Making God Centered Decisions

Making God-Centered Decisions

            Life is about making decisions … so how is a person who is trying to follow Christ, able to negotiate decisions in life that will definitely bring blessings or consequences?

I'm going to digress for a bit....

I’m thoroughly enjoying our STS/Character study about the Life of David.  David was an ordinary person- that reckoned that God would be with him.  As a result- he does marvelous things.  As a result of following God and being more concerned about what God thinks of him- he makes tough choices that reveal a character about him that God says how David is a “man after my own heart.”  (1 Sam 13:14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."   NIV)

            One of the things that caught my attention this past week from my study that has really impacted me and is causing me to rethink how I think about decisions and talking to God about them….This is the  passage that has gotten me thinking…

1 Sam 26:1-12 The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?" 2 So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search there for David. 3 Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the desert. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, 4 he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived. 5 Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of the army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the camp, with the army encamped around him. 6 David then asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, "Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?" "I'll go with you," said Abishai. 7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him. 8 Abishai said to David, "Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of my spear; I won't strike him twice." 9 But David said to Abishai, "Don't destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? 10 As surely as the Lord lives," he said, "the Lord himself will strike him; either his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. 11 But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord's anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let's go." 12 So David took the spear and water jug near Saul's head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all sleeping, because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep. NIV

(I’ll tell you in a little bit why I highlighted this last verse) 

So… David is being chased down by Saul.  God makes the entire Israelite camp fall asleep.  This gives David and Abishai a great opportunity to sneak down into the camp and finish off the man who is causing him so much trouble and heartache.  David and Abishai stand over king Saul and Abishai tells David this is the chance to finish off his enemy and God has given him the chance.  Abishai says he will run him through with his spear- “I won’t need to do it twice,” Abishai says.  But, David is convicted.  He cannot be part of such an act and decision.  David chooses the high road and instead chooses to take the king’s spear and water jug as a testament that he was there and had the opportunity to kill the king- but didn’t.

            This is my point….

            God made the entire Israelite camp fall into a deep sleep- EVERYONE.

            So God engineered this opportunity for David to kill the king.

            GOD MADE THIS OPPORTUNITY!!

            David entered the camp.  David saw the opportunity.  David ……..   did NOT kill the king.  David proves his character before God, before the men, before himself.

           

It wasn’t just enough to have an opportunity or an open door.  The issue for David was to have the kind of character that would CHOOSE the high road, the Godly decision (even though it meant prolonged trouble, discomfort, pain).  David saw the open door and was able to make a BETTER decision.

            

My conclusion and application:

·         Don’t pray for opportunities or open doors- pray for the character to know what decision to make

That is my hope and prayer for me, my family, my friends, and our ministry.

No doubt someone out there is feeling a little upset or insecure about the idea of not praying for opportunities or open doors-  I’m not intending in any way to attack or demean those who do (I have prayed for these opportunities and open doors too) 

My point is that I believe it takes a higher degree of commitment to Godlike character to pray for Christ like wisdom- so that I can make God centered decisions in the face of these decisions throughout my life.  Just like David, just because the door was open, doesn’t mean that I MUST take it.  David had the opportunity to take the open door (in this case, end the man who was hunting him down).  But, David doesn’t take the open door and instead, he proves his God like character.

Lord… May you bless me, my family, my friends, and those who’ve partnered with us in our ministry, that we can all display your wisdom and God like character in the face of life’s decisions…  Amen.

Campbell/Knox Spring Conference 2013

Campbell/ Knox Spring Conference 2013 at White Mills Christian Camp

The Ft. Campbell Nav ministry met with the Ft. Knox Nav ministry just this past weekend for our Spring Conference.  It was a quick conference, with the bulk of the conference occurring this past Saturday.  Doug Cote was the key note speaker.  We had some great fellowship time, fun, and great discussion as we mulled over the things Doug shared with us from his testimony and the 2 messages he shared with us.  Here are few high points from the weekend talks....

• Doug had opportunity to get bitter with God- but he chose not to get bitter with God or with people 
• Doug made Lordship decisions to CHOOSE to spend time with the people who could effectively train him and develop him as a laborer and disciple-maker
• We use our logic to determine life decisions- but many times God has his OWN PLAN on what He wants to do and what He will do with us
• The POA ensures that God will always send men and women who are committed to Him 
• We need to pray for WORTHY men and women for God
• We need to BE... WORTHY men and women for God
• Our ministries are led by sinners- so we need to give each other some slack because we all need Jesus' help
• Job 2:10- Accept adversity from God 
• We need to realize we WILL go through adversity in our lifetime
• We need to quit talking about being 'broken' when we're really not

Hope a few of these points will re-energize the thoughts from the conference and that it will also challenge us to move forward and further in our personal walk with Christ and how we can build and invest in others as well.

