How Do I Know God’s Will For My Life?

all right you guys ready to do this all right this one is going to be a little bit fun because we had a one week sermon to fill so we let everybody on the internet decide because we all know if you want to find the truth go to the internet and so people did vote and there were some very very weird ones I'll just knock out a few quickly can I live with my boyfriend no can I live with my girlfriend no can I smoke weed with my boyfriend no can I smoke weed with my girlfriend no so there's the first four sermons this one um this one will take a little bit longer and here's the subject that we ultimately arrived on and I had 24 hours to prep good news it took 80 minutes so it takes about as long to prep a sermon as it does to preach one you could tell me if it was any good here's the topic for this weekend are you ready all right here's the topic how do you know God's will for how do I know God's will for my life you guys ready anybody ever had this question like God what do you want me to do you got a decision to make do I get married not get married do I marry them do we buy this house do I take this job ultimately is it time to have a child where should we go to church God what do you want me to do there are times in our life where we just don't know but God knows and he wants you to know this is a great question by the way I've been preaching for about 30 years I don't think I've ever done just a sermon on this subject so for those who voted for it online thank you very much and uh I want you to know there is a God he has a will for your life and it's good and he wants you to know it I'll quote a verse for you Romans 12:2 do not conform to the pattern of this world people in the world who don't know God because they don't know God they don't know the will of God and they don't understand the word of God so they can't find the way of God nonetheless he sayso not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind then you will be able it's a promise to test and approve what God's will is his good pleasing and perfect will so the big idea is this God has a will for your life and he wants you to know it he's not going to hide it from you he's a father who loves you and I really want to start with the father Heart Of God I look at this as a dad I've got five kids and we've got grandkids and I'm in that season of life really enjoying being a dad and a grandpa God is a father and he has a Father's Heart heart so when you think about God's will before you can understand God's will first you got to understand God's heart how many of you are a d or a mom or a grandma or Grandpa okay you love a child and you want good for them and you're going to help them do what is right and even if they do something wrong you're going to help them correct that and make it right that's the father heart of God and when it comes to the father Heart Of God I'll hit this at real men the next two weeks I've got a little sermon series on the father heart of God Jesus comes and his favorite title for God and the way he teaches us to pray to God so that we can find God's will is Father uh no one in the history of the world really referred to God as personal father until Jesus in Matthew Mark and Luke he calls god father 65 times in the Gospel of John it calls god father a hundred times so when we're looking for God's will think of it this way we're looking for the will of Our Father who is for us and this is really important sometimes when people are trying to find God's will they think that God's a dictator and he's just in heaven just sort of barking impossible orders for obedience that's not our God our God is father he's a dad who loves us cares for us communicates with us leads us guides us and helps us and if you're a parent here's what you know you don't have a perfect child and there's going to be a process for them to make progress God's a father who is absolutely committed to a relationship with you and being in the parenting process with you as his child this means that even when you get it wrong he'll forgive you and love you and help you to make it right now that being said there are two basic ways that Christians view God's will one I think is dangerous I think it's discouraging I think it leads to a lot of anxiety and that is that God's will is like a tight RPP and there's no there's no safety net and so every step is very tenuous and any mistake is catastrophic if you just make one slight false move if you make one erroneous step it's over it's done you fallen out of God's Will and your whole life is cratered and collapsed some who believe this they don't understand that God is a father and they don't understand the father's heart because that's not a helpful father that's an abusive father and God knows that we are human beings and we are going to make mistakes okay and here's the big idea we don't want to abuse God's grace but we do need to use God's grace good and our God is a god of Grace and again we don't want to abuse it we don't want to sin that Grace M AB but we need to use it you're like father I made a wrong step I messed up I didn't hear you right I didn't obey I got that wrong you don't fall to your death you're sustained by the love of your father so my view of God's will is a little simpler and that is that God's will is more like a multi-lane highway and the idea is this it's not about getting every step right it's about going in the right direction you either go north or you go south you're either getting closer to God or further from God if you're a genuine Christian you're like well I'm going to church I'm reading the Bible I'm praying I'm worshiping Jesus I'm trying to get closer in my relationship with God you're going north you know what God's will is for you to go North to make progress you're never going to be perfect but you can make progress now if you are going north you're not going south you're not getting further away from God you're not rebelling against God you're not uh intentionally living in defiance of God now if as long as you're going north that's God's will for you but there are many lanes maybe you go to this college or that college or that college or maybe you work this job or that job or that job or maybe you attend this church or that church or that church or you buy this house or that house or the other house and then some people what if I got the wrong one well here's the good news God will just come along turn your blanker on and put you in another Lane just put in another Lane right wrong house move over here wrong College go here right wrong person break up um here's someone new and better right and you're like but as long as you're going north God can change your lane does that make sense yeah I want this to cause less anxiety and I want you to have deeper affection and more joy and a closer relationship with God as your father so to help you figure out God's will for your life I've got eight basic questions we'll look at those in succession and when the time comes and maybe you're in it right now you're like I've got a decision to make these are some ways some tools that can help you come to find God's will the first and foremost is this what does the Bible say what does the Bible say second Timothy 3:16 And1 17 says all scripture all of it even the parts we don't like or agree with amen all scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives it corrects us where we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work so the big idea is this you start with the word of God God has already written down most of what