How to make Decisions

[0:00] The Word of God is a lamp unto our feet.

[0:43] So in other words, our immediate steps and a light unto our path. So the steps ahead, the future journey, the future direction that we want to take. God's Word helps us in the present as a lamp and in the future as a light unto our path.

[0:58] And of course when we're making decisions, we need to go to the Word. Brother, sister, the Word is God's direction. It's God's guidance. God leads us through His Word.

[1:09] And in some circles people say, Oh, I had a Word from the Lord. I had a Word from the Lord. And it's some kind of idea or concept. And that's not discounting that that can happen.

[1:21] But God's Word is here in our hands. This is the Word from the Lord to you. It's God's written that first person to you and me in black and white, God's Word.

[1:32] We can hold it in our hands. The Word of God helps us with guidance. And Proverbs 3, 6, it says to us, In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path.

[1:43] So pray about it too. Get the Word. And secondly, number two, pray. Pray about it. Ask the Lord if you're getting some inkling or feeling or uncertainty.

[1:55] Which road shall I take? You come to a fork in the road and you're not sure which direction to move. Pray. Pray about it. And God will grant you His peace as we pray.

[2:07] We know that He gives us that peace that passeth all understanding, that will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Ask whether your plans are things that God can bless.

[2:19] The decisions that you're thinking of making, the choices you're thinking of having in your life. Is this something that we can ask God to bless, to help us with? Is it something that we can thank Him for?

[2:30] In Colossians 3, 17 we're told, And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God and the Father by Him.

[2:45] Whatsoever you do. So is it something, this decision you're thinking of making, is this something you can thank God for? Or is it not? Prayer is critical. Pray about it.

[2:56] Thirdly, consider the effects of your decision. We read that, Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.

[3:09] Will it bring honour and glory to God? Is God going to be glorified by that decision? Or is God not going to be glorified? Is it going to be something that pleases your Saviour, your Master, your Lord?

[3:24] Not pleasing man, or even pleasing yourself. Half the time, when decisions are to be made, sometimes it might even go against the grain. But if it's something that God would be pleased with, He would be glorified by, then you can be guided by that also.

[3:41] Another aspect, when you think about the effects of your decision, is it going to cause people to stumble? Is this decision that you make, is this action that you're going to take, is it something that will cause other people to stumble?

[3:55] We should adhere to that which is constructive for our brother, that which is beneficial to our brother, and abstain from things that might cause our brother or sister to stumble.

[4:06] So even though you might personally feel something's right, you might abstain from it for the sake of your brother and sister, so that you don't offend, you don't cause them to stumble while you're doing that.

[4:18] And Colossians 3.23, are we out to please God or man? In Colossians 3.23 it says, and whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto man.

[4:31] Sometimes with decisions that we make, we might want to decide a certain way, because it will please our friends, please our family, or people we associate with, but will it please God?

[4:44] That is a critical factor, and an essential thing to consider. Another scripture that guides us is 1 Peter 5.8-9, it says, Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren, that are in the world.

[5:09] Is it going to put you in a position of temptation, in a position of victory, or defeat? You know, choices that we make, willful choices that we make, can put us in temptation's way, can put us in danger from the enemy.

[5:26] Is that decision, something that's based on, your relationship, with the Lord, and wanting to please Him? For example, Matthew 6.24, it says, No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.

[5:47] He cannot serve God and mammon. Are we submitted and obedient to the Master, our Saviour? As a Christian, we've got the wonderful privilege, to know the Lord Jesus, as our Lord, and Saviour.

[6:01] In John 16.13, it says, Of the Spirit of truth, when He has come, He will guide you, into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak.

[6:16] Do we follow His leading? That's the question. Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil, the lust of the flesh. So, walk in the Spirit, let it be a day by day, a daily experience, of walking with the Lord.

[6:29] Friends, today, we're under a lot of pressure, we're bombarded constantly, the airwaves, the media, everything, every force of the world, is really geared and engineered, to direct our thinking, away from the Word of God.

[6:44] And even, the education systems, often the whole system, is humanistic. It's geared for human thinking, at times in conflict with, the Word of God.

[6:54] And so, the question for us, when we're making a decision, about which path, to take, is it the path, that the world would take, away from God? Or is it a path, that would be honouring, to the Lord, and is not loving the world?

[7:08] Think also, of godly counsel. There's people, that you can go to. Because Proverbs 11, 14, it says, where there is no counsel, the people fall.

[7:19] But in the multitude, of counsellors, there is safety. There is a network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network network