How Do We Know What God Wants Us To Do?

Post No. 200

"God spoke to me." This statement is often used by people to say that God has directly spoken to them in divine revelation. They are saying that God is speaking to them outside the Scripture. This is a more direct way of knowing what they need to be doing, God will speak to them directly through their spirit. So the question is: Does God speak to us, personally?

My argument is this: God has already spoken through the Word. The question is how are we going to know what God wants us to do in living daily our lives?

I have said this statement for years. Our general decisions we make daily are made upon:

• Our upbringing from our parents
• Our training in Sunday School by our teachers
• Our interactions with other people
• Our developed sense of right and wrong
• Our belief system we have developed by study
• Our reading of books and articles from many resources
• Our understanding of the events before us

How do we make spiritual decisions?

• As our spirit is made alive from the dead by the Holy Spirit
• As we learn the principles from God’s Word

* Our personal reading of the Bible

* Our hearing the Word from Godly teachers/preachers/pastors

* Our interactions with Godly people
* Our reading of books and articles

* As our minds become trained in discipline in the matter of truth

• As we learn theology/doctrines of the Word of God
  * One truth at a time
  * One doctrine at a time
  * One book of the Bible at a time
  
• A Belief System that has been developed over a period of time of study and reflection.
• We hear this a lot: "DO WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT?" If the truth was known, it would be that we believe that we are doing right less than 25% of the time.
  * This is developed over a period of time.
  * First we do what our parents instruct us what is right.
  * Second we do what we are taught by society and our education.
  * We develop a sense of knowing through a better understanding of who we are
  * "I don’t know yet." This is normal. Most of us have an idea of what we are doing, somewhere around 50% or less.

• How do we know what we believe is right in the first place?
  * Getting the information from Fox? No
  * Spiritually: the only way is from the understanding of the Word of God.
  
• I have always said, Live today. Do today what you believe is the best way to live it. Leave the result to the Lord."

• I have never been able to see very far down the road of life. I have thought wrong more times then being right. If I were to predict the future events I would be wrong most of the time. Example: Pastoring a church in Fla. I was almost sure I would be, but that never happened. I have thought I would be here or there and I am still here. This has happened at least five times in the last several years alone.
  

• Most of the time I act upon a sense that it’s right. Now after 50 years of being saved, I should have a little sense of what is right. The Lord has not personally spoken outside His Word, but He has spoken to me in many ways.

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant and Proof Checked by Charity Whisnant for accuracy.
Written in 2006 Posted April 09 2007