you and I would ask him about just in the opening chapter of Genesis many of you are new Christians we love you we're glad to have you some aren't Christians yet uh we're here to help you find a relationship with Jesus but the Bible begins in Genesis 1 that 10 times it says and God said our God is a God who speaks that's what's wonderful some views of God that he's silent or distant or he's hiding Our God Isn't Our God is a father and just like a father loves their child they show up and they're like hey I'm your dad we're going to have a relationship and I want to talk to you and I I need you to listen to me because I want to help you that's the father heart of God and that's ultimately the heart of the word of God our God speaks so some of you probably already know this but some of you may not and that is that this is the highest Authority on the earth this is the highest Authority so as Christians we do believe in Revelation other ways that God reveals as well we believe in medicine and science we believe in the social sciences But ultimately this would be the Supreme Court of highest Authority yeah anything else that we're considering just needs to be tested by the word of God as the highest Authority and so ultimately what this means for you is if you've got a big decision to make uh the best place to begin is going to the word of God and asking does the Bible speak about this and let me say this when you come here's the key humility because some people come to the Bible and they do so arrogantly not humbly and they're over the Bible rather than being under the Bible and they're going into the Bible saying I know what answer I want can I find something that sounds like it will let me do what I want what you're doing then you're not seeking God's will you're abusing the word of God for your will and that's evil and rebellious and so many of the questions that people have are absolutely in the scriptures and you just need to take some time to do your homework and research you may not know this but the Bible has a lot to say about marriage and dating and sex and children and finances and other religions and politics and pretty much everything that you and I would ask God about is either directly or principally addressed in the word of God uh in addition I would tell you this don't just find people that will quote verses to tell you what you were hoping to hear we live in a day of something called apostasy these are where false teachers do the same thing that Satan did they misquote the Bible and they misrepresent the will of God so by coming humbly what we're saying is God I want to hear from you what you would say to me about this decision or issue in my life and humility says this if I disagree with what I read I change my mind okay you can either change the word of God or allow the word of God to change your mind if you change the word of God you're a false teacher in your own life if you change your mind to agree with God's word then you're placing yourself under the word of God and if you're looking at the father saying I I I hear you I disagree with you that means I'm wrong I'm changing my mind I want to obey you will you help me obey you what do you think the father would say 100% how many of you if you had a little kid they came up to you they're like okay I disagree with what you said but I'm the child you're the parent I know this is a mythical story this is a mythical story but you have a little child you tell them something they're like I disagree with you but since you're the parent I trust you I will assume that I'm wrong would you be willing to help me obey you what would you say call 911 yeah right no yeah you would say yes okay that's that's the posture coming under the word of God number two what did you hear in Listening Prayer Jesus says this in John 10:27 my sheep hear my voice I know them and they follow me and so Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd the Bible says that he is the chief Shepherd and that were his flock the church were his sheep now some years ago our family went to Iceland and we drove the Ring Road around the whole country and everywhere we went sheep I'll be honest before that I had very minimal sheep experience uh but this was sort of my sheep experience and what I found in Iceland there's at least twice as many sheep as people and so as you're driving around the country you don't see any people but you keep driving around the Sheep they're everywhere and what's really interesting I noticed that the Sheep would all be grazing out in a pasture sometimes hundreds thousands of sheep and they were all from different flocks and the question was well how are they going to sort this out like how are they going to get all these sheep back to their own pens and back to their own Shepherds and back to their own ranches and it's the most curious thing because you could have hundreds thousands of sheep grazing in a field the Shepherds would come out and they would each call to their sheep and every sheep knew the voice of their Shepherd they would all just self-organize it was it was amazing to see and every sheep went to their Shepherd what Jesus is saying is I'm your Shepherd and if you have the Holy Spirit you know my voice and so ultimately what Listening Prayer is it's getting time in silence and Solitude to listen to the Good Shepherd and hear his voice and the truth is I've had some people tell me they're like God never speaks to me I'm like he does you're probably just on your phone right it's hard to listen when there's a a lot of noise and distraction in your life this is why silence and Solitude is good you stop other voices so that you can tune in to his voice and so Listening Prayer is taking time to literally talk to God and to listen to God about those decisions that you need to make I'll give you uh an example so uh this is my uh notebook and I use my notebook for listening prayer and for finding the will of God let me explain my notebook it's got two parts uh the first notebook in here is for my family it's prayer requests it's things I'm trying to figure out and find out uh the second half Is For Real Faith the online Ministry in Trendy church and I'm seeking God's will for our family our church family and our ministry and so I'll write things down prayers like okay God help me figure this out and then as I sense that God is speaking to me I'll write things down because what I find is most often in my life God doesn't download everything at once I get a bit of at a time it's kind of like downloading something from the Internet it's like well it's going to take a little while and you're going to get a bit of data at a time and so I like to record things and some years ago our family was in the darkest season of our life it was almost a decade ago and uh God called me to resign my job and to move and so now I'm in my mid-40s I'm like okay where do we live like what country uh we narrowed it down to the Earth but it seemed like a lot and where do we live what do I do for a job what's going to happen to the kids who are elementary middle school high school college like what do we do it was overwhelming it was a hard reset on our life and I'll be honest I had a lot of anxiety about it so I wrote down all the big decisions that I needed to make as the husband and father along with Grace and it was my prayer it was my prayer list like God here's all the questions I've got here's all the decisions I need to make I'm a little overwhelmed and I feel like if I don't get this right I'm going to mess up my family and so what I did is I wrote