God's Blueprint Diagram

God’s BluePrint Diagram

A diagram that I drew up to highlight some key points in how a young believer begins to move forward toward maturity.  Just to head off any confusion.....
THIS IS NOT A SALVATION DIAGRAM/ ILLUSTRATION-
Once we've shared the Gospel or hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we have taken the steps to now walk with Jesus Christ- this outlines some key points in how a believer can move toward maturity and Engage in the Mission of Christ.

First we have to accept and submit to the Lordship of Christ.  What hamstrings many believers from even moving forward toward maturity in Christ is that we talk about following God- but yet we keep the control of our lives and do not submit to God's authority to direct our lives.  Which means we continue living how we WANT to live rather than finding out about what God is after and submitting ourselves to Him so that we can begin moving toward accomplishing those things.

Next... a person must realize that we are sent by God to accomplish a Misison.  If we dodge this issue- there is NO reason to grow and invest in the Basics of the Christian life.  The Basics of the Christian life will simply be things that I check on the block on sundays and maybe every so often on wednesday evenings or when a friend drags me off to biblestudy during the week.    Just an aside.....  I met a Vietnam veteran in the mid 90s when I was on active duty and there were no current conflicts we were engaged in at the time.... One of the things he said to me was "It was pretty hard getting (GI) joes to clean their M-16s... but as soon as the war (Vietnam) hit- it wasn't a problem convincing guys to clean their weapons or go to the range to practice."
We are in similar situations spiritually- if the believer doesn't see a mission that they are called to be part of- they will not see the need to invest in biblestudy, prayer, fellowship, evangelism training or any of those things that will help us move toward maturity.

The Basics of the Christian life- Time in the Word, Prayer, Fellowship, Witnessing, Obeying Christ, M2M discipleship... these things are going to form the backbone of what helps us move forward toward maturing in our Walk with God.

Maturity- Becoming the Warrior Leader on the battlefield that God has called us to be...
I love the story of Gideon where the Angel comes to him and calls him a "Valiant Warrior"- but Gideon has NO IDEA of what that means... particularly as he is hiding out in a cave.  But God sees us that way and wants us all to ENGAGE IN REACHING OUT TO EVERYONE around us for His Name.

Reproduce...
The test of Discipleship
The Test of who we TRULY are as Believers
This is what Christ has called us to.... so....  are there disciples in our wake?
Matt 4:19  "Follow Me", Jesus said , "And I will make you Fishers of Men."  Can I truly call myself a follower of Christ if I'm not involved with Fishing for people the way Jesus did?

God's Desire- that all men come to Know Him....
Even in the OT we see that this was on God's heart.
His people knew that too.
1 Sam 17:45-47 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands."    NIV
Young David knew this...
The story of David and Goliath was NOT a neat, little, fun story for us to talk about overcoming giants and bullies...  it is about God doing something BIG to bring glory to Himself- to create VISIBILITY to His name.
SO...
throughout the WHOLE world people would know and realize that there was A REAL GOD in Israel that moves and interacts and fights and is involved with people.

That is what God wants.
He wants to be involved with us and have us KNOW Him.

So....
Lets find someone who doesn't know Christ and bring the Message to them... Lets find a believer that needs direction and lets get them trained... Lets go hunting for some giants.....

Daniel- 1st STS study of 2013

Daniel- A Great Picture of God Orchestrating the Continued Visibility of His Name

          Working through the study of Daniel 1 with our STS team and I’m excited and encouraged to continue to see how God is bringing forward His own name to people everywhere- even though His own people have not stayed obedient and loyal to His name.

          Why would a conquering king bring nobility from a conquered nation into his own palace to become his own advisers??  Maybe a strategy to keep exiled Israelites from become restless?  Maybe the exiles would follow their own who were part of the Babylonian government?

