Put this down as an unfailing rule: Never seek the leading of the Lord concerning an act that is forbidden in the Word of God. To do so is to convict ourselves of insincerity.
Again, prophet, psalmist, apostle and our blessed Lord Himself join to point out the way of positive obedience. His yoke is easy, His burden is light and He giveth more grace, so let this be the second rule:
Never seek the leading of the Lord concerning an act that has been commanded in the Scriptures.
Now, a happy truth too often overlooked in our anxious search for the will of God is that in the majority of decisions touching our earthly lives God expresses no choice, but leaves everything to our own preference.
Some Christians walk under a cloud of uncertainty, worrying about which profession they should enter, which car they should drive, which school they should attend, where they should live and a dozen or score of other such matters, when their Lord has set them free to follow their own personal bent, guided only by their love for Him and for their fellow men.
On the surface it appears more spiritual to seek Gods leading than just to go ahead and do the obvious thing. But it is not.
If God gave you a watch would you honor Him more by asking Him for the time of or by consulting the watch?
If God gave a sailor a compass would the sailor please God more by kneeling in a frenzy of prayer to persuade God to show him which way to go or by steering according to the compass?
verse
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
— Philippians 2:13
thought
Sometimes God shouts to us through our circumstances. His will seems too obvious. But a study of Pauls life shows that God leads us in different ways at different times in our pilgrimage.
prayer
Father, at times I have in effect demanded revelation of Your will to me in life hurricanes and earthquakes. May I discern it as well in the unspectacular circumstances of life-the quiet compass You have given me.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
One of the problems most frequently encountered by serious-minded Christians is how to discover the will of God in a given situation.
Now, granted that we are wholly committed to God with every full intent to obey Him, we may expect actually to be led by Him.
The Scriptures that teach this are so many that one scarcely knows where to begin quoting.
It only remains for us to believe they mean what they say.
The many choices that we Christians must make from to involve only four kinds of things: Those concerning which God has said an emphatic no; those about which He has said an equally emphatic yes; those concerning which He wants us to consult our own sanctified preferences; and those few and rare matters about which we cannot acquire enough information to permit us to make intelligent decisions and which for that reason require some special guidance from the Lord to prevent us from making serious mistakes.
Regardless of what our positive thinkers have said, the Scriptures have much to say about things Christians are not to do.
Every call to repentance is a call to negative as well as to positive moral action.
Cease to do evil; learn to do well is a fair epitome of the moral teaching of the Bible.
verse
. . . Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! . . .
— Isaiah 1:16-17
thought
Determining the Lords will can be difficult at times. The problem may be that we are not sufficiently familiar with His Word so as to know what He specifically forbids or positively commands. Such knowledge can often reduce the choice quandary.
prayer
Lord, forgive me for sometimes refusing to see what You have clearly revealed in Your Word. Your way is the only way.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
One of the problems most frequently encountered by serious-minded Christians is how to discover the will of God in a given situation.
This is not a small matter.
To countless thousands of Christians it is vitally important.
Their peace of heart depends upon knowing that God is actually guiding them, and their failure to be sure that He is destroys their inward tranquility and fills them with uncertainty and fear. They must get help if they are to regain their confidence. Here is a modest effort to provide some help.
First, it is absolutely essential that we be completely dedicated to Gods high honor and surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God will not lead us except for His own glory and He cannot lead us if we resist His will.
The shepherd cannot lead a stubborn sheep.
The evil practice of using God must be abandoned.
Instead of trying to employ God to achieve our ends we must submit ourselves joyously to God and let Him work through us to achieve His own ends.
verse
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.
— Matthew 26:39
thought
Have you ever tried to use God? Have you attempted to persuade Him to do your will rather than you doing His? To know His will we must be fully committed to do it!
prayer
Lord, You were fully committed to do the will of the Father, costly as it was. By Your Spirit strengthen within me the resolve to do Your will no matter the cost.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
It is something of a happy paradox that while the thoughts deeply affect the will and go far to determine its choices, the will on the other hand has the power to control the thoughts. A will firmly engaged with God can swing the intellectual powers around to think on holy things.
Were it not so, Pauls words to the Philippians would be psychologically untenable: Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8).
Since we are here commanded to think on certain things it follows that we can command our thoughts; and if we can pick the objects upon which to meditate we can in the end sway our whole inner life in the direction of righteousness.
It is much more important that we think godly thoughts and will to do Gods will than that we feel spiritual.
Religious feelings may and do vary so greatly from person to person, or even in the same person they may vary so widely from one time to the next, that it is never safe to trust them.
Let us by a determined act of faith set our affections on things above and God will see to the rest.
The safest, and after a while the happiest, man is the one who can say, My heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.
verse
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.
— Philippians 4:8
thought
Thoughts invade our thinking because of the world around us and things stored in our subconscious. We cant altogether prevent thought invasion. But when wrong thoughts, evil thoughts arise we can deliberately focus our mind on things good.
prayer
Lord, I determine by Your enablement to think about the good.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
It is significant that when our Lord describes the stream of iniquity as it flows out of the heart He begins with the thoughts.
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies... Matthew 15:19.
It is doubtful whether any sin is ever committed until it first incubates in the thoughts long enough to stir the feelings and predispose the will toward it favorably.
Even the sudden flash of anger, which of all sins would appear on the surface to have the lowest mental content, is anything but a sudden eruption of the emotions.
The quick-tempered man is one who habitually broods over wrongs and insults and thus conditions himself for the sudden fit of temper that seems to have no mental origin. The heart that has had the benefit of broad, sane thinking on moral questions, especially long meditation upon mans sin, Gods mercy and the goodness of Christ in dying for His enemies, is not conditioned to blow up when occasion arises.