down all those questions for God and then I took a full day and I put it on the calendar a meeting with God day I turned off my phone I told some of my friends if you could intercede in prayer for me that God would speak and I would hear and that I would obey what I hear I told Grace and the kids they prayed for me as well I fasted uh from food I wanted to have no distractions I went to a remote place it was a small town in the middle of nowhere and I sat at aart bench and I prayed and prepared my heart I listened to worship music on the way up and then I did a lot of prayer walking I'm not a guy who can sit in the Lotus position all day waiting for Revelation um I'm not a guy who can actually Bend and so um right this is as flexible as I get and so for me I like to walk and I find as I walk and I verbal process with God that's kind of how I pray so I do that in a prayer I do that in a prayer walk every week and I have questions for God every week and I do Listening Prayer on my prayer walk in the woods and so I went through my questions I was like okay Lord here's one of my questions anything you want to say to me and I didn't get an audible voice of God but I would get thoughts come into my mind or I would hear the voice of the Lord in my spirit and I would write those down and on that day not all my questions were answered it's about eight or 10 hours of Listening Prayer but most of them were but I will tell you that all of my burdens were lifted not all of my questions were answered but all of my burdens were lifted and there were certain things God the father he said son he always calls me son he said I'm not going to tell you that now but I'll tell you later I was like okay good to know one of the things that he told me for example I was praying I was like when do we move because this was like I don't know maybe October November and I I was like okay if we're going to go let's go and uh God spoke to me and he said uh don't move until after Ashley our oldest daughter graduates from high school in June that's not what I wanted to hear I was like June it's it's October that means we're just going to hang out in limbo for all of these months and God said Ashley needs to graduate with her class you need to stay until she graduates so I wrote that down I came home I I grabbed Ashley our oldest daughter I said honey Daddy had his Listening Prayer day with the Lord and the Lord said something that I need to share with you I said the Lord said that you get to graduate with your class from high school and we're not leaving till you graduate it she burst into tears I burst into tears my girls make me cry all the time they just do um and she said Daddy I I wanted to graduate but I didn't want to pressure you so I prayed to the Lord and I said Lord could I please graduate with my class she said so I asked the Lord and then he spoke to you so I didn't have to so she did Listening Prayer I did Listening Prayer she graduated with her class I believe it was the next week there was a date ANS at their school uh she went with a friend and kind of a couple other friends they went as a group a young man showed up from another town and another school that we didn't know he was on the date with another girl and that's where they met and now he's my son-in-law okay yeah so he's pretty excited about this too I think you know so um and now they're married and we love him and we love them and they've got a beautiful baby boy and God's blessed them and they help us get Ministry out online through real faith and it's like I didn't know all of that but the father did and sometimes when you ask him and he tells you it's not till later you understand why he gave you that answer but this has been my experience that if you're willing to listen the father is willing to speak uh in addition number three what does wise counsel say and wise counsel by the way is not your friends who agree with you uh they're not wise um they're co-conspirators um Proverbs 15:22 says it this way without counsel plans fail but with many advisors they succeed wise counsel is choosing people to speak into your life let me say this lots of people will want to speak into your life most of them shouldn't amen amen right if you're on the internet and people are posting on social media that's not wise counsel if if you are asking people because they're related to you I promise you that's not wise counsel if you have people who always agree with you and take your side that's not wise counsel if someone is at the same life stage as you that's not wise counsel wise counsel is someone who's ahead of you and they have experience and as a result if they give you some instruction they're going to help pull you forward so if you want to figure out and here's the big idea you don't need a lot of people you just need a few wise people people amen the Bible says in Proverbs that a person with many friends comes to ruin you can have too many friends in relationships and what happens then is you get so many voices in your ear that you can't hear the voice of God and some of you you ask seven people and you get 10 opinions and then you're more confused than ever okay what you want is wise people and the wise people are not people that push their way into your life you pull them into your life they don't demand a voice into your life life you extend an invitation for them to be a voice in your life so let's say you've got a major and let me say this no one person is wise in every area so if it's a financial decision you're like who are the wisest people we know with money and stewardship let's go run it by them we're getting married we've never been married is there someone that's married and still smiling you know could we could we talk to them and see what the secret is you know find a couple that's been married for years and has a good marriage you're pregnant having kids you're like can't wait to be a parent never been a parent find kids that are the kind of kids that your kids would hope and grow up to be like and go ask the parents what did you learn and often times let me say this wisdom doesn't come by always doing it right by sometimes also admitting when you were wrong and there are people who say I messed this up please don't do this I did it this way that was a mistake so a wise person is not someone that got everything right but they're honest enough to also share with you the ways that they did it wrong and so when you bring wise counsel in what you're doing then you're getting uh the voice of God through people sometimes God speaks directly sometimes he speaks through his word sometimes he speaks through people who have wisdom and they're able to help you if you are a married couple you need to agree on who your wise counsel is so for grace and I I don't have any men that I talk to and invite into our life that she doesn't agree to she doesn't have any WI women that I don't agree to and and we don't want this to be a division but we want this to be a deposit of wisdom in our life and so for some of you and let me say this um I just feel inclined in the spirit say this some of you don't need to go to counseling you need to get wise counsel I'm not against counseling but a lot of counselors are garbage counselors if they don't have the Holy Spirit and they don't know the lord they're not a wise counselor amen they're just someone pontificating but they're not praying right and so at the end of the day if they don't have the spirit of God and they don't believe in the word of God how are they going to help you find the will of God Amen all right three moms