Last night we continued our study in finding God’s will for our lives…
Finding God’s Will / Study 5 / Knowing What God’s Like
Two examples of getting it wrong
1. “He’s just like us.”
Psalm 50:16-21
- It is totally possible for us as humans to go on living, thinking God’s cool with us because He’s like us, and He’s not.
- Non-believers: this is clearly a major mistake. It’s basing your life on a fantasy.
- Believers: the danger here is that we’d be people who assume things about God, and therefore not be walking in God’s will, and live lives far below what He called us to.
Isaiah 55:6-11
- We must assume that we don’t start out thinking like God. He is different, and way higher than we are.
- Repentance is the first step towards beginning to get on God’s wavelength.
- Our main problem is not even that we aren’t smart enough, it’s that we’re morally bad.
- Non-believers: God calls you back to himself. In Jesus, he’s made a way for repentance.
- Believers: We must always check our thoughts against God’s word. It alone is effective.
2. The Hard Master
Matthew 25:14-30
v.14-19 This is where we are in history: Jesus has come and gone, we have work to do, He gives us resources
v.20-23 There will be an accounting! Everything we’ve done with what He gives matters.
v.24 The Servant’s wrong view of the master:
- A hard man.” — i.e. “You’re a rough, cold, demanding master.”
- “Reaping where you have not sowed.” – i.e. “ you want to do no work and get things in return…you want us to do everything while you do nothing.”
- “I know” He thought he knew what the Master was like. Why? What evidence did he have?
v.25 Harmful outcomes and wrong decisions based on wrong thinking:
- “I was afraid.” Why? Maybe because he only got one? And he had wrong views of Master… So his feelings about God were based on a wrong picture of God. They weren’t reliable.
- “I hid your talent” His wrong thoughts led to wrong feelings which led to wrong decisions. (which didn’t even make sense in light of what he thought he knew…)
The Point of Parable: God is not hard, but generous. He gives everything and then rewards us. (See Luke 12:29-37 This is who God is…) To think otherwise: is unbelief; will cause your life to be pointless.
How to think rightly about God: Embark on the lifelong journey of letting Him describe Himself to you, by giving yourself to know His word, by living a life of persevering obedience to Him, and by trusting what He says even over your own thoughts. Develop a mental reflex of finding out, understanding, remembering, and believing God’s thoughts. Get to know God. Then we will be able to understand what He wants, because we actually know Him. Make your decisions based on true knowledge of God.