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| After He has risen from dead Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to go and preach His Good News to all people on earth that this Good News is for all ( see Matthew 28:18-28) |
IV. Guidance of the Lord
By applying Biblical
principles, we learn how to follow God. Henry T. Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, and Claude V.
King, in their revised and expanded book Experiencing God (1994 Edition, p.
34), give some of these Biblical Principles:
1. God is always at work
around you.
2. God pursues a
continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
3. God invites you to
become involved with Him in His work.
4. God speaks by the
Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church to reveal
Himself, His purposes and His ways.
5. God’s invitation for
you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and
action.
6. You must make major
adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
7. You come to know God
by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes
His work through you.
It is good to reflect on
the seven principles. Principle four says that God speaks by the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit guides each believer.As indicated in
principle seven, we receive guidance when we obey God. As we obey, we seek to
become more like Christ. Jesus only did what his father told him to do (John
5:19,20).Christ was perfectly
obedient, so he received guidance from the Father in all aspects of his life.
Jesus gave them this
answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do
only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son
also does” ( John 5:19 NIV).
Notice that Jesus did
only what he saw his Father doing. So Henry Blackaby suggests that believers
look to see what God is doing in the world, and join God in that work. To be
guided as Jesus was, we must submit our will to God as Jesus did. See Luke
22:42. When we are willing to submit all areas of our lives to God, God will
lead us. He wants us to voluntarily follow, so he leads only as far as we are
willing to go.We can only be
successful in missions to the extent that we follow God. This is why we look to
see what God is doing. God’s work is not always easy to see. We may see God
working in areas where the Gospel has already gone. People may be responding to
Christ and churches may be growing. But in areas where the Gospel has not gone,
how can we see God at work?As we spread the Gospel,
we will see where God causes people to respond, and we can focus in such areas.
We may have a plan for a particular type of ministry, and God may produce
results in a very different way. We must be flexible in following the Holy
Spirit as he leads us to successful strategies.As we become more like
Christ, we think in Christ-like ways. And when we think like
Christ, we are able to
know God’s will.“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” (Romans 12:2 NIV).
To summarize some of the
principles given above, the Lord guides us when we do the
following.
_ Receive the Holy
Spirit.
_ Obey God’s
commandments.
_ See what God is doing,
and join him in that work.
_ Renew our mind as we
mature as Christians.
Principle number four by
Henry Blackaby reads, “God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer,
circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.”
This principle lists the
primary ways in which God guides us. I will expound on each of these ways in
section A below.
A. Primary Means of
Guidance
The Holy Spirit lives
with each believer and guides each believer. God speaks by the Holy Spirit
through the other means that are available. Not all means are available in
every place. Prayer is a means by which each believer can be guided. God speaks
through the advice of those in the church, and in most places, a believer can
find other believers to help in finding guidance. The Bible is available in
many areas of the world, but not in all places. Hopefully, at least the missionary
(if not others in a local church) will have a copy of the Bible. God can work
through circumstances in any place, revealing his will.
1. Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit aids us
as we study the Bible, as we pray, as we seek advice from those in the church,
and as we are confronted with circumstances in life. The Holy Spirit is our
Counselor who teaches us all things. See John 14:26.
Often the Holy Spirit
speaks to us in a quiet voice like the whisper heard by Elijah the prophet. See
1 Kings 19:12. Generally, the Holy Spirit does not speak audibly to us, but he
may place thoughts in our minds, or give us a desire to take one action and
avoid another action.
2. Bible
The thirty-nine books of
the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament are the infallible and
authoritative word of God. The Bible is the best place to look for guidance in
Christian living. By studying and meditating on the Scriptures, we are
changed—taking on the mind of Christ. And the Holy Spirit brings to mind
Scriptures when we need guidance. See John 14:26. So it is very important to
have a plan for regular study of the Bible. If you don’t have a copy of the
Bible, but you have free access to the internet, you can access the Bible and
print free copies of the “Net Bible” from the following website. Click on the
following link:http://www.bible.org/default.asp?scid=3
3. Prayer
Prayer is two-way
communication with God. We speak and we listen. We ask God for guidance, and
then wait for his answer. Throughout each day,we can ask God questions like,
“What do you want me to do in this situation?” Prayer should be sincere
heart-felt communication with God.
Jesus taught us how to
pray. See Matthew 6:5-15. In this passage in Matthew, Jesus said to pray in a
humble manner, not trying to impress others by our speech. He taught us to pray
to God the Father, giving him praise and honor. He said to pray that God’s will
be done on earth. So we agree that God’s way is best, and we seek to obey his
commandments.