like that and a few teenagers could go either way okay I'm fine with that that's pretty good for me um Point number four what does rightful Authority say Romans 13 1-2 let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is no Authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment what God is saying here is he said I work through hierarchy I work through Authority in our day when everything is supposed to be complete Equity it's Godless and demonic there are leaders and there are followers there are people in authority and people under Authority that is how heaven will be forever and ever yeah and so in our day the disregard and disrespect respect for authority what it leads to is not wisdom but foolishness and not flourishing but self-destructing that's the world we live in we've been looking at it in the Book of Judges where the final line summarizes their day everyone did what was right in their own eyes nobody deferred to Authority and said is this okay and if you disregard disobey Authority eventually you remove the word of God and you have no regard for God you become a Godless person so that being said what right F Authority is in your life and let me say this not all authority is rightful there is something called Civil Disobedience and this is where someone in Authority or a government in Authority tells you to do something that is against the word of God and in that instance you have to obey God you cannot obey them in the days of Daniel they said no praying to your God he's like I'm praying uh in the days of the Exodus they said kill all the Hebrew boys and the answer was no we're not slaughtering children the Days of the New Testament was no more preaching Jesus and they said sorry throw us in jail we're talking about him we now live in a day when a lot of authority is against God it's the spirit of antichrist so I want to talk about legitimate Authority versus legitimate Authority so let's say for example there is a government school we call them Public Schools but they're government schools let's say there's a government school that says hey you need to send your kid to us and we're going to teach them a lot about sex and gender and genitalia starting in kindergarten and uh and we're going to confuse them and if you disagree with us we're going to seize custody of that child answer h no right okay cuz that's that's illegitimate Authority because God didn't give children to schools or governments he gave them to mothers and fathers and that's the rightful Authority so let me be clear in this we don't just do whatever we're told but if it's rightful Authority we honor it and in so doing we honor God throughout the Bible the words honor and obey they appear just in the English translation around 350 times honor and obey and it's in regards to honoring and obeying rightful Authority and this would include children honoring and obeying their parents uh this would include for example at work an employee honoring and obeying an employer and their boss this would include in um in our day citizens respecting law enforcement and their god-given Authority yeah yeah cuz we believe in police officers and rule of law that's what we believe in and so if you need to make a decision or you're seeking God's will if there is rightful Authority what do they say what do they say uh so I'll give you uh an example before we planted Trinity Church here in uh Arizona first I uh I went and met with our pastors we have a few pastors that are older than us and overseers and we submit to their Authority and I was like my family wants to plant a church we're seeking God's will planting a church is a big deal it's a big deal it's like having a baby like you got to raise it and you got to be there this this's a long commitment and all the pastors that are in authority over us they all prayed and they said we believe this is the will of God okay I would have said no if they said no so then I flew down to Arizona and we did a scouting trip and I met with some of the pastors of the churches in the valley that have been doing ministry here for a very long time men of God and we met and had a closed door meeting and I said hey I know I'm controversial that's not an apology by the way it's just an acknowledgement um I'm very committed to one and five star reviews by the way um so I said you know I'm a bit controversial and I think every Bible teacher should be right if yeah if you haven't gotten in trouble you've probably not gotten into the word of God anyways uh just my thoughts so I said hey uh we're thinking about moving to Arizona and if we move God might call us to plan a church you are the spiritual father in the valley you've been here for a long time I honor you and I honor your Authority ask me any questions you want here's my cell phone number and uh I would like your permission to move my family to Arizona they agreed that we should come and they prayed for us and they welcomed us and I believe that there's been a Grace on our church because we're trying to honor god-given Godly rightful Authority and we're trying to honor brothers and sisters who also honor the Lord uh what does Providence say um Providence is that God rules and Reigns over the details of history and sometimes he just works circumstances out a read a verse in a moment but I'll give you an example we put online hey what's the question for this week how do I know God's will for my life I will just tell you that is apparently God's Sovereign will for my weekend because that's what the people chose circumstances dictated what we would be discussing that's an example of Providence Acts 14:7 says of God he did not leave himself without witness for he did good by giving you reigns from heaven and fruitful Seasons satisfying your hearts with food and gladness what he says is this God gives witness to his character by his provision and action in your life how many of you there's been things in your life you're like something just happened and that helped me know what God's will was give you some examples there are negative examples of God's Sovereign Providence you lost your job here's how you can think of it oh my gosh I lost my job or you could say God's will must be a new job you've not been destroyed maybe you've been delivered maybe you were in his will for a season and now he has a new season and a new will see as Christians if we believe God's sovereignty and Providence is over it we don't have to freak out in it oh my gosh Everything's changed well God's over it and he's your father and he loves you and he's got a good plan for you so maybe roll with that and see if it ain't better another example could be for example um your church goes woke and apostate right and they give up on certain clear Bible teachings well God is calling you to go somewhere else you're like I can't give to something that isn't honoring God and I can't submit to people who don't believe in the word of God I love them I forgive them I pray for them but I'm not going to join them and in that moment you can have this complete meltdown you can get bitter I can't believe this what happened it's like Lord that wasn't going to be a good environment for us now we're on this adventure see I believe God is good and he's my father and if he's called me from one thing I should be excited to figure out what the next thing is okay God you must have a place where we can serve you must have a place where we can grow you probably have some new friendships and relationships for us to make circumstances say that is now closed I'm going to go find what is open and this causes the