          Nevertheless… the result of this decision by the king  brings Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah into the service of the king.  As a result, God is made visible not only to the King- but to everyone in the nation as well as the Babylonian kings order their people to recognize and follow the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

          There are so many things to take away from studying Daniel.... one of them: seeing how God orchestrates and works to the benefit of His people and His own Name at the Micro-level (with us and our own interpersonal interactions) but also at a Macro-level.  (creating visibility and recognition of His name through the city of Babylon, the Babylonian Empire, and the world)

          Daniel and his friends must have been through quite an ordeal to be conquered and taken away into exile and also to be 'educated' in the Chaldean culture and wisdom.  Yet throughout all this... we do NOT see Daniel or his friends wavering in the commitment and loyalty to God nor do we see them losing ground to bitterness.  If we are to continue forward with God and continue with boldness, conviction, while also managing to counter the effects that bitterness can have on our lives- it will be through the recognition and understanding that God is in control AND does have the best in mind for us.

Prov 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

  

Merry Christmas from the Ft. Campbell Navigators Ministry

Ft. Campbell Navigators Ministry

Christmas Party 2012

Merry Christmas from the Ft. Campbell Navigators Ministry!!!

We’ve had a tremendous year reaching soldiers with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and helping many soldiers understand what it means to grow and mature in their walk with God.  We’re looking forward with anticipation to a great new year and another year of impacting soldiers for Christ.

We urge and pray that each of you will understand and know the joy and peace that Christ can bring even through the business of the season.

Merry Christmas!!

A Candid Interview with Matthew Clark on Life and Ministry

My friend and fellow Laborer, Matthew Clark, does a quick interview on life and ministry while also being involved in the Military.  Hope you all take the time to listen and grab a few points on what this might look like in your own life and you can engage in battle as well.

listen to ‘A perspective from a military’ on Audioboo

The VOICE..... Compels us

Just wanted to share a short email I got from a good friend of mine deployed overseas.
I'm encouraged by his heart to pursue Jesus and bring Him to others.
I hope you are as encouraged and challenged by him as I am.



Things my way have been cool. It's up tempo and long hours but I am continuing to stay in the word and in prayer. I had a neat nugget form my qt yesterday.

"One voice"

My new reading plan consists of reading the gospels for the next sixth months. Matthew 1, Mark 1, Luke 1, John 1. It has been really neat to take a closer look at who Jesus was and what he did to accomplish God's vision for mankind. I came across Matthew 3:3, This is a quotation from Isaiah 40:3, Concerning John the baptist.

" The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the dessert A highway for our GOD."

In each gospel I see that John was called to be a "voice" to people of Judea, mainly to bring them to Jesus. I just recently read the whole book of Acts to get  grasp a overall view of what Luke was trying to convey. It is really cool if you haven't, just to read a book of the bible in one setting.  And I came up with a thought. "Voice" The one voice that the original apostles, Paul and other missionaries obeyed and Listen to, was the Holy Spirit. This impacted the course of mankind.

The Voice is God wanting us to be his witnesses so the world may know him and guiding and directing us to be faithful to him . (John B prepared the way)

I was challenged in this area , The Holy spirit led me to make a vow that for the rest of this month I will not go to sleep unless I share the gospel with at least one person a day. Its funny because I was being hesitant but finally gave in. So, last night I was doing sts at the coffee shop and a couple of guys sat next to me. It led to small talk but no hope. So, I continued to sts. Then my new friend Colin Crow sat across from me to do his qt. (answer to prayer in regards to fellowship) He talked about our own personal testimonies and what we have been getting out of the word and prayer. We will be meeting everyday at the coffee shop. :)  Really cool and humble guy too! Looking forward to that!

But the night wasn't over yet. I thought this was the guy but I could not go to sleep because the Holy Spirit was too convicting. So, I got out of my bed and walked around the barracks to see who would I share Jesus with. I came across some guys who were smoking and shared Jesus with them. They really wasn't interested but we had a neat conversation about Jesus and religion. What a day it was!

I am praying that I will be voice for others so they would come to know and walk with Jesus. Ultimately the Holy Spirit doing the work in them.Thanks for lending a ear brother. Miss you! Pray for the guys my Battalion has been taking a beating. Also, my buddy Damian Ortiz. I have been helping him with reading the bible and him hearing from God himself.

Thanks for lending a ear.
In him,

Friends....

Reading the Word is not enough- it is a great start.  But allowing the Word to sink deeply into our minds and hearts in such a way as it compels us to respond and live with a mission minded focus- this is how we are marked as followers of Christ and where God begins to do a work to transform who we are.

I'm hoping and praying that each us us are giving God the opportunity to impact us and transform us through allowing ourselves to get fully exposed to the Word of God.  Unless we dive in with curiosity and a hunger to  know Him- these kinds of responses may not be possible.

But...

If we do...

If we put in the time to dig into God's Word...

If we invest in understanding what God was wanting- the possibility for God to transform us and use us becomes reality.