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THE
BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?
EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?
GOD
- MAN
Is Jesus really God?
RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?
SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.
SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.
FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?
GUIDANCE
How does God guide?
REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.
BORN
AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?
SAVING
FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven
ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?
TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?
MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.
THE
CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the
new millennium.
PURPOSE
How
can I find a great purpose for living?
IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of
God.
SELF-ESTEEM
How
can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.
LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.
THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.
Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.
A useful summary
One of the most useful summaries on guidance I have come across comes from Henry Drummond. He was a Scottish professor who assisted D. L. Moody with his evangelistic campaigns in Britain in the 1870s and who had a very fine ministry to young men. On the flyleaf of his Bible, he wrote 8 maxims for knowing the will of God:
Pray.
Think.
Talk to wise people; but do not regard their decision as final.
Beware of the bias of your own will; but do not be too much afraid of it. (God never unnecessarily thwarts a man's nature and likings, and it is a mistake to think that his will is in the line of the disagreeable.)
Meantime do the next thing (for doing God's will in small things is the best preparation for knowing it in the great things).
When decision and action are necessary, go ahead.
Never reconsider the decision when it is finally acted upon.
You will probably not find out till afterwards, perhaps long afterwards, that you have been led at all.
A challenge from the New Testament
Perhaps the most comprehensive passage on guidance in the New Testament is in Romans 12:1,2: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
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"An
unsurrendered will is the most serious of all obstacles to the discovery
of God's will"
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"Therefore" in this passage applies to all that has gone before in the letter. Paul has been talking about our total forgiveness and acceptance in Christ, the reality of his love, his gift of the Holy Spirit, our privileges as sons of God, our eternal security and the glory to come. Our response to that should be our total dedication to him (you can't give more than your body!). Often it is our lack of commitment that is the real problem. John Stott says:
An unsurrendered will is the most serious of all obstacles to the discovery of God's will. If God does not reveal his truth to those who are not willing to believe it, neither does he reveal his will to those unwilling to do it.
I once heard Billy Graham say, "If you want God's will badly enough, you can't miss it!"
The second thing Paul tells us to do is to adjust our thinking so we see things from God's point of view, rather than from the way the world sees them. The best way of doing this is to immerse ourselves in the thinking of the Bible.
If we do these two things, then we will be able to test and approve God's will. Note that it is something to be tested. It is not handed to us on a plate.
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Four guidelines for specific decisions
A useful summary