Christian to get out of the depression and to get out of the anxiety and to get out of the misery and to move forward to seek the opportunity I'll be honest with you the older I get the longer I walk with Jesus every day that I thought I got destroyed was actually a day I got delivered and every day that I thought that something bad happened I realized it was just leading to something good give you a few examples as well of God's Providence um let's say you get an inheritance an you're like well apparently God wants me to learn how to Steward now right I had somebody come up to me recently like oh my gosh we have a lot of kids and we weren't expecting to have another kid and we had another kid I was like well you know how this happens this wasn't like maraculous like like your wife's name is not Mary like this this this had a cause effect process you know I was like well apparently guess what it's God's will for you to have a baby how do you know I was like you have a baby like you see how that works you're like God I know what your will is cuz circumstances they they just worked out and you're Sovereign and I trust you over them um how about this I'll give you an example of God's Providence from uh an Old Testament guy named Elijah he was a prophet mighty man of God in first and second Kings and uh he camped for a while alongside a Brooke he lived in the desert like we do and uh and there was water and so there was you know the ability to sustain himself and to hydrate himself and then one day this little line it says the brook dried up no more water guess what that means it's time to move doesn't mean you're cursed doesn't mean God hates you doesn't mean God is harming you means god is moving you right for some of you you you've been in seasons of your life for like that Brook dried up I had that job and then it went away we lived in that community and then didn't work anymore we went to that church and then the the flow stopped and just say Okay Lord where we next and and the good news is this just because the brook dried up doesn't mean there's not another Brook see that's how you find God's will how about this one um what does your conscience say Romans 24-15 Gentiles uh these are non-Christian non-believers the good old school pagans just like most Americans when Gentiles who do not have the law they don't know the word of God uh By Nature do what the law requires they obey the Bible they don't even know the Bible how do they do that they're aot of themselves even though they do not have the law they show that the work of the law is written on their heart and here's the key while their conscience also Bears Witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them what he says is this God put a conscience in everybody not everybody has the Holy Spirit but everybody does have a conscience now if you have the Holy Spirit and a conscience you're in a uniquely blessed place to find the will of God but some people who don't even know God or the word of God if they just followed their conscience it's going to keep them out of trouble I just feel inclined to say this before I was a Christian I didn't I didn't know the Lord and I didn't know the Bible but I did pay some attention to my conscience not all the time uh my wife Chuckles she was there as a witness um sorry honey uh but I never did drugs and I never drank alcohol um and I stayed out of certain self-destructive Behavior not because I was reading the word of God just something in me said that was dangerous and now I know that that was the conscience that God gave me your conscience can't save from hell but it can save you from a little hell in this life and so what he's saying is don't ignore your conscience and let me say this you need your conscience so don't break it it's like your left leg right whatever you do don't break it you're going to need it and for some of you this is your gut how many of you you got a strong you're just like I don't know in my in my gut my gut says no well just assume the Holy Spirit he's living in your gut okay how many of you it's just a hunch you're like I don't know I just I got a hunch and your hunch is usually pretty great how many of you you're like I don't know I just I in my spirit as I pray I just feel like yes or I feel like no how many of you are married to this person they drive you crazy right cuz you're like Hey where's the data and the facts they're like feelings Impressions intuitions trust okay one guy's getting delivered good um so but but don't don't ignore your conscience so Grace and I we process things differently maybe I'll just make this point here if you are married the way you find God's will is probably very different than your spouse chuckle chuckle chuckle that's the testimony of an honest woman right there um so I'm a I'm a Seer I get visions and dreams and I'm a researcher Grace is a feeler intuition she'll be like I prayed and I feel I was like but I got charts and graphs and Excel and number and plans and she's like the Lord didn't say I was like oh okay so but here's what you need to know you're different but you're better together yeah you're better and God didn't put you together to drive each other crazy but to help you both find as well amen okay and so for some of you it's your conscience it's your gut it's your intuition and if you are a person who is Spirit-filled and worshiping and praying I would say don't feel bad going with your inition with your gut and your conscience in addition um number seven was there a supernatural message and did you test it sometimes God Reveals His will in Supernatural ways I'll give a couple examples to Hebrews chapter 2:4 God also bore Witness by signs and wonders and various Miracles and by gifts of the holy spirit distributed according to his will we're back to his Sovereign Providence there what he says is this sometimes when God wanted to reveal his will he do something amazing so for Moses there's a burning bush talking to him that's different an angel shows up you get a dream you get a vision God speaks from Heaven um Elijah prays and it doesn't rain for years that's are incredible Supernatural things happen sometimes not all the time but sometimes God shows up and he Reveals His will through Supernatural means but you need to know so does Satan because what God creates Satan counterfeits I'll prove it to you 2 Thessalonians 2: 9-10 the work of Satan he says includes quote counterfeit Power and signs and miracles he'll use every kind of deception so sometimes people like I had a vision was it from the Lord I don't know you better figure that out I had a dream I Heard a Voice I saw an angel okay was it the Lord I don't know well you need to know because God works through Supernatural means but what God creates Satan counterfeits so here's the key 1 John 4:1 beloved God does love you do not believe every Spirit but test the spirit to see whether they're from God and so sometimes people who are new to the faith if something Supernatural happens they immediately assume it was God I'm not saying to be um a person who is against the supernatural I I'm actually firmly believe in the continuing work of the holy spirit in Supernatural and divine and miraculous ways amen but I also know that Satan will use people who are open to the supernatural to do Supernatural things to deceive them yes okay give you an example it comes to mind in the Old Testament book of Exodus other than the time of Jesus Christ um it was the most Supernatural period in human history but what happened is God would do something Supernatural and then the Demonic