Print this pageGod's Will: Blueprint or Game Plan? | What's Your Decision Tree? | December 17-18, 2005 |
How To Make Some Really Bad Decisions
1) Trust your feelings above all else. (The “Inner Peace” Trap)
1 Corinthians 4:4
My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. [NIV]
Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool seems right to him,
but a wise man listens to advice. [NIV]
Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death. [NIV]
Romans 1:28-32
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. [29] They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, [30] slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; [31] they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. [32] Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. [NIV]
2) Put out a fleece. (The “Strange Circumstances” Trap)
Judges 6:36-40
Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised-- [37] look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." [38] And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew--a bowlful of water.
[39] Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." [40] That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. [NIV]
Judges 8:22-27
The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us--you, your son and your grandson--because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian."
[23] But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you." [24] And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)
[25] They answered, "We'll be glad to give them." So they spread out a garment, and each man threw a ring from his plunder onto it. [26] The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels' necks. [27] Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. [NIV]
Acts 16:4-12
As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. [5] So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
[6] Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. [7] When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. [8] So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. [9] During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." [10] After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
[11] From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. [12] From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. [NIV]
1 Corinthians 16:5-9
After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you--for I will be going through Macedonia. [6] Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. [7] I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. [8] But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, [9] because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. [NIV]
3) Don’t bother God with obvious decisions. (The “No Brainer” Trap)
Joshua 9:1-27
Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things--those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)-- [2] they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel.
[3] However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, [4] they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. [5] The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. [6] Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us."
[7] The men of Israel said to the Hivites, "But perhaps you live near us. How then can we make a treaty with you?"
[8] "We are your servants," they said to Joshua.
But Joshua asked, "Who are you and where do you come from?"
[9] They answered: "Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, [10] and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan--Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. [11] And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, 'Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, "We are your servants; make a treaty with us." ' [12] This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. [13] And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey."
[14] The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. [15] Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.
[16] Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. [17] So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. [18] But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.
The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, [19] but all the leaders answered, "We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. [20] This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them." [21] They continued, "Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community." So the leaders' promise to them was kept.
[22] Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, "Why did you deceive us by saying, 'We live a long way from you,' while actually you live near us? [23] You are now under a curse: You will never cease to serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God."
[24] They answered Joshua, "Your servants were clearly told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. [25] We are now in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good and right to you."
[26] So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. [27] That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose. And that is what they are to this day. [NIV]
John 8:44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. [NIV]
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, [10] and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. [11] For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie [12] and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. [NIV]
4) Confuse faith with optimism. (The “Head In The Sand” Trap)
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. [NIV]
5) Ask God what – forget to ask when. (The “Timing” Trap)
Acts 7:20-36
"At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. [21] When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. [22] Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
[23] "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. [24] He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. [25] Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. [26] The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?'
[27] "But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? [28] Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' [29] When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
[30] "After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. [31] When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord's voice: [32] 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
[33] "Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground. [34] I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.'
[35] "This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. [36] He led them out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert. [NIV]
6) Ignore your spouse. (The “Sleep On The Couch” Trap)
1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. [NIV]
1 Samuel 25:1-42
Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah.
Then David moved down into the Desert of Maon. [2] A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. [3] His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.
[4] While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. [5] So he sent ten young men and said to them, "Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. [6] Say to him: 'Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!
[7] " 'Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. [8] Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my young men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.' "
[9] When David's men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David's name. Then they waited.
[10] Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. [11] Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?"
[12] David's men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. [13] David said to his men, "Put on your swords!" So they put on their swords, and David put on his. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
[14] One of the servants told Nabal's wife Abigail: "David sent messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. [15] Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in the fields near them nothing was missing. [16] Night and day they were a wall around us all the time we were herding our sheep near them. [17] Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him."
[18] Abigail lost no time. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. [19] Then she told her servants, "Go on ahead; I'll follow you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.
[20] As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them. [21] David had just said, "It's been useless--all my watching over this fellow's property in the desert so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. [22] May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!"
[23] When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. [24] She fell at his feet and said: "My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. [25] May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name--his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent.
[26] "Now since the Lord has kept you, my master, from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, may your enemies and all who intend to harm my master be like Nabal. [27] And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the men who follow you. [28] Please forgive your servant's offense, for the Lord will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the Lord's battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live. [29] Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God. But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. [30] When the Lord has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel, [31] my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord has brought my master success, remember your servant."
[32] David said to Abigail, "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. [33] May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. [34] Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak."
[35] Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, "Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request."
[36] When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until daybreak. [37] Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone. [38] About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
[39] When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Praise be to the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal's wrongdoing down on his own head."
Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife. [40] His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, "David has sent us to you to take you to become his wife."
[41] She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, "Here is your maidservant, ready to serve you and wash the feet of my master's servants." [42] Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five maids, went with David's messengers and became his wife. [NIV]
Food for Thought for the week of December 18, 2005
Scripture:
Psalm 119:9-11
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
[10] I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
[11] I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you. [NIV]
Psalm 119:59-61
I have considered my ways
and have turned my steps to your statutes.
[60] I will hasten and not delay
to obey your commands.
[61] Though the wicked bind me with ropes,
I will not forget your law. [NIV]
Psalm 119:97-105
Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.
[98] Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are ever with me.
[99] I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
[100] I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.
[101] I have kept my feet from every evil path
so that I might obey your word.
[102] I have not departed from your laws,
for you yourself have taught me.
[103] How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
[104] I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
[105] Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path. [NIV]Proverbs 2:1-22
My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
[2] turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
[3] and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
[4] and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
[5] then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
[6] For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
[7] He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
[8] for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
[9] Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair--every good path.
[10] For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
[11] Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
[12] Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
[13] who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
[14] who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
[15] whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
[16] It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
[17] who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
[18] For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
[19] None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
[20] Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
[21] For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
[22] but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it. [NIV]Proverbs 15:22
Plans fail for lack of counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed. [NIV]
2 Chronicles 10:1-11
Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. [2] When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. [3] So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and all Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: [4] "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you."
[5] Rehoboam answered, "Come back to me in three days." So the people went away.
[6] Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. "How would you advise me to answer these people?" he asked.
[7] They replied, "If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants."
[8] But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. [9] He asked them, "What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, 'Lighten the yoke your father put on us'?"
[10] The young men who had grown up with him replied, "Tell the people who have said to you, 'Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter'--tell them, 'My little finger is thicker than my father's waist. [11] My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' " [NIV]The Inner Promptings of the Holy Spirit:
Acts 16:6-10
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. [7] When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. [8] So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. [9] During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." [10] After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. [NIV]
Acts 20:22-23
"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. [23] I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. [NIV]
John 16:12-14
"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. [13] But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. [14] He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. [NIV]
A summary of Solomon’s bad decisions can be found in 1 Kings 11:1-13.
1 Kings 11:1-13
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter--Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. [2] They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. [3] He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. [4] As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. [5] He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. [6] So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
[7] On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. [8] He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
[9] The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. [10] Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord's command. [11] So the Lord said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. [12] Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. [13] Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen." [NIV]