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Knowing God’s Will Part 9: Lessons From Experiencing God
NOTE: For realities 1-4 (Knowing God’s Will parts 1-8), please read earlier posts. What is your initial reaction when you know you’ve heard from God, but it doesn’t make sense? It’s beyond your capacity to do? It’s not in the area of you giftedness, strength, or comfort zone? Read Reality 5: “The first thing you do after you hear God’s voice is critical…what you do next reveals what you believe about God.” (Henry Blackaby) At this point you have to make a decision. Blackaby calls this a “crisis of belief.” Do you believe God can accomplish His will in and through you, or not? You have 2 options: obey or…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 8: Lessons From Experiencing God
How has God spoken to you lately? Remember Reality 4 from last week? As we continue to study the Word, we pray for clarity from the Lord. But what happens if we ask for one thing, & God opens a different door? Blackaby says when this happens, he finds God always has more to give than he asked for! He prays for God to cancel any request that is not His will! I love Priscilla Shirer’s version of this. We will see in Reality 6, when God works differently than we expect, we must adjust to His plan. Sometimes even His silence speaks loudly. Even Jesus had silence in the garden,…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 7: Lessons From Experiencing God
How does God speak into our lives today? In the Old Testament it was through burning bushes, prophets, casting lots, loud wind & gentle whispers. In the Gospels, God spoke through Jesus. From Acts to today He began speaking through the Holy Spirit. Remember…the most important thing is not how He spoke but that He spoke! God speaks in ways we can understand so we know Him & His plan. Sometimes I miss the fact that He wants a personal love relationship with me (See Reality 2) when I’m seeking His will about something. I focus on the earthly answer more than Him! See below words from Henry Blackaby. As…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 6: Lessons From Experiencing God
When you hear God’s voice, have you ever been challenged to walk out a Truth God reveals? It’s so sweet that God not only shows us His Truth, but He invites us to follow that Truth. And He absolutely expects us, at the moment He invites, to obey that invitation! Last week I shared Reality 3 (scroll back for Parts 1-5): God invites us to become involved with Him in His work. We start with watching to see where the God is working around us in the normal course of our day. Even Jesus only did what He saw His Father doing. Another sweet thing God does, is He walks…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 5: Lessons From Experiencing God
Do you ever miss being a part of what God is doing around you? Since God is working everywhere around us (Reality 1), how do we know when we are supposed to be a part of His work? We want to serve, but where? Since this is part of a series, if you are just now reading, please check out parts 1-4 in this series, Knowing God’s Will that lead to part 5. Because God pursues a love relationship with us that is real and personal (reality 2), He desires that we become a part of His work on earth. The call to a relationship with Him is a call to…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 4: Lessons From Experiencing God
Have you ever considered whether you pursued God for a relationship or if He pursued you? We talk about “running hard after Jesus” and how we have to accept His offer of salvation, but have you thought about why? Or where it all starts? Reality 2 for Experiencing God is this: God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. (Please check out parts 1-3 in this series, Knowing God’s Will.) Our relationship with Jesus doesn’t start with us. It starts with God. Through the Holy Spirit our heart desires a Savior and seeks to walk with Him, but that is not of our own initiative. This…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 3: Lessons From Experiencing God
Do you ever wonder what God is doing? And when you feel led to serve Him in some way, do you wonder why? Because God is working all the time and in every place to bring His purpose into our lives. This is Reality 1 of Experiencing God: God is always at work around you. (Check out parts 1-2 to understand the direction for this series, Knowing God’s Will.) We see in the life of Moses how God worked to protect Moses’ life, show Him the slavery of His Hebrew brothers, lead him into the wilderness to shepherd sheep and then send him to Egypt to gain release for the Israelites so…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 2: Lessons From Experiencing God
If you haven’t read part 1, I’d recommend you read that first so you know the direction for this series, Knowing God’s Will. A question most of us want answered is: what is God’s will for my life? I was reminded through my recent study of Experiencing God as well as a recent podcast, that the better question is: what is God’s will. The thing is, we have to know what His will is overall for His people to even begin to see what His will is for us individually. The two will always be in alignment. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one…
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My Pillar
What guides your thoughts and actions? To whom do you look for wisdom? We can rely on friends and family, and those in our life group, for solid advice, but none have the wisdom that only God provides as we look to Him primarily for daily direction. As I was reading the book of Exodus, I arrived at the passage that includes instructions to the Israelites to follow the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. That way they would know which way they were to travel. As I focused on this passage, I was reminded of the Pillar we have today to guide us…
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Knowing God’s Will Part 1: Lessons From Experiencing God
So I’m challenging myself to a thing. My life group just began Seven Realities for Experiencing God by Richard and Henry Blackaby. We will walk through it slowly, taking almost 3 months. But at the same time I decided I would work through the updated version of Experiencing God, also by the Blackabys, upon which Seven Realities is based. As I do, I’m looking back over the original version that I did back in the early 1990s. Years ago, we did not have many discipleship resources like this.. I must say it was a life changing, and ministry changing, study. I believe it will be interesting to see how I…