counterfeit Pagan priests in Egypt they would do the same Miracles because there is deception and so discernment is deciding what is from God and what is not from God um and I love you and I want you to be open to the fullness of the work of the Holy Spirit I've had dreams Visions I've heard Audible Voice of God I've had God show up in Supernatural and miraculous ways I've also had Satan show up when counterfeit ways I'll give you two examples from my own story I was brand new pastor about 30 years ago and I was meeting with a young G she was a new Christian she was in the college Ministry I was leading at the time and all of a sudden she was praying a lot and she felt like God was speaking to her and as soon as anybody she said well Jesus told me Jesus told me Jesus told me but then some of the things Jesus was telling her wasn't right and then we had other people in the ministry that were brand new very impressionable young Christians and so they'd ask her hey if Jesus talks to you could you pray for me and see if Jesus speaks to you so then she started now she's kind of giving everybody advice and it's a lot of bad advice it's a lot of bad advice so I sat down with her she was sincere but she was sincerely deceived it's not the sincerity of your faith but the object of your faith and if you are sincerely trusting in a demonic Spirit you are going to be deceived so I sat down with her and I prayed and she was a dear gal and I was sure she had met Jesus and I could tell she really did love the Lord but I was like well who's telling you all this like one G came up to her and said um you know I've been living and sleeping with my non-Christian boyfriend I got saved you know should I break up with them and this SC prayed and she said no I prayed and Jesus said to keep sleeping with them and living with them I was like you know like and then this young girl who's a new Christian she's like well that's what Jesus said so I sit down with this gal she's given this kind of advice and I pray and it's just spiritually disorienting and awkward and uh and partway through the conversation I asked her I said I said who's telling you all these things she said Jesus and I I probably shouldn't say this but you know we're there so um so I said uh you know in the name and authority of Jesus Christ the lord rebuke you I bind that spirit in jesus' name and I demand command in the name of Jesus Christ I come with his authority you to tell me who you are her whole face changed and she said and then out of her mouth came the sound of a man's voice and it said uh I'm Jesus I said are you Jesus Christ of Nazareth born of Mary I mean hair stand up on my end my my my arms as I think about it just the the look on the face was just Wicked and they looked at me and they said no not that Jesus a demon took the name Jesus a demon took the name Jesus and this poor new Christian is like I'm just listening to Jesus uh the Holy Spirit reminds me Paul says in Corinthians you believe in another or a different Jesus and it says that Satan has deceived you so just because something Supernatural happens here's the big idea I don't want you to be spiritual I want you to be Spirit-filled because there are lots of spirits and some of them are demonic but there's only one Holy Spirit and he will help you discern if something Supernatural happens whether it was for Christ or Antichrist I'll give you another example of Supernatural in my own life I get dreams and visions and God speaks to me and I see things and I hear things and it started when I was 19 brand new Christian went to my first men's Retreat some of you know the story I've shared it before um the pastor wonderful man of God I thank God every day that the foundation for my understanding of the Bible was laid by a a genuinely brilliant and humble man of God who knew the word of God he he's a great man and uh he said at the ministry he's like okay go for a prayer walk he was telling us to do Listening Prayer basically and I was like I'm new Christian I'm like what what do we do I don't know and he's they're like well go for a walk in the woods and just talk to Jesus and listen to him I'm like okay I didn't I was like is he in the woods okay I don't know what we're doing you know so I don't know um I was in the woods I'm like uh Jesus me Mark probably already knew that you know sorry I'm new to this um I love you uh I told him I was like I'll do whatever you want I'm a brand new Christian I was asking for God's will now that I think about it I was asking to find God's will I like what do you want me to do I'm a new Christian what do you want me to do and uh and I was listening and walking and it was right on the Idaho border and God spoke audibly I didn't even know he did that and he said Mary Grace preach the Bible train men and plant churches and then he said something I've not shared much but he said I've called you out from among many to lead men I was like men I'm 19 like like like I'm in college I'm I'm not a grown man so I went back to my pastor I was like does God talk to people he's like yeah once in a while he does I was like well I think he talk to me I was like but I don't know so now what I'm doing I'm going to rightful Authority and I'm testing it by the word of God if he would have said preach the Quran and marry Ted probably not a word from the Lord um just thought about that and through and threw open my mouth a little bit um so I go to my pastor I was like what do you think and he prayed and he came back he said I believe that was a sovereign word of God for you he said I believe that's what you need to do with the rest of your life so that's what I've been doing since I was 19 married Grace yeah married [Applause] Grace I think this is my 30th 31st year preaching the Bible uh training men I it's crazy what God is doing with Men's Ministry here for every man that attends there's a thousand men online mainly young men tuning in to learn how to become men of God it's [Music] amazing and it's like well why is that I look this was God's will like I I didn't go to how to reach men's school you know like at the age of 19 I was a brand new Christian um I didn't know what God would have and and Trinity Church is a fulfillment of that prophetic word from God planting churches and so all of that to say sometimes God does speak and sometimes so does Satan and the key is to seek the will of God to check the word of God to check with rightful Authority and to discern whether it was something true or false but my whole life is based on an audible calling from God that's my and I've been doing I'm now 53 so I have been doing exactly what he told me to do for 34 years 34 years and it helps me so much cuz every day I get up and I don't have to ask God what do you want me to do he's like I told you at 19 keep doing it until I tell you otherwise lastly um this one may shock you and my view of God's will is different I believe than most pastors and I believe that most pastors who teach on the will of God even if they intend well they don't understand the father heart of God and if you don't understand the father Heart Of God you don't understand the will of God because the will of God proceeds from the father Heart Of God here's the question that may blow your mind what do you want to do see sometimes people there'll be God what do you want me to do and he's like what do you want to do well God I want you to tell me what to do he's like well I'm your dad I love you what do you want to do do you understand this and let me say if you understand this this will revolutionize your parenting you