The worst reaction to an affront or an injustice will be annoyance or mild irritation, never a burst of sinful anger.
verse
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
— Ephesians 4:31-32
thought
The short-tempered person is given to fits of rage. Long-temperedness (patience) is part of the fruit of the Spirit as is gentleness and self-control. That fruit is produced in us as we walk by under the Spirits control.
prayer
Lord, help me to relate to people as You do to me-with great patience, grace and gentleness.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
It will probably be found at last that there is no sin except sin of the mind.
It is the carnal mind that is enmity against God, that is not subject to the law of God, neither can be.
It should, however, be remembered that when the Bible speaks of the mind it does not refer to the intellect alone.
The whole personality is included in the concept; the bent of the will, the moral responses, the sympathies and antipathies are there also, as well as the intellect.
When God saw the wickedness of man, that it was great in the earth, He saw what could not be seen from the outside, that, as it is rendered in one place, the whole imagination, with the purposes and desires of the heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).
From this passage alone we may properly gather that sin has its seat deep within the mind where it pollutes the emotions (desires), the intellect (imaginations) and the will (purposes).
These taken together constitute what the Bible and popular theology call the heart.
verse
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
— Matthew 15:18-19
thought
What we are in heart at times explodes and at other times quietly leaks out through our mouths as well as our gestures, expressions and actions. That is why it is imperative that our hearts be clean and that there Christ be enthroned.
prayer
Examine my heart, Lord, expose it. I want my heart to be Your throne.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Any man who would escape the heavy tax which humankind lays upon the righteous must make a satisfactory compromise with error.
This is so because sin has perverted the nature of things.
He that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey is as true now as when it was first uttered.
Little as we like to admit it, two thousand years of Christianity have not made much difference. The human race is still cursed with what Bacon called a natural though corrupt love of the lie itself. Nevertheless the hazards of truth should not count in our final tally.
Truth is such a royal patron that we should embrace it without regard to cost. The cautious calculator, who tinkers with truth for fear of consequences, is no worthy servant of such a noble master. We Christians above all people should value truth, for we profess to belong to the One who is the Truth.
The Stoics who had no access to the Scriptures nevertheless had a noble concept of truth and of mans responsibility to it. When on trial for his life before a hostile and prejudiced court one of them told his accusers: A man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong-acting the part of a good man or a bad.
The true follower of Christ will not ask, If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?
Rather he will say, This is truth, God help me to walk in it, let come what may!
verse
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it.
— Isaiah 30:21
thought
Some of us want to know the way, the truth just to be knowledgeable among our brothers and sisters. But God shows us truth and says This is the way; walk in it.
prayer
You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. As You show me truth may I walk in the way of it, even though it is sometimes painful.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
To know the truth is the greatest privilege any man can enjoy in this life, as truth itself is without doubt the richest treasure anyone can possess.
This follows from the nature of truth, and from the world-outlasting dowry it brings to those who open their hearts to it.
Apart from truth our human lives would lose all their value, and we ourselves become no better than the beasts that perish. Our response to truth should be eager and instant. We dare not dally with it; we dare not treat it as something we can obey or not obey, at our pleasure. It is a glorious friend, but it is nevertheless a hard master, exacting unquestioning obedience.
While a life lived in conformity with the truth will come at last to a good and peaceful end, candor requires us to admit that the lover of truth will have to endure many a heartache, many a sorrow as he journeys through the wilderness.
This is the price the world makes him pay for the priceless privilege of obeying the truth.
The world being what it is, truth must carry its own forfeit.
The servant of truth will be penalized for his devotion. So goes the world always.
verse
Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
— John 14:6
thought
Christ is the truth. We want to embrace some truth and screen out other truth. We cant. To follow Christ means walking in the truth-all of it!
prayer
It hurts sometimes, Lord, to embrace the truth, all of it. Yet to reject truth is to embrace darkness. You are the truth. Fill all of me!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Man is a worshiper and only in the spirit of worship does he find release for all the powers of his amazing intellect.
A religious writer has warned us that it may be fatal to trust to the squirrel-work of the industrious brain rather than to the piercing vision of the desirous heart.
The Greek church father, Nicephorus, taught that we should learn to think with our heart. Force your mind to descend into the heart, he says, and to remain there. . . . When you thus enter into the place of the heart give thanks to God and, praising His mercy, keep always to this doing, and it will teach you things which in no other way will you ever learn.
A religious mentality characterized by timidity and lack of moral courage has given us to a flabby Christianity, intellectually impoverished, dull, repetitious and to a great many persons just plain boring.
This is peddled as the very faith of our fathers in direct lineal descent from Christ and the apostles.
We spoon-feed this insipid pabulum to our inquiring youth and, to make it palatable, spice it up with carnal amusements filched from the unbelieving world. It is easier to entertain than to instruct, it is easier to follow degenerate public taste than to think for oneself, so too many of our evangelical leaders let their minds atrophy while they keep their fingers nimble operating religious gimmicks to bring in the curious crowds.
Christianity must embrace the total personality and command every atom of the redeemed being.
We cannot withhold our intellects from the blazing altar and still hope to preserve the true faith of Christ.
verse
All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of the God and ponder what he has done.
— Psalm 64:9
thought
The indwelling Spirit can inflame our intellect, empowering it to climb new mountains of thought that brings us closer and closer to God.
prayer
Lord, remind me to think from the heart, not just the mind. May I persevere and find answers of heart, if not of mind. Make me a sanctified thinker.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/