the WITTY principle. We get ourselves in so much trouble when we start comparing ourselves to others. But when we do this, God says, “What is that to you?” He wants our focus to be following Him, not worrying about other people.
All believers have a direct line to God. Now, does God ever speak to others through another person? Of course He does. But there are three guidelines you need to follow if you feel God is using you to speak to someone else.
1. Be patient and pray. Give God a chance to speak to that person directly.
2. God will typically use you to confirm in someone else’s life what He’s already told them. So when you share your words with someone, it won’t be a big surprise.
3. God will usually use you without your being conscious of it. If God is going to speak through you to others, He will often do it in a way that you don’t even realize it was God speaking through you. But the person on the receiving end will recognize its truth.
The Sixth Test
“There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”13
When you get an idea and you are wondering if it is from God, the sixth question to ask yourself is, “Is it convicting or is it condemning?” If it convicts, then it is from God, but if it condemns, then it is from Satan.
A lot of Christians live under condemnation, or constant guilt, and they think it is from God. It isn’t. Condemnation comes from Satan. But conviction comes from God.
Here’s the difference between the two: The purpose of conviction is to correct you on a specific issue in order to bring a change in your life, and it is motivated by God’s love.
Because God loves you, when He sees an area in your life that needs change—a relationship, a habit, an attitude—He will nudge you and say, “You need to work on this thing that’s out of whack in your life.”
The purpose of condemnation is to criticize and make you feel guilty, usually in a vague way. If you’ve ever felt guilty but you could not point to anything specific, or if you have ever had a feeling of worthlessness, that is condemnation from Satan.
Romans 8:1 says, “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”14 God will never attack you; He will never say you’re worthless or unlovable. In fact, in Revelation 3:19 God says, “Those whom I dearly and tenderly love, I tell their faults and convict and discipline. So be earnest and repent (changing your mind and attitude).”15
But condemnation is Satan’s way of making you feel worse and worse. It does not go away even after confession. It’s like the American court system. First there is the conviction of a crime in the court; then comes the condemnation, or sentencing, which can last for years.
God does not work that way. In God’s justice system the Holy Spirit convicts us of what’s wrong in our life and we admit it. Jesus pays the condemnation. He serves the punishment for our sin through His death on the cross. And we are free to live the way God created us to live, to live the way Jesus enables us to live. That’s the grace of God.
The Seventh Test
“[God’s] peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”16
The final test in recognizing God’s voice is to ask yourself, “Do I sense God’s peace about it?” If you think you have heard from God, it measures up to God’s Word, you have gotten advice from other people and passed the other tests, but you still feel confused or anxious, then it does not pass the seventh test.
Why? “God is not the author of confusion.”17 So you wait and remain patient until you sense God’s peace.
God is a perfect father. Parents do not want their kids to feel worried or pressured when they ask them to do something. No, they want their children to feel encouraged. That is the same way God wants to relate to you. He does not want you to feel anxiety in anything He asks you to do.
The only time a sense of pressure is legitimate is when you keep saying no to God. That is a relational pressure that comes from holding God at arm’s length.
Satan wants to drive us compulsively in the things we do, but God does not work that way. God wants to draw us compassionately. He’s the shepherd who wants to lead the sheep. He does not drive us; He guides us. And, as sheep, we need to listen for His voice.
Philippians 4:6–7 describes the attitude you should have when you listen to God’s voice. “Do not worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”18
It’s not just a matter of hearing God’s voice; it’s also a matter of responding. Hearing is not enough. You have to act as well.
The Bible says that God speaks to people who do three things. “Listen to this wise advice; follow it closely, for it will do you good, and you can pass it on to others.”19
God speaks to those who listen to what He says, follow it closely, and then pass it on to others.
From: http://www.purposedriven.com/.
Published on Anchor September 2011. Read by Simon Peterson.
Footnotes:
1 1 John 4:1 TLB.
2 NIV.
3 Philippians 2:5 NCV.
4 NIV.
5 Ephesians 3:10 NIV.
6 GNT.
7 Proverbs 11:14b KJV.
8 Ephesians 2:10 NIV.
9 TLB.
10 Romans 14:10, 13 PH.
11 John 21:21 NIV.
12 John 21:22 NIV.
13 Romans 8:1 NLT.
14 NLT.
15 AMP.
16 Philippians 4:7 NIV.
17 1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV.
18 NLT.
19 Proverbs 22:17 TLB.