won't spend all your time bossing your kid around you'll spend a lot of time asking your kid what God has burdened them for and called them to and and invited them to explore here's what you need to know I feel like I supposed to say this God doesn't want you to just believe in him but enjoy him okay I'm a dad my kids believe in me I hope they enjoy me I have grandkids they believe in me I'm real I hope they enjoy me God's a father he wants you to believe in him but he also wants you to enjoy him and he wants to enjoy you because that's the father Heart Of God I'll give you a couple scriptures that may absolutely blow your mind here's one uh Psalm 37 3-5 trust in the Lord and do good dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you what the desires of your heart commit to him uh commit your way to the Lord that's prayer trust in him and he will act here's what he says don't worry about God's will until you focused on a relationship with God okay because God isn't um like a dictator who just gives commands he's a father that builds the relationships and then any instruction is in the context of the affection and the relationship delight yourself in the Lord in enjoy him enjoy him spend time in prayer spend time in worship read the word of God because you get to not because you have to I hate legalism legalism is when we take things that we get to do and we turnament things we have to do like if if somebody came up to me like you have to take Grace on a date I'd say don't say it like that I was going to enjoy it I would like to do that what God does when he gives you a new heart you get new desires this is what non-christians don't understand in like why would you read the Bible cuz I like to why would you pray I need it why do you worship I like it why do you do what God says because when I don't I hurt myself my dad is wise and helpful delight yourself in the Lord do you like God do you enjoy God delight yourself in the Lord grow in that intimate loving father child father son father daughter relationship and what it says is delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart what this doesn't mean is if you're a Christian you can do whatever you want that's not what it means what it does mean is the more you delight in God he will take his desires and put them on your heart because often times people are like well you know God's will versus my will I'm like if you're delighting in the lord it's the same will amen do you see that see Grace Grace and I have been we've been together since since we were uh 17 um I want to be with her being with her is not obedience it's Joy I have five kids that I love with my whole heart and I'm not their dad out of just pure white knuckled obedience that's what I want I want to be your dad like once the grandkids come it's not like I'm like Lord this isn't my will like Lord this is our will you know you want me to meet the grandkids and I want to meet the grandkids once you find God's will you live with a pure conscience you're like not only am I doing what God wants me to do I'm doing what I want to do and me and God are in agreement and now I have a clear conscience and I get to go do what I want to do I'll give you an example um I I preach the Bible I'm preaching the Bible for 30 plus years if Jesus came down from heaven right now and said you put in three decades son you can go do whatever you want I would say great I'll be in the Pulpit next week because I like it I like it I I like being a pastor I like being a husband I like being a father I like being a grand grandfather I like being forgiven I like not going to hell I enjoy all of that [Music] okay so if you're a person who's delighting in the Lord and you love the Lord and you're close to the Lord you're like I don't know what God wants me to do it's like well what do you want to do maybe he's put a desire on your heart a burden a calling a longing a hope and just maybe that's his will give you another one another one it'll blow your mind Philippians 4: 4-6 uh rejoice in the lord always kind of like delighting in the Lord again I'll say rejoice let your reasonableness be known to everyone the Lord is at hand he's nearby do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and S supplication with Thanksgiving let what your requests be known to God H what's interesting about this some parents who are legal istic and religious they will just always tell their kid what to do that's bad parenting there are things that we need to instruct our children in because they don't begin with wisdom or knowledge but as they grow we need to do less commanding and more asking what is God saying to you what is he teaching you what's on your heart cuz at the end of the day my father says this let your request be known my father's in heaven going son what do you want to do there were times and and I think of prayer and I think of the will of God from the perspective of being a father and now a grandfather so when the kids were little there were times that I would tell them what to do right get your shoes on we got to go to school all right get your pajamas on you got to go to bed uh get your uniform on you've got a game so there would be times that I would give them instruction the kids could correct me if I'm wrong I think that I asked more questions than I gave commands I would come home from work and I would ask the kids what do you want to do dad I want to go for a walk great get your shoes on Dad I want to go for a bike ride great get your helmet on Dad I want to go to the coffee shop and play car game great grab the cards jump in the truck what I don't want to do is control my kids I want to enjoy my kids and I don't want a Master Slave relationship I want a father child relationship okay and so my kids growing up they were wonderful kids not perfect they're a lot better than their dad but I wanted to see what was in their heart and if it was something good then I was for it God is a father he's like let your request be known now that doesn't mean it doesn't mean if we tell God what we want that he has to always say Yes again he's still a father father can say no and a father has to say no but if your children Delight in you rejoice in you and enjoy you and then you ask them what is on their heart the truth is what they're going to tell you is probably something that you're going to support so here is my dangerous line with the kids I will support the decisions you make as long as they're not ungodly I didn't say you need to do everything I tell you from womb to tomb I want them to grow up and find God's will for themselves and to hear from God for themselves and to enjoy God for themselves and to make their requests known some of you I just feel inclined in the spirit to say this you've got a big decision to make and for some of you this is this is feeling like dangerous to territory and I'll just be honest with this what I'm telling you could be abused and that's always the case with Grace and I told you at the beginning we don't want to abuse Grace but we do want to use the grace of God some of you I just sense in the spirit you've been God tell me what you want me to do and the father's like hey what do you want to do well I thought you were in charge I am and and now I'm asking asking you in our relationship what's on your heart and maybe I'll say no maybe I'll say yes maybe I'll say later there were times that things came out of my kids heart that were better than what I was going to tell them to do there were time I can still remember coming home I was like what do you want to do and there were