Every day, we ask that
God provide for our needs that day. We ask forgiveness for our sins. Sometimes
we may quote the model prayer offered here in Matthew 6, but as a rule, we pray
in our own words. We privately confess our specific sins to God, and ask
forgiveness. We also must forgive others for their sins against us. If we do
not forgive others, God will not forgive us. We ask God to protect us from the
traps set by Satan.
4. Church
The organized church
includes all those who claim to be Christians, and who meet together to worship
with other Christians. Within the organized church there are both believers and
non-believers. The true church includes those who truly believe in Christ, and
have received the Holy Spirit. God speaks through those in the true church.
Some in the church have
the spiritual gift of prophecy—they proclaim the word of God. See Ephesians
4:11. God gives them a message relevant to their hearers. So we listen to pastors,
to Bible teachers, to Christian counselors, and to gifted elders in order to
hear a word from the Lord. We should test prophecy to see if it agrees with
Scripture. See Acts 17:11. We know Scripture is inspired, but there are many
false prophets in the world.
So Scripture takes
precedence over current prophecy. One way to identify false prophets is to
observe their lifestyle and works—if their fruit is bad, they are false
prophets. See Matthew 7:15-20.
It is good to seek the
advice of mature Christians in the church. It is helpful to have such
Christians as mentors. Such advisors can walk along beside us as we follow
Christ, providing an example and encouraging us.
We also should mentor
others less spiritually mature than ourselves. We seek the advice of mature
Christians, but we shouldn’t ignore the words of anyone that God may send to
us. God may speak through little children. Indeed, the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such innocent children. See Matthew 19:14. Sometimes parents are
amazed by the spiritual insight of their children.
The advice of Christians
is valuable, but ultimately each of us must listen to God for guidance. The
Holy Spirit may lead us to mission work that is not advised by our friends in
the church. Typically missionaries seek the blessing of the church as they
prepare for missions. See Acts 13:2. But God may call a missionary to service
before others in the church know about such guidance. Later, the church may
confirm this calling. It is incumbent upon a missionary to examine the Scriptures
and listen to the Holy Spirit.
Each Christian is unique
and each Christian has a unique calling. The work of various missionaries may
be similar, but not exactly the same.
Each Christian servant
has a different set of gifts, talents, resources, life situation, culture, and
mission field. So God uses people in different ways to expand his kingdom.
Therefore it is important to avoid merely copying other ministers and
ministries. Certainly we can learn from other Christians, and we should apply
some of their successful techniques in our work. But we seek God’s guidance,
not just the guidance of people.
God is against those
preachers who steal the words of other prophets. See Jeremiah 23:30. We can
learn from other preachers. We can use some of their ideas. But God does not
want us to merely copy the sermons of others. God wants us to listen to him and
proclaim his word.
5. Circumstances
Christians sometimes
refer to “divine providence” as being synonymous with “divine guidance.” By the
providence of God, means are provided to accomplish a mission for God. God may
provide such things as training,spiritual gifts, or opportunities and then call
a missionary to use such means to expand the kingdom of God.
Some Christians do not
believe in “coincidence” (the accidental occurrence of events suggesting a
causal relationship). They believe that God is in control of events, so they
don’t think that coincidental events are accidental. So I coined the term
“divine coincidence” meaning that God sometimes works in miraculous ways that
may appear to be coincidental.
For example, a
missionary may need a specific amount of money to be able to serve in a mission
field, and exactly when the money is needed, the money is miraculously
provided.
Many Christians refer to
some circumstances as “open or closed doors.”
The Apostle Paul
referred to an open door for his ministry in Ephesus. See 1 Corinthians 16:8,9.
Certainly we should be aware of open and closed doors, but there is a danger in
relying solely on circumstances in determining the guidance of God. God wants
us to follow the Holy Spirit, and not look merely to circumstances around us.
Paul wrote that while we are in the body, “we live by faith, not by sight” (2
Corinthians 5:7 NIV).
We don’t see the
spiritual world unless God reveals it. The prophet Elisha’s servant saw that
the King of Aram had sent an army to surround their city. The servant asked
what they could do. Elisha explained that those who were with them were more
than those who were against them.
Elisha asked the Lord to
give the servant spiritual sight, and then the servant saw that God had sent
his angels in chariots of fire to overcome the enemy (2 Kings 6:8-23).
God may call you to be a
missionary, and you may feel that circumstances are preventing you from
responding to that call. You may not currently have the resources or abilities
to serve. But if God is calling, he will provide the means for you to go.
( For more and free course visit <www.missionstraining.org>)