times my kids would be like uh I got Bible questions I like great I thought we were going to eat ice cream you're more spirit than me that's great okay if you know the father Heart Of God you're delighting in enjoying and rejoicing in God he puts his desires on your heart and then he asks you what you would like to do I'll give you uh one more scripture and then an example uh Jesus says this is the story of Jesus Matthew 20: 23-34 and stopping Jesus called them again and said this is a wild question what's the question what do you want me to do you're like you're Jesus You're supposed to tell us what to do like no what do you want to do true or false there are times that Jesus tells people what to do he does and there are times he asks them what they want so The Story Goes they said to him let our eyes be open they're blind they're like we'd like to see Jesus in pity touched their eyes and immediately they recovered their sight and they followed him Jesus is like what do you want they like we'd like to be healed he's like I can do that all right great we're following you again this is dangerous territory um I'll give you a story and then a few things and maybe then a few other things and then some other stuff but anyways um people have asked me how did you know that God called you to Arizona you want hear the truth I don't think he did I don't think he did God never said move to Arizona again God's will is north and south I'm like God I'm going to love Grace and preach the Bible and train men and plant churches and love my family I I'm I'm going to go north and I was like Lord where do where do you want me to be where do you want our family to be he didn't say anything didn't say the kids did kidss are like we're going to Australia they saw koalas and they're like we're in I was like I don't feel like that's a word from the Lord so anyways so I came to Grace and I was like hey I I think we should go to Southern California she's like that is not the word of the Lord that is not she's she's not it's not God doesn't call people to California he doesn't do that he calls them out so Grace was like if you go I'm not going I was like I feel like that's a word from the Lord so you know so so then we're praying as a family and I'm like oh gosh okay and then what started happening is I started to have a burden for Arizona I I'd only been here like once for one of my son's baseball games or something and maybe to preach or something I I didn't have much experience here and and I remember thinking I woke up and I told Grace I was like I want to go to Arizona and I I literally was like hey father can I I felt like the father was asking me where do you want to go I was like Arizona he's like good right but let me ask you this does it look like he was okay with that decision yeah he was okay with that decision okay like Lord I'll preach the Bible wherever you want me if you want me in Detroit you'll have to tell me cuz I'm not going unless you make me I'm not I'm not right but I was like father I want to go to Arizonia like great son go to Arizona I and and I believe that again back to Psalm 374 and5 delight yourself in the Lord and he'll give you the desires of your heart I think I was you know spending time in God's presence and all of a sudden like I want to go to Arizona but I believe that was a desire that God put on my heart and then he's like what do you want to do I like I want to go to Arizona he's like great go to Arizona and apparently the Holy Spirit was willing to come with us so people ask why are you here I want to be I like it here it's sunny the people are nice um I like it here my family likes it here we love it here it's the best season of our whole life best season of my whole life and it wasn't because God sent a burning bush or an angel it said Arizona instead the father asked where do you want to go son I like father I want to go to Arizona he said Arizona it is I want you to see the creativity and God revealing as well couple of things in closing um God speaks clearly but we don't always hear clearly but his sovereignty is our security some of you like oh no I took a wrong step good thing your father's Sovereign he can fix that how many of you have got a kid that made a mistake and you help them fix it you're a kid he's a father he's going to help you fix it sometimes God speaks and we don't hear quite clearly but it's sovereignty is our security last thing I want to share is this it's about parenting one of the most important things we can do in raising our children is teach them to hear the voice of God once your kids hear from God you'll just sleep better see when the kids are very little you're the voice of God to the child as they get bigger you want them to hear from him I'll give you a story there's a little boy in the Old Testament named Samuel God speaks to him God can speak to children in fact God does speak to Children Jesus tells us if you enter into the kingdom you need to be more like the children so you need to it's good to ask hey did you pray about it you know what does the Bible say did God lay anything on your heart what are you thinking with the kids my goal was never just to tell them but to invite them to discover for themselves the will of God and then to coach them I'll give you another one in 2 Timothy 3:16 And1 17 the Apostle Paul says to this man Timothy he says from infancy you have known the scriptures which have made you wise a little kid can have the spirit of God and a little kid can know the word of God and they can have wisdom far beyond their years if they know how to hear the voice of God starting with the word of God okay for those of you who are religious controlling fear-based parents I'm sorry that you've maybe gotten bad teaching I'm sorry that you don't understand the father Heart Of God I'm sorry that some of the pain in your past has caused you to be controlling in your present but let me tell you this once your kids tell you yeah I was praying I was reading the word of God uh I was worshiping and I feel like God said something to me you're like what was it and they say it and you're like you hear from God you know the will of God two things I'll say in closing and then I'll pray pray for those who are parents number one number one we're not always there true you're like I want the kids to just do what I say we're not always there but the Lord is number two we're not always right we're not always right and he is Father thanks that you're our father and we're your sons and daughters we thank you for your loving gracious heart we thank you that you're committed to the relationship and the process father I just thank you that you're will it's loving and gracious and kind it's not a tight rope with anxiety it's an invitation to a life of adventure and Lord we know we're going to get it wrong we thank you that your sovereignty is our security and you can make it right and holy spirit I just ask for these dear people that when they have big decisions to make they would go to these biblical principles and holy spirit I invite you to do only you can do you're the spirit of wisdom to give them wisdom in Jesus name amen

Channel: Pastor Mark Driscoll

Views: 52,825

Keywords: mark driscoll, driscoll, christian sermon, bible study, theology, bible, christian, pastor, christian pastor, mars hill, jesus, real faith, how to study the bible, what is gods will, christianity, pray, bible verse, faith, gospel, christ, god, church, online church, pastor mark

Id: UMlYIqxXov4

Length: 65min 41sec (3941 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 07 2024